Archive for the ‘Persistence’ Category
Vinny Rottino Update
Time for an update about Vinny Rottino, a Racine, Wisconsin native who plays in the Florida Marlins organization. As I’ve said before, Rottino plays multiple positions well and has succeeded at the AAA level before. Note that Rottino has had a few “cups of coffee” at the major league level (originally drafted by the Brewers, Rottino played a little bit in the majors in ’06, ’07, and ’08, being a September call-up all three times); he’s now 31 years old and is playing in New Orleans at the AAA level, most of the time in the outfield.
Here’s Rottino’s stats from MILB.com:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=RF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=457130
Now, for those of you who’d rather see stats than go to another Web site, I’ll quote some of the salient particulars.
Rottino’s average is now .319, and he’s been on a .455 clip since May 3, 2011. He has an OBP of .420, had walked 15 times and struck out 10, and has stolen six bases without being caught stealing once. He has 2 HR, 11 RBI, and now has 30 hits overall (in 94 ABs; yes, that’s what his batting average means, but I thought you all might like it spelled out a bit more).
Rottino started out cold — as in, he was in a 1 for 25 slump to start the season. Fortunately he’s found his hitting stroke and is on a major tear right now, hitting up a storm; it seems that the folks in New Orleans, like the folks in Jacksonville last year, have figured out that Rottino is a contact hitter and does better when he can actually get on base. (I never have understood why it is that the major league teams don’t work more with contact hitters and help them improve their game as much as possible to get to the majors — instead, they seem to concentrate on either the really big stars or the home run hitters who might develop into really big stars.) Rottino has ability and he can hit; he can play any position on the field save second base with excellent defense at all positions save catcher (he’s not played that as long so he’s merely adequate there; might get better with practice). Rottino can steal a base for you, intelligently, and won’t run you out of an inning. Rottino can get a clutch hit for you. And he’ll help your team because he’s smart and level-headed — really, what’s not to like about this guy?
I keep hoping that Rottino will get his shot and be able to play a few years in the major leagues. It’s happened before that an older player finally has received a shot — most notably with pitcher Jimmy Morris, who came up with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (they weren’t yet the Rays) in 1999 at the age of 35 — and usually the older player does well for a while, but has a brief career. (For example, Morris’s career was only two years in duration.)
Even so, Rottino is 31, is in excellent physical shape, hasn’t shown any signs of his body breaking down yet as he’s known for taking good care of himself and he could play, potentially, six or seven more years if all went well for him.
Major league teams all the time bet the farm on a 21 or 22 year old who has no more ability than Rottino, and half the time these folks are out of baseball in four years or less. Whereas with Rottino, he’s been trying now since 2003; he wasn’t initially drafted by anyone, instead being signed as a free-agent by the Brewers. So it’s obvious that this man loves baseball, wants to learn how to play it better, and will do whatever is necessary to get himself to the majors and play as well as he possibly can in order to stay there.
The world needs heroes, it’s often said; well, to my mind, Rottino at his advanced-for-baseball age of 31 is a hero. He has not given up on himself, and I’m betting he will not.
I really hope the Marlins realize what a gem they have in this man, and give him the chance he has richly earned.
Why I Write (And How, too)
Tonight’s blog post topic is deceptively simple: why I write. I say this topic is “deceptively simple” for a reason. That’s because why I do something is often the hardest thing to explain.
I just know that I must do something — I must create, even though many times it’s a major struggle to come up with something new that I like, that I think others might like, also, and that holds together in the form of a story — or I am not being my best self.
I am a musician, but I can’t always play — in fact, in recent years I have hardly been able to play at all due to carpal tunnel syndrome (fortunately I can still type, and most nights type easily; many people with CTS cannot) — so that area of creativity has been denied me even though the music is still there. Often, I’m able to express a little of it through composing it, though sometimes I don’t have enough of an idea to do anything aside from hum it or whistle it (which can startle passers-by, but it’s an unconscious thing most of the time). And if I do that for long enough, I’ll end up with a compositional idea that I can write a piece around.
It’s a similar thing for writing, whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction. You get an idea, which may or may not work. You need to be able to give it time in order to develop the story better. Along the way, you realize you need to research many, many things (it depends on the story you want to tell, but usually there’s anywhere from a small amount of research to a significant amount of research involved), and you do so in order to better deepen and broaden your story. (Note this isn’t done just to show off the fact that you actually did your homework; that’s pointless and absurd.) You need to understand your character as much as you possibly can in order to write a better story that readers not only understand, but feel in their hearts as something that could, possibly, be real no matter how much magic or hard speculative science that sounds like magic might be present within your story.
Then, you work on this idea as you’re able — in many cases, I’m working on a number of ideas all at the same time and whatever one is strongest, that’s the one I develop (though other writers will tell you what I’m about to say, too; sometimes the story just will not let you go and you write that because it’s there and is quite “loud” so you want to shut it up — those are the easiest times, by far, to be a writer or composer, as the same thing happens with music for me from time to time) — and development takes place along the way.
Unfortunately you cannot often rush this development, and some stories develop much faster than others. If you’re on a deadline, yes, this focuses your attention nicely — but it still may not help you figure out what the story is.
The only way to do that — know what the story is about from beginning to end — is to get the right amount of inspiration working with your high amount of perspiration (in other words, how much energy you are putting into the act of writing or creating this story), then listen to your intuition. Your intuition will tell you when, deep in your heart or mind, that you finally have enough of your story and can write it even if you’re not sure exactly what it is that you’re going to end up with.
Because of this process, sometimes a story will seem to have no action (internal or external) until you have the entire thing on paper; then you can figure out what’s missing and add it, or perhaps you’ll get a good lead from a friend who writes or one of your first-readers who loves to read your stuff and knows what you’re good at that isn’t in this particular manuscript . . . at any rate, along the way you figure out what you need with any given story, and you add it. (With or without help.) Or you end up putting this story on the back burner until you figure it out.
That’s why I say you must be persistent, as well as be hard-working, and that you must trust your creative impulses. If you don’t do all of these things, whatever you end up with will not be something anyone else wants to read — and even if you do all those things, it still might not be what anyone else wants to read. But in that case, at least you know you’ve done your best, and have at bare minimum written some more of the putative “million words of trash” you need to get out of your system before you can finally start writing quality stuff.
So, what is the short answer as to why I write? Simple. Because I can’t stop writing. And I hope that along the way, you, the reader, will enjoy reading what I write because truly, I can’t shut up anyway.
In other words, since I’m going to keep writing no matter what, you may as well enjoy the ride (whatever ride I can take you on with my storytelling, that is) as much as you possibly can.
Kate and Prince William’s Nuptials: Who Cares?
Today is a recount-free zone here at my blog, mostly because I actually observed the statewide Wisconsin mandatory judicial recount for myself and am exhausted from doing so. This is why I decided to look at the other huge worldwide issue — that of Prince William of England’s upcoming wedding to Kate Middleton — and have come to a decision regarding my feelings on the matter.
To wit: who cares?
Honestly, I don’t get the hype here that has provoked story after story after story on network news, cable news, and on the Internet. It’s not like this is a sudden thing — after all, Kate and Prince William have dated for seven years, right? So while I’ll give Kate and the Prince some real props for their persistence, and some more for getting to know each other very well before committing to a marriage, I still do not understand the build-up to the royal wedding.
Yes, Prince William is the likely successor to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, as it’s rumored that his father, Prince Charles, will be bypassed in William’s favor. Yes, Prince William, like his brother Prince Harry, looks very much like his deceased mother, Princess Diana; yes, his mother would assuredly be very proud of her son getting married regardless of his station. (There’s more press when you’re royal, true. But any mother is likely to feel much the same, royalty or no, when her son is about to walk down the aisle and make a lifelong commitment.)
Still. I did understand some of the hype behind the Prince Charles and the then-Lady Diana Spencer because she was quite young (twenty, I think), appeared quite innocent, and she was leaving her entire way of life behind at such a young age. She was young, fresh-faced, entrancing in her perceived innocence and someone everyone in the world could root for because of all of these qualities.
This marriage — well, it’s not the same. Both Prince William and Kate Middleton are in their late twenties, and are not seen as young, innocent, immature, naïve, entrancing in their innocence — no, none of that. And while that’s actually helpful to their long-term hopes for a marriage (the better you know each other, the better chance you have for a successful marriage), it doesn’t exactly make for a riveting story-line.
Part of the reason the Prince Charles-Lady Diana wedding was so interesting to watch was the contrast between the then-kindergarten teacher/assistant Diana and her betrothed, Prince Charles — an international bon vivant, painter, polo player, sometime diplomat and much, much more. And Charles was considerably older than Diana when he married her; she was only 20, and he was 32.
So what we had in the Charles-Diana wedding was a handfasting of opposites, and that was compelling theatre that interested many. While what we have now in the William-Kate nuptials is more the meeting of the minds, two people who know each other well and seem much better-prepared to marry, and while that’s all well and good for both their personal and dynastic hopes, a compelling drama it does not make.
So I reiterate: Why should I care about this wedding, again?
Mandatory Recount Starts Tomorrow — and Kathy Nickolaus Recuses Herself in Waukesha County
Folks, the biggest thing to hit Wisconsin politics in twenty-two years starts tomorrow — the mandatory recount for the race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court between challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg and incumbent Justice David Prosser. Prosser, as you might recall from my previous blog posts, is a former Republican Speaker of the Assembly, and though judges are officially non-partisan, JoAnne Kloppenburg was seen as an independent or perhaps as a left-leaning potential jurist (though truly none of us know what she’ll do, she seems honest and fair-minded, and potentially a very good judge).
Though I should have more to say on this tomorrow, right now I have one piece of news to report and it’s unexpected — it’s that Kathy Nickolaus, the under-fire County Clerk of Waukesha County, has recused herself from the upcoming proceedings. Nickolaus gained national fame (or infamy, take your pick) when she realized, a day and a half late, that she hadn’t properly counted Brookfield’s 14,000 votes, throwing the race to Prosser by 7,000 votes due to the pattern of votes in Brookfield. Nickolaus claimed she’d “not hit the save button” and blamed her failure to count Brookfield on “human error,” yet there have been multitudinous errors in Waukesha County for years (please see previous blogs on the subject, especially this one: https://elfyverse.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/recount-necessary-for-one-waukesha-county-voting-irregularities-go-back-to-2004/) and Nickolaus has always blamed “human error.”
Here’s the story from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/120739214.html
And a quote:
Nickolaus took herself out of the recount process, Nowak said, to avoid the appearance of conflict or to give the candidates the ability to raise objections about her performance.
Nickolaus sent out communications to local clerks who had to provide additional materials for the recount, which starts at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Nickolaus will still be present for the recount as the county clerk, Nowak said. She will not serve on the Canvass Board, which includes Democrat Ramona Kitzinger and Republican Pat Karcher.
As a result of Nickolaus’ election-night reporting error, the Government Accountability Board investigated her canvass and her business practices. Last week, the board said that despite some anomalies, the canvass was consistent with results reported by local municipal clerks.
Note that instead of Nickolaus, two others will be observing the mandatory recount in Waukesha county, these being retired Circuit Court Judge Robert Mawdsley and a retired state elections official, Barb Hansen from the Town of Delafield, who should be able to assist Mawdsley during the recount proceedings.
I am glad the recount is proceeding and look forward to more updates as the week progresses.
Oh, and one other update — the Committee to Recall sitting Republican state Senator Robert Cowles (from Green Bay) has announced they have enough signatures to force a recall election, but will turn in their signatures to the Government Accountability Board on Thursday (I’m assuming this is due to the mandatory recount for the judicial race) in Madison. Here’s a link:
So the recall efforts continue to progress as well.
Updates: More pending recalls (Dems and Rs), etc.
Before we get to the latest folks being recalled, the first update has to do with the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. The two sides (Prosser and Kloppenburg) have come to an agreement about the recount, and it will start next Monday. Please see this story for further details, which gives details about how this particular state-wide recount (the first in twenty-two years) will take place:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/120518594.html
Now, as for the newest pending recalls — the drive to recall the Republican 8 continues, as the committee to recall Republican Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) turned in 30,000 signatures — significantly more than the 20,043 signatures required by law (1/4 of the last election) — to see her recalled.
However, we now have three Democrats — Jim Holperin (D-Conover), Bob Wirch (D-Kenosha) and Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) — who have had recall petitions filed against them. The signatures needed for Holperin was 15,960, with over 23,000 turned in; the signatures needed for Wirch was 13,537, with over 18,000 turned in, and the signatures for Hansen was 13,852 with nearly 19,000 turned in.
See this link for further details:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/120430074.html
The main difference between the Dems and the Rs at this point is that two of these three Dems appear to be in “safe,” heavily Democratic districts — Hansen and Wirch both have districts that went for Kloppenburg in the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court election, while Holperin’s district is the only one I’d really tend to be worried about — while all five of the Rs with recalls pending could easily lose and lose big.
Here’s a quote from the rally to recall Alberta Darling held on Thursday, April 21, 2011, courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article of the same date (link posted above):
Kristopher Rowe of Shorewood, a Darling recall leader who created the Facebook page that sparked the campaign, told several hundred people at the Kletzsch Park rally that they weren’t done until Darling was voted out of office.
“We’re going to finish, and we’re going to finish strong,” he said.
Now, you might be wondering why, in particular, recall groups have focused on getting rid of Alberta Darling. It’s because she was co-chair of the committee that allowed Gov. Scott Walker (R)’s “budget-repair bill” into the whole Senate; she had all the power in the world to stop that bill from ever coming to light unless/until some of the worst problems with it were fixed, yet she refused to use it.
Further from the Journal-Sentinel article:
Darling is the fifth Republican state senator against whom petitions have been filed.
Darling, a co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, is a central figure in the budget battles that spawned recall efforts against eight Republican and eight Democratic senators. Her opponents clearly will try to hang the budget on her, as did one rally speaker, who referred to the proposed budget as “both immoral and bad economics.”
As I’ve said before, the other four Republicans with recalls pending are: Luther Olson (R-Ripon), Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse), Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) and Sheila Harsdorf (R-Hudson/River Falls).
And finally, it is confirmed that both Sheldon Wasserman (former Rep., who nearly beat Darling in 2008, losing by about 1000 votes) and Sandy Pasch (the current Rep., D-Whitefish Bay) are seriously thinking about challenging Darling in the pending recall election. (Note that the Journal-Sentinel had a PolitiFact article today saying it’s wrong to say any of these Senators have been recalled; all we can say is “recalls pending,” as I’ve been saying, or that the “recall petitions have been filed.”) Both are strong candidates, and the Journal-Sentinel rates this race as “the most competitive race . . . in the Milwaukee area” (there are five Senators, both R and Dem., who will have to run in recall elections providing the signatures hold up).
Because of the pending recount in the Kloppenburg-Prosser judicial race, it’s possible the recall petitions will take longer to “‘vet” than usual; the Government Accountability Board has been quite busy this year, with no signs of letting up, and it’s the GAB that must oversee both things.
Finally, in personal news, I have one good thing to report. I wrote 2000 words into part 47 of AN ELFY ABROAD last night, breaking a log-jam that had lasted three weeks after first talking with a friend about the story, then hearing from a different one why I should just give it up already. (Obviously I disagreed with my second friend.)
Otherwise, I just hit the six year and seven month observance in my personal “grief journey” . . . I tried hard to distract myself and even succeeded for a while, but then I wondered, “What the Hell am I doing?”
Update: Vinny Rottino
Folks, I am truly pleased to give this update on Vinny Rottino — while he’s still not hitting, it appears that last year, the reason he was sent to AA ball (after succeeding several times at the AAA level) was at his own request.
Peter Jackel at the Racine Journal-Times broke this story, and here’s some relevant quotes from his story dated April 19, 2011, “Rottino Still Chasing A Big Dream,” available at http://www.journaltimes.com/sports/51a2cf76-6a42-11e0-a8dc-001cc4c03286.html :
For a sense of just how serious Rottino is, consider this story:
Just after being signed by the Marlins prior to the 2010 season, Rottino was sent to Class AAA New Orleans and told younger prospects would receive the preference in playing time.
After a few games, Rottino approached the Marlins’ brass and asked to be sent down to Class AA Jacksonville, where he would be able to play every day. That meant willingly forfeiting half the $12,000 monthly salary he would have received by playing at Class AAA to have a greater chance to showcase his skills. In other words, Rottino conceded about $36,000 in salary last year.
“It was the right decision,” Rottino said. “When I came to spring training this year, one of the guys in the front office pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to you last year, but I just wanted to let you know I’ve never seen that before – a guy wanting to take half the pay to play in Double A. I just wanted you to know how impressed I am.’ “
Note the reason for being impressed likely was not just the fact that Rottino has persisted (he’s now 31, a full adult, who knows exactly what he wants and is doing his best to get it), but that Rottino had an outstanding year last year in Jacksonville, batting .307 with 22 steals (and only 2 “caught stealing,” an excellent percentage), 69 RBI, 8 HR and a stellar .385 on-base percentage (OBP).
Rottino did exactly the right thing for himself; he went to AA ball, played every position (he’s an IF-OF-C), hit well, stole many bases, took walks, and proved he’s still “got it.” And with his excellent season, he was named the best utility player in the Southern League at the end of the 2010 season — the first major award Rottino had won in over two and a half years for his play.
Rottino, as I’ve said before, is an outstanding defensive outfielder and a very good defensive infielder; he’s fast, positions himself well, has a good arm and does everything right — he has outstanding “baseball fundamentals,” in short, from every statistic I’ve ever seen (and from the very few times I’ve actually managed to see Rottino play). He can pinch hit, though he’s better if he plays every day, and is a contact hitter rather than someone who hits for power — with his speed, his ideal position in a lineup would probably be either second or seventh.
At any rate, I know I was frustrated when Rottino started on a tear at AAA ball last year, hitting two triples in one game for New Orleans, then was sent down. But now that I know that Rottino requested it in order to get more playing time, and with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I agree that Rottino made exactly the right decision for himself.
But for the rest of us, there’s a lesson to be learned here. Persistence is important. Look how hard Vinny Rottino has tried, knowing his full worth — he deserves a chance to play major league ball. And I believe he will get that chance if he just keeps trying; it doesn’t matter about his age, it only matters about his ability and his determination and his drive. Rottino has a winning attitude and I applaud him for refusing to give up on himself or his talents.
Here’s hoping that Rottino will find his hitting stroke and have a great season in AAA ball.
Update: Wisconsin state Senator (R) recalls
So far in Wisconsin, we have four Republican Senators who will, apparently, face recall elections. These Senators all have had recall petitions filed in Madison with the Government Accountability Board (GAB). The newest “victims” are Luther Olsen of Ripon and Sheila Harsdorf of Hudson/River Falls, joining earlier Senators Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac). Note this link isn’t perfect but it should take you to the story about Olson:
http://www.startribune.com/politics/120060409.html?source=error
24,000 signatures were turned in to recall Luther Olsen, which is quite a bit more than the 14,733 signatures needed. This article also points out that the previous Republican state Senators being recalled, Dan Kapanke and Randy Hopper, are challenging the signatures and procedures.
As for Sheila Harsdorf, the petitions to recall her were filed today also.
http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_17884172?source=rss
This story, from the Twin Cities’ Pioneer Press, states that the Harsdorf recall committee turned in over 23,000 signatures when they needed only 15,744. This follows suit with the other recalls to date; basically, every Republican state Senator where the petitions have already been turned in has had at least 5,000 additional signatures to guard against any signatures being stricken due to ineligibility.
Here’s a really good article from the Hudson Star-Observer, available at http://www.hudsonstarobserver.com/event/article/id/42665/. A relevant quote from this article:
(New Richland High School teacher Rich) Herron was one of four speakers at Monday evening’s rally.
He began by relating how he got involved in the petition drive.
Four months earlier, he said, he had been telling a co-worker how truly happy we was with his career and the work he was doing with at-risk students.
Then Gov. Scott Walker unveiled the budget repair bill that would strip public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights and reduce spending on education and programs to assist the disadvantaged, Herron said.
“And I had the naïve hope that sanity and cooler heads were going to prevail,” he said. “…I kept waiting. Then I watched hundreds of thousands of people descend on Madison, my family among them, thinking they would have to listen to us. We pleaded and we begged, and yeah, sometimes we yelled. But somewhere in there I realized they never intended to listen to us. They never intended to concede anything.”
This is why people like Herron got involved.
Going on:
Herron described picking up petition sheets at a Hudson coffee shop in early March. He said that after going door-to-door in Hudson for two hours and collecting 10 signatures, he knew he needed a better plan.
“So my family and I, you know, the well-funded union machine that we are – outside agitators from New Richmond – spent $83 on some signs and a canopy,” Herron related.
The crowd laughed at the reference to Sen. Harsdorf’s claims that outside union officials are behind the effort to oust her.
Herron said he and other volunteers “sat out in the wind and snow in New Richmond,” and in a few days had 500 signatures. Eventually, 1,600 New Richmond-area residents signed the petition, he said.
Herron said the people he remembers best are the Republicans who signed.
One off-duty police officer said he had driven past him for four days, and each time wrestled over whether he should sign.
“The reason I am, is because wrong is wrong,” the officer reportedly told Herron.
And that, exactly, is why so many people of all parties in Wisconsin are astonished and disgusted at Republican Governor Scott Walker and his eighteen Republican state Senators.
This is a state-wide movement that’s not about Democrats, not about Republicans, not about Independents — it’s about simple fairness. Period.
We didn’t get it, and we deserve it. Which is why all of these Republican Senators eligible for recall right now will be recalled.
Once again, I say that persistence is absolutely important. Look at these folks who put together the recalls. They started on March 3, 2011, were told they had no chance to get enough signatures (1/4 of the total of the voters in the last election was what was needed, which is a high number) and shouldn’t even bother because “recalls rarely work.” Yet now, four Republican state Senators will face recall elections until/unless signatures are stricken or the entire process is invalidated (that latter tactic is what Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, is trying. I doubt he will succeed, but if he does, the Recall Kapanke folks believe they can gather enough signatures again very easily), and it’s all due to their vote on Governor Scott Walker’s “budget-repair bill,” which caused massive protests throughout the state (not just in Madison; that was just where it was the most widely-reported).
Eighteen Republican Senators voted “yes” on that bill, with all fourteen Democratic Senators still out of the state in Illinois protesting at that time who would’ve voted no. One Republican Senator, Dale Schultz of Richland Center, had the courage to vote “no.” Schultz now is the only Republican Senator who is likely to hold his seat without facing a recall election.
So now, we in Wisconsin can be pleased — four Senators, at the same time, will face recall elections, the first time in American history it’s ever happened. But the Republicans should not believe this will be the end, because I can assure you, it won’t be.
First, we have four more Republican state Senators — Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay), Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) and Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) — who are eligible for recall right now. Signatures are still being gathered there and I am confident that several more of these Republicans will be recalled due to their vote on the controversial “budget-repair” bill.
Next, while the other ten Republican state Senators who voted for that bill are ineligible for recall now, that does not mean they will not be recalled later.
I, for one, plan to help recall Van Wanggaard, my sitting Republican Senator who, as I’ve said before, is a retired policeman and a former member of the policeman’s union, yet voted against collective bargaining when he cast a vote for that “budget-repair bill.” I find that highly hypocritical at best, shameful at worst, and believe that Wanggaard must go.
And I’ve heard from other friends in other parts of the state, who will recall their Republican Senator at first opportunity (this November, we can start to gather signatures) — this isn’t over. (Oh, no. This definitely isn’t over.) And it won’t be until Governor Scott Walker, himself, is recalled.
Recount necessary — for one, Waukesha County Voting Irregularities go back to 2004
We’ve been having interesting times this year in Wisconsin, with protests against Governor Scott Walker and the Wisconsin state Senate Republicans for passing Walker’s “budget repair bill” that stripped public employee union members of their collective bargaining rights, then a hotly-contested state Supreme Court election that looked to be won by the challenger, JoAnne Kloppenburg by about 200 votes over incumbent Justice David Prosser.
Realize that right now, the Wisconsin state Supreme Court (with David Prosser as a sitting Justice) has a 4-3 conservative-liberal/centrist edge; then realize that Walker’s “budget-repair bill” is likely headed to the Supreme Court. Then realize that David Prosser is a former Republican Speaker of the Assembly (Wisconsin’s lower house, equivalent to the federal House of Representatives) . . . that’s why the race for state Supreme Court justice was so vitally important.
But then came Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus — County Clerk of the “reddest” Republican district in the entire state — who said she’d “forgotten to save” the accurate count for the Town of Brookfield two days after the election was over; when those votes were added in, all of a sudden Prosser led Kloppenburg by over 7,000 votes.
And that’s where it’s stood ever since; the Government Accountability Board is still investigating Waukesha and its County Clerk, but has certified the results of the Supreme Court election. Because the vote totals were so close (each candidate had about 750,000 votes), and is within 1/2 of a percentage point (meaning Prosser leads Kloppenburg right now with 50.04% of the vote to Kloppenburg’s 49.96% or something along those lines), the state of Wisconsin must pick up the tab if a recount is requested.
Because a 7,000 vote margin is nearly impossible to make up — especially when that margin is established after the voting is over, because a county clerk “realized (her) error” — the Kloppenburg campaign is still mulling over whether to request this recount.
However, with all the allegations regarding the problems in Waukesha County alone, a recount must be requested — only then will the voters of Wisconsin know that all the votes have been properly tallied. A hand-recount is absolutely vital, and remains the only way to know for certain who voted for whom and why — right now, the canvass only counted vote totals, and we know totals can be manipulated deliberately (as well as be wrong due to human error).
But I am getting ahead of myself.
Waukesha County’s problems are worse than just this year, folks. In fact, Waukesha County’s problems are so bad that it’s absolutely, positively stunning.
For example, in Waukesha County in 2006, there were more votes cast than there were voters.
Here’s a link:
And here’s a quote:
WAUKESHA COUNTY, WISCONSIN
NOVEMBER 7, 2006PRECINCTS COUNTED (OF 211). . . . . 210 99.53
REGISTERED VOTERS – TOTAL . . . . . 0
BALLOTS CAST – TOTAL. . . . . . . 156,804GOVERNOR/LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
DOYLE/LAWTON (DEM) . . . . . . . 61,401 34.86
GREEN/HUNDERTMARK (REP). . . . . 112,242 63.73
EISMAN/TODD (WGR). . . . . . . . 2,320 1.32
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 149 .08ATTORNEY GENERAL
KATHLEEN FALK (DEM) . . . . . . . 55,608 31.95
J.B. VAN HOLLEN (REP) . . . . . . 118,342 67.99
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 97 .06SECRETARY OF STATE
DOUG LA FOLLETTE (DEM) . . . . . . 68,302 40.07
SANDY SULLIVAN (REP). . . . . . . 96,199 56.44
MICHAEL LAFOREST (WGR) . . . . . . 5,886 3.45
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 53 .03So, do you see it? In the race for Governor/Lieutenant Governor there were a total of 176,112 votes cast. For Attorney General there were a total of 174,047 votes cast. And for Secretary of State there were a total 170,440 votes cast.
So, look at the 3rd line of the top of that report…Total Ballots Cast: 156,804. So based on those numbers 20,000 extra votes were cast in the election that weren’t actually accounted for in the ballots cast. Again, another sign of election fraud.
(Quote ends.)
Note that the original figures are available here:
And that’s not all — also from this DKos article, did you know that in 2004, apparently a whopping 97.63% — no, that’s not a misprint — of registered voters went out to vote? And that in 2005, an off-year for elections, 50,000 new voters were registered when in ’04 there was only a 1.3% increase (about 3,000 voters) for a hotly-contested Presidential election?
I’m sorry, folks; this does not pass the “smell test.” Something’s really off here.
A good friend of mine found all this out from this blog, and posted it to my Facebook page:
As this latter blog from Tech Dirt points out:
To say the least, these numbers are pretty troubling if you believe in the integrity of democratic elections.
Amen to that — and that’s exactly why we need a hand recount of all the ballots cast in the recent Supreme Court election.
Baseball (Mostly Brewers) Updates: Marcum, Greinke, Hart — and a bit about Vinny Rottino
The Milwaukee Brewers look to be much better this year with the addition of pitchers Shaun Marcum (acquired in a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays in the offseason) and Zack Greinke (acquired in a trade from the Kansas City Royals in the offseason), but up until tonight we Brewers’ fans had little idea of how well either would pitch as Marcum hasn’t been fully right (he had an arm strain/shoulder injury in spring training if I recollect correctly) and Greinke remains on the disabled list (DL).
But tonight, Marcum pitched extremely well, throwing seven shutout innings in an impressive 6-0 Brewers win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh. Marcum mixed his pitches well and effectively, baffling the Pirates’ hitters while efficiently moving through the Pirates’ lineup — only one hitter reached third base, while Marcum gave up only one walk and four hits with four strikeouts recorded. (In the eighth inning, left-hander Zach Braddock came in and struggled a bit, which was why he was lifted in favor of right-hander Kameron Loe after Braddock only managed one out while allowing two walks with a wild pitch. Loe got the final two outs without undue drama, then left-handed side-armer Mitch Stetter came in and pitched a one-two-three ninth.)
If Marcum continues to pitch like this, Brewers’ fans will warm up to him in a hurry.
At any rate, the news on RF Corey Hart is positive; he took batting practice without pain and is expected to go on a rehabilitation assignment soon to one of the minor league teams in order to prove his injury is sufficiently healed for him to return as the everyday RF. Hart is now hoping for a return to the line-up by April 22, which is when the Brewers’ next home-stand begins. This is wonderful news, especially because Hart had a breakout year last year (Hart was my pick as Most Valuable Player for the Brewers in 2010). Getting Hart back will be a tremendous help.
As for Zack Greinke, he threw 25 pitches in a simulated game and felt no pain, which means his broken rib has probably healed enough that he, too, will be out on a minor-league rehab assignment soon. The hope now for Greinke is that by the end of April, he’ll be ready to pitch for the Brewers.
Please see this update from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for further details:
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/119722294.html
And finally, my favorite minor-league utility player, Vinny Rottino, currently remains in the Florida Marlins minor league system and has started the season with the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Marlins’ Class AAA affiliate (that is, their highest-level minor league team). So far the 31-year-old Rottino is batting only .065 with one hit in 12 at-bats, but has a .353 on base percentage due to taking several walks. (Stats taken from Rottino’s games through April 11, 2011.)
Here’s a link from the Racine Journal-Times, where the headline reads, “Pirates give Jaramillo a Chance; Taschner, Rottino still have Hope”:
http://www.journaltimes.com/sports/article_28fa5ae2-6585-11e0-bb13-001cc4c002e0.html
Here’s a relevant quote from the article, including a response from IF-OF-C Vinny Rottino himself:
Since signing with the Milwaukee Brewers as an undrafted free agent Feb. 3 2003, Rottino’s modus operandi has been to play every game with abandon and wait for his chance. His mindset remains the same eight years later.
And after hitting .307 with eight homers, 69 RBIs and 22 stolen bases for the Suns last year, Rottino believes he has positioned himself to make it back to the major leagues.
“I’ve been given an opportunity to play baseball for a living and I know I keep saying that,” said Rottino, a 1998 St. Catherine’s graduate. “I really feel that after the year I had last year, I have a legitimate chance to get back to the big leagues.
“This is an organization where, if you perform well in the minor leagues and they think you can help the major league team win, they’re bringing you up. That’s a lot different situation from a lot of other organizations.”
Note that Rottino has played in the minor leagues for both the Brewers and the Dodgers prior to being signed by the Marlins in 2010. And while I greatly appreciate Peter Jackel’s column (I’d wondered what was going on with Rottino and said so in a blog post from a few weeks ago), Jackel failed to note that Rottino won an award last season from the Southern League (AA) — he won an award for “best utility player/performance.” That, along with his excellent batting average, on-base percentage and the most stolen bases he’d ever had as a minor-leaguer, must be why Rottino is so hopeful of getting a chance with the Marlins this season.
If you are as interested in following Vinny Rottino’s career as I am, please follow this link to Rottino’s minor-league page (where you can find out where he’s playing, how he’s doing and what positions he’s playing, too, for that matter):
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=457130
I really like Rottino; his attitude is refreshing, and the fact that he’s still in there fighting at the (for baseball) advanced age of 31 is encouraging for anyone who refuses to stop believing in himself (or herself). Vinny Rottino is another example of persistence in the face of long odds, and I hope he breaks out of his early-season slump soon as when he’s right, he’s a good hitter, an excellent fielder (especially in the infield and outfield) and a fast and smart runner. I, too, believe that Rottino has what it takes to be a successful major league player as a utility man/defensive replacement/pinch hitter/whatever — and I hope he gets his chance this year.
Tired, ill, and reading
This past week hasn’t been one of my best.
As to what’s wrong? Well, I hit the six years, six months mark in my grief observance . . . what a passive way to say that I’ve now been without my husband for over six years and six months. And I hate it, but can’t do anything about it, save remember my beloved husband Michael as he was while he was alive — and know to the bottom of my soul that we will be together again in eternity if at all humanly possible.
Oh, yeah. And I’ve been sick, too — sinus stuff and flu symptoms, which hasn’t stopped me from looking for work (and wouldn’t have stopped me from accepting a job had one been offered) . . . still no luck on the job front.
Before I go on, I wanted to mention the passing of Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to ever be nominated on a major party ticket for Vice President. She’s still one of only two women to be nominated (Sarah Palin being the other) . . . Ms. Ferraro was a tough, strong, smart, capable and confident woman who would’ve made an exceptional Vice President and an even better President, had she ever had the opportunity.
Ms. Ferraro was a staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton for President, and spoke for me as well as for many others after the 5/31/08 debacle that was the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee that decided the fate of Mrs. Clinton and the Democratic nomination — not at the hands of the voters, but instead at the hands of the DNC itself. Ms. Ferraro was astonished and disgusted, and her clear, strong voice helped smooth the waters afterward and made our dissent as HRC Dems more forceful, coherent and logical. I will miss Ms. Ferraro and her tenacity, and I hope “The Good Place (TM)” will appreciate Ms. Ferraro and bring her joy, peace and whatever else she wants as her productive and happy afterlife.
Now, on to less important stuff.
This past week I’ve read at least six books, most of which I’m going to review at Amazon.com and/or Shiny Book Review down the line. The best of the lot was Louisa Young’s MY DEAR, I WANTED TO TELL YOU, as it’s a horrifically realistic portrait of World War I, but IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS by Erik Larson was also very good and very horrifying, the latter book being about Ambassador to Germany William Dodd and his family, who served during 1933-1937 being stationed in Berlin and saw first-hand what was going on with Adolf Hitler, Josef Goebbels, and all the others. The only book I really couldn’t get behind was Gina Showalter’s UNRAVELED, this being the sequel to INTERTWINED (I liked INTERTWINED, mind you) . . . just didn’t buy most of it, and the reason I didn’t buy it was that the characterization wasn’t as solid as in the previous novel. (When your main character, Aden, is a guy with a bunch of dead people inside his head, you need to believe in him or the concept doesn’t work. I bought it in INTERTWINED, didn’t buy it in UNRAVELED. Would still give Ms. Showalter one more chance to sell me on this universe down the line, though, because of the previous, far-stronger novel.)
I’ve also had a problem recently in focusing my attention on one thing, or even on any ten things . . . I believe this is due to exhaustion, and being ill, and trying to pretend I’m neither one.
Well, the time for pretending is over; I hope by saying out loud, in public, even (as blogging is a public endeavor even if no one reads it but me), that I’m going to take some down-time if I can makes sense.
Other than that, I continue to watch Wisconsin politics. The Governor’s budget repair bill was stalled in the courts, but the Republicans tried an unusual end-around that I’m not even sure I can describe — they believe by doing this rather odd thing (you have to publish a bill specifically by the Secretary of State’s office in Wisconsin or it’s not legal, and after it’s published it takes ten days to take effect; this hasn’t happened as a Dane County court enjoined that with a temporary restraining order, but a different place in the government has published the bill and the Republicans believe that’s enough and the bill — which stops the state from collectively bargaining with employees in public employee unions — is now law. I have my doubts on that score but have no doubt — zero — that the original judge who gave the temporary restraining order will have more to say tomorrow and that any legal action will be officially blocked by five PM tomorrow.) Note that the Wisconsin Republicans did this weird “end-around” thing after 5 PM on a Friday because they wanted to make positive news, such as it is, and mute the negative news a little . . . tomorrow I’m sure all the crap will hit the fan, again.
Oh, yeah. I nearly forgot to add that one of my friends, whom I respect highly, has told me that he thinks I should not write the Elfyverse (my universe, my concept, my voice) or Michael’s universes (granted, all of those were Michael’s concept and me trying to match Michael’s voice, which is very tough) and instead should think of something else to write and do that.
Well, here’s my thought on that — it’s up to me what I do, and these days I’m glad to get any ideas at all. If I can get one story consistently talking to me so I can do more with it, I’m going to work with it — whether it’s a new story, an existing story in my Elfyverse or an existing story in Michael’s, it doesn’t matter. Only the strength of the story matters . . . I just hope I’ll start hearing something after I heal up a little, because right now none of my stories are talking to me, at all.
Note that I appreciate my friend for saying what he did even though I feel he’s flat wrong. Being able to honestly communicate is important, even if you don’t always agree — probably because you can’t always agree, it’s important to have some real communication going on even if it’s, “I really don’t like what you’re doing, Barb, and wish you’d stop.” (My response wouldn’t be printable, I’m afraid, but that’s the drawback to free, honest and open communication.)
Oh, and last, Writers of the Future bounced both of my stories out in the last two quarters . . . what else is new?
Barb Caffrey's Blog 