May 13, 2011
Coal--Florida State--Koch--Martin
Many of you were shocked to read the sad story of Florida State University's decision to, in essence, sell the FSU economics department to the Koch brothers for $1.5 million per year. Not "Atlas Shrugged" but "FSU Caved." Could it happen here? You bet!
Keep FSU and UW-Madison in mind while thinking about Scholastic Magazine's production and distribution of "The United States of Energy." . I don't have time to do all the reading I would like to do so I appreciated groups of educators raising hell about Scholastic Magazine. Who paid for the energy publication? Well, surprise, surprise, the American Coal Foundation picked up the tab. Where does the magazine go? To 90 percent of the classrooms in America--fourth graders mostly, at about the age when reading is exciting and the printed word takes on special significance to young minds.
The NY Times reports that the benefits of coal are praised in the publication, but there is no mention of toxic waste, mountain top removal and greenhouse gases. Nada! (I first learned about mountaintop removal from Bobby Kennedy's speech at Fighting Bob Fest five years ago. I was appalled. (Kennedy has produced a film, Last Mountain, that will spark renewed debate.)
Is the FSU sale different than the attempt by right-wing Wisconsin Policy Research Institute's effort to "partner" with the UW-Madison Political Science Department? The UW's lawyers say that plan is no longer. The contract is now with the professor who pushed his polling expertise to WPRI. Relax? Maybe. But not for long.
I believe the Walker administration would sell part or all of the UW to balance the budget. Why do I think that? Because almost half his draconian cuts are to education: UW, technical colleges and a billion from K-12. He don't like education!
Look at the Walker/Biddy Martin plan to privatize the Madison campus. The plan would allow the governor to appoint a majority of board members. Imagine the nominees! Fitzgerald, Jim Haney of WMC, and Mike Grebe of the Bradley Foundation come to mind.
So keep your eyes open. FSU could be the canary in the mine.
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The question seems to be whether Walker is out to balance budgets or to destroy the Wisconsin way of life. I would suggest he leans more to the latter than to the former. Dismantling what is ours seems to be his way of governance. His agenda is whatever it takes to advance Scott Walker. It has nothing to do with moving us forward as a state or a people.
Still frightening to read that this state is nearly split 50-50 with the Republican'ts presuming they have a clear mandate from us, which they do not.
-Franz Fripplfrappl | Madison | May 13, 2011
Looks like the right wing is out for a Total Information Takeover. Not content with just owning the opinion leading think tanks they have moved into high gear.
First it was bajillionaires funding an erstwhile populist movement known as the Tea Party. Now they are after education from the grade school level all the way up to post-graduate level.
Any resemblence between this and early Nazi Germany is purely coincidental. The Nazi's moved faster and shut down the presses. Here they are a little more subtle because they already own the major media outlets.
Still think all those protest signs are going to do you any good?
-Griebnotz Doerkpfester | I Escaped, WI. | May 13, 2011
Ed, as a lawyer, do you find this weird? (I don't really expect an answer, just sayin')
Apparently they (Republicans?) want to change the WI law so that defendants in criminal cases can't request the one Judge substitution anymore. You just get who you get and live with it.
http://nxt.legis.state.wi.us/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&d=indxauth&jd=A54
There can't be THAT much time lost on re-scheduling, why would changing that law (and ending yet another right of a citizen) be worth legislative time and effort?
Also, there's a weird one re: OWIs.
It looks like if you're pulled over and they give you the standard test, and then you're later found guilty, they want to be able to pass the costs of that test on to the drunk driver. (Way to nickel and dime it) Anyways, since there is already a statute on the books that you are legally able to request an alternate test at no cost to you, you still can. I guess they assume no one knows about that alt. test provision.
So the law re: testing will be weird (if I read this correctly) If you drive drunk and get tested, BE SURE to request the Alternate test (whatever that is, maybe an Anal Probe by Scott Fitzgerald) and you can't be charged for it if you're later found guilty! LOL Everybody remember that when driving back from the CF fairgrounds. Especially since Daddy Fitz lost all the revenue while State Patrol was at the capitol, they are recouping those losses heavy now, and will be trollin' for Dirty Libs with Leinie's on their breath next weekend!!
But in the larger picture, IMO it's really too bad WI bloggers just repeat each other's crap ALL day and ALL night. There seems to be plenty to talk about. O_o And no one's ever going to.
There's TONS of bills pending, tons. Who knew...
(probably a safe bet that paid Journalists aren't going thru this list of proposed Bills either)
-Annie K. | Eau Claire, WI | May 13, 2011
Oh Ed, Walker DO like education when schools and universities can be used to form the mind of the people now and into the future. That is why a University that seeks the truth no matter where the path may lead must be neutered. Better yet, such a university must be changed into a "right thinking" propaganda machine.
Still better, get the chillens. Their minds are more easily formed. Works even better when schools are forced to "teach to some test" and aren't encouraged to teach "thinking skills."
Wait. Ed, you're right. Walker don't like "education."
-Linda | Wisconsin Rapids,WI | May 13, 2011
This is America, everything is for sale. The leaders of government, industry and education provide favors for money not unlike a common whore.
-Dole O'Mite | Oconomowoc, WI | May 13, 2011
Do you recall the pontificate of John Paul II? For 25+ years he ruled with an iron fist and a kindly smile. He undid Vatican II, stressed orthodoxy, appointed only those who toed the company line. Seminaries became indoctrination zones for the conservatives. The church now leans far, far to the right. There are a couple generations of kids who have grown up believing this is all correct.
The brainwashed have become leaders of the brainwashed.
We're seeing the same thing happen throughout the country. Conservatives are taking over the people by taking over our institutions. They're tossing out accomplishments of the past 50-70 years as they brainwash the present generations of kids to assure their future.
Why are conservatives more successful in winning over people than those who are not? It can't be that we don't make sense. Perhaps they are better convincers that we are threats and hindrances to what the world should be.
-Maria Caliente | Middleton | May 13, 2011
One of the mandates of the Koch Bros' agreement with FSU is that its economic teachers be required to teach Ayn Rand's collectivist novels. This is as much a crime against education as anything else. Her writing is so awful that students will never want to read another book.
Also, get ready for some uninvited guests at your neighborhood schools this fall. http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/05/tea-party-constitution-week-skousen
These are scary times indeed.
-msreason | Elkhart Lake, WI | May 14, 2011
Ed, two friends on the Gulf Coast have written and illustrated an anti coal power coloring book. They also write and sing as Sassafrass. I will send you a copy of the book when the publisher releases it and a copy of their soon to be released CD. Maybe the coloring book merits listing here in the bookstore. It would take less than a whisper to get them to Wisconsin to perform at Bobfest.
-Jim Limbach | Stevens Point | May 16, 2011
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