Larson picks up endorsements from two county sups

County Supervisor Chris Larson has earned the endorsements of Milwaukee County Supervisors Gerry Broderick [PDF] and Marina Dimitrijevic [PDF].

Broderick’s endorsement came today at an east side fundraiser. In a statement, Broderick said:

“Chris Larson would be a wonderful Senator to represent my constituents and the 7th Wisconsin Senate District,” said Broderick. “He’ll fight hard for progressive values. This primary should be about who is the Democrat for the job, and for many years I’ve felt we’ve had no voice in Madison. Chris has heart and his votes will reflect the views of Milwaukee County residents once he wins in September. He’s pragmatic. He can find common sense solutions, and follows up with action.”

Dimitrijevic’s endorsement came a few days earlier. She said:

“As Chris’ colleague on the County Board, I’ve come to know him as a true leader, and a strong partner in fighting for our neighborhoods,” said Dimitrijevic. “The lack of representation for our district in Madison is apparent to many Democrats. Almost any key issue is lacking a voice: the environment, green collar jobs, and action on developing transit. This is why it is with full confidence that I am supporting Chris Larson in his run for State Senate. Chris has fought hard to revitalize the Hoan Bridge with me, and keep this community in-step with other major metro-areas by ushering in modern transit. He serves Southeast Wisconsin faithfully, and I hope my community joins me in supporting him on September 14th.”

Meanwhile, incumbent State Senator and Friend of AT&T™ Jeff Plale was endorsed by the mayor of Oak Creek. Plale proved his opposition to mass transit by helping stall passage of the RTA bill and greasing the wheels at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to get a new I-94 interchange built at Drexel Avenue. God knows we need more construction on I-94…

Proving my point: Prior to Obama, there was a new Cold War afoot

For the duration of the George W. Bush administration, I argued that the foreign policy tactics being pursued were leading to a new Cold War between the U.S. and Russia. In particular, Bush’s love for dropping billions on ineffective missile defense technology while he dismissed hard-earned nuclear arms treaties made me think this was afoot.

I wasn’t the only one thinking this. Blogs by respected people at the Columbia University Press blog said much the same. Edward Lucas, the Central and Eastern Europe correspondent for The Economist magazine has a book out arguing that it was Putin as much as Bush that was provoking the new Cold War. (Remember how Bush said he looked into Putin’s eyes and saw his soul? That was Putin playing Bush like a fiddle.)

Finally, I saw this in The Guardian tonight:

Despite the recent thaw in relations, the US and Russia continued to spy on each other, said Mark Urnov, dean at the political science department of Russia’s Higher School of Economics.

“This [spy scandal] is an issue dating from previous years,” he said. “The security services can’t stop their activities immediately. Until recently, there was a semi-cold war between US and Russia. [Emphasis added.] So why not spy?”

Even if this does not prove my point, at very least it provides very strong support for it. A new Cold War was in the making, or even happening. And I would also argue that President Obama has effectively defused it. He’s not letting this spy ring bust get in his way of doing it.

Was Tina Fey (as Sarah Palin) aping Nikita Khrushchev?

Look at this! In the 21 September 1959 issue of the San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev is quoted as saying,

“San Francisco is a neighbor. You live very close to Russia and we look in each other’s windows.”

Of course it was in Tina Fey’s parodying of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live that she had this classic exchange with Amy Poehler playing Hillary Clinton:

FEY AS PALIN: “You know, Hillary and I don’t agree on everything…”

POEHLER AS CLINTON: (OVERLAPPING) “Anything. I believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy.”

FEY AS PALIN: “And I can see Russia from my house.”

Art continued to imitate are imitating life, when I extended this in a 2008 live action interactive murder mystery production, in which I played a Russian oil executive who wanted to “dryeill ze Bay” here in Bay View. When someone asked my character what I thought of Sarah Palin, I said, “You know, ven I go home to Vladivostok, and look out my bedroom veendow, and I see… Sarah… Da, Sarah, ona otchen korosho!”

Yeah, you pretty much had to be there. And while it is unlikely that Ms. Fey knew that obscure quote from Nikita Khrushchev, who knows? Art imitating life imitating art in the strangest ways.

More on the Russian spy ring

A few things:

• A total of eleven people have been arrested. They led seemingly normal lives in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.

• Their neighbors thought they were average suburbanites, not spies. “‘They couldn’t have been spies. Look what she did with the hydrangeas,’ 15-year-old Jessie Gugig quipped to the New York Times after the arrest of the Murphys.”

• This case is showing the subtly with which the Obama administration is capable of operating. From The Guardian:

[President] Obama was aware of the investigation before he met with the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev at the White House last Thursday. The two leaders did not discuss the issue, Gibbs said.

• Obama knew about it, but he and Medvedev had cheeseburgers together one day in Virginia! Mr. Obama certainly is a cool-minded leader if he can pull that off.

• Curiously, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin is among those who have said this won’t have a real impact on the course of Russian-American affairs. A writer for The Guardian agrees with that. (It’s my sense, too.)

• Who knew—Medvedev’s a Mac user! And an iPad user. And Steve Jobs gave Medvedev an Apple iPhone 4G during his tour of Silicon Valley. Lucky dog…

(Compare this to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s tour of California in 1959, when there was still extensive train service, and Silicon Valley didn’t exist!)

• The FBI announced the arrests a few days after Medvedev returned to Russia. David Hearst argues that this spy scandal is the last thing that Medvedev needs as he seeks to bring Russia more fully into the modern economic systems.

• The good news? The spy ring was busted before it could do any real spying.

Deep Russian spy ring in U.S., Canada broken up by FBI

Wow. At least ten Russian secret agents operating under long-term deep cover have been arrested by the FBI. According to the English newspaper The Guardian:

In an indictment that might have been taken from the plot of a cold war thriller, the FBI alleges that the Russian intelligence service, the SVR [never heard of that one before! - JH], sent spies to live in the US under false names with the intent of becoming so Americanised they could build relationships with sources and gather information without raising suspicion. Some of the agents lived as married couples and had children who have grown up as Americans unaware that their parents are Russian.

And as the children were born here in the States, they are American citizens. Too bad about their parents…

The Montreal Gazette says that some of the spies posed as Canadians. Don’t know if they had children and bought houses, too.

So there you have it. A real Russian spy ring seeking secrets on American nuclear projects, elections, and finance. Wow! Tom Clancy, eat yer heart out!

Milwaukee’s old manufacturing base at Rockwell takes another body blow

I asked one of the servers at Transfer Pizzeria, “Did you hear about the electrical workers at Rockwell?”

“No,” she said. “What’s up?”

“They got laid off.”

“Oh. That explains why I haven’t seen them in about a month. They used to come in here once a week. They were a great crowd…”

• • •

We have a print of the beautiful painting from 1901 that declares “Milwaukee Feeds and Supplies the World.” That was the case in the early twentieth century, when so many manufactured goods were built in and shipped from Milwaukee. With deindustrialization hitting the city and much of the upper Midwest hard in the second half of the century, many of those well-paid manufacturing jobs went south, and then overseas. Sometimes, as in the case of the Rockwell electrical workers, they’re just replaced by lower-paid contractors.

The above conversation at Transfer happened about a month ago, and it’s curious to see it confirmed at last. Journal Sentinel has a story saying that “About 140 union members at Rockwell Automation facing layoffs Aug. 1 voted Sunday to accept a final agreement from the company that includes full pension and medical benefits.”

“Last month Local 1111 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America was told that the company planned to outsource all remaining service and maintenance work starting Aug. 1.”

It’s a sad, quiet note on the end of one of  Milwaukee’s last industrial titans. Of course, thanks to Mayor Barrett, we have new industry coming to Milwaukee, in the form of the Spanish renewable energy firm Ingeteam, which makes wind turbines, and the Spanish train-making company Talgo. And we have great innovations of a totally different sort stemming from Will Allen’s work at Growing Power, which are reflected and refined at Sweet Water Organics, and even at the numerous community gardens springing up around town. This is what happens when your government is focused on growth, rather than trying to strange itself. Granted, this is not the same sort of industry that pushed Milwaukee close to being a city of three quarter-million people in 1960. But then, it can’t be. That said, I have seen a steady renewal in Milwaukee in the recent years that I’ve been here. It’s great thing to be a part of.

Tragedy at O’Donnell Park parking garage

I will quote Milwaukee County First’s reaction to this event:

Disaster struck Milwaukee this afternoon as a large section of concrete fell off the side of the parking structure at O’Donnell park. The concrete struck three people, injuring two and killing a fifteen year old boy.

The Milwaukee Business Journal is reporting that OSHA is now involved and has closed the building until it is deemed safe, although the evening news showed that people were being allowed to retrieve their cars tonight.

We share Chairman Lee Holloway’s sentiment in his statement:

“First and foremost, my heart goes out to the individuals involved in this terrible collapse. Based on media reports, it’s my understanding that one child has perished and possibly two adults were injured.

“As Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors, I am calling for an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident, as well as a review of all County facilities to make sure that they are structurally safe for our residents to use and enjoy.”

• • •

Now, on a more personal note, I was picking up my daughter from her summer camp a short time after this happened. I hadn’t heard about it until later in the evening, when I with her and our dog in a local park. I looked at her and thought how grateful I was that she was there, playing with our dog. I can’t imagine what the family of the young boy must be going through right now. My heart goes out to them for their most terrible loss.

Spring onions!

Last year, our neighbor Tina gave us some onion seedlings for our new backyard victory gardens. I planted them, and they grew well. I gave a bunch to Tina, and we enjoyed the rest. After the last one was harvested, I figured they were done, and forgot about them.

Then in March or April of this year, I noticed what some plants that looked like onions were emerging from the ground. Sure enough, we had some “volunteer” onions that perhaps managed to leave seeds last year. I noticed the leaves were looking rather wilted, and some onions were protruding from the ground, so I pulled them up. And, wow! here they are:

Freshly harvested spring onions!

Their stems grew quite tall, almost four feet. The what ball at the bottom of the picture is actually the onion’s flower. I’ve saved it and another flower to see if we can get onion seeds. In total, I pulled five spring onions, and two smaller non-spring (fall?) onions that I planted a few months ago.

Here’s a closeup:

Close-up view of the freshly harvested spring onions.

That’s dirt on the roots. These babies are that fresh! You can almost smell the moist earth and sweet onion smell. It’s a much more subtle aroma than that of any supermarket or restaurant onion that I’ve ever experienced, resembling that of Vidalia onions from Georgia, but not even that strong. They’re now in the refrigerator, where they’ll keep for about a week. I also kept the lengthy greens, which can be used in a number of dishes. As we’re frequently eating at home, we should be able to sue most of it up. We’ll start tomorrow with some omelets.

The best part is, they came from my back yard in Milwaukee!

Parks People prepared to stop private seizure of public park land

As I wrote over on the Milwaukee County First blog, “Memo to County Board: Vote against land seizure to make lakefront parking lot.” The text, in full:

How’d you like a company to come in and use some questionable maneuvers to take over your front yard and make it into a parking lot? That’s what the company that operates the lakefront war memorial wants to do with a chunk of Milwaukee County’s lakefront park land.

Our friends at The Park People of Milwaukee County have made it perfectly clear that they are prepared to use all legal means to prevent a private group from seizing a large piece of public lakefront land and turning it into a parking lot — a private lot that would benefit only the private group, not the people of Milwaukee County.

Parks People Executive Director Jim Goulee and President Dan Cody held a major press conference today (and issued a press release), where they urged the County Board of Supervisors to vote down the attempted land grab. And they made it clear that if necessary, they will tie up the attempted land grab in court.

We stand with The Park People on this. No portion of the publicly-owned lakefront park land — none of it at all — should be turned over to a private group. For this or any other purpose.

To show that they’re ready to put their words into action, The Park People have filed a “notice of claim,” which is a legal filing that is required before a party can sue a government entity. In this case, Milwaukee County. While it can’t prevent a hypothetical action, if the War Memorial Corporation does begin to pave the parkland, the lawsuit would go into effect, seeking to force the County to rescind WMC’s ability to use the lakefront parking area.

This would happen if the county board decides to allow the violation of the rules and turn over the land. But that should not happen at all. The board should do the right thing and not allow this desperate land grab to go forward.

By its very nature, our public park land belongs to the people of Milwaukee County. It would become useless to the people who own it if it were paved over and turned into a private parking lot. Do the right thing for the public, county board, and say no to this desperate gambit.

Also: Dan Cody, president of The Park People has been following this for some time now.

Also: The Daily Reporter has a lengthy story on this.

Transit union endorses Chris Larson for Wisc. State Senate

The announcement, straight from Larson’s shiny new web site:

• • •

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 Endorses Chris Larson in 7th State Senate District

“Cites Larson’s longtime commitment to improving transit in SE Wisconsin”

For immediate release: Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Contact: Chris Larson, 414-467-9155

Milwaukee — County Supervisor and Democratic candidate for the 7th State Senate District Chris Larson announced the endorsement of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 workers.

“We’re proud to endorse Chris because he has been a real champion on the transit issue,” said Alan Simonis, president of Local 998, representing Milwaukee County bus drivers, mechanics, and vital support personnel. “He cares about keeping good jobs in the commu- nity and making sure folks have access to quality public transportation to get to work.” Simonis went on to say, “As a County Supervisor, Chris has continually opposed harmful cuts to public transit and supported union jobs. We know he’ll be a voice for change in Madison for Southeast Wisconsin and working families.”

“I’m honored that the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 has endorsed my candidacy for the 7th State Senate District. I look forward to working with them to come up with lasting budget solutions to a growing problem,” said Supervisor Larson.

Representing the 14th District, Supervisor Larson has fought against widespread privatiza- tion efforts and the reduction of vital County services by the Walker administration. “In 1999, the Milwaukee County bus system was recognized nationally as one of the nation’s best transit solutions. However, with the election of Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, the last decade has seen giant rate hikes, slashed jobs, and shrinking service,” said Larson.

“Public transit connects consumers to businesses and more importantly workers and students to jobs and school. My neighbors are being forced to add hours to their commute; seniors are walking farther and waiting longer for quality transit,“ said Larson. “They are being disconnected from their community, and this is unacceptable.”

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Chris led the charge to pass the historic property tax relief referendum in 2008. Congratulations, Chris!