This Just In...

Mark Maley and the IT team at NOW for working on earlier mentioned technical problems with my blog. Your work throughout the day today is greatly appreciated.

One Franklin blogger, Greg Kowalski, has decided to use his usual MO and try to make hay out of this by suggesting I blogged when I shouldn't have. (I seem to recall that he had technical problems as well when he claimed some conspiracy back when he blogged for NOW when his was the only blogger photo that wouldn't pop up from time to time on the home page). Keep in mind that this is coming from a guy who claims to have multiple day jobs.

Just this week alone, Greg Kowalski has blogged 6 times and posted 2 updates on his Franklin Today blog between 9:00 a.m. and 2:45 pm.

In that same period, Monday through today, he has posted 10 entries on his Metro Milwaukee Today blog.

And it's not just this week. Greg blogs frequently throughout the day, every day.

I don't know of any private or public sector employer that would allow an employee to post 18 separate blog entries on company time on his personal blogs in just 3 days.

If I were one of Greg's many supposed employers, I'd keep an eye on him.

Here we go again. News that Milwaukee has the 7^th highest poverty rate in the nation is sure to bring out the usual cast of hand wringers, wailing and gnashing their teeth, crying out for the same tired old demands: a higher minimum wage, a redistribution of wealth, increasing taxes, creating more programs.

The headline could be considered alarming, but the entire poverty issue must be put in perspective. Just how poor are the poor? You’d be surprised.

Robert Rector wrote a paper for the Heritage Foundation in 2004 entitled, “Understanding Poverty in America.” Here are some key excerpts:

To understand poverty in America, it is important…to look at the actual living conditions of the individuals the government deems to be poor.

For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 35 million persons classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit that description. While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. Most of America's "poor" live in material conditions that would be judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago.

The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:

• Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
• Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
• Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
• The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
• Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
• Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
• Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
• Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.

As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier that the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.

Eighty-nine percent of the poor report their families have "enough" food to eat, while only 2 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat.

Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.

There are two main reasons that American children are poor: Their parents don't work much, and fathers are absent from the home.

While work and marriage are steady ladders out of poverty, the welfare system perversely remains hostile to both. Major programs such as food stamps, public housing, and Medicaid continue to reward idleness and penalize marriage. If welfare could be turned around to encourage work and marriage, remaining poverty would drop quickly.

Read Rector’s entire paper.

This probably means nothing to you readers but the NOW site is having some technical problems with my blog. Some entries I wrote earlier today didn’t post and/or had inaccurate times posted.

The IT people at NOW are aware, have been and continue looking into it.

I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to blog tonight, and I hope the problems are fixed soon.

NOTE: There were some earlier technical glitches with this post that seem to have been rectified.

The ACLU and liberal editorial writers won’t like it, but I do.

The LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) will require players to speak English. Beginning next year, players who have been LPGA members for two years will be subject to suspension if they can't pass an oral evaluation of English skills. The rule goes into effect immediately for new players.

As one tournament director said, “This is an American tour. It is important for sponsors to be able to interact with players and have a positive experience."

Part of the reasoning behind the rule is that it will improve opportunities for all players, on and off the golf course. The female organization needs a marketing shot in the arm to attract more fans and sponsors. Some advertisers have left due to the slumping economy. In the public relations scheme of things, it surely helps if the players and conduct interviews in English.

Watch for the obligatory cries of racism and the charge that the LPGA is being unfair.

Here’s the story.

Our elections in America are totally honest with absolutely no efforts to attempt to scam the system.

Right...

Didn't Hillary spend all of 2008 telling us how awful Barack Obama was?

* WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS PROFANE LANGUAGE. WHAT WOULD YOU EXPECT FROM A LOONY BUNCH OF DEMOCRATS*


Watch the warm, compassionate, highly intelligent, free-speech loving nutjob left go after a Fox News crew outside the DNC in Denver.

I have often blogged that we in America can be our own worst enemy when it comes to the fight against illegal immigration. We see it, we ignore it, thereby, we encourage it.

Case in point: a recent meeting in Wausau where Latinos complained to local officials about the availability of services and programs. They didn’t just complain, hell, they demanded access to taxpayer-funded amenities.  Some in the audience were admitted illegal immigrants. Here illegally, and yet they wanted Social Security cards and driver's licenses.

Also attending the meeting were, according to the Wausau Daily Herald, Wausau Police Chief Jeff Hardel and Marathon County Sheriff Randy Hoenisch.

Think about that. Two law enforcement officials were on hand, yet no attempt was made to arrest known lawbreakers.

Did anyone raise the issue?

No.

Did the reporter covering the meeting point this out in his article?

No.

It seemed the only concern on the part of the guys in the room wearing the badges was that they wouldn’t be falsely accused of racial profiling. Can't upset their feelings now, can we?

Is it any wonder illegal aliens will do anything and everything possible to get here, and then stay here? Illegal immigrants know that once in America, the free ride can go uninterrupted, because we won’t do anything to stop it.

It’s only been two days, but it’s awfully quiet in the Harrold, Texas school district where certain teachers are now allowed to carry guns in class. Before teachers can bring weapons to school, they must be approved by the school board based on their personalities and reaction to a crisis, must have training required for a state concealed weapons license, and must be trained to handle crisis intervention and hostage situations.

It was almost two years ago that Wisconsin Assemblyman Frank Lasee made national news for his proposal to let teachers in Wisconsin bring guns to class. Many people develop a knee-jerk reaction when they first hear this idea. I don’t dismiss it outright.

An advocate of conceal-carry, I can understand why some teachers, with the proper training, would want to, and should be able to have a weapon on hand for protection. In practically every school in America, if an armed individual gets inside, there’s virtually no one who can stop that person.

Protesters are out in full force. Take a good look at Democrats in action.

Gives you goosebumps and fills you with so much pride, doesn't it, lefties?

I love the counter-protesters.




Photo: Pajamasmedia.com

This Wednesday, the Franklin School Board holds its Annual Meeting at 6:00 p.m. at the Education and Community Center, 8255 W. Forest Hill Ave. The community is invited to attend and vote on the proposed 2008/09 tax levy. 

The budget prepared by the administration calls for a 3.77% school tax levy increase. I submit it could be better but it sure beats the 11.7% increase from last year.

Let’s hope we can avoid the circus that occurred at last year’s meeting.

Back on August 9 in Shell Lake, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Mike McCabe was invited to speak by the Washburn County Democratic Party. No surprise, McCabe went on a one-sided partisan tirade against business lobby group, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC).

That bastion of outstanding journalism, the Spooner Advocate reported:


“McCabe said Madison has changed greatly since he first began working there in 1981.

He said the way politics is done in 2008 would be ‘unrecognizable’ compared to 1981 politics.

The culprit, said McCabe, is the large amount of money in politics, especially the large amount of dollars going to political action committees (PALs), organizations that take donations without having to disclose their sources, while political candidates are required to disclose all of their donations and the law restricts how much individuals can give to each candidate.

McCabe repeatedly used Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) as an example.”


Repeatedly is the key word. The article is 33 paragraphs and 1076 words long. McCabe is never quoted about WEAC, the state teacher’s union, nor does the reporter bring up that interest group and their immense political spending. The article concludes by quoting the local state Senator known for his bloviating who also takes a shot at WMC:


“In later comments, State Sen. Bob Jauch said more Democrats are needed in Madison to bring about needed reform.

Jauch was asked if the democratically controlled U.S. Legislature, Senate, and House had created any significant campaign reform after gaining control in 2006.

Jauch was unable to mention any federal reform.

He did direct some angry comments at WMC, which has placed issue ads against Jauch. He said the WMC acted like the Ku Klux Klan in bullying candidates.

‘Take the hoods off,’ Jauch said of the WMC.”


That is an obvious reference to the KKK that went unchallenged by the local reporter.

Now, can you imagine the avalanche of statewide criticism if a conservative elected official would make such an inflammatory, derogatory statement?

Jauch, who has a reputation in the state Capitol as a windbag, gets the silent treatment from the media that would be apoplectic if a Republican had made similar remarks. That’s called a double standard, folks.

Here’s a link to the Spooner Advocate article that requires registration with the newspaper.

HT: FoxPolitics.net

The fact that people disagree with me is not breaking news. I take strong stands and always try to back them up with rational thought and facts.

What I have no patience for is being misquoted. I get misinterpreted frequently, and that’s bad enough. But there is no excuse for being misquoted.

I’ve been doing radio and TV in this market for over 30 years. I’m not alone in being victimized by being misquoted. It happens often. When I worked at WTMJ, I can’t begin to tell you how many telephone calls I received from listeners who swore that I or another newsperson said or reported something when we never did.

On Friday while filling in for Mark Belling on Newstalk 1130 WISN, I opened with what I consider an extraordinary topic that to my knowledge has never been addressed on local talk radio: rape/incest victims and why they make the, as I said numerous times on the program, incredible, inspirational decision to go through with their pregnancies.

My entire focus was to present the issue from the perspective of the assault victims and explain why they refuse to abort. My phone lines were flooded, and everyone who called in got on the air. I didn’t hang up on anyone. I did get agitated with some pro-lifers who misunderstood my position. Apparently, I was too honest in saying that I do have the utmost respect and admiration for the women who keep their babies, but I could understand the decision of those who choose to abort and would not criticize them for it. Never did I say the abortion was the right choice. Some pro-lifers wanted to turn this very specific discussion into a general debate on abortion whereas I wanted to keep the focus narrow.

A respected friend, fellow conservative blogger Dad29 wrote a follow up blog after my show. He makes two brief references to yours truly:


“(It can also be inferred that Kevin Fischer has a distaste for Pro-Life Wisconsin types; on yesterday's show he referred to people who objected to abortion-for-rape-and-incest-victims as "zealots," a term which has ALWAYS been a slur.)”


And later in his blog:


“And if being pro-life means that Kevin calls me a "zealot", so be it.”


There’s a major problem here. I never said the word, “zealot.” Not once. I did express great respect for the pro-life movement, so why would I use that term?

I listened to the podcast and there’s nothing wrong with my hearing. Never is the word, “zealot” that so angered Dad29 mentioned. I confirmed with WISN that my entire show was put up on the WISN website in a podcast for listeners to hear again and this entire segment was posted without edits. Dad29 swears I said the word, but as far as I’m concerned, he can stand on the highest mountain top and scream that to his heart’s content. The tapes don’t lie.

Dad29 says I have distaste for pro-life types. That is a blatantly false statement. He knows me personally and reads my blog. Anyone who thinks I’m not pro-life hasn’t been paying attention and has rocks in their head. Maybe Dad29 would like to talk to the people who run Pro-Life Wisconsin and Wisconsin Right To Life and get their opinion of me.

Dad29’s blog is not only false and misleading, it besmirches my reputation. It also attacks part of my livelihood, albeit part-time, that of being a radio talk show host, and I take that very seriously.

I expect this kind of garbage, and that’s exactly what it is, garbage, from the hateful left, but not from a friend. That’s why this makes me angry and very disappointed and I felt required a response. 

This week, no one large culinary no-no entrée to chew on. Instead, a few smaller appetizer-like items to sample.

Let’s begin with Culinary no-no # 70, a famous cartoon character and his exploits around the pool.

 

The well known Frosted Flakes from Kellogg’s is one of the many sugar-sweetened cereals on the market. Come mid-September, look for someone other than Tony the Tiger to grace those cereal boxes: Olympic champion Michael Phelps.

In choosing Frosted Flakes, Phelps rejected the cereal most athletic phenoms opt for, the Breakfast of Champions, Wheaties. So-called health experts are furious because this will send a horrible message at a time when child obesity is sweeping Fatso, USA.

Seems to me lazy kids and irresponsible parents are more to blame for out of shape youngsters than Tony the Tiger.

Michael Phelps on boxes of Frosted Flakes? So what!

By the way, take a look at what Frosted Flakes is sponsoring.



Culinary no-no # 71

After a long run on the Food Network, celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse has landed on the environment –conscious cable channel, Planet Earth. Those familiar with Emeril, and that would be millions, know about his cooking flair, his dramatic excess. The chef calls it “turning it up a notch,” and finishes off each creation with a resounding, BAM! 

Alessandra Stanley writes about television for the New York Times. With schnozzola scraping the ceiling, Stanley critiques Emeril’s latest cooking show, slamming him for not being “green” enough:

Sgt. LeRoy Watkins embraces his family at the National Guard Armory in Enid, Okla. on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008 before departing to Fort Hood, Texas before deploying to Iraq. (AP Photo/Enid News and Eagle, Candice Budgick)

Despite a ceasefire, the Russians remain in Georgia. Getty Images.

Russian emergency workers help an elderly Georgian resident leave her village of Kekhvi, north of Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia. (AP)






Russian soldiers sit atop a tank, with a portrait of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at left in the background, in Tskhinvali, the main city of the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia. Russian forces on Wednesday dug foxholes and built a sentry post in a swath of central Georgia far outside the security zone they are authorized to remain in. (AP)





People watch a televised speech of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to the nation in Lahore on Monday, Aug. 18, 2008. Musharraf announced his resignation in the face of an impending impeachment motion by the ruling coalition government.

University of Florida students slide down a sheet of plastic covered in detergent Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008, in Gainesville, Fla. One student had purchased a 50-foot roll against the advice of his friends who had told him to get 100 feet of plastic, which would have led the length of the slope. Fay's rain, combined with the soap, made a fast slide that culminated in a mass of friends at the bottom. (AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Brian W. Kratzer)

Rebecca Breyer / Honolulu Advertiser via AP Hawaii National Guardsmen and their friends, family and supporters hug each other in the Group Hug at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on Aug. 16. More than 6,000 friends, family and supporters gathered at Aloha Stadium to say farewell to 1,700 Hawaii National Guard soldiers due to leave this month for a yearlong deployment to the Middle East. It was announced that they broke the Guinness World Record for the largest group hug.

Aloha. Social workers say many of the homeless people forced out of other parks on Oahu have now converged on Kapi'olani Park, which has no set closing time. BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

Albanian painter Saimir Strati is attempting to break the Guinness world record for the largest cork mosaic ever made, with his work called The Guitarist which uses some 300,000 corks. (BBC)

A man rides a horse in the sea at the end of a hot day in the Bulgarian seaside village of Sinemorets, east of the capital Sofia, Thursday, Aug. 21. 2008. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova) 





 

Photo: Focke Strangmann/Associated Press
Seal pup Eddy peeks out of a basket, at the Norddeich port, northern Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, before being transported to the sands of the island of Juist. Eddy was raised in a station for abandoned seals in Norddeich and will be released into the North Sea. 





 
Desperado! Heidi Dalibor, who was arrested for ignoring a municipal violation for overdue library books, said she’ll likely use her library card again – but probably not at the Grafton library.She was led away from her home in handcuffs and later fingerprinted and photographed.







You're telling me she's 16? China's gymnast He Kexin performs on the uneven bars. Kexin won the gold medal.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Amy Sancetta

U.S. swimmer and all-time Olympian Michael Phelps poses exclusively for the August 25, 2008 edition of Sports Illustrated in this photograph taken in Beijing, China on August, 17, 2008. (Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated - SI.com/Handout/Reuters)

Yep. Summer is over. Adam Luepke (41) runs downfield while practicing with the Oshkosh West High football varsity team. Photo by Jeannette Merten/for The Oshkosh Northwestern.

As I post every Sunday, here are the top five most popular of my blog entries from the previous week:

1) Culinary no-no #69

2) Kobe Bryant, hero; Chris Collinsworth, idiot

3) Former FranklinNOW blogger: Facts are not his friends

4) I'm on WISN

5) How about Michael Phelps' mom!

Here are more details on this issue.

This.........is #1 this week on the Billboard Music DVD chart.