Marc Becker's Home Page

Teaching
Research
Ecuador
Interests

Vita
Find on yachana.org:

Marc's Blog

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Thunda Around the Rotunda


Today's Saturday Protest in Madison was Thunda Around the Rotunda, tapping into a demographic not commonly visible in previous protests. In a notable display of unity, Gov. Walker's war on the workers brought together Harleys and Hondas (and even some scooters) around a common concern: Republican policies to concentrate wealth in the upper income wealth brackets are not in our best interests. In a roll of thunder, the bikers first lapped the capitol and then parked--so many bikes that they wrapped all the way around the square. In referencing an earlier sign at rallies "now you've pissed off Grandma," Senator Mark Miller noted that Walker's policies now have pissed off bikers as well.





posted by Marc at 4:26 PM

Sunday, April 24, 2011

6 things I'll miss about Madison

1. WORT, hands down the best community radio station in the world.

2. Politics. Participating in a small way in the Cheddar Revolution was an incredible experience, in addition to solidarity and other activist groups plus having a Green Party as the second most potent political force in town.

3. Music, mostly free: summer festivals, free concerts, plus world music acts that come through town.

4. Nature. A nice range of hiking opportunities within range of town, plus not having to go that far for some decent camping.

5. Biking. Madison is largely a bike friendly city.

6. Being normal. It's like being back in Amsterdam when I was 20. Who I am falls so completely within the normal range of expected human behavior that I never have to watch what I do in case someone looks at me as if I'm from, well, Madison.

posted by Marc at 5:25 AM

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Is Wisconsin becoming the new Missouri?

Remind me why I would want to move back to Missouri? Studies show that low taxes mean lower wages, higher costs, worse infrastructure, lower life expectancy, higher incarceration rates--just overall a lower quality of life. So why is it that tea-baggers keep pushing for lower taxes? Worse, tax reductions mostly go to the highest income brackets. Is it that they are just shills for greedy corporations engaged in an aggressive upward redistribution of wealth, and that they could care less about how this affects the majority of the people?

See Missouri a prototype for Walker's policies.

posted by Marc at 3:53 AM

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Another Saturday Another Rally

The Wisconsin Wave organized today's rally at the capitol. We then continued on to what they called Wisconsin's "other capitol," the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce that represents corporate interests. The WMC benefits from Republican policies of upward redistribution of wealth. Their actions take resources away from the rest of us and give them to the most wealthy and powerful interests in this country. The weekend continues with the Wisconsin People's Assembly.

posted by Marc at 9:00 PM


| Marc Becker's Home Page | marc@yachana.org |