Click To Refresh and See Other Posts
Finger People - Universal Language - Honduras

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Politics (PayToPlay) Makes Things Cost More - WiscNet ?

What price has GOP extracted behind the scenes??

UW System rescinds WiscNet contract

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The University of Wisconsin System has rescinded a new contract with its broadband provider.
The system provides employees and hardware for WiscNet, a nonprofit organization that provides internet access to system campuses, public schools, public libraries and state agencies.
Republicans have questioned whether the system has been improperly subsidizing WiscNet and have ordered it to end its partnership with the provider.
The system, in turn, began seeking contracts for a new provider. WiscNet won the bid in May.
On Thursday, though, the system said it was pulling out of the contract in light of the potential for appeals and further legislative action.
Tony Evers, the state schools superintendent, says the system's decision puts WiscNet's future in doubt and could force remaining members to turn to more expensive providers.

Another way to lessen public education and raise profits for corporations!?

WI 1848 Forward: #Politics ( #PayToPlay ) Makes Things Cost More - #WiscNet ? #GOP #Walker vs #wiVote #wiUnion

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Greta Van Susteren interviewing Paul Ryan

Watching

Greta Van Susteren

 interviewing Paul Ryan  ... what a joke ... too bad we have to watch this stuff ... 6.27.2013



The video link!

WI 1848 Forward: Greta Van #Susteren  interviewing Paul #Ryan #GOP #1% #elites vs #47% #99% #Koch

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Supreme Court - "Dred Scott Decision" - You shall not be free nor be free to vote - Justice Roberts

Said more bluntly "The Supreme Court took a man and made him into a slave."

Wikipedia -

Déjà vu - all over again

Scott's temporary residence outside Missouri did not bring about his emancipation under the Missouri Compromise, which the court ruled unconstitutional as it would improperly deprive Scott's owner of his legal property.
While Chief Justice Roger B. Taney had hoped to settle issues related to slavery and Congressional authority by this decision, it aroused public outrage and deepened sectional tensions between the northern and southern U.S. states. President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and the post-Civil War ThirteenthFourteenth andFifteenth amendments nullified the decision.

WI1848Forward: #SupremeCourt - " #DredScott Decision" - You shall not be free nor be free to #vote -Justice #Roberts 

WI1848Forward: #SCOTUS - " #DredScott Decision" - You shall not be free nor be free to #VoterID -Justice #Roberts 

#Mandela WI1848Forward: #SCOTUS " #DredScott Decision" - You shall not be free nor be free to #vote -Chief #Roberts 

WI1848Forward: #SCOTUS " gets it wrong #DredScott Decision" - You shall not be free nor be free to #vote - #Roberts 

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Snowden -Laura Poitras [My Country, My Country & The Oath]- Surveillance - Harassment - Security

One thing to note about being a whistleblower - do it at the wrong time or too quietly and you will probably be forced to swallow the whistle.

Update: OTM 8/20/2013 (Bottom) and another NYTimes from 8/13/13

That Laura Poitras was once a chef and is now a recognized videographer (Oscar nominated) and won a MacArthur “genius” grant must be quite a story in itself?!

(2008 -Still in Motion) Interview: Laura Poitras, Director MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY


The fact that she did the recent Snowden video many of us have seen clips of makes it more interesting and she was obviously in Hong Kong.  The fact that she was contacted via "encrypted" communications last January by Snowden just adds more to the plot.

The New York Times Article

Player in Leaks Case, Out From Behind Camera By NOAM COHEN Published: June 14, 2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Poitras


Published on Jun 9, 2013
By Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald

For the past week, the Guardian and Washington Post have been reporting on some extraordinary revelations about previously secret massive NSA surveillance programs that invade the privacy of both Americans and those abroad. On Sunday, the whistleblower and source to the stories about the PRISM surveillance program revealed himself as 29-year-old Edward Snowden. This is his story, in his own words.












I look forward to the "new documentary".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NSA snooping: Facebook reveals details of data requests

On The Media Coverage 6/14

Update OTM 8/20/2013


NYTimes ... More background on Laura Poitras, etc - reminds me a little of Martha Gellhorn

How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets

___________Also Noteworthy~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Panama ... illicit offshoring secrets



WI 1848 Forward #Snowden #Poitras [My Country, My Country&The Oath]- #Surveillance - #Harassment - #Security #Panama

WI 1848 Forward: #Snowden -Laura #Poitras [My Country, My Country & The Oath]- #Surveillance - #Harassment - Security

Friday, June 14, 2013

JSOnline - Walker GOP Tone Deaf on UltraSound - WOW WarOnWomen


Walker signed it into LAW 7/5/2013

GOP senators pass abortion measure requiring ultrasounds - JSOnline 6/13/2013


Madison — In a raucous clash on the state Senate floor Wednesday that recalled the bitter divides of 2011, Republicans abruptly cut off debate and forced a vote requiring that women seeking abortions get ultrasounds.
The morning's brief floor session included sharp exchanges and one senator contending that abortions "became the thing to do" in the 1960s.
Democrats protested the bill's merits and the process by which it was passed, saying Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau and his fellow Republicans were trampling on democracy by ending debate after about 25 minutes.
"My first advice to the majority leader is that he seeks psychological help," Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) said at a news conference after the vote.
Fitzgerald laughed off that comment and compared Democrats' reaction on Wednesday to their decision in 2011 to leave the state for three weeks in a failed attempt to stop legislation that ended most collective bargaining for most public workers.
He described the Democrats' approach as, "We don't like what's happening from a public policy perspective, so we're not going to play by the rules."
The abortion measure passed 17-15, with all Republicans for it and all Democrats against it. Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) was absent.
It now goes to the Assembly, which plans to take it up Thursday. GOP Gov. Scott Walker has said he would sign the bill. ...

WI 1848 Forward: #JSOnline - #Walker #GOP Tone Deaf on #UltraSound #AntiChoice - #WOW #WarOnWomen #elites #1% vs #47%

WI 1848 Forward: #JSOnline - #Walker #GOP Tone Deaf on #UltraSound #AntiChoice - #WOW #WarOnWomen #elites #1% vs #ACA

#Walker #UltraSound #AntiChoice #GOP #WOW #WarOnWomen #elites #1% WI 1848 Forward: #JSOnline Tone Deaf on #ACA

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

NSA should collect Gun Owners telephone records and emails! Oh wait! They do!



#NSA #PRISM #GUNS #NRA WI 1848 Forward: Gov should collect #Gun Owners tele recs and emails! Oh wait! They do!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

WI Senate to take up ultrasound bill Tuesday - antiChoice #WOW


Senate to take up ultrasound bill Tuesday


A bill that would require a pregnant woman seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound barreled toward approval Monday with a favorable committee vote and the scheduling of debate in the full Senate on Tuesday. 
The fast-tracked bill, introduced last week and approved on a partisan 3-2 vote Monday in committee, also would require that an abortion provider have the authority to admit patients into a hospital within 30 miles of where the abortions are performed. 
As a result of that provision, the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Appleton would close, according to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. There are four abortion clinics in the state. The other three are in Madison and Milwaukee. ...


WI 1848 Forward: #WI #GOP Senate to take up #ultrasound bill Tuesday - #antiChoice #WOW #NOW #NARAL vs #Walker #Akin

Thursday, June 6, 2013

WI Legislature "spins Wis. Idea" takes on Academic Freedom and Journalism - Where's the outrage??

Backhanded Veto 6/30/2013

...The Legislature says and link to response -

Center for Investigative Journalism. Prohibit the Board of Regents from permitting the Center for Investigative Journalism to occupy any facilities owned or leased by the Board of Regents. In addition, prohibit UW employees from doing any work related to the Center for Investigative Journalism as part of their duties as a UW employee.
The response memo with formatting removed ...


Response to JFC budget amendment regarding SJMC and WCIJ
June 5, 2013
My name is Greg Downey and I am the current Director of the School of Journalism & Mass Communication (SJMC) at UW-Madison.  Today I learned that the Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin state legislature adopted the following motion into the proposed state budget last night or this morning:
Center for Investigative Journalism. Prohibit the Board of Regents from permitting the Center for Investigative Journalism to occupy any facilities owned or leased by the Board of Regents. In addition, prohibit UW employees from doing any work related to the Center for Investigative Journalism as part of their duties as a UW employee.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/210210181.html

Some background: A few years ago, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UW-Madison entered into an innovative collaboration with our colleagues at Wisconsin Public Broadcasting and a new non-profit and non-partisan professional investigative news organization, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (www.wisconsinwatch.org).  SJMC houses the WCIJ, and the WCIJ provides paid internships for SJMC students.
In only three short years, this award-winning collaboration has resulted in a dramatic increase in the quality and quantity of both investigative reporting and public-interest data that is available to the people and businesses of Wisconsin.  More importantly, this valuable information is made available not only through a central website, but through the free distribution of high-quality investigative news reports to private for-profit and non-profit news outlets across both the state of Wisconsin and the country at large.

The motion passed today by the JFC directly targets this collaboration, and as the current SJMC Director it is my judgment that SJMC, and UW-Madison, must oppose both provisions of the motion.

The first provision seems to arbitrarily single out our collaborative arrangement with WCIJ — where a modest amount of office space (most of which is used by our student interns) is traded for regular, guaranteed, paid internships for our students, as well as ready access to highly-respected investigative reporters as guest lecturers for classes and special events in the School.  There are plenty of other arrangements where outside organizations use UW space for activities, if such uses are deemed to be in the interests of our research, teaching, and/or service mission.  This one was, and still is.

The second provision is actually much more worrisome.  As written it would seem to broadly and recklessly infringe on our academic freedom in terms of research, teaching, and service.  Our faculty and staff regularly collaborate with outside organizations on media-related projects in terms of research, teaching, and service.  Just a few recent examples:
A research collaboration between a professor and the Capital Times to study and make recommendations concerning the transition from a print product to a hybrid print/digital offering.
A service-learning collaboration between a professor and the South Metropolitan Planning Council to have students work in the south Madison community and create a web site promoting the diverse cultures and businesses of this area in terms of shared community and food.
An outreach collaboration between a professor, local for-profit media organizations like WISC-TV, and a local community development organization to create a hyperlocal news site staffed by student reporters and editors.
An academic staff instructor bringing an outside professional investigative reporter from a for-profit or non-profit news organization into a classroom to work with students on a real-world journalism project.
A faculty member working in cooperation with a for-profit or non-profit outside organization as an instructional mentor for a student completing an internship with that organization, combining a work experience with academic credit.
Our collaborations with WCIJ are of a similar nature to all of these — but with the added connection that WCIJ provides a direct and consistent pipeline for paid internships for our students, in return for the nominal office space we provide.  These students go on to win local and state awards for their reporting, and to launch their own careers in public-service investigative reporting.
So to summarize: (1) arbitrarily prohibiting the WCIJ resource-sharing agreement (paid student internships for office space) would harm our research, teaching, and service mission; and (2) arbitrarily prohibiting “UW employees from doing any work related to the Center for Investigative Journalism as part of their duties as a UW employee” would be a direct assault on our academic freedom in research, teaching, and service — and on the Wisconsin Idea.
Thank you,
GREG
Gregory J. Downey
School of Journalism & Mass Communication (Professor & Director)
School of Library & Information Studies (Professor)
Center for the History of Print & Digital Culture (Director)
Internships in the Liberal Arts & Sciences (Director)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
5112 Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706 USA
gdowney.wordpress.com
gdowney@wisc.edu
(608) 695-4310
WCIJ-SJMC FACT SHEET

Update: See the WCIJ response here, and the official UW-Madison response here.


University reaffirms support for investigative journalism



"Arbitrarily prohibiting UW-Madison employees from doing any work related to the Center for Investigative Journalism is a direct assault on our academic freedom; simply, it is legislative micromanagement and overreach at its worst," says Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters & Science, which oversees the journalism school.


WI 1848 Forward: #WI Legis "spins Wis. Idea" takes on #AcademicFreedom & #Journalism - Where's the outrage?? #Walker

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

JFC rejects ObamaCare, ( ACA ) Medicaid expansion - supports Walker 's ambitions to be President

From the Wisconsin State Journal - 6/5/2013


Legislature's budget committee rejects Medicaid expansion
The Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee on Tuesday followed Gov. Scott Walker’s lead and rejected a federally funded Medicaid expansion, even though taking the money would have meant more Wisconsinites getting insurance at a cheaper cost to the state.
At the same time, the committee agreed to pay hospitals up to $73.5 million over the two-year budget period for uninsured patients.
The decision by the Joint Finance Committee to pass the GOP-authored motion on medical assistance programs came on a party-line 12-4 vote. Earlier, the committee voted by the same margin against a Democratic motion to accept more federal money to fully expand coverage under federal health reform.
Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/legislature-s-budget-committee-rejects-medicaid-expansion/article_764dc436-c4a7-5d8e-89d0-39ffa09c7f8d.html#ixzz2VLpDhWT3

What will the this "policy" decision really do?   This is one of those times that I wish I had "data" at my fingertips and could explore the geographic and age distribution of our population of medicaid recipients.  Someone can point me to a study and when they do I suggest they send a copy to each legislator and ask for verified proof that they have read it.

Here are my a priori suspicions -


  • The major incidence will fall on children and older people.
  • The children will be living in urban areas primarily.
  • The older people will live the rural areas of the state, small towns, etc.
  • The GOP thinks this will make it more likely they can blame ACA, aka ObamaCare for the pain. 
I suspect the GOP does not appreciate that although they have some strongholds of wealthy voters and they are doing a good job at preventing the less well-off or mobile young population from voting they are not serving their own constituency.  Eventually that truly aged rural population may awaken from their slumber and grow beyond the "sloganeering" and realize they are the target when the likes of our Governor Walker and Representative Paul Ryan appeal to their prejudice.

WI 1848 Forward: #JFC rejects #ObamaCare, ( #ACA ) #Medicaid expansion - supports #Walker 's ambitions to be Pres.

WI 1848 Forward: #JFC rejects #ObamaCare, ( #ACA ) #Medicaid expansion - supports #Walker 4  #President  vs #47% #edu

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Parvin -TED Wikihouse 3D Printers - Democratize Production



Architecture for the 99% not just the 1%

Talent Search » TED@London » Alastair Parvin: Architecture for everyone, by anyone




WI 1848 Forward: #Parvin - #TED #Wikihouse 3D Printers - Democratize Production #99% #47% #RepRap #Revolution

WI 1848 Forward: #Parvin - #TED #Wikihouse 3D Printers - Democratize Production #99% #47%  http://wi1848forward.blogspot.com/2013/06/parvin-ted-wikihouse-3d-printers.html?spref=tw