Saturday, May 18, 2013

Wisconsin Added 19,000 Jobs in 2012


Worst in the Midwest


Related posts: 
Scott Walker all a-tingle over yesterday's news.  (5/18/2013)
From the looks of it, Wisconsin's jobs loss is in free fall.  (5/18/2013)
Spin Cycle: The Walker Administration Diverts Our Attention from the Latest (Disturbing) Jobs Numbers. (5/17/2013)
Bringing up the rear in job growth.  (3/8/2013)
Wisconsin ranks 43rd in job growth during the past year.  (11/23/2013)

Scott Walker is All A-tingle Over Yesterday's News

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We interrupted this program to bring you a special news bulletin.

Wisconsin leads nation in job losses during April 2013.


Related posts: 
From the looks of it, Wisconsin's jobs loss is in free fall.  (5/18/2013)
Spin Cycle: The Walker Administration Diverts Our Attention from the Latest (Disturbing) Jobs Numbers. (5/17/2013)
Bringing up the rear in job growth.  (3/8/2013)
Wisconsin ranks 43rd in job growth during the past year.  (11/23/2013)

From the Looks of It, Wisconsin's Jobs Loss is in Freefall


Related posts: 
Spin Cycle: The Walker Administration Diverts Our Attention from the Latest (Disturbing) Jobs Numbers. (5/17/2013)
Bringing up the rear in job growth.  (3/8/2013)
Wisconsin ranks 43rd in job growth during the past year.  (11/23/2013)

Friday, May 17, 2013

Excavation is Underway for a New South Hadley Public Library




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Related post:
All about the library:  current and future.  (11/22/2011)

Did Leo McCarey Ever Attend the Cannes Film Festival?

Ducking Rain and Competition at Cannes. (The New York Times, 5/16/2013)

Excerpt: For many, the Cannes Film Festival summons up shimmering images of beautiful men and women drifting up a red carpet as photographers shout their names. “Leo!” “Carey!” “Leo!” “Carey!”

Perhaps.  The festival dates back to 1939, and McCarey lived until 1969.

"Going my Way", released in 1944, is certainly one of McCarey's best-known films.  He won the Oscar for "Best Director", and the movie received the "Best Picture" award.  (I guess this much better effort was just too noir, downbeat, for Academy voters.)  His most productive period, however, was the 1920s and 1930s.



He is also directed the movie where the Marx Brothers are at their best.


Of the 35 films that McCarey directed, the first in 1921, only 5 were produced after 1948, including this sentimental favorite.

A Proposal to Create an Obesity Map for Eau Claire, Wisconsin

WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and Sports

City of Eau Claire considers "obesity map"

Excerpt:  Eau Claire's Comprehensive Plan has a health chapter. It's a lengthy document designed to encourage healthy living. There are many ways a city could go about doing that. One of several ideas the city is proposing is an "obesity map". 

City of Eau Claire Associate Planner, Ned Noel, says, "So that the map would describe possible areas that people are more overweight." 

 It's a unique step that's never been done in Eau Claire before. The data would be calculated usingthe body mass index. 

"By mapping we can get a sense of what neighborhoods in the community that might need some more attention," says Lieska Giese, with the Eau Claire City-County Health Department.




Revenue Growth: On the one hand......on the other hand.....



Photo credit:

Spin Cycle: The Walker Administration Diverts Our Attention from the Latest (Disturbing) Jobs Numbers

The trumpets are blaring to draw attention to this report.  (Not the latest numbers.)


Let's put this number (62,072) in perspective.


In other words, Wisconsin needs to generate 188,000 jobs in the next 2 years in order for Scott Walker to reach his goal of 250,000 new jobs.


Oh, but what's this?


A lot of 22.600 private-sector jobs.

Any statement on this number, Scott?

Here's the DWD news release.


Note the headline (red arrow):  Wisconsin Employment & Unemployment Estimate Announced:  March Revised, April Preliminary.

Then note the twin spin.

No mention is made of this tidbit on page 3.  (That would be the loss of 22.600 private-sector jobs.)


More spin

Photo credit:  Wisconsin State Legislature

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Tea Party sez "Jump!"; Republicans on Joint Finance ask, "How high?"

LINK to news release


The Redistricting Weasels Sing a Chorus of "Because I said so!!"

Report: No evidence files deleted in bad faith in redistricting case. (Wisconsin State Journal, 5/16/2013)


"Contumacious" is defined by Merriam-Webster as "stubbornly disobedient", which, to me, concisely sums up Republicans' behavior in this sorry series of redistricting episodes.

Related posts:
Common Cause in Wisconsin asks, "Do your state legislators support non-partisan redistricting reform?"  (5/14/2013)
A trio of non-responses in this redistricting story.  (4/22/2013) 
Expect a Frigid Reception from Wisconsin Republicans to This Redistricting Bill.  (12/7/2012)
Close, but no cigar, in this Republican redistricting effort to steal an Assembly seat.  (11/20/2012)
Redistricting in Wisconsin:  The plumber controls the spigot.  (11/15/2012)
Eric Litke can't see the forest for the trees.  (11/12/2012)
Robin Vos and religious imagery.  (10/15/2012)
The faces of gerrymandering.  (10/9/2012)
What it's all about in Wisconsin.  (8/1/2012)
Who's running for state office in Wisconsin:  31st Assembly District.  (7/4/2012)
Not anymore!  (2/7/2012)
Redistricting in Wisconsin:  the Basics.  (12/6/2011)
Define "judicial activism".  (12/3/2011)
More headaches but this time Sen. Lazich has the cure.  (10/27/2011)
Legislative redistricting in Wisconsin, part 2.  (10/24/2011)
Legislative redistricting in Wisconsin,  part 1.  (10/18/2011)
Legislative Reference Bureau legislative brief:  Local redistricting readjustment.  (9/6/2011)
Let's call this bill exactly what it is:  an unfunded mandate.  (7/21/2011)
Wisconsin redistricting plan popeils DeForest, Windsor.  (7/21/2011)
Fred Clark gets redrawn out of  his district?  Just a coincidence, of course.  (7/21/2011)
Oshkosh Northwestern editorial board tells it like it is.  (7/29/2011)
Wisconsin legislative redistricting:  Abandoned principles, interactive maps, bill text, and more. (7/13/2011)
Congressional redistricting in Wisconsin.  (6/19/2011)

Scott Walker: "We take our responsibility of good stewardship very seriously"

Yes, folks, it's another Maalox moment.





State stewardship funds trimmed by $18 million.   GOP lawmakers also want 10,000 state-owned acres sold. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/15/2013)

Governor Scott Walker Statement on 79th Annual Wisconsin Conservation Congress


Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Chapter-a-Day (4): Republican Obstructionism


NLRB Nominations May Be Blocked By GOP, Rendering Labor Board Inoperable. (Huffington Post, 5/14/2013)

Excerpt:   The five-member board, which is tasked with enforcing labor law and settling disputes between companies and workers, must have a quorum of at least three members in order to issue decisions. It currently has the bare minimum -- and only because of the president's recess appointments to the board, which have been jeopardized by an unfavorable appeals court decision, known as Noel Canning, that deemed them unconstitutional in January.

Related post: 
Chapter-a-day 1.  (5/12/2013)
Chapter-a-day 2.  (5/13/2013)
Chapter-a-day 3.  (5/14/2013)

Dom Giordano, a Little Perspective is Overdue at AM 1210


Dom Giordano: A little sense is overdue at the Library. (Philadelphia Daily News, 5/15/2013)

Dom is shocked!.....shocked!.... -- actually, he really is, folks -- that the Philadelphia Free Library is allowing kids to be irresponsible freeloaders, in his worldview, by being exempted from paying library fines.

But some libraries, Dom, are going even farther.

Late? No, fine. (Boston Globe, 3/25/2012)

Some Massachusetts public libraries doing away with fines altogether, including this quartet:
No fines for EVERYONE, Dom.

Excerpt:  “Every transaction, which was often only 10 or 20 cents, had a cost associated with it,’’ Mollet said. 

 “At the rate we were collecting fines, the management cost was greater than the revenue.’’

OK, Dom, I hear the snicker.  Massachusetts?  Bluer-than-blue, "not-access-but-agenda" Massachusetts.

Well, how about a little Georgia on your mind?

Library System won't charge overdue fines. (Clayton Daily News, 3/30/2011)

Clayton County (GEORGIA) Public Library.

Seven years ago, Marilyn Gardner dared asked the following question in the Christian Science Monitor: Is the lifting of library fines long overdue?




Oh well, Leslie.  As Joe E. Brown said, "Nobody's perfect."  (Dom and Leslie are two peas in a pod when it comes to this Merriam-Webster definition of conservative::  tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions : traditional.

Full disclosure:   For 22 years, I was the Director of a public library that eliminated overdue fines in 1970!!!  It works, people; it's worked for 43 years.



Indiana's Johnson County Public Library 2013 Summer Reading Program Promotion



Johnson County Public Library

The Ottawa Public Library Promotional Video: It's Got a Beat and You Can Dance to It!



Ottawa Public Library/Bibliotheque publique d'Ottawa

Julie "Boom Boom Bump" Bosman and Pat "Boom Boom" Travers

Words and music association.

E-Book Sales a Boon to Publishers in 2012. (The New York Times, 5/14/2013)


What Pat Travers has to play.



Hey, Eric, who invited you?

BookStats 2013: It's Not All About Ebooks

5/15/2013 Association of American Publishers news release.

Excerpt:   BookStats Volume 3, the most comprehensive survey capturing the size and scope of the US book publishing industry in calendar year 2012, is now available for purchase.  

Some One highlights of this year’s report:



Related posts:
Staying ahead of the learning curve.  (4/9/2013)
"Books are dead yet," sez Salon.  (3/21/2013)
Ebooks and the hype of emerging technology.  (1/8/2013)
Based on this column graph, print books are not likely to go away anytime soon.  (1/2/2013)
Printed books still lead ebooks by a significant margin.  (12/28/2012)
Ebook market pauses to take a breath.  (12/25/2012)
Year-to-date book revenues:  Jan-Jul 2011 and Jan-Jul 2012.  (11/1/2012)
Libraries get screwed when it comes to price of and access to ebooks.  (9/10/2012)
Millennials lead the way....to fewer bookstores?  (8/22/2012)
Ebooks sliding down the peak of inflated expectations.  (8/18/2012)
Adult hardcover book sales hold their own, paperbacks sales drop in 1st quarter of 2012.  (6/17/2012)
Library ebook circulation skyrockets @ the Greendale Public Library and throughout Wisconsin.  (5/29/2012)
In so many words:  Libraries will have a place at the table. (4/30/2012)
3M Cloud Library ebook lending service goes beta at select libraries.  (4/28/2012)
Pew Research:  The rise of e-reading, summarized. (4/5/2012)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution attempts to get a handle on the ebook era.  (4/2/2012)
And I quote from "Bringing Up an E-Reader".  (3/29/2012)
The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board weighs in on ebooks and libraries. (3/19/2012)
Carl Zimmer responds to Franzen.  (1/31/2012)
It's only Monday but this is still the best ebook headline of the week.  (1/20/2012)
Jonathan Franzen has something to say about ebooks.  (1/30/2012)
As they have been doing all along, libraries adapt to technology.  (1/29/2012)
Floating an Idea: The Harvard Library Innovation Laboratory's Library License.  (1/17/2012) 
Getting in line @ your library for ebooks.  (1/15/2012)
The Post-Christmas ebook sales surge. (1/10/2012)
Honey, we've been 'trying' it.  For years.  (12/25/2011)
Chris Bohjalian on our totemic connection to books.  (12/20/2011)
Hold that bricks-and-mortar bookstore obituary.  (12/13/2011)
Your local public library: The greenest option of all in the ebooks vs. print books debate.  (12/11/2011)
Go directly to Amazon, do not pass library.  (11/3/2011)
Ebooks in U.S. public libraries.  (10/22/2011)
How ebook buyers discover books.  (9/27/2011)
Cookbooks make the transition to digital publishing.  (9/27/2011)
Redefining what an ebook is and who gets to publish it. (9/19/2011)
The L.A.Times on ebooks: An Amazon tablet, push into interactivity. (9/16/2011)
The Economist:  "Great digital expectations".  (9/16/2011)
Lev Grossman presents a short history of the reading device..  (9/6/2011)
Speaking of gadgets, here's the latest iteration of ebooks.  (8/25/2011)
Sounds like another digital divide in the making.  (7/30/2011)
Libraries and ebooks:  Any book, not any time soon.  (6/1/2011)
On the distinction between the book reader and the book owner.  (5/10/2011)
Demand for ebooks grows exponentially in Wisconsin.  (5/2/2011)
Struggling to find an ebook common agenda between libraries and publishers.  (4/5/2011)
Ebooks and libraries:  "The challenges just keep piling up".  (3/28/2011)
Publishers Weekly tracks ebook sales.  (3/18/2011)
Word is getting out:  Ebooks @ your library.  (3/18/2011)
Ebooks continue to gain market share.  (3/17/2011)
Publishers look to bottom line in formulating ebook policies for libraries. (3/15/2011)
News stories on HarperCollins ebook decision go mainstream.  (3/5/2011)
9 years of book sales:  trade and ebook.  (2/17/2011)
Will ebook readers be wooed by Barbara Cartland?  (2/12/2011)
The impact of ebooks on libraries.  (2/11/2011)
OverDrive news release: Library eBook circs up 200% in '10. (1/10/2011)
Mashable: 5 ebook trends that will change the future of publishing. (12/29/2010)
Christmas 2010 the tipping point for ebooks?  (12/24/2010)
Ereader as brown paper bag.  (12/9/2010)
The ebook reader compatibility surprise.  (12/3/2010)
Ereader ownership:  Survey says....  (11/30/2010)
David Carnoy asks, "Does the Kindle pay for itself?" (11/29/2010)
Need to repair that ebook reader?  (11/19/2010)
Who uses an ereader:  Survey says....  (9/22/2010)
Book industry wrestles with print vs. pixels.  (9/2/2010)
Coming soon to a screen near you:  Ads in ebooks.  (8/20/2010)
Ebooks now comprise 8.5% of book sales. (8/12/2010)
Genre paperback publishers drops print.  (8/6/2010)
Ebooks and libraries.  (5/4/2010)
Ebooks eliminate a free form of adversiting:  the book jacket.  (3/31/2010)
Ebooks: another round of false promises?  (3/19/2010)
The skinny on ebooks.  (3/8/2010)
Hardcover vs. ebook:  Breaking down the costs.  (3/1/2010)

The Tea Party Tail Wags the Presidential Candidate Dog

Or dogs, in this case.

Walker, Jindal in letter to Obama call IRS scandal ‘Big Brother come to life’. (Wisconsin Reporter, 5/15/2013)

Let's peak behind the curtain of this story.

Scott Walker disavows controversial tea party group.  (Mother Jones, 6/4/2012)

Photo credit:  State of Wisconsin

Just like Mighty Mouse, Walker is here to save the day, and to make a big public stink to improve his revenue stream.

Jindal, on the other hand (paw?), needs something to keep his mind off the problems at home.


Walker and Jindal.  Is this a Koch brothers' fantasy for the 2016 Republican Presidential ticket?

Obama Derangement Syndrome: The Mitch McConnell Edition

Management Flaws at I.R.S. Cited in Tea Party Scrutiny.  (The New York Times, 5/14/2013)


From the same mouth that gave us this.


It became something of a tag line for him, complete with smirk.



The Real IRS Scandal.  . (The New Yorker, 5/14/2013)

Excerpt (with bullet points and bold added):   It’s important to review why the Tea Party groups were petitioning the I.R.S. anyway. They were seeking approval to operate under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. This would require them to be “social welfare,” not political, operations. 

There are significant advantages to being a 501(c)(4). 
  • These groups don’t pay taxes
  • they don’t have to disclose their donors—unlike traditional political organizations, such as political-action committees. 
In return for the tax advantage and the secrecy, the 501(c)(4) organizations must refrain from traditional partisan political activity, like endorsing candidates.

Oh, what's this?


Excerpt:    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell picked up an endorsement Tuesday from a national tea party group, continuing his courtship of groups advocating limited government as the Republican tries to head off a primary challenge as he seeks a sixth term next year. 

The endorsement from TheTeaParty.net comes as McConnell rakes in campaign cash and airs television ads while Democrats look for a challenger to the longest-serving senator in Kentucky history. 

Hope they're not a 501(c)(4).

From 2011.  All in the name of social welfare.

Tea Party Inc.  A 3-part series from Mother Jones, published in 2011.

Perhaps the special attention was justified.

Expect more "can't-see-the-forest-for-the-trees" reporting on this developing story.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The Geography of Hate: Warren PA 16365


The Geography of Hate. (Floating Sheep, 5/13/2013)



% of population that is white in 2010:  96.8%.

Chapter-a-Day (3): Republican Obstructionism

Running On Empty: GOP Obstruction and Government Vacancies. (Before It's News, 5/14/2013)


Related post: 
Chapter-a-day 1.  (5/12/2013)
Chapter-a-day 2.  (5/13/2013)

No, Paul, your colleagues communicated their vision quite clearly

It's why you're not occupying a certain office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Rep. Paul Ryan's Irving Kristol Award address: Conservatism and community.

An excerpt.


Enjoy the trip!

The Wall Street Journal asks, "But, really, when was the last time you spent any time there?"

Anyone care to respond?



Photo credit:  Mfield (via Wikipedia)

The Library's Future is Not an Open Book.  (The Wall Street Journal, 5/13/2013_

Excerpt:   In cities across the nation, the central public library came into being when the country was young and striving to impress. Charles F. McKim's Italianate palazzo-style library opened on Boston's Copley Plaza in 1895; in 1921, Renaissance austerity suited Detroit's Main Library designed by Cass Gilbert, while architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue chose Egyptian Deco for Los Angeles's downtown Central Library of 1926. Architecturally grand, the central library was both beacon and monumental tribute to learning and civic pride; a people's palace with knowledge freely available to all.

What Words of Wisdom Should the Dalai Lama Share with Members of the Wisconsin State Legislature?

Dalai Lama to Speak to Wisconsin Legislature. (WMTV, 5/14/2013)


Sources:
20 Wise Quotes from the Dalai Lama.
Dalai Lama Quotes, Quotations, Sayings, Words, Wisdom.

Common Cause in Wisconsin Asks, "Do Your State Legislators Support Non-Partisan Redistricting Reform?"


Common Cause in Wisconsin

More specifically, have your state senator and representative signed on in support of Senate Bill 163/Assembly Bill 185?

Right now, it's a mostly blue world.


To complete the Senate blue portion of the picture, we need Lassa, Miller, and Shilling.

To complete the Assembly blue, we need Bewley, Doyle, Kessler, and Richards,

On the Republican side, we need 17 senators and 59 representatives.  But then the latest redistricting process worked out quite well for them.


Specific guidelines of the legislation include:
  1. The plan must be based on population requirements imposed under the Wisconsin Constitution and the U.S. Constitution and requirements imposed under Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act,  (Sidebar:  Texas Republican Party Platform Calls For Repeal Of Voting Rights Act Of 1965)
  2. The senate and assembly districts established in the plan must satisfy equal population standards specified in the bill.
  3. District boundaries under the plan must coincide with municipal ward boundaries and, to the extent consistent with the Wisconsin Constitution, the U.S. Constitution, and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, must coincide with the boundaries of political subdivisions.
  4. Districts must be composed of convenient contiguous territory.
  5. To the extent consistent with the requirements described in items 1. to 3., districts must be compact.
  6. In preparing the plan, the LRB must be strictly nonpartisan.

Related posts:
A trio of non-responses in this redistricting story.  (4/22/2013) 
Expect a Frigid Reception from Wisconsin Republicans to This Redistricting Bill.  (12/7/2012)
Close, but no cigar, in this Republican redistricting effort to steal an Assembly seat.  (11/20/2012)
Redistricting in Wisconsin:  The plumber controls the spigot.  (11/15/2012)
Eric Litke can't see the forest for the trees.  (11/12/2012)
Robin Vos and religious imagery.  (10/15/2012)
The faces of gerrymandering.  (10/9/2012)
What it's all about in Wisconsin.  (8/1/2012)
Who's running for state office in Wisconsin:  31st Assembly District.  (7/4/2012)
Not anymore!  (2/7/2012)
Redistricting in Wisconsin:  the Basics.  (12/6/2011)
Define "judicial activism".  (12/3/2011)
More headaches but this time Sen. Lazich has the cure.  (10/27/2011)
Legislative redistricting in Wisconsin, part 2.  (10/24/2011)
Legislative redistricting in Wisconsin,  part 1.  (10/18/2011)
Legislative Reference Bureau legislative brief:  Local redistricting readjustment.  (9/6/2011)
Let's call this bill exactly what it is:  an unfunded mandate.  (7/21/2011)
Wisconsin redistricting plan popeils DeForest, Windsor.  (7/21/2011)
Fred Clark gets redrawn out of  his district?  Just a coincidence, of course.  (7/21/2011)
Oshkosh Northwestern editorial board tells it like it is.  (7/29/2011)
Wisconsin legislative redistricting:  Abandoned principles, interactive maps, bill text, and more. (7/13/2011)
Congressional redistricting in Wisconsin.  (6/19/2011)

Monday, May 13, 2013

Dr. Joyce Brothers (1927-2013)



Dr. Joyce Brothers, Psychologist Who Made House Calls Via TV, Dies at 85. (The New York Times, 5/13/2013)

Excerpt:   Throughout the 1960s, and long beyond, one could scarcely turn on the television or open a newspaper without encountering her. She was the host of her own nationally syndicated TV shows, starting in the late 1950s with “The Dr. Joyce Brothers Show” and over the years including “Ask Dr. Brothers,” “Consult Dr. Brothers” and “Living Easy With Dr. Joyce Brothers.” 

She was also a ubiquitous guest on talk shows like “The Tonight Show” and on variety shows like “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”

Among her books.


Hmm, the Dane County Library Service classifies it as "fiction".



The Baraboo Public Library Promotes Its 2013 Summer Reading Program



Baraboo Public Library

So You Say, Governor Walker


Actions speak louder than words.

According to the Sierra Club, here's Gov. Walker's environmental record during his first year in office.
  • Stopped all new wind energy projects in the state 
  • Cut funding for the Gaylord Nelson – Warren Knowles Stewardship Funding by 30% 
  • Undermined Wisconsin nationally recognized energy conservation program 
  • Abolished the state Office of Energy Independence 
  • Carved out a special exemption from wetlands protections for a campaign contributor 
  • Eliminated the requirement that municipal water supplies be disinfected 
  • Called a special session for the purpose of passing legislation to roll back water pollution and wetlands law 
  • Appointed as DNR Secretary as state Senator with one of the worst environment voting records in the Legislature.
  • Sought to severely weaken mining laws to benefit an Appalachian mining company that want to build a massive strip mine in our north woods

And don't forget our ATV and snowmobiling traditions, sez DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp.

See also "The dirt on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's environmental record".

Chapter-a-Day (2): Republican Obstructionism

G.O.P. Delays on Nominees Raise Tension, (The New York Times, 5/11/2013)


I'd expect better behavior from a group of prepubescents.

Related post: 
Chapter-a-day 1.  (5/12/2013)

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Chapter-a-Day (1): Republican Obstructionism


G.O.P. Delays on Nominees Raise Tension. (The New York Times, 5/11/2013)

Excerpt:   Nominees at all levels of Washington’s bureaucracy — 117 of them in all, including cabinet secretaries, judges and members of obscure oversight boards — are facing delays. Just last week, the Senate confirmed David Medine, the president’s choice to lead the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The time between his nomination and confirmation was 510 days. Every Republican voted no.

Here's a sample from the disturbing Sen  Chuck Grassley.

Wherein he talks about war from the comfy confines of the U.S. Capitol.

For example, would Mr. Medine’s view apply to wartime situations? 

Would we have to admit those whose country was at war with the U.S.?

Old "Blood-and-Guts" Grassley, of course, is not speaking from experience.