Panther Talk Live

Kostal and Sidhu have resigned...You know what the cops say...only the guilty run

2011-12-12T09:18:00.001-06:00

You know when your friend gets a new dog and you visit their house before it's potty trained? You walk in and it smells foul and there's a pile of shit on the carpet. You come back a couple days later and see that Alex Kostal and David Sidhu are no longer there...the pile of shit is gone. Then you notice a fresh, ripe, rancid urine stain on the carpet.

Last night, Angela Lang became the President-to-be as Kostal appointed her as his successor as one of his last acts before resigning. How screwed up is it that 2/3rds of the SA Senate is too stupid to realize that the guy they're running out of office for being a corrupt idiot probably shouldn't get to hand-pick his successor lest they be corrupt and idiotic. When you allow the guy to pick as his successor the one person in the SA office with plentiful knowledge of ALL of the wrongdoing who did absolutely nothing substantive to end it, surely as an organization you cannot continue to claim that you're cleaning things up. Rewarding someone for their participation in the impeachment proceedings does not permit you to ignore that person's immoral acts as well.

With Angela as president, she's not willing to resist the urge for political self-preservation in order to do the right thing...she's demonstrated that by how she conned the senate into gifting her the presidency. Angela Lang had a part in hand picking Alex Kostal to run for office as a way of preserving her power and control in SA. Now that he screwed it up for himself, Angela Lang wants back in the driver's seat. Every reform that comes out of SA with Lang as President will be a token act packaged as real reform, but it will do absolutely nothing to force accountability, open access and participation, or limit power. They'll just tell you that it will.

And the Senate's behavior last night was also peculiar. I mean, besides being a gaggle of dumb asses that, in their quest to cleanse themselves just jumped in the mud pit. Kostal and Sidhu resign, and some wanted to continue with the impeachment. While it's safe to say that I'm not a fan of either of these two low-lifes, at the end of the day, when the people you are trying to get rid of end up leaving, you let them go. It doesn't matter if you got to give them a swift kick in the ass on their way out, the goal of getting rid of them is accomplished. To attempt to continue trying to impeach after they've resigned is like the mafia continuing to break fingers after you've yelled "uncle". It's immature, uncalled for, and it's the type of vindictive behavior that you're allegedly trying to root out.

Angela Lang, you are that rancid urine stain on the Student Association. As long as you're around, you and the stain of Alex Kostal and all the behavior that you watched happen and failed to stop or even question over the last 6 months will do nothing but stink up the SA and tarnish the aura of everyone associated with it. When SA started getting rid of its bad eggs some people thought they'd actually clean house. By making Angela Lang president, all they did was put on an act and pretend to make reforms. Rick Banks may not have been the best option for replacing corruption, but certainly he's superficially better than Alex Kostal's hand picked minion. He either got cold feet, or was too naive to realize that power and control will corrupt even those people you may have respected. Angela Lang fucked you over, kid, and she's fucking over SA too. It's just too difficult for you all to see from the inside how bad you all look on the outside.

There are a lot of smart and good people that work in and amongst the SA that think the best way they can get ahead is by abandoning their morality and their personal convictions in order to be loyal to the skags they work for. It's an easy and educational job that pays the rent...the SA paycheck...another form of control. SA will begin to turn itself around when people start standing up for what they really believe instead of abandoning it to build a "loyal" voting record and make an easy paycheck.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Record-shattering

2011-12-07T14:06:00.003-06:00

Tuesday, December 6, 2011 set a new record of unique views to this site.

Additionally, over 1,000 more unique viewers in the four days since my Dec. 4 original posting have visited this site than in the four days following the breaking of the "scandal" involving this blog.

Congratulations, again, Alex Kostal. You really have "made it," haven't you?

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Really, dude?

2011-12-06T08:57:00.001-06:00

I find it quite interesting, Alex Kostal's response to my latest blog post. It included no denial of guilt, no rebuttal of the facts, and not even some misplaced juvenile reasoning to use as justification for his actions. Just pride.

"You haven't made it in politics until Kyle Duerstein has besmirched your character," wrote Kostal as a Facebook status update on Sunday.

Really, Alex?

First of all, I have in no way besmirched your character. You've apparently done quite a fine job of that yourself, as it turns out. Making bomb threats in high school, damaging mailboxes, stealing property, engaging in hazing, witness intimidation and suppression, and interfering with a University investigation are defects within your character explained by crappy parenting and a defective moral compass. Nothing I have done, Alex Kostal, has any bearing on your character. You take care of that all by yourself.

As if all that wasn't enough, having a room, adjoined to your office, that's called the "sex room" with nothing in it but a futon to have sex on, whether as a joke or not, probably isn't the best reflection of you either, given the allegations of sexual assault taking place right under your long, pointy, rat-like nose. Instead of stoping the sexual misbehavior, what'd you do, Alex? You created a room dedicated to the propagation of it. Why? So no one could hear the victim scream?

Secondly, Alex, you think you've "made it" now? Really dude? This is "making it" in politics? Being impeached and having your disgraceful "character" exposed and discussed is a signal to you that you've accomplished something? Well if that's the case man, congratulations.

I think you've got a little bit of Herman Cain Syndrome going on though, man. If you think all of the attention on you is a result of support rather than condemnation, or that you somehow haven't fully arrived on the political scene until the moment you begin to be brought down, you're really pretty delusional and disconnected from reality.

In the words of one of the University administrators about to have you expelled, "I think it's ironic that he chose to steal weasels."

See the facial resemblance?

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

This is what Alex Kostal Socialism looks like? Parents, protect your daughters.

2011-12-04T12:24:00.009-06:00

I was disappointed, but unsurprised, to see this week’s news story about the Vice President of the UWM Student Association being accused of sexual assault towards another UWM student. The organization which once served as a beacon of student representation and the strongest student government in the state when it came to standing up for students is now better known on campus for taking advantage of those students, through their pocketbooks, and apparently also through their pants.

Sources from within the University share with me that there are several investigations currently under way regarding frequent reports of sex, drugs, alcohol, and other illegal and unethical behavior taking place not only amongst nearly all of the senior leaders of the very liberal student government, but even within their own University-owned office space within the UWM Student Union.

When UWM Vice Chancellor Michael Laliberte commented that, “We want to make sure this is a one-time incident, or is there something in our climate of our university that is allowing this type of behavior to go on,” it is likely, sources confirm, that he was foreshadowing the findings of the other internal investigations taking place regarding similar behavior within student government. Rumors of theft, hazing, alcohol abuse, sex, pornography, and additional instances of sexual assault and harassment are beginning to be corroborated.

As disappointed as I am that these behaviors bring such negativity to an organization that had so much strength and potential, with this group of individuals, it was to be expected. It is of no surprise that Student Association President Alex Kostal, a self-proclaimed communist, has failed to act to resolve these matters. It is possible that he is contributing to and participating in the harassment, sex, and other illegal and unethical behavior. The tone starts at the top, right? I think it speaks volumes that Kostal hired a mentally handicapped student and keeps him around for the sole purpose of having someone to make fun of and laugh at. That type of behavior speaks volumes about Alex Kostal’s character.

You can say what you want about the conservative student government from the several years prior to the 2010-2011 school year, but there was never drug use, there was never rampant sexual misconduct, and there was never such massive and widespread mismanagement of ethics and culture. It is unfortunate, but it is people like these misguided fools that make the case for dissolving the powers of student government. How can you trust an organization that establishes student fees to not squander it on sex favors and cocaine when it’s run by the group of misfits that are currently calling the shots?

This week’s news story is indeed a symptom of a much larger, much more disturbing culture of illegal and immoral activity. That in itself is a shame, but to add insult to injury, the students of UWM are paying for it all, literally.

And where's the coalition of student organizations that was so dedicated to getting me out of office for a five year old comment that, taken out of context, was insensitive at worst. This is sexual assault, harassment, taking advantage of the handicapped, theft, and a laundry list of bad behavior far more hurtful, and far more illegal, mind you, then a few words on some website. You hippies have exposed that your hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Alex Kostal, you deserve to be thrown out of office and expelled from school for what you witnessed, propagated, instigated, and for what you yourself have done, you filthy piece of scum.

NOTE: Kyle Duerstein has served as the Deputy Election Commissioner, Director of Legislative Affairs, Consultant, Deputy Speaker of the Senate, and Speaker of the Senate for the UWM Student Association between 2006-2010.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Time Flies

2011-11-23T14:35:00.002-06:00

Time does fly. 12 months ago, I graduated College. A little while prior to that, I was still figuring out what I wanted to get my degree in. Just prior to that, I took a semester off to work full time so I could afford college. Right before that, I graduated high school.

Somewhere in the mix of things, I started this blog. Over the last decade, really, I've been sharing my opinion through print media, here on this blog via 500 blog posts, on my online talk radio show, and of course, yelling amongst friends live and in the flesh. Out of all that, there are a few things I wish I hadn't said. A handful, really. I'm sure we can all identify one instance of my writer's remorse, but as I sit here, I have come to this conclusion: The good far outweighs the bad, and if you tiptoe through life, your feet will hurt, causing you back problems, and a lesser enjoyment of the world passing you by.

As a result, I've decided that I'll probably fire up the old blog again. Obviously, Panther Talk Live might change it's focus a little, away from the musings of UW-Milwaukee student, concerned with UW-Milwaukee things, and more towards the types of things I find myself worked up about. I'm not going to promise a frequency, or even that you'll be entertained by what I have to say. I will promise one thing, though. My disclaimer on top will still hold true. "Reader intelligence is advised."

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Mike Rosen a Liar?

2011-06-02T08:42:00.001-05:00

The Journal Sentinel just figured it out.

The rest of us have known for years. Better late than never.

I hope there's a backup

2011-04-15T00:24:00.001-05:00

I hope there's another, more competent "defender of liberty" for UWM students then this...otherwise they're screwed.

This was humorous

2011-03-20T14:16:00.002-05:00

On ASAP's website, under the "Our Values" section, it reads, "Watch this space, there's more coming soon."

Travis has been President all year, and he still can't put his values into words. We'll likely have to wait at least that long for Alex Kostal to figure it out.

A thought for the new semester

2011-01-18T13:07:00.001-06:00

Worst Person on Campus @ UWM - Fall 2010

2010-12-29T13:25:00.002-06:00

The long awaited announcement is finally here, just in time for the new year!

I know many of you thought that, of course, I would name SA President Travis as the Worst Person on Campus for the semester. I mean, after all, he has raised the cost of attending UWM by $122/year so far, and the non-allocable fees have yet to be decided, which will make that number increase on his watch. While his stupidity is alarming, and certainly worthy of the title, he loses out this time around.

There has also been speculation that I would name a member of Travis's staff for the honor. This, while also perhaps meritorious, will also not be happening. There are three members of his staff who work for him despite being almost completely politically opposite of him and lack the backbone to forge their own future based on their ideologies. These three shameful individuals abandon a philosophy of government that they believe in only for the dollar signs in their eyes, and for a sense of belonging. They lack character and integrity, however, these three individuals also have lost out in being Worst Person on Campus for this semester.

There is a fourth employee, Alex Kostal, who was also in the running for the award. As a socialist without a clue of how things work in the real world, let alone at UWM, Kostal fits right in as a mirror image of Travis. He, however, was in the running only because he's too stupid and ignorant to know different, and therefore, does not merit the reward.

Also in the running was Kristina Barth. Incompetence, and an inability to write coherently, though, don't make you the Worst Person on Campus @ UWM. It just makes you incompetent and illiterate. I wonder if she knows all the crap that Travis talked about her following poor performances in every single Mock Trial event last year? Seems she's clueless, too. Add that to her very short list of qualities, and you have an impressive list of...well...incredibly employable characteristics for the burger fryer at Wendy's. Best of luck to you for law school, Kristina.

Now that we've reviewed the runners-up, it's time now to announce the winner

The Fall 2010 Worst Person on Campus @ UWM is someone that many at UWM don't even know. Professor Alan Horowitz is the proud recipient of this semester's award. A professor in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Horowitz also serves as Chair of the Physical Environment Committee, a committee made up of predominantly faculty, staff, and administrators, with only two student members. Despite the committee's lop-sided representation, this committee is charged with managing the budget for the Parking and Transit department, which means they also decide student parking rates on campus.

Over the past several years, Horowitz, who himself often bikes to campus, has joined whiny faculty members that work in Lapham Hall, the Chemistry Building, EMS, and the Physics building, to repeatedly block the conversion of faculty reserved parking spaces in the Sciences surface parking lot into public pay spaces for students. This simple act of converting the Sciences parking lot to be entirely public parking for students would add an additional $300,000 to the Parking budget in income, without even increasing the hourly cost of parking on campus. The additional revenue would come because the spaces would be fully utilized every day, and the parking department would get the full 85 cents per hour to park in these spaces, as opposed to the 60 cents per hour from the faculty and staff who park there.

Moving those discounted faculty and staff parking spaces to the outside edges of campus, instead of having them in the center of campus where there is higher demand for student parking, would transform the Parking and Transit budget and would come closer to balancing it without the need to raise the parking rates on campus.

In the December 13th edition of the UWM Post, Horowitz is referenced to having said that he will, "never support free student parking on campus," as had been discussed with the acquisition of the Columbia Hospital parking garage. Horowitz, who has for years been one of those responsible for the lacking solvency of the Parking and Transit budget, and for anti-student parking rate policies, is now attempting to stand in the way of student leaders who seek to provide free parking for students by renting out the Columbia Hospital parking garage through a segregated fee.

While I too have my concerns about the proposal, one thing is clear. If the students wish to provide themselves free student-only parking in the Columbia Hospital parking structure through a segregated fee, then who are you to stand in their way? It's their money, and they can do with it what they want.

So, for creating a problem, and then attempting to stand in the way of the student's solution of that problem, Alan Horowitz is the Fall 2010 "Worst Person on Campus @ UWM."

Screw You Alan.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

A note to the SA: While free student parking sounds good, it is counterproductive to the notion of supply and demand. Free student parking will not reduce the churn that neighbors complain of on side streets because the free parking lot will ALWAYS be full, even if it is on the periphery of campus. $4/day though is not a good solution either, as, to maximize profits from the parking structure in order to balance the parking department budget without raising the hourly parking rate elsewhere on campus. Therefore, a good solution would be half-rate parking at 40 or 50 cents per hour with a $4 maximum charge. This will encourage shorter term parking, but still allow students to park on campus for a long period of time to participate in activities which enrich campus life and their UWM experience with a relatively inexpensive parking fee.

Regardless of my disagreements with the concept of free parking at the CSM structure, steadfast is my firm belief that it is the right and responsibility of the Students to decide for themselves how to best spend their segregated fees.

Elitism, Exclusiveness still prevailing in Student Government funding decisions at UWM

2010-12-09T12:06:00.002-06:00

I was not at all surprised to learn about the funding decisions made by Travis recently. Student fees at UWM were raised by $68 dollars a year, on top of the $54 per year done prior to the formal funding process. That adds $122 to a student's tuition bill for next year, on top of the tuition increase coming from the Board of Regents.

You'll remember that when hippie Jay was running around campus saying classes should be $100, and when SDS was proclaiming that if the Chancellor worked for free, there would be no need for tuition at all, or something along those lines, I was saying that higher education should not be free. It has a personal value, and it most certainly has a good deal of actual cost to it.

But that doesn't mean that we should perpetuate inefficiencies and on top of that, artificially inflate the costs associated with higher education. Unions do that by refusing to pay a portion of their health insurance, or by claiming that creating a solvent budgetary system is an assault on the working class even though most working class folks in the real world outside government see public employees with the Cadillac health care plans they don't pay a penny for, and their comfortable pensions as just as elite as the upper class that those public employee union workers refuse to see themselves in.

I digress about that, but my point is that we shouldn't be doing things that purposefully make higher education more expensive, especially when they are not critical to the core services that we expect from higher education. That is, however, exactly what Travis and his staff in the executive branch and senate just did.

I will commend them for some things. They were able to cut the Athletics Department budget by $2.50 sending a strong message that Charlie Gross, Kathy Litzau, and David Gilbert's budget management strategy of attempting to overspend the department out of it's debt will no longer be tolerated, as students pay nearly $80,000 in interest alone on the existing debt of the Athletic Department.

And they did combine the resource centers into one entity. But that, as it turns out, is a mixed bag of good and bad. You see, good student governments, concerned with the affordability of UWM for lower class inner city Milwaukee families would combine the resource centers and see that under a new management structure, there's no need for 5 directors and a couple assistant directors to facilitate these efficiencies...let alone the need for 4 copy machine leases.

But no, that's not the intelligence of combining these centers that Travis saw. He combined these centers, creating all these efficiencies, and then threw even more money at them then they themselves even requested, which was already an increase over their previous individual funding levels. Genius! Not.

And when asked about all this, and this is the best part, guess what the line is coming from Travis's henchmen. "We're not interested in creating a discount University."

Really? What was that $100 a class bullshit? That sounds pretty Wal-Mart to me. Telling the Board of Regents that they can't raise tuition, which by the way, funds the necessary aspects of the University, because doing so would price minorities out of an education is a decent argument. But turning around and raising the student fees that Travis has total control over while making that argument makes you a moronic hypocrite.

And all the while, Angela Lang runs around with Travis saying our campus isn't diverse enough as they try to make every little stupidity seem like widespread racism or something. Here's what's really racist. The elitists from rural Wisconsin, or like Travis, from very well-to-do families have no concept of the idea of pricing families out of attending the University. They don't get that maybe the reason there's not more diversity on campus is because they, and people like them, are making it too expensive for minority families to pay the tuition bill.

But hell, they're not interested in having some crappy discount University. They want to run up the prices purposely to prevent minority attendance so that they can bitch about it, and demand the creation of more committees to study minority enrollment, demand more inclusion, and talk about the minority success and enrollment numbers. I don't want a discount University either...we'd call that a 2-year UW College. This is UWM, one of 2 research Universitys in the UW system. It won't be cheap, but that doesn't mean it can't be efficient and affordable to enable the highest number of people to attend as is possible. That can't be accomplished with student government morons creating cost efficiencies but instead of decreasing the cost charged to students, they increase it.

I've never known so many smart people to be so stupid. Travis will do that to you, I guess. An intelligent orator capitalizing with the right message to a group of lost individuals in over their heads seeking something they think is leadership by someone who pretends he knows what he's doing is a terrible combination.

Travis doesn't want to fix the problems that he and Angela run around campus complaining about. If he did, he'd do something about the price of education that he has direct control over because cost-prohibitiveness is the the number one reason there's not more minority enrollment at UWM.

If UWM really does have a duty to serve the urban community it is located within, you folks better get rid of the morons who would rather talk about that service as opposed to actually serving.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

This is good

2010-11-23T16:30:00.001-06:00

No need for someone else to make him look bad.

Alex Kostal does that all by himself.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

So how does that work?

2010-11-07T22:39:00.001-06:00

How can you have a person that doesn't understand the concept of viewpoint neutrality be responsible for training the senate on that concept? On top of that, the training consists of adopting the standards of the only UW school to be sued EVERY YEAR for breaking the law as it relates to viewpoint neutrality.

Unless Travis wants the law to be violated by the senate, so he has them taught improper standards by a person not knowledgeable of the law and how it is enforced. Clever for Travis who wants indiscriminately higher funding for all units funded by SA regardless of merit or the law. If he can get those fools on the senate to break the law for him, he gets to plea ignorance.

I never thought that the folks working with Travis who I know to be intelligent, could be so god damn stupid. It's like the media all bug eyed over the messiah Obama. All intelligence disappears. Apparently the smart people working for Travis have the same syndrome and end up misplacing 100 IQ points whenever they're in his presence and he tosses up an idea. They get too stupid to tell him he's actually a moron and that it's a bad idea.

So disappointed in the smart people working for him. They are turning out to not be at all beneficial to the student body.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Some things are just hilarious

2010-10-30T14:37:00.002-05:00

There are many things in this world that are just hilarious. Today, I found one of those hilarious circumstances at the UWM Open House.

Every year UWM has an open house for interested students and their parents to come and see what UWM is all about. This includes its academic program as well as social and student support services programs.

In past years, prior to my time in a leadership position with SA, the Student Association information table at the open house would be shoddy or even non-existent. Recognizing the importance of the UWM open house as a recruitment tool for our university, I made it a priority to ensure that the Student Association had a presence at this event.

So you can imagine how interesting it was today to find that Travis, all concerned about transforming SA and being more transparent and all of his empty promises and hollow thoughts, chose not to have the Student Association...the OFFICIAL voice of the UWM student body, present at this weekend's open house. For all of his talk, his rhetoric is proving to be expectedly empty.

Although raising segregated fees by $54 per year isn't something we can use as a recruitment tool either. Imagine if Travis and the SA had shown up to promote UWM...

"Hello inner city family...thank you for coming to the UWM open house today. You may have been under the mistaken impression that UWM should serve the urban community it is located in by being accessible and affordable. As your student government president (elected by default through a corrupt system that eliminated my competition), I would like to inform you that I am doing everything in my ability to make UWM more expensive and less accessible to you, the inner city families of Milwaukee. Thank you for coming, and be sure to keep dreaming big dreams. You'll just have to go elsewhere for help achieving them."

You see, they might come after me for words taken out of context from 5 years ago, but they should realize that Travis is the biggest perpetrator of institutionalized racism that SA has seen in this decade. No SA official has been a bigger obstacle to economic and therefore racial equality of access than Travis.

SA's absence from open house this year exposes the double standard that Travis will undoubtedly operate under for the rest of this year, and possibly the rest of his life.

I can't say that I blame him though. Squashing opposing viewpoints, persecuting dissent, and raising the cost of attending UWM aren't necessarily the kinds of selling points that can effectively recruit new students.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

The Spaight's Spooktacular

2010-10-28T13:17:00.001-05:00

During the Duerstein administration, we developed a Halloween social event on campus during the week preceding Halloween called the Spaight's Spooktacular. The event, produced by the staff of the Duerstein Senate, featured interactive games, a haunted maze, sumo wrestling suits, and other great attractions that enhanced the student experience by providing entertainment and enjoyment.

As I walked past the Plaza on campus today to see what has become of our 2nd annual Spooktacular event, I was immensely disappointed. No maze...nothing interactive beyond pumpkin carving, and the only students around to enjoy this event were the couple dozen in line to make their own caramel apple. Hardly an exciting interactive or worthwhile event.

True, things don't stay the same forever, but you'd think that they would get better instead of getting worse. I suppose it's par for the course though this year. The really scary part of this year's Spooktacular isn't the $54 per year Travis has already added to this year's tuition bill...ok...that's scary too. But I wouldn't be surprised if they spent as much on this year's Spooktacular as they did last year...after all...Travis was there. He probably charges the student body extra for that.

And even if they saved money compared to last year, the lack of student knowledge, participation, and enjoyment made whatever money they did invest worthless. It's ok to spend programming money to put on a quality event. It's not ok to go half-assed and waste an investment into an event that not even most of the paid SA staff would show up to enjoy...let alone volunteer to help at.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

This was just too funny to pass up!

2010-10-25T16:39:00.002-05:00

Slip Up

2010-10-21T10:02:00.003-05:00

When Chancellor Santiago removed UWM Athletic Director George Koonce out of jealousy that Koonce was making a positive impression in the community and "showing up" the Chancellor, students at UWM were told that they should still commit their $25 Million for a new basketball arena, even though the guy with the vision that secured the arrangement was gone.

Dave Gilbert was one of those who bamboozled SA President Travis into continuing to support the project, using the rationale that the $25 Million in student fees should not be contributed based on a relationship with the visionary that helped students create the idea, but that it should be for some greater good of the overall department, or campus, even though everyone in SA knows that those who lead the Athletic Department are inept, lazy, and incompetently clueless.

So Travis bought the crack. He bought into the reasoning because he gets all giddy when in the presence of people who make big decisions. And here, in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, we have David Gilbert reiterating the exact point that students made 6 months ago...that the person in the driver's seat really does matter.

"But Gilbert said Wednesday that the recent departure of Chancellor Carlos Santiago means that Interim Chancellor Mike Lovell, who succeeded Santiago on Oct. 8, must establish relationships with prospective donors." - "UWM Seeks 30-day extension for Wauwatosa land purchase,"Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 10/21/10

Gilbert, admitting that intelligent donors tend to pull back a bit in times of uncertainty and drastic change, completely contradicts the claims he made to Travis and his ignorant obedient pawns in student government that donors donate money for love of the program, not for love of a leader's ideas.

It's too bad UWM elected a student government president that was too stupid to see through the greedy rhetoric of campus administrators. When students vote for people whose logical thought is clouded out by being star-struck in the presence of the Chancellor or another administrator, it's not the morons making bad decisions that suffer, it's the rest of the student body that suffers with fees that have raised by $54 per year in Travis's short 4 months leading student government, and it's those families from the inner city for whom that extra $54 is a deal breaker, and an obstacle to their access to higher education who really truly suffer.

But Travis doesn't give a rip. His folks are rich, so what does he care if UWM cannot serve it's underprivileged neighbors.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

This was interesting

2010-10-13T16:38:00.003-05:00

UW System announced the Search and Screen Committee for the new Chancellor.

Rumor has it that the only reason SA president Travis actually served on this committee was that so he could drool during committee meetings over being in the presence of Sheldon Lubar.

And still, all this compelling stuff going on, and Alex Kostal can't manage to find time to do the important work he proclaimed that all bloggers with a UWM audience must do. Pitiful hypocrite.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

It Continues

2010-10-12T22:26:00.002-05:00

"Hey, we're $10 Million in debt. Let's get new basketball uniforms. That would be a great idea! That doesn't send the wrong message at all!"

The ignorance of the UWM Athletic Department continues, unabated.

Will SA condemn this before they condemn a UWM Union employee violating cash handling policies that resulted in $1,300 being stolen? I guess we'll find out.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Who really took the money?

2010-10-12T10:51:00.005-05:00

So here we are, almost a full two months since SA officials have seen the video footage showing Neal Michals violating UWM Union policy and being the last person to handle the missing donation money meant for Haiti. It's been 2 weeks since this blog showed the public the very same evidence, followed days later by the UWM Post.

Still, there is no public condemnation of Michals' policy violations. No call for action. No press release sent out admonishing the grave breach of protocol that resulted in $1,300 in donated money going missing. Shit, you'd think after the press release all up in arms over a Senator using a legal and legitimate parliamentary tactic, they'd at least criticize Michals' actions, which violated policy and resulted in money going missing.

But still we have nothing. SA officials went to a gathering where they were told by Union administrators who were covering their own asses, and that of their golden boy Michals, that everything is inconclusive. Union Director Scott Gore, who hired Michals after Michals created funding for a position for himself while still in student government, said that he doesn't think Michals took the money. Of course he doesn't think that. He's not being honest, but Travis bought it. Apparently, because the Union is giving SA $1,300 to replace that which was stolen, Travis thinks that all is well and good.

When you think about it though, and Travis probably doesn't realize this, the money that the Union is giving to SA is money from students, collected through tuition bills as segregated fees. Which means, the Union really isn't losing any money. It's not the person who took the money who is repaying it. It's a bureaucrat using the student equivalent of tax money, to replace the acts of another bureaucrat who either took the money, or whose refusal to follow policy got it lost.

This lack of outrage from the Student Association is demonstrative of the weakness and of the purely political motives of its leader, Travis. Either that, or there's something more inappropriate happening.

Last time there was total control over student government in the manner that Travis has implemented, $10,000 was embezzled. The more this missing Haiti money situation plays out, the more I start to wonder if Travis isn't involved in a little embezzlement scam of his own. Maybe he picked up the money?

Who knows, but this lack of denunciation of Michals tends to make one believe that high level SA officials, such as President Travis may be somehow involved.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

And, you know

2010-09-25T20:55:00.002-05:00

Where is the outrage of the Student Association? Where is the outrage that it seems as though all signs point to a UWM Union administrator pretty high up on the food chain as the person who appears to have stolen $1,400 in fundraised money to benefit Haiti?

I guess there's no time for outrage when you're trying to frame someone else. The truth hinders your attempt at framing someone else, so if you're Travis, I guess the truth is a bad thing to have come to light.

And no press release from Alex Kostal calling for the University to take action against this employee, at least for not following established cash handling procedures. Again, no outrage, no call for action. Just silence while they figure out how to go on framing someone else with the real truth counteracting their attempts.

Real great. Maybe there'll be an embezzlement by SA officials yet their year. Can't put it past people with the questionable moral character of Travis.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Student Court Case dismissed

2010-09-25T20:20:00.003-05:00

In my last post, I had alluded to a student court case that had been filed with the USC regarding a number of inconsistencies in the current SORC investigation/witchhunt/silencing of dissent that is being engaged in by SA President Travis and his crew of mindless minions. It has come to my attention that, based on technicalities, one of which being that the complaint was not formatted properly, the case was dismissed. As a result, it doesn't appear that the USC will be releasing it as I requested.

The case had apparently contained allegations of open meetings law violations by Christina Barth, chair of the Senate Oversight and Rules Committee, and a one-time candidate for the University Student Court. Obviously she did not make it onto the court. Some officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid intimidation from Barth's lawyer, self-proclaimed "shark" father, said that she was passed up due to poor writing skills, and indications that her role on the court would be to do whatever Travis tells her to do. Since not making it onto the court, she's carrying out that role as Chair of SORC.

After looking into the accusations made by others that illegal meetings were taking place, the matter still remains unclear. During the September 5 senate meeting, Barth admitted to holding meetings of the committee between August 22 and September 5 without providing public notice of such meetings. Later in the meeting, she stated that no meetings occurred during that time period. The inconsistencies in her statements at the Senate meeting, along with indication from some of the committee members both at that same Sept. 5 Senate meeting and on their own blogs indicate that a decision was somehow reached by members of the committee to not meet during that time. There remains question as to whether that decision was made via vote of the committee by email or by other means of a walking quorum. It does seem plausible that, to the knowledge of the people I spoke to, no in-person meeting took place during that time, but there are not sufficient sources to verify the certainty of that plausibility.

It's amazing how many pre-law students apparently don't know the specifics of open meetings laws. You'd think they'd read that section of state law and understand it before they take the leap from the nest for their first flight. Maybe no violation happened, but if it didn't, that means the SORC Chair lied at least one time when answering questions in front of the Senate. Seems like we're either looking at a liar or a sunshine law violator. I wonder what the preferable label is in that case.....

More information to come.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Additional disclaimer: In case you're an idiot, I remind you that public officials, in this case public SA officials, are public figures. Further, truth is an absolute defense against accusations of libel. Oh, and since truth is an absolute defense, it'll be interesting once I go to the media with these emails you had the audacity to put into writing. I thought after all this Ken Kratz texting stuff you lawyers would be a tad more careful about what inappropriate behaviors you put into writing. Further yet, I have highlighted in blue statements within this blog that are my pure OPINION.

Swim on, sharky. Nothing to sue here. I will not be highlighting these instances in the future, so you'll need to concentrate real hard to be able to notice the difference, ok? I have faith in you, you'll do just fine.

UWM Union employee likely stole money, still employed. No Police Action

2010-09-22T14:57:00.005-05:00

UPDATE: 9/23/10 11:20AM - Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Jim Hill just responded to my question over whether or not he instructed or suggested that the UWMPD stop looking into Neal Michals as a suspect. His response, in its entirety: "I have no recollection of instructing or suggesting to the UWM Police on July 15, 2010 that they discontinue questioning any one related to this matter."

Currently, there is an attempt at an impeachment process underway of an SA Senator. President Travis will tell you that it’s not an impeachment attempt, and that it is simply an investigation to get to the bottom of missing money that was stolen from the Union’s safe. The money, raised by the Student Association during the spring, was to benefit the relief effort in Haiti after last year’s earthquake devastated the island country.

Now, it is true that every Student Association employs a village idiot to do the bidding of those who can’t necessarily get their own hands dirty. This year’s village idiot is Senator Alex Kostal, who willingly accepted his role and the necessary functions. There’s only one qualification really, you have to be willing to discontinue thinking for yourself and having values. If you can do that, you’re a prime candidate for SA village idiot. Oh, and it helps if you don’t know much about SA as well. Alex Kostal, you’re hired. Literally! The village idiot has always tended to be paid for their troubles.

So you have Alex Kostal attempting to have a senator removed because during the last term, she was in charge of collecting the money for the Haiti relief effort. Well that’s fine, it doesn’t seem to be for purely political purposes on its face, but then, once you start looking into things, you discover that the nutty impeachment process against Senator Krause really can only be explained by political motives, because it’s certainly clear that she had nothing to do with the theft of the money from the Union’s safe. Except the real reason Kostal, acting on orders from Travis and his senior staff, is to eliminate this voice of dissent from the Senate so that less people will disagree with the self-proclaimed sacred one.

You see, over the past month now, SORC has been “investigating” the matter. I use the term loosely because after my own investigation, it has become apparent that the SORC investigation is nothing more than an exercise to attempt to trump up whatever flimsy snippets of guilt appearing imagined “evidence” they can make up. The real evidence points to someone much different. And I was able to figure that out in a couple hours.

UWM Police Report 101791 tells a quite different story as to who appears to be guilty, and it’s not at all the person who is now being subjected to impeachment proceedings by SA, however, it is a former SA official.

Neal Michals, former Shared Governance Director, Speaker of the Senate, Assistant Chief Justice, of the Student Association, is now a higher ranking employee of the UWM Union, working in a position he allegedly created for himself when he was involved in Union budgeting. Neal Michals was involved in the Student Association during the same period that $10,000 was allegedly embezzled by a former SA President. While no one alleged Michals was involved in that incident, it is certainly important to note that he was immersed in the culture of the time…which was less about what to do wrong, and more about how to get away with it.

Since the UWM Police report tells the story, I will quote directly from that so you all can judge for yourselves. Excerpts from the police report appear in blue.

“On 5/18/10, at 2:32 P.M., I, PO Buzick was dispatched to the UWM Student Union for a Theft complaint. Upon arrival I met with Reporting Person – Event Manager Tom VEIL.

“Veil stated on 1/31/10, UWM Student Association held a fundraiser for Haiti Relief. At the end of the event, Student Association member Katie KRAUSE placed an unknown amount of money raised from the fundraiser in an unmarked clear plastic container which she placed in the vault located in Room WG6.

“On 2/23/10, Union Client Services Manager Neal MICHAELS (sp) took the clear plastic container to his office not knowing what it was or where it came from, counted the currency to be $350.00 and some odd change and deposited it into the drop outside of room WG6.”

The report continues, “VEIL stated there are no money logs or account receivable that exist to account for the flow of fundraising for the vault room. Veil stated both the fundraising money and deposit are unaccounted for.”

That was from the report done by the first officer on the case, on May 18, 2010.

On May 19, Sargeant Art Koch joined the investigation. His report from that day outlined the following: “I spoke with Tom Viel regarding this complaint and he stated that he had started to make a record of events. Mr. Viel turned over Daily Shift Reports from January 26, 2010, to January 31, 2010.”

Viel also provided a lengthy narration of events, much of which is of little consequence. Interestingly though, Veil reported, “Before the officers arrived, I was able to discuss the situation with Neal and he informed me that he removed the box from the vault in a roll cart to his office, counted it, and then deposited it into the Union drop safe in a Client Services bag. He stated that there was approx $350 and change that he deposited, that he did not make a receipt of any kind and that he did not keep any documentation for the drop.”

Here is where it gets even more interesting.

“On Tuesday, May 25, 2010, I met with Neal Michals of Union Staff Services regarding this case. Mr. Michals stated that on February 23, 2010, at approximately 8:00p.m. to 8:30 p.m. he found the box in the safe. Mr. Michals stated that he removed the clear plastic box and took it to his office. He counted the money contained in the clear plastic box. He stated the box was not secured by any lock. He stated that the box contained one black binder clip with bills clipped in it, and an amount of coins in the bottom of the box. Mr. Michals stated that he was not sure who owned the money but believed that it had been in the safe too long and needed to be deposited.

“Mr. Michals stated that he counted the money and determined that the bills totaled $350.00 and the changed added slightly more to the total. He could not provide an exact total. Mr. Michals stated he placed the money in a tan ‘Client Services Bag’ and placed it in the depository. Mr. Michals said that he did not log the activity on the shift logs nor did he log it on any other log forms. He stated that this it not normal practice to create a deposit without completing some form of record regarding the deposit. (Emphasis added) [REDACTION] denied taking any of the money.

“Mr. Michals escorted me to storage room to a third floor storage room and turned over the clear plastic box (Evidence Item #101791-3) which was stored there stated that this was the box that the money was in. In addition he obtained a 32 gigabyte thumb drive from the office of Tom Veil that contained video images from the Vault for the time between 01/31/10 and 05/18/10 (Evidence Item #101791-2). I retain the thumb drive for review and placed the plastic box in evidence preserved for fingerprints if necessary."

I have inquired with Union Director Gore as to whether any action has been taken against Michals for failing to follow standard operating procedure in this matter. Director Gore has not yet returned my email.”

It is clear that Michals was considered a suspect in the matter after the interview on May 25, 2010, and Sergeant Koch followed up with another interview with Michals on June 2, 2010.

“On Wednesday, June 02, 2010, I spoke with Neal Mihals about this case. I reviewed and confirmed with Mr. Michals his statement from May 25, 2010. The primary issues were the number of binder clips holding the money in question that were in the box that he removed. The second issued (sp) was related to the lock on the clear plastic box. I showed him an image of him taking the clear plastic box from in from of the camera. Mr. Michals noted the lock and said that there was a lock on the box but it was not secured / latched.

“In regard to the money binder clips Mr. Michals originally stated that he counted the money from only one binder clip. The image of the contents of the box clearly depicts three binder clips holding bills in the box at the point that he removed it from the vault area. When I pointed this out Neal Michals stated that he must not have remembered correctly. He pointed out that he didn’t recall multiple clips and that he must have been mistaken.

I further asked Mr. Michals about the sequence of events on February 23, 2010. He stated he retrieved the box, placed it in the rolling safe, brought it to his office, counted the money and deposited the money and returned the rolling safe to the vault. I pointed out that according to the video he returned the cart four minutes after he removed the box. He then stated that he brought the box to his office and must have immediately returned the safe cart and then counted the money and deposited it.

“[REDACTION]. When I attempted to contact Neal Michals on June 3, 2010 after 7:00p.m. and was told by Union info desk staff that he left early that night.

“I have made several attempts to contact Neal Michals leaving messages on his cell each time to call me immediately upon (sp) receipt of the message. I have not heard from Mr. Michals.”

On Wednesday, June 2, 21010, Sergeant Koch also contacted the Bursar’s Office regarding the matter, to follow up from an earlier contact. “Brian Blase of the Bursar’s Office performed a check of records from February 2010 going back over a year and he found no deposit that could have been the Haiti relief money. Mr. Blase said that they cannot verify that the deposit that Neal Michals reportedly made was in fact made. Mr. Blase said that he did not have any unaccounted for and that if a deposit was made without the appropriate paperwork, it would immediately prompt an inquiries and e-mails about where the money should go. Mr. Blase stated that there are no records of such an inquiry or the deposit.”

On June 28, Detective Beaudry and Sergeant Koch reviewed the video surveillance from the Union Safe. Below is a summary of what they saw.

1/31/10 – 11:56am – white female Client Services staff member removes clear plastic box and then returns it.

1/31/10 – 1:42pm – white female Client Services staff member removes clear plastic box

1/31/10 – 2:01pm the clear plastic box is returned and the money has been bundled in 3 equal stacks held together by binder clips

2/3/10 – The clear plastic box with three stacks of bills was removed from the safe by a while male Client Services staff member and was placed on top of the safe. The clear plastic box with the three stacks of bills was not placed back in the safe, but was left on top of the safe from 2/3/10 until 2/23/10. Note that the three bundled stacks of bills never moved from the position they were in during this time period.

2/23/10 – 8:38pam – Neal Michals removes the clear plastic box with the three stacks of bills from top of safe, places box on a cart and leaves WG6.

2/23/10 – 8:38pm – Michals pushes cart down hallway

2/23/10 – 9:08pm – Michals at drop safe at WG6 and appears to be pulling out a key to make a drop and camera cuts out

That’s right, the camera inexplicably CUTS OUT while Michals is making a deposit for which there are no other records.

On June 30, UWMPD contacted Brian Blase of the Bursar’s Office and requested that he examine the deposits into the Client Services account on or about February 23-24, 2010. That is the account Michals claims to have deposited the money into.

On July 1, after looking into Client Services Deposits, Mike Schmit of the Union reported that the ONLY deposits for the Client Services department for the ENTIRE FISCAL YEAR July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010 was $525 deposited for locker fees.

On July 15, Sergeant Koch received an email from Vice Chancellor Hill that was entirely redacted from the report. I have contacted Vice Chancellor Hill and asked him if he suggested to or instructed the UWMPD to stop looking into Neal Michals as a suspect. Hill has not responded to my email.

After the Hill email, on August 5, Sergeant Koch interviewed 2 other Client Services staff members with regard to February 24, the day after Michals handled the money. The investigation appeared to be turning towards what happened after Michals claims to have deposited the money in the brown deposit bag, even though there is no evidence that Michals actually made such a deposit, or that any money was in

So, to review, Michals was the last person seen handling the money. His story changed over whether the money was locked and how much money there was in the box. He admitted to not filing any paperwork whatsoever about the deposit he claims to have made. Michals, upon entering the safe on February 23, 2010, grabbed the clear plastic box, and proceeded to open the safe, close it, and move a cart around to make it appear as though he had a legitimate purpose for being in the vault other than to remove the Haiti money. It took him 30 minutes to count the money, which he alleges to only have been $350. I don’t know about you, but I count $350 in about 2 minutes. The camera conveniently cuts out at the time Michals is making the undocumented deposit. (I don’t believe in coincidences, by the way.) Michals stopped cooperating with the investigating officers. Michals was the one to personally hand over the empty plastic box that at one time contained the money, creating the plausibility of his finger prints being all over the box. Michals was the one to hand over the selected video footage from Union security cameras to the police, which he could have tampered with and which may explain the camera cutting out when Michals appeared near the depository.

I have also contacted UWM Police Chief Michael Marzion regarding why the matter has not yet been referred to the District Attorneys office. After all, when they referred the alleged embezzlement of $10,000 to the DA, there was less evidence against the accused person then there is now against Neal Michals.

Scans of the Police report and screen shots of the camera footage appear in the post below.

This will all be interesting with the court case filed in University Student Court regarding the SORC hearing and investigation process. That, along with inquiries made to the District Attorney’s office about the culpability of those who violate open meetings laws will prove to be very interesting, as the SORC chair may find herself the subject of an investigation. More details on that as soon as my open records for a copy of the complaint is granted.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Supporting Evidence

2010-09-22T14:50:00.006-05:00

Twitter is Awesome!

2010-08-11T22:36:00.002-05:00

This is just great!

You can see all the frantic defending of Travis's $25 million blank check in student fees to the UWM Athletic Department, all while Travis complains about how the Athletic Department spends money without regard to what is sensible. I know he's naive, but seriously, you couldn't see over the past four years that a department that is

$10 million in debt

SUCKS AT FINANCIAL DECISIONS???? Hmmmm. Perhaps that information is something real leaders take into account before approving a $25 million student fee for a project that hasn't even been drawn up yet!!!

Also, an interesting tidbit. Quorum in the summer is 10 Senators....out of 50. Since all but about 4 people on the Senate are either Travis's mindless drones or people that Travis has paid off with jobs to vote how he wants them to, I found it VERY interesting that they BARELY MADE QUORUM for their July Senate meeting. Seriously. Just a smidge more then the 10 required people actually give a shit about the student government they've been "elected" to serve on? Just great... And elected is in quotes because the election wasn't actually real. Travis rigged the election to eliminate his competition, and then paid off those who didn't run with him by giving them jobs so that they vote his way anyway. Some "legitimate" student government you've got there, Trevy!

Haha. And he does all this saying that

was the tyrant! Wow. Denial is truly a necessary ingredient in tyranny. If the Post did a political cartoon with "Travis the Tyrant" it would be one of the first true things they've printed! But they won't do that, because in order to avoid bad press, Travis started dating one of the Post's editors.

Poor thing, I hope she realizes it's for his political gain and not actually a real relationship.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Hmmm

2010-07-27T22:54:00.003-05:00

And Check this out too

2010-07-27T21:08:00.000-05:00

Alex Kostal, the self-proclaimed SA Socialist, has an interesting blog post. Not as interesting as the comment left on it, however. Check it out.

Oh, and Alex, being linked from my blog is the best publicity your blog will ever get. Expect traffic to rise exponentially now, mostly with readers who disagree, however.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Flashback...to the future?

2010-07-26T16:59:00.003-05:00

There are only two SA Presidents I know who make committees made up of Senators and don't let the Senate choose their own representation on those committees. Russ Rueden and Travis.

Most people that believe in democracy working would allow the Senate to elect their own representatives to new committees, especially something so critical as developing an implementation plan for Wisconsin State Statute 36.09(5). Not Travis though. He creates a committee with Senators...only HE is the one that appoints them. Talk about not being able to relinquish even a little bit of control.

His claims of wanting democracy and transparency were only lies he told to get elected. He much prefers total control. It's easier to steal things that way, I guess. He's already stolen an election with his power hungry manipulation. What's next. Another $10K? Only time will tell.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Something to Ponder

2010-07-07T12:54:00.002-05:00

Would you rather have a leader who took a bribe from a bureaucrat, or would you rather have a leader who was obedient to instructions from a bureaucrat?

I'll let you decide UWM. It seems as though you might have one who is both. The worst of both worlds. Haha. Lucky you! Thank God I don't have to pay for it! See, it's great for me because anything he does won't get tacked onto the tuition bill until next year. Whew!

So I'm wondering, will he just do what he's told and raise your segregated fees by $100 per semester to make the bureaucrats happy, or will he take a bribe so he can personally gain from making the bureaucrats happy? Either way, you pay the bill, just so you know.

It'll be interesting to watch this.

That's all for now.
Stay tuned!
- Kyle

No way!

2010-06-08T14:25:00.002-05:00

So, uh, does this mean $100 a class didn't work?

And you know what's better, even with the increase in tuition, the workers still don't get pay increases, and still have to take furlough days.

You'd think that would turn the world of SA's favorite liberal alum former President upside down. Nope. Probably not. Reality isn't something that liberals are used to dealing with when it comes to money, so it's not a surprise. Sure, UW education could be free, all we have to do is shut down every state prison and increase taxes on business like Harley Davidson, because those evil corporations are at fault and should be punished, and those law-breaking murders shouldn't be punished with jail anyway, right?

Oh wait, Harley Davidson might leave the state you say? People would lose their jobs? Oh shit, Jay. Then who will pay for free college if all the corporations leave? Oh wait, sorry, didn't mean to make you face reality. Just close your eyes, Jay. Your liberal socialist dreamworld will be back once you re-enter your REM sleep.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned! Oh boy will you ever wanna stay tuned.
- Kyle

Perez, UWM Neighborhood Relation Contact, Fired

2010-04-02T08:15:00.003-05:00

Residents around UWM will have to get used to voicing their concerns to someone other than their friendly neighborhood relations contact person.

Oscar Perez, UWM Neighborhood Relations Director has been let go. Sources at the University explain that he is on a 6-month contract doing unrelated work at the UWM Alumni House while he finds a new position.

Neighbors around UWM are up in arms, beginning petitions and making phone calls in an attempt to have Perez reinstated. My sources made the situation sound as though it was a fairly confrontational situation, leaving Perez walking on eggshells for the remainder of his 6-month grace period.

No word though on why Perez was let go.

Once this Healthcare bill passess

2010-03-21T10:49:00.002-05:00

You'll have this to look forward to! Aren't you excited!

As with most things the government runs...Welfare offices...voting...and remember those long lines for Milwaukee flood relief? Any time government facilitates or runs something that any significant number of people will use, you wait in line.

I hope that really wasn't a heart attack, cause you're number 279. Would you like a chair to sit while you wait?

Go Democrats! Na na na na....na na na na....hey hey hey.....GOODBYE!!

Well if this isn't the truth

2010-03-14T20:59:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what is.

Great piece.

Wow!

2010-03-11T10:54:00.000-06:00

Even Eugene Kane agrees that the protesters were out of line! WOW!

WISN

2010-03-05T14:35:00.001-06:00

Observation

2010-03-02T10:31:00.001-06:00

The same people who support that college should be virtually free, or only cost $100 per class, also, ironically, support raising student fees by $260 per year to support a new Union. Sounds like some folks are talking out of both sides of their mouth.

UWM to play on campus?

2010-02-16T09:38:00.000-06:00

Let's start a discussion.

Ignorance

2010-02-13T16:32:00.002-06:00

Ignorance is believing that you know everything.
Ignorance is the failure to accept that your view on life is wrong.
Ignorance is observing government but not learning about it.
Ignorance is Michael Berkley.

2009-10-05T11:57:00.002-05:00

Everyone-

I wanted to take the time to address you all regarding the anger and outrage over comments I made four years ago on my blog. The anger and outrage you are feeling is legitimate. The comments I made on my blog were very inappropriate; they were wrong. There are not enough ways in the modern dictionary for me to sufficiently say that I am sincerely sorry for the remarks that I made four years ago. An apology is simply not enough.

That is why I would like the opportunity to demonstrate, through my actions and through collaboration, that I am not the individual who made those comments four years ago. I am on a different life path, and have had different experiences, that have completely changed not only my outlook on my own future, but have opened my eyes to a number of different things. My life experiences since I wrote those comments have proven that those comments are wrong. They were as wrong and inaccurate then as they are now, but at the time, I didn’t know any better, and could only comment based on my experiences up to that point. Further, it was very unfortunate that the reporter in the news story on Channel 4 chose to edit his story together in the manner he did. My apology for those comments was not included in his story, and I was portrayed in a manner that would make viewers believe that I still feel that my comments four years ago hold true, or are legitimate. That is not what I believe, and I should have never believed in what I wrote. Unfortunately, at that time I did.

No matter what I do, I will not be able to change that I grew up in a small suburb of Milwaukee that is mostly white, went to a school district that has less than 30% minority students enrolled, and entered my adult life with views that I am not proud of. Those views have changed, and will continue to change, as my life experiences shape how I view the world. I will never be able to shed my past; my only option is to improve myself.

I will never be able to fully understand what it is like to be like someone other than myself. I will never know what it is to be denied access or opportunity because of the color of my skin or the history of my ancestors. However, knowing that full comprehension is near to, if not impossible, is never a reason not to try.

Despite the current negativity regarding my comments, I believe that something positive can come from every situation. I believe that by working together, we can bring to our campus an open and honest dialogue about race. We are the future, and we need to take it upon ourselves to build upon the progress that has been made, to bring more progress at a faster pace, and resolve the issues that we have as a nation with regard to race and race relations in America. Dialogue must be part of the solution, and I hope more dialogue can come from this issue.

I am truly sorry for the comments that I have made and the anguish it has caused to everyone. I am not perfect. I wrote things that were not only inappropriate and wrong, but are damaging to constructive dialogue and positive improvement. I was part of the problem four years ago. Today, I strive to be part of the solution. Please allow me that honor.

An email to a reader

2009-09-30T16:03:00.003-05:00

My feelings are best summed up in a response I wrote to a reader who took the time to write to me today. Here is part of that email:

------------------------------

I understand where you're coming from. Four years ago, I had just started a blog, and in journalism, they teach you that news is a business and controversy sells, so the best way to build viewers and readers is to be controversial. I took that too far, and said things that were not an accurate reflections of my feelings. The things I said four years ago were distasteful, bigoted, offensive, inaccurate, and extraordinarily inappropriate. I wrote things on my blog in the heat of the moment, when I was angry or worked up about something I read or something I saw, and I wrote something at a time where my emotions were in control. Instead of saving what I had written and coming back to it when I had calmed down in an effort to make sure that what I post was an accurate representation of my thoughts on the subject, I just wrote something and posted it right away without looking back over it. I made a mistake.

I learned from a mistake several years ago, and have changed how I go about forming an opinion and sharing my opinion since then. What I did not do, and should have done, was apply that to past comments that I had made, to ensure that they accurately reflect how I think. I did not do that. I regret it.

Again, I make no excuses for what I said. It was inappropriate and hurtful, and is not an accurate reflection of how I feel. An apology does not do my comments justice, and cannot take away the anger that they have caused, but an apology is all that I can give, along with a change in how I am as a person, and an ongoing demonstration that the person who wrote those remarks four years ago is not the person I am today.

MORE BREAKING NEWS FROM UWM

2009-06-24T13:33:00.007-05:00

Several reliable sources within the Department of Student Affairs at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee have confirmed that Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Helen Mamarchev will be stepping down to work elsewhere in the University, vacating the position of Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs.

No official public confirmation from the University, and no details are available regarding who will be named Interim Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, and no information was available about the search and screen committee that would need to commence to fill the position.

Students rejoice. With Helen gone from this role, UWM is most certainly a better place for students.

UPDATE 6PM - additional sources are shedding more light on the situation indicating that Mamarchev is not leaving voluntarily and has 6 months left at UWM.

UPDATE 6/26: University officials now publicly acknowledge Mamarchev out, Dean James Hill Interim Vice Chancellor.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

BREAKING NEWS

2009-06-09T00:51:00.004-05:00

This just in:

There was a dead bird in the freezer.

Get over it.

Now this.

---------------------------------

Jay Guevara-Burseth (JGB) has a blog. It's really interesting, a little. Not nearly as much as the resurgence of PantherTalk Live is sure to be, and it even pales in comparison to Richard over at the Jive. Third rate, same tier as the Post, I'd say.

Anyhow, he's using his blog, which, I'm sure has 45 hits (2 were me) as this cute little mouthpiece thing with an insider's perspective, yadda yadda, something about how he wants to be socialist, blah blah. You get it. Well, as you can tell by the breaking news bulletin, he used it to complain a bit about his first day in office. The guy hasn't even been around for 24 hours as President yet and he's already complaining! Students, you're in for a long year! Wait until the shit really hits the fan and he has something to complain about...like not being able to raise your segregated fees by 200%. Then he'll really be miffed.

So, the outgoing administration, much like the Clinton Administration, when they left the White House for George W. Bush, had a few laughs setting up pranks and shenanigans for the incoming Jay Guevara-Burseth/Mike Zahorik Administration.

So apparently the office was messy. It was clean when I left it, and I know that my office, and my desk space were clean because I did it myself. So there's some mess. Clean it up. Next, apparently the pictures of a former SA President being buddy-buddy with Chancellor Santiago struck a nerve. Those pictures, which were allegedly left "everywhere paper could be left" in the office really perplexed Burseth and Zahorik. See, I surmise that if they were really left, they were probably left by someone who got a kick knowing that the crazy hippies just absolutely HATE former President Rueden. It worked. JGB seems stewed over it!

And then, JGB continued to whine about how there weren't really any documents in the office when he moved in. Well, Jay, what were you expecting to find? Were you expecting to find all of the things that SA has had stored in the Library's archives? Well, Jay, you wouldn't really find those in the office if....THEY'RE STORED IN THE LIBRARY'S ARCHIVES!!!!! And, the governing documents you are apparently looking for so that you can read them for the first time are probably on the website. It would help if you knew your website and knew how to retrieve the important information that is located on them. I'm just saying.

Then, and you should make sure you're sitting down for this one, JGB is accusing someone of leaving a dead bird in the freezer. You see, now, I mean, I know who put the bird in there, and I can't say it was the brightest idea anyone ever had, but half the fun of planting something for a prank or a joke is because you get to imagine what the reaction of the person who finds it. Who plans on finding a dead bird in a freezer? I mean, come on. Best idea, no. Adult decision, probably not. But then again, what pranks are ever good ideas or sound decisions? That's why no one plays pranks 24/7...cause they're not really productive, and most of the time not great decisions. An office-warming prank, what the hell. Now if you find different dead birds in there every day, that would get old fast. To add to it, it's sorta funny because all you hippies are PETA people and Alliance for Animals nutcases. That makes the joke just a little more comical. Again, good taste, nope, but what good prank is?

And then, "Welcome Hippies" on the white board. Just imagine, if we would've written something in sidewalk chalk, Arrowhead High School wouldn't have let us walk at graduation!

So, now that you all know why the world is ending for JGB & Co., we can kick the year off right with an illegal pow-wow breaking several senate bylaws and the Wisconsin Open Meetings law. And JGB will claim that it's ok to do because he didn't know. I'll use that one next time I'm speeding. "I didn't know about that law, officer. I swear." Ignorance apparently is supposed to get Jay off, it may as well work for the rest of us!

I'm not at all interested in spending the rest of the year letting blatant rule and law violations slide just because the newbies want to claim ignorance. I'll call it stupidity, and that doesn't cut it.

RIP Louie
(The bird hasn't been named from what I know, but we should, so we can properly honor it).
May you thaw peacefully wherever your new grave lies.

It's GREAT to be back. Radio shows resume a regular schedule in August!!
That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

To Quote the Vice President

2009-02-10T16:49:00.003-06:00

"You will all hear that I am a liar and cannot prove anything. They are right." - Thomas R. Hughes

Hey, more spending!

2008-11-23T13:08:00.006-06:00

Perhaps, in the interest of raising segregated fees, Senator Dewees, Vice President Hughes, and President Draheim might be interested in wasting even more money on the following:

Center for Weak Fiscal Policy Development
Center for Assisting Entities in Securing Higher Funding (SA-II)
Athletics Resource Center (sub-unit of Athletics Dept)
UWM Smokers Safe Space
Center for Respect of Ancestry
Center for Those Who Don't Already Have a Center

Just some ideas. God knows, some of these folks will probably try to implement these programs next year, or others like it, to create a legacy for themselves. And in the process, they'll say "Screw You," to the student body, and laugh about it.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

Students Beware

2008-11-23T11:49:00.006-06:00

Not only will your tuition likely rise 20% for next year because of the state budget deficit, but thanks to your UWM Student Senators serving on the Senate Finance Committee, your student segregated fees (student taxes) will also raise.

Led by Vice Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Anthony Dewees (amdewees@uwm.edu) who has himself been quoted as saying, "Go ahead, raise segregated fees. I don't pay them anyway," because of his military service, the Senate Finance Committee today voted to recommend that the Student Association raise funding for nearly every entity without looking at it with a critical eye, and without scrutinizing the requests carefully.

Joining Dewees on this endeavour to raise your fees were:
Senator Joe Kolbach (jkolbach@uwm.edu)
Senator Michael Smits (mjsmits@uwm.edu)
Senator Emily Grotz (eegrotz@uwm.edu) Chair of Senate Appropriations Committee which is also over-budget, and has spent its reserves down from approximately $400,000 to $150,000 in one year
Senator Craig Hass (crhaas@uwm.edu)
Vice President Thomas Hughes (trhughes@uwm.edu)
and yes, even myself, sellout Senator Kyle Duerstein (kjd4@uwm.edu)

Why did I join this group of segregated fee hiking fiscal liberals? Part of it was to make a point, that if the committee was going to vote for something based on faulty and stupid reasoning, that it ought to vote for everything using the same misguided ridiculous justifications. The other part was that I'm honestly sick and tired of standing up for something that I truly believe in and losing. Very few other senators on this committee feel strongly one way or the other on much of anything that we voted on.

Vice President Hughes feels strongly and has said that we should screw Bud Haidet and the Athletic Department. There's no denying that President Draheim feels adamantly that all students at UWM should fund laziness and buy newspapers for the entire student body because people are too lazy to get their news from the Internet. Senator Grotz very obviously feels strongly about SAC and the Student Activities Office. And me...I feel very strongly about everything, but I'm sick of fighting the losing fight when the only reason we lose is because other people, people that could care less, are doing what they're told.

Senator Kolbach, who felt strongly, and voted last week that Draheim's newspaper program was NOT a critical service suddenly today apparently felt very strongly that it WAS. Senator Dewees apparently feels very strongly that as long as he doesn't have to pay a dime for any of this, that everyone should get what they ask for. After all, he's said it himself. He's not affected.

So what's the real damage, right? In essence, we're only undoing part of the fiscally responsible things we've done over the past few years. Who cares? Never mind that SUFC was elected because of their critical eye towards everything, and an emphasis on fiscal responsibility. I guess it just comes down to a difference of opinion. Some feel that paying for things that are available elsewhere on campus for free is great. I don't feel that way, but why should I take the heat for being an obstructionist?

The Senate Finance Committee used to be a group of folks who would look at everything critically and make tough decisions to bring spending under control and make things reasonable. Now, the definitions of "under control" and "reasonable" have changed to mean indiscriminate increases because it's easy, it doesn't make you feel as bad, and it's what other people want.

One can only hope that the SA Senate isn't as much of a rubber stamp. Hopefully there will be indications in the Senate that lead me to believe that the Senate will choose a different path, so that I can actually advocate for the things I passionately care about, instead of abandoning them for the policies of the tax-and-spend rubber-stampers named above.

Contact me, and contact all those other folks too. Almost all of them ran for election on a policy of fiscal scrutinizing and an ability to make the tough decisions. The only tough decisions they've made today was their decision to become sheep and follow their shepherd, a guy that hasn't paid a dollar in segregated fees, and likely never will.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
- Kyle

New engineering campus plans move along

2008-11-08T10:04:00.004-06:00

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors voted 17-2 in favor of the county beginning negotiations of a purchase agreement between the County and UWM for a portion of the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa. Read more here.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

This week's column

2008-11-03T19:31:00.003-06:00

My column in this week's UWM Post.

Only online this week. Hippie editors don't want to influence the election. Well, MAYBE IT NEEDS TO BE INFLUENCED. Idiots.

Tune into my weekly online talk radio program Tuesday at 4:30PM CST. Special election day edition this week!

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Striking similarities

2008-11-03T11:43:00.006-06:00

1918 Soviet Rally in St. Petersburg shortly before being renamed Leningrad.

UWM Hippie-Fest 2008

Can you tell the difference?

Socialism is alive and well within the Obama campaign.

Fear Obama's America.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

So now they cry foul?

2008-10-28T10:22:00.004-05:00

Mike Rosen, UWM neighborhood resident and quite possibly the most unintelligent professor ever to teach a college class is crying foul. The McCain campaign is pointing out the legitimate link between Obama and Bill Ayers, domestic terrorist. How dare they, cries Mike Rosen. Enough is enough, he says! We can't call people terrorists!

Where was he when his neighborhood cronies were calling UWM students terrorists? He remained silent and therefore indicated that he approved of the tactics. Only now he musters up the will to stand up and speak out. What a phony. Horrible excuse for intelligent life.

On a side note, isn't trying to destroy the American way of life and basic principles of our Constitution more reminiscent of terrorist activity than say...having a house party, Mike? Yet you still support Obama. Stupid, stupid fool. I pity you, Mike Rosen.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

We're desperate

2008-10-27T11:58:00.003-05:00

The Journal Sentinel has now apparently become desperate in its attempts to bamboozle readers into thinking that they aren't biased. What a crock.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

This week's column

2008-10-27T10:41:00.005-05:00

Since the UWM Post ran an edited version which removed some strong points and my usual abusive language only to substitute it with weak "academic" blather, below is the unedited version of my column, which appears in this week's UWM Post.

You’ve Gotta be Kidding
Travel grants give student organization members free vacations
Kyle Duerstein

If I were to tell you that you could take a trip to almost anywhere in the country and not pay a dime for the travel costs, you’d first probably react by saying, “You’ve gotta be kidding.” Then you’d likely think there was some sort of catch.

Well, behold. There is no “catch.” The Senate Appropriations Committee is a committee of student government. Every year, it takes segregated fee money, money from your tuition bill, and gives it out to hundreds of student organizations here at UWM. The purpose of this is to enrich the student life of UW-Milwaukee. A novel quest, and probably unobjectionable to most.

Contrary to what most of you think my conservative tendencies, I do not oppose the concept of what the appropriations committee does. It’s fine, so long as it’s not abused. Therein lies the problem.

The Senate Appropriations Committee allocates roughly $500,000 each year to any of UW-Milwaukee’s nearly 400 student organizations. Organizations come to the committee with funding requests for a number of different reasons. Many come for operational support, like a phone line, office supplies, storage room, printing costs, etc. Many come seeking funding for educational speakers or cultural events they seek to hold on campus. Some come for travel funding.

Travel funding is the type of funding most abused by student organizations on campus. There’s plenty of room for fraud, and student organizations know it.

For example. October 8-12 I was in Washington DC to speak at a national conference. I paid my own way, but if I wanted to leech off of your tuition money, I could have, quite easily. I could have spoken with a student organization that supports the goals of the conference I attended, and could have asked them for financial assistance. In turn, they would have filled out a travel grant request and gone in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Committee would have asked questions, looked at air fare quotes, hotel room prices, the cost of a 7-day subway pass, and other possible expenses, and would have arrived at an amount of money they feel is appropriate based on their guidelines and limitations.

I likely could have very easily gotten over $350 for my travel, and for what? I perhaps spent 9 hours over two days at this conference. The rest of my time was spent sightseeing. If I would have used your tuition money to fund my trip, you would’ve gotten screwed.

Just because I don’t leech off your money doesn’t mean that other people don’t. There are organizations that receive funding for travel, and likely couldn’t tell you the topic of Saturday morning’s breakout session for the conference they supposedly “attended.” There are others who take trips that most of us would classify as leisure, but because the museum they’re going to has items that relate to their student organization’s purpose, they justify the museum admission and the travel costs to get there, and YOU pay for it.

It’s not all bad all the time, or is it? For instance, recently, a student organization came to the Senate Appropriations Committee for funding to go to a museum in Chicago. The committee scrutinized their request, and granted them a little less then half of what they asked for. Some in student government, myself included, believe that it’s better to help everyone a little bit then to fully fund fewer requests. I’d rather fund 400 organizations by 40% then fund 100 organizations fully. Besides, this is YOUR money we’re giving out. We ought to be able to spend it wisely and with the best intentions.

Well, the organization involved seemed fine with their partial government subsidy, and went on their way. Then, the knight in shining armor rides in, SA President Draheim, and vetoes the request. You haven’t given them enough money, he proclaims, as he advocates that the request be funded in full.

There are some people who share my philosophy of partial funding for almost every student organization that asks. There are those who think we shouldn’t fund much of anything. And then there are those who believe we should give everyone all of what they ask for every time. The first type, those who believe like me, we call them smart, responsible, and realistic. The second are labeled as hate mongers, bigots, and shut-ins. The last type though, them we call crazy.

This is all done with your money folks. Don’t think that it’s not. So far this year, almost half of the money allocated to student organizations has been allocated for travel. That’s a lot of money ($111,000), and there’s a lot of room for fraud and misuse. And when the Senate Appropriations Committee does its best job at trying to ensure that no one gets a free ride, only to have others in SA that know little about student organization funding override an attempt at responsible spending, it’s a slap in the face to each one of you who involuntarily pays for all of this. Unfortunately for all of you, on this, I’m not kidding.

Tune in to my weekly online radio program on Tuesday afternoons at 4:30PM CST.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

The beat goes on

2008-10-26T17:05:00.004-05:00

When you're sick, you're sick. Most people recover and move on after a day or two. Their employer either understands, or begrudgingly accepts the fact that good employees who are good at what they do will be sick, and it's best not to fire them because they're good, and will be hard to replace.

Apparently, in the city of Milwaukee, if you're sick, even once, you're fired. Either that or being sick once or twice a year is the difference between being homeless or having an apartment. There's been a lot of talk about the paid sick day ordinance that is on the ballot in the city of Milwaukee on November 4th. It's a crock of shit, but we'll talk more about that on Tuesday's show!

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Young Voter Panel discuses final presidential debate

2008-10-22T17:20:00.003-05:00

HERE.

Yours truly moderated.

My Novel Quote of the Day

2008-10-10T15:07:00.004-05:00

"Success and prosperity are not notions provided to the people by its government, they are beliefs and goals created by Americans for themselves. Make no mistake, the government did not create this...the American people created capitalism and limited government to help them achieve this success, this prosperity. The limited government that the people first created is no longer limited, and the prosperity of the American people is suffering as a result."

This week's column

2008-10-06T12:52:00.002-05:00

The University last week forcefully removed the McCain banner hanging a few inches from the College Republican's office window in the UWM Union overlooking Spaight's Plaza. They're the College Republicans....duh.

Chair of the UWM College Republicans, Tyler Kristopeit, was a guest on Vickie McKenna's show the next day. He gave out the telephone number to the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Dr. Helen Mamarchev. She's one of the liberal-leaning college administrators that hasn't been able to "coexist" with a conservative student movement since she came to this campus. So, I'll give out her phone number too: (414) 229-4038.

She's got a photo of her hugging Al Gore in her office, but students can't hang a banner in theirs? Tell her that's almost as big of a load of crap as Al Gore's hot air about global warming.

I'm in Washington DC Wednesday-Sunday, so no radio show this week, and no column in Monday's UWM Post. Bummer, I know, BUT that means the only place you can hear from me is right here, so keep checking back!

That's all for now.
Stay tuned for live reports from the Defending the American Dream Conference in DC!
-Kyle

College Republican Banner

2008-10-02T16:31:00.003-05:00

REMOVED

The McCain banner in the College Republican office in the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee student union, visible from Spaight's Plaza, has been removed by UWM Union officials. More details to follow.

Links from today's show

2008-09-30T17:08:00.005-05:00

Breaking news on today's show. SA President Tyler Draheim announces that SA is being threatened with legal action for an outstanding legal bill from when the SA offices were shut down two years ago by UWM Administration. More here.

Also, the website that the pitiful Jay Burseth used to try to con me into calling a Conservative "radical." Corrine Wiesmueller looks like a great candidate. Check out her website, and if you live in the district, consider voting for her!

UWM Post

Student Commitment 2008

Also, be sure to tune in on Thursday night right after the Vice Presidential Debates to hear who won and who lost from a student perspective. Chime in with your comments! 9:40 p.m. Central time on Thursday night.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Today's show!

2008-09-30T12:12:00.002-05:00

Be sure to tune in to today's PantherTalk Live.

Hear about the SHAC fiasco, how Jay Burseth tried to con me into making a fool out of myself (didn't happen of course) and the Breaking News about SA's continuing legal issues.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Great!

2008-09-21T17:55:00.004-05:00

This was a great column! And no, it's not even mine!

I mean, never mind that they were letting a Junior in high school into a Freshman Mixer dance... but Jim Stingl hit the nail on the head with this one.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Tune into todays show

2008-09-16T17:36:00.004-05:00

We talk about teacher work slow-downs during contract negotiations, are they good or bad. Also, tearing down the Hoan Bridge? Say it aint so! St. Francis wants a school referendum on the November ballot. Also, the parking study that suggests that students pay higher parking rates while the faculty continue getting the sweetheart deal and able to park for 40 cents in some areas on campus.

Tune in!

This week's column

2008-09-15T12:01:00.002-05:00

Be sure to check out my column this week in the UWM Post.

So, you want to have a block party?

2008-09-10T12:34:00.008-05:00

Fall weather. Grills hot and cooking a full compliment of chicken, burgers, hot dogs, and brats. Alcoholic drinks in the coolers, and a few hundred of your fellow students just having a good time along with you.

Well, not exactly, anymore.

My column this week in the UWM Post spoke a little bit about the whoring out of UWM Students' rights and personal lives all in the name of neighborhood pacification. It continues, this time, with threats from administrators towards the two students who came up with the idea of having a block party on Saturday, September 20th.

Jimmy Lemke, one of the students who originally came up with the idea to have a block party was summoned by Vice Chancellor Helen Mamarchev and Dean of Students Jim Hill only to be threatened and seemingly misled in an effort to dissuade him from going through with the Frederick Ave. block party.

In an email sent out by Jimmy Lemke earlier today, Lemke conveyed to everyone the information shared with him by Dean HIll and Vice Chancellor Mamarchev. This email was forwarded to me, and suffice it to say I was pretty skeptical of the statement that "...the police would be preparing for a riot." Apparently, this includes the SWAT Team and mounted officers showing up to disperse the crowd.

Sure, that's what the neighbors would want. Of course, that's what slimy Nic Kovac, new 3rd District Alderman would want. Absolutely, that's the way UWM would have things.

From what I can discern at this point though, none of that is reality. And, just to check, I put a call in to Anne E. Schwartz, Public Relations Manager for the Milwaukee Police Department.

The voicemail she left, in relevant part:
"We are aware of the planned block party for September 20th and the Milwaukee Police Department will be monitoring that event. Not sure where you got all that other dramatic information, but I can tell you that the Milwaukee Police Department will be monitoring the event. We are aware and we are working with UWM Police to ensure that if this event does occur, that it's safe for everyone attending."

Well, sounds like the Milwaukee Police are calling up those SWAT officers and grooming the horses, doesn't it?

So the question remained to be answered: Is it more likely than not that two high ranking UWM Administrators lied to Lemke in an attempt to scare him off from holding this block party?

Perhaps that question will be ultimately answered later on in the day today, but as of right now, my magic 8-ball says "signs point to yes."

Awaiting response from:
Anne E. Schwartz, Public Relations, MPD (again)
Officer Robakowski, Community Liaison, MPD District 5
Tom Luljak, Vice Chancellor University Relations/Communications
Jim Hill, Dean of Students
Nik Kovac, Alderman

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Breaking News: Mass Senate resignations (UPDATED)

2008-09-03T13:43:00.012-05:00

UPDATES BELOW IN BLUE.

Student government officials are talking quietly about a recent wave of resignations. At least two of the resignations come from individuals with a multi-year history in the Student Association. Senator Joseph Ohler (At-Large), former SA Academic Affairs Director and three-term SA Senator resigned today along with Senator Robert Grover (At-Large), SA President during last year, and Senator previous to that.

Grover, I reported on my radio show yesterday, is taking the semester off of school to work on an assembly campaign in northwestern Wisconsin. Several Senators and officials within the Student Association, including myself, are beginning to look into Grover's mishandling and illegal spending of SA reserve money. Reports are circulating that Grover spent as much as $115,000 from SA reserves, and that at least some expenditures were done without Senate approval, a violation of SA Bylaws. Student Association officials also point the finger at a Unit Business Representative in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs as having completed those fund transfers at Grover's request, knowing that SA Bylaws required Senate approval.

SA President Tyler Draheim confirms that Ohler did apply for the position of University Affairs, a new position that encompasses the duties of the Academic Affiars position and Director of Inclusion.

Also reported to have resigned are:
Senator Evan Kristopeit (L&S)
Senator Stas Krakovyak (Business)
Senator Steven Dibb (Business)
Senator Ryan Schwab(At-Large)

Soon to resign:
Senator Mia Stieneman (L&S)

President Tyler Draheim confirms that he will appoint SUFC Senator Mia Stieneman, who was known to have been in a relationship with Vice President Thomas Hughes, to the University Student Court.

Also no longer on the Senate is Senator AJ Piwarun who graduated in May and served as a Graduate Senator during the summer months, even though he had no intention of actually staying at UWM for Grad School. He is now attending Valparaiso University in Indiana.

An official announcement from Speaker of the Senate Tyler Kristopeit is likely to come with the release of Sunday night's Senate Agenda.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Breaking News: Executive Branch Hires

2008-09-02T18:27:00.003-05:00

Sources confirm that the executive branch of the Student Association at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee will be made up of the following staff members. Many of these are already hired, but some are not, so here is a complete list of the staff members:

University Affairs Director: Cara Campbell
Legislative Affairs Director: Daniel Carpenter
Treasurer: Kristi Anderson
Secretary: Amanda Voigtlander
Public Relations Director: Michael Knappen
Shared Governance Director: Brandon Decker
Webmaster: Brok Bucholtz

Office Managers:
Noah Kaufmann
Ian Audas-Anderson
Andrea Kloehn
Hannah Dirkse
Jamie Livermore
Riley Haupt
Dave Jetton

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Milwaukee County National Night Out information

2008-08-05T12:14:00.005-05:00

View Larger Map

Possible site for new student housing released

2008-08-05T10:27:00.005-05:00

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this story today on the 8 possible sites for new student housing.

Notice my comment at the bottom. A little provocative, but hey, sometimes the truth hurts. Glad to see student reaction in this one.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Juuuuuust a tad disingenuous

2008-07-31T09:38:00.004-05:00

A friend called me recently and said, "Do you know that crazy neighbor you always pick on?" The only answer I could have, of course, was, "Which one?" My friend said, "That Mike Rosen guy. Do you know he has a blog?"

Of course I know he has a blog. Indoctrinating liberal philosophy in his MATC classroom, shaping the easily formed beliefs of kids that take his class isn't enough. He tries to bamboozle the rest of us as well by passing his political philosophy off as some intellect's professional unbiased analysis.

This morning, I thought I'd check up on good ol' Mike's blog because it's been a while since I could stand to read his balderdash. I just finished the latest post, and I've already got a headache.

It bothers me that Rosen would seemingly let criminals out of jail. Typical liberal viewpoint though. No accountability, it's society's fault, yadda yadda. Right? What bothers me more however, is that Rosen pretends to care about prison costs having a negative impact on higher education.

I'll tell you what. Overpaid administrators have a negative impact on higher education. Paying between $50,000 - $60,000 per year to the Milwaukee Police Department has a negative impact on higher education. That could pay for a lecturer, at least. Mike Rosen thinks that he benefits from that though, so of course he won't complain about it.

And don't let Rosen fool you. He couldn't care less if fewer people can afford higher education. Well, at least at UWM. Rosen doesn't actually want more people to go to UWM, and he and his militant neighbors would not surprise me if they were actually secretly alright with students being priced out. Whatever keeps them out of UWM. God forbid UWM educate more students, lest Mike Rosen have a student neighbor. Woe is me.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

More on the Milwaukee Five

2006-01-21T13:09:00.002-06:00

Congressman Gwen Moore likened her son's felony charge to the civic death penalty. She also stated that the only reason her son was being charged was because of her political stature.

Well doesn't she think her shit don't stink?

Not only, as Jessica McBride points out, did her son basically admit to the tire slashing by taking the deal, but Gwen Moore also said, "This allows him to continue to be an asset to the community."

I'm sorry...what kind of community asset promotes breaking the law by vandalizing property and suppressing voters? I'm not sure asset is the right word there.

I know of someone who had a class with Gwen Moore's son last semester. His real name is Sowande Omokunde. In class, apparently you're supposed to call him "Supreme."

Well...he's quite the supreme villain if you ask me.

Now, to give him the benefit of the doubt, it might be the English translation. To which I say, "Who the hell names their kid Supreme?"

People with confidence problems...

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Another Cudahy Thing

2006-01-20T21:12:00.001-06:00

Crystal Brunner and her fiance got their apartment broken into Thursday afternoon. They live in Cudahy, just off of Packard Avenue.

I live blocks away from where this incident took place. We in St. Francis don't usually have nice things to say about those that dwell in Cudahy. This case is no different.

The couple spoke out today to Fox 6 in Milwaukee. Brunner, the woman "victim" was speaking out about the Cudahy Police searched their apartment after receiving a tip that the break in may have had something to do with drugs.

Not only that, the police have been to that house before. I wonder what for?

Cudahy baby killer...guilty.

Cudahy home invasion....I'm not so sure I want to give them the benefit of the doubt regarding their own innocence or guilt on the matter.

Does anyone else ever notice that everyone who is put in front a a news camera lately from Cudahy, with the exception of police and city officials, looks like trailer trash psycho babblers? Well, I have.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Four Plea Bargains + One Acquital = The Milwaukee Five.

2006-01-20T17:03:00.002-06:00

Four of the Milwaukee five pleaded down their charges to misdemeanors. The other tire slasher was acquitted of charges. The four tire slashers that pleaded out their charges will have to pay restitution and the district attorney's office in Milwaukee is recommending no prison time.

How many people called that one? Bad job by the DA's office.

But does this mean that Milwaukee jurors blame the national party? hmmm

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Mark Green Speaks to Panther Talk Live

2006-01-19T20:23:00.002-06:00

Congressman Mark Green and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker are running to be Wisconsin Governor. Literally…running.

Both men spoke today in front of a packed room of school board members, superintendents, and other administrators at the Wisconsin Association of School Board's annual convention. The convention started Tuesday and will culminate Friday with an address from current governor, Jim Doyle.

I’ve always said that I give credit where credit is due. That is certainly the case for these two gentlemen. For two Republicans to sit in a room full of school board members and other school representatives that want more money, and stand up and tell them that the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is an important program for Wisconsin takes some balls. That’s putting it frankly, at least.

During the debate, I did notice that Scott Walker was more willing to pin down specific ideas and programs. He seemed knowledgeable about most that he was asked about. He talked a lot about his accomplishments as Milwaukee County Executive and how the being county exec. prepares him well to be governor.

Mark Green was knowledgeable, but seemed less anxious to pin down any specific plans. He was thoroughly interested in learning more though. I think that’s important. As a new school board member, I am learning the importance of being non-committal…especially on issues that I know little about. I think the willingness to learn more about those issues before making a bogus commitment is an important trait.

I’m not a big fan of people that think they know it all, and seem to have an answer for everything. With experience in the real world, I know that that is seldom the case.

After both men were finished, I got a chance to speak to Congressman Mark Green for a little bit, thanks to Tom Keeley, might I add. It was kind of gutsy, because as many of you have followed, Keeley knows me, and he knows my writing. He knows that I’ll be truthful, regardless of how it “looks.” I think it’s important to have trust in the candidate you back. Especially when that trust is well placed.

I asked Mark Green about college. I asked him about tuition. I asked him what we could do to make it all better.

The answers were simple. Mark Green agrees with 100% of college students. College tuition in the UW system is too high. It’s too high because student fees are too high. Green cited that UW-Green Bay has 1,100 in student fees. I’m not sure whether that’s the semester or the year. I paid $364.80 this semester. In addition, I paid $934.00 extra to take college connection internet classes. I’m not sure how they get off charging me extra for not using a classroom, and in some cases, not even a real professor (TA’s did ALL the work in one of my online classes next semester.) but that’s a different topic for a different day, perhaps.

The fact is that costs are too high. It will have cost me over 8,000 dollars this year to attend school and buy books. While college education is important, for a 20-year-old, $8,000 is about $3,000 too much. Coincidentally, as Green pointed out, that’s the amount my tuition has gone up since Governor Doyle took office. Not that there might be a correlation.

Why might tuition be too high? Green thinks it might have something to do with one of the two Associate Vice-Chancellors to the Provost in the division of Academic Affairs. And that’s just at UW-Milwaukee. One can only imagine how long the title gets at larger state schools like Madison.

How can we make it better? Let’s start by getting tuition down, by getting rid of unnecessary and costly positions of fluff. Then, let’s get the word out, shall we? Mark Green agrees that all too many of the lower class and lower-middle class don’t think they can afford college, let alone wasting money to pay a few Associate Vice-Chancellors to the Provost in the division of Academic Affairs. We need to make our schools affordable, and then we need to promote them, and let all students and families know and be able to attain the benefits of a post-secondary education.

Now, Green didn’t say all that, hence the absence of quotation marks. I suspect he might have, given more time together. I had a very good conversation, and he got me out of the Walker camp…for now at least.

I will say that I felt extraordinarily rushed. Walker was out of the room a while before Green and I finished talking. Green’s aide stood next to him nodding with him as if to hurry him along. I can understand being busy, but there’s a point when rushing gets a little disrespectful. I’m not being ungrateful though.

I realize that these two men are extremely busy attempting to inherit a humongous mess made over the last four years by a liberal governor with the math skills of a four-year-old. Not only are they very busy gentlemen…one begins to question their sanity.

That’s all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Milwaukee's MLK Celebration Not a Game of Politics.

2006-01-15T19:35:00.002-06:00

The Martin Luther King Jr. celebration that took place today at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in Milwaukee was a wonderful celebration of a man with the integrity I only wish of being able to encounter in this day and age.

For at least one day a year, whites and blacks joined hands in Uihlein Hall to pray for the life of a man who fought so hard for equality and justice.

There was no propaganda. There were no antagonists. There was no blame placed for what once was and no whining about circumstances.

There was dancing. There was singing. There was celebration and there were tears of joy.

It was a wonderful accumulation of intelligent and classy people of all ages and from all races, all walks of life, and all income levels. They joined together today to celebrate what they should be. More tolerant, more accepting, and more diverse.

If only for 5 hours on one day a year, blacks and whites alive had everything in common. An Admiration for Dr. Martin Luther Kind Jr.

And Eugene Kane WASN'T one of those speakers talking about equality and bringing people together. In fact, I didn't see him there at all.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

What?!

2006-01-14T13:48:00.002-06:00

There would be hell to pay if any of my teachers ever did this.

Here's What Happens When You Swing Before the Pitch is Even Close...

2006-01-13T09:05:00.002-06:00

Belling mentioned on his show yesterday on how Spivak and Bice, the Spice brothers "by anotha motha" as Eugene Kane might add, are seemingly out to get him this week. They continued their unimpressive all out assault by talking about how this guy who is selling his bobble-head was only getting 10 bucks for it.

First, it shows that Spivak and Bice know nothing about eBay...no one bids until the last 2 hours...they call it a strategy. To make fun of the opening bid with six days remaining is a stretch.

Not only that, but when Belling mentioned it on his show, the bid went up to 152.50, as of the time I write this, still with five days remaining.

Maybe the seller of the bobble-head could use the money for production of a Spivak and Bice Bobble head? Belling suggested that they each have their own. I suggest you just put both heads on Spivak's body. We all know it's wide enough.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Understanding the Misunderstood

2006-01-12T17:38:00.002-06:00

I was at Leon’s getting some famous frozen custard the other day.

My mom and I were sitting in our car while eating our custard, and a family of four walked up to place their order.

It was so humorous…how my mom was completely baffled by the clothing and style choices of the children.

The two girls were dressed in all black and sported their gothic chains hanging from every possible place they could latch on to. She walked up to perform the perfectly normal behavior of ordering food, but her choice of dress and her dark, painted stuffed rabbit.

I attempted to explain the gothic subculture of teenagers to my mom. As I explained it to her, I realized that by their own design, the gothic subculture is impossible to explain, even for its participants.

I went to high school with some self made, self proclaimed “Goths.” They weren’t always that way. I had always known them to be intelligent people. Those that I know don’t take it overboard. They realize that they’re different. They don’t wear the chains or carry the stuffed animals, but they do wear darker colors, darker colored lipstick and eyeliner, baggy, very wide-legged black jeans, etc.

I have nothing wrong with self-expression. If you like the baggy super wide legged black jeans, then that’s fine. When you start to go overboard and decide to wear 6-foot long chains wrapped around your pants, hanging from your belt loops, you’ve crossed the line from self-expression to psychotic behavior.

The over the top Goths are all about dying their hair dark red, wearing fake vampire teeth year-round, and carrying a dyed-black stuffed animal, in addition to wearing chains on your clothing, qualify as psychotic behavior. It’s time someone actually stands up and says so.

Have you ever asked a psychotic Goth about why they dress the way they do or what personality and humanistic traits set them aside from anyone else in the world? Anyone else in the world that seems to consistently find the will power to dress appropriately and find more conventional ways of self-expression adequate, that is.

They can’t do it. It’s like asking a liberal why murder is wrong and why drunk driving is wrong, and then asking why Ted Kennedy is someone that the country should look up to. They just can’t do it.

It’s a striving for attention and for added drama that boggles my mind. The type of attention that this attire traditionally receives is negative, and nothing but. I guess it’s the stamp of a liberal to strive for negative attention, similar to the meaningless sloppy squawking of Eugene Kane.

No one understands these people. They don’t want us to. They want to be able to call society ignorant, play the victim, and constantly criticize others for not understanding them. Well no shit. How can you try to understand people that don’t yet understand themselves?

I conclude by surmising that those who choose to be Gothic choose to remain children a little longer. Goths can’t figure themselves out, and don’t want to, so they choose to play into society as misunderstood.

The only way to stop this crap is to ignore the behavior. It’s like the disruptive kid interrupting class. Actually, they often are the disruptive kids interrupting class. The only way to deal with it is to remove it and ignore it.

That’s all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

I promise, I will Diversify for the Remainder of the Week

2006-01-11T10:00:00.004-06:00

Alright. I give up.

Hmmm.....

Yesterday, I started writing, and was going to link you to a blog post Eugene Kane had made entitled, "More Jessica and Me." where he spoke ever more condescendingly towards Jessica McBride regarding the inaccuracies he's fabricated to damage her character as some sort of revenge.

I went to the link, and after having to hit "Skip this Ad" to even access the Journal Sentinel's website (How rediculous is that?) I accessed only to find out...poof...all gone...

So I wonder...why would he post a response to this only to take it down, or have it taken down?

Censorship at it's best?

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Nothing like a Four Hour Marathon

2006-01-10T12:43:00.002-06:00

Yeah. I had a four hour marathon of meetings last night.

Two hours talking about failure rates at the high school and open enrollment seats at the elementary school.

Then a joint meeting with the Common Council to talk about how the school district shouldn't have to pay almost $200,000 for traffic lights. Yeah, go figure.

And then we went into closed session to talk contracts. I think I made a few people frustrated...but that's what they get for trying to jump to conclusions.

Feeling a little frustrated today, as the lone voice, and vote in certain issues. I guess that just means I have to try harder to show them all that I'm right.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Illinois Drivers Crashing Cars in Kuwait?

2006-01-09T15:13:00.002-06:00

Meg Jones is in Kuwait this new year, reporting with Wisconsin troops fighting out War on Terror.

In her blog post, she likens Kuwaiti drivers to Illinois drivers...

I knew those Cubs fans that cross the border ever summer during baseball season were driving like maniacs. I just didn't want to be the first to say it.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Maybe It'll be an Entire Week of Kane...Unbearable

2006-01-09T11:27:00.002-06:00

Alright. So here's the thing.

There are some in the blogosphere that are reluctant to comment on Eugene Kane. They feel that, like the disruptive high schooler launching spit-balls, Eugene Kane strives for any kind of attention he can get.

While he may strive for attention, I'm not so sure he likes the attention he's been getting.

In this blog post made by Kane just over a half hour ago (The time now is 11:30), he recalls his relationship with Jessica McBride while she was at the Journal Sentinel and since.

(I believe I'm the first to comment on it...call this a breaking news update...first on the scene...)

While McBride speculates that she was made by the Journal Sentinel, now that Kane has slammed her, in his blog, Kane admits that he was made by McBride, in terms of his teaching at UW-Milwaukee.

"Just a few years ago, she invited me to speak at her critical writing class at UW-Milwaukee. She also recommended me for a teaching job at the university. I'm teaching there again this year."

There's a whole lotta makin' goin' on. I wanna be made!

Kane defends his decision not to mentor the individual McBride wrote about in her Starfish series by saying that he "ended up in jail." Well apparently Kane is alright with another African-American in jail in Milwaukee County. He doesn't care how they got there, what caused them to get there, or what he could have done to prevent it.

Kane joins the masses of liberals by not caring about the product or the process and only caring about what's good for them.

Kane wants to take more shots at Jessica, calling her condescending and naive, yet he was the one too naive to realize that people, human beings, always have a chance to do good. Kane was naive enough to write off a troubled young man. A troubled young man that Kane could have helped.

I'm pretty sure that the friendship may have gone downhill after Kane refused to help a young black man. I'm pretty sure Kane would be the first to criticize any white guy for refusing to mentor that kid. He'd be the first to blame society for the woes of the teenage black man in Milwaukee, yet he won't step up to try and fix it.

And to seal the deal, Kane again accuses McBride of flip-flopping her political ideology opportunistically.

I was in McBride's class. I didn't know her political ideology until I read her blog near the end of that semester. Perhaps she kept her opinions to herself while she was at work? I had no idea, sitting in her class, what her political orientation was. Perhaps she felt that she should keep politics out of work, especially out of journalism. That's the impression I got of her as an instructor at UW-Milwaukee, and as a respectable person.

Just because she's not childish like Kane, wanting to spin everything politically and racially, doesn't mean she's changed her opinions. She just has avenues to share them through, where doing so is appropriate.

Maybe Eugene Kane should take a few classes on being appropriate. Right after he re-earns a journalism degree. I kind of feel sorry for his students. Sort of like the blind leading the blind.

He did refer to McBride as the Queen of the Blogosphere. We've got a twisted Blogosphere family. Charlie's the Godfather, Jessica's the Queen. It's a mob monarchy...

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

I'm Not Alone in My Miner Coverage Disappointment

2006-01-08T17:53:00.002-06:00

A good friend wrote me this email

I'm a news nut and am glued to the TV (like many of the mindless masses) when there's "breaking" news, but it's so different now then it even was when I was in high school. I remember the Tiananmen Square protests, Gulf War I, etc. all on CNN and watching now it's so hard to watch how it's gone down the...well...toilet (to be nice).

Vindication.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

It's an Entire Weekend of Kane Blunders!

2006-01-08T13:03:00.002-06:00

And I love it!

Kane posted a comment on his blog here on January 6th. It talks about a local blogger, James Widgerson speaking on AM 1290 WMCS about a comment he made on his blog here regarding crime in Milwaukee. Not only could Kane not spell his name correctly, but Kane didn't even link to the blog post in question.

And one day later, you have Kane writing a column about blogging, trashing conservative bloggers, lying and attempting to degrade Jessica McBride for being an honest and upstanding person that happens to have a blog. In addition to that, he felt the need to be humble, and state the following:

"It's my humble opinion that the best blogs - like mine at ww.jsonline.com/links/raisingkane - don't rant and rave as much as refer readers to interesting stories and commentary from other sources."

My first thought was, "How humble of him to toot his own horn."

My second thought was, "There's something wrong here."

There's actually a lot wrong. First being that Kane actually still has a job after large inadequacies in his "reporting." Second is the double standard he allows for himself.

Kane on one day can post a blog post speculating on what Wigderson would say on the radio to a predominantly black audience. He posts that without getting a name spelled correctly and without even linking to the blog post in question, and then the next day, touts his own blog as being a blog that links to other sources and is not a medium for political rhetoric. (Which is surprising because his column never fails as being a medium of political rhetoric.)

Yet he won't even link to the story in question?

January 6th, bash a blogger's statement and speculate on his radio interview.
January 7th, bash more blogs, and tout your own as being one that only links to outside sources, but doesn't spew political blabber.

Hmmm..

I hear something...and it sounds like a Eugene Kane double standard with a little whisper of polarizing racist jibberish...commonly referred to as "street ebonicks, yo." (Street language)

("Yo" is often an added word, included for affect.)

There, now I've got Milwaukee "street cred."

For those educated folk, that's Milwaukee street language for "credibility."

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Eugene Kane Wants to Clarify...well I'll be...

2006-01-07T17:14:00.002-06:00

Eugene Kane took the incident with the misreporting of facts in the West Virginia coal mine disaster as an opportunity to point out some changing stories we have going on right here in Milwaukee.

As I pointed out in commentary here, Eugene Kane is infamous for reporting only one side of the story…the side that lends credence to his cries of racism.

After pressure from myself and many other bloggers and readers, Eugene Kane’s most recent column acknowledges that recent events uncover “changes in his stories.”

Kane concedes that his story of a Germantown woman with racial slurs painted on her garage after her house was set ablaze now has some other information coming to the forefront.

Kane claims that authorities didn’t tell him the whole story when he questioned them regarding their focus of the case. He also says that Evelyn Smith, the so-called victim, lied to him.

Well, it takes a lot, especially for Kane, to even follow up on a story that has changed due to new evidence, especially since Kane is usually the first to polarize a story in terms of race and claim racism.

I wonder though, if I didn’t have my blog, if others like me didn’t have our blogs, if Jeff Wagner didn’t have a radio show, would Kane’s concession ever have come?

We may never really know if Kane had a stroke of consciousness that prompted him to clarify his former statements or if the pressure of others actually being able to find out the real facts is what brought on this clarification

Either way, one thing is still for sure. When it comes to Eugene Kane, I’ll always have my doubts.

That’s all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Coal Miner's Life Endangered Long After Physical Recovery Complete

2006-01-06T16:50:00.002-06:00

While Randall McCloy Jr., sole survivor from the Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia, slowly recovers in Pittsburgh, I wonder to myself what kind of a life he’ll have upon his recovery.

I wonder not about the physical capabilities he will still posses when his condition improves, but I ponder the mental torment that he’ll be forced to endure.

From the reaction of the families after the news was found out…the accurate news…I felt sorry for the survivor.  By saying things like, “We were hoping for 13 miracles and now all we have is crap,” you negate the life and family of the one man that did survive, and survived just barely.

Not only will he have on his mind, if he remembers, the things that he had been through while trapped underground, he’ll be overwhelmed by a firestorm of constant emotion.  Usually, when there are disasters like this and people die, those that had been lucky enough to survive feel internal turmoil about how it should have been them to go.

Add to that the families of the deceased miners proclaiming how your survival doesn’t mean anything.

It’s not all or nothing.  The fact that any of the trapped coal miners made it out alive is a miracle.  Whether 13 survived or one survived, any survival in those circumstances is nothing but a miracle.  To be selfish enough that you would have an “all or nothing” attitude towards that is deplorable.  I don’t care how distraught you were, sensible humans don’t say crap like that.

Those statements and his circumstances upon his recovery may unfortunately translate into a recipe for suicide.  May your prayers be with Randall McCloy Jr. and may God’s blessings lead him to a healthy recovery.

New “Post of the Week” is up.  Click the link on the right toolbar.
That’s all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Coal Miners Story Overshadowed by CNN Failure

2006-01-05T16:37:00.002-06:00

The death of loved ones made the families of the trapped coal miners cry.  Being told by CNN that they were alive, only to find out from the company that this was never the case made those families cry harder.

CNN led the way in coverage on the 13 coal miners trapped in the Sago, West Virginia Coal mine and their apparent rescue early Wednesday morning.

I was watching TMJ4 in Milwaukee late that night when they broke into programming and announced that CNN was reporting 12 survivors found in the mine disaster.  I turned on CNN.

I should have known then and there that something was wrong…come on…It’s CNN…

It’s a shame that the decision was made to continue to report information based on hearsay, and not on an official report from the mine president, Ben Hatfield, the official spokesperson for the International Coal Group (ICG) throughout this ordeal.

Below is the timeline of communication outlined in an afternoon news conference Wednesday, stating the times that information was received.  All times are local to Sago, West Virginia.

11:45PM-Mine Rescue Center receives report of 12 survivors.
12:18AM-Mine Rescue Team reports that they and survivors on way to surface.

NO STATEMENT RELEASED
Mine rescue workers and others that overheard the news called family members and friends on their cell phones to report the jubilating news, but this was not an official briefing by company CEO Ben Hatfield…the ONLY person the media should be reporting facts from.

12:30AM-Mine Rescue Center informed of only 1 survivor, others had no vital signs.
1:20AM-Mine Rescue Team reaches surface, survivor sent to hospital.
1:38AM-Four additional rescue teams and EMTs were sent to the scene to confirm the death of the other miners or to provide them with emergency medical care.

NO STATEMENT RELEASED because the facts and identity of the survivor were not yet known.

2AM-State police officers were notified that initial reports may have been inaccurate, and they were asked to inform the clergy at the church so that families could be informed.
Based on the knowledge of the company, some of the clergy received that message, but it was not effectively relayed to miner’s families.
Mine rescue team debriefed.
2:15AM-Surviror’s identity confirmed as Randall McCloy Jr.
2:30AM-Company completed preparation of a brief statement and went to the church to inform the families.

“We believed it was important to make factual statements to the families.  We sent word to the church that initial reports were inaccurate,” said company CEO Ben Hatfield.

After the families were informed of the official report of the information, the media was then briefed.

The first official announcement regarding the fate of the miners was delivered at around 3AM early Wednesday morning.

So why shortly before midnight Milwaukee time on Tuesday night was I sitting in my living room when programming was interrupted to announce of 12 survivors?

Well, the answer…the only answer, is that CNN and other national news services screwed up big time.

Based on the jubilation of family members desperate for good news that came in the way of an unofficial cell phone call from an unofficial mine spokesperson, the bells at Sago Baptist Church rang, igniting hours of celebration based on unofficial news and fueled by media speculation.

When the bells rang out across the community, many made their way to Sago Baptist Church to find out the news.  These people were bombarded when they arrived by the CNN reporters that I was watching on television.  They were wrongly informed of the inaccurate news that was being reported as fact, and prompted for their reaction.

The problem with 24-hour cable news channels is that there’s not THAT much news.  There’s not news to fill 24 hours in a day, so with not enough news to fill the amount of time that they are on the air, they often turn to speculation to fill that news-less time.

While the families of the dead miners want to blame the CEO of ICG for this, they ought to place their blame among those who actually deserve it.

It’s not the mine’s fault that some news shark got a hold of the wrong information and swam with it.

It’s not fair that the families had to endure this.  There’s not a doubt in my mind that their jubilation wouldn’t have been quite so grand if the media wasn’t there, swarming on the situation, reporting the wrong information as being factual.

There’s a lot to be said for the evolving face of news.  Americans trust that news is news…that news is the factual reporting on actual events.  People trust that news equates to facts and to truth.  This situation is evidence that this isn’t always the case.

What ever happened to waiting for official word from your company source before running with a story?  What ever happened to worrying about what you were saying and making sure it’s the truth for fear of being fired from your job and mistrusted forever?

Cable news happened, where the facts don’t matter as much as the plot.

At least in the early days of our country, news organizations never claimed to be unbiased.  These days though, everything has to be perceived as fair and balanced and equal and unbiased.  Too bad that none of those claims of our present day news organizations are actually accurate.

News needs to get back to the factual reporting of what’s going on in the world.  If CNN didn’t have three hours to speculate, something else would have been on TV, and then once the official statement was released by the company, that would have been covered, and time spent afterward for reaction and analysis.

Three hours reporting no new information gave way to the creation of information and creation of a false news event.  If CNN and other news organizations were to have spent the appropriate amount of time covering this event, the facts would have been correct.

Why spend more than three hours reporting non-stop from a location where you have no official information being released when a two-minute update would have been more than enough time.  If there is nothing to report, there is nothing to report.  Bottom line, end of story.

This is worse than CBS and the fake National Guard memos…and this is far more tragic.

CNN owes Sago, West Virginia and the entire country an apology of epic proportions.  Not only did they screw up the facts and the story, they screwed with the emotions of real people surrounding the tragedy that took place.

The tragedy that these people had to endure is something that can’t ever be wished upon anyone.  Having family and friends trapped underground in a mine after an explosion, and having most of them die is a horrible occurrence.  To have that exponentially compounded by the false reporting of the news media, reporting things as fact that were indeed not at all true, is a life altering betrayal.

I didn’t know any of the miners, and I feel empty.  Thinking about the situation and how it was mishandled by 24-hour cable news makes me sick to my stomach, and leaves me feeling empty inside.  I can’t even imagine how empty and numb that those directly affected by this might be left feeling.

That’s all for now.
Stay Tuned
-Kyle

Kane Drops the Ball Again

2005-12-31T13:13:00.002-06:00

Jeff Wagner hits the nail on the head about a Eugene Kane column appearing two weeks ago.

The column, about an apparent victim of racially motivated violence in Germantown, appeared in December 14th's Sunday issue of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

I didn't comment on the column because I made the mistake of taking it at face value. Had Kane been accurate, it was a horrible situation for this family to go through, having their house set ablaze and weeks later a racially degrading slur painted on their garage.

Apparently, Kane decided to leave out the other side of the story.

As Wagner points out, Kane was quick to blame the city for pressuring the family to clean up the graffiti. The city says though that it and many other groups offered to do so for free, but this assistance was refused.

Oops.

As Wagner points out, Kane was quick to take the mentally challenged role of believing what was apparent on the surface, that perhaps the graffiti and the arson were connected. Well, Wagner dug a little deeper to find that the family was in debt, owing over $8,000 in back property taxes. Wagner also points out that money is sometimes a motive for arson.

Oops.

If Kane were a real journalist, he would have dug deeper and found out what Wagner was able to discover. That maybe playing the victim card fell right in line with their insurance fraud scam. That would have required a little too much effort for Kane, and after all, it's easier for him to play the race card instead of being critical of those who give African-American's a bad name.

Chalk up another point to Eugene Kane for successfully dropping the ball, and I'm not talking about tonight in Times Square. I might hold him to a higher standard, but I don't consider him a real journalist anyways...

Happy New Years Eve everyone!
I scored two club level tickets to the Packer game on Sunday the first, but I should be back blogging around Tuesday-ish.
That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Rainbows and Lollypops

2005-12-29T09:47:00.002-06:00

This is kind of funny.

It reminds me of a saying my mom used to say when my brother and I were smaller.

"It's all just a bunch of rainbows and lollypops, isn't it?"

Apparently, according to Harvard, it is as long as you're a liberal.

I think Harvard got their definition of conservativism and liberalism from regular every day people. It's so simplistic that I think a 2nd grader could understand it, but if that's the superior education standard that they set over there at Harvard, well then who am I to question. After all, second grade was probably a big accomplishment for all those academics out there...

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Road Rage Incident Caused by Those Not Even Driving

2005-12-28T11:50:00.002-06:00

As 2005 draws to a close and you hear all the year in review shows, read the recap stories, and listen to predictions for the future, Samuel McClain will likely spend his New Year’s Eve in a different way than most. His Froedert hospital bed may be the site of his New Year’s Eve party and he’ll spend his extra second as an extra second for recovery, and an extra second for being thankful that he’s still alive.

Sam McClain is the 50-year-old Milwaukee man pulled out of his car and severely gang beaten to within an inch of his life Monday night. He was beaten because he honked his horn at a group of almost 20 hoodlum losers that were blocking the street.

Apparently the group of no-goods ranging in age between 16 and 23 decided that they would make the street near the intersection of 36th and Hampton on Milwaukee’s north side their own convention center.

Apparently though, the staff at the mob convention center’s visitor bureau doesn’t form a friendly welcoming party.

A witness described the mob as having a good time beating McClain and likened the scene to a block party.

Even Eugene Kane has a denunciation of this madness. Where was he denouncing the nonsensical meeting forming an unneeded and ineffective task force on race between Wauwatosa Mayor Theresa Estness and Milwaukee Aldermanic hooligan extraordinaire Michael McGee Jr.? What did the now famous hug between the two accomplish in getting to the bottom line there?

I digress about McGee Jr.

I’m sick of these communities harboring mobsters and remaining silent about their violence and inhumanity. Those communities are the first ones to complain about the high crime rate, being underprivileged, and about how neglected they are in society.

Eugene Kane is right. Enough talking about how bad this behavior is. Let’s shut up and do something about it.

And that starts with these mobster idiots being taught a lesson. Throw the book at these kids.

“Oh, but one mistake shouldn’t follow you,” blah blah blah.

This wasn’t one mistake. One mistake would have been deciding to stand in the middle of a street and not move when you see a car coming. The second mistake was to force the driver of that car to beep his horn to get down a street…a street built for cars, not parties. The third mistake was pulling him from his car because of it. Each decision to throw a punch, jump off a car hood and land on the guy’s head, or cheer it on is a subsequent mistake.

One series of very critical mistakes that almost costs and innocent man his life is indeed something that should follow you for the rest of yours.

If the community and district attorney don’t act swiftly and severely in their apprehension an punishment of these losers, they send a message that they condone this behavior.

These kids obviously didn’t learn the difference between right and wrong in their younger years, and look where it got them. If we can’t teach it to them now through the justice system and through consequences, they really will never learn.

If we can’t control a community’s children and keep them from beating an innocent man for no reason, imagine how idiotic their behavior will be as adults.

With a near record high homicide rate in Milwaukee this year, things that once were normal, everyday, and low-risk activities such as casually driving to a friend’s house on the day after Christmas, start to become more and more dangerous. It’s amazing the things that result in mob beatings and homicides here in Milwaukee.

That’s all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Merry Christmas

2005-12-23T12:32:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas.

I will continue posting next week.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Blog Basher Doesn't Realize His Own Blog...

2005-12-22T11:11:00.002-06:00

Diego Costa over at the UWM Post is at it again.

His latest rambling is predictably slamming blogs and bloggers.

I don’t have must to say to Costa besides to tell him that he’s wrong, dumb, and doesn’t deserve the amount of time it would take to counter every accusation and point that he makes.

Stereotyping bloggers as all a group of the same isn’t a smart move. I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate it if someone assumed something of him just because some other gay guys fit a certain set of facts.

I’m not an anti-confrontational person. I welcome confrontation because if there’s a need for confrontation, it means I get to prove how right I am, and I enjoy being right.

Costa fears that blogs only accent the quick discarding of ideas. Now, I could say that he of course would fear something like that because he’s a crazy flag burning America hating liberal that has a lot of bad ideas, bad ideas like “Bedtime Stories” and “Daytime Reactions.” The only ideas that aren’t given careful considerations are bad ideas. I surmise that most bloggers are result-oriented people, hence not wanting to waste time considering an idea that sucks.

Costa seems to enjoy psychoanalyzing everyone else, so I lend this diagnosis of him: Diego Costa has acceptance issues.

He’s not accepted into mainstream society because he’s a nut-job.

Costa enjoys dismissing blogs and bashing bloggers, but little does he realize that his entire section of the newspaper is his own blog, in a sense. Largely, he is the only person whose writings are so prominently displayed, front and center of the section to be read first. He is the only one that has review over what he or anyone else in his section of the newspaper wish to publish, although that may luxury of his may be gone after his “Bedtime Stories” snafu. He writes his obscene leftist remarks and they go to print for the entire campus of UWM to read.

So what’s the harm if I do the same thing on my little slice of cyberspace? Well, the harm in that is that I am intelligent and successful and that I don’t have the same view as he does.

That’s all or now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Big Corn vs. Big Oil vs. Big Government. Everyone's a Winner, Except the Average Joe

2005-12-22T10:37:00.002-06:00

Among the things that most of us have heard in the past week, the phrase, “Big Corn" may rank among the most ironic.

The Wisconsin State Assembly voted 54-38 in favor of mandating a 10% ethanol blend in all gasoline sold in the state.

For those that live in the southeast region of the state, where this is already mandated, you know how much hell this may bring for your fellow Wisconsinites in other regions of the state.

In the Milwaukee area, we have had reformulated gasoline containing 10% ethanol for as long as I can remember, definitely longer than I’ve been driving…

The debate rages on over the effects ethanol really has on the environment, positive or negative, and the effects that is has on vehicle engines and components.

While you won’t find much argument in the southeastern corner of the state that ethanol blended fuel here sucks, it raises the irony about the phrase “Big Corn” in the rest of the state, and exposes yet another liberal double standard…or maybe two…

Farmers farm that land for a living. Liberals don’t like farmers because of overusing the land and hurting the soil, blah blah blah.

Yet, farmers can’t get ethanol sold on its own in the free market because it’s a bunch of crap, so liberals like to pretend that they help the underprivileged, and this serves as just another way to extend government mandates on the every day lives of people.

I guess for liberals, creating a big company out of the corn industry is the lesser of two evils. After all, the evil oil executives won’t profit as much if 10% of fuel has to be ethanol, right? Well, not really. Since ethanol is so inefficient and takes so much to make, the oil companies will probably end up making more.

Too bad only the intelligent segment of society is smart enough to figure that out, and not our legislators in Madison, and definitely not the executives of “Big Corn.”

That’s all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Announcement

2005-12-19T19:41:00.001-06:00

As of about an hour ago, I became the newest (and best) member of the St. Francis School Board.

Thanks for all your support.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Bush's Speech

2005-12-18T21:06:00.002-06:00

Transcript of the Presient's speech.

Great and powerful speech, and as for you crazy anti-christian democrats, he said "Merry Christmas."

Large update to come after I finish my final paper.
I found some interested comments and facts in my paper, about global warming...I'll share those with you next week.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Others Finally Say What I've Been Saying

2005-12-15T12:42:00.002-06:00

In this editorial from the Editorial board at the Leader, the arts and entertainment newspaper at UWM, they finally say what I've said twice...here and here.

I love being right...

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Diane Sawyer Does it Again

2005-12-14T08:50:00.002-06:00

I'm beginning to see some odd parallels between Diane Sawyer and Jessica Simpson...they threw Simpson off of her TV show...hopefully with Sawyer, the same can be done.

When interviewing the pregnant parachuter who lived after slamming into the ground at 50 miles per hour after both of her parachutes failed, Diane Sawyer decides that the following is a pressing and appropriate, even maybe thinking it was a good question to ask:

"Has anyone been able to figure out why you're still alive?"

Opps?

As with Jessica Simpson, we know she meant the best.

Sawyer still gets a F for the delivery method...and that's what Journalism is all about...the message delivery.

That's all for now.
It's snowing!
-Stay Tuned

Tidbits of the Day

2005-12-13T22:08:00.002-06:00

Tookie Williams' death sentence was executed this morning. Mark Reardon comments and includes Governor Schwarzenegger's statement.

The Milwaukee Common Council Today voted 8-7 in favor of keeping the city/county Christmas Tree named a "Holiday Tree." Kind of odd that it's the city/county tree and is called a "Holiday Tree" by the city, and a "Christmas Tree" by the county. A bit rediculous.

Cesar Lira, the convict who escaped custody, murdered someone in Oklahoma, and was sent back to face charges here and then was mistakenly released, was caught this morning in Texas. It was interesting because Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clark said nothing about Lira being returned to Milwaukee...doesn't want anymore embarassment for his department maybe?

That's all for now.
May or may not post tomorrow...6 inches of snow forecast...we'll see how much time I have.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Doyle's "New Math" Can't Make it in Schools, Why Should it Make it in Government?

2005-12-13T11:47:00.002-06:00

Math teachers in public school institutions across the state had better be prepared for some inaccurate answers on final exams this coming month.

Take this, from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Doyle said a $23 increase in taxes on that home does not break his July promise to freeze taxes. "Whether it's minus $5, or plus $5, or plus $20 - in the numbers we're dealing with, mathematically that's all essentially the same number," he said.

According to Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, the phrase “tax freeze” (a zero percent increase in the amount of money taxpayers spend, this case, in relation to property taxes) and the phrase “holding the line on taxes” (controlled tax increase that rises very little) are the same thing.

In the Doyle Method of Mathematics:
0% = 0.8%.
One can also then surmise that if we’re truncating, the following is also true:
5.6% = 5%
One can also assume that if we’re rounding down, the following is also true:
$2,729 = $2,000

After all, living in Wisconsin, we’ve come to learn from our governor that 20 dollars in your pocket, and 5 dollars in debt are the same thing.

Perhaps then, he won’t mind if we don’t pay whatever our increase was in property tax. After all, the government won’t miss that money. They make such a large amount of money off of property taxes…in the kind of numbers they’re dealing with… mathematically it’s all essentially the same thing.

So when high-schoolers all over the state take their exams over the course of the next month, and plot a graph using the wrong coordinates, well, high school students can now walk up to their math teacher Mr. Bretzel, and tell him that the governor said it’s not all that important.

After all, in the grand scheme of numbers, and out of the total number of coordinates there are possible, endless, being a few data points off is essentially the same thing, as long as the data point is still in the same quadrant.

And when I take my math exam next week at my public institution of higher education, you can bet that I’ll be using what the governor taught me. I don’t think I’ll even bring a calculator since this new method doesn’t place any value whatsoever on being accurate, or even truthful.

Yes Governor Doyle…perhaps you should increase your classroom visits for the remainder of your term. I think first or second grade is where they teach you that zero isn’t 23 and that .8% is .8% and not 0%.

That’s all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Some Tidbits

2005-12-12T20:52:00.002-06:00

Sorry I haven't been around lately.

I've been re-evaluating my topics, and have decided that being the white version of Eugene Kane isn't a very successful concept.

Below are a few things I found enjoyably funny

A great Eugene Kane Sattire...If Steven Avery Were Black

Worst Analogies Ever

Both found on Charlie Sykes' blog.

Jessica McBride predicts that Swarzenegger will grant Tookie Williams clemency. I don't like to disagree with Jessica, but for justice's sake, I hope she's wrong.

That's all for now. Thanks for bearing with me during final exams.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

Referees Fumble

2005-12-11T22:44:00.002-06:00

Watching the Green Bay Packers attempt to lose against the Detriot Lions Sunday Night was actually an entertaining evening. Not because the game was particularly good.

For that matter, I think if the Packers try too much harder to lose, and make it so painfully obvious that they're doing so, people might start actually calling them on it. There's still all this nonsense that they're really trying to win. No team makes so many stupid mistakes by accident. That said, they won in overtime.

The best, and I mean THE BEST part of the game:
After the fourth quarter, the referee standing in the center of the field for the coin toss...without a coin.
"Maybe if I stand here with my hands in my pockets, someone will get the hint that I don't have the coin."
"Oh wait, looks like all three of us are standing here with our hands in our pockets, apparently no one on the field has figured us out yet."
"I'll ask this guy over here to go get a coin."
"Anyone got change for a dollar?"

A photo will be added above when it becomes available.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

A Bit of Perspective

2005-12-09T23:29:00.002-06:00

As I watch a Nightline Special featuring the mothers of fallen heroes in the Iraqi war, I think about a little perspective.

In 2 hours on September 11, 2001, we lost over 3,000 innocent Americans.

In over 26,000 hours since then, we've lost just over 2,000 valiant men and women who swore to protect innocent Americans.

What can we learn from these numbers? We can learn that while the cost of freedom is high, the cost of terrorism and inaction is much, much higher.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle

On Second Thought

2005-12-08T22:52:00.002-06:00

In the December 7th edition of the UWM Post, several questions were asked of the photographer and editor involved in the offensive photo essay that I wrote about here.

Those questions, one set asked to an offended student, and the other set asked to both the initiator of the photo essay, and the editor of the A & E Section are here.

I revise some of my statements regarding the issue after reading the comments of DeKeuster and Costa.

What might hapen if DeKeuster were to be raped today? Well, what might happen is that she may or may not realize what rape is all about. She may or may not realize that her fantasy about being raped is grotequely misplaced. The same realization may come from simply speaking to rape victims.

It is ashame that someone in a position such as hers might waste her influence by publishing a photo essay that suggests a fantasy of hers to be raped. What's more disgraceful is that it be framed in a sense to imply that her fantasy is shared secretly by every other woman on the planet.

To imply as such is to be irresponsible, and something needs to make DeKeuster realize that this fantasy of hers ought be kept to herself, and even dismissed. Hopefully, she can seek counseling and be rid of that fantasy, or at least be advised not to imply that others share it.

She should ask a rape victim. I'm sure they might tell her that rape isn't all she makes it out to be.

That's all for now.
Stay Tuned!
-Kyle