Wisconsin Wetlands and Northern Wild Rice crop in Danger from Iron Ore Mine

 The Native Americans say that all peoples are part of the earth just as it's animals and plants. We, along with the earth, are one complete system. And just as in government, when one element (in this case humans) grows to have more power than is good for the greater balance, all will suffer. It is similar in many ways to the philosophy behind Wing Chung Kung Fu. The yin and the Yang. Continuous motion that not only complements the other elements, but depends on them.The Native Americans also say that through greed and the unchecked desire for personal material as well as monetary wealth, the very system we are part of is now in danger. Death by a thousand self inflicted cuts. Burning our own house down. Suicide by stupidity and greed.

With all of this our there it is a wonder that there are still those who believe that for short term economic growth and corporate enrichment, it is good business think to create a new ecological threat, at great cost to Wisconsin taxpayers. This threat is in the form of a proposed four-mile, 1,000-foot-deep iron ore mine near Hurley, at Penokee Hills, Wisconsin, a burg perched on the state’s northern border that brags of "wilderness, waterfalls and wildlife”. At this point any threat to a natural resource, and in this case the area in it's natural state is the natural resource, could now be considered a threat to our national security
The first phase of Gogebic Taconite's plans calls for mining a 4-1/2 mile stretch of the hills near Mellen, a city of about 900 people just south of the reservation for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Company officials say that phase probably will last at least 35 years, generating about $1.4 billion in state and local tax revenue, creating 700 jobs for people in the area and 2,000 ancillary jobs for the region's service and transportation industries. Supporters insist the mine will be an economic boon, creating hundreds of good-paying jobs that will re-energize the impoverished region. However, environmentalists and tribal leaders worry the mine will contaminate one of the most pristine regions in the state. It will in the least definitely effect the natural state of the area, all agree. Over the past six months, the mining company Gogebic Taconite LLC spent $114,883 lobbying state officials to get their support for the proposal to create an iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin. State Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, who represents the local disctrict, stated “a complete waste of money.” There are now many different groups working against the mine. Their diversity represents a quite large range of our society. One such group is Gogebic Taconite | WisconsinWatch.org.
The people involved in the grassroots Penokee Mine struggle and the protection of Lake Superior are interested in cross-pollinating with similar grassroots struggles, and would love for you to contact them, either via Save the Water’s Edge (a freelance news site in northern Wisconsin) at savethewatersedge@gmail.com or via Madison for the Penokees (support group based in Madison) at mad4penokees@gmail.com.  For more information, please see the resources below:

• Resisting Resource Colonialism in the Lake Superior Region by Al Gedicks
  
• Penokee Hills Education Project
  
• Save the Water’s Edge
  
• Concerned Citizens Facebook Group
  
• www.wisconsinwatch.org/tag/gogebic-taconite/
  
• http://www.badriverwatershed.org/

For people in the US, the Sierra Club has set up a page to urge legislators to oppose the bill.
If anyone else wants to speak out, they can send an email the main authors of the bill:

• Sen.Kedzie@legis.wisconsin.gov - Senator Neal Kedzie (SD 11, Elkhorn), the lead bill author and chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee
  
• Sen.Schultz@legis.wisconsin.gov - Sen. Dale Schultz (SD 17, Richland Center), a lead bill author
  
• Rep.Mursau@legis.wisconsin.gov - Rep. Jeffrey Mursau (AD 36, Crivitz), a lead bill author and chair of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources Below, one of the massive trucks used

• Concerned Citizens Facebook Group

Key Facts of the Mine
Type of ore body: Iron Oxide
Estimated amount of ore: More than 2 billion tons
Location:
The ore body is a continuation of the Ironwood Iron Formation encountered in Michigan and continues west beyond the City of Mellen in Ashland County.  The lease contains a 22-mile-long portion of the ore body.  The First Phase of the project will be focusing on a 4 to 5 mile section located east of Mellen.
Lifeofthemine:
The first phase of mining operations is estimated at 35 years, but the ore body is large enough to sustain a considerably longer life.
MiningProcess:
The benefication process to extract the iron from the ore is a mechanical process using water and magnets, not a chemical process like some other mines.
PermittingInformation:
The mine cannot operate without the necessary permits. In order to obtain those permits, GTAC will have to demonstrate that it can meet a wide variety of stringent federal, state and local requirements and regulations that protect the environment and public health and safe. Above, the area of the proposed mine still in it's natural state. Below, the area in it's current state
Most of the expenses are associated with reviewing mine permits, a process that involves studying the effects a mine could have on air, water and threatened species. The analysis did not include long-term costs, such as oversight while the mine is in use and monitoring after the mine is closed.
The analysis broke costs down into the following three categories:.

• Pre-application and permitting costs: $150,000 to $800,000 per year.

• DNR staff costs: $50,000 to $300,000 per year.

• Environmental-impact studies performed by a contractor: $350,000 to $2.7 million per year.
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Photo Essay; The Solidarity Singers, The Capitol, State Street corner, Madison, WI

The Solidarity Singers are a group of Anti-Walker Carolers that sing every day on the steps of the Capitol in Madison Wisconsin in protest to the Walker administration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wisconsin #Occupy, WI Jobs Now, and Anti-mine Activists Converge on Madison

On the day of Governor Scott Walkers State of the State Address, #Occupy Wall Street, the 99%, Wisconsin Jobs Now, and those opposed to the Iron Ore mine in Northern Wisconsin converged today on the Capitol building here in Madison today.

Wisconsin Citizens Occupied the Senate Parlor room in order to show their dis-content with the current actual state of the State. According to many experts, many of the statistics put out by the Walker administration have been “tailored” to reflect not the actual status of jobs and the budget, but numbers and statistics that have been hand picked to mislead the electorate. Many say the true numbers reflect a far different situation. One that shows that the Corporations and the rich have done very well … at the expense of working Wisconsinites, those who labor, and the poor. Many state that general as well as advanced education have also taken a hit under Walker's tutelage. One must wonder as the majority of Americans seem to lean more to the left as their education rises. It may benefit the GOP to desire a less educated electorate, as the least educated seem to lean towards the pro-rich, pro-corporate positions of Republicans.

Although most were there to show support for the #Occupy Wall Street movement, corporate control of our lives and government, and general economic disparity, many of the Wisconsin citizens who Occupied the Senate Parlor room were there to show discontent with the proposed Iron Ore mine in NW Wisconsin. Supporters insist the mine will be an economic boon, creating hundreds of good-paying jobs that will re-energize the impoverished region. However, environmentalists and tribal leaders worry the mine will contaminate one of the most pristine regions in the state. It will in the least definitely effect the natural state of the area, all agree.

As expected, the mining bill designed to make it cheaper and easier (less regulations, more pollution) for the mine has passed the House and is on it's way to the Wisconsin Assembly. The Bill was basically written by Gogebic Taconite, who have plans for an iron mine in the Penokee Hills in Ashland and Iron counties.   Over the past six months, the mining company Gogebic Taconite LLC spent $114,883 lobbying state officials to get their support for the proposal to create an iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin. State Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, who represents the local district, stated “a complete waste of money.” There are now many different groups working against the mine. Their diversity represents a quite large range of our society. One such group is Gogebic Taconite | WisconsinWatch.org. Supporters insist the mine will be an economic boon, creating hundreds of good-paying jobs that will re-energize the impoverished region. However, environmentalists and tribal leaders worry the mine will contaminate one of the most pristine regions in the state.

There will be an assembly and protest at the Capitol tonight at 5pm.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to be present, but will however get updated by by tribal members.  We will be going up north to check it all out.

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Full story out tonight on events in Madison today

I will have a full story out tonight on the events today in Madison

[US Confidential] The first speaker, Rachael, she should run for office!

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Posted By Marcel Kuemmet to US Confidential at 1/25/2012 11:52:00 AM

In the the Senate Parlor room, waiting for a press conference.

We are in Madison for and waiting on In the  the Senate Parlor room, waiting for a press conference.

As the details come in we will try to update you on your political future.

Wisconsin Jobs Now Protests GE's lack of Taxes

While American workers are suffering from ever increasingly low wages, the elimination of living wage job's throughout the country and an ever increasing cost of living, there are those who have it much easier. One such example is the General Electric Corporation. While the General Electric Corporation has received over 4 million in tax payer subsidies, they have paid little or no taxes on the profits they have made, greatly enriching the CEO, top corporate management as well as benefiting their investors. The disparity in income between those who labor and create, and those who benefit and profit from the labor and creations of the working person, has ssteadily grown over the last 40 years. This is one of the main themes and the primary source of the consternation of the #Occupy Wall Street movement, or the 99%, as well as many other social justice based groups throughout the nation.

Under the leadership of the Wisconsin based group Wisconsin Jobs Now, a group of Wisconsin citizens gathered for protest in Milwaukee today to express their unhappiness with the fact the GE paid next to noting in taxes, while at the same time receiving corporate subsidies at the expense of taxpayers. All this while closing plants and operations in Wisconsin and around the United States. Members of the 99% percent from several locations throughout Wisconsin as well a significant group from the greater Milwaukee area converged on the Wisconsin headquarters of the General Electric Corporation in Milwaukee this Tuesday.

Throughout the nation, there are protests against corporate greed, the grip that corporations and special interests have on our government and legislators, corporate and special interest lobbying from K Street (home of the largest and most influential lobbyists in the nation) in Washington DC, and the general taxation without representation that the general American public is experiencing in the era of big money government. Just how effective these movements, protests, and organizations can be remains to be seen. The #Occupy Wall Street movement, born in general from the Wall Street TARP bailouts at the expense of the American Taxpayer, has been a driving force in bringing to the nations attention the great economic disparity the American people now experience. According to most experts, the largest economic disparity between the rich and the poor ever in the History of the United States.

On the eve of the Presidents State of the Union address, as well as the State of the State address by the highly controversial Wisconsin Governor Scott (Scooter) Walker, many are unhappy. In today's low wage job market, there are many citizens who while living in poverty for the first time in their lives, have low expectations from their elected representatives. That should not be too surprising, considering the amount of money and cash being infused into political campaigns thanks to the recent Citizens United decision that basically legally classified money and cash the equivalent to free speech.  When (now) the amount of free speech one has is measured by how much cash one has, or how much money one can donate to a political campaign, the American Revolution has been defeated by those who crave power and money, just as before when we were ruled by the crown.

There are several more protests and events planned for this week throughout the nation and state. I will be attending these events here in Wisconsin and will do my best to report in the most expeditious manner I can.

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Wisconsin Jobs Now Delivers a Message to Congressman Reid Ribble.

The pro living wage jobs Wisconsin based organization Wisconsin Jobs Now organized and lead a small protest today in Appleton Wisconsin. Marching in front of the Raddison located at 333 W. College Avenue, Appleton WI 54911, home of the Congressman's office, they held signs and gave their message to the various news outlets present.

Kate Peters, of Green Bay, delivered a statement of how low wages and lost jobs have stretched the working people of the United States. After here statement, there was one was one marchers that acted in the role of “Dissenter” who supports the 1%, played by this blogger. Playing the role of a uncaring and greedy member of the 1%, I stated how the 1% should not support the 99%, even though the vast wealth of the 1% is created on the backs, by the labor of, and quite often through the taxes on low wages of the 99%.

Wisconsin Jobs Now delivered Congressman Reid Ribble a statement demanding the the rich pay for the upcoming unemployment extension. An assistant, Rick, said although he cannot speak for the Congressman, he did state that the congressman isn't interested in increasing taxes, not even on the rich. It remains to be seen just how the next actual unemployment extension will be funded.  The current extension is only a two month temporary extension passed at the last moment. 

Special thanks to Mark Fluery, who took some of these photos while I was the “instigator”.  Also special thanks to Rick Latour and Katy for their help with technical support.

More photos will be in the video  ….

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Occupy Green Bay plans General Assembly

https://www.facebook.com/events/193418894090800/

Occupy Green Bay General Assembly

Saturday, January 21 at 6:00pm at Harmony Cafe - Green Bay

Wisconsin Occupy Camps Still Enduring

Occupy Madison

Occupy Madison's Outdoor Warming Area

A recent visit to the two largest and most steady #Occupy Wall Street camps in Wisconsin proved to be an interesting observation in pure human persistence. Living a modest and basic subsistence lifestyle to show their support of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, these die hards are still hanging on in some of the roughest weather to be faced by the 99% throughout the Nation. With even the relatively mild winter we have been having so far, the conditions can still be rough to bear. As most in Wisconsin well know, the coldest weather is yet to come. Preparation in both camps are being made for the snow and colder weather and many different ways. Both camps also have limited outside support, although the Madison camp was better equipped and or stocked. The Milwaukee camp, with their Teepee, definitely had a certain amount of charm.

Occupy Madison and the Walker Connection

I was in the company of Robert Schultze while he was continuing his project, Portraits of the 99%. The project has taken him throughout the United States documenting those who at the various Occupy Camps continue to carry the flag and carry on the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The two camps are different in many ways. The Milwaukee camp a small but cozy location, where as the Madison Camp is far more engineered, if quite rugged.

Rob shooting Occupy Milwaukee

Madison

The general theme in Madison is meeting the codes of the city in order to have safe and warm shelter. There is what could be called serious field expedient engineering happening, with construction of steel frames to hold fabric covers to protect from wind and snow. There is a specific warming tent with a stove pumping heat directly into it. The City of Madison had closely watched the design and set up of these structures. A major effort was made to meet all fire and safety codes and requirements of the City in order to not only avoid a conflict that could have the end result of the closing of the camp. There was in fact a quick visit by one of the city inspectors which basically resulted in a fast and matter of fact but friendly conversation on some of the new structures that were in the works.

The Occupy Milwaukee Camp has a certain charm

With not only the warming tent, and a fairly well stocked supply tent, a few more tent like structures base on aluminum framing were in in the works. There was also much parking area. Most of the actual dwellings were small dome tents placed on pallets for insulation from the cold parking lots, covered well with heavy duty tarps.

Milwaukee

Rob in the Occupy Milwaukee Teepee

The Milwaukee camp is much smaller, but does have a sort of charm the Madison camp lacks. Located on a small one, or maybe two lot corner-side park, it definitely has a more comfortable feel, even if it lacks the logistical and engineering of the Madison Camp. The one element that most stands out is of course the large Teepee that dominates the view of, as well as the camp itself. Purchased by one of the camp occupants with money he would have spent on his normal rent, it provides an excellent cold weather shelter. Equipped with an open stove, it is far more comfortable in the Teepee than a tent on any cold Wisconsin winter night.

There was and obvious level of support in the immediate community, as well as the surrounding neighborhood. There are even a few store fronts of a political or community action orientation. As a short term visitor, I definitely felt a sense of community support, as well as high spirits from the full time camp occupants.

With both camps preparation for the coming winter weather and possible extreme cold, it appears both camps are ready and stocked for making it though the winter.

Resolved to Endure

Even if one is not a supporter of the #Occupy Wall Street movement, one must respect the resolve of the Camps and their occupiers. The willingness to endure throughout the winter months exposed to the elements in order to express dissatisfaction with the current economic structure of the United States, as well as the preference to Wall Street and Corporate American that our Government shows, is indeed admirable.
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