Thursday, June 21, 2012

Mailbag; Wireman: The Nuns Speak

"There was a large (500 people) and enthusiastic welcome for the Nuns on the Bus when they arrived at Paul Ryan's office in Janesville on Tuesday. People stood in the 93 degree heat for 2 hours to hear their extremely articulate spokeswoman, Simone Campbell. She provided a much needed and welcome contrast to the harsh and destructive economic policies that is Ryan's budget. She pointed out that to be truly Christian means to reach out and help the needy, not hurt them further by taking away their safety net. She also said that we must reclaim the Preamble of the Constitution which includes "promotes the general welfare". If you want to follow the nuns you can go to nunsonthebus.com" Joanne Swartzberg 2.Peggy Wireman: Nuns are right to worry about Paul Ryan budget http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/mailbag/peggy-wireman-nuns-are-right-to-worry-about-paul-ryan/article_4aa3f0f8-ba0d-11e1-952a-001a4bcf887a.html http://bit.ly/Myxpr5 POSTED: June 19, 2012 Letter to the Editor in the Wisconsin State Journal. http://bit.ly/Myxpr5 3.Peggy Wireman: The nuns’ bus tour has it right http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/mailbag/peggy-wireman-the-nuns-bus-tour-has-it-right/article_8884e523-0e0f-5b0f-8912-02e4b53b1dab.html http://bit.ly/MjAsbf

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Evansville gets new Event to Celebrate in Plein Air Competition

"Wonderful" was the word to describe the first ever Theodore Robinson Plein Air Competition held last Sunday at the Masonic Temple in Evansville. Web Traffic on the Evansville observer skyrocketed in video downloads, and as fans of the painters heard about their video film clips, they shared them on facebook with their friends--- Next year, I hope to get video of all the artists. I just got five this year. Relax, it will get better and I cannot wait. See you next year at the event.

Looking for paintings? Some art remains from Plein Air---

There are some paintings that were not sold on Sunday and they will be at the new Evansville Senior Center beginning on Friday, June 22, 2012. Look for them hanging in the hall on the left as you enter.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Eager Free: Donuts With Daddy this Saturday

Don't forget to come to Donuts with Daddy this Saturday, June 16 from 10:00 to 12:00! Posted from Twitter

Chris Gargan Artist in Plein Air Competition

Chris is from the Hoof and Woof Farm in Verona, Wisconsin. Look for his work on Sunday.

Mystery of the Theodore Robinson Paintings

When Theodore Robinson died, he left four paintings to the Evansville School District. What happened to them? What are they worth today? Someone out there knows the answer to this question posed to The Observer today by one of the artists in the Plein Air Competition.

Theodore Robinson Plein Air Competition in Progress--Judging on Sunday, June 17, 11AM; Masonic Temple

Check it out. Artists are now working on their paintings in Evansville---Artists will be creating the outdoor beauty of Evansville and the surrounding area from June 8th to 16th. After the judging at the Evansville Masonic Temple on Sunday, June 17, 2012 at 11:00AM you can purchase a painting if you wish. Creekside Place will display any unsold paintings thru mid July. Call 1-608-662-0598 for more information or visit www.windmillsonparade.com

Raffle Coming With Eager Library Ice Cream Social---

Stop by the library front desk to pick up your ice cream social raffle ticket for this year's raffle---The three items to win are an IPad2, a Vintage Quilt, and a Sting Ray bike. You do not need to be present to win; They will contact you if you won. Tickets will be available to purchase until 1/2 hour before the raffle on Friday, June 29th.

Mailbag: I and E Club Meets Wednesday---you are invited

Hi everyone We're going to have a nice evening at Creekside Place with two interesting speakers this Wednesday, starting at 6:30 p.m. Hope to see you there! I&E Club Meets June 13 Helping others lean skills has become businesses for two area entrepreneurs. Erin Kather and Tajali Tolan will talk about their businesses at the Evansville Area Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club meeting set for this Wednesday, June 13. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Creekside Place, 102 Maple St., Evansville. Kaether has Academy of Sound, a performing arts studio. Tolan has The Consciousness Project, which helps families learn to communicate with each other. After the presentation, guests are invited to network and enjoy refreshments sponsored by Main Street Café of Evansville. Meetings are always free and open to the public. For information about the I&E Club, contact Sue Berg at 608-333-1664 or suebergsolutions@gmail.com.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Mailbag; "Bear Trader" Writes Re Spain, Spain, Spain

Spain, Spain, Spain" For Spain to be really rescued would be tough. What Spain wants is the same thing that Greece wants, that is, all the free money it desires. Actually "rescuing" Spain requires putting adults in charge of government spending at all levels, that is, cutting politics and voters totally out of the fiscal loop. Spain has shown itself incapable of self government. Spain's banks are deeply insolvent. They have to be recapitalized. I don't mean that they need loans because the last thing they need is to be deeper in debt They need cash (and right now), not loans, and about 400 Billion Euros worth. Like the Spanish government the Spanish banks have shown themselves feckless and completely irresponsible, not capable of acting like bankers, who make prudent loans, but instead like drunken sailors or the guys who caused the American S&L debacle in the late '80s and the 2008 crash. You would be amazed to see the garbage Spanish banks wrote loans on. Spain won't accept that German bankers should have line item veto power over the budgets of every level of government or that German bankers be put in charge of each and every Spanish bank. Germany doesn't want to give Spain 400 Billion Euros just to watch them piss it away and come back for more. The Question: On 6/8/12, The Observer wrote: > Bear Trader > The press the past three days has had the two parties blaming each other in > advance for the coming collapse--- > Can Germany rescue Spain? or just with smoke and eurobond games... > I see a long slow hot summer and decline into the election. What is your > forecast? >

Saturday, June 09, 2012

"The Cold Calling Cowboy...."

(Ed.note: Republished from 2008 due to popular demand: It is from the "Traders Little Black book" or as my brother calls it, "The Little Traders Black book) TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2008 "Cold Calling Cowboy"----The Wild West ; The Deregulation of Wall Street Over the past thirty years there has been a transition from a structured investment environment to one that is "deregulated"---it has been marked by the end of the era of salaried brokers with higher commissions and research, to a world of $7 trades and computer simulations. It has been a movement from wise older traders to young, churn and burn robots. "Where has been the saving,?" you might ask. I like to compare the situation to the airline industry. Years ago, when airfares were higher, and Northwest Airlines had ZERO debt, the transportation industry and financial services industry was seen as a public sector, where the government had a say in an organized and supervised code of conduct for all participants----those days are gone. When I fly, I always feel more comfortable when I know there has been maintanance done on the engines. The cheapest fare is not consoling if I see flames coming from the engines. Ditto for the financial services industry. When investment just becomes a transaction, when people just become a transaction, and when "churn and burn" becomes the overriding element in business, the customer always loses. Consequently, I reject the notion that nostalgia for the good old days of regulation is senile and old fashioned. I believe it just makes economic sense for the investor. Recently a lone French trader for a bank, using "proprietary trading funds", in the throes of breaking up with his girlfriend, took enormous options risk and....despite the bank even knowing about his risks, but not understanding it or choosing to ignore it for fear they would impede some gains, caused a 7 billion dollar loss. Imagine what would happen worldwide if just a dozen or so financial professionals broke up with their girlfriends. Yes. Girls that is something to consider. You may think you are just breaking up....but you might just be causing a global catastrophe. Be True to your man....o.k. In summary. The incredible catastrophe of ENRON was not just ENRON. The real catastrophe was that as a nation we have modeled our financial institutions on ENRON. And we have the major tactic of DELAY, the verb, not the noun. Posted by Evansville Observer at 1:20 PM

Agenda: Park Board: Monday, June 11, 2012

City of Evansville, Wisconsin Park & Recreation Board Regular Monthly Meeting Evansville, City Hall Monday, June 11, 2012 – 6:00pm AGENDA 1. Call to Order & Roll Call 2. Motion to approve Agenda as printed 3. Motion to waive the reading of the May 14th, 2012 minutes & approve them as printed 4. Citizen appearances, relating to Park & Recreation, not listed agenda items a. Motion on request of refund, from Becky Hurley from Wisconsin Farm Bureau, for rental fees of upper & lower diamonds and Oscar Dietzch shelter that was to be used on June 10th, 2012 b. Motion to approve Park Sellers Permit for Rock-N-Rollz, Todd Culbertson, 1 W Main Street, Evansville, WI, 53536 for 4th of July Celebration in Park. c. Motion to approve Park Sellers Permit for Phil Colwell for 4th of July Celebration in Park. 5. Lakeshore Restoration 6. West Side Park, bathroom & shelter 7. Aquatic Report 8. Chair's report from other Committees/Common Council 9. Reports/Updates on projects or Maintenance a. Antes cabin 10. Old Business 11. New Business 12. Motion to adjourn Next meeting Monday, July 9th, 2012 - 6:00 pm, City Hall

Thursday, June 07, 2012

Video: 1 of 3: Art of Jonathan Wilde

(Ed.note: With over 11,000 podcast downloads, this video is the Evansville virtual tourist leader) Video: 1 of 3: Docents introduced from the Chasen Museum of Madison; Why did Jonathan Wilde live here? Video available on The Evansville Observer, www.evansvilleobserver.blogspot.com We set the standard for online news in Southern Wisconsin

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

OpEd: Pundits, Weather Forecasters and Hedge Fund Investors

Well it's only been a week or so since Jamie Dimon said his bank made a TWO Billion dollar trading error...which was a THREE BILLION dollar trading error the next day, and by the end of a week went to "maybe" a FIVE Billion dollar trading error, and then he has the smartest "Quants doing the math..... And just last night, the race was so close to call, in fact it was just about ONE VOTE separating the candidates..your vote?....and ...well...it was not close after all... Money can buy elections, make a note of it. Here is the other take away that I was not expecting from the last week of the campaign----I went to film the seminar on the pension funds for government workers, and in fact the finest pension managers in the country, the Wisconsin Retirement System. The financial instability....volatility....unpredictability...lack of regulation...has led to a situation where one cannot...you cannot individually...the state cannot collectively...know for a long time in the future enough to GUARANTEE an 8% rate of return...the only guy that did that was Bernie Madoff.....and you know the rest of the story there... The problem is that in times of Civil War, there is little time for thorough discussion....and sound bites will not suffice to discuss it. Stay tuned.

Monday, June 04, 2012

Mailbag: Wireman: "One Vote"

ONE VOTE. This race is a virtual dead heat with Scott Walker at 47.8% and Tom Barrett at 47.7%. We need to find the one vote we’re missing, and thousands more, to elect Tom Barrett and put Wisconsin back on track. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO TALK TO ANYONE BUT IT WILL HELP FYI from Dane County Dem Office. Today, Monday June 4th, we need your help hanging "door hangers" with polling location information in neighborhoods all across Dane County. Click here to help us with this urgent request! You don't have to talk to anyone. Studies show that these "door hangers" can increase turnout by 2 percentage points which could make the difference in this race. Every door hanger needs to go up before Tuesday morning and we can't do it without your help. Click here to make it happen! Or, you can just head over to the MTI Office at 821 Williamson St. Shifts will start at 12, 3, 6, and later at night if needed. https://campaignaction.wufoo.com/forms/dane-county-get-out-the-vote-sign-up/

Nostalgia: 2009: Audio; Schools Face Crisis: Cut Math, Science, Reading;

Audio; Tales From Normal, Mn.---FICTION: Schools face Crisis Head On---Cut Math, Science and Reading----Add Baseball Coach


MP3 File

Mailbag; Getting Time off to Vote: Procedures;

1.REQUEST TIME OFF FROM WORK TODAY FOR TUES. RULES AND OTHER USEFUL DATA BELOW 2. FRIEND IN HOSPITAL CAN VOTE SEE BELOW AND HELP 3. NEW DATA ON POSSIBLE FEDERAL CASE VS WALKER ONE Your employer must give you time off on election day to go vote- it's the law! But you have to request it before election day, so tell your boss as soon as you can. If they say no or threaten your job/wages, call us: 414-274-0925 . Wisconsin law: 1) Up to 3 consecutive hours are allowed off. Employer may decide when hours are taken. 2) Time off is not required to be paid. 3) Employee must request leave before election day. To see if you're registered to vote at your current address, and to verify your polling location, check the Wisconsin Voter Public Access website here. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BRING A PHOTO ID TO THE POLLS IF YOU'RE ALREADY REGISTERED. Not registered yet? You CAN register at the polls! Bring your photo ID and proof of residency, such as a lease or a current utility bill. In Wisconsin, people with felony convictions CAN vote, as long as they are off papers (sentence complete, no parole, no probation). If you are or know someone who is a felon, share this very important information with them! HOSPITALIZED VOTING Hospitalized Absentee Ballot Request Note: In order to receive an absentee ballot, you must be a registered elector. If you are not yet registered, you can register through your agent. I request an absentee ballot for the election held on: Name (please print) Residence Address I certify that I cannot appear at the polling place on election day because I am hospitalized, and appoint the following person to serve as my agent, pursuant to s.6.86(3), Wis. Stats: Agent Name (please print) Agent Address AGENT: I certify that I am the duly appointed agent of the hospitalized absentee elector, that the absentee ballot to be received by me is received solely for the benefit of the above named hospitalized elector, and that such ballot will be promptly transmitted by me to that elector and then returned to the municipal clerk or the proper polling place. Signature of Agent 􀂲 WITNESS: I certify that I am a resident of this absentee elector’s municipality, and that the statements contained in this application are true to the best of my knowledge. Witness Name (please print) Witness Address Signature of Witness 􀂲 Signature of Elector 􀂲 Return to: Madison City Clerk City-County Building Room 103 210 Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd