Joe Knilans: wrong a year ago, wrong today

On Saturday, March 10, 2012, over 60,000 people came to the Wisconsin State Capitol from all over Wisconsin, to recognize the one year anniversary since the passing of Act 10 by the Wisconsin Legislature.  Act 10, known as the "Budget Repair Bill" not only did nothing to fix the budget while taking away collective bargaining rights from public employees, it did so in an underhanded manner, passed in the middle of the night without any negotiations.  It is the passing of Act 10 and the way it was done, that angered so many Wisconsinites, including those who previously supported Governor Walker and began the calls for his recall.  

In today's Janesville Gazette, Representative Joe Knilans is quoted as saying "We can all sit back and debate the method that was used, but in the end I think it was the right thing to do."  This shows clearly that Rep. Knilans  understand neither his role is as a Legislator, nor what the democratic process is all about.  Joe Knilans' attempts to defend his vote by saying that the end justifies the means, is wrong.  It is not only insulting to every public worker, it is abhorrent to democracy and shows his disrespect both for his position and for his constituents.    

I am running to represent the 44th District in the State Assembly because we must reject this kind of insulting extremism.  Before voting for the "Budget Repair Bill", Joe Knilans did not listen to his constituents, or to Janesville City Council which voted to send Joe Knilans a letter, urging him to make changes to Act 10.  Now it is up to us, the voters, to restore respect for our legislative process, for the people of our great state, for Wisconsin.  

With your help, I will send Joe Knilans a message that process and democracy matter, that the dictatorial antics of our Legislature must come to an end.  Attempting to destroy the middle class was not why Joe Knilans was sent to Madison.  If elected, I will work hard to listen to everyone because what we need in Wisconsin is respect for those who create jobs and for those doing the the job.  

Help me restore respect for Wisconsin by contributing to my campaign today!  

https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/27978

Yuri Rashkin

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Email: YRashking@gmail.com 

Lessons for Twenty First Century Media and Janesville Community Page

Many questions are being asked these days about the future of traditional media.  One of the more interesting ones is, how does traditional media - newspapers, TV, radio - find its place in today's culture, and remain relevant and important to its readers; now that the world has seemingly dived head first into Facebook and other social media outlets.

Before I get to one possible answer, a little bit of background:

For a variety of reasons I am heavily involved in my community.  I serve on Janesville City Council, I'm the past president of Janesville Noon Lions, current president of United Arts Alliance, and am involved with several business associations in the area.  One of the results of this, is that I get invitations for everything under the sun that occurs in Janesville.  I enjoy my life, and attend as many things as possible, while still remaining in regular contact with my family.

Still, regardless of whether I am able to attend and participate in these events myself, I feel that an important role I can play, is to spread the message to others, to get the word out.  Inviting all of my friends to every event I get invited to myself, is simply not practical.  I do not know what people's interests are, I do not want to overwhelm them with many invites on daily basis, and it simply takes a lot of time to invite hundreds of people to an event.  As it is, I send out lots of invitations to events that I am involved in personally, as a performer or an organizer.

It occurred to me that what is needed, is a page that would provide all of these invites at one place, and a few months ago, I launched the Janesville Community Page (JCP) on Facebook.  There, I began sharing everything related to Janesville that landed in my email box: invites to events, announcements about city services, press releases, upcoming sales, and even links to stories from Janesville Gazette.  Everyday I post between 5 and 15 different items of interest to someone who lives in the Janesville area.  During spring elections, I posted polls inquiring who do my readers/subscribers support, and I also ask general questions such as "What do you like about Janesville?" and "What would you change about Janesville?"  All of these bring responses from my readers, sometimes little, sometimes a lot.  The key is that the page has now grown to close to 400 fans, most of whom I have never met and am not friends with on Facebook.

Happy International Women's Day!

Today is International Women's Day.  In Russia, where I grew up, March 8 is a huge holiday, where a man might come up to a random woman on the street and give her flowers for no reason.  That's kind of cool when you think about it!

I want to take this opportunity to thank the many wonderful women in my life, from my mom, to my daughter Isabelle, to Inna - my fiance - and many many others.  I can't even imagine what my life would have been without the many amazing women in my life.  Thank you!

Apparent Suicide in Downtown Janesville

Earlier today, I was notified that a man walked into Congressman Paul Ryan's office in downtown Janesville and shot himself in the head.  A little later Janesville Gazette reported that the man killed himself by a self-inflicted wound not inside Paul Ryan's office but next to it, inside the Olde Town Mall.  Joe Jimenez of Local Vision TV who works inside the building reported that the suicide note "didn't have anything in it that would explain any motive, just contacts and a request to not resuscitate".  Here is video report filed by Local Vision TV.

My thoughts and prayers are with the man's family.  It is a terrible tragedy and I hope that anyone that may have knowledge of a person who shows signs of depression, looks at this situation as a reminder, and reaches out to them.

Help me serve you.

Thanks to social media, namely Facebook with a tablespoon of Twitter, I have been able to get the message about my campaign for the 44th Assembly District seat, out to the entire state and beyond.  A number of my supporters do not live in Janesville, which is where the 44th District is, and some do not even live in Wisconsin.  I will start by saying that I appreciate all the support that I get.  I really do.

It may seem obvious but my name is not Mitt Romney or Donald Trump or even Newt Gingrich.  It is Yuri Rashkin, and there is no family castle that I will ever inherit.  I have tasked myself with being a public servant, and to help people around me succeed.  In the 4 years on the Janesville City Council, I was able to make a positive difference and now I look to people of Janesville one more time to help me make a difference on the State level.  But let me make it very clear: I do not have millions of my own money to spend on this campaign nor do I have a SuperPAC to get my case out to the voters.  What I have is YOU.

I support Yuri Rashkin for State Assembly! videos

I support Yuri Rashkin for State Assembly!  Lois Allen

I support Yuri Rashkin for State Assembly!  Jody Roberts, Jenifer Keach, Tracie Linck, CJ Morgan, Shirley Butcher


I support Yuri Rashkin for State Assembly!  Kevin Bishop

I support Yuri Rashkin for State Assembly! Lars Prip

It’s been a long year in the struggle for Wisconsin and we have had many successes and lots of political set backs. I was in no way politically active before Feb2011 but have always voted and firmly believe that politics is not a spectator’s doing. It is imperative that citizens stand up to their politicians and say NO MORE to business as usually. Stand up and say NO to the belief that corporate America has person hood because it does not pass the belly button test. The idea of blind patriotism and wrapping oneself in Old Glory is an act of the scoundrel. We are the people that the Declaration of Independence talks about when it proclaims “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [women] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. The US Constitution is not a quaint document as some believe, however it is the law of our land. If they try to take it away we stand up and fight back, go into the streets and protest, hold signs, strike till the government hears your complaints and does something about it. FIGHT BACK and if the politicians don’t listen to you then RECALL them as guaranteed by law. Make them stand for reelection because they serve at the privilege of the electorate. Hold their feet to the fire and proclaim that being a lackey to corporate America is no longer acceptable. Either we are a land of laws or we are not but I know in my hearts of heart that we as a nation are continuously striving to become true to the Bill of Rights and a rule by law.

Over the last year I have met many fine Wisconsinites who share my belief, we shared the unease of protest, of the recall, and the uncertainty of volunteering but it is done for the love of Wisconsin and democracy. Last October I was in Washington DC where I met hundreds of people from all over the world. They drew us Wisconsinites out of the crowd and they wanted to know ‘what’s going on in WI ... tell us about this governor of yours ... are you gonna recall him’. The US mainstream media was strangely absence from this event but media from the world around showed us a passionate interest. The world is watching Wisconsin ant they want to see how we handle our test to American Democracy. Part of that test will rest on the political figures we chose to replace the corporate lackeys who have brought Wisconsin into chaos and near political collapse.

I understand that being a politician is a tough and lonely job especially if you are doing the people’s work. I have known Yuri Rashkin since the first snowfall of last February and if my memory serves me correctly it was at a Madison protest. I have seen Yuri at protest events throughout last year and I was on a Janesville Hilton parking lot knoll when I spotted him walking out of a Scott Walker event. When I witnessed that action it made of think of an Aristotle quote “We become brave by doing brave acts”. I believe Yuri is a people’s politician, a lover of democracy and would fairly serve ALL the people of Wisconsin as an honest politician. Yuri comes to the Wisconsin political scene with a broad worldly experience which I fine extremely interesting and refreshing. The State of Wisconsin and America is desperately crying for new and bold leadership and I believe Yuri Raskin can bring such change.


Lars Prip (Yon Yonson)
Afton, WI

Day In the Life

Today was just one of those crazy fun days, full of events, and I wanted to share it with you, to give you an idea of what my life feels like.

Having dropped off my daughter at school, I went to the Westgate Corridor business group meeting.  Westgate is a group of businesses and entities that are located for the most part along Court street, though some are located beyond it.  At Westgate, I listened to a presentation by Christine Rebout of Janesville Convention & Visitors Bureau on the upcoming first ever World Water Ski show, which will be held in Janesville on September 15-16, 2012 and is likely to have a multi-million dollar impact on our local economy.  I also briefed the members on some of the latest economic developments addressed at the last council meeting.  I also thanked the group for having me there over the years because this is my last meeting of Westgate, at least as member of the council.  I did say that I hope to be back in the future, to brief the members on what is going on in Madison as the representative of the 44th Assembly District.

A couple of hours later, I got a call from Channel 15 news in Madison.  They were doing a story about the improving economic climate in Janesville and wanted to talk to me.  I never miss an opportunity to say good things about Janesville, especially considering that things are definitely looking up!

Picked up Isabelle from school and made a two-layered chocolate cake I always wanted to try and make:

Turned out pretty good, I thought.  Certainly tasted great.

Next, I ran to visit for a few minutes with Rob Zerban who is running against Paul Ryan to represent the 1st Congressional District.  Rob was holding his fundraiser in town and I was glad to stop by and show my support.  Here I am with Rob and Roger Merry.  Rob will also have a totally free event in Janesville on Monday, March 5 at the UAW Hall from 6 pm until 7:30 pm.  Stop in and get to know him!

After just a few minutes, it was time to drive to St. Elizabeth's in Footville where I played music for the residents.  Playing music is the easiest thing I get to do and I enjoy it to boot!

An hour of music flew by and it was time to go to rehearsal with my band, the Back Row, at Luther Memorial where I work as the Music Director for Contemporary Worship.  I really enjoy playing with the Back Row because not only am I forced to use my creativity and arranging skills, but I get to work with great people who listen to my suggestions.

And afterwards, it was time to spend a little bit of time hanging out with some friends, and what's a better way to do that then at O'Riley & Conway's for their Open Mic with Titan Vic, and play and sing a few tunes?

All in all, a great day and I look forward to tomorrow!

Roger Axtell and the Path of Nations

It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Roger Axtell. Roger was a Janesville institution, a treasure, and just an all-around great guy. He told me he was a fan of mine but I was a much bigger fan of his. Roger was an amazing storyteller, a writer, a person who supported creativity in all its forms, member of various boards, including serving as UW System Regent. Roger, was also a person identified with the Parker Pen Company as much as anyone in town. Roger retired from Parker Pen as Vice President of its worldwide marketing and was also famous for penning a series of “Do’s and Taboos” books on various situations encountered by world travelers. Apparently the perfect solution to every situation was to have a Parker Pen handy. As we celebrate Roger’s life, it is important that we honor the final unfinished piece of his legacy.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Rashkin stood up for city residents

The following letter was published in the Janesville Gazette on February 22, 2012:

"Monday night, Feb. 13, the Janesville City Council approved $9 million worth of incentives for a company that promises to create 125 jobs in Janesville in the next three to five years.  We can debate whether or not this was a good decision by the council, and we won't know who is right for years.

What is clear is that the council showed no respect for Janesville residents by giving us, the people, just four days notice before voting on one of the biggest incentives ever given out to a business by Janesville.  What's more, the council voted to shut down its debate after 10 minutes.

I'm disappointed that the city council has such little respect for the residents by giving people such a short time to study this while the council spent the last two years discussing it in closed sessions.  People on the council were elected because they were judged to be reasonable enough to listen to the people of Janesville!

I am proud there was one councilperson, Yuri Rashkin, who stood up for the people and asked tough questions.  I understand why Yuri made the choice of standing up against overwhelming pressure and voted against the biggest gamble Janesville has ever made.  It is because Yuri has always stood up for the people of our community.

I only wish there were more members of the council who showed respect for Janesville residents."

Ronald R. Weber
Janesville