The Latest Lies From Wisconsin's Governor

Bear with me for a moment. I would like to apologize to readers from other parts of the country, and world. Your government agents may be less despicable than Scott Walker, but the shenanigans that he has brought to his office need to be seen clearly if we are to avoid losing the tiny grasp we have on the democratic process worldwide. I believe it was Napolean who said, "I study my enemies so that I might hate them more aptly." Those familiar with my writing probably understand that I do not advocate hatred or misunderstanding, but by learning as much as we can about the modus operandi of the people who would enslave us and benefit from our pain and suffering, we can begin to find ways to remove them from their powerful positions and take back some of the wealth and dignity that they have stolen from the general public, me and you, through their exploitation and deceit.

As we enter the fourth recall election season in Wisconsin's history, it is well to look back on the reasons for the prior recalls and what was at stake so that we can realize how important our actions are today. In the early days, the only elected officials that served four year terms were the State Senators and the Judiciary. Until 1926, when the offices of  Governor, Lieutenant Governor,  Attorneys General and other offices were increased to four years, the window of opportunity for recall was too small to make it an effective tool against most elected officials. All that is required to force a recall election is signatures from 25% of the voters who turned out for the last election for that office. The idea that this is easy is often touted by the officials who face recall, but in fact, in my experience as a community organizer, the vast majority of Wisconsin residents are typically unwilling to sign petitions that force capricious extra expenses on the government. Certainly the cost of a statewide recall campaign costs many millions of dollars, but in the recall of Governor Scott Walker, the public has deemed the damage caused by his policies to be greater than the cost of another election process.

Historically, there have been nearly a dozen attempts to garner enough signatures to force recalls, but only four have resulted in actual recall elections. The first, in 1932, against Otto Mueller for his opposition to a tax proposal made by the Governor failed in the ballot box by nearly a two to one vote. The two prior successful recalls were both in relatively recent history The 1996 removal of State Senator George Petak, over his double-cross of the voters on the issue of taxing Racine residents to help pay for the new Milwaukee Brewers Stadium. He had claimed to be against the tax during his campaign for office and supported it when he got in. Again, the recall was utilized to remove State senator Gary George, in 2003, just prior to his imprisonment on corruption charges. The people of Wisconsin have now embarked on a serious campaign against big money, the influence it has wielded over our current representatives and with the election of Governor Walker, there has been a groundswell of sentiment that wishes to have the right to know what an elected official will do before they are elected, rather than having to sit on the sidelines while the big dogs run the State House. Repeatedly, the shouts and cries have gone up around the State Capitol, here in Wisconsin, "This Is Our House!" and the people mean it!

To see and hear the heinous fallout that has come from the policies and pen of a single man is to know the ire that exists in Wisconsin right now. Just yesterday, it was revealed that with a single stroke of the Governor's pen, a loophole that had been closed, that allowed corporations to funnel their activities through shell corporations in other states that have no income tax, was reopened. This single change will take over 300 million dollars out of the state coffers in just the next two years. That is equivalent to 1/3 of the "savings" that Governor Walker has been touting. He says that he has cut the cost of state government and created jobs, but when we look around, we see a different story. Layoffs are in the news almost daily, and as the government programs are cut further, more and more citizens are being forced to live on less. Wisconsin leads (and that is a terrible word) the nation in job loss. We are dead last in job creation and as we look around the state, many of the standards that we have worked for decades to establish are being undermined and eviscerated. One of the most dramatic steps back occurred after the election of Governor Walker, but before he even took office. He pledged to cancel plans for high speed rail between Milwaukee and Madison. Thirty years of hard work had gone into the planning and enabling legislation that would lead to 21st century transportation in the most populous part of the state. Now, the congestion and danger that exist on the highways, as well as the cost in time, fuel and automobile purchase, maintenance and repair will continue to increase for those living in that corridor the foreseeable future.

We need affordable transit, not only in the urban south, but through the Fox River Valley as well. The most dangerous and deadly highway in the state runs through my neck of the woods and because of that, there have been groups trying to get a high speed rail option here for three decades. The current governor has proven to us by his actions that he not only does not care about our wishes, but that he has contempt for them. Rather than entering into any serious dialog, he has sequestered himself from the public and entertained no possibilities for listening to anyone who opposes his quest to turn Wisconsin citizens into tools for the production of increasing corporate power. We the people, must no longer stand by, while our environment is sacrificed, our children and elderly are abused and neglected, teachers vilified, and the voters of the state are spoken to in condescending ways or fed lies that are constantly "propped up" by more lies.

I offer this information as a call for everyone, worldwide, to stand for truth, demand responsibility from our elected officials and command respect from those who are supposedly leading us into the future. We cannot turn the clocks back to the age of Ozzie and Harriet anymore than we can affect the tides of history. We are embarking on a pilgrimage to one of two futures. One, appears to be more in harmony with nature, one another and able to support everyone at a higher standard of living at less cost. The other, I routinely call "business as usual" and involves more money flowing into ever-fewer hands and the power that comes with it keeping ever-greater numbers of us as wage slaves and in poverty. Stand for all that is right and good with the world, Lord and Lady know, we need to change the direction that we have been heading for the past few generations.

Remember When Reading Was Fundamental, Now It Seems That Ignorance Is In Style

In the case of the current Governor of Wisconsin, we have reached a new level of ignorance. Without understanding the history or culture of our state, economics or science, he has developed policies and made changes to our government that will take us from the top tier of states in several important areas and insert us into the roster nearer to states such as Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. I have no issue with how other states value education or the social safety net, but there were good reasons for me to choose Wisconsin as a place to settle, invest in and devote my life to. Why we have the rule that recalling our leaders cannot be begin for a year after they are elected makes no sense to me. The hundreds of thousands of people who have flocked to the state capitol and to governor walker's speaking engagements across Wisconsin should indicate that the policies he advocates are not only unsound, but unwanted by those he feels do not deserve to be represented.
The people who warned us about this man's record were spot on, but the rhetoric of hate and fear seems to have overwhelmed logic at the polls. Even if there were truth behind the lies he is willing to tell, I would seek that truth and go with it, but his allegiance is obviously to those who are privileged and stand to gain the most through further enslavement of the working people of our state.most contrary to the Wisconsin Idea is the undermining of standards of living of public workers. government is not and should never be run like a business. If government were a profit center, private industry would be all over taking the opportunity away from duly elected officials. Instead, the privateers continue to cherry pick discreet elements of government's role, swooping in to take over profitable parts of their dealings and leaving the less profitable parts, like getting real and necessary work done, to be paid for by taxpayers. In fact, the social service net has already been largely taken over by industrialists, adept at pocketing the majority of funding to cover "administrative costs" and stiffing recipients of housing, medicare and programs designed to save money through energy efficiency improvements. In twenty years, when we graduate the cadre of individuals who first experienced an education of teachers who earn less than their mentors, the chickens will finally be home to roost. By that time, picture language may have supplanted English as the preferred method of communication.
Please, let everyone you know who lives here in Wisconsin, to get behind the recall efforts. I'm sure that those who elected Mr. Walker were less inclined to accept his approaches as they just wanted to send the message "We need change". Of course, when one votes out of a sense of desperation, very little good can come from it. being responsible citizens requires far more than just showing up on election day. we need to seriously ask ourselves why power vacuums exist in government and who benefits most by finding just the right schmuck to fill the bill. People, not money are supposed to be in charge and have their needs met. Next time an ingrate helps you at a chain store, or restaurant, don't get mad at them. Place the blame on the corporados who deemed it necessary to squeeze the person's teachers even harder, making them do ever more with ever less, then ask how your dollars might be better spent somewhere else, where education and training are still deemed part of the American Way.

"Official" Start of Spring

The news has been telling us that "Spring", what they consider to be springlike weather is coming a week early this year. They are basing this opinion on the fact that when consulting the Julian Calendar and applying dualistic logic to that subjective and fictional accounting of time, the seasons have everything to do with the equinoxes and solstices. Anyone who has been exposed to the ritual calendar of the tribal cultures around the globe know that Julius Ceasar is not powerful enough to set the time signature of life, nor is the dynamic sphere that we call the Globe able to be relegated to a mere scientific accounting. The officials are just plain wrong and it is time for all of us to question their other assumptions as well.

Spring actually began, according to the pagan calendar on, or about, the second of February. For those of us who work outdoors a lot, you could feel two things combining their efforts to change the season. The tilt of the Earth, combined with our slow annual revolution around the sun, combined to make the lengthening days most apparent. During these times, the day length jumps up in the largest increments of the year. In addition, the sun angle in our middle latitudes changed from it's lowest angle, that allows most of the sun's energy to reflect off the sphere of the Earth, back into space, to a much higher angle that has the power to melt even the occasional spring snows that fall over the next few moons. A friend called to find out if there was anything that they needed to know about the New Moon that coincided with the start of Spring this year. My view is that the New(no visible)Moon brings a time of new beginnings, of introspection, setting of goals and tuning in, if you will, to what resonnates within our own being. Once you allow yourself free reign over your inner talents and motivations, it becomes a time of reestablishing contact with the core of one self, so that new directions can be explored.

Like the walkabout of the aboriginies, we occasionally need to reset our moral and ethical compass and this reflective time every moon allows for that as well as many other healing processes. Letting go of what has held us back, putting new ideas into practice and renewing one's commitments to the most deeply held goals and aspirations fits right into the New Moon Energy, as well as the start of Spring. like being dealt a pair in Black Jack, doubling up on this energy of renewal can have profound effects on one's future. Many fear the future and what it may hold in store for humanity, those we love, or, in fact, our own lives. This is old way thinking. We are really on the doorstep of a completely different mind set, we just need the courage to let go of what we thought was real in the past. In feudal times, it was good to have a castle to run to when your land was being overrun by jealous forces, intent on raping and pillaging your towns and the fertile countryside. In those days, one's enemies were pretty obvious. Doing exactly as the king wished was a matter of life and death. Today, we are in a different world, one that allows our enemies to rape and pillage under the cover of authority and expediency. We are called to find a new way to protect ourselves and at the same time create new communities that are protected from a different kind of ransacking. Stone walls will not protect us from the type of attacks we are likely to face.
Our air may be contaminated from worldwide use of toxic compounds. Our water might be contaminated by people trying to dispose of hazardous chemicals by pumping them into our aquifer or thrying to "release" the last oil and natural gas from deep layers of the bedrock. the land may be rendered sterile by the use of anhydrous ammonia or bio-cides that were developed by industrialists to quell natural pests that swarmed over sick fields. These are the real and present dangers that we are facing at this moment in time, not fur clad heathens. In fact, if we are not careful, many more of us might have to become fur clad heathens if we are to have a chance at surviving the next major shift in our culture. The key will be in keeping our humanity intact whils letting go of many of the fictional accounts about who we are, how we got to where we are and the ultimate place which we occupy in the Universe.

Just as the Julian Calendar is not the true time signature of life, and the saying that humans are "brutish", cruel, self-centered and greedy is based on subjective analysis of long dead scholars, many other beliefs are outdated and need to be discarded if we are to have a chance at creating the world anew. Scientists have now proved beyond a reasonable doubt something that all parents knew implicitly. Children are magnanamous, compassionate and giving, until they are impacted by the world around them in negative ways. Abuse a child or neglect them and they begin to transform before your very eyes. That is where the "brutish" side is created. Sure, we were unaware of how it happenned back in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but today, we can see our way clear to a new age, a new future that was obscured as we crouched behind the ramparts of our rulers. now we use the term official to squelch every form of questioning that makes those in charge uncomfortable.

As we approach the Equinox this week, and the fullness of the Moon that coincides with it this year, try to find a quiet place within yourself. or share that quiet space with others who can appreciate the abundant blessings that we all partake of daily. Feel the generosity of the unwounded child within, and attempt to reflect that generosity in everything you do for just one short month. I bet, that you will never go back to unfeeling, uncaring or unwitting participation in the "dog eat dog" world. If you need a guide or a mirror to reflect back to you the images and new found insights of this new way of being, I am available for consultations, classes and tours that focus exclusivly on reestablishing a deeper contact with our natural world. sustainability begins within each of us and can only be reflected by attuning ourselves to the laws of nature and the ever changing world that we live in.

As part of my own transformation to a new world order, I have been committing myself to a not-for-profit organization here in Northeast Wisconsin that plants native trees while providing experiences in nature. Our efforts have led to the planting of over 60,000 trees before we even registered with the State of Wisconsin as a non-profit. In the six years since registering with the state, we have planted another 60,000 trees and are in the process of reforesting over two hundred acres. The sharing that has taken place on these tours has been worht all the effort and time that we have put into it. Our staff is all-volunteer, so not a single cent of our donations is wasted on salary. Every dollar that we receive goes directly to purchasing seedlings, planting them, protecting and caring for them and many of the trees we have planted are already transforming the landscapes in which they were planted in positive ways. Many of the trees we have planted will outlive us and provide benefits long after we are forgotten. Participation in these efforts has changes many lives for the better and helped to stabilize the local environment as well as the climate of the entire region.
You can reach us to find out more about ECO-Tours of Wisconsin at: 1445 Porlier street, Green Bay, Wisconsin 54301. Or if you prefer to donate online, we do have a Paypal account at tnsaladino42@hotmail.com. It takes the combined efforts of many to get important things to happen, but if we each take responsibility for our own actions, understand the full effects of each of our choices and lend a hand in whatever way our spirits compell us to do so, thing will improve exponentially whatever the old way thinkers say. It is time for us to stand for the truth, however we come to know about it. Taking for granted that others, especially "officials" know more or better than the rest us has led to most of our problems. The time has come to take back our own power and lead, so that our leaders can follow.

Climate Change 101 Heat: Islands in the Sky

Back in the 1980's, as a youthful, overachieving college student, I took on a research project that took me on an odyssey that changed the way I understood ecological concepts and how I understand the way that the Earth, and it's atmosphere work. For my part, I presumed that I could observe nature over the course of a semester, accurately describe what I saw and make sense of my observations. Indeed, that is what I did, although what happened next was unexpected and terrible. Keep in mind that for an overachieving college student the most important thing is one's GPA (grade point average).
At that time, I attended the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Part of the campus runs along the Niagra Escarpment. This same feature extends from South of Green Bay, rears it's head along the spine of Door County in Wisconsin and wraps and folds along the shores of several Great Lakes, eventually creating the table-like feature where Niagra Falls pours off the edge. This ledge here, creates a high overlook that is topped with a lookout tower. I took observations several times each day from this tower. I estimated my height above the Bay of Green Bay at over 150 feet, and this gave me a sense of vertical movement in the atmosphere over the city, the bay and surrounding environs. In addition to my readings, when interesting phenomena would be noted, I called several locations in and around the city to get specific information about local weather conditions in and around town. During several months, I made hundreds of observations that were limited to daylight hours. By the end, not only did I see and understand a phenomenon that I named, but took the next step of researching how much energy was needed to create such an effect.
The most troubling thing was that the resulting paper earned me a semester's worth of "F", ruining my GPA and robbing me of credit for an otherwise incredible investigation and resulting paper. The problem was that, at the time there were no available collateral studies to cite regarding the phenomena that I witnessed. As far back as the sixties, I found studies and plenty of information on a phenomenon that was not named, documenting warmer and wetter weather in city centers than at the airports where weather data is normally collected. The problem was that no one I could turn up was looking at what I thought should be called "atmospheric physics". There was some data on airsheds, but they were considered to be relatively large, nebulous phenomena and for these qualities, poorly recorded and little understood.
Turning to micro-climate research, again I found extremely localized data that was just different enough that it neither supported or denied the relationships that I saw playing out that Spring. I was so interested in the relationships that I had "discovered", that I continued my observations throughout the summer. Even now I see the effects that I first saw that spring, but now there are scientists who can confirm and who have documented what I first recorded back in the eighties.
I called them Heat Islands, which curiously, is the term that is used today. Rising columns of air like the ones I saw occur in nature in only a few places on Earth, Occasionally, they are dwarfed by volcanoes, but most of these behemoths are not active on any given day. The effects that I saw happen every single day, day and night over every city in the world. Especially the fuel hungry, "modern" cities that most Americans are familiar with. Anyone who has studied meteorology knows that warm air rises. As this happens, low pressure is created under the massive "hot air balloon" that moves off in the direction of the prevailing winds. Depending on the amount of energy in the air, the heat differential between the air and the air surrounding it, and the volume of this bolus of heat, the movement and speed of it can vary substantially.
This artificial, high pressure ridge changes the ebb and flow of local weather. On many occasions, this rising column of air acts as an invisible mountain range over urban areas, making weather on the windward side wetter, and on the leeward side drier. I yhave seen these forces literally wring the air dry as it becomes squeezed between what I can only liken to giant rollers in the sky. These columns of air can be completely straight in cases where the wind are light, but they lay down across great areas when the air is in motion.
If you ever wonder whether student's work gets co-opted by their professors, I am here to tell you that it most certainly does. I believe that my data and efforts were stolen from me. Consider the irony when just a few years later there were a large number of papers published in scientific papers regarding the field of "atmospheric physics" and the coincidence of calling what happens over cities heat islands. It was all too much for me. Disillusioned and betrayed by the mentor I had hoped he would be, my professor became the arbiter of injustice, judge and executioner rolled into one. My academic career never recovered. I know that it was my own weakness that let him get away with turning me off to further humiliation, but this could have been a great start to a worthy investigation. Doctoral theses often are made on much less important hypotheses. For a more detailed discussion of the heat island effect, please contact me through commenting on this blog, or reaching me through ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc. 1445 Porlier street, 54301-3334