Yesterday, Russ Feingold held a listening session in Wausau, WI. I think this article got overlooked amid the other big news in Wausau this week (click around the Daily Herald Web site and you'll see what I mean... but that's another topic entirely).

Feingold had a little something to say about Obama supporters. He wants us to, as he puts it, "cool it."

I attended the Obama "town hall meeting" today in Waukesha, WI, and wanted to post some of the photos (and one video) I took.

First of all, I apologize for the spotty quality... my camera isn't the best. Regardless, I think these photos paint a pretty good picture of people - especially young adults - "fired up and ready to go" for Obama.

The event was held at a local exposition center. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says more than 1,000 people attended, which was about all it could hold.

Hey folks, comin' to ya bright and early on a Friday morning to raise some cash for Steve Marchand. He's running for Senate against John Sununu in New Hampshire.

This is the ninth and final leg of the fundraiser. You can donate right here, on his ActBlue page! Easy peasy!

A summary of the previous diaries, plus my own comments, below the fold...

A few weeks ago, flernk's diary Time Magazine did WHAT!?! asked us to write LTEs to TIME on Newt Gingrich's being picked to write about Nancy Pelosi's TIME 100 list. Well, I did, and guess what? It's published, according to an e-mail I just received. It's in the May 28 issue, which is apparently on newsstands today... I'm running out to get a copy tonight!

Here's the link (scroll down a bit; my first name is Stephanie). It was edited a bit... full text below the fold:

I'm going to one of Russ Feingold's listening sessions on Saturday. Hopefully I'll be attending the "media" portion as well as the listening session itself - I'm the editor of my school's newspaper, so I'm going as both a media representative and a concerned citizen.

What I'd like to know is: what do Kossacks want to know? Anything you'd like me to ask him on your behalf?

Consider this a Russ Feingold question-o-rama open thread.

There have been a few (troll) diaries lately about the minimum wage. They all (don't) cite a lot of sources. Their sources are very (un)reliable and (un)knowledgeable.

I don't like being told what to do, so I hate diaries with titles such as "Please stop talking about the minimum wage," especially when they're trolly titles like that one. That also offends me on a personal level, because I've lived under the poverty line pretty much my whole life and I know what it's like to be part of a family that earns minimum wage (read: shitty).

I'm not an economist - far from it - but I know of a darn good reason why we should raise the minimum wage, and I'm going to lay it out for you hypothetically.

DAMMIT!

TOWN OF MENASHA -- When polls opened this morning, voters were asked to provide photo identification in order to vote -- a requirement a state elections spokesman said is illegal.

Janet Veum, a town resident who cast her ballot at Maplewood Middle School, questioned the practice and was told the procedure was required by a new state law that went into effect in August or September.

Five hours later, at the direction of Winnebago County Clerk Sue Ertmer, town poll workers were no longer requesting photo IDs from registered voters.

"The situation has been corrected," Ertmer said. "They said they would be stopping the practice."

Town Clerk Karen Tweedie disputed that there had been any problem. She said that in the past, town voters showed identification to poll workers "as a courtesy" to ensure they were voting at the proper polling place.

Source

This diary is meant to serve as a guide for anyone in Wisconsin voting tomorrow. Hopefully it will be of use to someone out there.

I just got a press release of sorts from a research team at Manchester College in Indiana. The Web site of the group is here, but it doesn't seem to be updated with the newest study, so I guess you'll just have to trust me.

Anyway, I found the study - basically an analysis of 2005 census data - interesting because many people tend to automatically think that poverty disproportionately affects minorities. (According to this, 68 percent of those in poverty nationally are white.) Well, what this press release indicates is that the "poverty gap" is narrowing for minorities, but not for women - and, as I think we all know by now, the income gap between the poor and rich is widening drastically.

It's that time again. Remember the Child Custody Protection Act? I can't find a link to a news article from when the Senate passed it, but it was sometime over the summer.

Basically, the bill would make it a felony for an adult to take a pregnant minor across state lines to have an abortion, unless the adult is the minor's parent. This means if you're 16, pregnant and live in South Dakota, and your parents are against your having an abortion, no one else can help you go to another state to have one.

According to an e-mail I received today from NARAL, the House is set to vote on this bill next week. Action link below the fold...

I would like to wish a happy National Left-Handers' Day to all the TRUE lefties out there in the land of Daily Kos. A little trivia below the fold, and if you're left-handed like me, please let me know in the comments! Have a great day!

Let's try to get our local airports to keep brand-new bottles of shampoo out of the landfills, shall we? Crossposted at Daily Granola.

This will be short, but I think it's important.

On this site there's a lot of talk about opening up people's eyes to the disaster that is Republican government. I know a lot of hard-line conservatives who will never change their minds, no matter how many facts you throw at them. Today, however, I saw a ray of hope.

On a local politics site/blog, in a discussion about Gov. Jim Doyle, the following was posted by an anonymous reader:

The Republicans have control of the Country right now and look at the poor shape or nation is in. Did you see what the deficit is lately??

The blame falls directly on Republican shoulders. The President, with a friendly Congress and Senate should be able to do as he wishes to reduce our debt and improve our Nations financial standing...but allas, he is doing nothing but jeopardizing our childrens future.

Nope...not this time.

A once staunch Republican will NOT vote Republican for quite some time to come. I urge you to join me.

It pretty much made my day. Too bad I'll probably never know who this person is.

Anyone else have a "conversion" success story to share?

This morning, the CDC voted to recommend the use of Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, as a routine vaccination for girls ages 11 and 12. Already there is talk of it being free to uninsured and Medicaid-eligible children, being mandatory for public school students, and being made available to men.

Sounds great. I'm 20, so I fall in the "catch-up" age range of women who will also be able to get the vaccine. I'm uninsured and don't want to pay $360 out-of-pocket, though, so I'm hoping my university health center will subsidize it somehow. Or, better yet, maybe it'll be included in the Wisconsin Family Planning Health Waiver, which is basically the best reproductive coverage a young, relatively poor woman could ask for.

Oh, and I'm sorry, but the "controversy" surrounding this is stupid.

Several weeks ago I sent a letter to my congressional representative, Rep. Tom Petri, R-WI-06, urging him to support net neutrality initiatives. I received his reply today. Below the jump is a selection from his letter, with my comments. All emphases mine.

So, this is my first diary. Is this thing on?

I'm a 20-year-old female college student in America's Dairyland (who doesn't eat dairy). We have a gubernatorial election here this year, and from what I can tell there hasn't been much talk about it on this site.

Jim Doyle is attempting this fall to become the first Democratic governor in Wisconsin to win a second term in many years. No, he's not perfect - far from it. But he's the last line of defense against a Republican-controlled state Legislature that's waging the same stupid "values" war we're seeing nationwide.