Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary

The Official Blog of Ray LaHood, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

http://fastlane.dot.gov/

Boehner: Eye end to birthright citizenship

House Minority Leader Floats Idea of Changing so US Birth Doesn’t Guarantee US Citizenship

Washington: In an interview on "Meet the Press" John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House Minority Leader, has floated the idea of changing the 14th amendment of the US Constitution to remove automatic entitlement to citizenship for person born in the US.

Boehner argues that the current constitutional situation is driving illegal immigration - a point of view echoed by Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, the Senate Minority Leader.

"Listen, I think it’s worth considering. ... It’s time for us to secure our borders and enforce the law and allow this conversation about the 14th amendment to continue," said Boehner.

Source: www.upi.com

IRL may return to Milwaukee in 2011

JOLIET, Ill. -- One of the country's most historic auto racing tracks might be making a comeback, as IndyCar officials are talking to potential promoters about getting the Milwaukee Mile back on the schedule.

Milwaukee could replace Chicagoland Speedway as an IndyCar venue, although it remains unclear whether a deal can be put together for next season -- and, if so, when the reconstituted race would be held.

Speaking to reporters before Saturday night's race at Chicagoland, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said "several" promoters are interested in bringing the series back to Milwaukee.

"I want that event bad," Bernard said.

The track withdrew from hosting major racing events this year after previous track promoters ran into financial problems and the Wisconsin State Fair Park board of directors could not find a suitable replacement.

The Mile began hosting auto racing events in 1903, and has held IndyCar and the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck series in recent years.  It is most closely linked to Indy-style racing, traditionally hosting a race the weekend after the Indianapolis 500.

"I think that we have a tremendous fan base that feels like we left them behind, and I think that this is a step forward to make sure tradition stays a part of IndyCar," Bernard said.

At this point, Bernard doesn't seem to be counting on any financial help from the state of Wisconsin.

"The state would like to help us," Bernard said. "The state's in a pickle in their own mind.  I never want to be a parasite to any state.  I don't think that's fair to the state, [and] I don't think it looks good upon IndyCar.  But it has to be viable.  So right now, we're trying to figure out how we make this event viable with what we have to work with."

Source: ESPN

Body fat Index regulation included in stimulus bill

Complying with terms included under a stimulus bill signed by President Obama in 2009, mandated electronic health records must include Body Mass Index scores, in addition to height and weight.

According to the requirements of the 2009 economic stimulus law, health care providers will receive reduced Medicare and Medicaid payments should they fail to establish "meaningful use" of electronic records by 2014.

Regulations also require that records are able to update themselves to federal databases maintained by HHS and CDC, among others.

Source: cnsnews.com

Emphasis is mine!

Wall Street increasingly favors Republicans: study

(Reuters) – Wall Street and its financial allies did an about-face in political spending in June, giving Republicans over two-thirds of their campaign contributions as Democrats pushed financial reform forward in Congress, a report said on Tuesday.

The preliminary findings by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics suggest that a financial industry trend favoring Republican candidates, which began in late 2009, may have accelerated as reform legislation progressed in the run-up to November's congressional mid-term elections.

The Washington research group found that individuals and political action committees connected with the finance, insurance and real estate sectors gave 68 percent of their money to Republican interests in June, just before President Barack Obama signed financial reform into law.

Nearly opposite conditions held sway in March 2009, when 70 percent of the industry's contributions went to Democrats.

Source: Yahoo/AP

Arrowhead High Adds Press, Luxury Boxes To Stadium

$2.4 M Structure Largely Funded By Donors

HARTLAND, Wis. -- The Arrowhead High School football team has a new addition that towers over all of its players.

The school added new seating at Taraska Stadium.  The new $2.4 million structure is topped off with a new press box, coaches room, sound room and what have become real talkers, six luxury boxes.

"I've been around high school sports my entire life and you've never seen anything like that, especially in the Midwest," said Arrowhead Athletic Director Kevin Flegner.

There are six identical luxury boxes at the stadium.  They all have custom seating and refrigerators.  The heated boxes are enclosed by glass windows that can be opened during the warmer months.

"They have lights, they have their own sound system, so on a cold night if they want to close the windows, they can listen to our PA system," said Flegner.

According to Flegner, the school district put $500,000 toward the cost of the new facility.  The remaining cost was picked up by donors in the community.  The district money went towards infrastructure such as lights and the storm sewer management on the grounds.

Five major donors have bought five of the boxes.  The school is in negotiations for the sixth box.  The donors will have access for every game, but there will be opportunities for others to use them if the donor is not.  With enough notice, Flegner says the boxes will be raffled off, with the money going toward the building fund, which will help pay down the total cost of the project.

Source: WISN

No butts about it: Navy subs to ban smoking

“You’re going to have some very, very disgruntled sailors”

Aboard the submarine USS Florida, there's no e-mail or phone, no breaks for sunshine or fresh air.  For many Navy sailors serving 90-day tours in cramped quarters underwater, one of the few creature comforts has been smoke breaks below decks in the machine room.

By New Year's Eve, sailors will have to kick the habit.

In early April, the Navy ordered its fleet of 71 submarines to snuff out smoking onboard by the end of 2010 — closing one of the last loopholes in an indoor smoking ban the U.S. military imposed in 1994.

The change means an estimated 5,200 smokers in the submarine fleet will have to pretty much quit a habit that for some is a pack a day, while for others is an occasional cigar.  Those who need to stop expect a rough maiden voyage.

"You're going to have some very, very disgruntled sailors," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Cedric Dickinson, a cook aboard the Florida who's already cutting back from a pack-a-day to four cigarettes.  "You don't have much to look forward to under way.  Everyone's going to be on edge."

The pending smoking ban was announced 16 years after the military

For years the Navy assumed that, aside from smoke wafting around a sub's designated smoke pit, secondhand smoke was scrubbed from the air by the same filters that remove fumes from cooking and cleaning chemicals.

However, a 2009 Navy study showed otherwise.  The Navy tested 197 nonsmoking submarine sailors for nicotine in their systems, once while they were on shore duty and again after they returned from deployment at sea.  Most had none while assigned to shore, but all tested positive for nicotine exposure after returning from patrols.

The Navy concluded all submarine sailors must be inhaling secondhand smoke, whether they could smell it or not.

"The only way to eliminate it is to eliminate smoking within the submarine," said Lt. Cmdr. Mark C. Jones, a spokesman for Navy Submarine Forces in Norfolk, Virginia.  "This is for the majority of sailors who have chosen not to smoke tobacco.  It's for their health."

Former smokers serving aboard each submarine are being trained as mentors to lead fellow sailors who still light up through cessation classes.  Medical officers are preparing to order nicotine gum and patches in bulk to stock each boat.  (Sailors aren't allowed to use drugs like Zyban and Chantix, which can have psychological side effects.)

"A lot of them have a pretty good positive attitude," said Master Chief Corpsman Michael Leggett, who overseas the medical officers aboard each sub at Kings Bay. "I canvassed all the smokers I knew onboard my crew.  I got answers from 'I don't think I'm going to be able to do it' to 'I think it can be done in time.'"

One thing smokers requested almost unanimously, Leggett said, is to be forced to cut back at sea before having to go cold-turkey next year.

So some sub commanders plan to give the nonsmoking policy a trial run before the Navy's Dec. 31 deadline.  Huckaba said sailors on the Florida's upcoming tour will be discouraged from smoking, and times when lighting up is permitted may be curtailed.  For the crew's last week at sea, the commander plans to ban all smoking.

Source: MSNBC

Honeybees survive for millennia in Sahara desert oasis

Deep in the Sahara desert are honeybees that have remained isolated from all other bees for at least 5,000 years.

The bees arrived at Kufra in Libya when the Sahara was still a green savannah, and have survived ever since around an oasis in the desert, over 1,000km from their nearest neighboring bees.

So concludes a new study which has analyzed the bees' genetics.

The Kufra honeybees are so isolated they remain free of a parasitic mite that threatens bees around the world.

Source and Full Story: BBC

Dr. Steven Robert Chybowski, DDS - Pediatric Dentist

311 E Puetz Rd SUITE 106

Oak Creek, WI  53154

Ph: 414-768-1020

He is moving from Puetz and Howell to Howell and Drexel soon.

Children’s Dental Center at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin

For birth to 18 years old

9000 W. Wisconsin Ave

414-266-2040

1020 North 12^th St.

414-277-8960

Denny’s

Tuesday and Saturday Evenings

4 p.m.  - 10 p.m.  kids eat free up to two entrees per adult meal purchased.

Buffalo Wild Wings

Monday

5 p.m. - 8 p.m. Children ages 12 and under eat for 99¢ from the kid's menu.

IHOP

Monday & Tuesday, Wed

4 p.m. -8 p.m.  - Kids ages 12 & under eat free- 1 Kids' Menu item per Adult entree (Drink NOT incl).

Perkins One

Saturday

4 p.m. -9 p.m. 12 and under Free kid's meal w/ adult entree purchase.

Subject to change/Please make sure you contact the restaurant in your area to verify before you visit.

A Complex Link Between Marijuana and Schizophrenia

Since the days of Reefer Madness, scientists have sought to understand the complex connection between marijuana and psychosis.  Cannabis can cause short-term psychotic experiences, such as hallucinations and paranoia, even in healthy people, but researchers have also long noted a link between marijuana use and the chronic psychotic disorder, schizophrenia.

Repeatedly, studies have found that people with schizophrenia are about twice as likely to smoke pot as those who are unaffected.  Conversely, data suggest that those who smoke cannabis are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as nonsmokers.  One widely publicized 2007 review of the research even concluded that trying marijuana just once was associated with a 40% increase in risk of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

But here's the conundrum: while marijuana went from being a secret shared by a small community of hepcats and beatniks in the 1940s and '50s to a rite of passage for some 70% of youth by the turn of the century, rates of schizophrenia in the U.S. have remained flat, or possibly declined.  For as long as it has been tracked, schizophrenia has been found to affect about 1% of the population.

One explanation may be that the two factors are coincidental, not causal: perhaps people who have a genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia also happen to especially enjoy marijuana.  Still, some studies suggest that smoking pot can actually trigger the disease earlier in individuals who are predisposed, and yet researchers still aren't seeing increases in the overall schizophrenia rate or decreases in the average age of onset

Source: Yahoo-AP

Mexican President Considers Debate on Legalizing Drugs

Since about 28,000 people were killed in drug violence since 2006, Mexico’s president Felipe Calderon thinks about legalizing drugs.  In 2006 he introduced legislation to crackdown cartels.

According to agency director Guillermo Valdes approximately 84,000 weapons had been confiscated.  Valdes presented the statistics during a meeting with the president and representatives of business and civic groups.

The latter, however, suggested a different strategy.  They called on the Mexican government to consider a debate on legalizing drugs.  Moreover they want the government to cut off funding of organized crimes.

"I'm not talking just about marijuana," analyst and writer Hector Aguilar Camin said in proposing the debate Tuesday, "rather all drugs in general."

Source: news.yahoo.com

Legalizing Drugs Has Presidential Support

Former President Vicente Fox has made it clear that he supports the legalization of drugs.  Fox stated education and public awareness ultimately affect an individual’s decision to consume drugs.

Fox’s statement was made from his web-site.  A point about Mexico’s military, in that it was not designed to take on organized crime.

28,000 people have been killed in the drug war since 2006 according to the government of Mexico

Source: www.cnn.com

A few readers have emailed me that former Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue’s house is up for sale by owner (FSBO).

And thanks to some other readers for the info and links, we can all give our congratulations to Ryan McCue on getting the Wautoma City Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer position.

http://www.cityofwautoma.com/100816cc.pdf

Progressive county seat community in central Wisconsin.  Mayor and six non-partisan council members.  $1.5M total budget; 16 FT, 4 PT employees.  Salary $60K to $70K plus benefits, DOQ.  First Administrator position.

http://www.cityofwautoma.com/html/open_position.html

I am going to do a new segment daily where I will highlight one or two of my friend Jay Weber of 1130 WISN podcasts from his radio show that is a Must Listen to.

Aug. 19: Barney Frank now says abolish Freddie and Fanny.

Click Here to Listen to Podcast

Aug. 19: Doyle yanks train stop away from Oconomowoc for asking questions.

Click Here to Listen to Podcast

The Jay Weber Show

Microsoft to releases security patch for shortcut bug

The first attacks via the flaw were aimed at power station control systems Microsoft is issuing an urgent security update to fix a flaw in the way Windows handles shortcuts.

The bug means that attackers can craft booby-trapped shortcuts that allow them to take over a target computer.

Many users set up shortcuts to get to programs and places in Windows that they use regularly.

Microsoft said it was releasing the patch because it had seen an increase in the number of attacks on the vulnerability.

The patch will be released on 2 August at 1800 BST (1000 PDT). The fix will be sent out to those that automatically update their machines.  It will also be available via the Windows Update site.

The flaw was found in mid-July and allows malicious hackers to embed commands in shortcuts that are executed when that quick link is used. Every version of Windows is vulnerable to the flaw.

The first exploits of the flaw were seeded via infected USB drives and network connections. While exploitation of the flaw was limited initially, the tempo of attacks via the bug have escalated since it was discovered and publicized.

Early attacks using the bug were aimed at the software control systems for critical infrastructure such as power stations.

Microsoft is signaling the severity of the problem by releasing an update outside its usual patch cycle. Security fixes are usually issued on the second Tuesday of every month.

Christopher Budd, senior security response manager at Microsoft, wrote on the company's security blog: "We're able to confirm that, in the past few days, we've seen an increase in attempts to exploit the vulnerability"

Source: BBC

We all know that MMSD (Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District) must separate the storm rain runoff systems and septic sewers, but something else can be fixed and improved.

As part of a long-term improvement, MMSD must increase the amount of waste treated at the plants in the first place.

YES, increase the capacity at treatment plants!!!!

Currently the capacity at Jones Island and South Shore are 300 million gallons / day each.

1880’s The first centrifugal pump built by E. P. Allis & Co. was rated at a capacity of 70 million gallons per day.  It was built for pumping sewage at Jones Island, Milwaukee.

At that time the sewerage system was under the control of the Board of Public Works of the City of Milwaukee.  The first regular system of construction was begun in 1869.  It was in the form of a combined system, which disposes of both sewage and surface drainage storm water, and the sewers were large enough to carry off the rush of such drain off at the time.  In addition, another 247 miles of sewers had been constructed by 1897, not including the additional four miles of the so-called Menomonee special sewer.

Jones Island plant’s average daily flow of 113 million gallons and peak capacity of 330 million gallons.

The tunnels temporarily store sewage and storm water after heavy rains until the Jones Island and South Shore treatment plants have space to treat the flow.

In a deluge, combined sanitary and storm sewers in central Milwaukee and eastern Shorewood fill quickly.  Leaks of storm water into separate sanitary sewers in other communities boost flows in those pipes up to several times normal daily volumes.

Why is waste left in the deep tunnels if they can process more daily?

We built the deep tunnel (1994 operational) instead of separating the sewers and now we have increased the size of the deep tunnel (2 miles operational 2010) to give a buffer, but a two part real solution needs to happen.  MMSD needs to process more waste faster and we need to separate the sewers!

I know MMSD is like a quasi government entity will not want to sink their own money into this.  How could they easily pass the costs on to the public?  Same as they do now.  Raise taxes!

If MMSD increases the amount of treatment:

1. There will be less already in the deep tunnel and maybe it could even be empty
2. They will be able to keep up better with the increase amount of flow during storm times.
3. Even fewer dumps of blended or raw sewage.

Please think about this! 

IF MMSD were a private firm would they get away with:

1. Dumping with a big fine that they simply cannot raise taxes to pay for it.
2. Not separate the sewers since the City of Shorewood and Milwaukee would be pushing it.
3. Class action suit

One of my friends (who is a liberal that had water damage in Milwaukee) said to me, “Why not raid the 800 million for a high-speed Madison to Milwaukee train to fix and separate the sewers.”

Maybe it is time for a class action suit to get MMSD moving in the right direction!

I am going to do a new segment daily where I will highlight one or two of my friend Jay Weber of 1130 WISN podcasts from his radio show that is a Must Listen to.

Aug. 18: Steve Forbes joins Jay to talk about Obama being clueless and anti-business.

Click Here to Listen to Podcast

Aug. 18: JR Ross of WisPolitics.com

Click Here to Listen to Podcast

The Jay Weber Show

Small firms cancel coverage, dump employees on government plans (as predicted)

Firms cancel health coverage

With cost rising, small companies turning to state

The relentlessly rising cost of health insurance is prompting some small Massachusetts companies to drop coverage for their workers and encourage them to sign up for state-subsidized care instead, a trend that, some analysts say, could eventually weigh heavily on the state’s already-stressed budget.

Since April 1, the date many insurance contracts are renewed for small businesses, the owners of about 90 small companies terminated their insurance plans with Braintree-based broker Jeff Rich and indicated in a follow-up survey that they were relying on publicly-funded insurance for their employees.

In Sandwich, business consultant Bill Fields said he has been hired by small businesses to enroll about 400 workers in state-subsidized care since April, because the company owners said they could no longer afford to provide coverage.  Fields said that is by far the largest number he has handled in such a short time.

“They are giving up out of frustration,’’ Fields said of the employers.  “Most of them are very compassionate but they simply can’t afford health insurance any more.’’

Precisely how many small businesses have recently given up offering insurance is hard to pinpoint.  The Office of Labor and Workforce Development said the most recent quarterly insurance data collected from small companies has not been compiled.

Source and Full Story: Boston.com

I am going to do a new segment daily where I will highlight one or two of my friend Jay Weber of 1130 WISN podcasts from his radio show that is a Must Listen to.

August 17: Obama and Bloomberg have Hamas on their side regarding mosque

Click Here to Listen to Podcast

August 17: Democrats decide to hide when Obama visits town

Click Here to Listen to Podcast

The Jay Weber Show

Corporate profits are on the rebound, but most big businesses say it will be some time before they can give as much cash to charities as they did before the recession, according to a survey of the nation's largest companies by the Chronicle of Philanthropy and USA TODAY.

More than 100 answered the survey, and the Chronicle analyzed tax data for a total of 162 companies.

A majority of companies said they expect their charitable donations in 2010 to be about the same as in 2009 — a year in which cash giving fell by 7.5%. Of the 102 firms that answered the question, 73% predicted a flat 2010.

Source: USA Today