Saturday, March 14, 2015

Landmark Hamilton Manufacturing Building in Two Rivers, Wisconsin,Being Reduced to Rubble




J. Edward Hamilton founded the Hamilton Holly Wood Type Company in 1880 to serve a booming newspaper and print shop industry.  The company soon expanded its product line to include cabinets for type and other press room furnishings as well as items for other types of businesses:  medical and dental office furniture, drafting tables, and the first gas-powered dryer.

Employing more than 1000 at its peak, the facility was shuttered in 2012.

There will soon be an unobstructed view of Lake Michigan from downtown Two Rivers.



Two Rivers, Wisconsin: Change for a $20 after paying for 2 Old-Fashioneds and 2 bottles of Fat Tire



The lake perch plate at the Knights of Columbus is highly recommended.  Served in 3 portions -- regular, 1 1/2, double -- from 4:30 to 9:00 p.m. every Friday.

Friday, March 13, 2015

Wondering if this is an editorial statement


Impressed that there are no spelling errors.

Recent Evidence That Folks Still Bowl



Badger Bowl, Madison WI, on early Wednesday evening in February.  It was my first time after a 10-, maybe 15-year hiatus.  Rolled a 461 three-game series.

Today's bowling requires no math skills -- and allows no warm-up rolls.

Plus you don't go home smelling like an ashtray full of crushed cigarette butts.

Chew on this dialogue balloon



For those of you who haven't visited the National Brewery Museum in Potosi, you're in for a treat, especially if you can get the mayor to conduct the tour.
 

Guess the year and make of car by the headlight?


Hint:  When this impressively finned car was introduced to the public, my teacher's name was Miss Short.

'On the Road Again' as mapped by colored dots


My fascination with maps goes back 55 years, when, free-ranging child that I was, I'd bike from gas station to gas station throughout Warren Pennsylvania and help myself to the free road maps.

More on this particular creation in a later post.



'Consistency' and 'authenticity' aren't the first 2 words that come to mind when I consider Scott Walker


Let's try these 2 on for size:  

*Malleable.  

*Opportunistic.

Gov. Scott Walker set to make his first trip of the 2016 cycle to New Hampshire.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 3/13/2015)

Photo credit:  Live Free or Die Alliance
Text sourceWisconsin State Journal

*Scott Walker's Shifting Positions Move Him Further Right.  (NBC News, 3/11/2015)

Where his core group of supporters reside.





Apparently, being the Chief Financial Officer of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is not much of a resume-builder


WEDC under fire again for not tracking loans, losing top executives.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/13/2015)
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, issued a letter Thursday urging the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to hire an acting chief financial officer after previous CFO Stephanie Walker left in January. She was the organization’s fourth CFO since its creation less than four years ago. 

Barca said the hire is critical because WEDC has had problems tracking state loans and grants. A May 2013 audit found the quasi-public agency was not following state law in how it was keeping tabs on millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, and earlier this week the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the agency continues to have difficulties despite assurances that the problem had been addressed.

Related posts:
WEDC's revolving door.  (9/12/2014)
Here's how the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is "Reinventing Economic Development".  (8/24/2014) 
Company looks to expand its business geographic focus?  (8/14/2014)
Scott Walker and the horrible, terrible, no good, very transparent day.  (7/28/2014)
Kestrel Aircraft: All these incentives, but no construction, no jobs.  (7/13/2014)
The Eaton Corporation/WEDC timeline of shame.  (7/10/2014)
Wisconsin featured in report on privatized state economic development agencies.  (10/25/2013)
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation pledge: Following the money.  (7/23/2013)
Incompetence rewarded.  (5/9/2013)
And while we're at it, let's take a look at WEDC 's core values. (5/9/2013)
WEDC Public Information Officer Resigns After 1 Month on the Job.  (5/9/2013)
Plenty of time for messaging but none for fixing what ails WEDC.  (5/9/2013)
Previous WEDC audits?  What previous audits?  (5/8/2013)
Are you seeing a trend yet?  (5/8/2013)
Echoes.  (5/7/2013)
Get me rewrite.  (5/4/2013)
Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: The "Cliff Notes" Version.  (5/3/2013
"Tales of woe never end at WEDC."  (4/25/2013)
Enterprise Florida and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation share a lack of transparency.  (2/28/2013)

The Library Board Member from Hell is Looking for a Return Engagement



Text source and photo creditGail Borden library candidates disagree on remodeling.  (Daily Herald, 3/11/2015)

Related articles:
He's baaack!!!  (1/8/2015)
Randy Hopp is no longer a Gail Borden library trustee.  (5/27/2013)
Elgin Library trustee Randy Hopp not yet fit to stand trial .  (5/23/2013)
Sign this guy up for anger management classes.  (1/19/2012)
Library board member from hell is here to stay. ( 6/19/2011)
Add Elgin Community College to the list of places where Randy Hopp is banned.  (5/2/2011)
Gail Borden's 'board member from hell' is back in the news again.  (3/26/2011)
Crossing t's and dotting i's aren't enough for this library board member. (1/15/2011)
The strange saga of Randy Hopp, library trustee.  (5/23/2010)

No Friend to the Environment: Republican Representative Mark Meadows, North Carolina's 11th Congressional District


Photo source U.S. Congress
Text source:   Right Wing Watch

'Tea Party aligned' Meadows was re-elected to a 2nd term in 2014 with 63% of the vote.

Recommended reading for Meadows and constituents in his western Carolina district.

Climate Change in the Great Smoky National Park.  (Macalester College Environmental Studies Department)

No Friend to the Environment dishonor roll.

Alabama Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives.   (Their anti-environmentalism can be summed up in one world:  coal.  Which is odd, since Alabama contributes a mere 1.9% of U.S. production, good enough for an overall ranking of 13.  The state's peak year of production:  1990)  
Alaska Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
  • At-large District.  Don Young (R).   Ridiculed environmentalists as a “self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots.....not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.” 
 Arizona Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Arkansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
California Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Colorado Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
No House Republicans hail from Connecticut and Delaware. 
Florida Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Georgia Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Idaho Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Illinois Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Indiana Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Iowa Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Kansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Kentucky Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Louisiana Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Maine Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Maryland Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
No House Republicans in Massachusetts delegation.
Michigan Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Minnesota Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Mississippi Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Missouri Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives 
Montana Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Nebraska Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Nevada Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
New Hampshire Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
 New Jersey Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
New Mexico Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
New York Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
 North Carolina Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Headline News: Gain in Americans' Net Worth is Lifting the Boats of the Affluent



The value of stocks and mutual funds owned by households jumped $742 billion during the quarter, when the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index gained 4.4%. For the year, the index gained 11.4%..  Much of the nation’s stock-market gains goes to the wealthy, who tend to save the proceeds.   [Emphasis added.]

 
Related reading:
Wealth levels, wealth inequality, and the Great Recession.  (Russell Sage Foundation)
Declines in net worth from 2007 to 2009 were large, and the decline continued through 2013.  These wealth losses, however, were not distributed equally.  While large absolute amounts of wealth were destroyed at the top of the wealth distribution, households at the bottom of the wealth distribution lost the largest share of their total wealth.  As a result, wealth inequality increased significantly from 2003 to 2013.     

Related posts:
The very rich are not spending their money on job creation, suckers.  (3/5/2014) 
Wealth inequality in America: Far from what people think, so far from their ideal.  (3/13/2013)

Chris Christie Settles for Pennies on the Dollar with ExxonMobil



Chunk of New Jersey’s Money From Exxon Settlement Is to Go to Legal Fees.  (The New York Times, 3/9/2015)

Even less than a small fraction.
But if the deal is approved, the state will not even get that much: New Jersey’s recovery will most likely total about $180 million or so, after legal fees and costs are deducted, records show.

The rest of the story.

Chris Christie sells out New Jersey taxpayers.  (Washington Post, 3/5/2015)

Not the least bit unwarranted.
Most of the coverage of the peculiarly low settlement has emphasized Exxon Mobil’s generous donations to the Republican Governors Association. The company gave hundreds of thousands of dollars last year, while Christie was its chair and the case was in trial; suspicions about a tacit tit-for-tat don’t seem unwarranted.

Organize your household projects with post-it notes and a homemade floor plan


Photo by Retiring Guy

Now having second thoughts after the committee approved this agenda item




Photos by Retiring Guy
1st floor, City-County Building, Madison, WI

Philip Ittel (1917-2015) Warren High School Class of 1935: "Successful, Bright, Mannerly"


Warren Times Observer

1935 Dragon yearbook

A Mr. Consistency well into the 1980s, 'Philip' experienced his best year in 1941.



Cole Porter's "You're the Top" was one of the biggest songs of 1935.

Other members of the class of '35:
Julia Juliano Decker.  (1/24/2015)

Unlike Richard Nixon, Scott Walker is likely to wear out his pedometer running to the right



Scott Walker reversals piling up as presidential bid looms.  (Chippewa Herald, 3/12/2015)

Larry Sabato, Director, Center for Politics at the University of Virginia
“Nothing much has changed since Richard Nixon formulated the basic strategy for a GOP presidential candidate back in the 1960s: ‘Run to the right to get the nomination, and back to the center for the general election.'  The one shift is that the GOP’s center of gravity is much further to the right today than in Nixon’s time."

Related post:
Go big, go bold, go base:  Is Scott Walker our next Richard Nixon?  (2/5/2015)

Gallup Polling: Since 1990, only a minority of Americans want laws covering the sale of firearms to be less strict


Nonetheless, you can see what a troubling impact the National Rifle Association's multi-million dollar lobbying efforts have had over the years.

SourceGallup

Particularly with elected officials.

Meet the 38 Wisconsin Republican state legislators who have the interests of the 14% foremost in mind.


Bill to end 48-hour wait for gun purchases gets hearing.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/11/2015)
Under a bill by Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), handgun purchasers could take possession of them as soon as they cleared the background checks — nearly instantaneously in some cases, and often within a matter of hours.

Signing SB35 into law will be Walker's way of returning a big-money favor to the NRA.

 
Related post:
Van Wanggaard toes the ALEC line.  (2/7/2015)

Thanks to palcohol, the load will be much lighter for these backpackers


Photo credit:  U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service

Powdered Alcohol Federally Approved, facing Concerns.  (WBAY, 3/11/2015)
It’s called ‘palcohol’, and the idea was created by a man who no longer wanted to carry heavy alcohol bottles with him on a hike. One pouch of powder, when mixed with water, becomes one drink of vodka or rum. But it doesn’t come without controversy.

Meet Mark Phillips, the guy who just can't leave the booze at home.

The Guy Behind the Powdered Alcohol That the FDA Approved and Then Unapproved.  (Vocative, 4/23/2014)

And then approved again.

Related post:
The incredible lightness of palcohol.  (1/19/2015)

No Friend to the Environment: Republican Representative Patrick McHenry, North Carolina's 10th Congressional District


Photo sourceU.S. Congress
Text source:   League of Conservation Voters

McHenry was re-elected to a 6th term in 2014 with 61% of the vote.

Recommended viewing for Rep. McHenry and constituents in his Asheville to Charlotte district.



No Friend to the Environment dishonor roll.

Alabama Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives.   (Their anti-environmentalism can be summed up in one world:  coal.  Which is odd, since Alabama contributes a mere 1.9% of U.S. production, good enough for an overall ranking of 13.  The state's peak year of production:  1990)  
Alaska Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
  • At-large District.  Don Young (R).   Ridiculed environmentalists as a “self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots.....not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.” 
 Arizona Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Arkansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
California Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Colorado Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
No House Republicans hail from Connecticut and Delaware. 
Florida Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Georgia Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Idaho Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Illinois Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Indiana Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Iowa Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Kansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Kentucky Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Louisiana Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Maine Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Maryland Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
No House Republicans in Massachusetts delegation.
Michigan Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Minnesota Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Mississippi Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Missouri Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives 
Montana Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Nebraska Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Nevada Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
New Hampshire Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
 New Jersey Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
New Mexico Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
New York Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
 North Carolina Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives