Katherine Windels

UPDATE, December 16, 2011: Woman placed in first-offenders program for bomb threat to GOP state senators

A Cross Plains woman who emailed death threats to 15 Republican state senators pleaded guilty Thursday to making a bomb threat and was placed in a first-offenders program.

Dane County Circuit Judge Julie Genovese said that although the threats made by Katherine Windels, 27, were serious, she has no prior criminal record and had mental health issues that affected her actions.

According to letters written by mental health treatment providers, Windels suffers from anxiety and depression and had been largely housebound for a period including March 9, when she sent the emails to the GOP senators, upset over their support for legislation stripping most collective bargaining rights from most Wisconsin public workers.

"I am convinced that she never intended to truly threaten or disturb anyone," wrote Jennifer Branks, co-executive director of SOAR Case Management, which is involved in Windels' treatment.

Genovese did not enter judgment on Windels' plea and would formally find her guilty and sentence her only if she fails to get through the first-offenders program run by the Dane County District Attorney's Office.

If Windels gets through the program, the bomb threat charge would be dismissed and her record would remain clean.

This is justice? I don't think so.
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UPDATE, April 21, 2011: Woman charged in lawmaker threats can't be on Capitol grounds

Katherine Windels, 26, charged with sending threatening emails to 16 Republican senators cannot be on the State Capitol grounds.

On Thursday morning Windels made a court appearance where a judge released her on a signature bond. Conditions include she cannot possess a weapon, no computer use except for work, school and looking for work, as well as being on Capitol grounds.

She waived her preliminary hearing. Her next court appearance is May 16.

Windels, of Cross Plains, faces four charges including using a computer to send a threat and creating a bomb scare.

Two of the counts are felonies, two are misdemeanors.

...If convicted on all counts, she could face up to 7.5 years in prison.

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UPDATE, April 1, 2011: Investigators look into additional threats allegedly emailed by Cross Plains woman

Investigators on Friday looked into an additional violent threat by email — this one against Gov. Scott Walker — allegedly sent by the same Cross Plains child care provider already charged with emailing death threats to Republican state senators.

The threat against Walker, emailed Feb. 17, uses language including "watch your back Adolf Walker" and "we will not hesitate to punch where it hurts." It says it's from Katherine Windels.

Journalists discovered it as part of a review of thousands of emails sent to Walker's state account in response to his controversial budget repair bill. The Department of Justice was informed of the email — it apparently had gone unnoticed amid the electronic avalanche — and was investigating to verify its source, said spokesman Bill Cosh.

...News of the charges brought shock Friday to people who know the Windels family.

"You can't find finer people than those two," Pastor Rick Lund of St. Martin's Lutheran Church said of Bill and Karen Windels, Katherine Windels' parents. Her father is a mental-health nurse and her mother is a teacher, he said; both volunteer extensively at the church.

Of their daughter, Lund said: "Katherine is a good-hearted, bright young lady," while acknowledging that she "has had some struggles."

No one answered the door at the family's two-story yellow house at the end of a cul-de-sac in Cross Plains on Friday. Phone calls went unanswered.

Neighbor Kyle Roessler said the family moved into the new subdivision about four or five years ago and that their daughter always lived with her parents. He described the family as "really close," spending a lot of time in their garden in the warmer months and maintaining a cordial, if somewhat distant, relationship with neighbors.

An online profile lists Windels as a 2010 graduate of Madison Area Technical College with an associate's degree in early childhood education who's held multiple jobs as a home-care provider and teacher of young children.

At one of the jobs, Windels worked as a teacher's helper from 2007 to 2009 for an after-school program at St. Martin's called Jesus and Me. She left that job due to health problems that required surgery, said program director Virginia Diebold, but appeared healthy and happy the last time she saw her last Easter.

Notice that the language of the threat e-mailed to Governor Walker, "watch your back Adolf Walker" and "we will not hesitate to punch where it hurts," is typical of the stuff we saw and heard from the protesters in Madison when the Capitol was under siege.
________________

Katherine Windels, 26, is an early childhood teacher and a thug.

When protesters in Madison occupied the Capitol, they chanted, "This is what democracy looks like."

Here is what hate, violence, and thuggery looks like.

This is an ugly, ugly woman.

Photos of Katherine Windels:


PeekYou profile photo


October 2004 photo

Read her PeekYou profile.

She has an interest in psychology. What? No interest in criminology?

Good grief.

Finally, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne got around to charging Windels for crimes she confessed to more than two weeks ago.

Ozanne had come under fire for failing to act on the case.

Did Ozanne think we were just going to forget about the horrific threats that Windels made?

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A 26-year-old woman was charged Thursday with two felony counts and two misdemeanor counts for allegedly making email threats against Wisconsin lawmakers during the height of the battle over Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill.

Katherine R. Windels of Cross Plains was named in a criminal complaint filed in Dane County Criminal Court.

According to the criminal complaint, Windels allegedly sent an email threat to State Sen. Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay) March 9. Later that evening, she allegedly sent another email to 15 Republican legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).

The subject line of the second email was: "Atten: Death Threat!!!! Bomb!!!" In that email, she purportedly wrote, "Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your families will also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks."

"I hope you have a good time in hell," she allegedly wrote in the lengthy email in which she purportedly listed scenarios in which the legislators and their families would die, including bombings and by "putting a nice little bullet in your head."

According to the criminal complaint, Windels told investigators “I sent out emails that I was
disgusted and very upset by what they were doing.”

Asked if she intended to follow through on any of her threats, Windels told the investigators "No," according to the complaint.

Windels was charged with two felony counts "bomb scare" and two misdemeanor counts of "computer message-threatening injury/bodily harm." If convicted, each felony count carries a maximum penalty of three years and six months in prison and a $10,000 fine, and each misdemeanor count carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in prison and a $1,000 fine.

This woman is dangerous. She is deranged. She confessed to being a criminal.

She's also incredibly stupid. Did she really think that an e-mail death threat couldn't be traced? Did she really think that she was anonymous?

According to the criminal complaint, Windels sent the threats from a Gmail account, user name "Lisa Patterson" with an e-mail account address of lessylisa@gmail.com.

The IP address from which the aforementioned e-mails were sent belonged to Karen and William Windels, who reside...in the village of Cross Plains, Dane County, Wisconsin.

...[During an interview with police at her home,] Windels confirmed that the email account nickydoodlebug@rocketmail.com belonged to her and Windels stated that she was the only one that used the account.

[Special Agent] Tijerino reports at 5:41 p.m., he received information from [Special Agent] King that the subscriber for email account: lessylisa@gmail.com had a secondary email account: nickydoodlebug@rocketmail.com.

Unbelievably stupid.

Windels had been investigated by police last fall for harassing Lisa Patterson.

From WKOW:

A Cross Plains woman charged with felony crimes for allegedly threatening state senators over the budget repair bill was investigated by Madison police officers last fall over text messages.

Police reports released to WKOW27 News show a Madison woman contacted police over concerning text messages from Katherine Windels.

Dane County district attorney Ismael Ozanne Thursday charged Windels for allegedly sending e-mails to all nineteen republican state senators, threatening to kill them over their actions on proposed public employee collective bargaining revisions. A criminal complaint states Windels set up an email address under the name of acquaintance Lisa Patterson and used that address to deliver the email threats.

Madison police reports show Patterson told police on Oct. 14, 2010 she had received text messages from Windels and wanted follow up from officers.

Madison police’s records custodian redacted all reference to the content of the text messages in reports released to WKOW27 News.

In the reports, an officer stated he tried to contact Windels, but was unsuccessful, and ultimately left a voice mail message telling her to cease any contact with Patterson.

That's a weird twist.

Is Windels out to harm Lisa Patterson?

From WMSN:

The same day the Department of Justice released a letter critical of the prosecution of a woman suspected of sending threatening emails to Republican Senators, the Dane County District Attorney's Office released a criminal complaint, detailing four charges against Katherine Windels of Cross Plains.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne really is a partisan hack. It's a disgrace that it took pressure for Ozanne to charge Windels. His failure to act quickly on the matter was a dereliction of duty, a disgrace.

Read the full criminal complaint.

More, from WKOW:

According to the complaint, Windels told the senators "you will be killed and your familes [sic] will also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks." She threatened to "put a nice little bullet in your head," and made reference to several bombs.

Investigators visited Windels at her home the next day. According to the complaint, she told them she had sent the emails, and did so because she was very angry about what the senators had done. She also said she didn't intend to carry out the threats, and was not arrested.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne filed the charges Thursday. He says "it's odd" law enforcement never took Windels into custody.

"The reality is, the person was not placed into custody, so law enforcement didn't see her as an imminent threat," Ozanne said. "It's not that the case was not taken seriously by law enforcement or by this office."

This morning, the Justice Department sent a letter to the media, saying it was concerned about the "lack of action" on the case by the D.A.'s office. The Justice Department had referred the case to Ozanne two weeks prior.

Ozanne says his office filed charges in an appropriate amount of time.

"The file was reviewed as quickly as possible," he said.

He declined to comment on whether the letter could be the result of mounting tensions between his office, and the Justice Department. The two are pitted against each other in the lawsuit against the Governor's budget repair bill.

Windels is not in custody. The D.A.'s office says she won't be arrested.

The 26-year-old is expected to be served Friday and make her first court appearance in late April.

Windels is a flight risk. I don't know why she's not in custody. We know how opponents of Scott Walker, Republicans, and Wisconsin taxpayers act when they don't get what they want.

They run away. They head for the border. They go to a supposedly undisclosed location and do interviews on MSNBC.

Katherine Windels should not be teaching children. She should never have been a teacher. She's demented and not fit to be entrusted with children. Windels should not serve in the role of educator.

Her career as a teacher should be over.

Katherine Windels' actions are violent and disgusting and inexcusable.

Congratulations, Katherine! You're just 26 years old and you've achieved a lot. Everyone knows your name and your face. You've enlightened us about the sort of person you are. You've admitted to being a criminal.

Fame.
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Video from WISN, via Breitbart:

Maryann Sumi, March 31 - Budget Repair Law Not in Effect

UPDATE, June 14, 2011: Maryann Sumi's ruling overturned by Wisconsin Supreme Court
_______________

UPDATE, May 26, 2011: Maryann Sumi strikes down law.
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Judge Maryann Sumi rules AGAIN.

Another day, another order.

Judge Maryann Sumi, mother of foul-mouthed, union hack Jake Sinderbrand, has ordered that the budget repair law is not in effect.

She issued the order this morning even though on Tuesday she said that would be a move she would not make. Sumi said, "I hesitate to do that at this point because testimony is not closed and argument is not closed."

Although no testimony whatsoever has taken place since she said that, Sumi issued the order anyway.

Why did Sumi no longer "hesitate"?

What changed?

Did her husband, Carl Sinderbrand, and son, Jake Sinderbrand, convince her to quit "hesitating"?

Did she receive promises of support from union bosses?

That would be a corruption of our legal system.

Something is rotten in Dane County.

A state law to sharply curb union bargaining by public employees is not in effect, a Dane County judge ruled Thursday, continuing the turmoil over a measure that sparked massive protests and prompted Democrats to boycott the Senate for three weeks.

Gov. Scott Walker's administration said it would comply and discontinue the implementation of the law.

"Based on the briefs of counsel, the uncontroverted testimony, and the evidence received at the March 29, 2011, evidentiary hearing, it is hereby DECLARED that 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 has not been published within the meaning of (state statutes), and is therefore not in effect," Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled in a two-paragraph order.

...In response to the order, Walker's administration said it was halting action on putting the law in force.

"While I believe the budget-repair bill was legally published and is indeed law, given the most recent court action we will suspend the implementation of it at this time," said a statement from Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch.

"I am pleased that now we have a clear statement that the law is not in effect and that we have to straighten this out," said La Follette, a Democrat.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said the order was needed because he said Walker's administration had ignored past warnings from the judge.

"This morning with her added order she has taken away their last excuse," his statement said.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) called the order "judicial activism at its worst."

"Once again, one Dane County judge is doing everything she can to stand in the way of our efforts to improve the economy and create jobs," said a statement he issued.

...Sumi's latest order is in sharp contrast to what she said two days earlier in court. Then, Ozanne asked her to issue an order declaring the law was not in effect, but Sumi declined to do so.

"That is yet to be determined," she said then. "I hesitate to do that at this point because testimony is not closed and argument is not closed."

No testimony has been taken since Sumi said that.

Clearly, Sumi is doing the bidding of the unions.

She pulled this latest order out of thin air, something she said she would not do.

This is judicial activism.

This is Dane County.
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Read Sumi's March 31, 2011, ruling.

Terri Schiavo: Terri's Day 2011 - Life and Hope

Theresa Marie Schindler Schiavo
December 3, 1963 - March 31, 2005


Today marks the sixth anniversary of Terri Schiavo's death.

She died after her family lost a prolonged, contentious battle for her right to live. Terri's parents, Mary and Bob Schindler, lost their precious daughter, and her siblings, Suzanne and Bobby, lost their beloved sister.

What haunts me about Terri's death is that she was not terminally ill. She was not dying. Michael Schiavo successfully fought in court to have his wife starved and dehydrated to death. She was sentenced to die.

On Nightline, March 15, 2005, while Michael Schiavo was on his media blitz to win over public opinion, he said:

"Terri will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away."

Unbelievable.

For me, that statement sums up the twisted lies of the Culture of Death proponents and the brutality of Terri's court-sanctioned murder.

There was so much disinformation disseminated about Terri's condition, before and after her death.

The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, a group dedicated to "Helping Families Fight for Those Who Cannot Fight for Themselves," provides straightforward answers to frequently asked questions about Terri, her life and death.

These facts are important in understanding the wider social ramifications of Terri's death:

Was Terri dying?

No. Terri suffered from no terminal disease or condition and her cognitive disability did not jeopardize her life in any way. She was simply a physically healthy woman with a brain injury.

Was Terri brain dead or in a coma?

No. Brain death is not a catch phrase used to describe a persons condition but rather an authentic medical diagnosis determined when respiration and other reflexes are absent. Coma is a profound or deep state of unconsciousness. An individual in a state of coma is alive but unable to move or respond to his or her environment. Terri was neither brain dead, nor was she in a coma.

Were there any machines keeping Terri alive?

Absolutely not. Contrary to media reports, Terri did not require life sustaining equipment such as a ventilator. The only thing keeping Terri alive was the same thing that keeps every one of us alive – food and water.

Was this an “end-of-life” issue?

No. Terri’s case should not be confused with legitimate end-of-life cases in which patients are terminally ill and imminently dying. As already stated, Terri was neither ill nor dying.

Was Terri in a Persistent Vegetative State?

No. Despite Judge Greer’s ruling, and in keeping with the 40 medical affidavits submitted to the court, all evidence proves that Terri was not in a PVS. Terri’s behavior and ability to interact with her surroundings did not meet the medical or statutory definition of persistent vegetative state.

Did the autopsy prove that Terri was in a Persistent Vegetative State?

No. The autopsy was unable to determine whether or not Terri was actually in a persistent vegetative state. In fact, on three separate occasions, the report stated that an autopsy is unable to determine if a person is in a persistent vegetative state because the person must be alive in order to make such a diagnosis. The autopsy did prove that that, prior to Terri's death, she was physically healthy and would have lived a long life had she not been dehydrated over a period of two weeks.

Were Terri’s parents able to make any decisions regarding her medical care or well being?

No. From 1993 until her death, Terri’s parents were not allowed to participate in her care. As guardian, Michael Schiavo had 100% control over Terri. He refused to allow her parents to help their daughter in any way. In fact, during the final weeks of her life, Terri’s parents were informed that if they so much as tried to give her a drop of water, or provide comfort care in any way, they would be arrested by the armed police officers who guarded her room 24 hours a day.

Was Terri receiving any rehabilitation in the years prior to her death?

No. Terri was essentially warehoused and abandoned from 1992, when Michael Schiavo ordered all rehabilitation and therapy stopped, until her dehydration death in March of 2005. This was in spite of the fact that countless doctors said Terri’s condition could have improved with continued rehabilitation and therapy – and that her condition had been improving while she was receiving therapy.

Why did the court allow Terri to be killed?

Permission to starve and dehydrate Terri to death was granted based on hearsay evidence that surfaced almost eight years after her collapse, alleging that she wanted to die.

Did Terri have an advance directive?

No. Terri had no written advance directive that indicated her wishes. The court allowed her to be killed based only upon hearsay evidence provided by Michael Schiavo, his brother and his sister-in-law – ignoring testimony by Terri’s biological family and lifelong friends to the contrary.

Was there money involved?

Yes. A trust fund of nearly $800,000 was established and earmarked for Terri’s rehabilitation and therapy, with Michael as the inheritor in the case of Terri’s death. Tragically, the bulk of this money was instead used to pay Michael Schiavo’s attorney fees in his quest to end her life.

Did the court recognize the money Michael Schiavo stood to inherit as a conflict of interest?

No. In fact the court failed to acknowledge that not only was Schiavo’s monetary interest a conflict, but that he had moved on with his life, was engaged to be married to another woman, and already had children with the other woman. In short, his role as guardian was rife with conflicts of interest.

Did Terri have her own attorney?

No, she did not. In fact, the judge in this case defaulted as her guardian/attorney.

Was it appropriate for Congress to step in to assist in Terri’s case?

Absolutely. Congress has every right to pass laws that prevent the deaths of innocent persons.

Was this a private family matter?

No. Michael Schiavo chose to take the matter out of the realm of privacy by introducing it to the courts in 1998. It was Terri’s family who reached out to Congress for help in saving her life. Michael had essentially already started a new family with his fiancé and children.

What did the law passed by Congress actually do?

It gave Terri the right to a federal review – for a federal judge to make sure that her due process rights had not been denied. This is the same right given to all prisoners on death row.

After Terri died of dehydration on March 31, 2005, President George W. Bush remarked:

I urge all those who honor Terri Schiavo to continue to work to build a culture of life, where all Americans are welcomed and valued and protected, especially those who live at the mercy of others. The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak. In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in the favor of life.

In Terri's case, there were serious doubts and questions. Nonetheless, she was sentenced to death, an agonizingly slow-motion execution. That atrocity happened even though we had a pro-life president in the White House.

Now, of course, we have Obama in the White House, the most radical anti-life president to ever occupy the Oval Office.

On February 26, 2008, in Cleveland during a Democrat primary debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, candidate Obama invoked Terri Schiavo.

Nat Hentoff wrote a piece about that for Jewish World Review.

In none of the endless presidential candidates' debates has there been a meaningful discussion of the rights of disabled Americans. However, in the Feb. 26 debate in Cleveland, Barack Obama casually and ignorantly revealed his misunderstanding of the basic issue in the highly visible and still-resonating official death sentence of a disabled woman, Terri Schiavo. I have repeatedly called her death the result of "the longest public execution in American history."

When moderator Tim Russert asked Hillary Clinton and Obama if "there are any words or votes that you'd like to take back ... in your careers in public service," Obama answered that in his first year in the Senate, he joined an agreement "that allowed Congress to interject itself (in the Schiavo case) into the decision-making process of the families."

Obama added: 'I think that was a mistake, and I think the American people understood that was a mistake. And as a constitutional law professor, I knew better."

When he was a professor of constitutional law, Obama probably instructed his students to research and know all the facts of a case. The reason Congress asked the federal courts to review the Schiavo case was that the 41-year-old woman about to be dehydrated and starved to death was breathing normally on her own, was not terminal, and there was medical evidence that she was responsive, not in a persistent vegetative state.

So if Obama had the opportunity to take back a vote he cast in his years in public service, it would be the one he cast to offer a disabled woman the right to a federal review – for a federal judge to make sure that her due process rights had not been denied, the same right given to all prisoners on death row.

Obama said, "I think that was a mistake, and I think the American people understood that was a mistake. And as a constitutional law professor, I knew better."

Clearly, Obama is on the wrong side when it comes to promoting a Culture of Life and safeguarding the civil liberties of the weak and vulnerable.

Obama actually regrets voting to grant Terri the right to a federal review before being sentenced to death. He regrets having voted to support Terri's right to due process. I find that extremely troubling.

Obama's regrets about granting Terri Schiavo due process and his attitude about the value of her life are even more disturbing given the passage of government-run health care.

Ezekiel Emanuel, one of Obama's top advisers on health care and brother of Rahm Emanuel, takes this stance:

[Health services should not be guaranteed to] individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.

People like Terri won't stand a chance of receiving treatment or being treated with dignity when health care becomes rationed by the government. They will be denied services because funds are limited. The disabled and the elderly lose under ObamaCare.

Terri's dramatic experience deeply touched so many people, even though nearly all of us were witnesses from afar. For me, her story helped clarify the value of life and what I consider to be our moral obligation to protect the weak and disabled. Her devoted family's desire to care for her and their efforts to save her life were truly inspiring.

Terri's story is a lesson in love.

The struggle for life to prevail, when engulfed in a Culture of Death, is a challenging but morally imperative endeavor.

When speaking of his sister's plight, Bobby Schindler recalls the words of Thomas Jefferson: "The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government."

Obviously, Obama is no Thomas Jefferson. We've already seen the energy Obama puts into his assault on the dignity of human life. Our work to counter his extremist agenda will be more difficult but more important now than ever.

Although today is a sad day, we can honor Terri's memory by continuing to work to build a lasting Culture of Life; keeping in mind the words of Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, that "an attack against life is an attack against God."

On this sixth anniversary of Terri's death, I pray that her parents, her siblings, her other family members and her friends find comfort and peace.
_________________

Prayer in Remembrance of Terri Schiavo

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.

I know that life is always a good,
and that it never loses its value
when it is beset by weakness or injury.

Lord, thank you for the life of Terri Schindler-Schiavo.
Even in her suffering and death
She revealed Your glory
and truth that life is always sacred.

As I remember Terri, I also commit myself
to be active in the pro-life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,

And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice
Not just for some, but for all,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

_________________

Observe Terri's Day, March 31, 2011.

Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, in collaboration with Priests for Life, announces the, "International Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Terri Schindler Schiavo, and All of Our Vulnerable Brothers and Sisters," (Terri's Day!), which will be observed each year on March 31, the anniversary of her death.

Activities for Terri's Day:
Suggested Activities for Individuals, Parishes and Schools For Terri's Day 2011!

---Say the Prayer in Remembrance of Terri daily, the week before and after Terri's Day.

---Hold a Memorial Service and/or Mass on Terri's Day.

---Conduct or participate in a parish or school essay contest about what happened to Terri, and the issues surrounding care for the disabled and their right to life.
Create and publicize a website in honor of Terri.

---Invite a speaker to your school, parish, or community organization to address issues surrounding the care of the disabled.

---Organize a letter writing campaign in remembrance of Terri by one or more individuals to local papers or blogs.

---Spend time volunteering at a nursing home or hospital.

---Spend time with a disabled friend or relative.

---Write to or visit elected officials regarding legislation that would increase protection for people facing circumstances like Terri did.

---Fill out, and make others aware of the "Will to Live".

---Register to vote and participate in elections. Challenge candidates on their views regarding Terri and those who face the same challenges and dangers she did.

_________________

Casey Abrams and Jimmy Fallon

Last week, Casey Abrams was almost voted off American Idol. The judges used their "save" on Abrams and he survived to sing another week.

However, sensing his days on Idol may be numbered, Casey Abrams has been doing product endorsements. Some were shown on Wednesday's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Watch the video:

David Prosser: 'Bench Brawl in Wisconsin'

From the Editors, National Review:

The Left long ago stopped pretending that court proceedings were anything other than exercises in raw-power politics, and so they’ve taken their fight against Wisconsin governor Scott Walker to the state supreme court — not in the form of a lawsuit, but in the form of a multimillion-dollar intervention into an election to a ten-year term on the court.

Wisconsin supreme court justice David Prosser went to bed one night a respected former prosecutor, and woke up the next morning the target of a $3 million union-run smear campaign, falsely accused of being an enabler of pedophiles. That is what you get when you oppose the political machine that has been fleecing taxpayers in Wisconsin and elsewhere for a generation. Or, as in the case of Justice Prosser, when they suspect you might merely stand in their way and do your job.

...It is important that conservatives nationwide make this campaign their own. What is at stake in Wisconsin is not just one piece of legislation or one bill restoring a measure of sanity to the state budgeting process. The question to be answered in Wisconsin is: Who works for whom? Do the public employees work for the citizens, or are the citizens mere cattle to be disposed of at the pleasure of the bureaucrats and their union bosses? Every arrow in the quiver — court cases, judicial elections, recall, lawsuits, lies, libels, and brute thuggery — will be thrown at this case, along with lots of money derived from the union dues that state and local governments helpfully deduct from their employees’ paychecks on the unions’ behalf. Wisconsin may seem an unlikely battleground, but a line must be drawn, and this is the place to draw it.

Read the entire editorial.

The choice is clear, my fellow Wisconsinites.

Vote for Justice David Prosser on April 5th.

WSEU, AFSCME Council 24 - Boycott Letters

Anti-Scott Walker union thugs have expanded their threats to boycott businesses in Wisconsin.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Members of Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24, have begun circulating letters to businesses in southeast Wisconsin, asking them to support workers’ rights by putting up a sign in their windows.

If businesses fail to comply, the letter says, “Failure to do so will leave us no choice but (to) do a public boycott of your business. And sorry, neutral means 'no' to those who work for the largest employer in the area and are union members."

Jim Parrett, a field representative of Council 24 for Southeast Wisconsin, confirmed the contents of the letter, which carries his signature. But he added that the union was also circulating letters to businesses thanking them for supporting workers’ rights.

Parrett said that since the letters were sent out, he has received threatening phone calls as well as calls from people supporting the state workers.

"I've gotten a lot of threatening phone calls," Parrett said.

Parrett said he believed the letter campaign was going on in other parts of the state. His region includes Racine and Kenosha counties, as well as parts of Waukesha and Walworth counties.

“It’s going on in other parts of the state,” he said Wednesday.

...In the letter from Parrett to some businesses, he says that, “It is unfortunate that you have chosen ‘not’ to support public workers rights in Wisconsin. In recent past weeks you have been offered a sign by a public employee who works in one of the state facilities in the Union Grove area. These signs simply said, ‘This Business Supports Workers Rights,’ a simple, subtle and we feel non-controversial statement gives the facts at this time.”

..."The recent actions taken on the governor’s budget repair bill have taken more from workers than dollars. It took away our right to bargain things such as: sick leave and how it is used, vacation and how it is used, overtime and how it is ‘fairly’ distributed. Our grievance procedure has been virtually destroyed. These are things that make life working in a 24/7 facility tolerable,” Parrett wrote in the letter.

Parrett adds in the letter: "State employees fully expect to take some lumps financially in these tough economic times, we have offered and we will. But don't take away rights to what has kept workplace peace for half a century and has worked well."

...Asked Wednesday about the boycott effort, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said "that any nonviolent tactic used to get attention to the steamroller tactics it seems to me are reasonable. I encourage people to remain nonviolent and disciplined in their protests."

Asked if he supported boycott efforts in Wisconsin, Jackson did not directly endorse them.

He said: The best way to resolve conflict is when everybody is at the tabel and they can negotiate through some rational institutional process."

(Don't the professional journalists, union members, of the Journal Sentinel spell check their articles before publishing? What's a "tabel"?)

Originally, the union thugs targeted businesses that had some indirect connection to Governor Scott Walker. For example, if an owner or employee, as a private citizen, made a donation to the Governor, that business made the boycott list.

Now, the union thugs have expanded their targets. They are demanding that businesses with no connections whatsoever to Governor Walker and to political matters display political signs supporting the unions. In effect, the union thugs are making them an offer they can't refuse.



The thugs threaten that if the businesses don't display the pro-union signs, there will be consequences - PUBLIC BOYCOTT.

"And sorry, neutral means 'no' to those who work for the largest employer in the area and are union members."

This is disgusting. As a former member of AFSCME (against my will), I find these letters detestable.

The public unions have really gone off the deep end.

Remaining neutral is not an option, according to the union thugs.

INAPPROPRIATE!

The more the union thugs employ these strong-arm tactics against hard-working people just trying to make a living, the more my disapproval of these public union members, THUGS, grows.
__________________

Note to self: Go to Sendik's and buy Johnsonville brats and Sargento cheese, then go to Kwik Trip.

Russ Feingold and JoAnne Kloppenburg

Radical Leftist Russ Feingold, former U.S. senator fired on November 2, 2010, by the people of Wisconsin, supports (SURPRISE!) JoAnne Kloppenburg for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

He posted his endorsement on the website of his political action committee - P.U. or Progressives United.

Feingold writes:

Why I Am Supporting JoAnne

March 29, 2011
By Russ Feingold

In the last two months, we watched as Governor Walker and the Republican-led state legislature ignored Wisconsin’s traditions of compromise, common-sense, and comity.

Just as disturbing is the path our Supreme Court races have taken over the last few years - as outside interest groups and corporate donations brought these campaigns into the mud.

Our state deserves better, and our elected officials, especially Supreme Court justices, should be held to a higher standard.

It's time we stand together to support candidates who will respect Wisconsin's traditions and impartially follow the law. JoAnne Kloppenburg is that candidate. On April 5, Wisconsinites can go to the polls and bring some much-needed change to the court.

JoAnne has a long record of working with progressives and conservatives in the interest of justice, and she'll make an excellent justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Together, we can support a candidate who impartially applies the law and upholds the individual rights and democratic principles that this state holds dear. Please vote for JoAnne Kloppenburg in next week’s election.

The fact that Feingold is supporting Kloppenburg should serve as an alert to Wisconsin voters.

Vote for Justice David Prosser.

Jimmy Fallon: Obama, 'Dancing with the Stars'

JIMMY FALLON: Last night, President Obama's speech on Libya was actually scheduled early so it wouldn't interrupt Dancing with the Stars. That's ridiculous. This is a major historical event that affects the lives of millions of people. I can't believe it was almost interrupted by Obama's speech.

That's right. Last night, there was another big episode of the show Dancing with the Stars. Yeah, but it was preceded by Obama's new show - Dancing around the Objectives in Libya.

Critics are saying that President Obama seemed defensive and slightly angry during his speech on Libya. Sounds like somebody's March Madness bracket isn't doing so hot.

Woman Uses Child as Taser Shield, Wants Her Weed

With all due respect, this woman is scum.

From GlendaleNOW:

A domestic dispute that boiled over at a business led to a woman being arrested for disorderly conduct after she used a child as a shield against being Tasered.

According to Glendale police:

A 36-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for disorderly conduct/domestic at the service area at Andrew Toyota, 1620 W. Silver Spring Drive, at 12:15 p.m. March 24.

When police arrived, the woman was holding the hand of a child while shaking her finger in the face of her boyfriend, an employee of Andrew, while yelling, "Give me my weed back!"

She struggled with police, refused to give her name and held the child in front of her to avoid being Tasered.

The boyfriend said the two had been living together for a few months but when asked what the woman's last name was said he wasn't sure. He also said he didn't want her arrested but police told him, they had no choice.

It's sad to think this woman is responsible for a child. She's obviously not fit to parent or serve as a guardian.

The age of the child/Taser shield isn't reported, but the child is young enough for the woman to be holding the child's hand.

I wonder if the little one is the woman's child. She's 36. Maybe grandchild?

Pringles: 101 Flavors from Around the World

I wasn't aware that Pringles were available in so many varieties.

Here's a list of 101 different flavors of Pringles, from Now That's Nifty:

1 Bacon & Cheese Potato

2 Bacon Ceaser Salad

3 Bacon Ranch

4 Bangkok Grilled Chicken Wing

5 Barbecue

6 Beef Kabab

7 Blazin' Buffalo Wing

8 Blueberry & Hazelnut

9 Bruschetta

10 Cajun

11 Cheddar BBQ

12 Cheddar Cheese

13 Cheese and Onion

14 Cheese Carnival

15 Cheeseburger

16 Cheesy Fries

17 Cheesy Quesadilla

18 Cheez Ums

19 Chili Cheese Dog

20 Chili Cheese

21 Cinnamon Sweet Potato

22 Corn Pringles

23 Crunchy Dill

24 Crushed Pepper

25 Curry

26 Fat Free Barbecue

27 Fiery Hot

28 Finger Lickin' Braised Pork

29 French Consume

30 Fun Picnic

31 Garlic Seafood

32 Grand Canyon French Fries

33 Grilled Shrimp

34 Honey Mustard

35 Hot & Spicy Wonton

36 Indonesian Satay

37 Jalapeno

38 Jalapeno Cheddar

39 Jalapeno Ranch

40 Keema Curry

41 Ketchup

42 Kickin' Cheddar

43 Lemon

44 Lemon & Sesame

45 Loaded Baked Potato

46 Los Angeles Street BBQ Chicken

47 Mayo Potato

48 Mexican Layered Dip

49 Mozzarella Sticks & Marinara

50 Multi Grain Cheesy Cheddar

51 Multi Grain Creamy Ranch

52 Multi Grain Truly Original

53 New York Street Cheese Dog

54 Night Club

55 Night Star

56 Old American Circus Funky Mustard

57 Onion Blossom

58 Original

59 Paprika

60 Parmesan Garlic

61 Philly Cheesesteak

62 Pizza-licious

63 Potato Cheddar Jack

64 Prawn Cocktail

65 Ranch-Rageous

66 Reduced Fat Original

67 Ridges Original

68 Rock the Floor

69 Salsa

70 Salsa Verde

71 Salt and Vinegar

72 Sausage

73 Screamin' Dill Pickle

74 Seaweed

75 Slow Cooked BBQ

76 Smoked Salami

77 Smokey Bacon

78 Smokey BBQ

79 Smokin' Hot Ranch

80 Soft-Shelled crab

81 Sour Cream and Onion

82 Southwestern Barbecue

83 Spanish Salsa Pizza

84 Spicy Cajun

85 Spicy Chicken

86 Spicy Guacamole

87 Sun Dried Tomato

88 Sweet Mesquite BBQ

89 Sweet Potato Honey Chipotle Barbecue

90 Szechuan Barbecue Rice Crisps

91 Taco Night

92 Texas BBQ sauce

93 Thai Sweet Chili & Lemon Grass

94 Tiger Prawn and Crushed Garlic

95 Tomato

96 Torchin' Tamale

97 White Cheddar

98 Wild Consume

99 Wisconsin White Cheddar

100 Zesty Lime and Chili

101 Zesty Queso

Some of the flavors sound great. Some sound weird. Some are gag-inducing.

Explore the Pringles website.

If you have a passport, you can get your hands on Pringles almost anywhere in the world. We figured out a long time ago that satisfying a craving is something done everywhere. We can't think of a better global taste ambassador. No matter what the language, everyone speaks Pringles.

David Prosser and Mark Levin

Justice David Prosser will be a guest on Mark Levin's radio program today.

Justice Prosser will be on my program at 7:30 PM eastern time, for an exclusive interview. The election is just days away -- on April 5. The battle over Wisconsin's future appears to come down to the re-election of a Supreme Court justice, David Prosser.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/print/263187

Listen live at 6:30 PM CT.

Listen to the podcast.

Maryann Sumi Blocks Law - Again

UPDATE, June 14, 2011: Maryann Sumi's ruling is overturned by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
_______________

UPDATE, May 26, 2011: Maryann Sumi strikes down law.
_______________

UPDATE, March 31, 2011: Sumi rules AGAIN.

Judge Maryann Sumi, mother of foul-mouthed, union hack Jake Sinderbrand, has ordered that the budget repair bill is not in effect.

A state law to sharply curb union bargaining by public employees is not in effect, a Dane County judge ruled Thursday, continuing the turmoil over a measure that sparked massive protests and prompted Democrats to boycott the Senate for three weeks.

Gov. Scott Walker's administration said it would comply and discontinue the implementation of the law.

"Based on the briefs of counsel, the uncontroverted testimony, and the evidence received at the March 29, 2011, evidentiary hearing, it is hereby DECLARED that 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 has not been published within the meaning of (state statutes), and is therefore not in effect," Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled in a two-paragraph order.

...In response to the order, Walker's administration said it was halting action on putting the law in force.

"While I believe the budget-repair bill was legally published and is indeed law, given the most recent court action we will suspend the implementation of it at this time," said a statement from Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch.

"I am pleased that now we have a clear statement that the law is not in effect and that we have to straighten this out," said La Follette, a Democrat.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said the order was needed because he said Walker's administration had ignored past warnings from the judge.

"This morning with her added order she has taken away their last excuse," his statement said.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) called the order "judicial activism at its worst."

"Once again, one Dane County judge is doing everything she can to stand in the way of our efforts to improve the economy and create jobs," said a statement he issued.

...Sumi's latest order is in sharp contrast to what she said two days earlier in court. Then, Ozanne asked her to issue an order declaring the law was not in effect, but Sumi declined to do so.

"That is yet to be determined," she said then. "I hesitate to do that at this point because testimony is not closed and argument is not closed."

No testimony has been taken since Sumi said that.

Clearly, Sumi is doing the bidding of the unions.

She pulled this latest order out of thin air, something she said she would not do.

This is judicial activism.

This is Dane County.

Read Sumi's March 31, 2011, ruling.
___________________

Judge Maryann Sumi is blocking the implementation of the budget repair LAW.

No surprise there.

The Sinderbrand family must be celebrating tonight.


Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi halts Assistant Attorney General Maria Lazar's opening remarks during a hearing at the Dane County Courthouse inMadison, Wis., Tuesday, March 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Michael P. King, Pool)

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A Dane County judge Tuesday blocked the state from implementing Gov. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining measure.

“Further implementation of the act is enjoined,” said Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi.

Sumi noted her original restraining order issued earlier this month was clear in saying that the state should not proceed with implementing the law. The Walker administration did so after the bill was published Friday by a state agency not included in Sumi’s earlier temporary restraining order.

“Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of Act 10 was enjoined. That is what I now want to make crystal clear,” she said.

But minutes later, outside the court room, Assistant Attorney General Steven Means said the legislation “absolutely” is still in effect.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) balked at that statement.

“It’s just startling that the attorney general believes you should not follow court orders anymore,” he said.

The restraining order is in effect until Friday, when more testimony will be taken. At that point, Sumi could rule on whether the law should be suspended for a longer period.

Sumi noted she has not yet found that lawmakers violated the open meetings law, but noted the Legislature could resolve the matter by passing the bill again. Andrew Welhouse, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), said there are no plans to try to pass the bill again.

First, 14 AWOL Democrat state senators held the people of Wisconsin hostage.

Now, a woman in a black robe is trying to do the same thing.
________________

Read Maryann Sumi's March 29, 2011, order.

JT the Chimp Edits Surf Movie

From the Surfer's Journal:

In one of those "only on the Internet" kind of things, we found this. We can't vouch for its authenticity, but given what's already floating around out there on the Internet, anything's possible:

"Great surf action edited by a chimpanzee named "JT". JT lives in a private chimp sanctuary located on the outskirts of Modesto, CA. JT the chimp was given the controls of a Final Cut Pro edit system, and quickly mastered the editing process. JT, the chimp editor, favors quick cuts and ambient sounds."

Watch JT's film:



Genius!

Abby Johnson: Planned Parenthood

Defund Planned Parenthood.

Milwaukee School Choice: Study Shows Positive Effects

UPDATE, March 30, 2011: Voucher testing data takes a new twist: Voucher, MPS kids on par, study finds

A day after the release of state test scores showed voucher-school students in Milwaukee achieving lower levels of reading and math proficiency than students in Milwaukee Public Schools, new data from researchers studying the voucher program's results over multiple years shows those students are doing about the same as MPS students, not worse.

The contradictory report is part of the latest installment of data from a group of researchers at the University of Arkansas who have been tracking a sample of Milwaukee voucher students matched to a set of MPS peers since 2005-'06.

After looking at achievement results on state tests over three years for those matched samples of students, the researchers' data continues to show little difference in academic achievement between both sectors in 2009.

...Patrick J. Wolf, the lead researcher on the latest voucher-school study results, said the type of studies he's involved in don't always produce clear answers because they can be like Rorschach tests: People see different arguments in the same basic set of facts

"If voucher school students aren't doing dramatically better than public school students, some people view the program as a failure," Wolf said. "But some people can look at the same results and say that's success, you've expanded choice and opportunity and there's no harm caused by it.

"Then you look at finances, and the fact that vouchers cost less than half the amount of money spent per student in public schools (in Milwaukee)."

Summary of findings

According to the fourth-year results of the five-year voucher school evaluation, Wolf and other researchers found:

• No meaningful differences over three years in student achievement growth in either math or reading between a matched set of voucher and MPS students. The first year was used as a baseline for student test scores.

• A sample of ninth-graders in the voucher program had slightly higher rates of graduation and enrollment in a four-year college than at matched sample of MPS ninth-graders. Some of the attainment benefit in voucher schools appears to be due to family background, such as mothers with higher levels of education.

• Independent charter schools in Milwaukee - public schools that are nonunion and authorized to operate by non-MPS entities - outperformed MPS students in both reading and math after three years, after controlling for baseline achievement and other student characteristics.

_________________

Read "A Win-Win Solution, The Empirical Evidence on School Vouchers."

From the MacIver Institute:

A recently updated study examined every piece of empirical research conducted on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program – and found nothing but positive results for the city’s schools and students. These improvements weren’t just tied to students in the MPCP alone, either.

The study, conducted by Dr. Greg Forster, a Senior Fellow with the Foundation for Educational Choice, examined empirical research on school voucher programs across the country, ranging from Maine and Vermont’s Town Tuitioning programs to Florida’s since-overturned A+ voucher system. It uncovered 22 empirical studies and found that 21 of the 22 pieces of research found positive effects in public schools that were exposed to school choice programs. The 22nd study, which focused on Washington D.C.’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, found no visible effect on the district’s public schools from the existence of choice.

According to Forster, six empirical studies have been conducted to examine the effects that the MPCP has had on public schools in Milwaukee. All six studies, which include work from Harvard University, Stanford University, the Federal Reserve Bank, and other organizations, found a positive result from the voucher program. Their common thread was a modest, but significant, improvement in the city’s public schools due to the exposure to the voucher program.

...A trend between all six studies emerged – the more eligible students for vouchers in a neighborhood school’s local area, the more likely these public schools were to post educational gains compared to other public institutions.

These studies suggest that greater exposure to competition via vouchers spurs improvement in public schools in Milwaukee. Classrooms that are faced with more children potentially leaving for different schools have showcased better educational gains than those in the city with less of a threat of losing students. While these results don’t reflect a panacea for the city’s educational problems, they do reflect modest improvements from a program that is relatively small in scale.

...When held up to the gold standard of research methods, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program holds weight as a positive influence on student outcomes. Students in and out of the program benefit, especially when neighboring public schools make strides in the face of potentially losing students. The program allows the state’s largest city to improve education – albeit modestly – while providing an array of learning opportunities at a lower cost than traditional public schools.

Of course, the program isn’t perfect, and it isn’t a cure-all. But it does help students, and Forster’s research shows that this effect isn’t limited to just the kids that leave MPS. Despite its flaws, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program is presenting a win/win situation for students in Brew City.

________________

More on school choice:

Obama's Empty Education Rhetoric to Hispanics

Bill Ayers and Charter Schools, MPS and Choice Schools

UPDATE, March 30, 2011: Voucher testing data takes a new twist: Voucher, MPS kids on par, study finds

A day after the release of state test scores showed voucher-school students in Milwaukee achieving lower levels of reading and math proficiency than students in Milwaukee Public Schools, new data from researchers studying the voucher program's results over multiple years shows those students are doing about the same as MPS students, not worse.

The contradictory report is part of the latest installment of data from a group of researchers at the University of Arkansas who have been tracking a sample of Milwaukee voucher students matched to a set of MPS peers since 2005-'06.

After looking at achievement results on state tests over three years for those matched samples of students, the researchers' data continues to show little difference in academic achievement between both sectors in 2009.

...Patrick J. Wolf, the lead researcher on the latest voucher-school study results, said the type of studies he's involved in don't always produce clear answers because they can be like Rorschach tests: People see different arguments in the same basic set of facts

"If voucher school students aren't doing dramatically better than public school students, some people view the program as a failure," Wolf said. "But some people can look at the same results and say that's success, you've expanded choice and opportunity and there's no harm caused by it.

"Then you look at finances, and the fact that vouchers cost less than half the amount of money spent per student in public schools (in Milwaukee)."

Summary of findings

According to the fourth-year results of the five-year voucher school evaluation, Wolf and other researchers found:

• No meaningful differences over three years in student achievement growth in either math or reading between a matched set of voucher and MPS students. The first year was used as a baseline for student test scores.

• A sample of ninth-graders in the voucher program had slightly higher rates of graduation and enrollment in a four-year college than at matched sample of MPS ninth-graders. Some of the attainment benefit in voucher schools appears to be due to family background, such as mothers with higher levels of education.

• Independent charter schools in Milwaukee - public schools that are nonunion and authorized to operate by non-MPS entities - outperformed MPS students in both reading and math after three years, after controlling for baseline achievement and other student characteristics.

_________________

Bill Ayers is a radical, a domestic terrorist, and a liar.

Ayers lies about the effectiveness of charter schools.

Vanessa Jean-Louis challenges Ayers with facts. Ayers doesn't want to hear it. He doesn't care about results and what's best for the children.

Ayers considers charter schools to be a threat. He fears giving parents options. He wants children to be trapped in traditional public schools rather than allow them to take paths that offer a better chance for academic success.

This is a great video by Vanessa Jean-Louis, Afroconservative, via Breitbart.



This enlightening video was posted on YouTube two days ago.

It comes just as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reveals test results for students in Milwaukee's school choice program.

Students in Milwaukee's school choice program performed worse than or about the same as students in Milwaukee Public Schools in math and reading on the latest statewide test, according to results released Tuesday that provided the first apples-to-apples achievement comparison between public and individual voucher schools.

The scores released by the state Department of Public Instruction cast a shadow on the overall quality of the 21-year-old Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, which was intended to improve results for poor city children in failing public schools by allowing them to attend higher-performing private schools with publicly funded vouchers. The scores also raise concerns about Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to roll back the mandate that voucher schools participate in the current state test.

Voucher-school advocates counter that legislation that required administration of the state test should have been applied only once the new version of the test that's in the works was rolled out. They also say that the latest test scores are an incomplete measure of voucher-school performance because they don't show the progress those schools are making with a difficult population of students over time.

...The big news for those plugged into the education world, however, was the choice vs. public school results in Milwaukee. MPS results overall showed 59% of students scoring proficient or better in reading, while 47.8% of students scored proficient or better in math.

In the voucher program, 55.2% of students scored proficient or better in reading while 34.4% of students scored proficient or better in math.

The percentage of low-income students in MPS proficient or better in reading - 55.3% - was about the same as the voucher program, which currently serves only low-income students.

It's unfortunate that some will likely use these numbers to try to strip parents of their right to choose what's best for their kids.

The numbers don't offer a complete picture of students' progress. They are an inadequate measure of results, a snapshot without context. There's no measure of specific students' performance in MPS compared to their performance in the school choice program. If the skills of individual children have improved, that's success. What would be their level of achievement if they attended MPS?

The test results don't provide that information.

Another issue is the sample--

The group of voucher students tested is dramatically smaller than the number of MPS students tested, potentially impacting the results.

The performance of each voucher student is given greater weight than each MPS student when it comes to arriving at the percentages of academic achievement.

In sum, these latest test results don't necessarily tell the whole story.

The JSOnline headline for the article, while factually accurate, is incomplete and, therefore, misleading.



I remain staunchly pro-choice when it comes to education.

It seems odd that many of the same teacher union members complaining about losing their rights are in favor of limiting or taking away parents' right to choose.

Fact Check: Obama's Speech

The Associated Press checks Obama's "facts" in his speech on Libya.

In short, Obama tried to assure the nation that this was not our war. He said NATO will run the show, but there's the rub.

In transferring command and control to NATO, the U.S. is turning the reins over to an organization dominated by the U.S., both militarily and politically. In essence, the U.S. runs the show that is taking over running the show.

I thought Obama's speech was awful.

For example, Obama claimed we don't turn a blind eye to humanitarian crises.

Really?

Take a look at Darfur, Obama.

In his pre-presidential book "The Audacity of Hope," Obama said the U.S. will lack international legitimacy if it intervenes militarily "without a well-articulated strategy that the public supports and the world understands."

He questioned: "Why invade Iraq and not North Korea or Burma? Why intervene in Bosnia and not Darfur?"

Good questions, Obama.

Why Libya and not Darfur?

Here's AP's FACT CHECK:

OBAMA: "Our most effective alliance, NATO, has taken command of the enforcement of the arms embargo and no-fly zone. ... Going forward, the lead in enforcing the no-fly zone and protecting civilians on the ground will transition to our allies and partners, and I am fully confident that our coalition will keep the pressure on Gadhafi's remaining forces. In that effort, the United States will play a supporting role."

THE FACTS: As by far the pre-eminent player in NATO, and a nation historically reluctant to put its forces under operational foreign command, the United States will not be taking a back seat in the campaign even as its profile diminishes for public consumption.
__________

OBAMA: "Our military mission is narrowly focused on saving lives."

THE FACTS: Even as the U.S. steps back as the nominal leader, reduces some assets and fires a declining number of cruise missiles, the scope of the mission appears to be expanding and the end game remains unclear.

Despite insistences that the operation is only to protect civilians, the airstrikes now are undeniably helping the rebels to advance.
__________

OBAMA: Seeking to justify military intervention, the president said the U.S. has "an important strategic interest in preventing Gadhafi from overrunning those who oppose him. A massacre would have driven thousands of additional refugees across Libya's borders, putting enormous strains on the peaceful - yet fragile - transitions in Egypt and Tunisia." He added: "I am convinced that a failure to act in Libya would have carried a far greater price for America."

THE FACTS: Obama did not wait to make that case to Congress, despite his past statements that presidents should get congressional authorization before taking the country to war, absent a threat to the nation that cannot wait.
__________

OBAMA: "And tonight, I can report that we have stopped Gadhafi's deadly advance."

THE FACTS: The weeklong international barrage has disabled Libya's air defenses, communications networks and supply chains. But Gadhafi's ground forces remain a potent threat to the rebels and civilians, according to U.S. military officials.
__________

OBAMA: "Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action."

THE FACTS: Mass violence against civilians has also been escalating elsewhere, without any U.S. military intervention anticipated.
__________

Read the transcript of Obama's speech.

Here's video:

Brewers: Concession Prices 2011

The Milwaukee Brewers have announced the prices for concessions at Miller Park this season.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Most food and beverage items at Miller Park will stay the same price as last year, but there will be higher prices for some beer, soda and food offerings.

A 16-ounce plastic bottle of beer will now be $6.75, an increase of 25 cents. The same bottle will be $7 if purchased from a vendor.

A 12-ounce beer will increase 25 cents to $5.50. That beer is sold at the concession stands.

A Chicago-style hot dog will be $4.50, an increase of 25 cents. And an Italian beef sandwich will be $7, also an increase of 25 cents.

Some soda prices will be higher. A 28-ounce soda will be $4.50, an increase of 25 cents. A 42-ounce soda will be $6.25, also up 25 cents.

The following items did not increase in price. They include:

Hot dog: $3.25.

Jumbo dog: $4.25 at a concession stand, $4.50 from a vendor.

Brat: $4.50 at a stand, $4.75 from a vendor.

Peanuts: $4 at a stand, $4.25 from a vendor.

20-ounce bottle of water: $4 at a stand, $4.25 from a vendor.

The good news may be that many prices for concession items are staying the same. The bad news is the prices are way too high. No increase on something that's priced astronomically high to begin with is hardly a good thing.

You can bring in your own food but there are restrictions:

The following items will be permitted:

Small Bags (Size Limit 16" x 16" x 8")
Soft-Sided Cooler Bags (Size Limit 16" x 16" x 8")
Small Purses and Fany Packs
Small Diaper Bags, Strollers, Wheelchairs

Note: All bags, purses, fanny packs or soft sided coolers must be 16" x 16" x 8"or smaller.

All food items must be contained within soft-see-through containers, i.e. ZipLoc bags in order to expedite bag inspections at Miller Park Gates.

All permitted items will be subject to inspection at the gates.

Re-Entry Policy:

Guests may not exit and re-enter Miller Park using the same ticket. However, in case of an emergency, a guest may receive a signature on their ticket stub from a Gate Supervisor, which will permit a guest to re-enter Miller Park at the same gate. Guests who leave Miller Park at any time without the signature on their ticket stub will not be permitted to re-enter with the same ticket.

Miller Park provides a safe family friendly environment. Brewers Staff and Milwaukee Police Officers are readily available to assist fans throughout the premises.

The following items will not be permitted:

Alcohol
Bags (Larger than 16" x 16" x 8")
Brooms/Broomsticks
Cans
Hard-Sided Coolers
Hard-Sided Snack Containers/Canisters
Glass Containers
Laser Pointers
Noise Makers
Sipper Bottles, Thermos Bottles and Fast-Food Drink Cups
Throwing Items
Weapons

There will be no claim checks available for prohibited items at the gates.

Taking the family to a baseball game gets to be so expensive. Unfortunately, for many people it's unaffordable to do frequently, if at all. That's too bad.

Ken Kratz: No Charges for Sexting

Disgraced former Calumet County District Attorney Kenneth Kratz won't face charges for his habit of sexting and harassing women.

From the Associated Press:

A former prosecutor who sent racy text messages to a domestic abuse victim will not face criminal charges over misconduct and sexual assault allegations levied by more than a dozen women, the Wisconsin Justice Department announced Monday.

State investigators determined that former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz's "conduct appears to fit the connotation of 'misconduct' and demonstrates inappropriate behavior but does not satisfy the elements required to prosecute," wrote Assistant Attorney General Tom Storm.

Kratz's attorney, Robert Bellin, said his office was investigating whether anyone lied in an effort to hurt Kratz.

"I think it's obviously the right decision," Bellin said of not filing charges. "I don't think we were that worried about it. We think that there were statements from individuals who came forward who were not completely truthful."

Kratz resigned from his $105,000 per year position in October after The Associated Press reported he had sent 30 text messages trying to strike up an affair with a domestic abuse victim while he prosecuted her ex-boyfriend on a strangulation charge. Kratz, who was 50 at the time, called 26-year-old Stephanie Van Groll "a hot nymph" and asked if she was "the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married DA."

...The Justice Department on Monday released its case summary, which said Van Groll was among a dozen or so women who complained about Kratz.

Two claimed they had sexual contact with Kratz, five alleged misconduct in office, and one alleged Kratz improperly told her about a search warrant. The remaining complaints didn't include an identifiable criminal offense, the report said.

Storm, who led the investigation, wrote that one of the alleged sexual encounters occurred in 1999 and the statute of limitations had expired. The other sexual contact complaint contained "insurmountable proof problems," Storm wrote, adding the woman wouldn't be a credible witness because she suffered from mental illness, had prior convictions and consented to the contact.

As for misconduct in office, complaints included the messages Kratz sent to Van Groll as well as accusations Kratz sought a personal relationship with one woman in exchange for help in winning a gubernatorial pardon and a relationship with another woman in exchange for help writing a victim impact statement against her husband.

But investigators found Kratz technically didn't fail or refuse to perform his duties, didn't exceed his authority and didn't try to gain a dishonest advantage.

While "technically" Kratz didn't commit criminal wrongdoing in office, he was acting extremely inappropriately.

He was forced to resign as DA and was publicly disgraced.

Although he won't face prosecution, Kratz has been punished.

Punished enough?

I'm not sure.

JoAnne Kloppenburg Song

This pro-JoAnne Kloppenburg campaign song is just sad, painful, not good.

(h/t Charlie Sykes)

Melody based on "Swing and Turn Jubilee" (traditional)
Lyrics: Parthy Schachter
Vocals: Megan Hamm, Michael Schachter
Guitar: Aviv Kammay, Michael Schachter
Bass: Nick Moran
Production: Aviv Kammay

"The JoAnne Kloppenburg Song" lyrics

Hey, JoAnne Kloppenburg
I watched them steal my state
Scott Walker took my rights away
But he ain't sealed my fate, no, he ain't sealed my fate

Kloppenburg, our state's a mess
We've taken quite a scare
We need you on the Supreme Court
To keep Wisconsin fair, yeah, keep Wisconsin fair

Kloppenburg, we need you now
You gotta tip the scale
4-3 with integrity
'Cause judges ain't for sale, no judges ain't for sale

Prosser, oh Prosser
Your record's got some dirty streaks
We've gotta find you some other work to do
You stand by Scott Walker, you "complement" his government

Well Walker, we are over you
And Prosser, you are through, yeah, Prosser you are through

Kloppenburg, oh Kloppenburg
Dave Prosser came up short
But you know the law and you'll play us straight
And we need you on the Court, yeah, we need you on the Court

If you want a real good judge
Who's gonna keep her word
Go to the polls on April 5th
And vote for Kloppenburg, yeah, vote for Kloppenburg

Yow!

Bill Ayers, Obama's Book

Last Thursday, Bill Ayers, radical unrepentant terrorist, was yapping at Montclair State University.

When asked his opinion of Obama's book, Dreams From My Father, Ayers offered more than a critique. He said that he wrote it.

Video, from American Thinker.



Although Ayers was being sarcastic when he called for help to prove he wrote the book, and he joked about getting his share of the royalties, Ayers had to know that bringing up the controversy at all was not something that would help Obama.

Jack Cashill of American Thinker writes, "Ayers does not like the application of force in Libya, and this may have been his own way of retaliating."

That was my reaction when I watched the video. Ayers seems ticked off and looking to hurt Obama.
_________________

Note: Some Leftists have linked to this post and distorted my position. Perhaps it wasn't intentional. It could be that they have comprehension problems. It could be that they were lazy and relied on others' interpretations.

To be clear, I do not think that in the above video Ayers declares he is the author of Obama's book. I said "Ayers was being sarcastic" and "he joked about getting his share of the royalties."

I do think that Ayers enjoys tweaking Obama. Ayers has stated his past disappointment with Obama and I believe he's not pleased with Obama's handling of Libya.

Obama Libya Speech

Tonight at 7:30/6:30 PM CT, Obama will address the nation about his decision to involve the U.S. military in Libya.

Obama will deliver his speech from the National Defense University in Washington.

Why mess with that? Why not just do the speech from the Oval Office?

These carefully choreographed events are lame.

Obama should keep it simple and just talk to the nation from the White House.

The guy seems to be afraid of speaking from behind his desk. The time is weird, too; very early.

Matt Spetalnick, Reuters, writes:

President Barack Obama faces the challenge on Monday of convincing Americans he has clear military aims and a U.S. exit strategy in the Libya conflict as he seeks to counter growing congressional criticism.

In a high-stakes televised address, Obama -- accused by many lawmakers of failing to explain the U.S. role in the Western air campaign against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi -- will try to define the mission's purpose and scope.

This should be interesting.

Obama is on the record slamming President Bush and U.S. involvement in Iraq. He declared that to be a "dumb war."

What brilliance!

It's going to be tough for him to explain why action in Libya is appropriate with his history of insisting military operations in Iraq were not.

Obama is going to have to do a lot of contortions to give the impression that he knows what he's doing regarding Libya.

To date, he and his administration haven't given the American people a coherent message.

They've been remarkably incompetent.

Kinetic Military Action

Geraldine Ferraro and Obama

Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to be part of a major party's presidential ticket, passed away today.

Video.



Here's Obama's statement on the passing of Geraldine Ferraro:

Michelle and I were saddened to learn about the passing of Geraldine Ferraro. Geraldine will forever be remembered as a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women, and Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life. Whether it was as a public school teacher, assistant district attorney, Member of Congress, or candidate for Vice President, Geraldine fought to uphold America's founding ideals of equality, justice, and opportunity for all. And as our Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission, she stood up for those ideals around the world. Sasha and Malia will grow up in a more equal America because of the life Geraldine Ferraro chose to live. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her husband, John Zaccaro, her children and grandchildren, and their entire family.

Nice words from Obama.

He didn't have very nice things to say about Geraldine Ferraro when she was working on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Then, Obama attacked her.

From the Associated Press:

Geraldine Ferraro has stepped down from an honorary post she held in Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign amid a controversy regarding comments that Barack Obama wouldn't be succeeding in the presidential race if he weren't black.

Ferraro notified Clinton by letter Wednesday that she would no longer serve on Clinton's finance committee as "Honorary New York Leadership Council Chair."

Obama has called Ferraro's comments "ridiculous" and his campaign aides have called on Clinton to denounce the statement.

"I think they were wrong-headed," he said at a Chicago news conference. "The notion that it is a great advantage to me to be an African American named Barack Obama and pursue the presidency, I think, is not a view that has been commonly shared by the general public."

In a letter to Clinton, first reported by CNN, Ferraro says: "Dear Hillary, I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what's at stake in this campaign. The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won't let that happen. Thank you for everything you've done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren. You have my deep admiration and respect, Gerry."

..."I was talking about historic candidacies and what I started off by saying (was that) if you go back to 1984 and look at my historic candidacy, which I had just talked about all these things, in 1984 if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would have never been chosen as a vice presidential candidate," Ferraro said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "It had nothing to do with my qualification."

Ferraro said she has a 40-year history of opposing discrimination of all kinds, including race, and that she was outraged at criticism of her remarks by David Axelrod, Obama's chief media strategist, because he knows her and her record.

"David Axelrod, his campaign manager, has chose to spin this as a racist comment because everytime anybody makes a comment about race who is white — he did it with Bill Clinton, he was successful; he did it with (Pennsylvania governor and Clinton supporter) Ed Rendell, he was less successful; and he is certainly not going to be successful with me," Ferraro told CBS' "The Early Show." "He should have called me up ... He knows I'm not racist."

Geraldine Ferraro was not racist. The Obama campaign knew that, but that didn't stop Obama from playing the race card.

When reading Obama's comments on her death, I think it's worth remembering how Obama treated her in life. Remember that to become president Obama and his aides were willing to say despicable things and disparage the character of this wonderful woman.

(Read Charles Krauthammer's October 2008 column, "Who's Playing the Race Card?")

Ferraro was a trailblazer and an inspiration.

My prayers are with her family and friends.

May she rest in peace.