The Plover River is a gorgeous little river in central Wisconsin that begins in Langlade County south of Antigo where you can also find the headwaters of the Eau Claire, Embarrass and Red Rivers. The Plover River then runs south through Marathon County parallel to the Ice Age Trail that runs two miles to the west. The river then keeps on running south through Reid, Bevent and Sharon townships until it reaches Stevens Point. The river skirts the east end of Stevens Point then joins the Wisconsin River in the town of Plover. To celebrate the first weekend of Autumn, on September 24, 2011 we decided to the paddle a nine mile stretch of the Plover from the small town of Bevent to the bridge at Shantytown Road. Yes there is a Shantytown but we did not get a chance to visit.

I had been looking for an outfitter to set us up with some boats on the Little Wolf or Eau Claire but then I discovered the Plover in the great book Paddling Southern Wisconsin by Mike Svob. If you paddle in Wisconsin, get the book plus it’s companion that covers the state north of Route 29. I had been paddling in that area for the last 15 years and only discovered this trip on the Plover while reading the book. The river is more popular with people coming out of Stevens Point. Eighteen miles west of Tigerton in the small town of Bevent the river is less traveled and more remote.

This is a flat water paddle with a few riffles here and there. Clear, clean water mostly clear of downfall. It looks like the DNR comes through once a year and opens a channel.  We faced a few challenges that tested our patience as a functioning two-man canoe team but we never had to get out and walk. If there was a little less water than what we had that day then I could see how you could get hung up on some gravel beds. I had never piloted a canoe with my friend Steve before. I didn’t know what to expect but we actually made a good team that day. I steered and Steve paddled. He paddled like a man possessed. And drank. All the beer. In retrospect it was an over sight making him caretaker of the beer for the entire four-man excursion. But in a way it worked.

The best thing that you can ever say about a trip that you pick blindly out of book was that it was what you was expected. The Plover is a beautiful little river with little signs of civilization for the nine miles between Bevent and Shantytown Road. We paddled at a pretty good clip. We put in at 1pm and finished up at 5:30 or so.Took our moments just to float by deep dark Cedar forests, taking it all in. Then sometimes we kicked-it-in-the-ass and moved. We took a break at at the four mile mark at a spot that looked like it had been someones back country campsite. Someone had a camped there in the last few years. A multi-trunked Red Maple tree reached out from that spots out over the river. It’s leaves somewhere between orange and hot pink.

To learn more about the river visit The Plover River Alliance at http://basineducation.uwex.edu/centralwis/plover.htm

Keepgoing.

For the last ten years we have been planting trees up at our farm in Wisconsin with the long term goal of reforesting land that was a dairy farm for close to a century. We began in 2001 with 100 Silver Maple seedlings and one six foot tall Niobe Willow. Not one of the maples seedlings was able to fight the grasses and sandy soil to survive that first year but I am proud to report that the willow we planted is now about twenty feet tall. Planting trees up at the farm was and still is an excercise in hope. By my own estimates we have planted 210 trees up there in the last ten years and only 28 have survived. The point of the planting is in the act of the doing it every year regardless of the previous results. It is in the act of putting the trees into the wet spring ground with the hope that one day another generation will appreciate their shade.  That generation will not know of your work. They will probably think that it all happened naturally but that is not important. What is important, is that regardless of outcome that you kept trying. And that sometimes a seeding makes it through the realities of that harsh environment, survives and grows. Keepgoing

Ten years ago today my brother called me on the phone to tell me that our mother had been killed in a car accident.  My mother may have been physically taken from us ten years ago, but she lives on in the kindness and compassion that survives in her children and grandchildren (shown here). My mom was the most giving person I have ever known. She lived for you.

My mother raised my brother, my sister and me. My dad was always working, trying to provide for his family, doing the best he could, but my mom made me the person who I am today. My dad taught me how to work hard but my mom taught me how to understand and share the feelings of another. She taught me the joy of giving. She taught me that life is beautiful. I try as best I can everyday to make her proud of me . Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I don’t, but if I can pass along that same kindness, love and understanding to my children then she will live on forever. - Geary Yonker

At this very pivotal time in the world’s history send a message of support to the people of Egypt on Facebook or Twitter. This is a revolution that is good for Egypt. Good for the region. Good for the United States. And good for the world. Let the people of Egypt know that we may not always make the right choices as a nation but that we the people of the United States believe in every person’s right to determine their own destiny. That’s kinda what we’re all about. Or at least what we aspire to be. keepgoing.

(Tahrir Square 1st February 2011. Photo by Counterfire.)

Check out our past 40 issues in the convenient column to the right. Keepgoing.

(AP Image)

Its been two weeks since the 2010 mid-term elections, an election cycle that will go down as our nation’s most expensive midterm election. The total amount raised and spent by both parties nationwide on this past election over the last two years was recently estimated at $4 billion dollars.

We here at the Fucking Golden Project Investigative Team were attempting to estimate the amount of money spent by both parties in the state of Illinois on the midterm election. Then we asked the question: what if in lieu of an election we had an open auction for all the elected positions in the state of Illinois? Then we could take the money we raised in the auction and put it towards Illinois’ 13 billion dollar budget deficit. Would the amount be significant enough to essentially privatize the state of Illinois for the next four years? Could this radical action bring us closer to being in the black?

Also factoring into this equation was the past voting record of the state of Illinois. Could we really do any worse than we have been doing? Former Governor George Ryan is in a prison in Terra Haute, Indiana serving a 7-year sentence on federal corruption charges. His successor Rod Blagojevich was impeached and is accused of auctioning off one of our US Senate seats to the highest bidder. Why couldn’t we just cut out the middleman and let the state of Illinois profit from it’s own systemic corruption? We have all of these elected positions and they are in the words of Blago “ Fucking Golden”.

What would a US Senate seat go for in an open auction? In Connecticut, former wrestling magnate Linda McMahon spent $21 million dollars of her own money in a losing bid for an open US Senate seat. In comparison, the total amount raised and spent by both parties in the contest for Illinois’ open seat also ended up being around $21 million. Give our very shoddy standards here at the Fucking Golden Project we are going to then assume then the price of a US Senate seat in an open auction would double or appreciate by 100%. We’re going to call this factor our Fucking Golden Multiplier.

As we mentioned before, the entire amount spent in the election nationwide by both parties was $4 billion dollars. If we factor in the Fucking Golden Multiplier that total goes up to $8 billion dollars, that would be the amount spent nationwide and not only in the state of Illinois. It’s pretty obvious that suspending the democratic process to have an open auction for every elected position in the state of Illinois would not put us in the black. It wouldn’t even come close to filling in our 13 billion-budget gap. Campaign fundraising numbers may seem astronomical at times but they are on a completely different scale than state budgets.

We are nothing if not thorough here at the Fucking Golden Project so to tie it all up with a bow we will ask the question again of “could we really do any worse than we have been doing in the state of Illinois?” Our open auction would still favor the massive fundraising machines that are the Democratic and Republican parties. Both parties could use their respective media echo chambers as 24-hour telethons in the race to raise the largest bid on the State of Illinois. Sarah Palin could act as Jerry Lewis in a ball gown. Standing in front of a big number growing on a wall. Just because a candidate has made their way through the ranks of the two major parties does not guarantee they are a competent manager or a competent person for that matter. Scott Lee Cohen legitimately won the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. The aforementioned Linda McMahon won the Republican primary for Connecticut’s US Senate seat. Sharon Angle in Nevada. Joe Miller in Alaska. Christine O’Donnel in Delaware. Could we do any worse than have been doing in the state of Illinois? Yes we could do worse. Much worse.

We may be extremely tolerant of corruption here in Illinois but we do make the right choice sometimes. Mark Kirk was the better candidate than Alexi Giannoulias. We made the right choice in electing Pat Quinn as governor. We elected this guy with a funny name to be our Senator back in 2004. We get it right sometimes.

The Fucking Golden Project asked the question, how far could we privatize things? Privatization will be a solution put forward a lot in the coming years. Selling off a state’s assets is going to be one of the only ways to make significant gains on multi-billion dollar budget shortfalls. The City of Chicago sold management of its parking meters to a private company for 1 billion dollars. The State of Illinois just sold off operation of the state’s lottery to a private company for 4.8 billion. I guess we still have some other assets that are fucking golden before we get to our democratic process.

The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform released a report Monday October 25th on how the most expensive races for the Illinois state legislature this year are being funded mainly by the party leadership of each house. The Democratic and Republican House and Senate leadership is responsible for 63% of all cash donations in the top 21 legislative races in the state. Conversely this also means that only 37% of the money funding the top 21 most expensive campaigns in the state is coming from people and organizations within that district. If you assume that all elected officials are beholden to their contributors then aren’t these candidates more beholden to their party leadership than to the people of their own district? Private individuals are making the original contributions to the party leadership but then the party leadership is deciding where the money is spent.

Total funds raised in the top 9 Illinois State Senate races = $10,785,500

Total funds raised in the top 12 Illinois General Assembly races = $22,805,400

In our last installment of The Fucking Golden Project, we showed how the race for the open U.S. Senate seat in Illinois will end up costing at least 25 million dollars. Combined with the cost of the top Illinois House and Senate races that brings the current Fucking Golden Project Index (FGPI) up to $58,590,900.

What if Rod Blagojevich was on to something when he allegedly took bids for that U.S. Senate seat? We have all of these political positions in the state of Illinois up for re-election and they are in the words of our deposed governor “fucking golden”.

What if for one election cycle we just cut out the middle man and auctioned off every elected position in the state ?

Then we could take that money and put it towards our 13 billion dollar state budget deficit and pay for things like..I dunno..schools.

Sell them all to the highest bidder. From dog catcher to governor.

Look at our recent voting record in this state. Can you really say that it would be any worse than we have been doing?

The state is broke. Who ever we elect will have their hands tied because of the budget deficit, so they really will not be able to accomplish anything or push the state in any sort of direction. Circumstances and our current political reality guarantee gridlock and inactivity for the next four years. So why not take this opportunity reduce our state’s budget deficit?

To me it is akin the Russian Space Agency selling seats on orbital missions to international billionaires. Although orbiting the earth does sound a bit more appealing than being the Governor of Illinois right now. And lets face it; Oprah would probably end up out bidding everyone for the U.S Senate seat or governor’s mansion anyway. We could do a lot worse than having Oprah as our senator or governor. We usually do.

We here at the Keepgoing.org: Fucking Golden Project Investigative Team 2010 will keep crunching the numbers up through next Tuesday’s election and give you our estimate on how much money could be raised in this effort.

Maybe Blago was on to something.

Keepgoing.

Last Friday October 15^th, 2010 all campaigns in the state of Illinois had to report their fundraising totals for the third quarter. The take away story was how Republican candidates had significantly out raised their Democratic opponents in this traditionally Democratic state. The Republican candidate for US Senate Mark Kirk raised 3.12 million dollars from July 1^st to September 30^th while Democrat Alexi Giannoulias (shown here at the 2009 Taste of Polonia) raised 2.32 million dollars. Since the first quarter of 2009 these two campaigns have raised a combined 21 million dollars.

This same state of Illinois also has one of the biggest state budget deficits in the nation. At last count it stood at 13 billion dollars. Democratic Governor Pat Quinn has proposed a series of budget cuts and tax increases to make up the deficit. His Republican opponent Bill Brady has proposed more draconian budget cuts and has pledged against tax increases. Realistically neither plan will be able to make up such a huge deficit.

Desperate times such as these call for desperate measures. That is why I propose taking the advice of our former governor of the great state of Illinois and consider a revolutionary one-time action: The Fucking Golden Project. How many millions of dollars will be raised and spent on winning elected positions in the state of Illinois this election cycle? Couldn’t that money be put to a better use? Check back in for updates on The Fucking Golden Project.