Hello, Wisconsin independent voters, Scott Walker is polling at 6% in Iowa

Iowa race wide open. (Public Policy Polling, 5/22/2014)

Related posts:
If that's the case, Walker should immediately announce that he's not a candidate for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination.  (5/23/2014
The Marquette University Law School poll asks the question, Do Wisconsin voters want to see Walker run for president in 2016? (5/22/2014)
"Scott Walker" tied with "None" for 1st choice in CNN/ORC Republican Presidential preference poll.  (5/8/2014)
Another Presidential primary poll, another 5% showing for Scott Walker.  (5/1/2014)
I hope Scott Walker had a good Easter cuz Donald Trump is outpolling him in New Hampshire. (4/20/2014)
Fox News: Scott Walker polling neck-and-neck with Rick Santorum.  (4/17/2014)
Iowa Republican caucus voters not singing Scott Walker's song.  (4/10/2014)
Scott Walker still "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again".    (4/4/2014)
While Mary Burke campaigns for Governor, Scott Walker continues to run for President.  (3/28/2014)
The Washington Examiner offers a boost to Scott Walker Presidential campaign without a hint of irony.  (3/26/2014)
Let's do an ID update on this Townhall straw poll.  (3/25/2014)
Scott Walker for President 2016: Pundits like the idea but the public sez "meh".  (3/16/2014)
Scott Walker is in a bind.  (3/15/2014)
Christie/Walker meme, part 3.  (3/8/2014)
Christie/Walker meme, part 2.  (3/7/2014)
Christie/Walker meme, part 1.  (3/7/2014)
The chattering class falls hard for Scott Walker, but the voters are still scratching their heads.  (3/6/2014)
So he, too, can embarrass himself.  (12/30/2013)

Three out of Four Integrys Execs Contribute to Scott Walker

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Follow the Money

Integrys Restructures, Promotes Leaders In Corporate And Regulated Segments. (News release, 5/23/2014)

Do they at least get a side of fries with their title change?  The company's board approved title changes for Integrys Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jim Schott to executive vice president and chief financial officer and Integrys Vice President of Human Resources & Corporate Communications Bill Laakso to vice president and chief human resources officer. Integrys Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charlie Schrock noted these title changes are consistent with industry norms and recognize these leaders' substantial responsibilities in their respective areas.

The board also appointed two current executives to new roles that were created due to changes in the structure of the company's regulated utilities. The new organizational structure is built around Integrys' two core utility business segments: electricity and natural gas.

Charles A. (Chuck) Cloninger, president of WPS and UPPCO, has been named executive vice president to the new electric segment. This includes Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (natural gas and electric services) and Upper Peninsula Power Company. W

William E. (Bill) Morrow, vice president of Gas Engineering, has been named executive vice president to lead the new gas segment. The natural gas segment includes North Shore Gas, Peoples Gas, Michigan Gas Utilities, and Minnesota Energy Resources Corporation.

If That's the Case, Walker Should Immediately Announce That He's Not a Candidate for the 2016 Republican Presidential Nomination

And that neither will he run as Vice-President.

Walker says support from independents is key to winning second term. (Appleton Post-Crescent, 5/22/2014)

Source:  Marquette University Law School Poll

Related posts:
The Marquette University Law School poll asks the question, Do Wisconsin voters want to see Walker run for president in 2016? (5/22/2014)
"Scott Walker" tied with "None" for 1st choice in CNN/ORC Republican Presidential preference poll.  (5/8/2014)
Another Presidential primary poll, another 5% showing for Scott Walker.  (5/1/2014)
I hope Scott Walker had a good Easter cuz Donald Trump is outpolling him in New Hampshire. (4/20/2014)
Fox News: Scott Walker polling neck-and-neck with Rick Santorum.  (4/17/2014)
Iowa Republican caucus voters not singing Scott Walker's song.  (4/10/2014)
Scott Walker still "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again".    (4/4/2014)
While Mary Burke campaigns for Governor, Scott Walker continues to run for President.  (3/28/2014)
The Washington Examiner offers a boost to Scott Walker Presidential campaign without a hint of irony.  (3/26/2014)
Let's do an ID update on this Townhall straw poll.  (3/25/2014)
Scott Walker for President 2016: Pundits like the idea but the public sez "meh".  (3/16/2014)
Scott Walker is in a bind.  (3/15/2014)
Christie/Walker meme, part 3.  (3/8/2014)
Christie/Walker meme, part 2.  (3/7/2014)
Christie/Walker meme, part 1.  (3/7/2014)
The chattering class falls hard for Scott Walker, but the voters are still scratching their heads.  (3/6/2014)
So he, too, can embarrass himself.  (12/30/2013)

WKBT Might Want to Follow Up on This Statement

Gov. Walker weighs in on sand mine controversy.  (WKBT, 5/23/2014)

In a county with an area of 742 square miles?   There are about 135 sand mine operations in Trempealeau County, the most of any county in the state.

Source:  UW Extension

Other frac sand mining posts:
Scott Walker continues his "Thank You for Your Contributions" Tour.  (5/23/2014)
What a mere $8,000 will buy you in the Scott Walker House of Favors,  (3/30/2014)
Frac sand mining and property values: Homeowners vs. landowners.  (3/30/2014)
Nevertheless, transparency would have been in the general pubic's best interest.  (3/15/2014)
Wisconsin Towns Association has second thoughts about that "gentler" frac sand mining regulation bill. (3/4/014)
Scott Walker likely to support Tom Tiffany's new mining bill.  (2/27/2014)
The vision of Trempealeau County as one big mining operation -- nipped in the bud.  (2/20/2014)
Glenwood City Council members defeat their recall challengers by a hair.  (12/18/2013)
Wyoming's Republican Governor has a message for Wisconsin mining industry's "Tom Terrific".  (11/24/2013)
The mining industry's "Tom Terrific" gets pushback from his Republican colleagues.  (11/18/2013)
In so many words: Dear Sen. Tiffany, Your bill sucks, Sincerely, Pepin County Board.  (11/13/2013)
Follow the Gogebic money.  (11/7/2013)
Sand mine industry leaders put our minds at ease.  (11/5/2013) 
Scott Walker donor promises jobs, permanence for Independence and Whitehall residents.  (10/29/2013) 
Sen. Tom Tiffany's sand mine bill a hot potato.  (10/28/2013) 
Another Walker campaign donor for SB349.  (10/25/2013)
Expensive to the Tune of $430,505.49 (as of June 30, 2013).  (10/25/2013) 
The Nipper Chronicles: The frac sand mining masters speak.  (10/18/2013)
Things aren't so tranquil in Glenwood City Wisconsin lately  (10/10/2013)

More Democratic Than Republican Senate Primary Voters in Kentucky

 

Source: Senate Primaries Results by State (Politico)

Jersey City Free Public Library Renovation

GoFundMe.  $950 down, $2,999,050 to go.

History of the Main Library

The Appropriately Named Water Street in Warren Pennsylvania (March 1956)

Letter from Mom (May 17, 2006). Am also enclosing a picture of the '56 flood. Barb tho't you'd be interested in seeing it. Someone must have given it to Dad. Before the dam was built.

The old St. Paul's Lutheran Church, where Dad served as pastor from 1957 to 1971, is just visible to the left in the above photo.

Warren, PA:  The Flood of 1956 and other photos

Clara Swanson Carlson (1941-2014) Warren High School Class of 1959

Source:  1959 Warren High School Dragon yearbook 

Clara spent 8 years in the top 10 during the last 2 decades of the 19th century.  She's now experiencing something of a comeback.  I would have guess Clara had fallen off the chart by the 1970s  Maybe it has everything to do with the mid-20th century membership of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, but it has always struck me as a decidedly old-fashioned name.

A top 210 song in May of 1959.



And not a hair of my flattop was out of place.

So as a result, you want your government to make it harder for you to vote?

People say the darndest things. 

From the latest Marquette University poll, 5/21/2014.

 

Related posts:
The cat's got Fitzgerald's tongue.  (5/14/2014)
I can see how these pie graphs from a 2005 report might have informed the discussion for voter ID proponents.  (5/11/2014)
Rand Paul wants to have it both ways on voter ID....and does a sloppy tap dance in the process.   (5/10/2014)
I can see how one of these facts might inform the discussion for voter ID proponents.  (5/6/2014)
When it comes to diversity, all they want to do is talk.  (5/4/2014)
We're still awaiting a statement from Governor Walker.  (4/29/2014)
Voter suppression: Rep. Tom Larson uses the City of Milwaukee as the bogeyman.  (3/31/2014)
Sen. Mary Lazich shows her true colors.  (3/18/2014)
Wisconsin headline? No, the Ohio legislature also approved model voter suppression legislation from ALEC.  (3/14/2014) 
And the hypocrisy just keeps on coming: Republicans can't even give lip service to their "principles".  (2/14/2014)
Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald sez "no" to 40 of his Assembly colleagues.  (12/30/2013)
Your Wisconsin Republican Assembly hard at work promoting Governor Walker's jobs agenda (and GOP principles).  (11/15/2013)
Mary Lazich: Caught in the act of undermining confidence in the voting process.  (11/4/2013) 
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement asks a question about voter ID laws.  (11/28/2012)
Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) still drinking the Kool-Aid.  (11/12/2012)
Tennessee Supreme Court gives Memphis Public Library cards a thumbs up for voter ID.  (11/4/2012)
Tennessee Court of Appeals ruling pisses off Republicans.  (10/27/2012)
Early voting begins today (Monday, October 22) in Wisconsin.  (10/22/2012)
Judge finds at least one aspect of Tennessee voter ID law "nonsensical".  (8/1/2012)
Judge to weigh in on library cards in Memphis voter ID skirmish.  (7/30/2012)
Library card/voter ID fray in Memphis.  (7/10/2012)
I'd be careful making any long-term Voter ID assessments based on the February 21 primary election turnout.  (2/26/2012)
Hope you signed at least one recall petition, Ruthelle.  (12/5/2011)
True, but why not share a couple of examples with us, Deborah.  (11/11/2011)
Hoping that other state newspapers have similar local news to share.  (10/29/2011)
Walker sez "We're broke" but GAB could spend $600,000 on voter ID public education plan.  (10/12/2011)
ACLU of Wisconsin denounces photo ID policy reversal.  (10/7/2011)
Voter ID:  "A solution without a problem".  (9/25/2011)
Wisconsin State Bar's Civil Rights Section requests AG Holder to monitor Voter ID Bill.  (9/1/2011)

League of Wisconsin Voters challenge voter ID laws as unconstitutional.  (8/22/2011)

What's the matter with Wisconsin?  (7/27/2011)
Wisconsin Legislative Council information memorandum.  (7/15/2011)
Appleton Alderman Wants Pushback on State Voter ID Bill.  (2/7/2011)

Voter ID in Wisconsin:  A bill and a constitution amendment.  (1/13/2011)

Related reading:
New G.O.P. Bid to Limit Voting in Swing States. (The New York Times, 3/29/2014)
ALEC Exposed:  Democracy, Voter Rights, and Federal Power.  (Center for Media and Democracy, 9/28/2012)
Right-Wing Operatives Take Up ALEC's Voter Suppression Agenda.  (Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch, 4/19/2012)
Voter Suppression 101.  (Center for American Progress. 4/4/2012)

The Marquette Poll asks the question, Do Wisconsin voters want to see Walker run for president in 2016?

New Marquette Law School Poll finds Wisconsin governor’s race tied.  (5/21/2014)

Considering these results, one might conclude that Walker's White House drool might be a liability for him among independent voters this fall.



Related posts:
"Scott Walker" tied with "None" for 1st choice in CNN/ORC Republican Presidential preference poll.  (5/8/2014)
Another Presidential primary poll, another 5% showing for Scott Walker.  (5/1/2014)
I hope Scott Walker had a good Easter cuz Donald Trump is outpolling him in New Hampshire. (4/20/2014)
Fox News: Scott Walker polling neck-and-neck with Rick Santorum.  (4/17/2014)
Iowa Republican caucus voters not singing Scott Walker's song.  (4/10/2014)
Scott Walker still "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again".    (4/4/2014)
While Mary Burke campaigns for Governor, Scott Walker continues to run for President.  (3/28/2014)
The Washington Examiner offers a boost to Scott Walker Presidential campaign without a hint of irony.  (3/26/2014)
Let's do an ID update on this Townhall straw poll.  (3/25/2014)
Scott Walker for President 2016: Pundits like the idea but the public sez "meh".  (3/16/2014)
Scott Walker is in a bind.  (3/15/2014)
Christie/Walker meme, part 3.  (3/8/2014)
Christie/Walker meme, part 2.  (3/7/2014)
Christie/Walker meme, part 1.  (3/7/2014)
The chattering class falls hard for Scott Walker, but the voters are still scratching their heads.  (3/6/2014)
So he, too, can embarrass himself.  (12/30/2013)

Scott Walker: Yet Another Indication He's on the Wrong Side of History

Poll: 55 Percent Support Same-Sex Marriage In Wisconsin. (Wisconsin Public Radio, 5/21/2014)

Scott Walker's world

On February 5, 2014, it was widely reported that Governor Scott said he sensed no "significant movement" to legalize gay marriage in Wisconsin.

Is Scott Walker moving Wisconsin forward? Seems like he's holdin' on to yesterday.

Is Scott Walker moving Wisconsin forward? Seems like he's holdin' on to yesterday.

Franklin the Turtle Stolen from Fall River (MA) Public Library

Police search for library turtle thief.    (WPRI, 5/20/2014)

Fall River Public Library.  Maybe these superheroes can save the day.

If You Have a Major-League Sweet Tooth, You Should Be at McCormick Place Right Now

For the 2014 Sweets & Snacks Expo, sponsored by the National Confectioners' Association.

I suspect that Advertising Age's E. J. Schultz hasn't eaten any of his swag yet.  He sounds way too mellow.



Get ready to drool over

• M&M's Mega
• "football love" skittles
• Reese's spreads
• Shoecolate Pumps

A New, Cool "Tiger"

What Do Cool Young Asians Want? Here's Heineken's Out-of-the-Box Move. (AdAge, 5/21/2014)

What is hip?  It's also a good time to plot Tiger's global expansion, Ms. Wong said: "The fact that we're an Asian brand also resonates very strongly with Western consumers -- they consider Asia to be the new cool."

This isn't what Gene McDaniels had in mind (Unh, unh, unh, unh, unh, unh)

The Big Melt Accelerates. (The New York Times, 5/19/2014)

Do we continue to say, "not our problem"?  But the mountain glaciers have been telling scientists what the West Antarctica glacier disintegration is now confirming: In the coming centuries, more land will be covered by water and more of nature will be disrupted. A full melt would cause sea level to rise 215 feet.

What that full melt looks like mapped.



Other climate change posts:
In this case, you'll find the Crazy, a hidebound ideologue, in room 205 of the Russell Senate Office Building.  (5/14/2014)
Sunny-day flooding in Miami Beach: The everyday reality and the political denial.  (5/9/2014)
The rising sea levels of Bangladesh.  (3/30/2014)
Cold enough for you?  (3/9/2014)
Meteors, glaciers, and climate change.  (1/14/2014)
Climate change spurs northward growth of mangroves.  (1/1/2014)
Dear Skeptics, Climate change is already driving informed business decisions.  (12/15/2013)
Florida's vulnerable coastline.  (11/12/2013)
Promoting the need for regionalism among nations along the Bay of Bengal coast.  (10/14/2013)
Climate change not taking a back seat everywhere in Wisconsin.  (9/27/2013)
Climate change deniers continue to jump on the Daily Mail crazy train (or Oops! they did it again).  (9/25/2013) 
Cal Thomas: This climate change bulletin just in from the Daily Mail.  (9/24/2013) 
Cal Thomas needs a research assistant.  (9/23/2013)
Climate change, as a matter of fact.  (8/31/2013)
Outagamie County residents will be better served with a more proactive approach.  (8/20/2013)
Here's what got Ron Johnson's undies in a bundle (NoRoJo in 2016, chapter 12).  (8/15/2013)
Georgia's anti-science climate denier caucus.  (7/31/2013)
Here's a comforting headline.  (3/8/2013)
Making Fox News-Inspired Jokes About Climate Change? Consider Australia.  (3/5/2013)
The New Normal: Living With Extreme Weather (Northeastern U.S. Edition).  (2/10/2013)
1975: "There's a new ice age coming, but I wouldn't want to predict when.".  (1/27/2013)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Embargoes Use of Phrase "Climate Change"?  (12/31/2012)
Can you say 'climate change'?  (11/28/2012)
As you already know, Fox News is shameless.  (9/29/2012)
Dear George, It will take more than denial to get over climate change in Greenland.  (9/27/2012)
Climate change results in Coast Guard's "unprecedented" deployment to North Shore of Alaska.  (7/23/2013)
Weather history is made in the Northeast.  (10/30/2011)
Climate change in the American mind.  (6/8/2011)
Stuff you won't see on Fox News.  (1/8/2010)

Rosy Scenarios Still Abound in Selma, Alabama

 

Civil Rights Battlefront Is Now Yearning for Jobs.  (The New York Times, 5/19/2014)

Unfulfilled promises.    There are far rosier takes on Selma and its prospects, though, and in conservative Alabama, there is a feeling among some here that the plights are more individual than systemic.

“If you work hard, you’ll get ahead,” said Randy Malone, 53, though he acknowledged that Selma “can always be better.”

And there is a sense here, in a region of deep and proud religious traditions, that a higher power will someday redeem Selma.

National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, Selma, Alabama.

Bloody Sunday.

Not Much Power There at $10.29 per Hour

Retail sector powers Wisconsin job growth in April.  (Capital Times, 5/16/2014)

At the lower end of the pay scale.  April was a good month for retail trade employment in Wisconsin. The state added 3,100 jobs in that sector and 7,600 private-sector jobs overall, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimates.

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Occupational Outlook Handbook

(Publish date:  1/8/2014)

The second bigger gainer:  Leisure and hospitality jobs, a gain of 2,500.  For production and non-supervisory employees, this category pays an average of $11.96 per hour in April 2014, or $24,877 annually.

Rio's Guanabara Bay: Site of othe 2016 Olympic Sailing and Windsurfing Events

Note to Olympic Sailors: Don’t Fall in Rio’s Water. (The New York Times, 5/18/2014)

What a dump!  Guanabara Bay, nestled between Sugarloaf Mountain and other granite peaks, offers the kind of a postcard image Rio’s authorities want to celebrate as hosts of the 2016 Summer Olympics. But it has become a focal point of complaints, turning Rio’s polluted waters into a symbol of frustrations with the troubled preparations for the Olympics.

“Welcome to the dump that is Rio,” Germany’s sailing team said in one typically blunt assessment of the site for the Olympic regatta.

Brazilians training here agree.

A Squirm-Free Environment on College Campuses?

Requires no thinking

 

Warning: The Literary Canon Could Make Students Squirm. (The New York Times, 5/17/2014)

Imagine the impact on class discussions.  The debate has left many academics fuming, saying that professors should be trusted to use common sense and that being provocative is part of their mandate. Trigger warnings, they say, suggest a certain fragility of mind that higher learning is meant to challenge, not embrace. The warnings have been widely debated in intellectual circles and largely criticized in opinion magazines, newspaper editorials and academic email lists.

Not This Type of Housing Recovery

Housing is Recovering, Single-Family Homes Aren't.  (The New York Times, 5/16/2014)

 

But it probably isn’t all by choice.  If young adults are facing challenges saving up to buy a home because of weak job prospects, high student loan debt and minimal wage gains, they may be finding their way to smaller rental apartments and townhouses rather than bigger single-family homes.

Another Library to End Its Bookmobile Service

Palatine Library to Retire Bookmobile Service, Plans to Add Hours at Rand Road Branch. (Chicago Tribune, 5/16/2014)

About the Palatine Library's bookmobile service:

• Started in 1998
• Accounts for 3% of total library circulation
• Bookmobile circulation has declined by 25% in 5 years
• Accounts for 2% of annual visits to library facilties
• Bookmobile needs to be replaced in "near future", at an estimated cost of $300,000
• "Elimination of bookmobile service is a national trend".

As this line graph indicates.

Related bookmobile posts:
Decline in number of bookmobiles continues to accelerate in 2011.  (4/7/2014)
Today's the final day of San Antonio Public Library's bookmobile service.  (10/24/2013)
Billings Public Library bookmobile service.  (10/15/2013)
As the number of "relics" continues to decline.  (3/1/2013)
The bookmobile in the U.S.  (1/13/2013)
It's National Bookmobile Day.  (4/12/2012)
Another bookmobile taken off the road.  (4/1/2012)
Des Plaines Public Library ends bookmobile service after 42 years.  (12/18/2011)
Bookmobile service at the Marin Free County Library.  (11/5/2011)
Seattle Public Library's mobile library service.  (10/15/2011)
Bookmobiles retired at the Fond du Lac Public Library.  (8/29/2011)
Story on library outreach services uses the term "invisible librarians".  (8/6/2011)
YMCA, Oswego (New York) School District, and AmeriCorps form summer bookmobile partnership,  (7/10/2011)

Massanutten Regional Library has a bookmobile for sale.  (5/25/2011)

Time and money running out for Des Plaines bookmobile.  (5/6/2011)
Bookmobile numbers are down but services still find an appreciate audience.  (2/9/2011)
Dells bookmobile offers wi-fi..  (6/28/2010)
Dane County bookmobile service still going strong.  (6/27/2010)
Des Plaines Public Library retains its bookmobile service.  (4/24/2010)
Fond du Lac bookmobile assigned a permanent home in Rosendale.  (2/7/2010)
Kalamazoo Public Library cuts bookmobile service. (11/15/2009)
New Mexico's statewide bookmobile service.  (10/18/2009)
New bookmobile for Lycoming County (PA) purchased locally.  (9/19/2009)
In "OverDrive":  The digital bookmobile.  (8/11/2008)