Pay no attention to those Wisconsin 1970s behind the curtain - redux
This entry was posted on 4/15/2008 8:22 AM and is filed under Crappy Economy Redux,False Alternative,Two Party Paradigm.
Sub Zero of Madison lays off 235.
Famous Footwear to leave Madison. They will take 270 jobs with them.
General Motors in Janesville announces 200 lay offs.
United Industries of Beloit lays off 109 people.
Nationally, four airlines file for bankruptcy.
The economy comes to recession-proof Southern Wisconsin. The national recession encroaches and looms on our imaginary wonder-land borders. Republicans and Democrats will languish over blaming each other for the latest 1970s redux. What's the common denominator in that equation? Republicans and Democrats. Any third party or independents, as always, will be cast as nuts and wackos.
If Hillary Clinton wins the Presidency, going back to 1981 and Vice President George Bush, we will enjoy 32 years of Bushs and Clintons to 2013. Basically we operate in a flat-world political system. It is the two-party paradigm syndrome. And in reality, that basically means a one-party system. One party? - welcome to the Third-World.
Barak Obama comes from the one-party Illinois system. Hillary Clinton is the Bill Clinton redux. John McCain is Gerry Ford in disguise. I hope Republicans and Democrats can sleep well at night.
The next time your 20-somethings come back home to live; the next time your significant other gets laid off; when gasoline reaches six Dollars a gallon; when the death toll in Iraq for our soldiers reaches 5000 some time after the next President takes over; the next time you find yourself considering moving to a smaller house or apartment; the next time you forgo buying a better car but drive your old car into the ground instead; find a Republican or Democrat - and thank them.
But I suspect you won't - because you live in the flat-world.
Stupid pop culture, media-complex, distraction-from-reality story
I see the main stream pundits are still up to their old tricks more than ever while I was gone to Iraq. So, I am thinking, each day I should continue to jot down the stupidest news story that is foist upon us by the big-media-complex as a distraction from the reality that has become America. So here we go - welcome to today's "Stupid Pop Culture, Media-complex, Distraction-from-reality Story."
The war in Iraq languishes on; the dollar collapses; gas prices have us working stiffs deciding between filling our car tanks and buying necessities; and, Washington apparently continues to be run by two-party paradigm lunatics. Good God but wait, there may be hope.
In the nanny-state America that has become the real-time world of Orwell a tired old Presidential candidate named Gerry Ford John McCain suggests a gas tax cut (just happens to be the summer before the national election). Sure John, at this point I am thinking we would even except a ham sandwich.
Now there is some real God damned news!
Wisconsin military service person of the week
Lieutenant Michael McGreevy Jr., 30, was killed when the MH-47D Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down during operations near Asadabad, in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. He was a U.S. Navy SEAL. He had received a congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned that in recent years Michael was a resident of Portville, New York. He was however, a Wisconsin native, and was born in Milwaukee. His family moved away from Shorewood, Wisconsin when he was still in grade school. He had also lived in Virginia Beach, Virgina. He is survived by wife Laura and daughter Molly, around a year old at the time of McGreevy's death. McGreevy was assigned to SEAL Team 10, Naval Special Warfare Group Two. Lieutenant Michael McGreevy was the third Wisconsin military service member with Wisconsin roots to die in Afghanistan since 2001.
82,725 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
8,145 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,032 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
488 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
308 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
295 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
29,676 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1,914 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
87 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
127 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
15 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
