I've uploaded tons of video clips so it's a bid daunting. You Tube is still processing them. I haven't had time to organize them.
For a quick view of inside the capital I would recommend the following clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S3f_3GWoqY <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S3f_3GWoqY&feature=related> &feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOBGggVxn44 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOBGggVxn44&feature=related> &feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpGirjnXytM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0VPpPpQwrw Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks From: OrionWorks - Steven Vincent Johnson [mailto:orionwo...@charter.net] Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 9:39 PM To: vortex-l@eskimo.com Subject: RE: [Vo]:OT (But Not Entirely) - Wisconsin Public Employees Continue Protesting. State Senators AWOL I forgot to post my You Tube channel account: I have downloaded countless videos of the capital protests from Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I plan on attending Friday's demonstrations as well. Crowds have gotten bigger each day. Tens and thousands are now marching. Check out: http://www.youtube.com/user/OrionworksVideos The outcome is still frighteningly uncertain. In the end, we may still lose the vote. We may still lose the right to bargain collectively. But we organized with only a day's notice. Within a day we organized and started fighting back. And some are now finally beginning to listen to what the real issues are. PS: Power to Rossi. and Mills too. ;-) Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzlec.com/orionworks From: OrionWorks - Steven Vincent Johnson [mailto:orionwo...@charter.net] Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 6:26 PM To: Vortex Subject: [Vo]:OT (But Not Entirely) - Wisconsin Public Employees Continue Protesting. State Senators AWOL The city of Madison, and the rest of the state of Wisconsin is experiencing something akin to its own Cairo, Egypt, moment. It's happening right now. http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/17/wisconsin.budget/index.html?hpt=T2 It is now day three of messy, raunchy, ear splitting loud, state-wide protesting. Peaceful pandemonium has been unleashed out on the streets and within the state capital building. It's also known as democracy. Private unions of all walks have gathered to protest in unison against republican governor Scott Walker's "budget repair bill". Teachers who called in sick brought students to the state capital to show them how democracy works, such as when an unjust bill attempts to ram something through legislature without any discussion on the matter, from the very individuals who would be most affected by the changes. It's a "repair bill" which includes provisions which would strip public employees of the right to bargain collectively, a right that has been in place for fifty years. If the bill passes as-is it would essentially reverse fifty years of the right to sit down at a bargaining table and negotiate terms. The state of Wisconsin (and some other states) are experiencing so much turmoil that it is finally getting national coverage. Everybody has been heading to our state capital to protest against the plan to do away with the right to bargain collectively. I haven't seen this caliber of political protesting erupt onto the streets and into the state capital since the 1960s. I never thought I'd see this amount of protesting again in my life time. Where are my bell bottom pants, my flower shirts and love beads when I need them. Today, Thursday, was the day when the Wisconsin state senators were to be in session. Senators, democratic & republican were to vote yes or no to Scott Walker's bill, as-is. I suspect many protestors felt like it was a hopeless situation. Everyone knew that the republican dominated legislature had enough votes to get their way - to remove collective bargaining. But that didn't stop protesters and the sympathetic from filling the capital building for the past three days straight. The halls have been filed with endless shouts and chanting - noise that never stopped. The building was packed with those wishing to have their voice heard. Suddenly, the unexpected happened. I was in the capital building video recording events when an even louder uproar reverberated through the halls of the capital building. We were informed of the fact that 16 Wisconsin state senators -- 14 who were Democrats (two that weren't) failed to show up to vote on the republican rammed bill. Sixteen State senators revolted. They went AWOL. They essentially stated they would NOT VOTE on the provisions of the bill as-as. They were conspicuously absent because the "repair bill" included the provision to destroy the right to bargain collectively. The provision has absolutely nothing to do with repairing the state deficit, and that's what most of the protesting is all about. Incredulously, republicans who continue to back the bill as-is continue to claim that the protesting is simply about the lack of money that won't be doled out. They continue to side-step the real issue, what the protesting is really all about. Incidentally, from the Wheeler Report, here are a couple of statements from the AWOL senators. This one from Senator Taylor: http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/February11/0217/0217taylor.pdf Please note that the location the letter had been sent from is currently: "(UNKNOWN)" ... and another official statement from "missing" senator, Senator Jauch: http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/February11/0217/0217jauch.pdf We suspect a few of these rogue senators may be hiding out in a neighboring state, Illinois, right now - maybe Rockford. They left the borders of Wisconsin so that they can't be picked up by state troopers (which Scott Walker threatened to do) and forcefully brought back to senate floor to complete the vote. We are hoping that enough of the remaining republican senate members (a few which we have been told might be waffling just a little) will finally get the idea that perhaps this notion of destroying a fifty year tradition pertaining to the right to bargain collectively may not be such a good idea after all. Maybe they will finally begin to wonder: What does removing the right to bargain collectively have to do with repairing the state budget. All that public employees are asking for is the right to sit at the negotiation table, just like we always have done for the past 50 years. Final Comment: As previously mentioned, the reason I have posted this seemingly "off topic" message here is the fact that it is not entirely off topic as one might think. I doubt we'd all be in as bad a mess we are currently experiencing if it wasn't for the fact that Wall Street hired had some very naughty white collar hoodlums who stole from the till, plus the fact that so much cash is constantly hemorrhaging out of the country in order to feed our addiction for oil. Cheaper energy bills would go a long way in eventually repairing just about everyone's budget, including state budgets. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
