Dane101.NET

Here's the question for today: Should a public university that prides itself on intellectual honesty and vigorous sifting and winnowing in order to discover truth join forces with a partisan organization to conduct public opinion polls?

Real Trappist beers, from the abbeys of Belgium, will be the unifying theme of an upcoming dinner at The Haze on Sunday, March 21. The idea for the event came from Madison author Madeline Scherb, whose book A Taste of Heaven, published last August, is a guide to some of the best foods produced by monks and nuns in the U.S. and Europe.

“Woe be the pinball wizard in search of his prey,” was my thought on a recent, cold Friday night as my friend and I journeyed through the varied, venerable, and increasingly smoke-free bars of Madison. What started as a visit to the new Sergredo bowling emporium to check out their free-to-play, wall-mounted Wii systems (my idea) by the end of the night became an icy slog to East Washington where we would finally find fulfillment for my friend's low-tech arcade fix.

I’ve been vaguely aware of the buzz surrounding this year’s early video game industry conferences, including Microsoft’s X10, D.I.C.E. Summit (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain--sometimes billed as gaming’s Oscars), and the upcoming Game Developers Conference. As a player of games, as opposed to an industry insider, I was able to grasp some of the top level stuff which seemed to include the continued rise of motion control technology, the growth of mobile gaming, as well as the popularity of free games such as Farmville on FaceBook.

Seeing Wiis in bars seems to combine the motion control trend and the free-to-play trend (but instead of an online setting, it’s a real life one). In a way, the Wii was made for bars.

This is a most unfortunate act.  That it is deliberate and timed as it was during Vice-President Biden’s trip to that nation showcases the motives of Israel, and their level of disinterest in the rights of others in the region.  It should be noted that Israel took the action just days after Palestinian leaders in [...]

Given the political environment these days, it probably shouldn't surprise anyone that Sen. Jim Bunning has his supporters. Bunning, who held up an emergency spending bill because it wasn't paid for -- and because he's a lifelong prick -- imperiled the unemployment benefits of more than a million people. And he did this in the middle of a crisis of unemployment.

But it turns out that unemployed people are lazy. They'll stay unemployed for as long as they have benefits. See, unemployed people are unemployed because they deserve it. That's the Republican mindset; people with a lot of money are wonderful people who deserve all that money, while people with just a little or no money are awful people who are purposely poor so they can sponge off the government. This reasoning is so ingrained that, even in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression -- with the vast majority of the jobless unemployed through no fault of their own -- they can't shake the belief that people in need are just lazy.

Take Tom DeLay.





google_ad_client = "pub-2911483323770714";google_ad_slot = "6686845104";google_ad_width = 250;google_ad_height = 250

Sometimes I wonder why Tom gets any face time on TV at all. The face of Washington corruption and a man of zero personal charisma, I find it really hard to believe there are a lot of people who read about Bunning and thought, "I wonder what Hot Tub Tom thinks?" One N in CNN stands for "news" -- you wonder how this qualifies.

Still, DeLay gives us a glimpse into the economic thinking on the right. "As a matter of conscience," writes Steve Benen, "having prominent Republicans chastise those struggling to find work during an unemployment crisis is just callous and cruel." It's also just stupid and smacks of economic flateartherism.

See, let's look at what a recession actually is. It's defined as negative economic growth over two or more quarters; translation, no one's spending any money. The conservative reaction to this situation is to go with the economic herd and stop spending money. This doesn't really help the economy any, in fact it obviously makes it worse. But Republicans argue that we shouldn't spend money during a recession because... Well, they don't really explain why. Not any good explanations, anyway. So just because.

But what does stopping unemployment benefits do? Other than hurt people, not a whole lot. Employment isn't a supply-side market -- no one provides jobs because applications and resumes are so abundant. It's demand-side, meaning that employers hire the employees they need -- and no more. And how many employees they need is determined by how much demand there is for their goods and services. With a lot of people unemployed, this becomes a feedback loop; employers don't hire because no one's buying and no one's buying because not enough people have the paycheck to pay for it. So unemployment benefits help the unemployed, the employed, and employers. I say it a lot, because it's true and it's important to understand, but people who need money are 100% guaranteed to spend money. So, if a recession is a drop in consumer spending, who do you want to get money to?

"What Democrats believe is what textbook economics says: that when the economy is deeply depressed, extending unemployment benefits not only helps those in need, it also reduces unemployment," economist Paul Krugman wrote last week. "That’s because the economy’s problem right now is lack of sufficient demand, and cash-strapped unemployed workers are likely to spend their benefits. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office says that aid to the unemployed is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus, as measured by jobs created per dollar of outlay."

DeLay's flateartherism isn't shared only by Jim Bunning. In a post about Republican economic knownothingism, Steve Benen cites Rep. Dean Heller, Rep. Steve King, and Sen. Jon Kyle as repeating Delay's economic ignorance. It doesn't seem to be any sort of concerted message, it's just something they believe. I believe that history shows that Republicans have no idea what they're talking about in terms of economics and I think this just shows that this still holds true.

A lot of it, especially in our present circumstance, is just Republicans being reactionary. There's a liberal approach to economics, represented by FDR and the New Deal, so there has to be a conservative counterpart, represented by Ronald Reagan's phony "welfare queen" story. If liberals say you have to spend money when times are bad and build surpluses when times are good, then conservatives say the opposite. Mostly because liberals are always wrong. So you spend money like it's going out of style when the economy's good (or even just OK), then panic over the size of the deficit you've run up when the economy turns. That no one can actually explain the logic behind this economic strategy is irrelevant. If you even need an explanation, then you're forgetting one of the immutable laws of the universe: liberals are always wrong.

That's all they need as proof that they're right.

-Wisco


Get updates via Twitter

Qualifications for applying to Overture's Great Performance Fund have loosened up considerably. Beginning this fall, grant money once set aside exclusively for Madison Repertory Theatre will be available to any professional theater company in Wisconsin. The change was announced March 4.

Dane101's Mad Love championship continues to show the eclectic taste of the city as the ever popular and historic Memorial Union Terrace challenges the uniquely Madisonian version of karaoke, Gomeroke. Thanks to your votes the Terrace easily landed a number one seed while the Gomers and friends made it into the championship with a number eight seed. Which one does Madison love enough to send to the Sweet 16? You can follow the tournament on the Mad Love Tournament Bracket.

Mad Love Round One: Memorial Union Terrace vs. Gomerokepolling

The Isthmus Guest List is back with another round of free tickets to amazing concerts, shows and more fun events around Madison. This week's contests include tickets to: Eric Church at the Orpheum; Danu, Shidara, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, One Republic, Four Bitchin' Babes, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago at Overture; B*itch at the High Noon; and more!

Good word

"I'm no good, and I can prove it."

-- Jimmy Breslin

If you are in or around the Madison area, please come to this event!

The Guatemalan Dream: Fair Trade and Fair Politics
DESGUA Speaker in Madison
Monday, March 15th
5:30-7:30pm
Speaker presentation, follow up conversation, and potluck dinner
Centro Hispano of Dane County
810 W. Badger Road

Speaker Omar Mejia will discuss DESGUA's work to create economic development and alternatives to immigration for rural Guatemalan communities through fair trade. A conversation will follow to exchange information and ideas.

This event is part of a nation-wide speaking tour organized by DESGUA (Economic Development for a Sustainable Guatemala/ Desarrollo Económico por una Guatemala Sustentable) to strengthen a network of solidarity among Guatemalan migrant communities, community coops in Guatemala, and supporters in the United States.

DESGUA is working to cultivate a relationship between Guatemala's producer community and U.S. markets to generate a sustainable and dignified way of life so that immigration in exchange for food is not the only option.

Event Speaker: DESGUA member Omar Mejia is an agronomist who has worked for more than 4 years providing technical support in various organic farming projects such as organic coffee and livestock. He has worked with Café Conciencia to market products with organic and Fair-trade principles within a network of fair-trade conferences and educational workshops.
DESGUA: is composed of Cafe Conciencia(Guate), Santa Anita La Union(Guate), Grupo Maya K'iche(U.S./Guate), Grupo Cajola(U.S), and the Canary Institute(U.S)

read more

By Alex Schaaf I first became familiar with the morning benders – lowercase intentional — through a video they posted of themselves performing “Excuses,” the opening track off of their new album “Big Echo.” The video was shot live in-studio, as the band assembled a group of friends – including John Vanderslice and one of [...]

i seem to have contracted some sort of springtime cold. but i can't stay home from work because i'm taking friday off to spend the day with kurt for his bday (which is actually tomorrow). and i don't want to...

Here's what I found of interest for today . . . EDGEWATER WAITING GAME We still don't have a schedule, a current land use application, or a current TIF application, the school board doesn't have the info they need to discuss it and the numbers, as Lukas points out, are still questionable. A new land use application is supposed to be submitted this week. My guess is we'll hear all about it . .

Everything passed with a few changes and minimal discussion. Here's the items of some interest. 25 CENT CHARGE FOR ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS Mike Verveer asked quite a few questions, eliciting responses of interest as follows: - It costs 27 cents per transaction to the city, this is over and above credit card charges. They cannot charge the user for the larger % based charges. - Paying on-line is

I don't think I've ever watched an entire school board meeting. It was . . . different. I'd say the most awkward part of the meeting is where they discussed what types of information requests were appropriate and what was not. The Superintendent wanted to be able to deny requests for information that were too time consuming in consultation with the Board President. Seriously. That didn't

by folkbumThis interview with Diane Ravitch about her new book is interesting to me for a number of reasons. For one, I was taught early on that everything Diane Ravitch said was actually the opposite of reality. (Although lately I have found myself quoting her, unironically.) For another, the Milwaukee Public Schools is now at the end of the rope that is No Child Left Behind, and running into