Update on Louise...
She was able to call out. Jerri and Preston are trying to find a way down there to bring her here to WI. Please continue to keep all of them in your prayers.
9/6/2005 --
Okay, I know that I'm on vacation and I should be keeping things upbeat, but what is the President thinking? He's blown all the goodwill he has barely been hanging onto by not being a leader during Katrina. Let's face it, how fast can the National Guard response to a natural disaster in our country when a great deal of them are sitting in Iraq?
However, the Comfort Inn places a USA Today paper right outside your door -- very nice. Anyway, what's one of the headlines? "Bush Taps Roberts for Chief Justice". Is he nuts?
Now, I haven't made up my mind on whether or not Roberts should be a Supreme Court Justice, but I do know he should not be the Chief Justice. That would be like tapping my alderman to be governor or president. I had my doubts about Roberts because I don't think someone who is just 50 years old should be on the Supreme Court. I don't think he has enough experience as a judge. I don't think he's paid his dues. And, now, Bush wants to do the unprecedented -- he wants to appoint him Chief Justice. Wouldn't, from a conservative standpoint, Scalia make a better choice or maybe even Thomas? Why pick the new guy, who hasn't even been confirmed?
If this is how our commander in chief thinks, God help us all.
God Bless,
Julie
9/11/2005 --
Just a quick note to say that I'm back from vacation. We went to Door County. I love it up there. We stopped at the kids' to visit the boys one last time before heading home. We'll probably go back up in a few weeks, but once we leave them, I miss the boys. For those who are interested, I've placed even more pictures of them. I can believe how big they have gotten!
Also, I don't think the day can be complete without taking a moment to remember the victims of the 9/11 attack.
God Bless,
Julie
9/12/2005 --
I noticed that we were out of milk, so I packed Skywalker into the car and headed off to the store. On the way to the store, I noticed that the Vietnam Moving Wall was set up in Pritchard Park. I had thought that I had missed the wall coming to Racine, so I stopped. I felt that I had to.
I have a cousin, William Terry Pratt, on the wall. He is on line 20 of W43. Terry, as my father called him, was killed by enemy fire on 9/17/1968. He was 20 years old. I was less than a year old. I don't think I even met him. All I know of him was what my father said, he was always smiling and he had red hair. Terry was born 4/28/1948. I found that interesting because that my wedding date is 4/28.
I made two rubbings of his name. One to keep and one to give to my dad. I felt a little misty eyed and choked up, as I made the rubbings and touched his name.
I walked the entire length of the wall and saw the items left by friends and family of those who were lost. Some left flowers, some left pictures and letters. It was very moving. The Wall will be in Racine until Thursday. I strongly suggest that you, if you live near here, go and see it.
These are the heroes of our country. They gave their lives so that I can sit in my living room safe and sound and write a blog on a laptop.
Something to think about.
God Bless,
Julie
For more information about the wall, http://www.themovingwall.org. To see the online virtual wall, http://www.virtualwall.org.
Since Katrina hit, there have been a lot of news reports blaming the Bush administration for not acting soon enough. There has been some (but fewer than those blaming Bush) blaming the state of LA for this issues. And, there have been tons of reports discussing the looting and rioting.
Well, I just don't feel like trying to sort out the finger pointing and figure out who is to blame. I'm pretty sure that the levies should have been replaced or upgraded a long time ago. I'm pretty tired of all the bad news. It was all anyone was talking about. I'd like to try something different and pass on some good news.
I picked up my Business Week and was flipping through, when I came across an interesting article.
Fred Sawyers is the manager of the Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel. He's married, owns three cats and is 44 years old. Mr. Sawyers kept the Hilton opened for 800 guests, staff members and pets. He cut the Hilton's rates to half-price and even then, he didn't collect all the fees. He, along with his valuable staff, kept everyone healthy and safe through one of the worst natural disasters in recent history. Mr. Sawyers even managed to find staff members who wish to relocate new positions at other Hilton owned hotels.
You can read the whole article in Business Week's September 19th issue.
But, isn't Mr. Sawyer's actions a breath of fresh air?
God Bless,
Julie
9/13/2005 --
Okay, gentle readers, remember back on July 21, I wrote an article regarding Eminent Domain? Well, last week (while I was on vacation), I received the following forwarded email regarding just what the legislation of Wisconsin is planning to do. Below, is the letter and I linking to the pdf file for your review. Don't forget, CONTACT your representatives and let them know you want them to vote for this. (I just realized that the deadline has passed, but you can still contact your reps.)
TO: All Legislators
FROM: Representative Mary Williams and Senator Dave Zien
DATE: September 2, 2005
RE: Co-sponsorship of LRB 3571 relating to prohibiting the condemnation of property under certain circumstances
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a decision, Kelo v. New London, that broadly interpreted the restriction on condemnation of private property in the U.S. Constitution: “…nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” New London condemned land for a downtown redevelopment project, using a Connecticut statute that allows condemnation for economic development without a finding that the property is blighted. The condemned property was turned over to a private developer. Susette Kelo owned a home in good condition in the redevelopment area. The U.S. Supreme Court approved the condemnation on the grounds that economic development is a valid governmental purpose, and is therefore a “public use” under the constitution.
Wisconsin does not have a similar statute, but in a redevelopment project under the state’s blighted area statutes, within the blighted area, individual properties that are not blighted may be condemned.
This bill draft limits the ability of a condemnor to condemn property that includes a dwelling unit. Under the draft, even if the residential property meets the definition of “blighted,” it is not considered to be blighted unless it is abandoned or is associated with a higher crime rate. If any property is not blighted (whether residential or not), the bill prohibits condemnation of that property and conveyance of the property to a private entity.
Many thanks to Mark Patronsky over at the Legislative Reference Bureau for all of his assistance with this bill. If you would like to sign on to LRB 3571, please call Representative Mary Williams' office at 6-7506 no later than 12:00 p.m. on Friday, September 9. For more details, please see the attached LRB analysis.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill prohibits the condemnation of property that is not blighted if the condemnor intends to convey or lease the acquired property to a private entity. The bill defines “blighted property” and provides that property that includes one or more dwelling units is not blighted unless the property has been abandoned or the property has been converted from a single dwelling unit to multiple dwelling units and the crime rate in, on, or adjacent to the property is higher than in the rest of the municipality. The bill also requires a condemnor, before commencing the condemnation of property that the condemnor intends to convey or lease to a private entity, to make a written finding that the property is blighted.
God Bless,
Julie
9/17/2005 --
Have you heard the one about President Bush stating that taxes will not be raised and we will cut out unnecessary spending from the federal budget?
You didn't?
Well, that's because, sad to say, it isn't a joke.
President Bush stated that he will not raise taxes. This must be a great relief to the top 1% of Americans who received the biggest portion of Bush's tax cuts.
I am curious as to just what unnecessary spending the President has in mind. It has come to light that his last round of unnecessary spending cuts -- to pay for the tax cuts -- included a cut in spending for the levees in New Orleans. Hmmm, I wonder who is thinking that these are unnecessary services now. (Okay, just so I'm not passing on bad information, I have sent emails to my senators and my congressman to make sure that these spending cuts were in fact a part of the last budget. You'll notice I send the same email to each of them -- this way I cannot be accused of bias.)
What more can the President cut from our federal budget? Will he be cutting money for schools? Our school system is all ready overtaxed with his unfunded No Child Left Behind mandate. What needs to be repaired that won't be?
It just boggles my mind.
God Bless,
Julie
9/18/2005 --
Normally, I don't write about Television show or specials. I mainly stick to religion and politics -- you know the non-volatile subjects. Well, on HBO on demand, they have Louis Black's special from May of this year. It is the most hilarious comedy special I think I have ever seen. With all that is going on the in the world, I think we all need a good laugh. Be forewarned, however; he does use the f word quite a bit, so he's not a guy I would let my young children around.
Another note, well, not really a note, but a self plug...
I'm selling doggie t-shirts on the top of my head website at CafePress. If you have a dog and a political opinion, you should get your dog one of the t-shirts.
Have a great week.
God Bless,
Julie
9/22/2005 --
Well, I had set myself up to write a scathing article about Pat Robertson due to a Dateline Hollywood news report I read. According to the report, Mr. Robertson said that Katrina hit because Ellen Degeneres hosted the Emmys.
Well, according to Snopes.com, this is a false report. Apparently, it was the Dateline's idea of satire. Not bad, I suppose. It does seem reasonable that Mr. Robertson would say something such as this, as he is known to blame gays and lesbians for hurricanes. According to Snopes.com, Mr. Robertson, when addressing "comments at participants of the Orlando, Florida, Gay Pride Festival, stating: 'I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you.'"
So, now, because I try to check my facts before writing an article, the wind has been knocked out of my sails and I need to find a different topic...
Which lands me (pardon the pun) to the JetBlue emergency landing of last night. Did you see this? Amazing! Here's a picture from CNN:
Those wheels are on fire. The front wheels turned
perpendicular. This made the landing of the plane very dangerous. I
watched some of the coverage on FOX, CNN, etc. I saw the landing on Larry
King's show.
I found two things truly amazing about this.
First, that the pilot and crew managed to land that plane without any loss of life and the only visible damage to the plane was the front landing gear. I know that airplane crews practice these types of landings in simulators all the time to help make these types of landings routine. Still, it was an amazing sight to see. A true miracle and you could see the hand of God working through the pilot and crew.
The second amazing fact about this landing was that I was watching it live on TV. Through the power of television, I could live the moment as it was happening. It was just a few short years ago where the landing would've been talked about on the news and certainly TV cameras -- broadcasted nationally -- would probably not caught this incredible journey.
With all the bad news in the past few weeks, it was nice to see a miracle in action.
God Bless,
Julie
9/25/2005 --
Pretty busy this weekend, so not too much time to talk. Just wanted to add a note wishing my brother, Scott, a happy 35th birthday.
9/26/2005 --
Another quick note: Happy Birthday to my daughter, Kim.
9/27/2005 --
Remember when I posted the email that I sent to my senators and congressman? Well, here it is nearly ten days later and the only one of them I have heard from is Congressman Paul Ryan.
I have to admit that in the last election, I did not vote for Congressman Ryan. I did something I have never done before and voted a straight democratic ticket. I did this so that nothing could happen that would have my vote not count.
Anyway, I wanted to pass on the information that Congressman Ryan sent me. With his signed reply letter, he sent me the CRS Report for Congress on New Orleans Levees and Floodwalls: Hurricane Damage Protection. (I will scan in the report as soon as possible.)
Admittedly, I have not had time to review the report. I wanted to get these up here to provide the information as quickly as possible and let my readers come to their own conclusions.
The other thing that I would like to mention is what a good congressman Paul Ryan is. I don't always agree with the votes he casts, however; being a good congressman also has to do with how you respond to constituents. Every time I have sent an email to Congressman Ryan, I have received a response. And, you know me, that's an awful lot of emails! In almost all of his responses he has included relevant documentation to prove his side. Even when I disagree with him, at least I can tell from where he's coming. If I have any complaint about him it would be that he sides with the Republicans too much of the time. It seems as if he always votes the party line and doesn't often stray. I'd like my congressman to vote his conscious every once in a while and I don't think Ryan does.
9/29/2005 --
Remember LRB 3571? This was Representative Mary Williams and Senator Dave Zien's response to the Supreme Court's Eminent Domain ruling. (See below, I've posted the information there.)
Anyway, as of last Tuesday, LRB 3571 is now Assembly Bill 657. It passed the Assembly on a vote of 88-9. The co-sponsors are as follows: Reps. Mary Williams, Jeff Wood, Bobby Gronemus, John Lehman, Brett Davis, Terry Moulton, Mark Honadel, Scott Jensen, Doc Hines, Steve Kestell, Mark Pettis, Carol Owens, Dan Meyer, JohnAinsworth, Samantha Kerkman, Al Ott, Dan LeMahieu, Terry Musser, Karl Van Roy, Steve Freese, Sheryl Albers, Jean Hundertmark, Scott Suder, Pat Strachota, Anne Nischke, Gene Hahn and John Gard. In the Senate, the co-sponsors are: Dave Zien, Alberta Darling, Sheila Harsdorf, Tom Reynolds, Luther Olsen, Carol Roessler, Ron Brown, Mary Lazich, Joe Liebham and Glenn Grothman.
Notice the missing name?
It's Cathy Stepp. She had sent me a letter stating that she was working on this bill with her colleagues in the the Senate and she didn't co-sponsor it. Now, I have not, as of this writing, contacted Senator Stepp to ask her why she didn't co-sponsor a bill she said she was helping write. I'll send her an email once I've cooled off some, so I can write it in an adult manner.
I suspect that it might have something to do with the fact that she owns a construction company. Afterall, limiting Eminent Domain would mean that a land developer couldn't have an area condemned by the city and turned over to them at a much lower cost. This would be bad for business.
Now, I wouldn't go around repeating that last paragraph, because I have no proof of this. It could be that this slipped her mind or she forgot about it. I might not send her a letter until after I see how she votes in the Senate on this bill. There's a saying that the proof is in the pudding, but in this case, the proof will be in how the Senator votes.
Oh, in case you are wondering, Senator Stepp is up for re-election next year. If you live in her district, keep this in mind when you go to vote.
God Bless,
Julie