CNN is reporting on the protests in Wisconsin, but you have to get to the bottom of the article to find the truth:

…

But the state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau — similar to the federal government’s Congressional Budget Office — reported last month that tax cuts passed late last year by Wisconsin’s newly elected, Republican-led legislature had helped add more than $200 million to the state’s budget shortfall.

Walker’s proposed legislation requires workers to cover more of their health care premiums and pension contributions, although supporters say local governments will decide on health care contributions for their employees.

The legislation also requires collective bargaining units to conduct annual votes to maintain certification, a costly procedure, and eliminates the right of unions to have dues deducted from worker paychecks.

Wisconsin has been in good fiscal shape and should be running a small surplus, but then the Republicans took over and plunged the government into a deficit. The Republicans created the crisis and now they want the workers to pay for it, rather than repealing their ill-advised “initiatives”. They created the situation so they could impose their “solution”.

None of this was necessary. This is like the defendant who murdered his parents and asked for leniency because he’s an orphan.

The Miami Herald reports that the Republican Florida Senate is not happy: Scott rebuked by 26 senators over high-speed rail funding

From Washington to Tallahassee, Florida lawmakers scrambled Thursday to save $2.4 billion in federal money for high-speed rail that Gov. Rick Scott rejected.
…

“The cart’s in a ditch right now and we’ve got to figure out a way if we can all pull it out together,” said U.S. Rep. John Mica, an Orlando area Republican who is chairman of the powerful House transportation committee.

In Tallahassee, a veto-proof majority of the Florida Senate rebuked Scott in a letter that urged the federal government to give the state the money Scott has refused.

[Read more →]

It is very possible that everyone will be in Fairbanks for the final banquet, as Hank DeBruin and the Siberians can leave Chena Hot Springs in about 2½ hours. It is snowing, but it will be daylight.

Jodi Bailey was the first of the true rookies to finish, this is her first long distance race, while those who arrived before her classified as rookies have been in the Iditarod.

If anyone out there is considering running in the Quest, do it in an even year the first time. It is much easier to face Rosebud and Eagle Summit with a full fresh team than after a week of running on the trail.

Update at 12:10PM CST: Hank has left Chena Hot Springs, everyone is headed into Fairbanks.

Update at 5:36PM CST: Hank is alone on the trail with about 40 miles to go.

Update at 8PM CST: About 25 miles left.

Update at 10:15PM CST: About 15 miles and Festival Fairbanks has set up a web cam on the finish line. [Oops – standard Fairbanks problem, the resources are too limited]

Update at 1:08AM CST: The Red Lantern is out.

At Fairbanks

7 Jodi Bailey (17)^R
8 Mike Ellis (5)
9 David Dalton (23)
10 Tamara Rose (12)^I
11 Kyla Durham (14)^R
12 Jerry Joinson (21)^R
13 Hank DeBruin (19)^IΦ

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

The New Boss

What’s that?

[Editor: … definitely not the same as the old boss. Tonto has taken over since her sister passed a while back, but most of the group are not happy about it. She is not a nice a cat. When weaning kittens she really lets them know they are on their own and she wants nothing more to do with them. I have no idea what she was reacting to, possibly a noise, but she was prepared to deal with it forcibly.]

Friday Ark