Free Republic

Fleas use it to perform leaps that would make Olympic high jumpers green with envy. Bees use it to flap their wings without tiring. Now Australian scientists have achieved a world first by copying resilin, the "rubber" insects employ to accomplish such athletic feats. Future versions of the material could be used to make resilient spare parts, including spinal discs and artificial arteries. Chris Elvin, from CSIRO Livestock Industries in Brisbane, spent four years reproducing nature's "near perfect rubber". Dr Elvin said yesterday: "Nature had a couple of hundred million years of evolution do it. All insects have it. It...

With Republican-controlled Indiana on the verge of becoming a "right to work" state, Democrats in the state House on Tuesday took the only step they have left to prevent it, if only for a bit longer. They disappeared. Again. A final vote on the measure, which would bar union contracts from requiring nonunion members to pay fees for representation, had been expected Tuesday in the House, which Republicans dominate, 60-40. But with scores of union members and supporters filling the Statehouse halls in Indianapolis in protest, most Democrats refused to turn up for floor sessions -- not once, but twice...

Fines pending for Ind. House Dems in labor battleBy TOM LoBIANCO | AP – 13 hrs ago INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana's House Democrats are bracing for major financial pain as they begin a third day blocking a bill that would make Indiana the first state in more than a decade to enact right-to-work legislation. Fines of $1,000 daily for each Democrat could hit Friday, depending on what Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma decides to do with lawmakers who deny him the numbers needed to push through the Republican priority. But Rep. Vanessa Summers, D-Indianapolis, said that if she can stand...

Bauer Hints At New Walkout Over Right To WorkRepublicans Adamant To Push Bill Through UPDATED: 1:07 pm EST January 4, 2012 INDIANAPOLIS -- The leader of Indiana's House Democrats hinted Wednesday that party lawmakers may walk out for the second year in a row to oppose the same Republican "right-to-work" bill blocked last year by their five-week boycott. But some lawmakers seemed split on whether to make such a move. House Democratic Leader Patrick Bauer told The Associated Press that his caucus planned to meet Wednesday to debate how to handle the GOP proposal that would make Indiana the 23rd...

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a McDonald’s manager who punched a customer in the face for bringing a service dog into the restaurant.

Firefighters who answered the call in Waterbury Tuesday didn't battle a raging fire, but instead were overrun by fleas. The members of Engine 2 left the scene of an abandoned house they were investigating on Taylor Street when they began to itch terribly. While on the ride back to the station, they noticed fleas all over them. "It was thousands of them," Fire Chief David Martin said. The firefighters were taken to the hospital, where they had to strip before going in for fear they might bring the fleas in with them. Covered in flea bites, they were scrubbed down...

Wis. Democrats hope to hold ground in 2 recallsBy The Associated Press • Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Wisconsin Democrats sought Tuesday to hold the ground they gained in last week's recall elections by fending off Republican attempts to oust two senators who fled the state in opposition to Gov. Scott Walker's proposal curbing public employee collective bargaining rights. Democrats needed to win at least three of six recalls last week targeting Republicans, but they only captured two. That means the best they can manage from Tuesday's elections is to keep the ground they gained, which left the Senate in Republican...

Wisconsin's historic recall elections wrap up this weekBy James B. Kelleher Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:34pm EDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wisconsin's series of recall elections concludes on Tuesday when voters go to the polls in two state Senate districts where Democrats are being forced to defend their seats. **SNIP** Nevertheless, Tuesday's two final votes, like the seven before them, will be watched closely. Two Democrats who opposed Walker's anti-union bill and even fled the state for weeks in an unsuccessful effort to prevent a quorum and delay passage -- Jim Holperin of Conover and Robert Wirch of Pleasant Prairie --...

Politics, money, unions and the Wisconsin recall electionsBy NICOLE DEBEVEC, United Press International Published: Aug. 14, 2011 at 5:00 AM Democrats and public unions may not be dancing in the streets after picking up two of six Republican Senate seats in last week's recall election, but they may be smirking a little -- or not. The recall elections for nine state senators -- six Republicans and three Democrats in what some observers said was more retaliatory than reasoned -- is unprecedented. A Democrat was the first to face -- and win -- a recall election last month and two more...

Why should we care about Wisconsin?Willa Freiband, president Orange County Democratic Women Updated: August 12, 2011 One of the universal beliefs that different cultures in America share is that this country holds promise for those who work hard. But when people are not allowed to negotiate for the conditions of their work environment, or for their rights, that promise becomes an empty one. We can’t let that happen. **SNIP** Even though workers’ rights suffered another defeat this week, there is consolation that their efforts succeeded in awakening the public to their plight. The election in Wisconsin became ground zero in...

GOP holds onto state SenateThe Associated Press Republicans held onto control of the Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday, beating back four Democratic challengers in a recall election despite an intense political backlash against GOP support for Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to curb public employees’ union rights. **SNIP** Turnout was strong in the morning and steady in the afternoon in communities such as Whitefish Bay, Menomonee Falls and Shorewood, where Sen. Alberta Darling was one of the four Republicans to hold onto her seat. After trailing much of the night, it wasn’t until about 2 a.m. that Darling could claim victory for...

Wisconsin vote tests Tea Party powerAAP August 10, 2011, 5:22 pm Voters have tilted in favour of Republicans in Wisconsin recall elections that were closely watched for signs of a backlash against Tea Party conservatives in a presidential battleground state. Republican candidates successfully defended four seats in the Wisconsin state senate in Tuesday's elections, retaining control of the senate and holding Democratic gains to only two seats, results showed on Wednesday. Democrats had organised the recall vote - aimed at unseating legislators - against six Republican state senators after they sided with the Republican governor on a law that took...

On May 1, left-wing vigilantes will target companies across the country that have committed a mortal sin: sending donations to GOP Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin. Rest assured, such intolerable acts of political free speech will not go unpunished by tolerant Big Labor activists. They're calling for both a national boycott of Walker's corporate donors and a coordinated sticker vandalism campaign on GOP-tainted products.The Wisconsin Grocers Association is bracing for the anti-Walker witch hunt. Anonymous operatives have circulated sabotage stickers on the Internet and around Wisconsin that single out Angel Soft tissue paper ("Wiping your (expletive) on Wisconsin workers"), Johnsonville...

State Republicans try to block future walkoutsBy Kristin Bien April 22, 2011 Remember the five-week walkout by House Democrats earlier this year? Indiana Republicans are now trying to make sure it doesn't happen again with a so-called "anti-bolting" law. Republicans voted 36-0 to pass a provision preventing the minority from ever again walking out and stopping business in the legislature. For more than 30 days Democrats stood their ground in Urbana, Illinois — boycotting what they called "radical "We took an extreme agenda of the republican majority and we slowed it down quite a bit," says Representative David Niezgodski, D-South...

Less than an hour before the 5 PM deadline.

26 year-old Katherine R. Windels has been arrested for sending emails containing death threats to Wisconsin state senators during the budget battles last month.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana House Democrats who fled the state nearly six weeks ago to protest a Republican agenda they considered an assault on labor unions and public education planned to return to the Statehouse on Monday, ending one of the longest legislative walkouts in recent U.S. history, the House Republican leader said. House Majority Leader Brian Bosma said he had been informed that Minority Leader Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, and fellow Democrats would return from their headquarters-in-exile in Urbana, Ill. Democrats were meeting in Illinois on Monday, and a spokesman for the Democrats said Bauer planned a news conference after...

Dems show no signs of returningBY KIRSTEN GIBSON | City Editor Purdue Exponent Posted: Friday, March 25, 2011 10:00 am It's officially been a month since the Indiana House Democrats left the state and there is still no end in sight. Rep. Randy Truitt, R-West Lafayette, said the Republicans weren't sure when the Democrats were coming back, or even if they would come back. The Democrats originally left to deny the Republicans a quorum. This prevented voting on an anti-union bill but, after the bill was thrown out, their stay continued: This time, for voucher bills as well as amendments...

Union law published despite restraining orderFitzgerald, Barca disagree on whether law goes into effect Saturday By Patrick Marley and Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel Updated: March 25, 2011 11:22 p.m. Madison — In a stunning twist, Gov. Scott Walker's legislation limiting collective bargaining for public workers was published Friday despite a judge's hold on the measure, prompting a dispute over whether it takes effect Saturday. The measure was published to the Legislature's website with a footnote that acknowledges the restraining order by a Dane County judge. But the posting says state law "requires the Legislative Reference Bureau to publish...

Laws governing recall in Wisconsin The right of recall in Wisconsin extends to all elective offices in the state, but only after the elected official has served a full year in his or her current term of office. Specifically, the right of recall extends to all statewide executive officers, including the Governor of Wisconsin, the Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Treasurer, the Attorney General of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Secretary of State, the Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, and all members of the Wisconsin State Senate and the Wisconsin State Assembly. **SNIP** When a person signs a recall petition, in...