Free Republic

Building Access Reminder: Visitors wishing to enter the Capitol will only be allowed to enter through the King Street entrance. Visitors without appointments may need to wait in line until visitors already inside the building leave the Capitol to make room for new visitors. These procedures have been in effect at the Capitol since this morning. --Capitol Police

The Rotunda continues to fill up as the 4pm deadline approaches. The Ustream video showed an almost empty Rotunda 35 minutes ago. Now the Rotunda is packed.

Physician actions as reported unacceptable Statement attributable to Timothy Bartholow, MD, Senior Vice President of Member Services, Policy Planning and Physician Professional Development Madison, Wis. (February 21, 2011) – The Wisconsin Medical Society was notified during the weekend that physicians may have been writing work excuses for people attending rallies at the state Capitol in a manner that is not consistent with acceptable medical practices. If these reports are accurate, the Society does not condone these actions under any circumstances. We are aware that the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, the entity that licenses and disciplines physicians, has received information about...

With helicopters hovering overhead and bused in crowds jeering in red, it is clear that media cameras and microphones must be near because the Rev. Jesse Jackson has just shown to the Madison protest. Jackson was seen glad handing through the crowd with the requisite TV cameras lapping it all up.

For Americans who don't think the welfare state riots of France or Greece can happen here, we recommend a look at the union and Democratic Party spectacle now unfolding in Wisconsin. Over the past few days, thousands have swarmed the state capital and airwaves to intimidate lawmakers and disrupt Governor Scott Walker's plan to level the playing field between taxpayers and government unions. Mr. Walker's very modest proposal would take away the ability of most government employees to collectively bargain for benefits. They could still bargain for higher wages, but future wage increases would be capped at the federal Consumer...

The Wisconsin State Capitol is currently locked down. Pro-union protesters are intimidating legislators by pounding on windows, screaming insults and vandalising public property. Above is a picture of union protestors, many of whom are teachers who called off sick to storm the Capitol. Teacher strikes are illegal in Wisconsin. The Senate needs 20 members present for a quorum; there are 19 Republicans. Sen. Roberta Darling (R) told the media today that all Democrat Senators are on a bus heading out of the state so as to avoid quorum. The police have been dispatched to find them and drag them back...

Tens of thousands of workers and students are occupying the Capitol Building in Madison, Wis., trying to stop Gov. Scott Walker and his allies from passing legislation designed to strip public-sector workers of collective bargaining rights, and to bust their unions. Walker has announced that he is preparing to call out the National Guard and other law enforcement officers. In response, March Forward!, an organization of active-duty service members and veterans, has issued the following open letter to the Wisconsin National Guard. Please share it far and wide on Facebook and other social media websites. To our brothers and sisters...

Law enforcement are now searching for Democratic senators boycotting a Senate vote on Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair plan Thursday in an attempt to bring the lawmakers to the floor to allow Republicans to move forward on the bill. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said that Democrats were "not showing up for work" and that police were searching for them to bring them to the floor. He said the last time such an action had happened was in the 1990s and said he was not sure how much authority law enforcement officials would have to compel Democrats to show up....

The student government voted in support of endorsing a campus-wide student walkout in opposition of the proposed budget repair bill during their meeting Wednesday evening. The Associated Students of Madison voted in favor of supporting the walkout, which encourages University of Wisconsin students to abstain from attending classes on Thursday as part of the rallies taking place in response to Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal.

Following the announcement of the UW –Madison Teaching Assistants Association “Teach Out” tomorrow, United Council of UW Students calls for a day of action in support of faculty and staff of the University, public employees across the state, and the values of Wisconsin. Take action on Thursday February 17th! Join in as Universities across the state of Wisconsin walk-out of classes, hold teach-ins to educate why the Governor’s budget repair bill is an attack on Wisconsin values, and rally for the right to negotiate benefits and fight for fair pay and fair conditions. Click here to read United Council's Statement...

Me and four other conservative students attended a speech given by Hatem Abudayyehn, a member of the Palestinian Solidarity Group. Hatem has been accused of funneling money to terrorist groups in Palestine. The UWM Students for a Democratic Society sponsored the speech. We were kicked out almost immediately after one of our group decided to film Hatem's speech. We were going to ask a question about his feelings about Israel and the Holocaust, but we were unable. Yes, the SDS did call the cops, and we were removed by them. A member of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement gave an intro,...

UW-Madison athletics officials have created a unique way to use the UW Badgers' home football season to reduce carbon emissions. According to Justin Doherty, UW-Madison assistant athletic director, the effort to create a "carbon-neutral" football season involves offsetting the amount of carbon that is expended during home football games because of practices like fans traveling to and from the game and the use of electricity. He said along with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, UW-Madison calculated the amount of carbon emitted at home football games and will pay for carbon "credits" as a part of the Chicago Climate...

MADISON (WKOW) -- President Obama said Democrats are not just going to win the election, we are going to bring back the American dream. President Obama told the thousands of students he needs them fired up to vote. UW Police estimated 26,500 people attended the President's address. Library Mall had approximately 17,200 people, the rest of the people were on Bascom Hill and in front of Science Hall, East Campus Mall and a portion of State Street Mall. UW Police say prior to the gates opening, people formed a line that stretched for 1.1 miles waiting to enter the event.

Two UW-Madison students woke up with a maple tree in their living room Saturday morning, then spent part of the day replanting it because they were the ones who had dragged it there in the first place. Thomas Schroeder, 21, of Menomonee Falls, and Brenton Neuharth, 21, from Eureka, S.D., were issued citations for damage to property for taking a newly planted tree out of the ground on a terrace between West Main and South Broom streets. Madison police were alerted to it by Keith and Karen Weiss, who were returning from the Dane County Farmers’ Market and noticed an...

Jennifer Loewenstein, a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, says Israel's deadly attack on the Freedom Flotilla was a "very carefully planned action" subsidized by the United States. The Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which was carrying food and medical supplies to Gaza, came under fire early Monday morning by Israeli navy forces in international waters more than 150km off the coast of Gaza. Twenty international activists are reported to have been killed and 50 others injured in the incident. The following is the transcript of Press TV's interview with Jennifer Loewenstein: Press TV: The first question that comes to...

Efforts to herd clothed, scantily clad and unclad bicyclists together for a potentially uncomfortable Madison tour on World Naked Bike Ride day have flopped in the past. But next month, they just might pull it off. Or at least most of it. There has been no official announcement, but there have been posters, and several informal meetings in the Rathskeller at the Memorial Union on campus. An earnest discussion group is maintained at Yahoo.com and news has circulated among bicycle groups. NOTE: The image in this story may be considered by some to be mildly not safe for work/children (Similar...

Ann Coulter came to UWM tonight, with few incidents. A croud of leftist Zombies (yes Zombies) tried to crash Coulter but failed to get past security. Coulter tore up the leftists, ripped on zerobama, and the leftist protesters.

This is why the American people believe Congress is among the country's sleaziest institutions. Recently when the Senate and House were debating the bill to make credit card companies more accountable and to stop them from arbitrarily changing the rules for their customers, Sen. Tom Coburn, the right-wing flamethrower from Oklahoma, decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to play some mischief. Coburn has been trying for the past couple of years to allow people to carry concealed weapons in our national parks, but even when his party had more power than now, he couldn't get that proposal passed....

When our family moved to Wisconsin in the mid 1960s, Dad found us a little two-story Cape Cod in the village of Maple Bluff. By all appearances it was a perfect starter home for an insurance claims man and his wife, featuring a backyard big enough to punt a football in and an elm tree with a swing, all within walking distance of Lakewood Elementary School. But my folks, swept up in the civil rights and anti-war movements, soon discovered they were out of step with some of their new neighbors in the conservative suburb on Lake Mendota's northeast shore....

During the course of the Bush/Cheney interregnum, millions of Americans resisted the worst excesses of a lawless and irresponsible administration that led this country into wars of whim, sanctioned torture and extraordinary rendition, embarked upon a spying regimen that made a mockery of the right to privacy, and destroyed the system of checks and balances that was supposed to protect the republic from monarchical abuse. Each year during a period of democratic decline that was so aptly anticipated by Jefferson with his 18th century reference to "the reign of the witches," we honored Most Valuable Progressives -- groups and individuals...