Republicans Burning Down The House

This of course is dedicated to the pyromaniacs currently manning that fire station known as the U.S. House of Representatives. Watching last weeks events with what can only be described as something like morbid fascination I decided to assemble a few of what I thought were some of the more pithy comments out there:

From Matt Taibbi:

"So the debt deal has finally been reached. As expected, the agreement arrives in a form that right-thinking people everywhere can feel terrible about with great confidence.

The general consensus is that for the second time in three years, a gang of financial terrorists has successfully extorted the congress and the White House, threatening to blow up the planet if they didn't get what they wanted.

Back in 2008, the congress and George Bush rewarded Hank Paulson and Wall Street for pulling the Cleavon-Little-"the-next-man-makes-a-move-the-n---er-gets-it" routine by tossing trillions of bailout dollars at the same people who had wrecked the economy.

Now, Barack Obama has surrendered control of the budget to the Tea Party, whose operatives in congress used the same suicide-bomber tactic, threatening a catastrophic default unless the Democrats committed to a regime of steep spending cuts without any tax increases on the wealthy."

Paul Krugman:

"Make no mistake about it, what we’re witnessing here is a catastrophe on multiple levels.

It is, of course, a political catastrophe for Democrats, who just a few weeks ago seemed to have Republicans on the run over their plan to dismantle Medicare; now Mr. Obama has thrown all that away. And the damage isn’t over: there will be more choke points where Republicans can threaten to create a crisis unless the president surrenders, and they can now act with the confident expectation that he will.

In the long run, however, Democrats won’t be the only losers. What Republicans have just gotten away with calls our whole system of government into question. After all, how can American democracy work if whichever party is most prepared to be ruthless, to threaten the nation’s economic security, gets to dictate policy? And the answer is, maybe it can’t."

And Dave Cohen at Decline of The Empire with what I thought was one of best blog titles "Dying Government Fails To Commit Suicide, Will Try Again Later":

"A self-inflicted disaster. The government held a gun to its head and threatened to kill itself (video below). Fortunately—or unfortunately, I can't decide which—the government didn't pull the trigger.

Guess what? There is no "plan" in any time frame which will address both the long-term fiscal gap without weighing heavily on a weak recovery economy. This "plan" doesn't exist! Can't possibly exist!

As I've told you over and over again, it took 30 years to get here. That's why the politicians basically did nothing, for there is nothing they can do so without 1) screwing the special interests who actually elected them or 2) screwing the low- and middle-income people who voted for them. That's why every citizen with an interest in the matter—outside the politicians who negotiated it—is unhappy with the deal. That's why the government is feeling suicidal lately. Forget about the politics, those are mere details. Think about it. It's not clear which is worse: raising the debt ceiling or not raising the debt ceiling. Few Americans can wrap their heads around this. Prepare yourself for a lot of future unhappiness."

Our political system has now devolved to a point where it is totally unresponsive to the needs of the majority of the citizens. On a national level we are confronted with the choice of the ongoing criminal enterprise known as the the republican party versus a national democratic party with no apparent principles worth actually fighting for or identifiable values. My only consolation in the midst of this dermocracy, (taken from the Russian, dermo or shit), is living in Wisconsin where a sizable portion of the populace has awakened and will hopefully begin the laborious process of freeing itself. On to the recalls.

ДДТ "Мама, это Рок-н-Ролл" (DDT "Mama, This is Rock'n Roll")

Wisconsin State Fair Time With Governor Walker

It is heartening to know this guy can't go anywhere without public outcry and protests. The people turning out against Walker are the newly radicalized middle class who are the answer to the question "Will Americans ever start to react to the rampant economic injustice and disparity that characterizes our oligarchic kleptocracy?"
Next week in Wisconsin will be very interesting to put it mildly.

Devotchka - the last beat of my heart

Saw them with Gogol Bordello last year. Truly an under appreciated group.

The Resonating Words of Fighting Bob

"We are slow to realize that democracy is a life and involves continual struggle"

Fighting Bobfest is moving to the Alliant Energy Colesium in Madison on Sept. 17th. Check here for future details.

Oppurtunity To Oppose Walker In Fort Atkinson

Soon to be ex governor Scott Walker blew in and out of Fort Atkinson and was greeted by a 100 or so citizens somewhat less than happy to see him. Mrs. WINston smITh provided the above documentation. Interestingly while Opportunities supposedly provides the "disabled" a chance to work at minimum or less wages chances are unless someone will drive them at least 20 miles they will be unable to obtain documentation for voting anywhere locally as the local DMV office is being closed in keeping with voter suppression rules.

Olga Arefeva Night In October Ольга Арефьева Ночь в Октябре

A world of music beyond our door.

Republican Economics Explained Or Help the Koch brothers bust the unions in Wisconsin

A coherent explanation of our current dilemma both on a state level and nationally.

Gov Walker Unwelcome At The Welcome Center

In case anyone had doubts about Governor Scott Walker's detestabilty quotient, this video of his visit to a state Welcome Center on July 18th outside of Beloit should settle the issue. A similar reception awaits him in Fort Atkinson on July 28th, where he is scheduled to dedicate a building used to improve the lot of the disabled, a group he is normally attempting to render even more destitute through his policies. Anyone interested in unwelcoming the governor can do so starting around 5:00 PM at 100 East Cramer in Fort Atkinson. His Highness is scheduled to speak at 7:00PM

messer chups --- Crash live in st.Peterburg

The weekly serving of Messer Chups and Russian Surf.

Putin's Army

As the Russian election looms a new twist, Putin's Army, willing to do anything though, as per The Global Post, just what isn't exactly clear:

"One group that has managed to find an enemy is Putin’s Army, a collective that formed on VKontakte, Russia’s version of Facebook, last week. In a video calling on “young, smart and beautiful girls” to join their ranks, the narrator points out “those who would throw dirt on him,” their beloved leader. She then announces a contest calling on young women to “tear something” for Putin (before tearing her own tanktop in two) — but the double meaning of the Russian word she uses (porvat) also implies the threat of vicious revenge.

About 20 members of the group gathered in a central Moscow square on Friday evening to “tear for Putin.” Tottering on heels and wearing t-shirts emblazoned with their hero’s image, they didn’t quite know what to do. First, they strutted down a makeshift catwalk — three times. Then, they decided to march, like soldiers, to show their support of Putin.

“I didn’t think it would be such a popular thing,” Maria Utkina, a 19-year-old Putin’s Army leader, said. “Maybe then I wouldn’t have called it an army.”

“We’re ready to do a lot for Putin — we just have no idea what,” she added.

The group, and a similar one called I Really Do Like Putin that formed on VKontakte this month (they’ve already held a Blueberry Hill sing-along and a bikini-clad car wash), have all the hallmarks of Nashi, the Kremlin-connected youth group. But both Putin’s Army and Nashi deny any connection. The racy Putin’s Army video went viral after appearing on Schitov’s blog but he also denies that his Youth Guard movement is involved.

“Any national leader has a huge number of supporters and this is normal,” Nikita Borovikov, the leader of Nashi, said. “Some of his supporters are young girls, this is also normal — they are citizens like any other person.”

Polar Ice Melting At Record Rate

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center the polar ice cap is melting at record rate this summer surpassing the record set in 2007:

"Arctic sea ice extent declined at a rapid pace through the first half of July, and is now tracking below the year 2007, which saw the record minimum September extent. The rapid decline in the past few weeks is related to persistent above-average temperatures and an early start to melt. Snow cover over Northern Eurasia was especially low in May and June, continuing the pattern seen in April.....

"Arctic sea ice extent declined rapidly through the first two weeks of July, at a rate averaging nearly 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) per day. Ice extent is now tracking below the year 2007, which saw the record minimum September extent."

Messer chups -Shandor Diabolikov

Late night Russian surf-lounge musika.

Imagine If London Was Occupied by Israel

Wisconsin GOP Zombie Attack Turned Back

By large margins Wisconsin voters averted an insidious attack by republican zombies in areas scheduled for state senate recall elections in August. According to Dane 101:

"Democratic primary results from the six districts where Republican incumbents are up for recall have been called. The real Democrats defeated all of the GOP's handpicked zombie Democrats.

Wisconsin has an open primary system, so Republicans can vote in the Democratic primary. The Democrats defeated their opponents by a spread of more than 30 percent in all but one district suggesting substantial enthusiasm by opponents of one party rule for those recall races. Shelly Moore, a newcomer to politics, is challenging incumbent State Senator Shelia Harsdorf in District 10 and she came out eight points higher than Isaac Weix. While this doesn't mean there is less enthusiasm for Moore, it does suggest there is less of an enthusiasm gap in Harsdorf's district. Turn out was high on both sides with it being the only race where more than 10,000 votes were cast (as of this writing) for a fake candidate (see official numbers here)."

Kismet - Until The Next War

The United States is currently involved in conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya. There are also the "wars" on terrorism and drugs. There was also the war on poverty which we gave up on.

Khodorkovsky Revisited

Why the West has latched onto the Khodorkovsky case is something known only the editors of The New York Times and other purveyors of misinformation about Russia. Living in Wisconsin these days my sympathy for downtrodden billionaires is wearing a little thin. Anatoly Karlin gives an interesting take on the Russian Billionaire As Victim Saga:

"Imagine the following scenario.

In the US, a black homeless man “robs” a bank. He only takes a single $100 bill out of the wad of cash offered, because he was hungry and had to pay to stay at a detox center. Regardless, he had the good graces to return the money the day after. Net financial loss to the bank? $0. Years he was sent down to the slammer for: 15.

In another country, a billionaire fleeces the state by using offshore companies to sell his company’s oil production (and sees nothing wrong with it). Politicians and businessmen who oppose him get this nasty habit of turning up dead. Net financial loss to that country’s treasury, and ultimately taxpayers? Many billions of dollars. Years he was sent down to the slammer for: 14.

Now imagine that one of these cases becomes the focal point of universal condemnation of that country’s brutal, lawless, and authoritarian human rights regime – from Amnesty International and PACE, the US State Department and the German Bundestag, and regular scathing editorials from the biggest media titans. The country’s own liberals work overtime to campaign for the case to be overturned.

Which case would you guess I’m talking about? Surely it would be Roy Brown, the indigent beggar right? No way, sucker."

Very nice blog BTW.

Messer Chups - Lipstick twang -

Slavery Introduced In Wisconsin

A working definition of slavery might be something like forced unpaid labor that normally would be compensated. By that definition the use of unpaid prisoners in Wisconsin to do work formerly done by union workers would seem to fit. From Truthout:

"While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) law dismantling collective bargaining rights has harmed teachers, nurses, and other civil servants, it’s helping a different group in Wisconsinites — inmates. Prisoners are now taking up jobs that used to be held by unionized workers in some parts of the state.

As the Madison Capital Times reports, “Besides losing their right to negotiate over the percentage of their paycheck that will go toward health care and retirement, unions also lost the ability to claim work as a ‘union-only’ job, opening the door for private workers and evidently even inmates to step in and take their place.” Inmates are not paid for their work, but may receive time off of their sentences.

The law went into effect last week, and Racine County is already using inmates to do landscaping, painting, and another basic maintenance around the county that was previously done by county workers. The union had successfully sued to stop the country from using prison labor for these jobs last year, but with Walker’s new law, they have no recourse."

Which begs the question did Walker's supporters know that introduction of slavery was part of the package? Another incentive for corporate investment in Wisconsin?

Tariq Ali - Obama, Pakistan and the US empire

The 4th of July is a good day for a history lesson and Tariq Ali gives a good overview of recent events in America and abroad.

Afrirampo 【PV】あふりらんぽ 《ミラクルラッキーガールズ》

Certainly not your average Japanese Girl Band fortunately.

Savage Republic - So It Is Written

One of my favorite groups from the 80s.

George Carlin -"Who Really Controls America"

The deepest and most critical thinkers in America are not politicians or pundits but "comedians".

Protesting Governor Walker's bill signing ceremony,Fox Valley Tech 6/26/2011

After last minute arrangements (as noted here) to rearrange the bill signing ceremony Wisconsin people can still find where to protest the corporatization of life in the state. Once again sparsely covered in what passes for news in Wisconsin.

Late Night Molvaer

More Bad Behavior In Fitzwalkerstan

The Milwaukee Journal reports today on worse than usual bad behavior in the corporate fiefdom once known as Wisconsin. Sunday was to be the great signing ceremony for Walker's notorious budget bill however the the venue had to be changed at the last minute due to the awkward fact that the CEO of the corporation where this was to take place is a convicted felon tax evader. More here. Mean while newly reelected Wisconsin Supreme Justice David Prosser has apparently been physically assaulting his colleagues according to this report. I cannot even make this shit up.

Oligarchs Gone Wild: Artemy Troitsky vs. Lukoil Executive

Грани-ТВ: Концерт в поддержку Артемия Троицкого
Artemy Troitsky, the leading rock critic in Russia has been sued for focusing attention on a corrupt Russian cop who shielded an Oligarch from Lukoil, who killed two women in an automobile accident , and walked away. Yuri Shevchuk and others are seen on the above video doing a benefit concert on Troitsky's behalf. The Moscow News has details here and here. Sounds similar to the asshole in Florida, Ryan LeVin, who killed 2 British tourists and now is under house arrest in a beautiful mansion as "punishment". Oligarchs are treated the same wherever they are which shows they have more in common with one and another rather than the populace from which they come and exploit.

End Game In Wisconsin

One can only hope that we will be Watching Scotty Go in the near future but the the struggle here is reaching a point of existential survival for progressives of all stripes in the state. This has seen a demonstration of what a unitary corporate state looks like where the executive, legislative, and judicial branches march in lock step to corporate interests over and above the populace. This really opens the question of what recourse is available when the whole game is rigged from voter suppression, unenforced open meeting laws, to a crooked corporate judiciary. Our local representatives of the oligarchic kleptocracy are now looking into how to derail recalls in the future as per TPM:

"Wisconsin is now undergoing a novel summer election season for the state legislature, with six Republican and three Democratic state senators facing recall elections as a result of the political battle over Republican Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union legislation. Indeed, the Republican-controlled state Senate could potentially see a Democratic takeover, depending on how the elections turn out -- and after that, the Dems have vowed to wage a recall drive against Walker himself next year.

So in response, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) says he would like to introduce legislation later this year, making it harder to recall state officials.

To be clear, this could have no effect on the recalls that have already been certified to go. And what's more, the state GOP leaders would be unable to simply pass a bill to get rid of recalls in Wisconsin. The right of recall and the procedures involved are very clearly spelled out in the state constitution, and can only be changed via a long and slow amendment process -- which would require that the legislatures chosen in two consecutive election cycles both pass an amendment by simple majorities in both houses, and then submit the amendment to a statewide referendum."

The time may be coming where the electoral and judicial processes may have to be abandoned and strikes (legal or not), boycotts, and civil disobedience will be the only effective means of expression for the majority of the populace in the face of overwhelming corporate money and influence.

Nebraska Nuclear Accident and Strange Goings On at The TSA

The newspaper The Nation of Pakistan, as well as the Russian nonproliferation site, Nuclear No, report on the near meltdown at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant near Omaha:

"A shocking report prepared by Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) on information provided to them by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that the Obama regime has ordered a “total and complete” news blackout relating to any information regarding the near catastrophic meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant located in Nebraska.
According to this report, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant suffered a “catastrophic loss of cooling” to one of its idle spent fuel rod pools on 7 June after this plant was deluged with water caused by the historic flooding of the Missouri River which resulted in a fire causing the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to issue a “no-fly ban” over the area.
Located about 20 minutes outside downtown Omaha, the largest city in Nebraska, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant is owned by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) who on their website denies their plant is at a “Level 4” emergency by stating: “This terminology is not accurate, and is not how emergencies at nuclear power plants are classified.”
Russian atomic scientists in this FAAE report, however, say that this OPPD statement is an “outright falsehood” as all nuclear plants in the world operate under the guidelines of the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) which clearly states the “events” occurring at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant do, indeed, put it in the “Level 4” emergency category of an “accident with local consequences” thus making this one of the worst nuclear accidents in US history.
Though this report confirms independent readings in the United States of “negligible release of nuclear gasses” related to this accident it warns that by the Obama regimes censoring of this event for “political purposes” it risks a “serious blowback” from the American public should they gain knowledge of this being hidden from them.
Interesting to note about this event was the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chief, Gregory B. Jaczko, blasting the Obama regime just days before the near meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant by declaring that “the policy of not enforcing most fire code violations at dozens of nuclear plants is “unacceptable” and has tied the hands of NRC inspectors.”

The Nuclear No article goes on to make some what appear to be unrelated comments relating to the coal industry and more interestingly, security operations by the TSA, which are confirmed in this report from the Marietta Times:

"Today, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and several federal, state and local agencies will participate in a scheduled exercise designed to enhance security in the Ohio-West Virginia area. TSA has partnered with local law enforcement to conduct thousands of similar operations from coast to coast. This is a scheduled operation, not related to a specific threat.

The exercise will cover approximately 5,000 square miles throughout Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. The participating teams are composed of a variety of TSA assets including federal air marshals, canine teams, inspectors and bomb appraisal officers. They will be joined by state and local law enforcement officials to supplement existing resources, provide detection and response capabilities. The exercise will utilize multiple airborne assets, including Blackhawk helicopters and fixed wing aircraft as well as waterborne and surface teams....
Federal partners participating with TSA in the operation include the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, FBI and Federal Air Marshals.

State of Ohio participants include the Ohio National Guard, State Highway Patrol, Emergency Management Agency, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Public Safety, Department of Transportation, Office of Homeland Security, City of Columbus Fire Division bomb squad, Ohio Fusion Center, several sheriff's offices and departments of emergency management.

West Virginia participants include the Department of Military Affairs & Public Safety, Division of Natural Resources, State Police, Office of Homeland Security, West Virginia National Guard, West Virginia Fusion Center, several sheriff's offices and departments of emergency management.

In addition to federal, state, and local assets, several other non-government entities are participating in today's operation."

Altogether strange stuff. The Nebraska near meltdown was an event very much under reported and anything involving the TSA outside of airports makes one wonder.

American Decadence And Decline: A Potpourri

Peter Marmarek at Tikkunista brings together four sources which highlight yet another few weeks in the Bizzaro world known as the U.S.A. Here are some exerpts:

"Corruption and decadence doesn’t occur all at once; it’s a progressive disease with no clear tipping point. Part of it lies in the rise of the conservative movement post-Goldwater, when wealthy conservatives began to bankroll think tanks and media organs who were more interested in waging political warfare than getting facts right. Part of it is a pop-media culture that lets an ignorant buffoon like Rush Limbaugh or a bizarre whack-job like Glenn Beck become influential voices in our national debate. Part of it is the culture of non-accountability that is pervasive in official Washington, where the frauds that helped produce the financial crisis of 2007 barely get investigated, or where a Deputy Secretary of Defense can play a key role in causing the Iraq debacle and then get rewarded by being named President of the World Bank, screw that up too, and bail out to a safe sinecure at a D.C. think tank. As L’affaire Weiner demonstrates, in today’s America, you’re more likely to derail your career by sending some lewd and idiotic tweets than by sending thousands of your fellow citizens to their deaths (along with tens of thousands of Iraqis) in an unnecessary war......"

"Americans live in a late capitalist society where the rich have gotten many times richer and the middle class has gotten poorer, where Wall Street bankers have stolen us blind and blamed us for living above our means, where persistent unemployment is worse than in the Great Depression, where most politicians and some judges have been bought by corporations or special interests, where authorities actively conspire to keep people from voting, where the government spies on citizens assiduously without warrant or probable cause, and where the minds of the sheep are kept off their fleecing by substituting celebrity gossip, sex scandals, and half-disguised bigotry for genuine news....."

"With Tea Party conservatives and many Republicans balking at raising the debt ceiling, let me offer them an example of a nation that lives up to their ideals.

It has among the lowest tax burdens of any major country: fewer than 2 percent of the people pay any taxes. Government is limited, so that burdensome regulations never kill jobs. This society embraces traditional religious values and a conservative sensibility. Nobody minds school prayer, same-sex marriage isn’t imaginable, and criminals are never coddled. The budget priority is a strong military, the nation’s most respected institution. When generals decide on a policy for, say, Afghanistan, politicians defer to them. Citizens are deeply patriotic, and nobody burns flags.

So what is this Republican Eden, this Utopia? Why, it’s Pakistan."

"Let’s be clear: Prison is for poor people. Prison is not for rich people. Prison is for people who cannot buy their way out.

We can only assume that this is what a judge in Broward County, Fla., Barbara McCarthy, learned back at St. Thomas University Law School in northwest Miami — justice is blind, unless you’ve got money, in which case justice is a cash register.

Maybe you caught the news story over the weekend. An overgrown brat from suburban Barrington Hills, Ryan LeVin, 36, who had run over and killed two men while drag racing his Porsche in South Florida, was sentenced by Judge McCarthy to a mere two years of house arrest — in one of his wealthy parents’ luxury oceanfront condos — after agreeing to write big checks to the victims’ widows.

LeVin could have been sentenced to up to 45 years in prison for killing the two British businessmen and fleeing the police, and in fact nobody in Broward County can recall another time when a person found guilty of such a crime did not serve time in prison…."

Read the whole series here...

Messer Chups - Super Megera

Another helping of Russian surf-lounge music from Messer Chups.Towards the end you can hear Dick Cheney yelling "Torture! Torture! It pleasures me!"

People Of Walmart

This video lends credence to the words of George Clemenceau:

"“America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”

Last Canadian Mission In Afghanistan

From the Globe and Mail:

"More than five years after taking charge of security in one of the most violent regions in Afghanistan, Canadian troops wrapped up their final combat operation with a two-week sweep through a rural swath of Kandahar that was undisputed Taliban territory just a year ago.

The offensive, conducted with a bulked-up Afghan National Army brigade in the lead, marks Canada’s last days in the long and deadly war. All combat troops are set to withdraw this summer, 5½ years after the mission in Kandahar began."

And from the Waterloo Record:

"Ten years ago, Canada and other countries involved in the invasion of Afghanistan talked of bringing stability and peace to that famously distressed country. Instead, we succeeded only in exporting Afghanistan’s instability across the border into nuclear-armed Pakistan, which now faces its own fundamentalist insurgencies.

Ten years ago, we talked — as the Russians did during their abortive occupation — of helping Afghan women and girls.

Like the Russians, we probably did help some. But like the Russians (or Soviets, as they were known in those days) we have been unable to transform a culture that is fundamentally misogynist into one more to our liking."

Even a hopeless dork like Harper gets it. When will we?

Messer Chups - Swamp surfing

America, Running On Myths And Fumes: Shale Gas

No doubt everyone has been exposed to the wondrous claims of the large oil companies concerning the virtues of shale gas. This, we are told, will be the salvation of America if we would just chill out and let the oil companies work their magic. This is in spite of the doubts regarding a key feature of this industry namely hydraulic fracturing or "fracking". Now a Canadian energy expert has published a report that brings into question many of the economic and geologic assumptions that the public has been fed on this topic:

"The first says that the shale gas revolution will miraculously create 100 years worth of methane; the second chorus maintains that the price of natural gas, a volatile commodity, will stay low for decades; and the last chorus says that natural gas will green the economy and arrest climate change. Hallelujah.

But a new report by J. David Hughes, one of North America's foremost coal and gas experts, challenges every single one of these faith-based assumptions with hard science and clear-eyed math. In the stunningly lucid 64-page report for the Post Carbon Institute, Hughes squarely concludes that all three assumptions are highly questionable, if not total "impossibilities."

"Hughes is no wide-eyed greenie or industry basher. He happens to be one of Canada's most credible energy scientists. The geologist worked for Natural Resources Canada for 32 years and mapped Canada's coal and coal bed methane fields. He has also served on Canada's Natural Gas Potential Committee and is regarded as one of the continent's top global energy analysts. (B.C. politicians take note: Hughes lives on Cortes Island on the West Coast.)"

Here are some of Mr Hughes' more salient points:

"For starters, industry hubris simply defies the law of thermodynamics. From 1990 levels, U.S. gas drilling tripled to 33,000 wells per year between 2006 and 2008 before collapsing back to 20,000 wells. In order to build a modest 21 per cent increase in natural gas production, the gas industry constructed a complex infrastructure nearly 100 per cent larger than what previously existed in 1990.

"What matters are flow rates and how fast the gas can be produced," explains Hughes. "There may be 100 years worth of methane in the ground, but it may take 800 years to produce it." Meanwhile, conventional gas production in both Canada and the U.S. is declining rapidly. In other words, shale gas might temporarily replace some of the air leaving the conventional gas tire -- but not for long.

"Next come the resource's extreme economics. A shale gas well with multiple fracks costs between $2 million and $10 million to drill. But unlike a conventional well, which declines between 25 and 40 per cent in its first year of production, a shale gas well drops like lead from 63 to 85 per cent. So, an initial whale of a return bought by fracturing an industrial scale land base (and watershed) abruptly becomes a sardine in short order.

Due to the high amount of capital, energy and water needed to frack a formation at high pressure, shale gas is expensive and is only economic in the best portions of today's shale plays. But due to over-drilling and the recession reducing demand, the actual market price has sunk to below the cost of production in many areas.

""One thing is certain," adds Hughes. "Shale gas is expensive gas, much of which is marginally economic to non-economic at today's gas prices. The resource will require unprecedented rates of drilling to grow production, and we will need higher prices to justify that. We'll have to carpet bomb landscapes in Pennsylvania and New York with rigs and gas production infrastructure -- those folks haven't seen anything yet."

Last but not least, Hughes demolishes the claim that shale gas is green. For years, scientists generally assumed that the burning of natural gas produces 44 per cent fewer greenhouse gas pollutants than coal. But that's no longer true.

A recent study based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data, for example, found that the cleaner-than-coal claim fell to 25 per cent or less when scientists included methane leaks or "fugitive emissions" from wells and pipelines.

Two Cornell University studies went even further. After accounting for methane vents and leaks over the lifetime of a gas well, (and methane is a much more powerful climate changer than CO2 over the first few decades), these studies found that shale gas has few or no climate change benefits.

According to Hughes' analysis, shale gas repeatedly comes out a loser compared to dirty old coal for power generation over the next half century."

Quite frankly Americans are desperate for anything that might promise jobs or gas or both and the oil companies know this. Meanwhile as Dave Cohen points out at his excellent blog, Decline of The Empire, witless politicians stir up the clueless populace with promises of gushers to come:

"Run, Sarah, Run! With Ms. Palin in the Oval Office, there would be no doubt whatsoever that America is a joke. For every person on Earth outside the 50 states, America's fall from grace would become too obvious to ignore. Just imagine the fruitful consequences. For example, the only way to expose the futility of "Drill, Baby, Drill" is to drill, baby, drill. With no new oil forthcoming from those allegedly bountiful reserves in Alaska and unexplored parts of the outer continental shelf, it might occur to Americans that using less oil—for real!—is the only true path to salvation. And that's just one example. The possibilities are endless."

Workers Of The World Do Something

Russian workers have expressed their opinion, they don't accept 60 hours/week without overtime. From RIANOVOSTI:

Russians are ready to work longer than the current 40-hour week, but want to get more than their basic wage for this additional labor. This is why they have rejected billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s idea. He suggested formalizing a 60-hour working week without paid overtime.

According to a recent survey conducted by the national pollster VTsIOM, 77% of respondents are not ready to work more than 40 hours a week for their basic salary. This is understandable, as nearly half of Russians currently get additional pay for working overtime.

Similarly, 61% of respondents blackballed Prokhorov’s proposal that educational leave should only be granted to working students who were sent to a college or university by their employer. There are few such students in Russia. Most students who take on a job to pay for their education or housing will be unable to combine their studies with employment if this law is approved.

Half of Russians are against giving the employer too much freedom: 51% of the respondents do not think employers should have the right to change the working hours, payment and other conditions of a labor contract because of a crisis or falling demand.

At the same time, the respondents support Prokhorov’s idea that labor contracts be concluded with pensioners and inexperienced young people, provided the contract is signed for a minimum of 12 months. They also think employers should be allowed to extend fixed-term contracts as many times as they need (provided the employee agrees of course), and agree that probationary periods be cancelled for people the employer sends on further education courses."

"Last year, Prokhorov suggested amending the labor code to increase the working week by 20 hours to 60 hours and to give employers more freedom to manage their labor force. He said social guarantees and motivation should be tied to labor productivity, which is low in Russia compared to developed states."

Mikhail Prokhorov is the owner of the New Jersey Nets and is the 39th richest guy in the world and hopes to start what is essentially the Oligarchs Party in Russia. Makes Putin look rather progressive.

Memorial Day 2011 USA/David Crosby - What Are Their Names

We have way too many holidays meant to reinforce blind patriotism and social conformity. It is worth remembering that Memorial Day was started to commemorate the greatest existential conflict in American history, the Civil War, where America almost destroyed itself. This is a time for real reflection rather than an excuse for obese, vacuous, Americans to ride motorcycles.

Corporate Controlled Nukes

The Herald of Scotland reports that the management of the British nuclear weapons base at Coulport is being privatized and will be run by a corporate consortium headed by Lockheed-Martin:

"THE running of Britain’s nuclear bomb base at Coulport on the Clyde is to be handed over to a consortium of multinational private firms led by the controversial US arms dealer, Lockheed Martin, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

Defence ministers in Westminster have decided that the highly sensitive job of managing more than 200 Trident nuclear warheads, and arming the Royal Navy’s submarines with them, should be taken over by the group of companies within the next year.....

"Angus Robertson, the SNP’s defence spokesman and the party’s leader in Westminster, attacked the decision as “highly questionable” last night.

“Weapons of mass destruction are the most sensitive areas of military technology and should not be put in private hands,” he said.

“The SNP opposition to the nuclear fleet is absolute, but as long as Trident and nuclear missiles remain on the Clyde, their security must be absolute and UK ministers should reconsider their decision to give responsibility to companies outwith the country.”

"COULPORT’S Royal Naval Armaments Depot is meant to be one of the most secure places in Britain. Sprawled across the slopes above Loch Long, surrounded by cold war-era watchtowers and fences, are buildings and bunkers in which Britain’s nuclear bombs and missiles are kept.

The fact that private companies were bidding to take over running the site caused a furore when it was first disclosed by the Sunday Herald last October. At the time, the MoD said that Coulport’s management was under review, but insisted that no decisions had been taken. Now, however, arrangements for transferring management to ABL have begun.

According to the leaked MoD plan, ABL will be responsible for “processing, handling, and storage” of Trident warheads and missiles, along with “dockside handling”, “explosive handling”, “radiological safety” and “nuclear emergency response”.

This if anything shows that there is no limit to the monetization and corporatization of the most sensitive and potentially catastrophic of human activities. Obviously Fukushima and the Gulf Oil catastrophe, both corporate ventures within the past year alone, have changed nothing in the relentless pursuit of profits over common sense.

Messer Chups - Tremolo From The Crypt (HD)

A little Russian surf music: 31.07.2009 — Санкт-Петербург, клуб А2.

The Koch Brothers and The Tar Sands

Here we have the diabolical combination of America's premier oligarchic kleptocrats, the Koch brothers, and Canada's world class eco disaster, the tar sands of Alberta. If you really want to understand how demented the whole tar sands thing is read "Stupid To The Last Drop". Here's more:

"Stupid to the Last Drop by William Marsden is without question the definitive guide to Canada’s oil sands and what Marsden describes as ‘environmental armageddon’. In fact, the full title to his beautifully researched, and absolutely riveting book is: Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn’t Seem To Care). Marsden, an award-winning journalist with the Montreal Gazette, has provided a detailed account of the oil industry in Alberta and how that industry is now threatening to destroy the entire province.

The oil sands in Alberta, Canada, occupy about 148,000 square kilometres – roughly the size of Florida. Marsden describes it as "…the oil capital of the world –the new Saudi Arabia". Stupid to the Last Drop painstakingly documents the levelling of the Boreal forest to access the oil sands, the creation of tens of thousands of gas wells, the water waste, poisoned rivers, impact on communities, politician corruption and companies that will stop at nothing to squeeze every last resource out of Alberta."

This is the on land equivalent of the Gulf Oil Spill that never stops.

This is What Fascism Looks Like

Wisconsin republicans dispense with the appearance of any interest in Democracy. Hopefully this will be tied up in court for the foreseeable future, if not, where do they think suppressed voters are supposed to go? Assholes.

John Nichols At Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

John Nichols is a Wisconsin resource. He has a grasp of history of the state which is unmatched. A place that has produced a demagogue like McCarthy and socialist mayors of Milwaukee has a history which at the least can be described as colorful. Perhaps he should run for something, there do seem to be a few oppurtunities.

Madison WI: The Fight Is Not Over

Myself and Mrs. WINston SmITh attended a rousing labor rally at the now very familiar steps of the state Capitol this afternoon. I am happy to report that the battle against the corporatization and commodization of every aspect of human existence is alive and well in Wisconsin. While ostensibly sponsored by AFSCME there was a very diverse range of people and interests represented including but not limited to students, undocumented people, retirees, farmers, and labor unions in both the private and public sectors. This is in part due in no small measure to the fact that the Fitzwalker regime has managed to offend almost anyone in the state who is not a millionaire or corporation with its budget bill. While the crowd, which I would estimate in the 25,000 to 30,000 range, was in good humor the stakes in this struggle are high for everyone affected and even more so as the radical right in our state makes an effort to disenfranchise as many as possible through voter suppression. Increasingly what passes for MSM has tried to portray these gatherings as wild and out of control I am hard pressed to find much extremism amongst people who for the most part look like folks you'd run into at the grocery store. The real extremists unfortunately meet in small rooms inside the the Capitol and at the Governor's residence.

MSNB's Dylan Ratigan Talks To Mark Ames & Yasha Levine About The Koch Bros.

A fascinating interview that connects the dots on many levels. I found the Russian references particularly interesting in regards to manufactured movements and democracy (or as the Russians would say, dermocracy).

Brave New Films Takes On The Koch Bros.

More info here.

U.S. Energy Information Agency to Quit Analyzing Energy Data

As economically distressed Americans take a bit of a breather from speculator driven gas prices (until the next round) the Oil and Gas Journal reports that the government agency responsible for keeping track of oil and gas reserves among other things is having its activities curtailed due to budget cutbacks:

"WASHINGTON, DC, May 2 -- The US Energy Information Administration will not prepare or publish US oil and gas reserves data for 2011 as it cuts $15.2 million, or 14%, from its budget, the US Department of Energy information and analysis agency said on Apr. 29. The reductions are part of Congress’s latest continuing resolution that was signed into law by US President Barack Obama on Apr. 15. The resolution keeps the federal government running through Sept. 30. ...

I found this little snippet particularly telling and unsettling:

"In addition to not preparing the annual oil and gas reserves data survey, the agency said it will be necessary to curtail efforts to understand linkages between physical energy markets and financial trading; suspend analysis and reporting on the market impacts of planned refinery outages; suspend collection and dissemination of monthly state-level data on wholesale petroleum product prices including gasoline, diesel, heating oil, propane, residual fuel oil, and kerosine; and halt preparation and publication of the annual petroleum marketing data report and the fuel oil and kerosene sales report. "

This is breathtaking in the depths of its shortsightedness and stupidity. Not to mention akin to aiding and abetting quasi criminal activity. It is hard to imagine clearer evidence of a society and system incapable of understanding its own problems let alone dealing with them.

The Canadian Elections

Americans may be surprised to learn that there is a national election in Canada tomorrow pitting Stephen Harper the current conservative Prime Minister against a variety of contenders including Michael Ignatieff of the Liberals and Jack Layton of the New Democratic Party.Harper was widely thought to have the advantage but surprisingly the NDP has been coming up in the polls which could make things very interesting. I was intrigued by this passage from the party platform which would seem to suggest exporting all to insatiable Americans might not be a priority.

"Recognizing that oil and gas will continue to play a prominent role in our energy mix in the medium term, we will discourage bulk exports of our unprocessed resources and encourage value-added, responsible upgrading, refining and petrochemical manufacturing here in Canada to maximize the economic benefits and jobs for Canadians."

Wow Canada with an energy policy.

Go NDP!

Putin: Measure your success by non-fired missiles!

This video raises alot of questions about "modern political systems" and the future world international relations.

Sen. Randy Hopper's 1 800 475 TALK for "Hot, Horny Girls"!

Randy Hopper continues to live up (or down) to his double entendre name with this latest exploit as reported from Uppity Wisconsin:

"First Sen. Randy Hopper's wife told protesters he wasn't home: He was in Madison shacking up with his mistress that was half his age.

Then it was found that he got his mistress a plumb state job AND a hefty raise shortly after she started.

Now Randy has put the perfect cherry on this FUBAR sundae: He put out a newsletter to ALL of his constituents that mistakenly gave the number of an ADULT XXX CHAT LINE."

Russian Oligarchs Oppose Pension Reform, Echos Of The Tea Party Russian Style

The similarities between oligarchic kleptocracies never ceases to amaze as these articles from the Moscow News amply illustrate. Unbeknownst to most Americans a struggle between Russian oligarchs and the Russian people now mirror Americans struggles to prevent the sell off of basic human benefits such as medical care or in this case social support for the elderly:

"Workers in dangerous jobs, generally involving oil or metal, just lost out as a long-discussed bill on employers paying more into their pensions was finally dealt a mortal blow by the Duma.

The bill has been talked over since 2002 and Friday’s death knell passed largely unnoticed, overshadowed by trade unionists and parliamentarians decrying the efforts of Mikhail Prokhorov, one of Russia’s richest men and leading light of the RSPP or ‘oligarch’s trade union’, to tilt the labour code in favour of the employer.

The pensions bill would have meant that workers in dangerous industries who retire up to ten years earlier would have their pension shortfall made up by employers. The standing situation poses ominous consequences for the pension fund.



Dead hand of the oligarchs

Of Russia’s 20 richest oligarchs 16 have made their money in the listed dangerous industries of oil, coal, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, ports and airports, Moskovsky Komomolets reported.

The paper links this with the failure of the bill, something that Lyubov Maslova, of Alttrak, a currently mothballed tractor factory in Altai region, agrees with.

Yes, it would affect the tycoons’ profits and “Yes, they did affect [the fate of the bill], because it’s additional money that would go nowhere but to the welfare of the common worker,” Maslova told The Moscow News.

Interestingly Vladimir Putin, attempting to raise some sinking political capital has weighed in on the side of the workers:

"Amid proposals for increasingly liberal economic reforms, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was adamant about boosting the pension fund, and insisted on getting whatever funds necessary to provide adequate care for some 40 million veterans and pensioners.

“Everyone must pay for the pension system,” Putin said in a Monday video-link meeting with pension fund heads from eight federal districts. This came amid a growing debate on the budget deficit and talk from President Dmitry Medvedev’s advisors of easing the burden on businesses in paying social and pension fees.

In 2010, pensions rose by over 40 per cent, with people receiving an average of more than 8,800 roubles a month ($312). Putin pointed out that Russia was one of few countries that raised pensions during the economic crisis, and said pension spending would increase by 20 billion roubles ($0.7 billion) this year.

“There is money in the budget for this,” he said. “I want to stress that this is our top priority, and we must find the funds. We cannot allow a return to a situation of the 1990s, when pensions were not paid out for months.”

Tom Tomorrow Weighs In

Unfortunately this seems all too plausible.

Messer fur Frau Muller - Funny man

After the previous post this seemed somewhat appropriate.

Russian American Parity: Nukes Now Income

Americans are used to comparisons of Russian vs. American military strength however they may have to adjust to the idea of approaching income maldistribution parity becoming unnervingly similar in both countries. From the Eurasian Review:

"The real incomes of the two least-well-off quintiles of the Russian population have fallen since 1991 while those of that two best-off have risen significantly, dramatically increasing income differentiation and potentially exacerbating class-based tensions, according to two studies by the Higher School of Economics...
" The bottom 40 percent of the population has fallen behind over this period, he reports. The level of real incomes for the lowest 20 percent has fallen 1.45 times and the next lowest quintile by 1.2 times. At the other end, the top 20 percent have seen their incomes double, and the next highest quintile had their incomes go up a quarter...
"This change in the distribution of real incomes has hit the least-well-off groups especially hard because of the decline in state support for housing, education and especially medicine, with the lower quintiles forced to spend a higher proportion of their incomes for all these things or do without them, the studies found.

The situation in medicine is particularly striking, Polunin observes. In the European Union, for example, individuals directly bear 24 percent of the cost of medical treatment while in Russia that figure is now 40 to 50 percent, a dramatically higher fraction than only twenty years ago.

And this increase is hitting Russians, especially those least well off, because the average rate of illness among Russians rose 43 percent per 100,000 population over the period 1990 to 2008 and because many of the illnesses involved, such as cancer and heart disease, are particularly expensive to treat.

But the most striking findings of the report concern income differentiation, Polunin suggests. “In Soviet times, the earnings of a worker (120 rubles a month), an engineer (180 rubles a month), and a colonel in the KGB (350 rubles a month) of course were different, but not by ten times as much as is the case today"

Meanwhile in the U.S. misplaced concern about socialism aggravates more social disparity as noted by Reuters:

"Americans actually live in Russia, although they think they live in Sweden. And they would like to live on a kibbutz. This isn’t the set-up for some sort of politically incorrect Catskills stand-up joke circa 1960. It is the takeaway from a remarkable study by Michael Norton and Dan Ariely on how Americans think about income inequality.

The right likes to argue that income inequality as an issue doesn’t win elections because Americans don’t begrudge the rich so much as they want to join them. The Norton and Ariely study suggests otherwise. Given a choice, the authors find, Americans would prefer to live in a society more equal than even highly egalitarian Sweden.

Another popular view is that income inequality isn’t experienced as acutely by most Americans as the numbers suggest because of how much can be “consumed” by the lower rungs of the nation’s socioeconomic ladder. No less a figure than Alan Greenspan, the maestro himself, once made this case at the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole conference, presenting data on the consumption of dishwashers, microwaves and clothes dryers showing that if measured by the possession of these goods – as opposed to the huge and growing income divide — inequality was decreasing.

That interpretation is not without merit. But it turned out that allowing Americans to prosper by using their homes as A.T.M.’s and maxing out on their credit cards was maybe not such a great idea.

Personally, I lean toward two other theories. Americans are mistaken about income inequality because of national self-confidence and the lottery effect.

By national self-confidence, I mean the widespread conviction that the American way is probably right because all those other ways don’t seem to work out so well. This is a wonderful national quality and one of the reasons America has such resilience. But confidence in the American way can make it hard for the country as a whole to recognize when things aren’t working.

Take, for instance, the health care debate, when a politically effective criticism of what has come to be known as Obamacare was to argue that it would destroy the “best” health care system in the world. Mary Meeker, a Silicon Valley guru of impeccably capitalist and American credentials debunked that idea in her recent USA, Inc. presentation, in which she pointed out that “U.S.A. per capita health care spending is 3x OECD average, yet the average life expectancy and a variety of health indicators in the U.S. fall below average. But if you spend way more than everyone else, shouldn’t your results (a.k.a. performance) be better than everyone else’s, or at least near the top?”

Aside from faith in American national excellence, the other main reason Americans seem so unperturbed by the widening chasm between the rich and everyone else is what I like to call the lottery effect. Buying lottery tickets is clearly an irrational act — the odds are hugely stacked against us. But many millions of us do, because we see the powerful evidence that an ordinary person, someone just like us whose only qualifying act was to buy a ticket, wins our favorite lottery every week.

For many Americans, the nation’s rowdy form of capitalism is a lottery that has similarly bestowed fabulous rewards on the Everyman. The current leading exemplar of self-made billions is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, and he may soon be outstripped by the even more instant cyber-star Andrew Mason, the founder of Groupon.

But the problem with lotteries is that there are only a few winners. That is the story the numbers tell us about American capitalism today — and unless that underlying reality changes, at some point all those folks who think they already live in Sweden will realize they live in a winner-take-all society, and that most of us aren’t winning."

I first visited the then Soviet Union in 1975 and was struck more by similarities than differences in the two societies. The Russian communists had more in common with republican rotarians than American leftists. Today both countries have embraced what I call Fuck You capitalism and are run by oligarchic kleptocracies with similar results for their respective peoples.

oleg kostrow in three hands

From the great album "Moscow, the sex the city, the music".

Prosser Wins But State Investigation Into Years of Waukesha Voting Irregulaities Looms

Supposedly David Prosser has pulled off a squeaker in what was to be a cake walk:

"A conservative state Supreme Court justice overcame efforts to tie him to Wisconsin's polarizing governor and survived a near-upset in a race that drew national attention after a fierce fight over union rights.

County tallies finalized Friday showed Justice David Prosser defeated little-known challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by 7,316 votes. State election officials said they will wait to declare an official winner until the deadline for Kloppenburg to seek a recount passes. She has until Wednesday to call for one."

I say supposedly as an investigation into the suspicious activities of the Waukesha county clerk, Kathy Nickolaus, is in the offing:

"The state's investigation into vote irregularities in Waukesha County will stretch back at least five years, the head of the Government Accountability Board said Thursday.....
"Now questions have emerged over Nickolaus' published vote counts from as far back as the fall of 2006, when there were key statewide elections including races for governor and attorney general.
"This is part of what we're looking into. We have a lot of complaints," said Kevin Kennedy, the director and general counsel for GAB. "It's part of our investigation."

This woman is not an aberration but rather an example of the ongoing criminal conspiracy known as the Republican Party. A RICO indictment is more in order.

Wisconsin Recall Update: Randy Hopper Joins the List

Randy Hopper, whose name alone is now a double entendre, is now on the recall chopping block.From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"With the results of Tuesday's state Supreme Court race looking more fluid by the minute, the statewide battle over Gov. Scott Walker's budget initiatives pushed forward Thursday on its other major front: recall elections.

Organizers of the recall effort against state Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) filed what they said were more than 22,500 signatures with the Government Accountability Board in Madison - making them the second campaign to claim enough signatures to force a recall election involving a GOP state senator."

While I could give a rip about his personal morality the fact that his wife and maid have both signed the recall petition is added spice since he took up with a 25 y/o female staffer in Madison. More republican family values on display from Fitzwalkerstan.

Russian Art Group Voina and the Болшой Хуй

This was too good to pass up. Russian political/artistic expression is always in a class by itself. The group's website is here. H/T to Mark at Norwegianity. More background:

"SAINT PETERSBURG — The artists have overturned police cars on one of Russia's most famous squares with dozing officers inside and painted a giant penis on a drawbridge in front of the ex-KGB headquarters.

In a radical group called Voina, or War, they have exploded any notion that Russia's modern art scene is dry or conservative. But their provocative installations have also left them exposed to legal action.

The Saint Petersburg-based group's name means that "we have declared war on triviality and injustice," said artist Oleg Vorotnikov, 32, a philosophy graduate from Moscow State University.

He and another member, Leonid Nikolayev, 27, were recently freed on bail after spending three months in pre-trial detention as police investigate last September's car-tipping performance.

In a single night they turned over three police cars -- with sleeping policemen inside -- in the centre of the city to protest against police abuses of power and corruption."

Waukesha, Heart of Darkness, Reports For Duty

This is so suspicious and coming from Waukesha county, the most republican, and some would say racist, place in Wisconsin. Its very interesting to look at the Waukesha QuickFacts and notice a few things stand out: 94.6% self identified white people, avg home value 170,000 (state avg 112,000). Waukesha is where whites fled to from Milwaukee and its African-Americans and decaying industries.

Why Kloppenburg's Election Means Something

As of this posting it appears that JoAnne Kloppenburg has won the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. A bruising recount no doubt looms. The above pie chart shows why this matters. This is the last stand for the remnants of the American middle class.

Zombies For Democracy In Wisconsin

State Street in Madison Wisconsin witnessed one of the more unusual marches against the Fitzwalker regime today as hundreds of the living dead and their supporters took to the street to express themselves.This was shortly after another somewhat smaller gathering of union supporters at the capitol. In attendance were teachers, state workers and immigration activists, among others.

Update: Wisconsin Recall Efforts

The Milwaukee Journal reports on the first of what will be many deliviries of signatures to the state's Governmental Accountability Board. The following are a few salient points from the article which I have taken the liberty of translating from the native obfusacatese to what it really means:

"Organizers of the recall campaign against state Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) delivered about 21,700 signatures Friday in an attempt to force Kapanke into a recall election - well beyond the 15,588 signatures required, and in half the time allotted to collect them."----That's a shitload of signatures from pissed off people rounded up in a short period of time.

"The filing of the signatures with the state Government Accountability Board was the first from the recall campaigns against 16 senators being waged around the state. And it suggested that Democrats seeking to unseat Republicans are better organized, or at least better coordinated, than those on the other side.

For example, recall efforts against the Republicans were all registered the same day and with the same treasurer, and organizers say they're shipping their signatures to Madison as they collect them."-------In an unusual move the Democrats, or rather people who support the Democrats for lack of anything better, are highly organized on this project.

"By contrast, Kim Simac, the Eagle River tea party activist running the recall campaign against Sen. Jim Holperin (D-Conover), says petitions and envelopes are piled up on her kitchen table.

"It's a mess," she says. "I'll be glad to get my life back when this is over" - though she also said she's confident her organization will get enough signatures to force a recall election against Holperin.

Juston Johnson, a state Republican Party spokesman, says the Republican efforts are purely grass roots.

"It's a top-down effort on the Democratic side," Johnson said."-----the Republicans don't have a fucking clue what they've stirred up let alone what to do about it. It also begs the question of what constitutes grass roots coming from artificial plants.

"Kapanke couldn't be reached for comment Friday, but Bill Feehan, chairman of the La Crosse County Republican Party, said the announcement that the goal was reached was "not a big surprise."-----Locked in a closet and crying.

"Kapanke was identified by several political scientists recently as the most vulnerable of the 16 senators targeted for recall, because of the relatively strong performance of Democrats in his district in the past two statewide elections."----Likely to be locked in the closet and disconsolate for sometime to come.

Leningrad Cowboys & Russian Red Army Choir - "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" / "Oh, Field"