Just when you thought it was safe to go outside, another political hail storm hit Wisconsin when newly elected republican governor Scott "Sleepy" Walker appointed another seemingly unqualified, (according to Journal-Sentinel's staff writer, Patrick Marley) Renee Miller to the post of Marinette County Register of Deeds. The appointment, of course, upset some employees in the office who had designs on the position. In fact one of the three employees in the office has transferred to another department in the county, while another is considering such a move. The potential moves would leave the newly appointed Miller without an experienced staff as she takes charge.
Walkers move brings back memories of one of my heros, you remember, Brian Deschane, the 28 year old college drop-out with two DWI's and no experience, in almost anything. Ya, the very same "kid" with no environmental regulatory or management experience. Seems Brian's daddy, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Builders Association, which gave $121,000 to Walker and his running mate, Rebecca Kleefisch had a bearing on the appointment.
Sadly after a raise of more then $16,000 dollars, after a short time in the state's service, to $81,000, Deschane became an unwilling political pawn, was demoted and shortly thereafter resigned from his position and returned to the private sector, possibly to gain more experience.
Lost in all the rhetoric and condemnation in this latest appointment is the fact that like Deschane, Renee Miller has a seeming "tight" relationship with Representative John Nygren, a republican from Marinette County, she worked for his campaigns for at least five years and her husband, Paul Miller, is campaign treasurer.
Although Renee Miller has absolutely no experience and "leap-frogged" over at least two qualified candidates, based largely on the recommendation of Representative Nygren, the Walker administration chose Renee. Miller has experience as a bank service manager and has been active with the Jaycees, in fact was the organization's president, and in her own words, is a quick learner.
I personally can think of no better resume for the keeper of county statistics, including birth, death and marriage certificates and esoteric legal descriptions of county properties then a bank manager (they have so many of those types of records), an official of the Jaycees, and to boot, she's a quick learner. I'm sure if one looks deeper into Miller's background you'd find that she also worked in the fast food industry.
Although the staff here at Chronicle headquarters is split on this appointee, I, for one, endorse the Miller candidate with enthusiastic support, look at how many unqualified politicians that we vote into office through a popular voter system that we use here in America. As a people, we need heros and Miller is my new, best hero, I just wonder if she needs an older, semi retired employee who knows the score.
The really funny part of this whole appointment issue (at least on the democratic side), was the date it was announced, April 8th. at the height of the Deschane controversy. Maybe "Sleepy" and his administration thought they might slip this one through, amidst all the hub-bub regarding my former hero.
It must be pointed out that Miller was appointed by the governor to fill the post because of a mid-term retirement. Miller will serve from this past April and will be eligible to be elected in the general elections that will be held in 2012.
PAMPERS TURNS 50, (Freep.com)
Hard to believe that the original Pampers wearers are at least 50 years old. That's right, yesterday was the anniversary of the fabled throw-away paper and plastic, preformed catch-all diaper. In one swell swoop, Procter & Gamble kicked the soaking pails, safety pins and diaper delivery trucks to the curb of American baby bottom care.
There have been other disposable pooper and pee collectors, but Pampers pretty much revolutionized the industry and is regarded as the vanguard of the business. To be anybody, you had to wear Pampers, as the hall of fame wearers list is filled with successful business people, pillars of communities across the nation, political leaders and coaches.
Initially the lower body wrap was priced at .10 cents, but outcrys of price gouging were leveled against the company and the price was lowered to a more affordable .06 cents each. Hell I can remember the cloth diapers that we started our son out with in 1966 and would have gladly paid much more for the throw-aways. Our son seemed to have the run-away trots throughout the first years of his life, always needed a change and the diaper pail seemed always to be full.
Today the disposable diaper industry is worth more then $25 billion annually, can you believe that. During the process of establishing the throw-away units, the cloth diaper industry market almost completely dried up. But like many former American institutions making inroads, the cloth diaper is making a comeback in our environmentally aware society. As the throw-aways begin to clog landfills, cloth now makes up 5% of the diapers used in this country, up from about 1% several years ago.
Throw-aways have been around since the middle 1930's, used usually by those people traveling away from home, however the use was restricted to those people with means, not the dust bowl, or unemployed searchers for greener pastures in this dark period of American history that defined the many travelers.
With the outbreak of World War II, most research turned to bomb making that was used for the war effort, not those bombs dropped by Jr. in his diapers. Cloth remained the diaper of choice in a mother's battle to control a seeming endless pile of soiled, stinky, fly attracting feces and urine filled and mostly stained material, washed either on wash boards or manually ringer operated washing machines.
Talk about "a women's work never being done," women were forever tackling mountains of messy stinky diapers that would be used almost as soon as they were hung out to dry in the fresh air during temperate weather, or laid out to dry on every available flat space or chair in the house.
That however would all change, as the way changing practices routinely had been done for hundreds of years. The history of disposable diapers, a luxury in the 1930's and 40's, would take innovations by the paper producing industry to produce a tape type disposable diaper and further research to completely revolutionise the throw-away industry.
However the overall driving force behind the fledgling new industry was the young housewife of the late 1940's and early 50's. Emboldened by an awareness that was gained during the war years, women had discovered that they, in fact, held power in the progressive society that had emerged. Conveniences, more options and a sense of worth created by the "Rosie Riveters" of the war years made American industry sit up and take notice of the power of women.
Cloth advocates today are "snapping" the cause of cloth diaper use, much like a towel snapping contest by boys in a gym class. The "new" cloth diapers come in the traditional cotton or wool, but also bamboo, hemp, "smoke it when your kids outgrow their use," and organic forms. They are preformed, fitted, pocketed so that baby can keep his pacifier or a place for spare change, expandable for that baby with over active bowels and leak proof for what could only be called "the little pisser protector." These additional advent to cloth diapers are tethered together by either a Velcro snaps, or a three armed fastener called a snappi, all for mother's peace of mind.
There is also a decorative and personalized cuteness factor in brightly decorated designs or animals. Racing strips can also be an option, but most mothers, for obvious reasons "shy away" from the catching strips, citing a subliminal message that might be sent to baby.
During the early stages of diapers, like a thousand years or more ago, mothers had to deal in many different ways when their babies heard the call of nature, lifted a leg and let fly with a bowel movement induced mess that would dribble down a leg onto where ever they happened to be. Urinating wasn't quite as messy, but warm urine on a lap was quite disconcerting and interrupted many a conversation.
A rough type of cloth material was strapped onto babies bottom, but it was changed so infrequently that several days of a child's business would accumulate, which must have caused a stench unlike modern people could imagine, and the accompanying diaper rash that could have went down in the annuals of diaper rash history.
Other ancient diaper types in the evolution were made of animal skins, moss, leaves, linens, old clothing and possibly even weeds, grass and wood chips, chopped from trees. Babies in tropical environments were never clothed, allowed to crawl and then walk, crapping or peeing whenever the notion or urge came along. No wonder there average age of these early babies was low, as well as that of adults, less then 30.
The role of the cloth diaper continued it's advancement throughout the history of man and as world technology evolved, cloth became the material of choice for mothers the world over. As awareness of bacteria became known, used diapers were boiled before re-using.
Clasping and holding diapers in place was always a problem until the introduction of a pair of rubber pants that went snugly over a diaper and held it in place. It is not known whether the Swed who introduced his idea to Swedish mothers in 1942 made any money.
In 1946 an American mother invented the "boater" a waterproof covering for diapers. The material of choice for the lady from New England was shower curtain fabric that was cut in the shape of the diaper and sown into the fabric.
In the years following these early exploits, their successes as well as the failures, many new and inventive ideas and names have come down the road. Fuzzi Buns, Pocket Diapers, Poochies, Honey Boys, Happy Heinys and Hyen Cart just to name a few. However though there are many diaper companies out there, they all have one common goal, both cloth and throw-away, they seek to do the best job of stemming the unending tide of baby poo and pee that has been a problem since the beginning of motherhood. Thank God the problem seems to a women's, not a man's.
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