FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 21, 2006
CONTACT: State Representative Robin Vos
608-266-9171
(RACINE) A new countywide sales tax proposal by the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is a lump of coal in Racine County taxpayers’ holiday stockings according to State Representative Robin Vos (R-Caledonia). In addition to the 5.1% sales tax Racine County residents already pay for the state sales tax and for the Brewer’s Stadium, an additional .0375% sales tax would be added to fund a new commuter rail system in Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee Counties.
“Increasing taxes to fund mass transit is just not an option,” said Vos. “Racine County is already taxed to death and citizens shouldn’t have to dip in their wallets again.”
The idea of expanding commuter rail to southeastern Wisconsin is not new. Its feasibility became dim when the Chicago commuter rail system decided it did not want to connect with one in Wisconsin. However, Wisconsin moved forward and money was set aside via a car rental tax to fund a study of a commuter rail system that would extend from Kenosha through Racine to Milwaukee. The study is now completed and it proposes to build train stations in Caledonia, Racine and other places along the route paid for by sales tax money generated in all three counties.
“I am not opposed to commuter rail service, but I think people who never ride the system shouldn’t be forced to pay for it,” said Vos.
The study shows ticket fares would only cover 26% of the cost of operations with state and federal subsidies covering an additional 66%. Local taxpayers would be forced to make up the difference through the additional sales tax.
Vos noted that 78% of the respondents to his 2005 fall legislative questionnaire said they did not support a tax increase to fund a commuter rail system. “Clearly my constituents have shown through these results and the last election that they don’t want new taxes,” said Vos. “While going door to door during the campaign people consistently said they did not want their taxes increased – period. I can’t imagine they would support an increase for commuter rail.” Vos is concerned that once the new sales tax is put in place it will be impossible to get rid of it. He compared it to the Brewer’s Stadium sales tax which is supposed to end in 2014, but only if all the debt is retired. Costs of the stadium have been three to four times greater than expectations so there is no guarantee it will end in the next seven years.
“I’ve been working the last two years to end the Brewer’s Stadium tax in 2014 debt free or not,” said Vos. “It’s easy for government to start a new tax, but not end it. The taxpayers of Racine County have been deceived once with a short-term tax that sunsets; I won’t let them be deceived again.”
The RTA proposal will now have to gain state approval through the legislative Joint Finance Committee of which Vos is a member.
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THANK YOU REPRESENTATIVE VOS and Merry Christmas to you!!!
Well you had 2 weeks to determine the last country and I see that no one posted...either you thought it was really hard or you are just to chicken to guess.
The last country was Ecuador.
This weeks country should be pretty easy...3 out of 10. Good Luck!
Look at this photo and see for yourself!!!!!!!
Thank you Drudge for pointing it out...and AP Photographer Lawrence Jackson for posting the photo.
The press is all over the story that President Bush would support a Federal increase to the minimum wage if it came with tax incentives for small business.
Wow…this is the same bill that the Republicans tried to put through before the election, the Democrats fought it, the bill was ultimately defeated, and the Republicans did not make political hay out of it!
Think about it folks Democrats voted against a minimum wage increase because it came with tax cuts for everyone…what makes the President think that Democrats are going to roll on the idea of targeted tax incentives to small businesses?
Here is what we need to point out to our Liberal friends:
88% of States (44 of 50) have a state minimum wage
38% of States (19) have a minimum wage that is higher that the Federal level (Wisconsin being one of these states)
So if a State can raise their minimum wage higher than the Federal level…why do we need to raise (much less have) the Federal minimum wage?
Once again I had an opportunity to spend some quality time in another country (Italy this time) and see first hand just how hated we (the US) really are.
Here is what happened…
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…nothing!!
So once again I have to agree with the “main stream media” we are just hated around the world!
I had quite a few conversations with people from Turin, Milan, and Brazil and found that all of the people I talked with are still in great awe of the US. They want to either come to the US or be more like the US.
We are still the greatest country on Earth and will be for a long time…assuming that we don’t elect Hillary Clinton to the White House! :)
Well it looks like interest in this is starting to wane but I like it so I’m going to continue with it.
Two weeks ago the country I posted was Turkey (get it? I posted it on Thanksgiving…I know bad joke!)
Last week’s was pretty easy: France!
I’ve decided that this week’s will be a bit harder only because I will not be in this country to post one next week so you will have to wait two weeks for the next installment.
I think this is a 9 out of 10 difficulty wise…I hope you think it’s easier than I do.
I get drawn into articles with titles like this:
Richest 2% hold half the world’s assets
But once you read the story you realize something that the Left forgets…rich is a matter of perspective!
The first sentence of the article states “across the world that the richest two per cent of adults own more than 50 per cent of the world’s assets while the poorest half hold only 1 per cent of wealth.” While most might find this shooking and stop reading at this point they would miss the most important part…that they are most likely in the top 50% and maybe even in the top 10%!
“Adults with more than $2,200 of assets were in the top half of the global wealth league table, while those with more than $61,000 were in the top 10 per cent.”
Are you one of 37,000,000 people that have over $500,000 in assets? Then you are in the top 1% of the worlds wealthiest.
I don’t know about you but that isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. I always thought that once I reached the top 10% I would have a lot more than just $61,000!!
Thanks to http://www.opensecrets.org much of the data is available to the public.
Below is the top ten largest all time giving organizations.
- American Fedn of State, County, & Municipal Employees
- AT&T Inc
- National Association of Realtors
- Assn of Trial Lawyers of America
- National Education Assn
- Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
- Laborers Union
- Service Employees International Union
- Goldman Sachs
- Communications Workers of America
For the last 9 election cycles (1990-2006) these organizations have contributed over $278 million!! Of that 80%...let me repeat that 80% of those funds went to support DEMOCRAT candidates!!
$223,897,759 went to democrats
$ 53,490,761 went to republicans
If you think that is bad wait until you see this:
- 99% of Communications Workers of America donations went to Democrats
- 98% of AFSCME donations went to Democrats
- 97% of Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers donations went to Democrats
- 96% of Service Employees International Union donations went to Democrats
- 93% of National Education Assn donations went to Democrats
- 92% of Laborers Union donations went to Democrats
- 90% of Assn of Trial Lawyers of America donations went to Democrats
- 61% of Goldman Sachs donations went to Democrats
Only AT&T and National Assn of Realtors gave more to Republicans…
- 56% of AT&T donations went to Republicans
- 53% of National Assn of Realtors donations went to Republicans
We find that for the same time period (1990-2006) the top 101 organizations donated $1,377 million, of which 59% went to DEMOCRATS where only 40% went to Republicans!!!
The difference is over $264 million more to democrats or about $29 million per election!
Only 7 organizations donate 80% or more of their money to republicans while 20 organizations donate 90% or more of their money to democrats!
Just some thing to think about.
From The Tennessean by Samuel Shu
Flatulence, not turbulence forces plane landing in Nashville
The FBI questioned a passenger who admitted she struck the matches in an attempt to conceal body odor, Lowrance said. The woman lives near Dallas and has a medical condition.
The flight took off again, but the woman was not allowed back on the plane.
"American has banned her for a long time," Lowrance said.
President Bush was harsh on those that refused to confirm Bolton:
"They chose to obstruct his confirmation, even though he enjoys majority support in the Senate, and even though their tactics will disrupt our diplomatic work at a sensitive and important time," Bush said. "This stubborn obstructionism ill serves our country, and discourages men and women of talent from serving their nation."
“Ambassador Bolton led the successful negotiations that resulted in unanimous Security Council resolutions regarding North Korea's military and nuclear activities. He built consensus among our allies on the need for Iran to suspend the enrichment and reprocessing of uranium," Bush added. "His efforts to promote the cause of peace in Darfur resulted in a peacekeeping commitment by the United Nations. He made the case for United Nations reform because he cares about the institution, and wants it to become more credible and effective."
Polonium-210 has a half-life of 138 days, and it decays to stable lead-206 by emitting an alpha particle. One-thousandth of a gram (1 mg) of polonium-210 emits as many alpha particles as 5 g of radium-226. The energy released by its decay is so large (140 watts/g) that a capsule containing about half a gram reaches a temperature above 500ºC.
Human Health Fact Sheet, August 2005 Argonne National Laboratory, EVS
Today is November 30th.
That means we are on the 334th day of 2006!
There is only 31 days left until 2007.
There are only 25 (counting today) shopping days left until Christmas.
Today is Ben Stiller, Bo Jackson, Billy Idol, Ridley Scott, G. Gordon Liddy, Dick Clark, Winston Churchill, Samuel Clemens, and Jonathan Swift’s birthday.
Scotland is celebrating St. Andrews day, Barbados is celebrating Independence Day, and the Philippines is celebrating Andres Bonifacio day.
Today is National Methamphetamine Awareness day in the US.
Officially hurricane season is ended today – with ZERO hits to the US this year!
Seeing how no one guessed last week’s country…this week we will have two!!
Last week’s Country (Hint: Think about the day this was originally posted!)
This weeks Country is real easy one. Difficulty: 1 out of 10.
Just so that we can be clear, Loophole is defined as “an ambiguity or omission in the text through which the intent of a statute, contract, or obligation may be evaded.”(www.m-w.com)
That being said State Senator Jon Erpenbach is calling for a HUGE tax increase that will affect every Wisconsinite.
Here is his logic: the state sales tax law has provisions in it that exempt certain types of goods and services from being taxed. Many of the exemptions were made due to some interest group petitioning legislators that they should be exempted. These exemptions were written into law. Mr. Erpenbach wants to change the law and thereby increase taxes.
He is stating that he is just “closing a loophole” but that is why I gave you the definition of loophole at the beginning. There is no loophole to close. The exemptions are written out and are stated very clearly.
Mr. Erpenbach wants the people of Wisconsin to believe that this is not a tax increase when in fact it is.
I nearly forgot this today!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!!!!!
Last weeks country was...Sri Lanka!
Good luck this week...I give this one a 3 out of 10.
“promote freethought and defend the constitutional principle of the separation of state and church.”
Um…the Constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting free exercise there of.” Where is this separation principle they talk of? Oh yeah…Thomas Jefferson talked about it and the Supreme Court has said it but the Constitution does not!
If you are curious about this group and want to know what does the organization does you only have to look at there purpose page to see that they are honest about what they do.
“What does the Foundation do?
Files lawsuits!”
Here are my thoughts on the Racine Nativity debate:
Who is paying for the nativity to be put up? A private citizen and people who support him – NO GOVERNMENT FUNDS.
Was any religion excluded from putting up a display on public property? NO! In fact no one else even asked!
Should Racine have extended an offer to other religious and non-religious organizations to see if they wished to place a display? NO! That could be construed as exclusionary if the city missed an organization.
Personally, I am not very religious and I am offended that an organization such as FFRF is butting their nose into this situation! The Constitution prohibits the government from making laws establishing a religion or prohibiting the free exercise there of but FFRF would like to see laws that do just that…prohibit the free exercise of ones religion.
Mr. Wortock should be commended for his commitment to his religious belief and not made to defend them because a few people are offended. Mr. Wortock went before the city of Racine and asked if he could exercise his freedom of religion on public grounds…the fact that he had to ask permission to do that by its self is a shame…but the city saw fit to allow him to do it.
FFRF should either…ask to put up their own display or allow this man to exercise his freedom.
Every response I got from these outlets kept pointing to sources inside of the Selective Service System that were seeking for increases to their budget…like every governmental agency. The media truly believed that the Republicans wanted the draft.
Well now the facts are out and I think that the next couple of weeks will be interesting. How will the media report this news? Will they turn this on the Bush Administration? Who am I kidding? Of course they will!!
Here are the current facts as reported by the AP and printed in the Washington Post:
Rep. Rangel Will Seek to Reinstate Draft
Did anyone else see Comic Relief Saturday night?
I enjoyed most of the show until the Bush bashing really started.
Billy Crystal did a great skit in which he portrayed an old musician displaced by Katrina but during the skit he asked “how America could forget a city?” Continuing the skit he asks “why it took the President 5 days to come to New Orleans but since it took Cheney 2 days to tell us that he shot his friend, what is 3 more days?” In the skit he asked the Mr. Bush to “stop your war for a day and send the money to New Orleans. Just one day…maybe 2 and spend that money here to rebuild New Orleans.”
A number of times during the show it was pointed out that the Republicans lost and that the Democrats will be much better for America.
Well I just want to point out once again that the people of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana were governed by Democrats and they were unable to keep their people safe. Democrats failed to act in light of one of the worst disasters that area has ever seen. The Democrats failed to ask for help from the Federal Government. Democrats put into place an evacuation plan that put thousands of people in a stadium that was ill prepared for the disaster. A Democrat failed to use the busses that were under his control to evacuate the people of the city of New Orleans.
All of this was done by Democrats and the hate for the Republicans grows. They vilify the Bush Administration for not acting…but ignore that their beloved Democratic officials failed them more than the Federal Government. Not only that, they reelect these same incompetent Democrats to continue to govern them.
System
Screen shot
Compared to today….
Last weeks country was: Bangladesh!
This week’s country is pretty easy since its shape is so distinct.
I’d rate this country a 5 out of 10.
REMEMBER ONLY POST UNRESEARCHED ANSWERS! Thank you!
So it begins…the long road to socialism is beginning once again this time with Nancy Pelosi at the helm.
The Christian Science Monitor has the following Op-Ed by Nancy herself:
In her article she states the Democrats “agenda for change” which includes the following:
- Make America safer by implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 commission. (A worthy cause…are democrats willing to make the sacrifices necessary to implement these recommendations? They fought the Patriot Act tooth and nail and that was a corner stone of much of the 9/11 commission.)
- Make our economy fairer by raising the minimum wage and ending taxpayer subsidies for sending jobs overseas. (Artificially inflating minimum wage has a ripple effect though the economy that directly affects the price of goods and services and thereby prices only puts people in the same situation not a better one. It harms small businesses that do not have the ability to raise wages and therefore causes a net loss of jobs.)
- Make college more affordable by cutting the interest rates on student loans. (When was the last time you heard a parent or student talking about the interest rate of student loans as a consideration of attending college? College should be available to everyone but everyone should not attend college.)
- Improve healthcare by allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices and promoting stem-cell research. (hmm…expanding Medicare into drugs and what of the Prescription Drug Program? Sounds to me like more overlap and more government waste. Stem-cell research I think is a worth while endeavor…but not for the federal government. Lets allow the drug companies to do this research.)
- Achieve energy independence within 10 years by investing America's energy dollars in the Midwest instead of the Middle East. (Interesting…considering Nancy does not want us to further drill for oil of the coast of California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, or Florida!!! Nor does she want us to drill for natural gas, in what has been called one of the largest natural gas deposits in the world, in ANWR (Alaskan Natural Wildlife Reserve). So is she suggesting we move to a Ethanol based society? Is she willing to give up here SUV and her jet…I doubt it!)
- Guarantee a dignified retirement by improving Medicare, protecting Social Security, and making it easier to save for retirement. (Since when is retirement something that is GUARANTEED by the Federal Government!!!! This one pisses me off!! Social Security and Medicare was meant to be a safety net ONLY and the Democratic Party has warped it into some demented entitlement program that has put the US Budget into a tailspin…there is only one way to correct it and that is to privatize the whole thing…not just part of it like GW Bush wanted but the WHOLE thing. Make the system as we now know it disappear within the next 40 years!)
What do you know…She’s right!! The Democrats did not disappoint!
What she laid out, with exception of point one, is exactly what we expect from the Left…more government and less control by the people!
My election day hang over will be with me for the next 2 years…hopefully by then we will find a few Conservative Republicans, unlike what we’ve had for the past 6 years!
Framers Branch is a little town in Texas (population around 28,000) that has decided to up the ante in the illegal alien issue in this country.
The six member common council voted unanimously to enact the following sweeping ordinances:
- English is the cities official language
- Fines for business owners that employ illegal aliens
- Fines for landlords the rent to illegal aliens
- Immigration screening of suspects in the custody of law enforcement
The AP is reporting the story under the following headline:
Texas city OKs anti-immigration measures
Pardon me?!? I do not see anything in what they passed that could possibly be construed as ANTI-immigration!
This town, which will now become the subject of many lawsuits (from illegal aliens mind you!), is doing the right thing! If people wish to come to this country then do it legally. Our country’s back bone was made by hard working immigrants but illegal acts are by definition ILLEGAL and wrong.
Theodore Roosevelt said:
"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
Remember the name Farmers Branch…It will be important one day.
Those of us on the Right are disheartened to lose on Tuesday but what if you were this guy (article here) and your spouse had to ask if you voted for yourself because you lost the race and receive ZERO votes!
What would you do in his situation?
We all heard it…Russ Feingold has announced that he will not seek the Democratic nomination for the Presidency in 2008.
A question needs to be asked though…is this really a good thing?
For all of Russ’s faults (being a left-wing wacko for starters) he is an honest man. He typifies what the American public says that they are looking for in a President. Russ states what he believes and acts in the same fashion. I have not found an instance where he has “voted for it before (he) voted against it.”
The landscape has not really changed in the Democratic camp now that Feingold is out. But I would have loved to see how the “mainstream” Left would have coped with Russ’s “telling it like it is” style.
Well last weeks country was guessed correctly!
The Czech Republic was created in 1989 when Czechoslovakia separated to form 2 independent countries.
This week’s country is an 7 out of 10.
For all those that have children…I’m sorry.
For those in the service…I’m sorry.
For those that pay taxes…I’m sorry.
For those that thought today would be brighter…I’m sorry.
For all those that voted for Democrats…I’m sorry.
You see today is a sad day in America. We have just put people into power that have said that they will:
- Take more money away from families with children by eliminating the child tax credit that the Bush tax cuts doubled.
- Use the war in Iraq as a political tool and embolden the terrorists by giving them what they want…a withdrawal of our troops.
- Raise everyone’s taxes by “rolling back the Bush tax cuts.”
We all wanted the same thing today…a brighter future, but what we are getting is a lack of vision. The only thing that Democrats promised was a change in leadership; they got it, so what now?
They do not have a plan for Iraq that would be a winning solution.
They do not have a plan for continuing a robust economy.
They do not have a plan for allowing people to keep more of what they earn.
They do not have a plan for growing America.
But they have the reigns of power and I wait with bated breath to see how they will ‘fix things.’
Nancy Pelosi most likely would become the next Speaker of the House if Democrats walk away with this year’s election.
Now I know that I have already stated that the Republicans will retain control but there are a number of nay-sayers out there that think we are going to lose.
Well to those that are worried about losing I want to stress the importance of voting and making sure that your conservative friends and family vote or else Nancy Pelosi could end up as speaker.
Check out this Op-Ed in the Washington Times today and maybe you’ll see why that would be so very bad!!!
A look at Pelosi's voting record
Well I guess the last one had the desired effect…one person got it right…and the regulars didn’t even try!
Last weeks country was: Nicaragua!
This week’s country is a little easier, I’d rate it a 6 out of 10.
Here are my predictions for next weeks elections:
Senate:
- We will lose Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Rhode Island.
- Close races that will still have Republican wins I believe will be Montana, Missouri, and Ohio.
- There is a possibility of picking up Nebraska, New Jersey, and/or North Dakota. I predict we will pick up one of these seats.
NET: -2 seats in the Senate. Republicans retain control.
House:
NET: -8 seats in the House. Republicans retain control.
Governor:
- Green by 2 points (51 - 49)
- Gain 2 governorships currently held by Democrats; lose 4 governorships currently held by Republicans.
NET: -2 governorships. Republicans retain control of state governorships by 1 state.
Great Job angel-m-t! Last week's country was Thailand!
This weeks is a bit harder I’m going to put it at a 7 out of 10 on the difficulty scale.
I want to see some thoughts people!!!
Good luck!
Those who made calls on a mobile phone for more than four hours a day had the worst sperm counts and the poorest quality sperm, according to results released yesterday at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans.
Doctors believe the damage could be caused by the electromagnetic radiation emitted by handsets or the heat they generate.
Um…okay?
Are we sure that these guys are using it properly?
While that is not an unusual statement for me I am very perplexed when I see headlines like the following:
SC Johnson given award by PETA for pulling ad featuring cartoon crows hitting windows.
What is worse is the content of the press release from PETA that states:
“replacing an ad showing animated crows crashing into window panes with a truly funny ad, in which the conniving crows get the last laugh as they watch while a human walks into a glass door.”
Readers digest version:
ANIMATED crows hitting window: sad, horrible, not funny.
REAL humans hitting window: happy, terrific, very FUNNY
Why aren’t these nut jobs talking about cruelty to animals in the new commercial, I mean while the guy might be an actor or a stunt man he does do a convincing job of running into the window!
Do these PETA people actually think that crows are watching the commercials and are feeling slighted? If so, do they not think that humans are doing the same?
Do they really think that an ANIMATED crow that is ANIMATED to fly into a window will really make people try to force real crows to fly into windows? That is just nuts.
I thought that both commercials were funny. If SC Johnson changed the commercial due to any pressure from people about cruelty to animals then I want the current ad pulled due to cruelty to humans.
Last weeks country was of course India.
I’m surprised that the rest of you didn’t get it…I thought it was pretty easy.
This weeks country I would rate a 3 out of 10 (10 being the hardest.)
AP: U.S. population hits 3 million milestone
I’m sure they will correct this before anyone can view it but this was the headline I was greeted to this morning.
3 million?!?! I thought we were approaching 300 million?
The articles first sentence is “The nation's population officially hit 300 million at 7:46 a.m. EDT Tuesday, when the Census Bureau's population clock rolled over to the big number.”
So I guess someone just got lazy typing in the extra zeros!
Reuters: Climate change inaction will cost trillions: study
Really? Hmm…I’ve read this article a few times and the only thing I see that would cost anything financial would be action not inaction.
This is just one more scare tactic from the environmental terrorist groups.
I do not believe the media when they talk about how hate we are throughout the world but I do think that many people, primarily uneducated people, abroad think we wield too much power.
Take for instance the following headline:
US Hopes for Vote on NKorea Sanctions
This headline illustrates to the world that we in the US hope that the people of North Korea like not having the things they need the most, like food and other necessary supplies. While this is not what we are really trying to achieve it is what is perceived.
I’ve talked before on sanctions…they hurt the people we are trying to help. Do you think for one minute that Kim Jong Il is going to stop what he is doing to prevent harm coming to his people?
When dealing with lunatics that govern over people we can not hope that the lunatic will act sane enough to protect his/her people.
So here is the dilemma: How do we respond to the treat North Korea poses while not adversely impacting the people of North Korea?
The Left likes to talk a lot but in the end it is just hot air. The Right is usually too afraid to do too much because they will be considered tyrannical. The Left is screaming that North Korea did not develop nuclear weapons during the Clinton Administration. The Right is yelling that Clinton placated the Koreans and looked the other way while they continued the research.
So who’s right and who’s wrong? It does not matter. What matters is how we handle the current situation.
Personally, I think the Administration is moving down the wrong track by looking at sanctions…we will only “breed more hatred” by allowing the people of Korea to think that we do not care for their welfare. It is time for decisive action, it is time for critical thinking, and it is time to formally announce that North Korea has nothing to offer the US and walk away.
Yes you read that right I am proposing that the US just simply walk away. There is no reason for us to get bogged down into this mess. The Administration did a good thing by walking away from unilateral talks with North Korea. Let the people of that region deal with this issue.
We should only state the following. “Any attack on our allies, of which Japan and South Korea both are, is an attack upon the US. If they are attacked we will respond with the full force of the US military.” Then let the 6 party talks continue.
The dilemma we have is to look like bad guys for pushing sanctions or pissing of a dictator who might have nuclear weapons. It worked for Reagan in Reykjavik, we should try it again.
Last weeks country was a little hard but not real bad!
I’d rate it a 7 out of 10 on the difficulty scale.
If you didn’t get it (and didn’t look at the comments) it was: South Africa
Here is this weeks country…I’d rate it a 2 difficulty.
Please post what country you think this is...not a researched answer. Thank you.
They now have a timeline…will Democrats finally shut up?!?!
Army: Troops to stay in Iraq until 2010
State Rep. Spencer Black is going to once again try to introduce legislation that he claims will help schools become “a safe place to teach.”
His bill would allow school districts to disregard the state imposed spending cap if the upgrades are deemed by the school district to be necessary for school security.
While this seems like a noble cause let us be realistic, in all of the school shootings that have taken place there was no cause for an increased level of security until the day of the incident!
If there is one thing that we can take from all of the acts of violence in schools is that it will occur in schools you would least like to expect it.
Do you think there could be any connection between the timing of these two events?
North Korea conducts first nuclear test
U.N. taps South Korean as next leader
Congratulations, another Nobel Prize to an American!!
Economics: Edmund S. Phelps for his analysis of intertemporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy.
In an interesting news story from the Journal Times this afternoon, “Police responded an estimated 650 feet to the City Haul Lounge, 835 Washington Ave. at 12:27 a.m. Thursday to perform an alcohol compliance check upon receiving the complaint.”
What I found most fascinating about this article was the following:
“In addition to issuing citations and making arrests, authorities also recovered one handgun in the bar’s bathroom and two other handguns that had been abandoned in the bar area.”
I’ll be curious to see if there is any follow up on this part of the story.
The Journal Times has been very vocal in there opposition to conceal carry in Wisconsin but when people have guns illegally or simply abandon them when the police arive, it becomes nothing more than a footnote in their story.
Where is their cry that there are too many guns out there? Where is the explanation for the guns? Did the reporter just decide that this was ok?
“Should the death penalty be enacted in the state of Wisconsin for cases involving a person who is convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, if the conviction is supported by DNA evidence?”
This wording will be on the November 7th ballot throughout Wisconsin and is NOT a binding referendum. What this means is that even if 100% of the people support or reject the referendum it will NOT change the current law of the State. The purpose of this is to determine if there is any support for this penalty…if there is the legislature MAY try to reinstate the death penalty in Wisconsin.
I broached this topic a week ago and said that I would weigh in on the debate. In light of the recent press release from No Death Penalty Wisconsin I thought it might be time to state my opinion on the subject.
I’ll start by saying I will be voting ‘Yes’ for this referendum.
Here is why:
- The death penalty is an effective deterrent is used and promoted.
- First-degree intentional homicide is meant for people that meant to kill someone and therefore the most heinous.
- (The Left hates this one…) If it is legal to kill an innocent child before he/she has a chance at a life…why isn’t it legal to kill a guilty person who has intentionally taken the life of another?
- DNA evidence is conclusive.
If this does move forward I would like to see the wording changed to “first-degree intentional homicide” since under the current wording reckless homicide would be included. I’m not as comfortable having people put to death for acts that unintentionally caused a death whether reckless or not.
The pro-abortion crowd always tries to turn this on its ear and say that if we are pro-life then we can’t be pro-death penalty. I say BS! The taking of an innocent life is far different from taking a guilty one. I have no moral reservations or consider my opinion hypocritical if you do that is your moral dilemma, not mine.
Lastly the “No Penalty” group is currently going around the state with at least on person who has been exonerated due to the DNA evidence that proved he did not commit murder! So DNA works…both ways!! If we can set people free based on DNA why can we not punish them for the same evidence?
Vote “Yes.”
Well it looks like everyone got last weeks country right…it was…Germany!
Great job everyone!
This weeks should be a little harder…but not much harder!
Nobel Prizes are awarded this time of year and here are the current outcomes:
Physiology & Medicine: ANDREW Z. FIRE, and CRAIG C. MELLO for their discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA.
Physics: JOHN C. MATHER and GEORGE C. SMOOT for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
Chemistry: ROGER D. KORNBERG for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription.
Literature: TBA
Economics: October 9th
Peace: October 13th
Congratulations to all!
