Uppity Wisconsin

Just a quick note that Uppity Wisconsin is now available via

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We've used  Amazon Associate's rather lovely API for years now to provide an online book store on this web site.  Yes, I know that Amazon has had a history of fairly right-leaning political contributions, but the fact that they are the only book provider giving us a straightforward way to implement this was an overwhelming consideration.  I'll for the moment ignore how few of you have ever actually bought any of these recommended books from the site.

However - Amazon has recently apparently set a policy of manipulating their sales records to demote the sales ranking of any books they consider "adult" in nature.  This has primarily affected the rankings of gay-themed books, but has also dropped the sales ranks of multiple hetero books, including Lady Chatterly's Lover.  Mind you, they still sell all these books, they've just made it impossible for any of them to appear to be selling well, and therefore are discouraging people from finding them in searches and discouraging people from buying them. At the moment, Amazon is apparently calling this policy change a "mistake" that they are going to correct.  

Peace through Music: The Music of John Lennon, an annual benefit to prevent gun violence. Linneman's Riverwest Inn, 1001 E. Locust, Milwaukee, with a variety of musicians. Doors open at 6. $10 donation benefits Wisconsin Anti Violence Effort (WAVE) and the Brady Campaign.

We can now actually see the signs that the end has come. There are bleachers being built, there are rehearsals under way, and Senators are gathering to consider whether they’ll offer advice and give consent. There will be millions of words written about the past eight years and what has been wrought upon the world, but for today I have a simple thought to put upon the table: I wish Molly Ivins was writing about 600 of them.

“It's time to give thanks, and I want to start off with a great, big thank you for the top American movement conservatives and all the fun we've had since Election Day. I know I promised not to gloat after this election was over, but I'm not talking unseemly gloating -- I'm talking about moments so brilliantly hilarious the only option is to put your head down on the desk and howl.” --“Thanks—No, Seriously”, by Molly Ivins, November 23, 2006

It was because of Molly that I knew about Dubya, even before he was a serious candidate.

The past six weeks have seen a narrowing of focus here at the blog as we concentrated first on the election, and more recently on the events unfolding in Egyptian politics. As often happens when covering these major events, we have an abundance of stories that are piling up...and deserve our attention...and in this case, it’s a story that will take us far from the usual political real estate upon which we would normally slog. It’s my happy duty, instead, to point you toward one of my favorite musicians...and in the course of doing that, to an event series that is also well worth your time...and in the course of doing that, to a bar that is working hard, every day, to fulfill your live music needs—and by an even happier coincidence, the three intersect this Sunday.

Boy, does Star Theater in Fitchburg (next to Madison) really suck now.

What the heck happened?  I had only been to the theater once before since I heard the theater changed ownership.

I took my boyfriend to see a matinee of the X-Files: I Want to Believe (that was disappointing) and was treated, assaulted is a better word, to the following:

I'm sad to report that legendary folk singer, lifelong Wobbly, and former senate candidate Utah Phillips died in his sleep Friday night.