"This is important. We are teaching outmoded social sciences, in general.

Psych and Soc are doing a far better job than most. Economics might be one of the greatest laggards. We are still teaching the disciplines as they were relevant for industrial societies, utilizing the sciences of those times and the general paradigm of reality (mechanistic) appropriate to that core technology. New paradigms have emerged throughout the 20th century which are far more applicable and relevant.

Journalism might be one of the worst examples of an outmoded discipline. And not just the fact that the technology has changed. The old dichotomous approach, he-said---she-said, is doing our society -- including our economics and politics, a great deal of harm. Instead of providing light, enlightening the public, what we get is often only heat. Dramatic and conflict-oriented. Winners and losers. Political economics as a football game with constant color-commentary."

"The number of Americans who receive means-tested government benefits -- welfare -- now outnumbers those who are year-round full-time workers."



...

We asked Sykes where he got his information and he sent us a link to an article that appeared on the CNS News website. CNS News is a project of the Media Resource Center, a conservative group that aims to counter what it sees as liberal bias in the media.

...

So today there are generally less people receiving some type of government assistance and more people working full time.

One final note: The number of recipients includes millions of children under the age of 16 and the elderly. The Census Bureau tally folds in the school lunch program. In the spring of this year, 29 million students benefited from that. About a third of the residents of public housing are over 62. By most standards, we don’t expect these people to work. To compare them to the number of full-time workers might be useful policy information but to fail to note that children and the elderly, not to mention the blind and disabled, are folded into the tally of recipients is highly misleading.

MADISON (WKOW) -- Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) says he cannot yet comment on alleged discrepancies between what is reportedly published in his upcoming book and the recording of a phone conversation he had with a blogger posing as billionaire Republican donor David Koch on February 22, 2011.

During that conversation, Ian Murphy of the Beast, who was posing as Koch, told Gov. Walker he was thinking about possibly planting some troublemakers into the crowd of thousands protesting Act 10 at the State Capitol.

"You know, the, well, the only problem with that — because we thought about that," replied Gov. Walker. He went on to say, "My only fear would be is if there was a ruckus caused is that that would scare the public into thinking maybe the Governor has gotta settle to avoid all these problems."

...

The Journal-Sentinel obtained an advance copy of the book and reports that Walker writes "we never — never — considered putting 'troublemakers' in the crowd to discredit the protesters."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new poll commissioned by the Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake finds that an overwhelming number of voters believe campaign donations and other special interest spending on judicial elections have an influence on a judge’s decision on the bench. The findings were released today at a National Press Club event highlighting a new report by the groups, The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2011-12: How New Waves of Special Interest Spending Raised the Stakes for Fair Courts.

“As this poll makes clear, Americans are worried that our fair courts are at risk,” said Alicia Bannon, counsel in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “We need stricter rules for when judges have to step aside from cases, so that judges aren’t hearing cases involving donors who spent large sums getting them elected. We also need stronger disclosure laws so the public knows who is spending money trying to shape our courts.”

“These numbers are the highest we’ve seen in years of polling on this question,” said Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director of Justice at Stake. “Almost 9 in 10 Americans believe that campaign cash is affecting courtroom decisions. They’re worried that justice is for sale.”

The poll asked about campaign donations made directly to judges’ campaigns as well as about “independent spending,” in which outside groups spend their own money on TV ads and other election materials for or against a judicial candidate. A full 87 percent of voters said they believed both kinds of spending have either “some” or “a great deal” of influence on judges’ decisions.

Ruh-roh.
Last Friday, Capitol Times Associate Editor and Washington Correspondent for The Nation, John Nichols, responded to a clip from Right Wisconsin, saying:

"The fact of the matter is that they're noting a reality that a lot of people are noting. The complexity of the situation is that Mary Burke is in many ways closer to a lot of their ideologies than too, than too alot of the people they criticize." -John Nichols

The only currently-declared Democratic candidate for governor says she's open to a proposed open pit iron ore mine in the Penokee Hills, but she says she would have vetoed the Republican bill passed this year that speeds up the mine permitting process.

Mary Burke was in Superior, Ashland and Bayfield over the weekend as part of her state campaign tour. She says she got an earful about mining. “People are concerned about whether we are risking the sustainability and natural resources that are such assets to the state without the needed protections,” Burke said. “People are concerned about jobs, and want to make sure we do have good paying jobs, but also want to make sure that that's balanced with protecting our resources, which are important for not only this generation but generations to come.”

Burke says she's still looking into the issue and thinks mining can happen, but only under certain circumstances, not those set by the Republican legislation. “If the conditions are right, we should be looking at opportunities that are going to create jobs, but we make sure we are protecting our natural resources.”

While in Ashland, Burke didn't meet with Bad River tribal officials, who are among the leading opponents of the mine, but she says she'd like to do that. She says it's important to meet with people who would be affected by an iron ore mine.

Poll shows Burke, Vinehout in a dead heat with Gov. Walker

With the election for governor still more than a year away, a new poll shows the race is already close.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker had 47% and Democrat Mary Burke had 45% in a poll of 800 registered voters released Tuesday by Marquette Law School.

...

The results also were close when Walker was matched with state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), who is also considering a run. She finished third in a four-way Democratic primary to oppose Walker in his recall election last year. In the poll, Walker had 47% to Vinehout’s 44%. Among those polled, 79% said they didn’t know enough about the legislator to rate her.

In 2012, the Janesville Republican lost his home precinct, his hometown, his home county as a candidate for vice president. And he was re-elected to the U.S. House with the lowest margin of his career. Why? Wisconsinites are getting to know where Ryan stands on the issues. And they are unimpressed.

Ryan got by for years on the basis of family ties and nice-guy image. But voters don’t think it’s very nice to propose the mangling and dismemberment of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And they don’t think it’s very wise to align with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Ryan has gone to extremes. And that makes Rob Zerban, the Democrat who in 2012 ran the best race ever against the incumbent, think he might be able to beat Ryan in 2014.

“It’s just totally unbelievable that the incumbent in this district continues to vote to risk the full faith and credit of the United States,” says Zerban. “He continues to vote in favor of crashing the global economy. His commitment to partisanship and ideology is so extreme that he actually voted for the United States to default on our obligations."

Zerban for Congress!

For those that read Cog Dis regularly, Zerban should be a familiar name. He ran against Ryan in the last cycle and damned near beat him then. In fact, Zerban trounced Ryan in Ryan's hometown of Janesville. The only thing that saved Ryan's butt that day was the gerrymandered voting districts that gave Ryan the deep red area of Walkersha County.

But unlike some candidates who also lost that year, Zerban did not sit back and just shrug his shoulders. He did not give up or lose interest.

If anything, he did the opposite. He got more invested in the district and in state. Whether it was a labor event, a call for immigration reform or standing up for women's rights, Zerban was there, with his sleeves rolled up and working hard.

I would say that it's a fair statement to say that in the last two yearrs, Rob Zerban has done more for the district than Paul Ryan has done in his entire career as their so-called representative.