The Smoke Wars: Prohibition or Regulation

In Madison, as in many cities nationwide, there is an ongoing campaign to abolish tobacco use. On a Prior Post: The Smoke Wars there is a link to a detailed history of the anti-smoking movement in Wisconsin. Thursday evening the Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill requiring local governments to allow smoking in restaurants, taverns and other workplaces. The anti-smoking groups reacted in quick and predictable fashion and in fairness these are links: Smoke Free Wisconsin Response and American Cancer Society Response.

I support what the Assembly is doing not out of love for tobacco or for smoking in public, but rather because it touches on many of the issues important to the ongoing evolution of the society we design for ourselves. The health effects of direct smoking and the second hand smoke studies used by the anti-smoking movement have been covered extensively elsewhere, so I would like to point out a constitutional concern based on our First Amendment right to peaceful free assembly.

Municipal governments have re-defined smoking as a health matter which they then claim a right to regulate as a work place safety issue. An important aspect of smoking as a health concern is that it is not an imminent health threat like a viral or bacterial epidemic. On one hand, directly inhaling smoke from multiple packs of cigarettes, consistently over thousands of days, correlates with increased rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, there is no evidence of immediate or short term life threatening consequences from tobacco smoke. Heavy smokers pretty much start dying off in their 50’s after years of the habit. This is a sad but tolerable fact within a free society allowing individuals to make both good and bad personal choices.

The First Amendment to the Constitution insures American citizens have the right to peaceful free assembly and no municipal government has authority to abolish this Federal right. None of the existing municipal ordinances claim smoking is violent or associated with violent activity. Smoking is a peaceful activity. None of the existing municipal ordinances claim smoking causes proximal life threatening consequences like cocaine and the opiates. The point the State Assembly is correctly making is that municipal government has the power to regulate where and when smokers can assemble, but absolute prohibition of a peaceful assembly exceeds the authority of local government. Personally, I have no problem with the concept of limited government power.

Cross Plains, Wisconsin

One thing I love about history is that true existence existed down to the level of the smallest detail. Viewed from a distant perspective our history is the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, a devastating Civil War, World War I, II, Korea, Vietnam, and then Iraq. In tighter focus our ancestry it is millions of stories like the following.

“As the United States developed westward, towns and villages built alongside roads and railway lines. The town of Cross Plains was settled along two major military roads that crossed each other on a beautiful, fertile prairie. Within 20 years of the first town meeting in 1847, two more villages were established nearby, Christina and Foxville.

People were attracted to the area by the good farm land, abundant wildlife and business potential. The Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul railroad line went through the northern part of town and the Madison-Mineral Point stage road crossed through the southern part. These available shipping routes were important to the growth of all three villages.

The first store in the area was opened around 1850 in Cross Plains by the Baer brothers. By 1880 there were hotels, a lumberyard, blacksmiths, a shoe store, churches, schools, harness shops, a post office, saloons and other businesses throughout the three communities. A grist mill was built in 1857 and the area's first bushel of wheat was shipped out from the railway depot in Foxville. Saeman Lumber and Henry M. Zander's Creamery and General Store provided local farmers with the means to trade for items they could not produce on the farm. Butter was traded at the general store and grain and livestock were traded for building materials. The farm products were then shipped off to Milwaukee and other cities on railroad cars.”

The Fifth Amendment was ratified in 1791 and by 1847 Europeans were moving to live first along the military roads and then beside the railroads which followed shortly thereafter. The settlers were attracted to the location by good land with wildlife and the opportunity to make an honest living. By 2005 the town was less than 3,000 residents, mostly all United States citizens, and committed to their community through events such as the Cross Plains Worlds Fair from Friday, June 24, 2005 through Sunday, June 26. Perhaps because they live in a Democratic county within a corporate culture country they felt the need to write a mission statement which reads:

“The mission of the Cross Plains "World's Fair" is to organize and conduct a community event each year that will promote good will for the Cross Plains area and unite the citizens of the Village of Cross Plains and local service organizations in a cooperative non-profit venture, the net proceeds of which shall be used solely to further the common good and general welfare of the people of the Cross Plains, Wisconsin, community, by bringing about civic betterment and social improvements.”

On June 23, 2005 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that municipal government has the right to seize private homes owned by U.S. citizens if the majority elected government wants the property for economic development. Private owners in the minority have no choice but to either take the money offered or not. From 1847 to 2005 Cross Plains, Wisconsin grew from zero to 3,000 residents while Chicago, Illinois grew to over 3 million people, so Cross Plains has room for economic development.

The Supreme Court Should Resign In Mass

The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of municipal government in Kelo vs. City of New London. Bloggers across the political spectrum are commenting although I have yet to come upon any enthusiastic support of the winning side. This may be a good moment for everyone to actually read the Fifth Amendment and decide if this brief passage truly reflects what we believe about our society.

Amendment V - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

The left is having problems with the reality this decision gives government new power to seize property of the poor for the direct benefit of corporations, and indirect benefit of the total population. The right understands correctly this decision expands the seizure power of government by setting the standard of individual property protection so low that it effectively ceases to be a barrier. When this case was accepted by the Supreme Court in February I wrote the following analysis.

"The troubling aspect of this case is that normally when private land is taken under the power of eminent domain, the ownership of the land transfers to the public as represented by the government. Applied fairly this seizure power provides things like public roads and city parks. In this instance, which is not unique, eminent domain is being used to transfer the ownership rights from one private party to another private party, with the hope that the new private owners will make the land available for public use.

At the heart of the dispute is what the “public use” phrase in the 5th Amendment means. Privately owned and open to the public, for example retail shops and restaurants, is a classic business model that can be considered public use of land. This is very different from publicly owned and used by the public such as a community swimming pool. It is meaningless to use the term “public use” without direct reference to the property being used.

In this case the city government believes the greater good of the community will be served by seizing private homes for the benefit of a private organization. If the amount of revenue a government can receive from a property is the determining factor in exercising the right of eminent domain, then the whole concept of private property is mute. If the government can legitimately transfer ownership rights between private parties based on the highest bidder, then there is no meaningful right of private ownership, only a right to fair compensation as determined by the government."

So now the Supreme Court has determined that it is constitutional for government to change the ownership of private property as long as they justify the seizure and transfer as having some form of public use. In other words, individual property owners have no legitimate defense against any type of seizure that a majority desires. This may be a good time to ask that the entire Supreme Court resign in total. They no longer reason with any demonstrable consistency of logic or conviction. It will be politically bloody but we should just pick a brand new Supreme Court, nine brand new judges and let them clean up this mess.

A Mini TIF Tiff

It is late on a hot Wednesday night and lacking the ambition to do new thinking I am resorting to pulling up old posts like Building A Model City In Madison. Actually there is some justification since there is a bit of an update reported in the Wisconsin State Journal. Dean Mosiman continues some good reporting in the following article.

Madison Aldermen call for more TIF scrutiny: “Alds. Mike Verveer and Judy Olson, members of the leftist political party, are proposing a series of changes to the city's tax incremental financing (TIF) policy to ensure projects don't harm the city. … "If we are going to meaningfully shape TIF projects and get the biggest bang for the taxpayers' dollars, then we have to end the first-come, first-served rush by developers to get the city's limited TIF funds," Verveer said.”

It’s amusing to see the State Journal refer to Alders Verveer and Olson as belonging to the leftist political party, as if there were any representatives of limited government on the Madison City Council. I suppose the truth is that anytime a group of twenty people are assembled there will be a gradient of opinion on social issues, and it looks like some on the left end of the left side are not comfortable with Mayor Dave and the big developers being all buddy-buddy on building projects.

There is even some evidence around that Progressive Dane is not all that thrilled about trolley cars. It seems the Greens have enough common sense to understand that busses can go get the poor where they live, rather than hoping the poor will move themselves to live near fixed rail systems.

Fair Warning: Socialized Health Threat

It is the first official day of Summer and while most Wisconsin residents are relaxing on a warm workday evening, there are activists working on a plan to impose a very bad health care plan on every single individual living in the State. The website is up and running with the details. Everyone in Wisconsin should take this movement very seriously.

Wisconsin Health Care For All: “Universal health-care coverage in Wisconsin: It's not just a dream. … After considerable legal, economic and political study, we have endorsed a "provide-or-pay" plan for Wisconsin. Non-insuring businesses are required to either provide coverage, or contribute to a fund that buys coverage for their employees.”

“The strategy: We invite you to join us in a two-year push to achieve health care for all in Wisconsin. We will work with members of the Madison City Council to create a model law for Madison. Then we will move on to other local governments around the state.”

Brochure Page One (PDF): “Our Goal: Health Insurance for every person in Wisconsin because Health Insurance = Health Care. … By law employers will either provide insurance for their employees or pay their local government to provide an affordable comprehensive plan. Everyone must have health insurance.”

Brochure Page Two (PDF): “It's cost effective. Everyone is covered. Sharing the cost of health care among the well and sick, young and old saves money. … Local governments in Wisconsin have the authority to pass "provide or pay" group plans. These plans will attract insurance companies. We will work with local governments to see that all Wisconsinites benefit from universal health care. We can do this job one local government at a time.”

Point 1: Health Insurance does not equal Health Care. This is a deliberate phrase being used to create a false impression with the public. An object or a service is not the same thing as the price paid for that object or service. Care means diagnosis and treatment. Insurance means someone else pays most of the cost of diagnosis and treatment.

Point 2: The only mandatory requirement for hiring individuals is paying for the work performed under State and Federal Guidelines. The goal of this movement is to create a second mandatory financial obligation on all employers regardless of size.

Point 3: U.S. Citizens are currently free to pay their own health care debts and only their own health care debts. The phrase “everyone must have health insurance” means this freedom is abolished. This design imposes a mandatory obligation on an individual to pay the medical bills of strangers.

Point 4: Health Insurance does not reduce the cost of health care. Health Insurance divides the total cost of health care among a pool of individuals, regardless of who created the expenses. The inflation in health care pricing is in large part due precisely to the fact that insurance has blunted competitive market forces.

Point 5: The dollar volume of expenses an individual incurs is significantly dependent on the choices that individual makes. Keep in mind how the City of Madison has already demonized smokers precisely because of potential health effects.

Point 6: This people behind this movement are intelligent and serious about achieving their goals. More importantly they are absolutely correct that Wisconsin municipal governments have the right to enact and enforce this type of socialist control over municipal residents and business operations. The courts will not override an ordinance of this design.

Hot Monday Night Doldrums

It feels like a summer Monday night. I keep exploring off in different directions looking for the compelling good idea for the day but can’t seem to settle into any single area. I wanted to find an online version of “Sustainable Times”, a pulp newsprint ad-rag I found on the east side over the weekend, but there is nothing in the digital realm. I was ready to dissect the article urging us to buy second hand clothes since the “U.S. ships tons of clothing overseas where it can disrupt local markets”. I wonder if she means the local overseas markets that make all the clothes worn in the U.S. in the first place.

The same paper has a long article about Socially Responsible Investing which begs the question can an anti-corporate socialist invest in the stock market and still be a socialist? The more I work through the thought process of the left, the more it seems they have real issues with the concepts of wealth and money. In general wealth is bad if it belongs to the wealthy and good if it belongs to non-profits or the government. It’s as if large sums of money cease to be wealth outside of a corporate structure. I do like this post over at Coyote Blog which concludes:

“And that is the heart of socialism's failure. For the true source of wealth is not brute labor, or even what you might call brute capital, but the mind. The mind creates new technologies, new products, new business models, new productivity enhancements, in short, everything that creates wealth. Labor or capital without a mind behind it is useless.”

Driving Will Continue In The Future

The Socialist – Progressive movement in the United States is to a large degree dependent on convincing voters the American way of life is neither sustainable nor safe for the environment. I believe they are wrong on both counts. A foundation eco-socialist belief is that the world is running out of oil, and therefore, oil based economies, especially the United States, will contract dramatically or collapse entirely. The progressive leadership’s hatred of capitalist organizations appears to blind them to the reality that the laws of physics still apply, and human imagination allowed to explore the universe will create solutions that preserve political and economic freedom.

Kudos’ to UW Madison Professor James Dumesic and the Dumesic Research Group for doing true science with measurable and reproducible results, and unlimited potential for sustaining the quality of life our ancestors fought and worked to provide us. The following two articles cover the innovative research, and the key point to understand is that it is possible to economically produce liquid fuel, so there is no reason to fear fictional horror stories the left is selling.

New Green Diesel: “University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering researchers have discovered a new way to make a diesel-like liquid fuel from carbohydrates commonly found in plants. … The fuel produced contains 90 percent of the energy found in the carbohydrate and hydrogen feed. If you look at a carbohydrate source such as corn, our new process has the potential to create twice the energy as is created in using corn to make ethanol."

Process Increases Biodiesel Efficiency: “The researchers' method converts biomass into liquid alkanes within a self-sustained refinery. Alkanes are hydrocarbons. The simplest is methane. More complex alkanes are the main components of gasoline. … The conversion process has the potential to allow domestically-available biomass to become part of the solution to the United States' current dependence on fossil fuels, according to Dumesic.”

Computer generated projections are not science. Cherry picking and analyzing only favorable data is not science. Calling yourself a scientist does not necessarily make your work scientific. When trained activists pontificate about peak oil, simply ask them so what?

A True Madison Acitivist Story

The following is a true story about a Madison Activist who discovers that not all environmental organizations have the environment as their main agenda. While reading this journey about one persons Green Corps activist career, I am reminded that religious cults are also non-profit organizations. What Green Corps Brochures Won't Tell You By Nathaniel Miller.

“Green Corps sounded like the ideal program. I had been an activist in college and Green Corps claimed that it took college graduates, trained them, and paid them to work for a year on various campaigns with big-name environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace.”

“After the August training was complete we were sent into the field to work on campaigns with various environmental organizations. Some people worked on Clean Energy issues with Greenpeace in Florida and California. I went to work with the Sierra Club in Madison, Wisconsin.”

“Naomi Roth stated, “maybe racism will be solved in a couple hundred years, but the environmental movement needs to recognize its base of power is with the white middle class, and that is where we should organize.” Central Staff constantly reiterated the statement that “Diversity is not part of Green Corps’ mission.”

In the end Nathaniel Miller Gets Fired from his position working with Dane County Supervisor Brett Hulsey in Hulsey’s Sierra Club office. In Madison there is always work for youthful idealists and Nathaniel moves on to another position with the Student Environmental Action Coalition where activists work to achieve both social and environmental justice through national campaigns to Prohibit the Use of Tampons.

Big Brother Redux Referral

When I was a child, my grandfather had an old metal drum beside the back alley to burn trash. Paper in particular burns to complete oblivion, beyond the reach of reclamation technology. I recommend reading the entire Big Brother Redux post below.

My Catharsis “Another day, another violation of our civil rights by our Department of “Justice”.”

I want to make sure the Republican’s remember that I vote Republican because the Democrats desire to oppress more liberties than the Republicans, but neither side is without prohibitionist zealots with members fully willing to use power to stop behavior they do not like. The important word in that last sentence is like …

Rumor, Rumor! Read It Here First

There was a Bryan Smith sighting yesterday. The former blogger of Sanity in Mad City (in hiatus) was spotted attempting “civil dialog” with a Madison Liberal. As of this evening Bryan has not yet been called a “Nazi” but it’s clear that dealing with Madison Democrats has his adrenaline pumped. The real news is that Bryan let the following comment slip out:

“if they knock down the village bar, that's the last straw. I'm running for city council :). # posted by Bryan Smith: Wed Jun 15, 03:25:55 PM”

I am officially starting the rumor that Bryan Smith is running for the Madison City Council with hopes of one day soon going head to head with Oil Addict and Madison Alderman Lyin' Austin King. Maybe sometime in the near future the two will get into official discussions on subjects like Raising Madison Bus Fares. I can envision Mayor Dave Cieslewicz sitting passively while the conversation between King and Smith goes like something like this:

Bryan: Madison Metro is coming up about $421,000 short this year, and we can no longer depend on State and Federal tax dollars to bail out a system that costs Madison more to operate than it earns in passenger fares.

Austin: Are you logrolling me? Are you trying to get me to trade my vote for a vote on your capitalist spending plan?

Bryan: Calm down Austin. All I’m saying is that the busses are packed on the morning and evening commutes into central Madison, but our deep discounting of bundled fares for the UW-Madison and State of Wisconsin workers aren’t covering our expenses. The fact that ridership is very high at these two times demonstrates there is a market for mass transportation at these specific times. Perhaps that market could be contracted to licensed and regulated private bus companies.

Austin: What about social justice? Where is the Social Justice in charging poor people to ride to work? You are trying to keep the poor from working!

Bryan: Mayor Dave! Can’t you make Austin shut up? This is insane.

Lost on Wednesday Night

The solid cloud cover almost lasts until the very end of the day when in the cool evening air occasional rays of bright sunshine break though reaching the ground. This statement is true for:

a) Wednesday, June 15, 2005,
b) Four hundred million seven hundred five thousand six hundred twenty six years ago,
c) Eight hundred million four hundred thirty two thousand sixty three years in the future,

d) a only,
e) a & c,
f) b & c,
g) none of the above if you are on a boat,
h) all of the above if the confidence limits for the data are tweaked.
i) who cares, what else is happening?

Jiblog: “Today is officially Jiblog's 1st Blogiversary. I thought about doing a great big retrospective on the last year, but then I decided "ah, screw it." Thank you to all of my readers for making this an enjoyable year of blogging.”

Badger Blogger: “This socialized medicine plan makes HilleryCare look good! And WHY are supposedly pro business groups like Wisconsin Independent Businesses supporting a plan that will bankrupt small businesses? How many businesses can afford a tax of 8% - 10% of their entire payroll? This will kill businesses and drive other out of Wisconsin and there is no way new businesses will move to Wisconsin.”

Lance Burri: “…before Democrats talk of sitting on their hands in 2006, or half-heartedly supporting Doyle, or even flirting with a third-party candidate, they need a reality check. For now and for the foreseeable future, Doyle is all they've got.”

Free Will: “Because Democrats sent Loftus, Chvala and Garvey to carry their Party’s campaign banner, legislative Democrats are in the minority in both chambers, by a handsome margin to boot, leaving Jim Doyle too few allies among his Party to matter, and no one on the GOP side willing to trade budget votes against the hope of Green or Walker winning next year.”

Wigderson Library & Pub: “Het2Blog has changed it's name to Cooler Near the Lake. Same Link. I like the name change. Maybe I should change mine to "Warmer Inland?" Naaaahh.”

Problems With Driver License Based ID

Joe Wineke, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin rushed this Press Release to the public today claiming it proves “Republicans are not interested in election reform; they are interested in stacking the elections in their favor and turning away voters like the elderly, women, African Americans, Hispanics, and young people who traditionally vote Democratic.” It may well have been a “Howard Dean Moment” with yips and whoops and the euphoria that comes from unbridled expression of simultaneous superiority and contempt.

The press release while filled with invective is missing almost anything from the actual report so in the interest of accuracy, here is the link. The Drivers License Status of the Voting Age Population in Wisconsin (PDF) by John Pawasarat, Employment and Training Institute, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, June 2005. The report which compares census data to drivers license lists appears to make the case that the Wisconsin Drivers License system is to messed up to be an effective ID system of any kind.

The first major issue centers on the fact that not everyone has a drivers license. When the existing license holder population is divided up, it is clear there are subgroups that either don’t drive or don’t drive legally. The caution that must be applied to this analysis is that not having a drivers license does not mean the person does not have a photo ID. “A portion of the population without a drivers license – whether valid or not – will have a photo ID, but without an analysis by race and location, it is not possible to estimate that population.”

This study generates lots of graphs from the manipulated data but since the number of other photo ID holders by their own admission is unknown, it raises the question: so what? Besides, the whole study ignores the fact that there are provisions in all proposed voter ID legislation to provide ID for those who need them. If you are a legal Wisconsin voter you can vote.

A second issue concerns the accuracy of the residential information on the drivers license. ”Those students and young adults living away from home but retaining their permanent home address on their drivers license need to provide proof of residence to vote prior to registration under current laws. Because the drivers license is a valid ID, regardless of address, few if any in this population would have a photo ID with a current address.” This is also a concern in minority populations that move frequently.

The problem that Republican sponsored photo ID legislation is attempting to correct is the accuracy of voter identification. The current system attempts to verify residential location but does not attempt to verify the individual actually doing the voting. If Democrats want the existing photo ID system to be considered flawed beyond utility, then where is Joe Wineke’s outrage that students, minority youth and the elderly are shut out by this unfair, unjust and inaccurate system required just to buy Sudafed? Do the poor not suffer their allergies the same as the rich? The hypocrisy is just unbelievable.

Abu Ghraib & Guantanamo in 4 Paragraphs

The war on terrorism should more accurately be called the war on religious terrorism. Our inherent American sensitivity toward religious beliefs apparently prevents our leaders frankly stating this fact loud and clear. Our soldiers are in Afghanistan and Iraq only because Islamic extremists emerged in this large region of the planet and have demonstrated that no society on the planet is safe from their anger.

The unique and defining danger in this conflict is the emergence of a branch of Islam that believes in human sacrifice. I know of no other term that applies to the concept that a divine being grants favors to individuals who kill other humans. Tyrants and criminals who kill for personal gain can be controlled by their fear and greed, but religious killers who sacrifice human life for immortal glory must be captured or eliminated.

The harder task is to disprove the power of a blood thirsty God. The opponents of this war have objections to every aspect of the conflict, but they do not have an answer about how to rid the world of the powerful notion of achieving immortality by killing others. The only answer is the one the Bush Administration has been forced to pursue, and that is to prove to the entire world that human sacrifice does not work in the world of the living.

What I see in the Abu Ghraib photographs is the absence of blood, bruises, burns, broken bones and bullet holes. What I read about in Guantanamo are trapped men given every single opportunity to summon Allah to save them from their captivity. Every day these men exist with flesh intact and free to pursue their devotion as proscribed by their religion is another day the Islamic world observes that an all powerful being does not answer calls for the vindication of wicked killers.

Lazy Daze and Bad Law

Quickly surfing around the local blogsphere there is considerable support for being lazy now that real summer weather is established in Wisconsin. It appears the legislature is ahead of the public in that lazy politicians screw up the bad legislation Governor Doyle signed this week. In the spirit of summer, I resort to referring to my prior comments and supporting documents and defer to Boots & Sabers who nicely sum up my feelings on this whole sad sorry story of government taking away another piece of freedom from the public, because it was the easiest thing for them to do. As always the public is left to adapt to the consequences, like budgeting more shopping time when driving the car to Wal-Mart.

Buy Wisconsin Pot This Weekend

Lola and I recommend buying POT this weekend and the best opportunity is the 14th Annual Cambridge Pottery Festival where forty nine Local Ceramic Artists will be displaying their wares. If you want plates, bowls, cups or vases you can purchase factory molded single glazed Martha Stewart Living Chinese imports or hand made Wisconsin pieces of superior quality and style. Madison residents in particular are reminded they are to think global, act local, eat local and eat off local dishes.

We highly recommend Susan & Eric Anderson of Markesan, WI who created the “Altered Pottery” shown in the photograph on the artist list page. Jerry Reinwand of Portage, WI for his continual development of crystalline glazed porcelain which no photograph does justice. Finally Ruth Hansen from Verona, WI because there is apparently no limit to her imagination about the shape and form clay can obtain.

Lake Geneva's Moonbat Gathering

UW-Madison's Havens Center organized Wisconsin Radfest 2005 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin last week and I missed the actual event. The Havens Center is part of the UW-Madison’s Department of Sociology which makes it a Wisconsin taxpayer funded aspect of our general commitment to “higher education”. The center exists for the expressed purpose of proposing utopian alternatives to activists. You can’t make this stuff up.

“The traditional tasks of critical social thought have been to analyze the sources of inequality and injustice in existing social arrangements, to suggest both practical and utopian alternatives to those arrangements, and to identify and learn from the many social movements seeking progressive social and political change.”

“The Havens Center seeks to promote progressive social and political change through engagement with the activist community in Madison and beyond. The principal vehicle for this effort is RadFest/Midwest Social Forum, an annual conference for progressive activists and academics held the weekend after Memorial Day.”

For any one seriously wanting to understand the left the Radfest Program (PDF) is a guided tour of the clumped aggregate of dislikes and concerns that the socialists want to knit into a grand theory of HOW WE SHOULD LIVE. As an extra bonus it includes a wonderful listing of Wisconsinites working to achieve “radical” change in the Badger State.

I don’t know how people decide which sessions to attend. Ed Garvey is talking about how to create a “people’s legislature” while next door the Madison Area Democratic Socialists talk about how to defeat Wal-Mart. Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager making the case that women should rule the world or three UW-Whitewater Professors discussing how horrible it is that Ward Churchill was protested. Finally from a purely tactical standpoint, how does one decide between learning to organize mobile home parks or how to effectively use race in campaigns. After all in the real world, the democrats don't care what utopian dream you believe as long as you vote them into power.

Jagged Little Pills All Around

Isn’t it ironic that Canadian Alanis Morissette sings the United States National Anthem to open the NBA Finals the year that no National Hockey League games were played? Right now I’m too tired for proper outrage at each and every single Wisconsin politician and my methamphetamine dealer just quit to take a $7.85/hr job doing short order cooking. Apparently Woodman’s still carries the ingredients to make killer beef tips on the grill.

Isn’t it ironic that Governor Jim Doyle is outraged now that he supports what he used to oppose. I would be tempted to call this a “flip flop” but in my cool logical methamphetamine free brain, I understand the Governor is engaged in nuanced policy alternatives sensitive to the changing needs of his constituents.

Governor Doyle June 2005: "I am deeply disappointed that the Joint Finance Committee today voted down a bipartisan recommendation for construction of a Hmong Cultural Center. … "I urge the Legislature to reverse course and provide the deserved and necessary funding for the Hmong Cultural Center."

Governor Doyle July 2003: “The Legislature's budget committee voted Tuesday to spend $3 million to help build a Hmong cultural center in Milwaukee - a project Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed because it was part of a pork-barrel deal that got a now-recalled senator to vote for the state budget.”

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz feeling the need to toss in his 2 cents worth goes on record saying: "I am very disappointed that the Joint Committee on Finance failed to support building a Hmong Cultural Center in Madison.” Not only will there be no State cash to build more density into Capital City but all those Hmong are potentially qualified condo loan applicants, even those who are not U.S. Citizens.

Neko Case Night

Lola is trying to pass this off as a Honky Tonk Night but there is no way a “theatre” can ever equal a sleazy bar. Tonight it's Neko Case at The Barrymore Theatre for one show only.

“Over the past five years, it's become abundantly clear that Neko Case has emerged as the finest female country singer of her generation, the 30-something redhead possessing such a unique, instantly recognizable voice, evoking husky-voiced torch singers from decades ago, the Nashville chanteuses of the 1960s and '70s, and combining it all with a tough-girl edge, a result of her punk rock background.”

Daydreaming on a Warm Afternoon

The talk on the radio is speculation about the 2008 Presidential election and who will be players and what topics will move the public to the polls. A guest is making an educated guess that “immigration” will be the deciding issue three years in the future. He has a documented track record of taking polls and analyzing polls and projecting what the polls foresee. The next election will be about who is a citizen and what does citizenship mean.

It’s the warmest day of the year in Wisconsin so I grab my best kaleidoscope, wander outside, sit down and point it at the sky. As I twist the cylinder the translucent trinkets jumble around in reflectively multiplied colored patterns. At times I create brilliantly blue striated triangles with pure green centers, and at other times I create ruby red clusters flecked with diamond white insets. Each little motion in the progress of time changes the structure of the pattern. The next election will be about what can be done to keep me and my loved ones healthy and alive, and who pays price.

So let me tip the hat to Boots & Sabers for exposing the Dean Health Plan and WEA Trust Non-Compete Agreement. Once large pools of money are accumulated it is much easier to keep them intact if you don’t have to defend against predatory competitors.

“This is an email from an Account Manager at Dean Health Plan in Madison to a person at WEA Trust. In it is discussed the language of a non-compete agreement between Dean Health Plan and WEA Trust where Dean promises to NOT approach any school districts which currently use, or plan to renew with, WEA Trust.”

The health care available in the United States is the best on the planet, and it achieved this level in large part because individuals and organizations can profit when they improve the results of medical treatment. Health care financing in America, however, is deeply flawed and wide open to political manipulation of human fears and desires. Both factions of the Democratic Party see this as their best hope back into power, especially if no one is checking the citizenship of urban voters.

Madison Property Tax Screw Up

Buried way back on page 40 of the Madison City Council June 7th Agenda (PDF), the Council gets to decide if they want to pay back $2,775,000 of property tax money to American Family Insurance. It appears that Madison overplayed a money grab from the big boys who have pretty good lawyers, ample cash and can read State Tax Law.

“Item 101 Approving a settlement of property tax litigation with American Family, authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to sign settlement documents authorizing a payment of $2,775,000 from City resources to effectuate the approved settlement, and amending the 2005 Operating Budget to reduce estimated General Fund revenues by $933,000 to recognize the City's share of settlement costs.”

The history and details are in Legislative File ID 01349 which has a link to the full legislative text file. Allow me to paraphrase the message to the council: We are screwed if this goes to trial and we should settle this quickly.

“The City of Madison and American Family Mutual Insurance Company have been litigating the property tax assessments for the American Family headquarters. … Prior to the mediation, the City had concluded that a significant refund likely would be due to American Family if the cases were tried. The issue at trial would focus more on the amount of the refund, not whether one was due. … The City of Madison must pay the full amount of the refund and then file with the State Department of Revenue to be repaid the shares for other taxing jurisdictions.”

Oh but the fun is just beginning! Not only does the city have to pay back what they owe; they need to pay back what they distributed to other governmental units. The script may go something like this: Hi, I’m Mayor Dave. My administration gave you some tax dollars and now I need the money back. I understand that you have already spent it but I really need (fill in the blank*) to write me a refund check.

* Possible choices include the Sun Prairie School District, the DeForest School District, Madison Area Technical College, Dane County (sorry Kathleen) and the State of Wisconsin (my bad Jim).

It will be curious to see if the Green Party alderpersons Konkel, King and Benford can be persuaded to voluntarily give tax dollars back to a private business because Two Million Seven Hundred Seventy Five Thousand dollars is a lot of money. It’s enough to buy 1.3 million gallons of fossil fuel or to pay for 232 annual full time minimum wage jobs. Who knows how much trolley track it could build on the Isthmus? This is just another set back like the lost school referendum, and I’m positive Mayor Dave still thinks like the little engine that could: I can afford light rail, I can afford light rail, I can afford light rail.

Ed Garvey and Brett Hulsey Update

In an update in the Monona Wal-Mart battle, "anonymous" points out that Monona City Councilman Peter McKeever is also an attorney with the law firm founded by Democratic Party uber-liberal Ed Garvey. Garvey & Stoddard support liberal agenda items in the court system. One area of specialty is fighting Wal-Mart expansion and it is telling that the firm has represented the two organizations identified at the initial organization meeting to stop the Monona store.

“A more recent issue facing communities is whether to site big box stores, especially Wal-Mart. Citizens across the state are saying “no,” and Garvey & Stoddard is helping them. We currently represent groups fighting Wal-Mart in Janesville, Minocqua, Beaver Dam, Waupaca, and Franklin.”

“Garvey & Stoddard was retained by the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, Sierra Club, 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, and the River Alliance of Wisconsin …”

The presence of Dane County Supervisor Brett Hulsey at a non-governmental meeting outside of his elective district must mean he is involved in his capacity as Senior Midwest Regional Representative for the Sierra Club. Brett Hulsey and the Sierra Club believe that the oil based economy in general and the automobile in specific cause permanent harm to life on planet earth. Brett’s writing clearly shows his primary goal, whether as government agent or private citizen activist, is to stop people from driving cars.

Better Communities Start With More Transportation Choices (PDF): “Sprawl and a lack of transportation choices force people to own and drive cars in order to reach most destinations.”

New Roads Are Not The Answer (PDF): “Congestion plagues a road, the road is expanded, and more people can now drive on the road. Public transit or carpool riders switch to driving, drivers switch routes and take longer trips, and congestion reappears at a greater level than before the construction. More traffic is dumped on local streets. Welcome to Induced Traffic.”

Highway Health Hazards (PDF): “Crucial public policy changes must include a more balanced transportation policy, greater emphasis on public transportation systems and other options such as walking and bicycling. In addition, we need to limit development near new roadways.”

Much of the environmental movement’s logic is flawed. Many evironmental arguments are composed of cut and paste snippets of anecdotal evidence, bad statistical analysis, computer generated projections misrepresented as science and plausible sounding horror stories. When Brett writes that an expanded road “causes” more traffic, it is probably no concern to him that the cause comes from people’s love of personal freedom, and not because concrete and lane paint “force” them into anything.

Unfilmed Scenes

On the hillside there is a clearing in the forest and the blue and white canvass is still stretched between the wooden paint chipped camp chair frames. No other humans are in sight and only Lola is within earshot of a shout. Fluff tufted seeds drift in the air in an aimless search for a landing. First one and then another with about the frequency of meteors and satellites on clear June nights. Then the wind picks up and for minutes on end blows strong enough to brush back the exploratory branches of trees and bushes, testing their strength and resilience. Afterwards in the relative calm a bumblebee darts inches above the grass line between the wildflowers.

Monona Wal-Mart Opponents Flunk Reading

Two weeks ago I wrote about how Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s former organization is the opposition in the Monona Wal-Mart Battle and commented that Monona citizens should be concerned that Madison is “in effect” working to control their municipal development. The opposition has set up a website called A Better Monona which covers their campaign to prevent a new store from opening. One post reads in part:

“The Supercenter will certainly raise the property tax value of that land, and provide jobs to staff and manage the store. But the NET taxes and NET jobs within the city depend also on how many local businesses have to cut jobs or close down in the face of Wal-Mart's predatory pricing.”

The post then offers a link to a “balanced and thoughtful” article entitled How Do You Deal with the Entry of a New Wal-Mart Supercenter into Your Town?

“My studies of Wal-Mart supercenters in Iowa and Mississippi have shown that total local sales usually increase after the opening of a supercenter. This is because a huge store like this one will keep a lot of residents shopping at home, rather than outshopping to other localities, and it will also attract more residents from outlying areas.

This effect can be observed in most communities of up to 50,000 or so in population. In larger places, the impact of one store is hard to measure;

In summary, a new supercenter makes the host place more of a regional trade center. In larger communities, it sometimes forms a critical mass that attracts such other chain stores as home improvement and office supply retailers and restaurants.”

This is an absolutely fair and balanced assessment of the local economic effects of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. It makes me wonder if Dane County Commissioner Brett Hulsey or anyone from Dave Cieslewicz’s 1000 Friends of Wisconsin actually read the link they were posting. In all probability, some eager “activist” took the “resources” Kevin Pomeroy provided and liked the title of this article enough to include it in the post.

Let me put the findings in other terms. A Supercenter has both good and bad economic effects and the size of the community is directly related to the severity of any adverse effects. If I drop a bowling ball into a 25 gallon aquarium it pretty much messes everything up. If I drop a bowling ball into Lake Monona the ripples are barely enough to bounce a floating baby duck. The opposition will attack with wave after wave of anecdotal evidence of small business disruption, so it will be useful to question what size of little town suffered the horror stories.

Russ Feingold will Handle the Money

I’m cleaning off the summer fans outside in shorts and The Doors “Light My Fire” starts playing on the radio, the old fashioned way, with static. The weather is to beautiful for politics so the briefest summary about “The Progressives” is that the lead issue is health care reform, and give your money to Senator Russ Feingold. Seriously, funnel all campaign donations through Russ’s Progressive Patriots Fund. Russ will handle the money.

An Apology to Joel Rogers

I owe Joel Rogers an apology on the fact that I have referred to him as a “Socialist”, whereas in his own writings he refers to himself as a “Post Socialist”. I suppose a post socialist comes into existence when the failure of the socialist experiment forces a review of what went wrong so that the subsequent experiment works better. This is how the scientific methods works, hypothesize, experiment, analyze and try again.

If I understand Joel’s writings correctly, the socialist experiment failed because “State Socialism” became corrupt and did not produce the goal of a more even distribution of resources. In other words, State Socialism failed to create an egalitarian and participatory culture. Since the autopsy concludes the cause of death was found in the central government institutions, there is still the possibility a truly just and fair society may emerge from the “Radical Democratic” concepts of traditional socialism. Since imposing utopia top down didn’t work, the lesson to be learned is that utopia needs to be developed from the local level. Experiments with “Empowered Participatory Governance” in towns and cities still have the potential to home grow a workers paradise. Of course, all gardens require a gardener.

After Howard Dean and Arianna Huffington open the Tuesday June 2 session of the Take Back America Conference 2005 , Joel Rogers wraps up they day teaching how to build a Progressive Movement. At some point in the conference there will be a photo opportunity where Joel and Senator John Edwards share a few words. The only question is if someone snaps the shutter to capture the moment.

Next: City Level Universal Healthcare

Attention Wisconsin! The socialists are in charge of the City of Madison and they are planning to capture the State. Joel Rogers and Dave Cieslewicz have a broad, organized and intelligent coalition working to implement and advance their progressive agenda. Remember Municipal Smoking Prohibition, Municipal Minimum Wage, Phosphorous Bans and Inclusionary Zoning? The next push is for Universal Healthcare at the local government level.

The Strategy: “We invite you to join us in a two-year push to achieve health care for all in Wisconsin. We will work with members of the Madison City Council to create a model law for Madison. Then we will move on to other local governments around the state. We intend to create citizen lobbyists across the state to push the model law. The end result will be a broad risk pool and statewide universal health care.”

Democracy for Wisconsin - Madison is run by a vibrant core group of Howard Dean workers and they are the advance brigade responsible for the taking “provide or pay healthcare” from a theory on paper to municipal ordinance and beyond. There is little doubt that Mayor Cieslewicz is an informed participant as evidenced by this May 26 Update comment.

“We need support for our plan from small and large businesses. Politicians across the political spectrum will respond to business support. Mayor Dave, in particular, need to know that business people are behind our plan.”

This is not a Paul Soglin, “lets have block parties” administration. This is not Susan Bauman, “I reduced your property taxes and was voted out” flawed pragmatism. These are not John F. Kennedy Democrats wanting business to be good to the common man. Rogers and Cieslewicz are serious, studied social planners who are experimenting with this city and this state. I recommend keeping a strong spotlight on their activities.

Brat Fest with the Local Celebrities.

I took a small sample of area bloggers and about 3% admitted attending Madison’s Brat Fest, the ever evolving celebration of grilled meat sausages. Construction at Hilldale Mall, where the event originated, forced a move this year to the Alliant Energy Center. The Aerial View of Alliant Energy Center helps show the pressing need for urban infill and mixed use high density development in the city. The green areas in the photo are mostly underdeveloped and thus under taxed land. Photoshop high rise condos in these areas and the need for a taxpayer funded light rail system is apparent.

It’s Memorial Day and it is exactly like someone found the summer switch and flipped it on. Lola and I make the trip, eat our fill, look at a brand new city garbage truck, listen to a 70’s rock cover band and leave with the satisfaction we have done our part. The Brat Fest officials just announced they came up 77,000 brats short of their goal which may be due to cool weather the first several days of the four day event. One other potential reason for coming in short of goal may be the Celebrity Cashiers. Did the grilled meat merchants really believe that Green Party Alderman and “Oil Addict” Austin King is a strong drawing card? Seriously, take a look at what passes for celebrity in capital city.

Memorial Day Race Recap

Danica Patrick stalled her engine in the pits, spun out on a re-start and still finished 4th in the Indianapolis 500. Her most impressive move, however, may have been when she took a hit in the side at full speed and held the car steady as it headed into the turn. Open wheel racing is designed to push the limits of ground speed and the cars are exceptionally susceptible to even slight contact. Danica’s control over her Indy Car reminded me of all those Japanese animation stories where a tiny human sits at the controls of a massive robot. It was a transforming performance.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a cash machine for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) as well as for numerous sponsors and even NASCAR itself, but earlier this week DEI changed Jr.’s Crew Chief which is clear sign of problems within the organization. In the middle of the Coca Cola 600, Dale Jr. wrecks team mate Michael Waltrip and the accident also takes out former winner Matt Kenseth and Terry Labonte. It was a totally unprofessional move by Jr.

NASCAR racing is designed to allow a level of contact between cars but recently races have begun to resemble a drawn out demolition derby. In a classic example of the law of unintended consequences, the safety changes NASCAR implemented after the death of Dale Earnhardt appear to have increased aggressive driving tactics. Tonight’s race had a record 22 cautions before Jimmy Johnson emerged from the war of attrition for his unprecedented 3rd consecutive Coca Cola 600 victory. NASCAR is very good at changing the engineering details in the rule book, but they need to start addressing road rage. Rubbing is racing but bad driving is just pathetic.

Victory #1 Five Years Ago

Cars have done more to eliminate poverty in American than any government program. The jobs created to fulfill the widespread desire for individual freedom of mobility are one of the supporting pillars of the American economic miracle. There is a lot of blog talk about Danica Patrick racing in the Indianapolis 500. It’s a great story and Danica deserves all the attention she has earned. When the Indy cars finish there is another major race and five years ago Wisconsin native Matt Kenseth Wins the Coca Cola 600.

“It was Mark who risked his reputation several years ago by advising Jack Roush to sign Matt Kenseth, an unknown from Wisconson. … It was Kenseth - only a rookie in the Winston Cup series - who finished first in Sunday's 600, which is considered to be one of NASCAR's three "majors", along with the Brickyard 400 and the Daytona 500.”

I suppose North Carolina writers spell the Badger State “Wisconson” as in “Wis you coming son”? I suppose it’s no different from professional east coast sports announcers saying “Westconsin”. Wisconsin Racing occurs in small tracks all over the State and I believe it was Richard Petty who once said, “I know exactly when auto racing began. It was the day they built the second car.”

Catch a Flick Mayor Dave

The Joel Rogers and Dave Cieslewicz New Urbanist Plan for Madison is based on the false premise that free people want to live in crowded conditions devoid of wildlife. Alain Bertaud shows this with perfect clarity on the graph of Population Densities of World Cities (PDF). Free people tend to desire homes with yards. Central Planning is a defining attribute of socialist philosophy which may be why the density map of Moscow doesn’t look like any other city.

Mayor Dave could use a realty check on the academic theories that have captured his rational brain. Mayor Dave should take time and watch some of The Greatest Real Estate Movies of All Time (PDF). I recommend the following ten selections.

10. Shane:

“To begin with, virtually every Western ever made is about property rights”

9. Field of Dreams:

“If you build it, they will come.”

8. The Blues Brothers:

A city will tax an orphanage out of business if they need the land.

7. The Money Pit:

All projects begin on budget.

6. Joe’s Apartment:

Roaches love big buildings with lots of food, water and dark hiding places.

5. It’s a Wonderful Life:

Financing the real American Dream of home ownership.

4. Psycho:

When business disappears from a Mom & Pop shop, the kids get stressed.

3. Beetlejuice:

A little fear of the dead should accompany all remodeling projects.

2. Escape From New York:

When everyone is inside the cage the door can be locked.

1. Gone with The Wind:

Number one all time because it “shows the effect of government intervention – here, Sherman’s march to the sea – on Atlanta’s property market.”

The New Plan for Madison Unveiled

The Joel Rogers and Dave Cieslewicz City of Madison Comprehensive Plan can be summed up in one sentence. Madison’s hope for a sustainable future is a vision of an urban city with densely populated neighborhoods, where no cars are needed for transportation because quality of life is within walking distance. Rogers and Cieslewicz will use these words over and over and over. They are selling New Urbanist philosophy to voters who may or may not be legal residents. The city doesn’t know because they don’t card except for cigarettes and pseudoephedrine. They don’t really care.

New Urbanism

New Urbanism Critic: Claremont

New Urbanism Critic: Reason

Lost 2 Hour Finale

Lost 2 hour finale!

Yes No Totals
0007 VILLAGE OF MAPLE BLUFF 170 344

0007 VILLAGE OF MAPLE BLUFF 158 356
0007 VILLAGE OF MAPLE BLUFF 198 314

526 1014 1540

0008 VILLAGE OF SHOREWOOD HILLS 403 193
0008 VILLAGE OF SHOREWOOD HILLS 378 222
0008 VILLAGE OF SHOREWOOD HILLS 434 171
1215 586 1801

Pause, while the smoke clears

Republican Democracy vs. Authoritarianism: http://billroggio.com/.

Rural Unrest in China: "China has some serious problems brewing. They have a largely rural population that works as subsistence farmers while the urban workers in South East China that work in the factories enjoy much better education and living conditions as well as higher wages and in general a better lifestyle. Urban China is exploiting Rural China and there is a mass migration to the cities.

From a historical context, we underwent the mass urban migration around the turn of the century when the Industrial Revolution caught up with our agricultural society. We had a population in the tens of Millions and it still was uneasy. Our mass urbanization led to labor unions and unrest as well as resentment of Capitalism and the Capitalist pigs that kept the common worker down. Industrialization and Urbanization as well as worker abuses led to this philosopher guy who thought there was a better way. Someone named Marx I think. Perhaps the answer to China's urbanization, unrest, and industrialization that is causing all the repression is to implement that guy Marx's ideas and get rid of the Capitalist Pigs that run everything... wait... damn. Well, it was worth a thought."

Freedom of choice and Accuracy in voting is a winning combination. I hope.

Vote NO on Higher Property Taxes

One last post on the Special Madison School Board Referendum to Permanently Authorize Property Taxation in excess of State Revenue Caps. I can’t pretend to present the case for a YES vote better than the Madison's Progressive Daily. The Capital Times Editorial: Yes Votes Essential, because look at what voting NO entails.

Claim: “They want to sacrifice the quality of Madison schools and the city's long tradition of providing the resources needed to maintain that quality.”
Emotional Scare Word: sacrifice
Supporting Evidence: None – take it on faith.

Claim: “Whatever the motivation of the opponents, however, the change that will result from the defeat of any of Tuesday's three referendums is the same: Quality will suffer.
Emotional Scare Word: suffer
Supporting Evidence: None – take it on faith.

Claim: “But it is also a dangerous calculation, as the needs these proposals address are real. Failing to meet those needs will not make them go away and indeed could create greater needs - and greater expenses - in the future.”
Emotional Scare Words: dangerous, failing
Supporting Evidence: None – take it on faith.

Claim: “We understand that the school district will not collapse if the referendums are defeated. Children will still be educated. But educational quality will slide. And then massive infusions of new tax dollars would be needed to get standards back up to the point where they are now.”
Emotional Scare Word: none
Supporting Evidence: None – take it on faith.

There is some evidence that rational Madison citizens are beginning to see through the illogic of a total reliance on emotional appeals as evidenced in this post by Tracy.

“I had a conversation with a father at our kids "Spring Strings Concert" last week. A program for 4th and 5th graders to get music teaching that is "threatened with cancellation" if the referendum does not pass. I was undecided until speaking with him, now I am firmly opposed. The School Board often uses popular programs as "examples" of programs that will have to be cut to push financing increases. Frankly, I am willing to call the bluff.”

If you live in the Madison School District Vote NO Tomorrow. If you live outside the Madison School District, then pay attention because if this money grab works it will be copied throughout Wisconsin.

Shameless Agitator

Thank you Wigderson Library & Pub and Badger Blogger and Badger Blog Alliance, especially Jiblog, for helping start Statewide awareness of the Special Referendum problems in Madison. Special thanks to Sanity in Mad City and Dummocrats for helping to focus attention on the election issues this last weekend prior to the vote. I found one out of State posting at Rosenblog.

There are 190 Cities in Wisconsin and they are free to use taxation to raise revenue in any way that does not explicitly counteract State Law. The Cieslewicz administration has consistently demonstrated a willingness to try new and unique polices, and once they are allowed in Madison, they can be copied anywhere else in the State. Recall that local minimum wage, smoking prohibition and phosphate bans all started in Madison prior to being adopted by other Wisconsin cities. Any checks on city government behavior must come from the State, so it is wise for the Chippewa Valley and the Fox Valley and the entire Milwaukee metro area to pay attention when Madison attempts a big money grab.

Just prior the Referendum Ballot story breaking, Bryan Smith at Sanity in Mad City posed me a few questions about music. Bryan, these are your answers. There are no music files on my computer. Recorded music is stored in my jukebox. The last CD I bought was King Crimson Discipline because I really enjoyed the times I watched the guitar work of Adrian Belew up close. There is no music on at the moment and I’m administratively replacing the five song list with five memorable moments of unrecorded music since this blog began in February 2005.

Ratdog at the Orpheum, Groovulous Glove at King Club, The Junkers Reunion at the Crystal Corner Bar, Dale Watson at Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon and today.

Moma Digdown’s Brass Band marches a twisting line as they move through the crowd playing the same instruments that played at Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural. Eight guys with only horns and percussion and righteous exquisite exorbitance. It’s literally live music outside in the nice warm air with no strings attached. I purchase a $1.00 button from the International Socialist Workers Party table that reads “I’m a Shameless Agitator”.

Thank You Badger Blog Alliance

Madison is not Las Vegas. Madison voted out a Casino and what happens in Madison spreads across the State of Wisconsin. When Madison’s right to impose business with a higher minimum wage requirement was challenged in State Court, the Court allowed it to stand because it was not in logical conflict with State Law. Wisconsin municipal governments can rightfully do anything the State of Wisconsin does not forbid them to do. This includes a right to exceed state school district spending caps if voters approve the increase in taxation.

Madison School District Question 2 authorizes spending increases without making it clear that spending increase means tax increase. The word tax is nowhere on the ballot even though the increased spending can only be achieved by increased taxation. This is wording designed to obtain a yes vote rather than putting an unbiased question to a citizen. The resolution includes the phrase “and continuing thereafter” which creates a permanent right to place debt obligation upon city property owners above the debit limit authorized by the State. A debt which is reapplied year after year at the discretion of the government. A debt which can never be satisfied.

The issue with the election is that a majority of one vote can grant this permanent power to tax property even if only three people vote. Elections are devises for measuring the will of the citizens and like any measurement there can be variations in accuracy. If three people vote, no statistical theory will assert that this small a sample is an accurate representation of the majority. The smaller the sample the easier it is for the measured result to be divergent from the true reality. This is how the system is set up and it will take State Level Legislation to build in public safe guards against these special elections designed to favor and obtain a specific result. This vote is for unlimited millions of dollars.

If this election passes by a small majority the accuracy of the results must be questioned and the first question to ask is how the actual voters were identified? The way it works in Madison is that I speak my name and address and if it matches what is printed on the list then I get to vote. This is voter self-identification. The city did nothing to confirm my identity and therefore has no basis for claiming a Madison resident did the actual voting. The voter lists are just printed pages and copies can be made and lines memorized. Hi, my name is “filling in the blank” and I live at “state address”.

Election Fraud in Madison?

Shouting FIRE is always a hard choice to make but I do want to point out that there is SMOKE. Late on Friday afternoon with only one business day before the Madison School District spending referendum, city officials announced that the printed ballots sent to the “standing list” of 2,200 absentee voters have the wrong wording. Everyone in Wisconsin needs to be extra vigilant about potential Election Fraud in Madison.

“Madison school officials say corrected ballots will be ready at the polls in time for voters on Tuesday but all the absentee ballots have been shipped with the incorrect wording.”

The School Spending Referendum Questions are presented to the public in a one time, one issue, three questions, off cycle special late spring work day election Tuesday! May 24, 2005. The school district is asking for PERMINANT AUTHORIZATION to exceed State revenue caps. A successful referendum outcome locks in large amounts of money for the school districts expanded employee base despite the flat student enrollment.

“District officials said that while enrollment is down over those 10 years the staff has grown by 436 full time employees. This needs clarification: Actually, it's up even more than that -- it's 653 positions, News 3 reported.”

Is it too late to get Jimmy Carter to come monitor this election?

A Coming Skirmish in the Larger Battle

Last evening a small roomful of people gathered in a Monona, Wisconsin restaurant to be aroused into action. Kevin Pomeroy, Planning Director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin is present to outline the strategy and tactics for fighting off Wal-Mart. In his own words: "My presentation is intended to be provocative. I'm an advocate," Pomeroy said. "I'm painted throughout the state as anti-Wal-Mart and I'm proud of it."

1000 Friends of Wisconsin is a self-defined advocacy group that incorporates multiple lines of liberal thinking and distills them concisely into the slogan on their homepage: Perfecting the Places We Live and Protecting the Places We Don’t. There is so much blog talk about the lack of an expressed Democratic Party agenda for the country, but there is one and it is black and white. People need to live in cities where they can be lovingly and effectively governed and the countryside becomes a nature preserve. Consider the summation goal of their Mission Statement.

“AND A WISCONSIN WHERE all citizens recognize their responsibility to contribute to their communities and the well being of the state and nation, and do so in ways that balance self-interest with an obligation to the common good and future generations.”

What is expected of citizens? 1. Contribute to their community (government). 2. Fulfill their obligation to the community (government). The fact that the socialists hate Wal-Mart is not news and this coming scuffle in Monona is merely another skirmish in the ongoing struggle to preserve and expand citizen liberty. Monona is a small town adjacent to Madison and they should be concerned when Madison interests attempt to control the design of their community.

Cieslewicz Supports Higher Taxes - Again

Mayor Cieslewicz predictably came out in support of the Madison School Board Property Tax Increase Referendum. This is not news in the sense that Mayor Dave is a true believer in “progressive government” meaning he is in love with the conceptual “good” his vision of Madison promises city residents. The socialists are in control and on plan with their vision of a new “model city” with progressive administration.

Earlier today I heard a radio report claiming Mayor Cieslewicz justifies his support of the Property Tax Increase Referendum with the argument that good schools will attract homebuyers, resulting in increasing property values for Madison homeowners. In Democrat logik, since Property Tax equals Property Value then increasing Property Tax means increasing Property Value. The Mayor is earnestly working to find people who will literally buy into his vision. Invest in Madison and make money.

Earlier this week the City Council voted to allow low interest home loans to foreign nationals. The vote was not even close. Joel Rogers, Matt Mayrl, Janet Piraino, Jeanne Hoffman and Dave Cieslewicz are building their vision of an urban utopia and they want to sell shares of their model to any qualified buyer. The model city will have streetcars. The model city will be neighborly, eco-friendly, living wage enabled and selectively business friendly. If your business, for example a tobacco bar, doesn’t fit the grand design then absolute prohibition applies. Freedom is a relative concept after all.

If I were non-citizen I would apply for financing to buy a piece of this dream and would not be concerned about my right to vote. Taxation without representation is one of those nice sounding phrases rich people use. When you have a family to raise and the government offers you a chance at owning a home with good schools for your children, then what difference do lofty words on paper make. If the government offers to help pay for your healthcare, all the better. The Democratic Party knows better than any other organization that voting can be manipulated with psychology and cash. The rest of us should keep in mind that money and power do not keep us free; our ideals keep us free.

Velvet Darkness

Amidst all the financed hyperbole of the Star Wars Episode III opening this week, the long history of the Star Wars phenomenon has had ample attention. From the original movie release in May 1977 to the present, the film attracted and still maintains an extremely loyal fan base. A year and half earlier in September 1975 another film, a single film, also generated a loyal fan following persisting to this day. The story is still being told on stage in Madison.

Velvetdarkness The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Theater Cast

The Rocky Horror Picture Show started playing in Madison at The Majestic Theatre in May of 1978 and Madison's first shadow cast, The Dark Refrain, formed in 1984.

Our next show is May 21st, and it's Goth/Fetish Night!!! Come dressed in your favorite goth or fetish attire and participate in the costume contest to win FABULOUS PRIZES!!!

Interested in joining cast? Download an application (.rtf format) and bring it to a show!

If you apply for a position be prepared to answer the yes/no question: Are you willing to be in public in your underwear? I wonder if any “computer models” of social behavior accurately predicted this thirty year old occurrence.

The Coming Skin Crisis

The daily tour around the blogsphere demonstrates the concerns of the present are adequately analyzed so it’s a good evening to search for “the problems of tomorrow”. I don’t mean stuff like global warming which is a fictional horror story fronting a political agenda. I’m more interested in issues which will become common and complex enough to get future politicians to going “Howard Dean” on each other. Today’s candidate has great potential to be controversial by mid-century: Robot Skin.

Vladimir Lumelsky apparently picked up shop and left the UW Madison’s Robotics Laboratory for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to continue his mission to provide robots a way to feel their environment. As robots become increasing common and begin working in ever close proximity to humans, the thinking goes that you may want them to notice your presence and move to avoid a collision.

"Robots move well on their own, especially when nothing is in the way," Lumelsky explained. However, change the environment and a different picture emerges. "Robots should be able to react, but today's robots can't," he said. "That's the difference and that's got to change for exploration."

In other words, if you want automatons to reach out and touch something they need feeling. Therein lays the embryo of a developing mid-century ethical crisis. Once you have feelings you open the door for hurt feelings and the trial lawyers start lining up. George Lucas got it wrong when he gave R2D2 and C3P0 Jules Verne era bodies. When the global corporations gain control and perfect this technology all the robots will be ……… sensual?

NEWS: John Nichols Parties in St.Louis

Capital Times Editor and Madison uber-liberal John Nichols is attending the 2nd National Conference for Media Reform which concludes today. Nichols is a founder and board member of the organization Free Press, and it is his expressed desire that this meeting is the beginning of a movement to change the organizational structure of American Media. In the John Nichols view of the world, the problem is that news content is bad because the system is bad. Free Press FAQ: “Is the problem with the media bad or incompetent owners and employees?”

“No. … The main problem is that the structure of the media system makes socially dubious behavior — e.g. lousy journalism, violent and mindless entertainment, hypercommercialism — the rational outcome. … If we wish to change the nature of media content we need to change the cues so that good journalism and quality material will be the rational product of its operations. To do that requires that we change the government policies that shape and direct the media system. That is why Free Press exists.”

In other words, the uber-left is convinced that a "for profit" structure of news delivery inevitably produces a product they don’t like. The structure of the American Media is spelled out in extensive detail in the 2005 The State of the News Media Report. This is a long detailed study but two phrases from the Executive Summary PDF capture the essence of the ongoing change.

“Today technology is transforming citizens from passive consumers of news produced by professionals into active participants who can assemble their own journalism. The era of "Trust Me" journalism has passed and the era of "Show Me" journalism has begun.”

The Free Press website has speaker lists and links to bloggers covering the St. Louis conference and it strikes me the complaints distill down to a concern the capitalist system is allowing the public to decide what they want to know rather than what they need to know. In uber-left thinking, when a for profit corporation makes news product decisions based on what the public wants, the corporations are inappropriately acting as “gatekeepers” deciding what is important.

News Hounds Report: Naomi Klein: “She made the point that all liberal/progressive causes - environmentalism, reproductive rights, civil rights, anti-war sentiments, health care, increasing poverty, etc. - come up against the same wall, the mass media. Our concerns are not given coverage and debate, with the media gatekeepers deciding what is "important" to Americans and the world. Unfortunately they confirm and celebrate the very worst, they are credulous of power and contemptuous of powerless, they cheer bombs and jeer anti-war activists. … She said we don't need to reform the media, we need to revolutionize it!”

It seems to me that every single “liberal/progressive cause” Naomi Klein references has been covered over and over and over and over and over and over. If the John Nichols liberals don’t like how the public has responded to the news coverage, I still don’t understand how that is a result of corporate profit concerns censoring “ideas”. The progressive left agenda is failing because their logic is flawed, but at least they have a good time when they do gather together to complain.

Wetmachine Report: “Bob McChesney spoke on how this is a broad movement not just limited to left wing progressives. Of course, 90% of the audience *are* left wing progressives. So when he rhetorically asked “Are we just trying to tear down Rush Limbaugh and put Al Franken in his place?” Some folks got confused and shouted “YES” and big applause.”

PS: Kudos to Dummocrats Traffic Growth in an environment where Blog Traffic is Down Since the Election. As with all prior media incarnations, quality over time will prove out.

Honky Tonk Night

Saturday night is date night and Lola is grooming up real pretty for a night out in Madtown. We are heading for the Junkers Reunion at the Crystal. The old Willy Street watering hole does not have the long history of Ginny’s Little Roadhouse in Austin, but there will be honky tonking on the Isthmus tonight. Pupy Costello opens and then the scattered pieces of the Junkers get assembled one last time. TheJunkers.com is for sale if you want the domain name for future business or blog endeavors.

As a side note, morganfreeman.com is no longer available. The United Nations reclaimed it from cybersquatters and gave it back to the Oscar Winning Actor.

Update: 5/16/2005: Lola notes it is “Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon” in Austin. Lola knows Honky-Tonk and she is correct. Kenneth Burns and the rest of The Junkers wowed a packed house with one last performance for old time’s sake. Very well done guys! Kenneth is a Madison blogger at http://backwithinterest.blogspot.com/, and is working on multiple projects including a new music endeavor. Pupy Costello is definitely worth hearing on Wednesday nights at the Crystal.

sssshh! Madison Moonbat Thinking

There is a wonderful example of Madison Liberal Logik posted today at this web address:( http://www.pastpeak.com/archives/2005/05/the_price_of_be.htm ) This is a copy and paste project because to observe the true behavior of a Madison Moonbat you must remain hidden and quiet. If they realize you are watching they get agitated and flustered.

A synopsis of the story goes as follows. A local Madison resident is writing about a National Public Radio program where a prominent environmentalist author tempers his gloomy predictions just slightly enough to find glimmers of hope for mankind and nature to co-exist “at the local level”. The wisdom of Think Global, Act Local, Eat Local is perfectly clear, obviously rational and worthy of great praise.

“One calorie's worth of California iceberg lettuce requires 90 calories of petroleum energy to bring it to your table. (Maybe we should visualize our typical salads as swimming in a big bowl of diesel fuel. Now, that's appealing.) Clearly, a local food economy is a lot more rational than what we have now, and, as the age of cheap oil winds down, it's going to become increasingly necessary for our very survival. Any other way of doing things will come to seem crazy.”

The story then turns to a personal journey of discovery as the writer leaves Madison to visit Ashland, Wisconsin. Near the edge of true wilderness he experiences first hand the rapture of rural community poverty. In this place “absolute good” can be obtained.

“It was a wonderful visit and a deep learning experience. The Ashland area is rural, northwoods Wisconsin, and people generally have a lower economic standard of living there than many people do here in Madison. They have chores that urban folks don't even think about. But they also have deep bonds of community and a progressive ethos that suffuses every aspect of their lives. They are happier, more grounded, more connected with their environment and with one another — by far — than the great majority of city-dwellers. In their neck of the woods, community is an absolute good, friendships are deep, and newcomers are welcomed.”

North of Highway 29 there are places where everyone is a neighbor and all neighbors are friends. Chores like shopping take a little longer but that is a price worth paying to live in local harmony with authentic individuals like store owner Harry Demorest.

“For the tea, we stopped off to see a neighbor named Harry Demorest who runs a coffee, tea, and spice business out of a little workshop out back of his farmhouse. When we turned into the gravel driveway, we were greeted by Harry's dog, barking excitedly. Harry heard the barking and emerged from a shed in back. He took us into his fragrant, impeccably organized workshop, filled with containers of coffee, tea, and spices from all over the world. Organic products, handled with a craftsman's care.”

Madison Moonbat Logik: Act Local, Eat Local, Drink whatever arrives in cargo holds. Season to taste.

School in Broad Brush Strokes

When are you completely educated? The Madison School Board wants more money and that means higher property taxes. Education is a massive financial segment of the overall economy, but the supply and demand principles of economics are distorted by the unlimited demand for knowledge. In an infinitely complex world complete understanding is impossible. The limits on learning are desire and resources and time. Because there is no endpoint to be achieved the question becomes when is a person adequately educated?

The School Board referendum is coming up for a citizen vote on a work day, Tuesday May 24, 2005. This will be a special single issue election knowingly calculated to avoid the high turnout of broader contests. The issues are reasonably presented here with links to groups on both sides of the yes/no divide.

The education debate will be a contentious political struggle as long as financing is primarily achieved by a permanent debt obligation upon property owners. This financing system of the past was fair to the degree that children were a probable outcome of sex and society benefited from children having a basic education. For the last two generations, however, having children is an option, and families with fewer children allow parents to focus more resources on a greater breadth of learning for each child. In the reality of planned families, the old way of funding education is increasingly unfair to segments of the population. Fairness can only be approached when those people who decide to have children assume a higher portion of the cost of their education.