Must Have Been a Hell of a Reception

From the MJS

Newlyweds jailed after brawl at Pittsburgh-area hotel

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A newlywed couple spent the night in separate jail cells - she in her wedding gown - after police said they brawled with each other, then members of another wedding party, at a suburban Pittsburgh hotel.

The fight started Saturday night after a reception when he knocked her to the floor with a karate kick in the seventh-floor hallway of a Holiday Inn - and escalated when she attacked two guests from another wedding party who came to her aid, police said.

The melee moved to an elevator and then to the lobby, where the couple threw metal planters at the two good Samaritans, causing minor injuries, police charged.

“It was pretty wild,” Ross police Sgt. Dave Syska said.

Dentist David W. Wielechowski, 32, of Shaler, and Christa Vattimo, 25, had married a month earlier in the Bahamas but repeated their vows Saturday at a reception for 150 guests. They were checking into their room when the argument began, police said.

Police arrived to find the dentist lying on the lobby floor and his bride, seemingly highly intoxicated, screaming.

Authorities charged each with simple assault, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, and the bride with an additional count of public intoxication. They face a May 7 preliminary hearing.

A district judge considered issuing a restraining order against Wielechowski, but his new bride declined the measure.

The couple declined comment upon their release Sunday morning.

She left with her father, still dressed in her white gown.

Wielechowski left alone, sporting a swollen eye, tuxedo pants, a bloody T-shirt and one shoe.

Ed Koch on Jimmy Carter

Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York City has a little piece in Real Clear Politics in which he talks about former presidents. Here’s his take on Jimmy Carter, the buttboy for terrorists.

Ford lost to Jimmy Carter. I came to know Carter well.

When he ran for reelection, he asked me to campaign for him in 1980 - I was by then Mayor of New York City — and I said that I would vote for him, but not campaign for him because he was then engaging in hostile acts towards Israel. I was popular with the Jewish community and when I would not campaign for him unless he changed his position, he called me to his hotel in New York when attending a fundraiser and said, “You have done me more damage than any man in America.” I felt proud then, and even more today, since we now know what a miserable president he was then and the miserable human being he is now as he prepares to meet with Hamas.

I fully agree with Ed Koch when it comes to Jimmy Carter, the buttboy for terrorists.

How the Irish See It

Hillary was on CNN awhile back claiming she “helped bring peace to Northern Ireland”. Seems as that isn’t quite the case. From The Belfast Telegraph columnist Lindy McDowell. Make sure you read the last part of the op/ed. Heh.

The comedian Spike Milligan once published an autobiographical work about his Army service in World War II entitled Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall. Spike, it goes without saying, was playing for laughs.

Not so Hillary Clinton, who as part of her current campaign for the Democratic nomination in the US has staked her own claim to fame in the always contentious field of foreign conflict resolution.

The Northern Ireland Troubles: My Part in Sorting Out That Lot.

As Hillary herself put it during a recent interview on CNN: “I helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland.”

Beat that Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton - Ireland’s Dalai O’Lama.

The role Hillary played in our peace process was, it seems, low-key, so low-key, in fact, that David Trimble, who jointly won the Nobel Prize for, er, helping bring peace to Northern Ireland can’t quite remember it.

Lord Trimble, as he now is, says that frankly she had no direct role in the process and that she is a “wee bit silly” for exaggerating her input.

Scathingly he adds: “She visited when things were happening, saw what was going on, she can certainly say it was part of her experience. I don’t want to rain on the thing for her but being a cheerleader for something is slightly different from being a principal player.”

Ouch!

In fairness, it should be pointed out that Lord Trimble’s fellow Nobel winner John Hume has countered: “She played a positive role for over a decade in helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland. She visited Northern Ireland, met with very many people and gave very decisive support to the peace process.” The thing is - “visiting Northern Ireland”, “meeting with very many people” and giving “very decisive support” - just about every touring celeb and his or her granny could claim that.

In fact, I can’t recall a single visiting head of state, spouse of visiting head of state, pop singer, actress, potential investor or fading soap star who dropped in during that period, who did not show ‘very decisive support’ for peace. Let’s face it, they were unlikely to argue against it.

Hillary, however, would seem to infer she went a bit beyond mere cheerleading.

In her autobiography she describes a meeting at a cafe on the Lower Ormeau hosted by the late Joyce McCartan and attended by representatives from women’s groups from both sides of the community.

Nothing new there, of course. Contacts between such groups have long been the norm here. Although an outsider mightn’t guess that, the way Hillary tells it €

“I remember a meeting that I pulled together in Belfast, in the town hall there, bringing together for the first time Catholics and Protestants from both traditions, having them sitting a room where they had never been before with each other … “

I know. Don’t laugh.

I remember the visit to the cafe (town hall!) well. It was what’s known in the business as a photo opportunity. Something to keep the presidential spouse occupied while the actual office bearer was getting down to business.

It was a short, staged event ‘pulled together’ by local organisers. Amid all the security men and Press photographers it was hardly conducive to real business.

Instead, a bit like David Beckham’s recent trip to Africa to play footie with small children thus raising the awareness of UNICEF’s role there, the point of the cafe visit was to underline the good work already being done here. Cheerleading just about sums it up.

Ironically, drawing attention to past Clinton visits, only raises the spectre of an episode Hillary might prefer to forget.

When Bill arrived here in 1998 it was claimed in some quarters that the trip had rather conveniently helped him escape media attention back in the US where L’Affaire Lewinsky was then at its height.

If she’s what really drove him here, shouldn’t Monica also be eligible for peace-processing honours?

It’s no less tenuous than Mrs Clinton’s claim for credit.

Your piece in our peace?

As the intern might have said, you were close Hillary…

But no cigar.

Can that family ever tell the truth about anything?

China Not Doing Itself any Favors

China stepped up its pressure on Tibetan protesters on Friday, releasing photos of wanted suspects who were captured on film in the worst rioting against Chinese rule in Tibet in nearly 20 years.

Naturally, Nancy Pelosi, the most inept Speaker of the House in the history of that august institution demanded an international investigation.

As bad as the situation in Tibet is, it’s not Pelosi’s place to demand anything. Why is she spending our tax dollars traveling to Tibet, anyway?

Happy Happy Joy Joy

The Boys are Back in Town.

That is all.

Damn, it’s about time. If they put a double cheeseburger on their menu, I may never get out of the place.

Sawatdee, boyos and khaap koon khaap.

Business Climate in Milwaukee

Yesterday (1/20/0 the MJS ran an interesting Op-Ed piece on the business climate in Milwaukee. The article, tried to show how Milwaukee could benefit from following the Hong Kong Model. Entire article here.

As someone who has spent a LOT of time in HK in the old banking days and still continues to go there (3 times per year for about 7-10 days per visit) I would love to see Milwaukee become a Hong Kong. The author, a James Casey, Jr., a Shorewood native, is now a visiting professor in HK had some good ideas. Sadly, he missed a crucial point but the article had some points that are quite valid.

Perhaps the most crucial point in the article was the following:

“Hong Kong is not perfect and Milwaukee is not beyond hope. Hong Kong has its challenges in a booming part of the world. And Milwaukee has assets that other cities lack. But I will say this: Hong Kong is infused with an “entrepreneurial spirit of urgency” that has largely been lacking in Milwaukee for decades. Milwaukee seems to be coasting on the legacy of a dynamic 1948-1970 period.”

Well, that goes without saying. In Milwaukee, and in Madistan, people want to talk plan, form committees and study things ad-nauseum. By the time a decision is reached, the situation has radically changed and the cycle begins anew. People who run for office try and figure out how government can become more intrusive.

Two other key points were made as well.

Elected representatives - and the general public - need a sense of urgency: This sense of urgency is not just for fixing problems that have festered for 40 years, but is based upon recognizing that international pressures are becoming greater.

Transportation is critical: Not only are Chinese authorities expanding the MTR (subway) system, but they are building and expanding freeways. The Hong Kong region generally lacks the “paralysis by analysis” mindset cited by former Milwaukee County Transportation Director Robert Brannan in the 1970s (in reference to the freeway battles). It is an embarrassment that the KRM project is stalled and the Milwaukee County bus system is in such bad shape; those need to be fixed. But transportation improvements go beyond mass transit. The freeway system needs to be rebuilt and modernized, and the Stadium North Freeway gap needs to be completed. Milwaukee has been crippled by the failure to complete a basic, long-term freeway network. The people of Hong Kong have not bought into the argument that it is either freeways or mass transit. They are improving both, and they are not talking for decades about doing it.

The above points are also quite valid. The HK freeways and subways are excellent. Of course, there are about 6.75million people in HK so mass transit is far more critical than here in MKE. Mass transit takes many forms, including freeways.

As I pointed out earlier, the author missed one VERY KEY component in his article. The tax climate. HK has prospered as a business haven because of low taxes.
Now, HK sets its own tax rates independent of Beijing today and London during colonial times. Thus, the rates are “national” rates. But check it out this brief summary.

16% flat tax on salaries.
No capital gains taxes (but no deductions for losses, either)
No estate (death) taxes.
No taxes on income earned outside of Hong Kong (although you would have to deal with taxes in the country where the income was earned).
There are “stamp taxes” which cover a myriad of services, but these are minor, ususally about US$1.25 or so. The highest I ever paid was $10.00 when I sold some stocks I owned on the HK exchange.

Furthermore, HK does not give any tax credits for relocation. Why should they? People and companies WANT to go to Hong Kong in order to take advantage of the workforce and opportunity to keep what they make.

Compare that with the depressing climate as outlined in my earlier post.

When you make $1.0million in HK, people applaud. They don’t try and take it way from you.

The author made some fine points; sadly, few, if any of them will ever go into practice here.

Go To The Airport, Get Laid

This would be pretty funny if it weren’t so screwed up.

“In an effort to help Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that people who have sex in public bathrooms have an expectation of privacy.

Craig is asking the Minnesota Court of Appeals to let him withdraw his guilty plea from a bathroom sex sting at the Minneapolis airport. The ACLU on Tuesday filed a brief supporting Craig’s side.”[...].

Like everything the ACLU wants to do, if this is upheld, it will raise taxes. Why?

All public restrooms will have to be relabeled to “Men”, “Women” and “Hookers”.

This is Pretty Funny

So, USA Today is reporting that Hillary is setting out to make herself “more likable”.

Well, as the old saying goes, “you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.”

Good for Them

A sheet metal plant in Connecticut ordered ALL of its employees to speak English on the job, due to safety concerns. Naturally, the immigrants too lazy to learn English responded in the great American tradition. They played the victim card and sued the company.

Naturally, the lawyer for the “victims” blamed the company.

The employees, who are legal immigrants, say the rule amounts to discrimination and actually makes the workplace more hazardous.

“I can think of no good reason for them to institute this policy,” said Steven Jacobs, the lawyer for the workers who are suing GC Industries in Deep River, Conn. “It’s offensive to people who speak Spanish and is potentially dangerous. It inhibits them from communicating in their native tongue in situations that could put people at risk.

Here’s an idea. If you’re going to immigrate to this country and want to work here, learn English. Very simple. I hope the court takes the same position.

Clarification on the State of Wisconsin Air Force

Hmmm…my little post created quite a stir around the Cheddarsphere.

It appears UWM did charter the planes. I don’t care how UWM spends its athletic budget. Since that program, to the best of my knowledge, is NOT self supporting, it comes out of our pockets, too. It’s just a transfer of funds. I’m kind of OK with that but I’d be happier if UWM was self sufficient in athletics.

I have no problem if teams need to charter a plane. Hell, the Badgers charter planes all the time. But UW is self supporting and not a drain from my pocket. Come to think of it, Marquette is self-supporting, too. Sometimes, flying is the most efficient way to get there.

I assumed it was the governor and his staff using the planes inasmuch as it was HE who made a big deal about fleet when running for office. I didn’t know the state was in the business of chartering to itself. Sweet gig if you can get it. Not so sweet for taxpayers.

I don’t have any trouble with a plane or two to get around if needed. According to the State DOA web page, they show that in addition to the PC-12, they also have a King Air. (Notice they don’t show the number of aircraft in the fleet, just the model.) So what? Private planes if used correctly are great time management tools.

I don’t begrudge Pol Pot, or any governor, or a legislator if necessary, the use of a state-owned aircraft if it’s the most efficient and cost-effective way to do the state’s business. The state has a fleet of cars and/or vans for travel for state business. Same thing.

But a lot of people missed the point of the original post which is: Why are we paying for THREE of these (PC-12s) planes? I could see a King Air 350 and one PC-12. And maybe a Cessna or two. But not what we are paying for now.