Not at all unexpected by anyone who lives in Wisconsin. Speculation that Barrett would run for governor has been mounting ever since the incumbent governor announced that he would not seek reelection. Mayor Barrett became a bit of a hero, even nationally, when he intervened in a domestic dispute and attempted to help a woman and her 1-year-old granddaughter while he was leaving the Wisconsin State Fair back in August. The injuries he sustained but has since healed from slowed down his decision to enter the race. But it's on.

Barrett faces two hard-line Republicans. My early prediction is that he will face Mark Neumann in the general, and Barrett will win.

Joe Stern, the former mayor of Niagara, Wisconsin announced on Monday that he is running for the Eighth Congressional District seat that is currently held by two-term incumbent Steve Kagen (D). Mr. Stern will be running as a "conservative independent" (same thing as an independent conservative?), and will be challenging both Rep. Kagen and which ever Republican enters the race. The Florence Mining Nnews/WildRiversNews.com has the story.

While I would hope the token Republican challenger is not going to be John Gard, who's already lost to Kagen twice, it would be rather amusing to see him try again only to have his voters get scozzafavaed by Stern.

Niagara is very likely a lovely town in the northeast corner of Wisconsin. Surveying the area on Google Maps, we see that it is right on the Wisconsin-Michigan border, and located near the Spread Eagle Barrens State Natural Area. That area actually sounds like a pretty good place to visit. It's also near the Ford Airport, all of which could make for a great reason to have a friend fly us up there some time. (Cuz we have the time...)

(h/t TPM.)

Very exciting! A bit of a dream come true. But most of all, this represents an important moment in the political life of Milwaukee County.

A little background first. Milwaukee County and its seat of Milwaukee, Wisconsin has been known decades ago for being a base of clean government. Milwaukee's four Socialist mayors ran some of the cleanest ships in history; none were accused of corruption or grift. Sadly, that legacy is far in the past.

Shortly after the recent turn of the century that Milwaukee County was rocked by news that the county board had been duped into voting for a pension deal that would cost the County government millions of dollars while boosting the pensions of hundreds of present and future retirees, including the then-current members of the county board.

In the tumult that followed, most of the county board was subjected to recall elections, and most were booted from office. A county supervisor from the suburban Milwaukee area named Scott Walker ran for County Executive, promising great "reform." However, his "reforms" have consisted of trying to privatize much of the County government, and the already pared-down county parks and bus systems have been further shredded by Walker's reactionary regime.

The latest county budget proposal is out, and, in short, it would do what I said above. But it would do much more, closing public wading pools, swimming pools, and community centers. And he expects the county workers to take substantial pay cuts, face possible jobs cuts, and pay an extra $0.25 to take the bus anywhere for a total fare of $2.25. Should they want a transfer, he expects them to pay an extra 25 cents, just for the privilege of getting a transfer. 

It's bad.

That is why I have joined with friends and colleagues to form the group Milwaukee County First. While this group exists not just to fight County Executive Walker's budgets and slow strangulation of Milwaukee County government, that is our focus at this time.

Today, I will be hosting Milwaukee County First's premiere press conference. A number of respected local elected officials, union leaders, and community leaders will be joining us at this press conference to speak out against Scott Walker's latest budget, including state Senator Spencer Coggs, state Assembly Representatives Fred Kessler and Jon Richards, and County Board Chairman Lee Holloway.

Other speakers are County Supervisors Gerry Broderick and Chris Larson, Milwaukee Alderman Robert Baumann, AFSCME Rep. Dave Eisner, Peggy Schulz of the Transit Riders Union, and Jack Norman, Fiscal Expert from Institute for Wisconsin's Future.

Holding a press conference is something I've always seen myself as doing. (Strange what he sometimes dream of, isn't it?) I'll let you know how it goes later this afternoon.

As user of Apple's computers since 1981, I've watched with some interest as Apple evolved from an apparently wide-open technology company to a profoundly leak-resistant company. (Anyone remember the Mac the Knife column in MacWEEK?) Apple's lawsuit against the Mac rumor site Think Secret ruffled many feathers, leading at least one person to ask if Apple was becoming "Microsoft-like" in its conduct.

It has and it hasn't. As our fair editor pointed out, Apple has maintained a close integration of its hardward and software, and "always strived for beautiful, cool, elegant, and [easy-to-understand] interfaces, while most things in the wintel world are clunky/geeky/and for some hard to understand."

And furthermore, the licensing of Microsoft's products is infamous. Attempting to reinstall Windows on a computer requires you to (somehow) liberate the license number from the old computer, or even the old hard disk. Even if this has started to change, they're still sticklers for the license number. To much the opposite effect, I've never had to enter a license number when dealing with an Apple product -- make that any Apple product, be it produced in 1981, 1991, 2001, or so on.

But there's one overriding quality about Microsoft that stands out in my mind: groupthink. It permeates Microsoft's corporate culture, and, I imagine, its most devoted user base. The prevalent groupthink (that and the fact that I'm not a computer programmer) is a large part of why I could never work at Microsoft, or be a Republican. An ad for employment in Microsoft's group that makes their iPod knockoff illustrates it to a tee.
 

This is from The Register:

"As previously reported by TechFlash in December, Microsoft has posted
job listings for positions at its Musiwave subsidiary that involve
incorporating Musiwave technology into the Zune Marketplace.

" 'The Zune organization is making a strategic change from a 3rd party
content provider to in-house," reads one Musiwave job post. 'We need
to rebuild, re-architect, and revitalize a content ingestion pipeline
[emphasis added] that powers the entire Zune business. And we have a very
short time to do it.' "

While I've only seen a few listings for employment at Apple, I never saw one that had such overwhelming and buzzword-compliant groupthink in its core. Groupthink was at the antithesis of what made Apple such a revolutionary company in the early 1980s, and probably some of what led to its near downfall in the mid-90s. While Microsoft has used groupthink to its advantage to achieve a de facto (and now slowly eroding) monopoly, it's still nothing that I want to be a part of, or use if I don't have to.

What we know for sure is that the non-grassroots Tea Party movement descended upon Milwaukee, Wisconsin today and held a rally at a public lakefront park. (It could very well have been one that the city's famous socialist government created.) Among the featured speakers: Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who is currently running for Wisconsin governor on the Republican ticket; Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who is a rabid right-wing man but runs as a Democrat to fool voters (which sadly works); and Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. Joe the Contractor Plumber.

Apparently a man provoked some of the teabaggers, eventually causing a large group of them -- incluing Joe the Unlicensed Plumber -- to chase him. What we know for sure is that he was beaten, and that Joe the Unlicensed Plumber may have taken a swing at him. Blogger Renee Crawford saw what happened and provides a detailed report. She writes:

"Then Joe the Plummer joined the tussle. I kid you not. I have no idea his role in it, just that he was IN THE MIDDLE of the crowd. The sheriffs get there, I turn to look at Joe the Plummer and the next thing I know the guy being assaulted by the crowd is bloody on the ground under the knee of two sheriffs and being cuffed. His face was bloody, there was something about a broken camera and I became scared of the crowd who were cheering and congratulating the sheriffs for "doing a great job"...

We will have to wait until the sheriff's report comes out tomorrow. I can't help but wonder if our DINO right-wing sheriff will attempt to tamper with the report, or prevent Joe the Contractor Plumber from being listed as an assailant -- if he indeed was in on it. I wasn't there, so I just don't know.

Yup. "Stay in school." That pretty clearly translates to Obama saying "kill white people" and "nationalize the banking system." That's what my special chip implant that lets me decode the subliminal messages that Obama is sending to our nation's schoolchildren... you can read it right here and find it for yourself! And if you still think that's what the President is saying... you need to get a grip. Unless you too believe that his birth certificate was stored on the top floor of the World Trade Center. In which case, carry on.

A proglottide, if you're wondering, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, is a "segment in the strobila of a tapeworm, containing a complete sexually mature reproductive system." That is a fitting word here, as I imagine that there are some sad people who think that any message from our good president is nothing better than a tapeworm segment. Where were you while the last president was misspeaking his way to a futile, expensive war and getting us into the current financial mess that our grandchildren are going to be paying for?

The right has been winning the health care reform debate through their use of fear.

It's time to use it right back.

Insurance costs going through the roof as the industry that profits on people's ill health prospers.

More people losing their jobs and homes because of it.

The economic hole deepens worse than before.

All thanks to you.

The top headline right now on TPM is "Knock Me Over with a Feather," which discusses a supposed "grassroots activist" who claimed to be "just a mom" at town hall held by Rep. Steve Kagen (D-WI). But she is a "GOP official and former staffer for candidate who the host of the town hall beat last year," who is none other than John Gard, former Wisconsin Assembly Majority Leader, and a Republican.

It is important to note that Kagen beat Gard not once, but twice. Gard was very divisive while in the Assembly, the Wisconsin equivalent of the House of Representatives. He led the effort to pass a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage or civil unions. He tried to force Milwaukee deeper into a hole started by former Gov. Tommy Thompson. He reveled in his power. But he took a cost of commuting stipend while living in Sun Prairie, a suburb of the state capitol of Madison. That and his record in the Assembly caused the people of Wisconsin to dislike him. Specifically, the people from northeast Wisconsin around Green Bay didn't like him. He tried to run for Congress in 2006, but lost 51-49%. The 2008, he lost by an even bigger margin.

We thought he actually would have to get a job after handily losing the second race. Apparently his former staffers need to do so as well.

From the Milwaukee County First web site:

What is Milwaukee County First?

Milwaukee County First is a grassroots network of organizations and individuals from all walks of life, united to amplify their voices in the cause of stopping the decline of Milwaukee County, restoring its assets and services to their former first class status, and keeping Milwaukee County a place where people will want to work, to play, and to live.

Milwaukee County is a shadow of what it once was.  Its parks, once a necklace of jewels, are now unkempt and overgrown.  Its transit system, once a yardstick for the nation, is now fighting for its very survival.  The social services and safety net that Milwaukee County once provided has been scaled down so much that the State of Wisconsin had to intervene to protect the most vulnerable of the county's citizens.  Its infrastructure is crumbling and years behind in necessary repairs.

The causes of this decline in Milwaukee County's status are many, from the dire economic times we are in, to local leaders, past and present, who have put their self-interests before those of the people they serve.  It is time, if not beyond time, for civic leaders to once again put the interests of Milwaukee County first.  It is time to make Milwaukee County a first-class economic and social region for the State of Wisconsin and the entire Midwest. This is why residents from throughout Milwaukee County have come together to form Milwaukee County First.

Milwaukee County First is a registered 501(c)4 non-profit organization based in Milwaukee County.

• • •

Come and meet us Wednesday night, July 15, at Drinking Liberally.  We will be at the Sugar Maple, located at 411 E. Lincoln Ave. tonight at 7 p.m.

Learn how you can help us help Milwaukee County, and let us know what issues you would like to see addressed.

See you there!

Full disclosure: I serve on the Milwaukee County First board of directors, and I am the host of Drinking Liberally.

Quitters are the new fighters.

Did he pay for his seven day trip to walk in the woods Argentina himself, or did the state of South Carolina pay for it? I hope for their sake that he paid for it himself. This should be looked into if it has not already been addressed.

It is understandable that the good governor of South Carolina may need to make a hasty exit from politics, being a rabidly pro-traditional marriage man who's since run aground on the coast of Argentina. Tonight's installment of The Colbert Report should prove awfully interesting watching, with the show's faux chickenhawk host being a native son of South Carolina.

But should Mr. Sanford need an eventual rehabilitation, I can recommend no better place to start it than on The Colbert Report. Even if Colbert himself (who I have apparently elevated to great status) does not wish to extend forgiveness, it would be something to see Sanford under the gaze of the character who so ably embodies and mocks right-wing pundits. Stephen Colbert's tough love may yet await.

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn admits to having an affair with Jessica McBride. (Or should I fully quote "prominent local journalist Jessica McBride" for full comedic effect?)

Video on TMJ-TV.

(WTMJ is owned by Journal Communications, which also owns the conservative daily paper Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. McBride once wrote for that paper, and had a right-wing talk show on WTMJ. To be clear, the story that was going to break in today's paper instead "broke" on air last night... buteither way, Journal Communications profited off the folly of their right-wing hack. Ain't local media monopolies great?)

This quote on WALLAH! is stunningly clear now:

"If Jessica McBride says she wants to interview your husband for a feature story, don't leave the room."

Let's hear it for journalistic integrity!

For my primary blog's full coverage of Ms. McBride, please see my one and only previous post on the matter.

Also: Brew City Brawler has a very lengthy post on this.  

Also 2: Illusory Tenant thoughtfully pointed out that McBride teaches journalistic ethics at UWM, yet she and the chief committed a Class I felony. We have to wonder if her once-mighty D.A. husband will press charges.

One of the most enduring qualities of science fiction is that given time, much of it comes true. That's not always a good thing, though. While we have yet to achieve something resembling the BAMA sprawl that is portrayed in William Gibson's Neuromancer, the dystopian future of burning books envisioned in Ray Bradbury's classic Fahrenheit 451 is trying to be realized in West Bend, Wisconsin. Four overly-zealous citizens are seething about and suing the city about a book that they claim has caused them emotional strain simply by being in the library and accessible to children.

The book in question is "Baby Be-Bop" by Francesca Lia Block, and the ostensibly traumatizing material in the book has to do with that most dreaded of things that should not be written about much less made available to teenagers who may be questioning their own identities -- homosexuality. According to an abstract about the book, the protagonist's "idyllic childhood... ends when he enters adolescence and recognizes homosexual feelings." To make matters worse, the similarly dreaded "N-word" appears somewhere in the book.

The four people in question have filed a lawsuit against the city, not only in hope of having the book banned from the West Bend library, but also seeking $120,000 in compensatory damages ($30K a piece), the resignation of West Bend Mayor Kristine Deiss for allowing the book to enter the library, and have asked to be granted "the right to publicly burn or destroy by another means the library's copy of Baby Be-Bop." [Emphasis added.]

Perhaps what the would-be plaintiffs need instead is a nice box of Denham's Dentifrice, or Denham's Dandy Dental Detergent. Or perhaps they need a lifetime supply of ketchup, which is said to contain natural mellowing agents. It may be just what they need to help them through this trying time in their lives. After all, if one small book on a shelf in a library can so impact these people's lives, they're going to need a lot of ketchup.

Though this will doubtlessly cause the hounds to be loosed in pursuit of me or the firemen to pay a visit, I say that this suit should be thrown out. I'm not a lawyer, but I personally believe their lawsuit has a snowball's chance in Dubai. And though I'm not a lawyer, this sort of case is precisely what interests me in becoming one, just so that I can fight indignant radicals who seek to ban, censor, or do worse to books and other sorts of media.

Mpeterson has the backstory on this whole situation.

Indeed, FOX's mastery of 20th century technology has more than doubled my best-ever stats number on my blog! I'm really happy about that. A few days ago I had been wondering why it was a relatively low-traffic site, but then this happen, and, WHAM!, they love me! Sure, half the stuff has been debunked, but that's not the point. It's great to have the traffic. And the piece on beatings happening at Palin rallies was posted over a week ago, but better late than never, right?

If you feel so inclined, I would appreciate it if we had some folks on our side commenting and helping to beat back some of the Obama-haters in the audience.