Saturday, March 25, 2017

Despite its turn to the right, Wisconsin gets tripped up again by GOP



Knives out for Reince.  (Azios, 3/25/2017)



Released in October 1970, it did not chart on Billboard Top 200 Albums.  (WZUM's early 70s deejays would be all over Bruce Eder's lame, "absolutely misguided" review.  I know this for a fact as I lived in Pittsburgh when, in 1973-74, everything Genesis was in heavy rotation on one of my all-time favorite radio stations.)

Reach across the aisle? No way, sez Trump. Let the fireworks begin






‘Hello, Bob’: President Trump called my cellphone to say that the health-care bill was dead.  (Washington Post, 3/24/2017)

Donald Trump runs, baby, runs into the arms of the fake media.



The Newbeats' 5th of 7 singles to reach the Billboard Hot 100, "Run Baby Run" debuted at #90 for the week ending October 2, 1965.  It spent 13 weeks on the chart and peaked at #12
  

Steve Bannon gets sassed by member of Freedom Caucus



Quoted in Inside the Trump Meltdown.  (Axios, 3/25/2017)

Or as boing boing gleefully reports.....



Now it can be told! Trump nods off while Ryan explains AHCA disaster-in-the-making


Photo credit:  Breitbart

Curious that Breitbart would publish -- unattributed, I might add -- this unflattering photo of Trump, especially in conjunction with a rah-rah headline.


Bernie Sanders, Planned Parenthood top FOX News poll favorability ratings



NOTE:  Color-coding of groups and items -- Planned Parenthood, Obamacare, sanctuary cities, WikiLeaks, and Freedom Caucus -- are based on Retiring Guy's point of oview.


"Wait!  Only an 18% unfavorability rating for the Freedom Caucus?", you ask, incredulous.

That's because a 45% plurality of respondents said they never heard of 'em.

Source used for all 3 bar graphs:  FOX News poll

Business executive looks to have received his multimillon-dollar payday with aplomb


Big payday for two WE Energies execs.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/24/2017)
Gale Klappa, who retired as chief executive on May 1, received compensation valued at $11.1 million, including stock awards with an estimated value of $7.4 million.


Photo credit: WEC Energy Group 

Is this what Republicans mean when they say we should run government like a business

Word of the day: aplomb



Quoted in Bice: Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch puts Oconomowoc house up for sale.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/24/2017)

As oipposed to a plomb.....
any inert material inserted into a body cavity for therapeutic purposes.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Watch this pundit's musings turn into instant nonsense



Opined at Trump’s health care ultimatum is straight out of ‘The Art of the Deal.’ It just might work.  (Washington Post, 3/24/2017)

And today, 3/25/2017?


the health-care bill

There was room for just 22.  (There's also a list of 15 members 'leaning no'.)

As many as 51 no's to leadership.  It was never 'really close'.

Makeover for McHugh Family Dentistry building


As the building, located at 6660 University Avenue, looked a month or so ago.



As it looks today.

Photos by Retiring Guy


These white men have work to do


Source:  Twitter @VP

All-male White House health bill photo sparks anger.  (BBC, 3/25/2017)

Great tune, but, oh, those lyrics....

I'm taking care of business, woman can't you see  
Got to make it for you, got to make it for me

Appears on AWB's 1974 debut album, which spent a week at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart.   Not released as a single.



The original version, which appears on the Isley Brothers' Brother Brother Brother album, made its debut at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending October 28, 1972.  It peaked at #51 and spent 87 weeks on the chart.



Quinnipiac survey says: Trump is unfit to be President


In so many words, of course.


Base Erodes As Trump Drops To New Low Scores, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Say 60 - 35 Percent President Is Not Honest.  (Quinnipiac University, 3/22/2017)

GOP approval rating drops 10 percentage points -- fromm 91% to 81% -- in 2 weeks.

What's one of the first things that happens when Republicans take over Iowa State Senate? Voter ID!



Voter ID bill gets Iowa Senate OK after contentious debate.  (Des Moines Register, 3/23/2017)
The bill is officially supported by the Iowa Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. 
It is opposed by a long list of groups, including the 
  • American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa
  • Iowa State Association of Counties
  • AARP Iowa 
  • Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
  • Iowa State Education Association, 
  • League of Women Voters of Iowa
  • League of United Latin American Citizens 
  • Iowa Developmental Disabilities Counci 
  • One Iowa Education Fund 
  • Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO  
  • Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Action Fund.

Related posts:
It's a short, straight line from voter fraud GOP talking points to Trump's "one big fix".  (10/17/2016)
UPDATE. Once again, it's 'mission accomplished' for proponents of voter ID.  (10/13/2016)
One of the voter ID smoking guns unearthed by the Guardian.  (9/16/2016)
Robin Vos approves of voter ID to press his limited government goals.  (9/13/2016)
Dear Donald Trump, Here's what voter ID rigged elections look like.  (8/24/2016)
Despite recent appeals panel ruling, Brad Schimel continues to waste taxpayer money.  (8/24/2016)
Robin Vos, Jim Steineke defend GOP right to suppress the vote.  (7/30/2016)
Voter ID hokey pokey.  (5/20/2016)
Giddy over voter ID, Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield) is also a big fan of redistricting.  (5/17/2016)
The fact is, Scott Walker, Wisconsin spent a lot of time and money on a solution in search of a problem.  (4/28/2016)
Ted Perry, GOP hypocrisy, voter ID, and anger.  (4/8/2016)
Voter ID controversy: Glenn Grothman just makes it worse.  (4/6/2016)
The hyper-hypocritical Scott Walker: Hunters are ethical, voters are not.   (3/10/2016)
It's not an oversight; just part of the Republican plan to disenfranchise voters.  (2/1/2016)
Republican candidates for President want voting to be a privilege, not a right.  (8/6/2015)
Apparently, it's OK to plagiarize a Voter ID law.  (10/17/2014)
The Republicans' voter ID, "common sense" echo chamber.  (10/13/2014)
GOP reaches out to Blacks and Hispanics while making it harder for them to vote.  (10/3/2014)
What are the odds? Joint Finance provides funding for Voter ID campaign.  (10/1/2014)
In the news: Wisconsin Voter ID law and absentee ballots.  (9/18/2014)
Wisconsin Republican legislative leaders cry like a baby.  (9/17/2014)
Reality sandwiched between two slices of Leah Vukmir white bread.  (9/15/2014)
Scott Walker on Voter ID: It's going just according to plan.  (8/2/2014)
Meet Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack, who authored majority opinions in voter ID cases.  (8/1/2014) 
So as a result, you want your government to make it harder for you to vote?
 (5/22/2014)
The cat's got Fitzgerald's tongue.  (5/14/2014)
I can see how these pie graphs from a 2005 report might have informed the discussion for voter ID proponents.  (5/11/2014)
When it comes to diversity, all they want to do is talk.  (5/4/2014)
We're still awaiting a statement from Governor Walker.  (4/29/2014)
Voter suppression: Rep. Tom Larson uses the City of Milwaukee as the bogeyman.  (3/31/2014)
Sen. Mary Lazich shows her true colors.  (3/18/2014)
And the hypocrisy just keeps on coming: Republicans can't even give lip service to their "principles".  (2/14/2014)

Pay to play the high-capacity well, Wisconsin Assembly Agriculture Committee way



Committees Handling High-Cap Well Bill Got $220K+ from Ag Interests.  (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, 3/14/2017)
The measures, Assembly Bill 105 and Senate Bill 76, would eliminate state reviews of existing permits for any high-capacity wells when they are repaired, replaced, or sold in a real estate transaction. High-capacity wells allow users, which include large farms, food processors, and frac-sand operations, to pump up to 100,000 gallons of water a day for irrigation and other needs. 
Environmentalists and others say the high-capacity wells have caused some rivers, lakes, and streams around the state to shrink or even dry up during the summer, damaging fish, wildlife, and their habitat.

Or graphed another way.


Having a 64-35 majority really pays well!

Wisconsin Assembly agriculture committee.

Related posts:
Dear Wisconsin Central Sands voters, Be careful whom you vote for.  (3/7/2017)
The public trust betrayed: Scott Walker's chamber of commerce agenda for Wisconsin's environment.  (6/11/2016)

Caution, dildos ahead: Your Wisconsin education tax dollars at work at a Racine Lutheran school




Dad seeks school dismissals over alleged 'sex toy' claim.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/23/2017)
Milt Habeck is demanding the dismissal of the principal, president of the board of education and two pastors at Trinity Lutheran Church & School, where his three children attend under the Racine Parental Choice voucher program.
[snip] 
Habeck said Amling appears to have interpreted "Dillys" to mean dildos, or penis-shaped sex toys, and that his daughter and her friends had no knowledge of the word.

Another version of this 'sex toy' is sold by 4Es Novelty.


Biggest complaint:  They break easily and make a mess.

Trinity Lutheran Church is part of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

According to a U.S. Department of Transportation mapping project, I live in a quiet neighborhood


In the white space just right of center.


How Noisy Is Your Neighborhood? Now There's A Map For That. (NPR, 3/23/2017)
The agency says it used data compiled by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Highway Administration to draw up its map, also borrowing the tools of both to determine average daily noise levels produced by transportation.

 As for the family manse (point of red arrow) in Warren PA 16365, Conewango Avenue is heavily traveled and the middle school is nearby (black square).



Mary Anne Handest McHenry (1933-1952) Warren High School class of 1952



1952 Dragon yearbook

1967 Warren City Directory

  • Handest Thos (Johanna F) retd h614 Prospect
  • Handest Tommy (Lucille) h113 Conewango av
  • McHenry Harry E (Mary A) lab PFI (Pennsylvania Furnace & Iron) h26 Arlington dr
1983 Warren City Directory
  • Handest Johanna Mrs retd h614 Prospect St
  • Handest Thos L & Mary Ann (Shuto School of Karate) r614 Prospect St 
  • McHenry Debra studt h26 Arlington Dr
  • McHenry Harry E & Mary A; plumb Warren State Hosp h26 Arlington Dr
  • McHenry Mary A Mrs emp Warren State Hospital r26 Arlington Dr

The mid-20th century was the heyday of double names for girls, especially double 'Mary' names:  Mary Ann(e), Mary Beth, Mary Jane, Mary Jo, Mary Lou, Mary Sue.  It's not clear is the Social Security site includes both two-name and single-name combinations.



Other class of '52 grads:
Reynold Flatt.  (2/27/2017)
Donald Merkle.  (9/23/2016)
Minnie Bonavita Miller.  (6/10/2016)
Myra Wilson Babcock.  (5/19/2016)
Norma Pierce Nielsen.  (4/6/2016)
Santo 'Sam' Pascuzzi.  (2/14/2016)
Glenn Culbertson.  (10/23/2015)
Elizabeth Eggleston Hoffman.  (10/17/2014)

How do we feel about health care reform? Depends what you call it!



Obamacare or ACA? Support for health care law in Wisconsin depends on what you call it. (Madison.com, 3/23/2017)
Overall, the majority of voters, at 54 percent, said they support keeping the law in place but making improvements to it. Twenty-eight percent said they want the law repealed and replaced, as Republicans are currently trying to do, while 8 percent want it repealed with no replacement. Just six percent said they want to keep the law, as is.

Related posts:
UPDATE. After 7 years of Obamacare threats and dithering from GOP, this is the best they can do.  (3/22/2017)
Short-term thinking: Wisconsin State Journal prefers to trumpet smaller number.  (3/14/2017)
Little Mr. Sunshine Scott Walker throws 8.8 million Americans under the bus.  (3/9/2017)
UPDATE. Repeal ACA campaign stop in Janesville: GOP donor gives Mike Pence a stage to bash Obamacare.  (3/4/2017)
UPDATE: Latest Pew Reseach poll shows support for Obamacare at all-time high.  (2/24/2017)
Donald Trump delves into the intricate details of Obamacare replacement.  (2/18/2017)
With each passing day, Freedom Caucus crazies insure that GOP now has full ownership of Obamacare.  (2/15/2017)
And each time House Republicans voted to repeal Obamacare, they had no plan of their own.  (2/14/2017)
All clamor and no counsel leading GOP to Obamacare repeal disaster.  (1/27/2017)
Translation: "What I mean is that we really don't have a plan."  (1/26/2017)
As GOP promises quick repeal, people start to warm up to Obamacare.  (1/26/2017)
Trump's America: Fayette County, West Virginia, where Obamacare is a lifeline.  (1/24/2017)
Voters in Colorado's 5th Congressional District discover they have a chickenshit representative.  (1/17/2017)
Donald Trump:  The man without a plan.  (1/14/2017)
Wisconsin State Assembly rep Joe Sanfelippo talks out of both sides of his mouth on Obamacare.  (1/13/2017)
As for Obamacare, Vice President-elect Mike Pence promises a 7th year of all talk and no action from the GOP.  (1/6/2017)
UPDATE.  Hell:  The perfect setting for a weenie roast.  (1/5/2017)
UPDATE. Yes, Paul Ryan, we know, and that's very disturbing.  (1/17/2017)
UPDATE. Scott Walker in so many words: All told, it will take as many as 9 years to replace Obamacare.  (1/15/2017)

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

In this house, we believe in the need to be up close to read a yard sign


Photo by Retiring Guy

Up close

UPDATE. After 7 years of Obamacare threats and dithering from GOP, this is the best they can do


Photo credit:  TMZ.com  via ABC News
{text emphasis added)

Reported in Wisconsin's older adults would pay thousands more under Republican health plan.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 3/22/2017)

Offering  more?  You just thought about this now?


1/17/2017 update starts here.


The quote is from Ryan says he's 'on the same page' with Trump.  (Channel3000, 1/16/2017)

Working hand-in-glove, eh?

Just 12 days ago, Ryan said he's 'waiting for the Trump administration to be stood up', waiting for Tom Price to be confirmed as Health and Human Services cabinet secretary.

The guy gets away with murder, doesn't he?


1/6/2017 update, "Hell:  The perfect setting for a weenie roast", starts here.

As the dithering approaches track #7.



Shilly-shallying found a
Ryan Says Obamacare Replacement Bill Will Be Done in 2017.  (Morning Consult, 1/5/2017) 



"Hellbound Train" is the title track from the 1st of 2 albums released by Savoy Brown in 1972.  It debuted on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart for the week ending March 18th and spent 21 weeks on the chart, peaking at #34.


12/20/2016 update, "GOP continues campaign to turn English language into bowl of mush", starts here.

Photo credit:  Yelp


Reported in G.O.P. Plans to Replace Health Care Law With ‘Universal Access’.  (The New York Times, 12/15/2016)

Original 12/6/2016 post, "After nearly 7 years of threats to repeal Obamacare, GOP admits it still has no backup plan", starts here.


Reported in Ryan: Obamacare phaseout will leave 'no one worse off'.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/5/2016)

Related reading:
Blow By Blow: A Comprehensive Timeline Of The GOP’s 4-Year Battle To Kill Obamacare.  (ThinkProgress, 3/23/2014)

The first entry of the ThinkProgress timeline (screenshot includes 2 of the 5 bullet points)







The band's star was dimming when "Too Much Talk" debuted at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending February 10, 1968.  It spent two weeks at #19 and 8 weeks on the chart overall.

Robert Berlin (1943-2017) Warren Area High School class of 1961


Source:  Warren Times Observer


Also in the picture:  Mary Blair, who joined the WAHS faculty after her college graduation.  She married chemistry teacher Jack Creek and served as advisor to the class of 1968.

1967 Warren City Directory [county section]
1983 Warren City Directory
  • Berlin Rex & Jackson R; mechanic Huber's Blacktop r1330 Jackson Run Rd
  • Sherman Wesley D & Lillian J; mach opr Betts Industr rRussell PA

The popularity of 'Robert' as a baby name is graphed here.  I'm in the mood for another doubleheader.


An old-fashioned kinda girl, 'Thelma' enjoyed a strong run during the 1st third of the 20th century, peaking at #25 in 1910.  Starting in the 1960s, though, she quickly tumbled out of view.

'Rex' proved to be a bit more of a steady performer, remaining mostly in the 200-range into late 1960s.  He disappeared for a few years (1999-2002) but quickly regained some of his old form, although it looks as though it'll be short-lived.


Other members of the class of '61:
James Zaner.  (6/3/2016)
David Thomson.  (4/20/2016)
William Anderson.  (3/10/2015)
Barbara Gorton O'Bier.  (1/3/2015)
Charles Grinnen III.  ((7/15/2014)
Ronald Hultman.  (6/24/2014)
Patricia Martin.  (2/17/2014)

Donald Trump as the big gray cloud


Collage components:  Drawception, Hoarder 

Reported in Analysis: FBI bombshell creates 'a big gray cloud' over Trump's White House.  (USA Today, 3/20/2017)

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Trump's America: Snookered in Clark County, Kansas


Source:  Wikipedia




Source:  CNN

Burying Their Cattle, Ranchers Call Wildfires ‘Our Hurricane Katrina’.  (The New York Times, 3/20/2017)
“This is the country that elected Donald Trump,” said Garth Gardiner, driving a pickup across the 48,000-acre Angus beef ranch he runs with his two brothers. They lost about 500 cows in the fires. “I think he’d be doing himself a favor to come out and visit us.”
Mr. Gardiner voted for Mr. Trump, and said he just wanted to hear a presidential mention of the fires amid Mr. Trump’s tweets about the rapper Snoop Dogg, the East Coast blizzard and the rudeness of the press corps. 

As good as it's gonna get, Garth.


Other Trump's America posts:
Defiance County, Ohio .  (3/21/2017)
Williams County, Ohio.  (3/21/2017)
Sawyer County, Wisconsin.  (3/20/2017)
Clark County, Wisconsin.  (3/19/2017)
Taylor County, Wisconsin.  (3/19/2017)
Highland County, Ohio.   (3/19/2017)
Buffalo County, Wisconsin.  (3/19/2017)
Pepin County, Wisconsin. (3/19/2017)
Union County, North Carolina.  (3/9/2017)
Buffalo County:  The Wisconsin Dairyland dilemma.  (3/7/2017)
Franklin County, Illinois.  (2/27/2017)
Knox and Whitley counties, Kentucky.  (2/17/2017)
Cabell County, West Virginia.  (2/9/2017)
Where voters abandoned the Democratic Party in droves.   (2/7/2017)
Poweshiek and Webster counties, Iowa.  (2/7/2017)
Adams and Waushara counties, Wisconsin.  (2/6/2017)
McHenry County, Illinois.  (2/5/2017)
Essex County, New York.  (1/29/2017)
Mitchell County, Kansas.  (1/29/2017)
Fayette County, West Virginia.  (1/24/2017)
Williamsport, Pennsylvania, home of the Little League World Series.  (1/24/2017)
Johnson Creek, Wisconsin.  (1/21/2017)
Get me rewrite: Buncha white people in Boone County, Iowa, talk about Trump.  (1/15/2017)
UPDATE. Luzerne County, Pennsylvania is a Trump election success story.  (1/14/2017)
Monticello, Iowa. New York Times joins the search for Trump's America, a very white place.  (1/13/2017)
UPDATE. Boston Globe reporter continues to explore Trump's America, where mostly white people live.  (1/13/2017)

Trump's America: Snookered in Defiance County, Ohio


Source:  Wikipedia




Source:  CNN

G.O.P.’s Health Care Tightrope Winds Through the Blue-Collar Midwest.  (The New York Times, 3/19/2017)
Mr. Waltimire, 54, was able to sign up for the government health insurance program last year because Ohio expanded it to cover more than 700,000 low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act. He voted for President Trump — in part because of Mr. Trump’s support for law enforcement — but is now worried about the Republican plan to effectively end the Medicaid expansion through legislation to repeal the health care law. 
“Originally the president said he wasn’t going to do nothing to Medicaid,” Mr. Waltimire said the other day after a rehab session. “Now they say he wants to take $880 billion out of Medicaid. That’s going to affect a lot of people who can’t afford to get insurance.” 




Other Trump's America posts:
Williams County, Ohio.  (3/21/2017)
Sawyer County, Wisconsin.  (3/20/2017)
Clark County, Wisconsin.  (3/19/2017)
Taylor County, Wisconsin.  (3/19/2017)
Highland County, Ohio.   (3/19/2017)
Buffalo County, Wisconsin.  (3/19/2017)
Pepin County, Wisconsin. (3/19/2017)
Union County, North Carolina.  (3/9/2017)
Buffalo County:  The Wisconsin Dairyland dilemma.  (3/7/2017)
Franklin County, Illinois.  (2/27/2017)
Knox and Whitley counties, Kentucky.  (2/17/2017)
Cabell County, West Virginia.  (2/9/2017)
Where voters abandoned the Democratic Party in droves.   (2/7/2017)
Poweshiek and Webster counties, Iowa.  (2/7/2017)
Adams and Waushara counties, Wisconsin.  (2/6/2017)
McHenry County, Illinois.  (2/5/2017)
Essex County, New York.  (1/29/2017)
Mitchell County, Kansas.  (1/29/2017)
Fayette County, West Virginia.  (1/24/2017)
Williamsport, Pennsylvania, home of the Little League World Series.  (1/24/2017)
Johnson Creek, Wisconsin.  (1/21/2017)
Get me rewrite: Buncha white people in Boone County, Iowa, talk about Trump.  (1/15/2017)
UPDATE. Luzerne County, Pennsylvania is a Trump election success story.  (1/14/2017)
Monticello, Iowa. New York Times joins the search for Trump's America, a very white place.  (1/13/2017)
UPDATE. Boston Globe reporter continues to explore Trump's America, where mostly white people live.  (1/13/2017)