Our Classy GOP in Wisconsin

The campaign to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is going swimmingly well -- so well, in fact that it must be making someone (or a group of folks) incredibly nervous.
Police in Sun Prairie, Wisc. said Monday they were investigating reports of death threats made against two activists supporting the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (R).
Wisconsin residents Heather DuBois Bourenane and Tom Peer, who live in Sun Prairie and Madison, respectively, said they received early morning phone calls on Thursday of last week warning that they would be murdered.
Peer says he was told, "If you don't stop circulating recall petitions, we will kill you."
You can check out this interview with both Peer and Bourenane on Daily Kos.
Let's hope that authorities take this seriously and find whomever is responsible for harassing and threatening law abiding citizens who are participating in our democracy. Or what's left of it. It's fine to disagree passionately and peacefully about politics, but to threaten someone's life over an election is absolutely heinous.
Posted at November 21, 2011, 4:55 pm
Hi Everyone!
It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round- But this is taking it all way out of proportion.
DEATH THREATS? C'mon-
Our "Grand Ole Badger State" seems to have a wart, or ten, on its nose.
Methinks someone is increasingly paranoid, and very very worried and intimidated.
These people issuing death threats need to be imprisoned for a long time.
Maybe they will learn how to play fair there...
XOXO
Me
Think before you drink (water). Another Crime Against Humanity

Tell your Senator: Stop dangerous fracking
High Pressure Hydraulic Fracturing (or fracking) is a method of drilling for natural gas by pumping a mixture of water and toxic, cancer-causing chemicals deep underground, and it's already responsible for poisoning the groundwater in states across the country.
Fracking wells are spreading at an alarming rate. But even more alarming, thanks to the work of Dick Cheney and his infamous energy policy, Frackers don't have to disclose the chemicals used in their fluid, and the process is totally exempt from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The FRAC Act, a bill that has been in the Senate since 2009, would correct both these problems. As public concern over fracking has grown, the bill has gained some momentum, but we still need more Senators actively working to pass it. Will you urge your Senator to support and work to pass the FRAC Act?
Tell you Senator: Co-sponsor the FRAC Act to protect our water from dangerous fracking.
If you've ever seen the picture of the man lighting his tap water on fire from the recent documentary Gasland, that was because of nearby fracking.1
Fracking a single gas well uses hundreds of thousands, or even millions of gallons of water, combined with hundreds of tons of chemicals including known toxics and carcinogens.
While the exact contents of the fluid is still a secret, scientific examination reveals that it often contains diesel fuel, which includes benzene, as well as methanol, formaldehyde and hydrochloric acid and many others.2
The fluid is injected thousands of feet underground at extremely high pressure, literally cracking the earth to release trapped gas. Unfortunately, it must pass through our water table, where the fluids, along with natural gas, can leak through well casings into our drinking water.
Yet somehow, the EPA has been handcuffed from regulating fracking to keep our water clean since 2005, in what has become known as "the Halliburton loophole." Halliburton, where Dick Cheney was CEO before becoming Vice President, patented fracking in the 1940's and remains the third largest producer of fracking fluids. And in trademark Bush administration style, Halliburton staff were actively involved in a 2004 EPA report on fracking safety.
The "Halliburton loophole" (Another Bush gift that keeps on giving)- remains a dangerous legacy of the Bush Administration and if we're going to protect our water, we need to close it.
Tell you Senator: Co-sponsor the FRAC Act to protect our water from dangerous fracking.
Fracking is currently underway in 36 states. The ramifications to our water from expanded, unchecked fracking will be extreme and are only beginning to be fully realized by the public - thanks in no small part to the continued resistance of industry to disclose the poisons it involves.
An important investigative series by the New York Times recently concluded that "the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood."3
In addition to toxic, carcinogenic fluids which remain underground after a well is fracked, fracking also produces substantial quantities of waste water which can be literally radioactive. According to the Times, the water is "sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle."
What's more, above ground spills of toxic fracking fluids are becoming increasingly common. A large spill this April in Pennsylvania dumped thousands of gallons into fields and streams, eerily, on the one year anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill.
The oil and gas industry is the only industry in America that is allowed by EPA to inject known hazardous materials -- unchecked -- directly into or adjacent to underground drinking water supplies.
While some state regulations do exist, they vary widely. But water contamination isn't constrained by state boundaries, and we need a strong baseline national standard to make sure fracking chemicals are publicly disclosed everywhere fracking is taking place, and that this practice isn't putting our nation's drinking water at risk.
Tell you Senator: Co-sponsor the FRAC Act to protect our water from dangerous fracking.
We'll deliver your petition to the Senators who have not yet co-sponsored the FRAC Act. The ten current sponsors and co-sponsors are Boxer (CA), Cardin (MD), Casey (PA), Feinstein (CA), Gillibrand (NY), Lautenberg (NJ), Mikulski (MD), Sanders (VT), Schumer (NY), Whitehouse (RI)
1. Burning Tap Water and More: GASLAND Exposes the Natural Gas Industry," Treehugger, June 25, 2010.
2. Hydraulic Fracturing 101," EARTHWORKS.
3. Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers," New York Times, February 26, 2011
S.587
Latest Title: FRAC Act
Sponsor: Sen Casey, Robert P., Jr. [PA] (introduced 3/15/2011) Cosponsors (10)
Related Bills: H.R.1084
Latest Major Action: 4/12/2011 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings held with the Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife.
Related Bill:
H.R.1084
Latest Title: Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep DeGette, Diana [CO-1] (introduced 3/15/2011) Cosponsors (63)
Related Bills: S.587
Latest Major Action: 3/21/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy.
*** Check out the major dollar contributions by vote -click here
I just signed a petition asking my Senator to co-sponsor the FRAC Act, which would allow the EPA to regulate fracking.
Please add your voice and help build the call to pass this vital bill to protect our drinking water:
Please sign the support for these bills or maybe we say Good-Bye to our Great Lakes.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/frac_act/?r_by=-4775131-YJo6_sx&rc=confemail
The Qualities of the Medicine Wheel
Native American Horoscope
When you look at the Qualities of the Medicine Wheel you will notice dates and an animal names.
For simplicity sake, you can pick the date you were born and learn more about the animal and the Characteristics of that area on the Medicine Wheel.
Remember, that in each quadrant of the Medicine Wheel we learn things about ourselves.
We are always changing and may take on other attitudes of another area.
We are never really totally one certain trait all the time.
We may have the general qualities of one animal, however, we can take on the heir of others in order to learn more about ourselves. That is the spiraling beauty of the Medicine Wheel...
| Native American Horoscope | |
| When you look at the Qualities of the Medicine Wheel you will notice dates and an animal names. For simplicity sake, you can pick the date you were born and learn more about the animal and the Characteristics of that area on the Medicine Wheel.Remember, that in each quadrant of the Medicine Wheel we learn things about ourselves. We are always changing and may take on other attitudes of another area. We are never really totally one certain trait all the time. We may have the general qualities of one animal, however, we can take on the heir of others in order to learn more about ourselves. That is the spiraling beauty of the Medicine Wheel | |
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The Great Honey Swindle - Food Media - Food News - CHOW
http://www.chow.com/food-news/97458/the-great-honey-swindle/
Published on Monday, November 14, 2011, by Rebecca Flint Marx
The Great Honey Swindle
As if bees weren’t having a hard enough time of it lately, now there’s this: According to a report released last week by Food Safety News, the vast majority of store-bought honey sold in this country isn’t technically honey.
You see, the Food and Drug Administration requires any product labeled “honey” to contain pollen, which is reasonable enough. Unfortunately, many manufacturers seem to disagree—testing done for Food Safety News revealed that 76 percent of grocery store products claiming to be honey do not actually contain pollen. Instead, the substance lurking within the confines of those innocent-looking plastic bears is merely ultrafiltered golden sludge that probably came from China.
Ultrafiltering is a process that waters down honey and removes much of its nutritional value along with its pollen. The reason that Chinese producers love ultrafiltering is simple: honey laundering.
Like American corn, Chinese honey is cheap and heavily subsidized. In 2001, the Federal Trade Commission began imposing high tariffs on it because its abundance on the U.S. market had been driving American honey producers out of business. Since pollen is the only sure way to determine where honey originates, ultrafiltering has made it possible for the Chinese to continue dumping their honey on the U.S., often by channeling it through other countries.
And if that’s not shady enough, Chinese honey has been found to contain illegal animal antibiotics. A decade ago, tainted honey that came to the U.S. through Canada was sold to Smucker’s and Sara Lee, resulting in the recall of 12,000 cases of honey and a half-million loaves of bread.
A rep for the FDA told FSN that the organization hasn’t halted any honey imports because it has “yet to detect ‘ultra-filtered’ honey.” But should it be detected, “we will refuse entry.” Given that many in the honey industry expressed doubt that the FDA checks more than five percent of honey imports, that’s cold comfort for both consumers and bees.
Until the FDA steps up its game, you might want to be careful about where you buy. Food Safety News's tests, which were conducted by “one of the nation’s premier melissopalynologists,” found that 100 percent of honey sampled from big drugstore chains contained no pollen, as did 77 percent of the honey from big-box stores like Walmart and Costco, and 76 percent of the honey from grocery chains including Kroger, Safeway, and Giant Eagle. One bee expert told FSN that “unless you’re buying from a beekeeper, you’re at risk.”
The good news is that consumers do have a modicum of power: All of the honey FSN sampled from food co-ops, farmers’ markets, and “natural” chains like Trader Joe’s and PCC contained the full amount of pollen. And while those sources won’t do much to stem the tide of dodgy honey flowing from China, it’s probably best to take sweet relief where you can find it.
Image source: Flickr member cthoyes under Creative Commons
About all I can add is buy from your LOCAL Farmers Market-
Make a point to know your beekeeper.
XOXO
Me
Traffic Jam (Groan and Giggle)
| Rating: | ★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
A driver was stuck in a traffic jam on the highway outside Washington, DC.
Nothing was moving.
Suddenly, a man knocks on the window.
The driver rolls down the window and asks, “What’s going on?”
“Terrorists have kidnapped Congress, and they’re asking for a $100 million dollar ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them all in gasoline and set them on fire."
"We are going from car to car, collecting donations.”
“How much is everyone giving, on average?” the driver asks.
The man replies, “Roughly a gallon.”
During. And Done.
Happy Sunday!
Sunday isn't Sunday without a Packers Game. :-(
But we do play tomorrow night!
I thought I had better post these pics- before the next snow falls. (I do not see any in the forecast).
As of this morning, and having the temps rise through the night, there is no snow left on the lawns, grass or trees. We already knew it wouldn't last long.
So- Here are a few during and after' pics for you to enjoy.
If you hover your mouse over the pics, there should be an accurate description.
I think.
It was just a few days before that fell, that we were outside- & playing out in the sunshine!
Boy was that cat mad at Punk!
One little swipe as Punk nosed in a little hole that Sputty had found.
(I heard the loud and indignant "Ki-Yike" as I was taking the picture).
Sputty checking out the septic tank that was waiting to be pumped out..
And now it needs to be covered- soon. This was one of the tasks I had thought would get done on Friday when my help from Christy's family was going to be here to help out.
I had to cancel them Late Thursday night; not knowing what Casey would need that day.
I hope they can still come before it is too cold to work outside for a while...
During...
Done!
During!
Done!
And yes, there is still color in some of the maples!
My love to all.
XOXO
Me
Casey. 911. A Long Evening.
Good Morning All;
Kelli called, waking me up- or I would still be asleep. (Thank you Miss Kelli).
See. she wanted to know what happened after the rescue squad took Casey away last night...
Still in the yard- Trying to find a vein. (Yeah right). hehehe Poor guy.
Casey and I had just actually sat down about 5 minutes before.
She was telling me that her arm hurt as she thought maybe she had a blood clot in it.
Remembering how they had measured Randy's leg when he had his stroke, I used a tape measure from my sewing box to measure the blood clot on her left arm.
There was little difference between arms, though I could easily 'feel' what she was talking about. A vertical lump flowing 'up' her arm toward the shoulder.
All the while I'm thinking she has never even had a PICC Line in this arm.
I gave her an aspirin. We agreed that she would go in and see her physician today-
Neither of us having any energy, we settled to watch some silly show about fishing- ?
This had been her choice.
She had said, "Oh I saw this once and it was pretty good."
(Yes, it was a very odd choice, for her, but we watched it anyway)...
Of a sudden, Casey leaned forward in the Lazy-boy and started stammering and mumbling her words.
Punk was just immediately standing in front of her-
Thank God for Punk- Casey was petting, holding on to her, tight. Had the dog not been there, I do think that Casey would have toppled right off the chair.
What I actually heard while this happened was very little-
What I *knew* was that this was NOT going to wait 'til tomorrow.
She needed to go to the hospital. Now.
No way was I messing with someone who might be having a stroke- getting her out to the car (how?), and driving her in.
I couldn't even have carried her, lest I drop her, with respect to my back...
She was flush- sputtering nonsense, and holding onto the dog (who stood very strong in front of her).
All that had happened in just a matter of a few seconds...
I called 911.
The rescue squad was here within about 4 minutes, though of course it seemed longer.
(I'd been told by the 911 gal to remove Punk from Casey and lock the pup in the bathroom).
I got Casey removed to the couch.
Long story short(er), she is ok. Casey, not Punk.
(Well, Punk is ok too, having survived being shut in the can). hehehe
I asked the 911 girl, Lisa, to call Randy and tell him what was going on. (He was still on duty)- She said she would do so immediately.
The poor guys in the rescue squad never were able to get that line started-
Once at the hospital, they ordered a bunch of tests- Along with a doppler U/S; some heart tests, and a head CT Scan-
Many blood tests too that won't be back for 72 hours- It will seem like a long wait for those to come back.
Mr. Greg got there as she was taken to the CT Dept. (Thank you "I guess" hehehe).
As I stated earlier, Punk is OK too.
I had called Kelli almost immediately when the squad had left the yard. (And holy crap!, the sheriff dept had even blocked off the road so the ambulance could be on its way).
Kelli had been on her way home- on her cell- and with a bad connection too. I'd asked Kelli to come over and let Punk out as I was only going to throw her some food and leave.
So I did.
Feed, and leave.
Kelli told me they had come down here, Punk had played and played- running around full speed ahead as dogs will do at times- (Kelli thought Punk was maybe looking for me).
At one point, Punk had even hid behind the willow tree- peeking out at Kelli- Literally begging a walk/run to the woods-
Kelli had no energy after a long day at work, so that was not going to happen; especially in the dark! hehehe
She came inside then, filling the water dish for the animals.
Then, unbeknownst to me, she gave Punk a little more food- She'd felt so bad for Punk.
When I got back here, Punk was all over me; and running to Casey's side of the car-
(I had tried to tell her that Casey was not in there). It didn't work, so she'd squealed a bit, I opened the car and let her see for herself.
Satisfied that Casey was not there, she ran over by Casey's car-
Then we could come back inside...
Feeling sorry for my little waif, I fed her again, knowing that upset causes hunger- (At least it does for me).
Punk was so happy about this that she actually took her time, savoring each little bite...
Weird that- She is quite the voracious eater. (I would hate to see her flunk that hand test they do on Animal Planet).
And so it was that when Kelli called this morning I learned that the old girl (Punk, not Kelli), had been fed her supper 3 times last night!
No damn wonder she hadn't waken me at 5 to demand her breakfast! hehehe
So now it is time for my shower- Casey has another appointment at 11:30 and I will be bringing her there.
Have a 'wunnaful' Friday- As always, I shall keep you all posted.
My love to all.
XOXO
Me
Here. We Go. Again...
Good Morning Everyone!
Now begins the season...
I do not do well with the cold.
That said, the oil in the tank must have taken a hit these last two days. (honestly, my back cannot stand the cold; and it hurts so bad)...
Not sure what's up with that.
I washed and sorted my turtlenecks and sweatshirts last week, and am going to be getting in the shower shortly. I'll be standing there for quite a while too-
I've been fighting a migraine all week- come and go- - come and go; on and off, and on again. Nasty that. I will be keeping this short.
Casey came out yesterday, driving out in the rain; and bringing my camera in from outside!!! I can't believe I left it out there!
We tore it apart almost immediately- Memory card placed on my warm laptop, battery in the charger after it was dried- and the camera on the floor by the register.
It seems to have worked! Check these out...
Taken just as the rain changed to snow---
Looks like I'd best get out there and at least try to close that door.
Everything, well almost everything, is covered... Still, it's not right. hehehe
And this one, my favorite- Taken 3 nights ago-
Hope y'all have a 'wunnaful' Wednesday!
XOXO
Me
PS
While the snow we get won't last long, (this time) I am still not thrilled with the prospect of another cold Winter.
From todays forecast pages:
Watches and Warnings
Green Bay Forecast
...RAPID CHANGE TO SNOW EXPECTED TO OCCUR ACROSS CENTRAL THROUGH NORTHEAST WISCONSIN BY 900 AM...
PRECIPITATION FROM A LARGE STORM SYSTEM WAS SURGING NORTH ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING. THE SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO EXPAND ACROSS MOST OF THE REST OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN BY MID-MORNING...
GROUND TEMPERATURES ARE STILL ABOVE FREEZING...AND THAT WILL INITIALLY SLOW SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. THE SNOW WILL ALSO BE OF THE HEAVY WET VARIETY...AND THAT COULD EVENTUALLY CAUSE TREE LIMBS TO BREAK AND FALL ON POWER LINES...LEADING TO POWER OUTAGES.
TRAVEL CONDITIONS COULD ALSO START TO DETERIORATE AS THE SNOW CONTINUES.
CALL the VET!!!
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
A dog lover, whose dog was a female and "in heat," agreed to look after
her neighbors' male dog and house while they were away on vacation.
She had a large house and believed that she could keep the dogs apart.
However, as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard awful howling and moaning sounds. She rushed downstairs and found the dogs locked together and unable to disengage as frequently happens when dogs mate.
Unable to separate them, although it was late, she called the vet,
who answered in a very grumpy voice.
After she explained the problem to him, the vet said, "Hang up the phone and place it down alongside the dogs. I will then call you back and the noise of the ringing will make the male lose his erection and be able to withdraw."
"Do you think that will work?" she asked.
"It just worked for me," he replied.