Today's Press Release from the DNC on the schedule for speeches at the Democratic National Convention:

Democrats Add New Speakers, Announce Gavel Times For Opening Three Nights in Denver

DENVER – The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) and the Obama for America Campaign today announced new speakers and gavel times for the opening three nights of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, to take place August 25th – 28th in Denver.

Joining the program on Monday, August 25th will be Former President Jimmy Carter; Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar; Miami Mayor Manny Diaz; Illinois state leaders Alexi Giannoulis, Dan Hynes, Lisa Madigan, and Tom Balanoff from Illinois SEIU; long-time Barack Obama mentor Jerry Kellman; NEA President Reg Weaver; AFT President Randi Weingarten; and NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan. The theme of Monday’s program is One Nation.

New speakers added to the program on Tuesday, August 26th are Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy; West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, Chair of the Democratic Governors’ Association; Iowa Governor Chet Culver; Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle; California State Controller John Chiang; Change to Win’s Anna Burger; AFL-CIO President John Sweeney; and Planned Parenthood of America President Cecile Richards. The theme of Tuesday’s program is Renewing America’s Promise.

You may be familiar with the good work of the Sunlight Foundation .  Among other things, they make it possible for us to have the Uppity Wisconsin Legislator Directory. 

They just launched a new site that tracks parties -- yes, that's right, parties.  At first I thought that was a little odd - though useful because one of the things they track are the parties at the Democratic Convention, where I'm heading in a few days.

But the point is - they're trying to document the continual gravy train of political parties.  It's an interesting site that just launched today, and lets you search the party database in multiple ways.  Unfortunately, searching by brands of beer served is not one of the choices for some inxplicable reason.  Still ---

Editor Note - This begins a new feature on Uppity Wisconsin, where legislators will begin submitting blog entries and op-ed features to the blog.  Let us know what you think - we'll start out with State Senator Kathleen Vinehout's column on Health Care Reform.

“We have got to figure out how to fix health care. I think we need to look at what we are doing other places.” The man called my office to share ideas on how to reform health care. “Yes,” I agreed.

What have we done in other places? My constituent was thinking about ideas like workers compensation, unemployment compensation and the state employees’ health plan. Wisconsin has several examples of initiatives taken to solve insurance problems. But so have other states and Wisconsin is actually lagging behind many of those states.

Many of you may have noticed the widget that has been displaying around this site for the last few weeks from RootsWire.org.  RootsWire is an exciting project that we've been working on in conjunction with many of the bloggers who are covering the Democratic Convention.  We are pulling together content from many of the best bloggers in the country in a single site, covering the convention from many angles, both in different parts of the planet and from different political viewpoints. This has been a great experience, and we're thrilled that so many well-known bloggers from around the world are participating. 

This has been (and continues to be) a lot of work, but it has also been a great experience.  We've been having weekly conference calls for the last few weeks and are getting to know each other, and share information (we're mostly still befuddled about what will happen once we get to Denver and are breathlessly awaiting more info from the Democratic Party).  

I'd like to introduce all of you to the Wisconsin delegates to the Democratic Convention.  During the next 2 weeks you'll be hearing more from me about the different delegates, and hearing and seeing interviews with them. If any of you who are reading this ARE delegates, please drop me a line at shanson [at] uppitywis [dot] org.  I'd love to talk with you before the convention, and time is running short.

FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT:
Margaret
Andrietsch of Racine, William Cobb of Kenosha, Cory Mason of Racine,
Marilyn Nemeth of Racine, Marlene Ott of Greendale and Michael
Underhill of Salem as delegates, and Jason Smith of Racine as an
alternate.

SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT:
Anne
Boley of Madison, Stan Davis of Sun Prairie, Bryon Eagon of Madison,
Roberta Gassman of Madison, Brett Hulsey of Madison, Frances
Huntley-Cooper of Fitchburg, Mary Lang Sollinger of Madison and Richard
Loeper of Madison as delegates, and Celia Jackson of Madison as an
alternate.

The info on entertainers who will be at the Democratic Convention keeps pouring in. 

 Add Moby, Dave Navarro, the Silversun Pickups, Clap Your Hands Say
Yeah, the Cold War Kids and Nada Surf to the list of rockers who will
be performing live public concerts during Democratic National
Convention week in Denver.

Vietnam-era Navy veteran Keith Roberts (1968-71), jailed because he could not substantiate the circumstances causing his diagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as he was "tenaciously pursuing a claim for VA benefits," has been informed his hearing for oral arguments of his VA claim before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) is scheduled for October 23, 2008.

In a unanimous opinion (07-1546) issued in July a three-member panel for the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the controversial conviction on fraud of Roberts.

Eleven events are scheduled in Wisconsin on Friday, August 15, as part of the Iraq Moratorium, a growing national, grassroots effort to end the war and occupation of Iraq. This is the 12th month of such actions.

Wisconsin has had more local events than any other state except California, with six times the population. Two communities, Rice Lake and Waupaca, are holding their first Moratorium events on Friday.  Wisconsin events are listed on a new blog, Iraq Moratorium-Wisconsin.

The national Iraq Moratorium asks people to take some personal or group action on the Third Friday of every month to express their support for ending the war and bringing the troops home. Those actions can range from wearing a button or black armband to work or school to participating in an organized action.

Since it began in September, more than 1,200 events in 41 states and 240 communities have been listed on the Iraq Moratorium website, www.IraqMoratorium.com , which also collects reports, photos and videos of events and offers ideas and tools for organizers to use.

The Madison-based Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, a coalition of more than 150 groups, has helped promote the Moratorium in the state. Wisconsin events:

Delegating Wisconsin: By Kenny Be, Westword.comHere at Cruiskeen Lawn we're all getting ready for the Democratic Convention.  The dog is busy sleeping in inconvenient spots to prepare me for the crowds, the cat is sleeping on my face to get me prepared for the high altitude in Denver. And I'm furiously trying to pull together little bits of technology to make it possible to bring you stories, videos, and pictures from the convention.

You can follow bloggers from around the country at our new site RootsWire.Org .  You can follow live blogging there from people from around the world (no, really, we're not all from the US.) and get a very non-mainstream-media viewpoint. 

While you're waiting in breathless anticipation, enjoy the cartoon depicting the "typical" Wisconsin delegate.,  Click on the picture to see the other states. 

That cheese hat's gotta be around here somewhere.

For those who did not know, I’m a contract worker; and as a result I’m a direct beneficiary of the trend toward outsourcing.

And let me tell you, everyone’s doing it. At different times I’ve worked for school districts, a company that makes tax preparation software, agencies of State Government...even the Navy.

So it was no surprise when I found out from the agency that I was to be assigned to a Human Resources Department to help with the overflow of employee evaluations that needed to be completed—and it was no surprise when they told me the job was like working in Hell.

I was a bit surprised, however, when it turned out they were telling the literal truth...and that’s how I came to spend last week as a temp in Satan’s HR Department—vetting John McCain for his annual evaluation.

As surprising as it might seem, Satan’s actually not a bad boss. The dress code is casual—in fact, shorts are just fine: “on hot days”, as the joke went around the office. Dirty jokes at the office? Oh, they were all over that...and I don’t mind telling you that having been in that environment, I understand how flinging around the “C-word” can bring a sudden end to the lunch conversation.