How far down do you need to put a human being before ANYTHING "appears" an improvement.  Green Bay has done it again.  In their fictitious "helping hand" they have moved this family from one bad situation to another.  Possibly this family has high hopes.  As it is... I hate to rain on their parade, but seriously, is this a better neighborhood than the one they "escaped".  Won't it be a slap in the face to these folks when they find out that all they've done is exchange one ideology for another (i.e. west vs. east side or vice-versa).

Check out: Green Bay Press Gazette article.

Sure..  it's a "different" neighborhood, but is it BETTER...?   Who's running the "habitat for humanity" in Green Bay anyway..... some corporate flunky...?    Aren't there any sites available in ALL of Brown County  (for the record, I could name a few) which would have given this family a foothold.....?  A place they could cherish and raise their children knowing that their hard work is meaningful.

Check this out ... come back with me to 1988 ... Dan Rather ... reported by the investigative unit of CBS, plus an interview featuring unanswered questions by Bush 41 regarding the Iran-Contra Scandal - ON LIVE TELEVISION.

Seriously, watch this and think about how far the bar has been lowered in twenty short years, folks.

It's like Dan Rather is an Internet blogger or something. It's seriously WEIRD.

Fourth estate, where are you now? I miss you. <sniff>

Since in general you'd never know that the New York Times recently wrote this article, I thought I'd point it out.  Seems that in the spin-up to the Iraq war and the early days of the war itself, many of those "independent"  military experts you were seeing on TV were being paid by contractors to represent viewpoints that the Pentagon fed them in briefings. That's right, we were getting much of our "news" from paid employees of military suppliers, many of whom now represent major corporations in the military environment. 

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon
information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to
generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime
performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.

Update: "The Wonk Room" from Think Progress examines the text in question and exposes the inaccuracies.  They also provide a link to a "Friends of the Earth" petition directed at the publisher to correct the "misleading" information.  From The Wonk Room:

In the recent “Home & School Connection” newsletter from the Green Bay Area Public Schools dated April 2008 there was an interesting question raised in the Q& A box.

 Quote:  “My son Jimmy gets good grades on tests and quizzes, but his report card had some low marks because of missed or incomplete assignments.  What should I do?

 An interesting question, and “untimely” to say the least.  The question itself raises specific circumstances which may or may not exist.  It presupposes that the child in fact did miss assignments or that they were incomplete.

You say you never heard of EDD?

Next time you see a cold-hearted blog comment by an uncompassionate conservative, you'll remember reading about it here:

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Knee-Jerk Jerks Have Empathy Deficiency Disorder

Why is this not surprising?

The Journal Sentinel, which just offered early reitrements to a good-sized chunk of its news staff, required them to sign agreements that they would not criticize the company.

So much for our defenders of the First Amendment.

 Here's the scoop, from WisPolitics.

 “This puts me in an awkward situation.”
--Greg Stanford, explaining why he has to be careful about what he says when he was asked a question about how the Journal Sentinel covered McGee. As part of his buyout agreement, Stanford said he had to sign a letter saying he would not make derogatory remarks about the company.

*Listen to the audio of the event: *Stanford is slightly before the halfway point in this long audio.)

http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/071128McGeePanel.mp3

Update: Excerpt from a nice e-mail from a reader regarding the rabid pro-invade-everywhere advocate, Shane Hensinger.

Blog commentary on why national right-wing talk show hosts are getting payback, and what it means, is here.

The National Conference for Media Reform is being held in Minneapolis in 2008. See speakers from the media enterprise speaking on reform issues.

This just in!  Uppity Wisconsin is now credentialed as blogging reporters for the conference.  We'll be having live coverage of the conference and more.   

Location(s)