UW-Madison seeking abortionist; those who believe children should live need not apply

See job description HERE.


"Clinical practice in family planning services including abortion provision and training. University (departmental, school, university-wide) and professional service appropriate to the UW faculty rank."

....


“Why is a public university, financed with taxpayer dollars, teaching future doctors how to kill innocent human beings?” asked Zignego. “UW-Madison is effectively encouraging students to participate in the abortion holocaust.”

Saturday's 4th Festivities - West Bend

REGNER PARK - 10:30 am to 4:00 pm

10:30 FREE Root Beer Floats (kids 12 & under)

11:00 Beach opens. Food, Beverages, Desserts & Kids Games

11:30 Marchinig Band Music Concert and Parade Contest Awards

12:00 Duck Derby, Karaoke with Dawn Jones, and Kids Karaoke Contest


RIVERSIDE PARK -- 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm

6:00 Food, Beverages, Snacks & Desserts, DJ Music & Dancing

7 & 8 West Bend Dance Tumbling Troupe

9:30 Westbury Bank FIREWORKS

Sensenbrenner Town Hall Meeting - West Bend - This Sunday

Join Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner for a Town Hall Meeting this Sunday, June 28 at 7 p.m. at the West Bend City Hall in the Council Chambers on the second floor.

You will hear about the latest events in Washington, have a chance to express your thoughts, and obtain assistance if you have encountered difficulties with a federal government agency or program.

Location: West Bend City Hall. The address is 1115 S Main St, West Bend, Wisconsin. To get to the second floor, please use the building’s rear entrance. An elevator is available to go to the second floor.

Mark Belling writes column on West Bend Library Board

Well said.


"I’ve dealt with a lot of arrogant government officials in my career (former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson and former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist top the list) and a lot of sanctimonious ones (Russ Feingold and former Milwaukee County Supervisor Dan Diliberti). I’ve certainly met some hypocritical ones (Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard) and some abusive spenders and money wasters (almost any school board comes to mind). I’ve had my run-ins with officials who behave like tinhorn dictators (former Menomonee Falls Village President Joe Greco). But until the last couple of months, I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a pack of public officials as bad as the West Bend Library Board. With the state Legislature passing the worst public policy document in Wisconsin history, the Iranian mullahs slaughtering pro-democracy demonstrators and the president trying to socialize government health care and even with Brett Favre unretiring for the 84th time, there are other things I should be writing about. But this board in West Bend is so amazingly over the top that it is screaming for exposure.


.....

They won’t move the porn and won’t let anybody tell them they have to. But that didn’t stop a bunch of concerned West Bend citizens. Doing exactly what those in a free society have every right to do, they pressured the board and city council to reverse the decision. This is what America is supposed to be all about – citizens petitioning their government to respect the public will.

For this they have been abused by the library board and its supporters. But last week, the board, led by local leftie Barbara Deters, went to an extreme that is beyond belief. Appalled they were told by the city attorney they had to comply with state law and share e-mails about the library issue, the board voted to hire an outside attorney in attempt to keep their e-mails secret! It is basic Wisconsin law that all correspondence and documents of any public employee, including e-mails, are public records. The astonishingly arrogant library board in West Bend doesn’t think that law includes them. So, it’s ignoring the city attorney and hiring a lawyer using ENDOWMENT funds! Money that has been donated over the years to purchase quality materials for the West Bend Library is being looted by board members who want to keep breaking the law. They’ll be paying $250 an hour.

Ponder this: The West Bend Library Board believes children have a right to see gay pornography but the public doesn’t have a right to see public records.

I’ll repeat that: The West Bend Library Board believes children have a right to see gay pornography but the public doesn’t have a right to see public records."

WIN (Wisconsinites Interests Now) organizing protest at Capitol TODAY

Received from WIN:

Wisconsinites Interests Now, sponsoring organization of the Recall Doyle Exploratory Committee, is announcing a protest in the Capitol Rotunda at noon on Tuesday, June 23rd.

Vince Schmuki said "WIN- Wisconsinites Interests Now, as the legitimate voice of the WI people, has a duty to provide a counterpoint to the pressure of the lobbyists and special interest groups seeking special legislative breaks and offering large campaign contributions in return. To this end, "we can not we must not and we will not" allow the conference committee sessions to go forward without a protest in the Capitol to take place on Tuesday 6/23 at 12 noon in the Rotunda area. The protest is to take place for approximately one hour and will feature a piggish theme that will highlight the low-life pigs that are posing as Legislators and gorging at the public trough of taxpayer money! And as we all know pigs get slaughtered -figuratively of course. In real life they will suffer the shame and disgrace of the Wisconsin recall process. Please join us for a colorful expose of the barnyard antics that pass for legitimate politics in Wisconsin!"

With an overall apporval rating of just 34% and a disapproval rating among independents of 69%, Jim Doyle is among the least popular Wisconsin governors of all time. After declaring "We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- must raise taxes" - Doyle's tax, fee, and spending hikes in the 2009 budget have proved him unfit for office in the eyes of thousands across the state who are organizing to conduct a statewide recall.

Over 4,400 residents from 71 of 72 counties have signed up to help at RecallDoyle.com. Rallies and organizational meetings have been held in Green Bay, Chilton, Manitowoc, Oshkosh, Richfield, Menomonee Falls, and Milwaukee; and events are currently scheduled in Appleton, Fort Atkinson, La Crosse, and Waukesha.

Wisconsinites can join the Doyle Recall by logging on to www.recalldoyle.com, or calling 414-801-0800.

About Wisconsinites Interests Now:

Wisconsinites Interests Now (WIN) is a grassroots consortium of citizens from Wisconsin led by Vince Schmuki that periodically meets across the state. CRG has been working with WIN to launch a recall of Governor Jim Doyle.

###
Authorized and Paid for by Recall Doyle PAC, R. Radosevich, Treasurer

State Reps pushing bill to restore voting rights to felons

What? (Most of this bill is copied from the ACLU website.... no surprise.)

Rep. Tamara Grigsby, Rep. Marlin Schneider, Rep. Joe Parisi, Sen. Lena Taylor have called for the co-sponsorship of LRB 2499/5 and LRB 0696 the Democracy Restoration Act which restores voting rights to certain persons with a felony conviction and changes the information required on voter registration forms.

The Wisconsin Democracy Restoration Act is designed to enfranchise over 42,000 taxpaying Wisconsin citizens who have been deemed safe to return to society by our system of reintegration and live throughout the state of Wisconsin .

Like many of us, probationers and parolees live in their community, work, pay taxes, go to school and raise their families as they reintegrate into society, and yet, they may not be able to vote for 6 months, or longer under Wisconsin ’s current laws.

Restricting voting rights does not prevent crime, nor does it provide compensation to victims. In fact recent research finds a link between allowing ex-offenders to fully participate in society by voting and reoffense; people who voted after release from supervision were half as likely to be re-arrested as those who did not vote. The act of voting demonstrates an individual’s commitment to the institutions of American democracy and society and should be encouraged.

Since 1997, 18 states have made progressive changes to their ex-offender disfranchisement laws, in cluding our neighboring states of Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Michigan , and Ohio . These states have found that the simple act of voting makes ex-offenders feel more connected to their communities and is an important step toward their rehabilitation.

More than 70 Wisconsin organizations have joined the Restore the Vote WI/NOW coalition in support of the restoration of voting rights for individuals upon release of incarceration including: Milwaukee County Labor Council/AFL-CIO, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, Lakeside Peacemakers of Manitowoc, the NAACP of Wisconsin, Madison Area Urban Ministries, Community Connections, League of Martin, Disability Rights Wisconsin, Project Return, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, and many other faith, labor and community organizations representing tens of thousands of voting Wisconsin citizens statewide.

If you would like to be a cosponsor of these bills, contact Cindy in Rep. Grigsby’s office at 6-0645 or Eric in Senator Taylor’s office at 6-5810 or respond to this e-mail by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7th. You will be included on both the Senate and Assembly bills unless you indicate otherwise.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, when a person is barred from voting as the result of a felony conviction (a “disqualifying offense”), the person’s right to vote may be restored through a pardon. Otherwise, it is restored upon completion of the sentence, including extended supervision or parole, or completion of the term of probation imposed on the person who committed the offense.

Under this bill, a person loses his or her right to vote based on a disqualifying offense only while he or she is incarcerated for that offense. A person released to extended supervision o r parole may resume voting. In addition, a person convicted of a disqualifying offense and on probation retains the right to vote while on probation unless he or she is confined as a condition of probation. But if a person who committed a disqualifying offense is returned to prison after the revocation of extended supervision or parole or is sent to prison or a jail or house of correction after the revocation of probation, the person loses the right to vote until he or she is released.

Currently, an applicant for voter registration must affirm 1) whether he or she has been convicted of a felony for which he or she has not been pardoned and, if so, whether the applicant is incarcerated or on parole, probation, or extended supervision; and 2) whether the applicant is disqualified on any other ground from voting.

This bill deletes the requirement that an applicant provide any information relating to a felony conviction but retains the requirement that an applicant affirm that he or she is not disqualified on any ground from voting.

This bill also requires the Department of Corrections (DOC), the Government Accountability Board, and the Director of State Courts to include in their ongoing training programs a discussion of the changes in law produced by this bill and to offer the training to judges, attorneys, election officials, employees of DOC, and the public. For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

Mark Belling does Open Records Request w/ West Bend Mayor and Library Board President

I just added today's podcast from the Mark Belling show to the series on the left side of this blog.

In today's show, Mark spells out open records law, then explains the action he has decided to take with our mayor and library board president.

CLICK HERE to listen!

Mayoral recall suggested over (mis)handling of City Council/Library Board

Seems that some over at Boots and Sabers are on board for a mayoral recall. Guess people have had enough of the way the City Council and Library Board issues have been handled. Perhaps everyone just wants to see someone step in that can handle the issues. Volunteers?

OWEN stated:

"I imagine that the people who funded that endowment thought it would be spent to
share books and knowledge with the library’s patrons - not pay for legal advice
that has already been given by the City Attorney and could be validated for free
elsewhere.

This Library Board is seriously out of control and Deters is
behaving like a nut.

Where is the Mayor? She appointed and vouched for
these folks. What does she think of their overt desire to ignore the citizens
and waste money intended for making the library better?"

Library Board decides to obtain outside counsel...

We attended the Library Board meeting tonight. Here's the scoop:

Present: B. Deters, K. Engelbrecht, P. Geidel, J. Aynesworth, R. Lindbeck, J. Schaar, J. Fowler, D. Rakowski, M. Tyree.

7 p.m., Barbara Deters called the meeting to order.

Deters began with an explanation of the purpose behind the meeting. She stated there had been four Open Records Requests since winter. This, she felt, placed the library board members in a predicament that seemingly "violated our First Amendment rights" (I think she meant violated her right to privacy, or Bill of Rights, or something else, because this is not a 1 amendment issue.)

She went on to say that the library board members did not have "city emails for our protection" and complained that her request to the IT department was met with the response that the city was "under no oblication to give city email accounts" to the library board. Apparently, the IT department was given that statement from the city attorney in response to Deter's request.

Deters stated she had given a lot of thought to "this situation" and sought out people she had trust and confidence in, but made it clear that she did not speak to other board members. All counsel she received lent credence to her feeling that it was time to get a "second opinion from an outside source" as to the ORR issue.

The issue, stated Deters, was that the ORR sent to the mayor by myself used the term "library staff" and should not have, in her opinion, included the library board as they were not "paid or hired," according to the DPI (whom she confided in).

Furthermore, Deters was quite upset that "someone" had given out the city attorney's letter (see prior post) and it was posted on Boots and Sabers by 9 p.m. last evening. She said that it appeared the city was being run by bloggers and whoever leaked the information from the city attorney to Boots and Sabers was "unprofessional" and that it was inappropriate. She also said that those involved "did not have the best interests of the city in mind." She called the city attorney to clue her in to the blog post. Deters said that the city attorney told her that letter was "attorney/client privilege" and was not an open record to be shared. She glanced around the table, but nobody fessed up.

Since Deters did not agree with the city attorney's definition of the ORR to include the "broadest" spectrum of information possible, and also felt that the city attorney's definition was in direct conflict with the counsel she received from others, she thought the city attorney's interpretation was inaccurate and has sought the assistance of Atty. Robert Feind from Grafton. Feind, according to Deters, is experienced with ORR's and library issues. She was looking to the board to affirm her decision.

A number of questions came up, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The attorney fee, Deters said, was probably about $250 per hour. She stated "I will go and meet with him alone" to gather the information she desired, and would bring it back to the next board meeting. This would be a one-time meeting, with no future plans to obtain counsel from Atty. Feind. The funds would come out of ENDOWMENTS, not library funding, which Deters felt was appropriate for this matter.

Atty. Aynesworth suggested Deters contact the DOJ for the information she was seeking. Deters responded that she did not wish to wait that long as she was sure they would not be a "priority" on the DOJ's list of things to do. She wanted an answer "now."

Deters told the new board members tonight that "I feel sorry for you. Since 1982 this has been a very boring job. We are making up for it now."

Rakowski said that this endeavor would, perhaps, get the city to speed up giving them email accounts.

All voted unanimously to hire Attorney Feind.


MY NOTE: I wonder why the board could not have simply agreed to go back to the city attorney and tell her that they required email accounts or would be forced to hire this attorney? Perhaps that would have just avoided the expenditure of the ENDOWMENT money all together. Just wondering...)

Salute to Military - Summerfest - July 5

This is superior. Fabulous idea...

JS Online: Military bands, color guards and drill teams will perform as part of
"Summerfest's Salute to the Military" on July 5, the closing day of the 11-day
music festival on the lakefront, festival officials announced Thursday.

Library upset about giving over public records

As we continue to see and hear from the media that parents asking for assistance from their local library are:

• book burners
• book banners
• censors
• bigots
• giving the city a black eye

...we should also take note that the library board brought the attention to the City of West Bend on their own volition by:

• refusing to respond to it's own policies
• putting off public meetings
• ignoring citizen requests to dialogue

Interesting how:

• The library board loves the city attorney's advice when it can be used as an excuse to get rid of citizens, but...
• hate the city attorney's advice when a citizen calls for compliance with open records requests, then...
• calling an emergency meeting on short notice (Where is the public notification? On a city hall or library bulletin board? Nice.) and stating they will hire (taxpayer dollars flying out the window) outside counsel to....what?

1. Try to hide open public records from the public?
2. Keep the public from learning something?

This is the same public library that follows the standard of "all things for all people."

Think about it.

West Bend Library Board looks for new attorney, schedules emergency meeting tonight

OWEN from B&S reports on this:

Consider this a red alert…

The West Bend Library Board has scheduled a meeting for tomorrow evening. I don’t know the time or place yet. The extremely short notice is troubling. On the agenda is to hire an outside attorney - someone other than the city attorney - to represent the Library Board. The reason is because some of the Library Board members were not happy with Mary Schanning’s advice (West Bend’s City Attorney) that they must disclose their emails regarding the public library’s business.


...........

Here is the email that the City Attorney sent to the Library Board Members:

Library Board Members,

I am writing to you regarding the Library Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 18, 2009 to discuss hiring outside counsel to represent the Library Board. As I already informed Barbara Deters and Patti Geidel, I discourage you from taking such action. As the City Attorney, I have provided legal counsel to the Library Board in the past and can continue to provide legal counsel in the future. Because the Library Board is a committee of the City, the City Attorney provides legal counsel to the Library Board at no charge to the Board. Hiring outside counsel will require the Board to use library funds to pay the legal fees of the attorney hired.

.....more here.

NOTE: The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the West Bend Library.

Parental Rights Amendment proposed to US Senate

Good.

The Parental Rights Amendment as proposed by Rep. Pete Hoekstra in House Joint Resolution 42 has now been introduced in the U.S. Senate as well. The companion bill, Senate Joint Resolution 16, was introduced by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina in May. Currently, Senator DeMint is the only sponsor.

More here:

Summary:
This amendment is designed to protect the rights of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children by amending the Constitution of the United States.

Upcoming Summer Fun - Portage, WI

Concert in the Park,
Arts Walk, & Guided
Museum Tours
July 17 - 18, 2009
It's an arts, music and pottery weekend. Visit local artists in Downtown Portage and take a guided tour of the Agency House & Surgeons' Quarters. End your day at Pauquette Park listening to the music of the WI Chamber Orchestra.

Check it out HERE

West Bender comments on "Blog Wars"

Comment from GAWKER.com ( http://gawker.com/5292791/small+town-wisconsin-has-its-own-blog-wars-thank-you-very-much)


Note: Two parenthetical edits have been made due to explicit content of post. Please see link above for unedited comment.

Ascender

2:56 PM Holy (explicit). I am a proud graduate of West Bend West High School (the other half of that picture...(explicit) the Suns) and the son of the Library Board President for West Bend. This raging local squabble has consumed my phone calls home for the last two months...seeing it on here is like some weird media warp into my inquiries as to the home front.

And while the locals are using the internets to get in each others proverbial faces...just try reading that on the online version of the local rag, The West Bend Daily News, which has online content for newspaper subscribers only. NYTimes take note! If it can work in small town Wisconsin, it can work for you!

Library Board Appointments in West Bend approved

Owen blogged it here, so I won't reinvent the wheel...

Apparently, Mayor Deiss didn’t see fit to actually tell the Council anything
about them and the citizens appointees themselves declined to attend.

Named to the board by Mayor Kristine Deiss from a field of 18 volunteers were West Bend residents James Fowler, Douglas Rakowski and Judith Schaar.

Mayor to present new library board appointees for affirmation by City Council

The West Bend City Council will be meeting tonight at 6:30. Mayor Kristine Deiss will be presenting the new library board appointees for our City Council alderpersons to affirm. Interestingly, not all who applied received so much as a phone call from the mayor. Some received no communication whatsoever.

Hope the deck's not being stacked. But then again, let's go back to the last library board meeting.... All things are possible.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING
6:30 PM
1115 S. Main Street
West Bend
(Entrance on the back side of the police station - Eder Lane parking lot)
City Council chambers is on the 2nd floor.

Gossip Girls challenged in Orlando Public Library - Series carried in WB library

Well. Sounds like we aren't the only ones... Though the media is using the word "banned" for higher ratings, let there be no mistake. They are not asking for banning. They are asking for the same thing WE are asking for: move the books to the adult section, require parental consent, or the like, help to identify, etc. A little parental assistance and adult responsibility. Hats off to these Orlando parents!

Censorship Revisited

Why are the parents and taxpayers who are asking (still asking) for a balance of information and simple identification of sexually explicit books for minors suffering the accusation of censorship? The inherent answer is a need for education.

While some would believe censorship is the protestation of certain groups in accordance with a personal belief system, this definition is clearly inaccurate. Webster defines censorship as “to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable.” In essence, censorship is the deletion of materials, ideas or information; therefore, when put in proper perspective, every time a librarian makes a decision about what books to buy, keep and throw, they are part of the editorial decision-making, i.e., censorship, process.

The label of censor clearly does not apply to citizen input. In fact, crying censorship creates a separate issue that is a distraction from the complaint of the West Bend citizens.

People should oppose censorship, but if "censorship" is being used as a political bludgeon in a case where it does not, in reality, exist, that only weakens efforts to oppose real censorship.

Now that censorship has been clarified, let’s go to the real issue in our local library, that being, inappropriate material for minors. Citizens are requesting parental assistance in identifying and appropriately placing sexually explicit materials. In asking for balance on controversial issues, MORE information is being asked for, not less. All books will still be available to all people. No books will be removed. No books will be banned. No books will be burned.

In a US Supreme Court case, the ACLU and the American Library Association [ALA] lost monumentally. In 2003, (US v. ALA) the Court said, "The interest in protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling, as all Members of the Court appear to agree."

Religion, morality, politics, even pornography, have little to do with this matter. Instead, cases like US v. ALA, various local laws, and perhaps even the very language of the legal instrument that created the West Bend library in the first place, all allow West Bend citizens to decide to protect children from inappropriate material in the public library.

Besides, it's common sense.

Accountability is the hallmark of democracy; therefore, we are holding our library accountable for the choices it is making for our youth and our community.

Open Letter to Obama

Sobering thoughts.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
By Lou Pritchett

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

......

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

Note: Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat.

Read in entirety HERE.

WB Resident stated Freedom of Speech does not mean "Free-for-all"

In today's WBDN, Opinion page..

In the Daily News’ June 3 article concerning the Library Board meeting, Barbara
Deters, board president, points out that “the library already separates
books by age ... and that all young adult books have a bright yellow label
with the initials YA.”

Three paragraphs farther into the article, board member Patti Geidel says,
“moving, removing or labeling books is a form of censorship.”


In essence, we have the verification by two board members that by
separating and labeling books, as currently practiced by the library, we have
been censoring the books all along. Patti Geidel goes on
to say that she believes in intellectual freedom for everyone.


I, too, believe in intellectual freedom for everyone. I am reminded of what
the late champion for freedom Pope John Paul II said on the subject:


“Finally, true freedom is not advanced in the permissive society, which
confuses freedom with license to do anything whatever and which and in the name
of freedom proclaims a kind of general amorality. It is a caricature of freedom
to claim that people are free to organize their lives with no reference to moral
values, and to say that society does not have to ensure the protection and
advancement of ethical values. Such an attitude is destructive of freedom and
peace.”

Kewaskum police officers/firefighter save man's life

Kudos to Kewaskum firefighter/police officers for their quick life-saving action. Well done.

Two law enforcement officers and a village firefighter successfully resuscitated a West Bend man, 61, who collapsed Sunday morning while approaching the 18th hole at Hon-E-Kor golf course on Riverview Drive in the Town of Kewaskum.

Doyle RECALL Prompted by This

It's no wonder there is a huge movement to recall Doyle. Everyone is fed up with the spending spree that continues to rage on.

A total of $1.2 billion in new taxes and fees were passed in 72 hours with out any public input in February by the Democrats (Act 2). We are now looking at $1.7 billion in even MORE new taxes and fees that were proposed by Governor Doyle in his budget (AB75). We have yet to know how many billions we are looking at with the Joint Finance Committee version.

In a matter of 6 months, the democrats are moving to increase spending, and raise taxes and fees in this state $3 billion! Aside from the taxes, the Democrats are GROWING government by 9% and creating new unprecedented policies that will forever change the face of Wisconsin.

The state of WI is facing a $6 billion shortfall. The democrats are plugging the hole in this budget with one-time stimulus money from the feds, increasing taxes and fees and very minimal reductions. They have crafted this budget largely in secret meetings behind closed doors with their special interests.

Budget Winners
WEAC, Choice Opponents, Sex Offenders, Felons, Illegal Aliens, Mass Transit Socialists, Trial Attorneys, Unio ns, State General “Slush” Fund, Welfare Recipients, Same-sex Couples, Domestic Partners, Planned Parenthood

Budget Losers
Parents, Children, Elderly, Car Owners, Insurance Agents, Businesses, Consumers, Public Safety, Lawful Gun Owners, Legal Drivers, Local Law Enforcement, Wisconsin Taxpayers, Unborn Children, Phone Users, Property Taxpayers, School Choice Kids, Local Governments, Internet Users, People with Garbage, Utility Customers, People with Mutual Funds, Hospital Patients, Nursing Home Residents, Grocery Shoppers, Farmers, DNR customers, Boat Owners, People Planning for Retirement

Taxes and Fees
Delays tax deductions for: health insurance premiums, medical care insurance premiums and child care expenses.
DOUBLES the garbage tax (tipping fee) – making WI’s the HIGHEST in the nation.
Utility Tax Hike - Increases utility bills by $9.1 million annually to give to low-income assistance.
Raises boat registration fees by 15% and creates a NEW $15 non-resident boat sticker.
Delays tax deductions for health insurance premiums, medical care insurance premiums and child care expenses.
Reduces funding from county and municipal aids by $30 million.
Provides for an allowable 3% levy increase for local governments.
Cigarette tax increase by ANOTHER 75cent a pack
Repeals the QEO – which will sky rocket property taxes
Cell phone, landline and fax machine tax increase - 75 cent monthly fee on voice and non-voice communication services.
Raises the capital gains tax.
Oil franchise fee (GAS TAX) that will be passed on to consumers (businesses, working families) at the pump.
Increases the gun registration fee
Raids the transportation fund again by $139.7 million
Extends Vehicle title fee that was set to expire in 2009.

Other places to read things about what is tucked into this budget:
http://wicfg.com/index.cfm/m/10.cfm/story/155.cfm
http://wicfg.com/index.cfm/m/10.cfm/story/154.cfm
http://wicfg.com/index.cfm/m/10.cfm/story/153.cfm
http://www.maciverinstitute.com/
http://www.wpri.org/
http://www.wmc.org/
http://www.thewheelerreport.com/
http://www.wispolitics.com/

FED UP YET?

DO SOMETHING.

Find out who represents you here: YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

Your representative's EMAIL address are HERE.

CONTACT Governor Doyle HERE.

Join the DOYLE RECALL HERE.

Stop it before it gets any uglier.

Ex-husband of Library Board president disagrees with organizations that help to protect children

Bob Deters (ex-husband of Library Board President, Barb Deters, at Library Board Meeting on 06/01/09)

Note received from Bob on 6/4/09:

"I find it hypocritical and even bizarre that you would object to people with expertise in this area, just because they came from a different community. Every part-- with no exception -- of your campaign came from internet sources from other localities, usually in the South. You got your idea for challenge from PFOX. And considering your stance on the School Board harassment issue it would be laughable for anyone to believe that you weren't a frequent visitor to PFOX and Americans for Truth About homosexuality long before February of this year.You got your complaint letter that also asked for ex-gay literature from PFOX. It was obvious that you even cut and pasted it because when you added one sentence-- the typeface didn't match. Your book lists and quotes came from Texas Library Patrons and most of your quotes came from "Parents Protecting the Minds of Children" which in turn had copied the quotes from a Fayetteville, Arkansas movement. You even confessed to it by posting links to Texas Library Patrons, myppmc.com (the site that provided the Arkansas info.) You made obvious your hatred for anything to do with the American Library Association by posting a link to "Safe Libraries." The Safe Libraries site treats the ALA as if it were the Great Satan of the ApocalypseSo, there you have it. Everything that was presented by Ginny Maziarka to the public came from internet sources. There was not one thing unique to West Bend. You could have inserted any city into the blank on her complaint letter-- cities like Hartford or Germantown, or Springfield. IL; Dayton, OH; or Wichita Falls, TX.Everybody knows that your movement isn't local-- not one bit. It is 100% internet, so stop being a hypocrite when other people who are experts in their field assist the beleaguered citizens of West Bend. "~Bob Deters

_____________________________________________________________

Thanks for writing, Bob. It gives me an opportunity to see where you have, perhaps, assumed some things, and also point out where you are correct. Dialogue is very helpful in situations such as this.

Let me first address my objection to national organizations, especially the http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2009/04/response-to-ala-president-and-oif.html" ALA/OIF, "http://wlaweb.blogspot.com/2009/06/west-bend-library-board-rejects-request.html" WLA, and "http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2009/04/uw-m-library-school-misleads-west-bend.html" UW-M ignoring the legal means - see "http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=539&invol=194" US vs ALA –among others, to protect children and, instead, impose their broad-based ideals on small cities, towns and villages, browbeating them into submission. That is the issue, Bob.

With that said, instead of engaging in ad hominem rhetoric, let’s just address the issue.

In "http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=539&invol=194" US vs ALA, the ALA lost monumentally. Here, let’s take a look…

The American Library Association [ALA], has opened the doors wide to the sexualization of children in public libraries, and believes "http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/interpretations/qandaaccesselectronic.htm" it is "age" discrimination for a librarian to make a decision about the appropriateness of material for children. On the other hand, the US Supreme Court said in a case the ALA lost in 2003, "http://laws.findlaw.com/us/539/194.html" US v. ALA: “The interest in protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling, as all Members of the Court appear to agree.”

So who is in control here? The Supreme Court? Or the ALA? Guess we all know the answer to that one.

Let me also point out another national organization that is exercising intimidation tactics, stating they are "http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2009/March_09/03112009_03.asp" watching us” – the ACLU. Now, here is an interesting item. Though libraries could do well by applying for CIPA funds, purchasing filtering software with the help of this funding, the ACLU states this: "http://www.aclu.org/privacy/speech/14938res20030801.html" "Our recommendations for libraries -First and most importantly, libraries should consider turning down the federal funds and refusing to install blocking software. Obviously, that is our first preference. Libraries should also lobby at the local, state, and federal level to repeal blocking software requirements."

So here you have it. In a nutshell:

ALA defies legal means to protect children and maintains that all ages should be able to access all materials.

ACLU pushes libraries to refuse government assistance by rejecting CIPA funding and refusing to install filtering software on public computers.

WLA is a “mini-me” of the ALA. Sort of a “ditto” of ALA policy.

Now I’ll move on to your ad hom. statements, just to confirm and clarify a few things.

Bob, you are absolutely correct that I used the help of Internet form letters to aid me in originating my complaint. You are incorrect, however, in stating that is where my complaint originated. It actually began, as I have stated publicly, when I learned one of my children had inadvertently brought a sexually explicit book from the library into our home and shared it with us, as she was upset about the content she came across. One does not have to reinvent the wheel to make a complaint; therefore, I was thankful for the assistance of such organizations asAmericans for Truth, who had done solid research and had a helpful list of books that offered balance on the controversial subject of homosexuality. Asking for more information, not less, was included in our first letter, representative of our First Amendment rights for such.Using a form letter to assist one in filing a complaint is quite common, as you know. Being an attorney yourself, you must realize the importance of such documents in the legal field and understand that the additional work implied in recreating each and every document is simply a waste of one’s time. I chose to use my time wisely by going to sources that had been down this road before.Using a form letter and calling out national organizations to pressure the parents in my community are two separate issues and obviously do not lend comparison.

Our library board, to it's credit, has never come under criticism in our community, and would have done well to respond to the concerns we originally filed by dialoguing with us from the start. Instead, they chose to bring attention to themselves by kowtowing to outside influences who do not represent the West Bend community. Then, by refusing to honor their own policy, as stated in "http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=539&invol=194" US vs. ALA, :

“Public libraries pursue the worthy missions of facilitating learning and cultural enrichment. Appellee ALA's Library Bill of Rights states that libraries should provide "[b]ooks and other ... resources ... for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves." 201 F. Supp. 2d, at 420 (internal quotation marks omitted). To fulfill their traditional missions, public libraries must have broad discretion to decide what material to provide to their patrons. Although they seek to provide a wide array of information, their goal has never been to provide "universal coverage." Id., at 421. Instead, public libraries seek to provide materials "that would be of the greatest direct benefit or interest to the community." Ibid. To this end, libraries collect only those materials deemed to have "requisite and appropriate quality." Ibid. See W. Katz, Collection Development: The Selection of Materials for Libraries 6 (1980) ("The librarian's responsibility ... is to separate out the gold from the garbage, not to preserve everything"); F. Drury, Book Selection xi (1930) ("[I]t is the aim of the selector to give the public, not everything it wants, but the best that it will read or use to advantage"); App. 636 (Rebuttal Expert Report of Donald G. Davis, Jr.) ("A hypothetical collection of everything that has been produced is not only of dubious value, but actually detrimental to users trying to find what they want to find and really need").

The citizens and parents expect our West Bend Community Memorial Library to not only seek out materials that would be the greatest direct benefit to our community, but also respect the community standards brought before them by the parents and taxpayers of West Bend.

Separating the gold from the garbage is the bottom line we are asking for.

"I try to look into my boyfriend's eyes WHILE I'm sucking. It seems to get him off faster. I also lick and suck his balls, but not too hard. If my mouth gets tired I use my hand to jerk him off for a little while until I can suck again. Don't suck too hard - I try to make my mouth feel soft but tight."

Bob, do you or do you not approve of such material for children in our public library?

Thank you for allowing me to lend some insight into your comments, Bob.

Gay authors could be pawned to make statement to citizens of West Bend

Following the decision by the West Bend Library Board, consider the following invitational consideration and be concerned. Is the gay community being used (again)? We think so.

"Dennis Uhlig (of Fireside Books) is interested in have a couple who have authored a book about raising two gay sons come and spend a day in West Bend. He would like them to speak at preferably three different venues. This would take place around mid-July. The most important issue to Dennis is making sure that people would show up and that this is well advertised."

For more information on the book click here:

http://www.readyornotstories.com/Home_files/Ready%20or%20Not%20Press%20Release.pdf

(Blog owners note: Book title is - Ready or Not...They’re Gay: Midwestern parents share personal story, tips for families of gay children)

Local blogger covers library meeting...

Great coverage and commentary here by Randy Melchert.

"Jay Weber, Boots & Sabers, WISSUP, and the Journal are all covering the events last night in West Bend….

Unfortunately there are some major misconceptions about what the controversy is about, and allegations of censorship, book banning, violating the First Amendment, the ALA Library Bill of Rights, etc."

West Bend TEA Party, July 4, one of many in state

Connect here.


On Saturday, July 4th, be part of the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) party rally in your community. Help organize a local TEA Party.

Obama adds 78,000 new employees to government payroll 2009 budget grows to a deficit of $1.8 trillion, more than four times higher than last year’s all time high and 50% of total budget.

With the national debt already out of control, President Obama has added 78,000 new government jobs to the federal payroll since he took office. Obama’s increase in the number of government employees will add hundreds of millions of dollars to our debt. If history is any measure, these jobs will never be eliminated. They will simply add to the mountains of debt we are leaving our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Jay Weber discusses WB Library Board rejection of area parents

Here's the podcast from Jay Weber's show today.

Hour 2 Part 1

Yesterday, June 02, 2009, 9:24:20 AM

June 3: The West Bend Library rejects a request to restrict access to controversial books.
Hour 2 - Part 1c.mp3

XXX-rated library? The West Bend Library is an "UNSAFE ZONE" for CHILDREN

!!! Warning: This blog post is not suitable for children. Contains sexually-explicit language only available to kids at the West Bend Library.

The West Bend Community Memorial Library and members of the SHARE Library System (to include Germantown, Slinger, Hartford and Kewaskum) no longer can be considered SAFE FOR CHILDREN.

Your library board believes:

1. All materials should be available for all ages (anything goes). Really!
2. National control cannot (and should not) be resisted; therefore, the disturbing value system of the ALA, OIF, WLA trumps local control of the library by the citizens and taxpayers it serves.
3. Young adults are children ages 11 through 17. (Be sure to address your 11 year old in a manner appropos.)
4. Assisting parents in identifying sexually explicit materials within your library is not important to them.
5. You must stay with your children and read each book he/she checks out to assure they are not entering into the YA Zone, that is, the "Yes to All Zone."
6. ..that if other people's young children (even younger than 11....) are openly reading books of a sexually explicit, graphic nature, say nothing...and by all means, don't stop them from checking them out. You, too, can have an 8-year-old snag "The Joy of Sex" off the shelf right here in your very own library!
7. ..that porn filters are not required, therefore, none are needed. True loyalty to the many children they serve. After all, we would not want to restrict freedom of speech to those young'uns!
8. ...that organizations such as SafeLibraries, PFOX, PABBIS, and Family Friendly Libraries, that work to protect children from being sexually victimized are not welcome in our community.
9. That the following excerpts are perfectly acceptable for the eyes of children:

a. "I try to look into my boyfriend's eyes with I'm sucking. It seems to get him off faster. I also lick and suck his balls, but not too hard. If my mouth gets tired I use my hand to jerk him off for a little while until I can suck again. Don't suck too hard - I try to make my mouth feel soft but tight." - Deal With It
and
b. "She giggled as he raised her up, lifting her under the arms and setting her on the desk, facing him. She pulled back her skirt..." "....as he raised her legs onto his shoulders and plunged his face between her legs. He moaned and his shoulders jerked violently as he burrowed between her thighs." - Fade
and
c. "After a few minutes, the boy pushed the girl's head down, and she started to kiss his penis." "Finally, she stopped crying because he put his penis in her mouth, and I don't think you can cry in that position." - The Perks of Being a Wallflower
and
d. "....I loomed in push-up position over Dub's naked body." "I began doubting she had an orifice down there." "After trading positions, Dub began grinding into me, attempting to thrust in a matching rhythm, but it seemed like very time she zigged, I zagged. Twice I fell out and had to be reinserted." "After the second time, I convinced Dub that we should try this the old-fashioned way. Back on top, I became the master of my destiny. After years of self-service, I recognized the signs of impending orgasm - the tingle, the shortening of breath, my testicles' desure to join my lungs." - Rats Saw God
and
e. "Three-way sex ..." "..and orgy or group sex refers to sex with more than three participants. When multiple people are involved in sexual activities, it can stop being about an emotional connection and become more of a physical interaction." - Deal With It
and
f. "Some people are turned on by the idea of sex as a power relationship. Tying each other up (bondage) is one way to do that. Sadomasochism (S&M), in which one partner deliberately inflicts pain on the other, is also a kind of power role-playing. These games can be fun to experiment with..." - Deal With It

(These, fortunately, are the kinder, gentler excerpts.)


This is a propagana battle to ensure children retain access to inappropriate mateial despite the law, common sense and community standards.

YOUR LIBRARY BOARD has chosen to reject your requests to accommodate YOUR COMMUNITY STANDARDS.

If you are interested in joining West Bend Citizens For Safe Libraries, please drop an email to wbcitizens4safelibraries@gmail.com .

PARENTS, TAXPAYERS, CITIZENS OF THE SHARED LIBRARY SYSTEM OF THE WEST BEND COMMUNITY MEMORIAL LIBRARY.......

YOU NO LONGER ARE A TAXPAYING SUPPORTER AND/OR PATRON OF A FAMILY-SAFE LIBRARY.

Topeka cares about it's kids - goes the extra mile in exercising COMMUNITY STANDARDS

Community standards being respected by the local library. Topeka hits a home run.

(FYI: Your unsafe WB Library carries "The Joy of Sex - 613.96 C734" for minors to access. One of many.....)


Vote, 5-3, goes against director’s recommendation
Lawsuit possible
Mixed public reaction

In a 5-3 vote that contradicted the recommendation of the library director, Gina Millsap, and has drawn warnings of a lawsuit, the board of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library agreed yesterday to restrict minors’ access to four books: Sex for Busy People (LJ review); The Lesbian Kama Sutra; The Joy of Sex; and The Joy of Gay Sex.

“We believe our request will maintain a consistency with other restricted access that is already in place at the libraries, i.e., Playboy, R-rated films, and computer access,” Kim Borchers, of a group called Kansans for Common Sense Policy, had written the library. “We believe these books are [harmful to minors]. If you have any doubt, upon viewing ask yourself the following: If these books were in film what would they be rated, could the local paper print excerpts, if the “affirmative defense” were no longer in statute could the library maintain its current policy?”

Millsap, the library’s executive director, sent a letter to the board warning that Borchers’s request violated the library’s materials selection policy, which says customers may not restrict the access of others and that the library does not label materials to make value judgments. Borchers’s request that the books be shelved behind a desk, thus requiring patrons to ask for them, would violate the library’s user confidentiality policy.

......

However, Millsap warned of unintended consequences and a slippery slope should the library start restricting materials by age.

......

Millsap asked that the board affirm its current policies but make two changes that, in a sense, responded to Borchers’s argument: to lift the restriction on R-rated films in the collection and discontinue the practice of putting certain magazines behind the service desk, including Playboy. (It is not uncommon for libraries restrict magazines like Playboy and Consumer Reports to prevent theft.) Those changes were not approved.

......

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told LJ the action most resembled the decision last year by the board of the Nampa Public Library, ID, which voted to move two books, The New Joy of Sex and The Joy of Gay Sex, into the director’s office.



(A very busy lady, indeed, fighting to keep your community under national control.)

West Bend Library Board - lies, anger, and vengeance

Tonight's rendition of the West Bend Library Board meeting...

The meeting began with a long, boring enlightenment on where materials are located in the library, complete with power point.

The opening statement by the library board, presented by Barb Deters (new president of the board) was lengthy. My husband and I were placed on trial, for lack of any other word that can describe the event with their version of a timeline of sorts. The dissertation ensued lending itself to incorrect depictions of an alleged timeline of events, stating time and again how we were the ones who did this and that and everything else. Adjectives? Accusatory, inflammatory, vengefully attacking...

Not to fear.

The Library Board had a little help.

The following organizations were so afraid of what was going down in West Bend, they decided to pay a visit and lend their 2 cents. Mind you, the standards inflicted on our community by the likes of ..

• DEBORAH CALDWELL-STONE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE ALA OFFICE OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM
• JOYCE LATHAM - UW-M SCHOOL OF INFORMATION
• EMILIO DE TORRE - ACLU/WISCONSIN (School of Saul Alinsky)
• CINDY CRANE - EXEC. DIRECTOR OF GSA FOR SAFE SCHOOLS

are insignificant to us. The Library Board did not use the same discretion that we did (Town Hall Meeting of March 27) in allowing members of the community we live in to speak to the issue first. No. Instead, they threw in these unofficial voices who lent no credibility to our community standards and twisted the knife to commit the murderous assault on the minds of the West Bend children.

In the usual unsurprising fashion, Ms. Stone accused:

DAN KLEINMAN OF http://www.safelibraries.org/
PABBIS (PARENTS AGAINST BAD BOOKS IN SCHOOLS)
PFOX (PARENTS AND FRIENDS OF EX-GAYS AND GAYS)
FAMILY FRIENDLY LIBRARIES

of opposing intellectual freedom, calling them "censorship advocates."

Here are some quotes from tonight..

"Children should explore their curiosity and it is better that they do it with books." - Speaker unknown.

"Your library does not receive CIPA funding, so you are not required to have porn filters on your computers." That was from Ms. Caldwell-Stone.

"Libraries are exempt from the law." Another precious moment from Caldwell-Stone.

How about this one from Latham?? "...when I was a kid it was so easy to find the dirty books because of the labels on them" Our city attorney, Mary Schanning, found this highly amusing as she openly laughed over this account. So was this a confession? An enlightenment? A suggestion that perhaps we need to be askng for greater restrictions?

The board listened to the community speak. This began with two minutes of personal attack on my husband and myself from Ms. Deters husband.

After community commentary, the board then adjourned for a 10-minute break in the 3.5-hour-long meeting.

All of the library board members had prewritten a statements, so the outcome was (as we had anticipated) inevitable.

Each vented their anger over the City Council's disapproval of mayoral reappointments to the library board, specified our involvement in the "constantly changing" complaint, but took no blame themselves for stonewalling, lying, being misinformed and dragging their feet.

A motion was made to leave the books where they are. All voted "aye."

The only surprise in all of this was that we were never notified of this meeting. We found out inadvertently through a friend.

The most profound statement read tonight was by an area resident thast went like this, "All is permissible, but not all is profitable."

West Bend Library Board Hosts Open Forum and Vote? TONIGHT

A G E N D A
(Amended)

Library Board Meeting
Tuesday, June 2, 2009 6:00 P.M.
(Front Doors Open at 5:30 P.M.)
McLane Elementary School Gymnasium
833 Chestnut St., West Bend, WI. 53095

The following items may be discussed and possible action taken:

1. Call to Order
2. New Business: Discussion of requests to remove, relocate and/or label certain books in the Young Adult section.
3. Adjournment

The Library’s Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials is a three-step process, ending with the complainant meeting with the Library Board. Since the request to consider the institution of policies is of a different nature, at the very least we would have expected communication from our local library stating how they would like to handle the petition request. The Library Board has remained strangely silent since we submitted our petition requests without as much as the courtesy phone call notifying us of this meeting. According to the meeting agenda, this meeting is allegedly about one of the requests submitted on the petition from the West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries. The lack of communication is unfortunate and implies that they are not interested in speaking to us.

All are invited, we think. Then again, it is hard to say what this is really about. Up to you.