Last Blog Before Christmas – more than likely

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy Hannukah and Christmas!!!!

Milwaukee Bureau of Child “Welfare”?

I commented the other day on the requested transfer of the director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (Denise Revels Robinson) along with the private Welfare agency La Causa’s handling of the Christopher Thomas Jr.  death http://finnegansright.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/quick-hit-denise-revels-robinson/  I now come to find that the case worker for that situation, who has remained nameless, is also the case worker (and her supervisor) in the Will Johnson case.   A case in which a 5 month old was drowned by her bi-polar mother.  Arkisha Johnson, who in her unmedicated state stopped up the bathtub, filled it up with 8-10 inches of water, set her FIVE MONTH OLD baby in and left him to drown.  Here’s the article: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/36322654.html  Arkisha was sentenced yesterday and was sent to jail for five years.  Not to go to in depth on that sentence, but I deem that EXTREMELY light considering that a defenseless infant sat in a bathtub full of water, inhaled said water, and died a slow excruciating death, but what do I know? 

What I am most angry about is the fact that one case worker and that worker’s supervisor still have their jobs.  The actions taken by those two caused the torture and beating of one young girl and the death of 2 children.  I’m not a lawyer, but in my little mind, I believe that to be criminal.  It probably isn’t criminal, but it most certainly is (or should be) grounds for dismissal.  If I handled my job with that sort of recklessness I would be fired and nobody would feel bad about it.  I work in a business setting so if I were to screw up that bad, the worst that could happen is my employer loses a little money.  This person and supervisor had the responsibility to look out for the best interests of these children and not only did they NOT do that, they went one step further and placed them in a deadly situation. 

These situations are disgusting.  The aunt of Christopher Thomas and the mother of Will Johnson make me sick.  Defenseless, small children unceremoniously discarded because the adults that are supposed to care for them can’t keep their heads on straight.  There is a question/larger point I’d like to address that is pointed to La Causa, Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare, and the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families’ Division of Safety and Permanence, and that is: Why do those organizations feel the need to place children with biological family members “thinking” that is what is in the best interest of the child??  Time after time children are pulled out of bad situations, many of those situations caused by the irresponsible and disgusting actions of the parents and family members, just to be put back with those families to cause more harm, potential abuse, and sometimes DEATH.  These victims are children.  They can’t fight back, and they can’t call the police, so the responsibility falls on the case workers of these organizations AND more importantly the legal system to permanently place these children in caring, loving homes, not back into cesspools.  The first and most visible tragedy is the ineptitude of the La Causa case worker, supervisor, and anyone else that knew about each particular situation, but what I am most sickened by is this incessant desire/requirement by the laws on the books, certain people in our legislature, and anyone else who thinks that having a child raised by their biological family is in the best interest of a child.  When it has been established that a child is in danger and is pulled out of a home, they only way that any family member gets that child is if they can provide OVERWHELMING evidence that everything in that household, or the households that parent is associated with, are virtually perfect.  Hard standard to live up to, but when it comes to the life and safety of children, I believe that standard is necessary. 

My standard will never be instituted because, for whatever reason, we as a society feel biological (or as they are mistakenly called – “natural”) parents are good for the children.  I hate to do this (quote a Keanu Reaves character), but his following quote from the movie Parenthood is SO apropos:  “You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, or drive a car. Hell, you need a license to catch a fish! But they’ll let any butt-******* a-hole be a father.”  Well said Keanu, well said.

****** I just want to clarify my position on giving children back to the natural parents.  Looking at my post I could see where someone might get the idea that I do not think natural parents are good for the child – I most certainly do.   I should have clarified my position by saying it is not ALWAYS in the best interest of the child.  It is an option, but with some of these situations (Will’s and Christopher’s being prime examples) it shouldn’t be the priority.  Hope that clarifies things a bit…..  Thanks.  ******

Milwaukee and SE Wisconsin – Don’t Be A Transit Lemming

Transit, we all need it, we all use it (in varying ways) and in SE Wisconsin we all argue about it.  Over the last decade and a half the argument, for all intents and purposes, has been around what type of MASS transit are we going to build with the federal money we received exclusively for mass transit.  There have been multiple proposals from a multitude of people, organizations, and third party (“unbiased”) think tanks, but we are still sitting here after more than a decade with millions in the bank account.

Now, to start things off, I want to get my opinion out there so there is no ambiguity or that anyone gets the impression I have a secret agenda – I am NOT a proponent of light rail, additions to the train system, trolley cars, and the like.  I will admit that having mass transit (subways, light rail), can be convenient, but so can plexi-glass enclosed sidewalks (to avoid this horrendous cold and incessant snow), but when you stack up the costs of building, staffing, and maintaining these convenient little trains, the numbers don’t match up.  There is approximately 91 million dollars available to this area to build some sort of mass transit system, and the latest and greatest proposal being plopped on the table is the KRM (Kenosha to Racine to Milwaukee) rail line.  The advantages that are being thrown out there by the pro-transit crowd are: increased development along the rail line, it will be attached to the Chicago METRA line – furthering the line usage, and property values would go up 10%.  All of which is garbage.  There is no discernable proof that development along the lines would crop up, much less be successful (and before I get comments on Portland and other cities, please do your homework and find out the cost figures to build and sustain those lines and compare that to the increase in taxes from the so called development.  You will find there is a negative pay-back to the community as it relates to “development”).  The connection to the METRA line is a worthless argument.  Let’s take a hypothetical: I’m living in Milwaukee and I want to go to Chicago via the KMR/METRA line.  I catch the KMR line in downtown Milwaukee (I’ll say at the newly renovated Intermodal Station – still can’t stand that moniker, but oh well) and head down south.  According to the proposal I will stop at:

1. Milwaukee Southside
2. Cudahy/St. Francis
3. South Milwaukee
4. Oak Creek
5. Caledonia
6. Racine
7. Somers
8. Kenosha

NOW WE GET ON THE METRA LINE – assuming the extension goes through

1) Waukegan

2) Lake Forest

3) Highland Park

4) Braeside

5) Wilmette

6) Evanston

7) Chicago

 Whew, that’s a lot of stops for 90 mile ride.  I am sure if you’re a resident of Milwaukee, and want to commute to Chicago (or vice versa), this mode of transportation would be the best, most cost effective, timely form of transportation you could take.  What a farce.  By their own admission the 33 mile ride from Milwaukee to Kenosha (normally a 35-40 min ride would be 57 mins.  Take that ride AND the ride from Kenosha to Chicago and you have at least a 2 hour commute.  I lived in Chicago for awhile and temporarily commuted.  If you leave at the right time, your trip to downtown Chicago from Milwaukee is one and a half hours (that’s in the morning, arrival in Chicago: 7:15 am).   In this scenario your daily commute is an additional hour, 5 hours a week, 20 hours a month, etc, etc, etc. 

I could go on and on about how this plan is an absolute joke, but that is for a later post.  I wanted to finish on a recent article I read that adds just another layer of B.S. to this whole debate.  The following link is an article in the JSOnline reporting on the quotes and findings of one Tom Rubin from the libertarian think tank called The Reason Foundation.  http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/36210564.html  He says that many of the numbers the KRM support group has come up with regarding development along the rail line, rider-ship and property value increases are over-stated and that an express bus system is the better way to go.  This after a paid consulting gig from that same group caused him to all but wholeheartedly support the KRM plan.  Thanks Tom.  I’m so glad you can do such in-depth analysis on a transit issue and come up with a “solution” in June, and then come up with another “solution” trumping the one you just made 6 months ago.  This is the problem people.  Even the so called experts cannot come up with proper or agreeable conclusions to this issue, and I’m just supposed to pour 100’s of millions of taxpayer dollars into this because every other city is stupid enough to?  Yeah that’s right; I’m challenging the argument; “Well, Portland, St. Louis, Dallas, Minneapolis, and every other city is building light rail, why is Milwaukee so far behind?”  It’s the same answer I got when I was a kid and the same one I’ll give my kids and everyone reading this post: “If your group of friends jumped off a bridge, would you?”  Light rail and the experts (a loose term mind you) that consult, lobby, and support it are a joke.  Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and all other SE Wisconsin residents, do not follow that lemming in front of you off the financial cliff, you’ll regret it.

Quick Hit – City of Milwaukee “Intelligence”

 

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/36225944.html

 This is genius, pure genius.  A politician that understands that government does not need to tell private business how to ACTUALLY RUN their business and he’s acting on it.  The electorate in the City of Milwaukee, in “all its wisdom”, voted to mandate (MANDATE) that all businesses in the city provide sick days to ALL employees.  That’s not just anti-business, that’s just stupid.  We live in a city/county/state that is soooooo over-taxed, and soooooo anti-business and the City of Milwaukee decides to tell businesses how to compensate their employees.  Phenomenal logic (if you can even call it logic)…..

 

What’s next?  Mandate that all companies provide two weeks vacation?  Mandate that all companies provide health insurance?  Mandate that all companies provide on-site child care, or that all companies HAVE TO provide a pension?  Some (actually all) of those mandates are ludicrous, especially for those small businesses or businesses with temporary or part time employees.  Here’s the good part, if you would have told me that a government was going to force all companies in its jurisdiction to provide sick days to all employees, I would have told you that was ludicrous too.  The fact that South Milwaukee alderman Michael McCarthy not only voiced his opinion against this debacle of a referendum, but is actively seeking to exclude his district from it, is necessary and refreshing.  Kudos to Alderman McCarthy, and I hope everything goes the way he plans it…When/if I decide to start a small business, and this joke of legislation passes in the City of Milwaukee, and South Milwaukee is excluded, guess where I’ll be looking to set up shop first?!?!?

Quick Hit – Denise Revels Robinson

The first thing I have to say to this is, GOOD RIDDANCE….. 

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/36179844.html

As far as I’m concerned the state is not doing enough to all of the responsible parties in this debacle.  I mean a poor THIRTEEN MONTH old child died, and all Robinson says is she wants a transfer?!?!?  AND La Causa response to this was to ”re-assign” the case worker and demote the supervisor?!?!?  Unacceptable, but par for the course when it comes to organizations that have to “report” to the government or ARE the government.  These are the organizations, and people, we want controlling our health care (amongst other things)????  Unbelievable!

Corruption, Partisanship, and Everything Else

Who’s more corrupt Milwaukee or Chicago?  OK, that’s an easy answer – Chicago right?!?!?  Not so fast; Milwaukee,with impotent DA’s and more importantly do-nothing federal prosecutors (Buskupic not included), Milwaukee has made leaps and bounds to equal their southern counterparts – but I digress. 

I know it’s been several days since the IL Governor scandal broke, and every newspaper, blogger, and TV newstation has beaten the IL machine horse to death, but I wanted to look at this in a slightly different, somewhat biased way. 

We Milwaukean’s, along with the rest of the American public have been able to sit on our proverbial soapbox and look down on the people and politicians of the Chicago/Illinois machine, but is any community, state, or government really that “clean”?  Chuck Chvala, Scott Jensen, three Milwaukee Aldermen, THE Michael McGee debacle, and the Milwaukee County pension scandal…and that’s just Wisconsin politicians, off the top of my head.  How many other “back-door” deals have MKE aldermen, county supervisors, mayors, county executive, assemblymen, senators (state and federal), and congressmen been able to get away with, without retribution (not to mention the boundless other politicians strewn about the American political landscape)?  My guess is as good as yours, but sufficed to say, we are not a community, state, or government without skeletons. 

Why do I bring this up?  Simple….I read and comment on numerous liberal blogs, and for the most part I try to be civil, but I am sick and tired of those on the left accusing me and others on the right of demagoguery, stupidity, hypocrisy, double standards (you name the insult and it’s out there), when they are as guilty or culpable of the same corruption, maneuvering and political pandering as the right. 

I consider myself a realist.  I understand that people that I may agree with on an ideological front may be absolute jack-asses.  I get it….don’t like it, but I get it.  What I despise, and what I believe creates a serious divide in political discourse, is when one side doesn’t acknowledge that there candidate/PARTY can a) be as corrupt b) be as dishonest c) perpetuate and support the “same-’ol-same-’ol” – “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” mentality. 

Pontification is easy.  I should know, I probably do it more than I should, but I’m admitting it…..I’m out there.  I’m admitting that there’s a partisan problem.  We talk about it, we complain about it, but when it comes down to correcting it, AS VOTERS, we do nothing about it.  Couple that with the fact that if there are two people in a room with differing political opinions (God forbid, egregiously different opinions) not only will NOTHING get accomplished, but there is a good chance that there will be a physical altercation.

I’m a conservative.   I’m a family man.  I am empathetic, giving and kind.  I’m not a racist, misogynist, or a homo-phobe.  I just have an opinion(s) as to how to better move our country forward.  Do I have all of the answers?  Will you agree with me 100%, 75%, 50% of the time?  NO!  But here’s the kicker…because I don’t vote for Barak Obama, because I believe in the free market, and because I believe that there needs to be some societal boundaries, I’m called a neo-con, racist, homo-phobe, anti-feminist and the like.  Calling people names, especially “charged” names (racist being a big one) all you’re doing is creating division, shoving people in corners and forcing one to defend themselves.  Sometimes without merit and honest discussion…..unfortunately.

Quick Hit – Genius Marketing

I graduated with a marketing major coming out of college, so I feel I have a kindred spirit to that corner of the business world, so when I came across this JC Penney video, I felt I just had to share…..

http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=5e32d548

Good luck guys….