Saturday, November 30, 2019

This protective covering arrived with the delivery of today's New York Times


Front side


Back side




Who's running in 10th Wisconsin Senate District? (2020 elections edition)


Republican Sheila Harsdorf held the seat from 2001 until November 2017, when she resigned to take a position in Governor Scott Walker's cabinet.  Democrat Patty Schachtner won a special election in January 2018.

Source:  Ballotpedia

The art of the Wisconsin gerrymander (St. Croix/Dunn counties edition)


Rep. Stafsholt announces Senate candidacy in Wisconsin’s 10th District.  (The Sun, 11/29/2019)


Democrats need to be concerned about this.



GET ME REWRITE: Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro rips a page out of the Trump playbook: Tell 'em whoppers!


The bigger, the better for maximum distraction


Brazil’s president criticizes DiCaprio over Amazon fires.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 11/29/2019)

Friday, November 29, 2019

Michael McCaul, one of the GOP lemmings of Congress, gets snookered in a major-league way


Trump's Washington:  A festival of fakery


How did Mina Chang get a State Department job in the first place?  (NBC News, 11/27/2019)
Marocco endorsed her for the job and McCaul wrote her a recommendation letter.
Excerpt from McCaul's 2/18/2019 fawning letter (highlight added)

According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of snooker as a verb meaning "to hoodwink", occurred in 1925.

Other coinages from the same year include:
  1. acey-deucey
  2. bail out
  3. bench jockey
  4. blooper
  5. curb service
  6. hot seat
  7. soft touch
  8. uh-oh



Original 11/3/2019 post, "Meet the GOP lemmings of Congress", starts here.



One of McCaul's greatest hits:  "One Man, One Woman".


Other Michael McCaul posts:
Meet the members of the Republican Study Committee.  (8/7/2015)
.
Other GOP boys' club lemmings posts:
Bradley Byrne, Alabama.  (10/10/2019)
Martha Roby, Alabama.  (10/10/2019)
Mike Rogers, Alabama.  (10/10/2019)
Robert Aderholt, Alabama.  (10/10/2019)
Mo Brooks, Alabama.  (10/10/2019)
Gary Palmer, Alabama.  (10/10/2019)

Don Young, Alaska.  (10/10/2019)

Paul Gosar, Arizona.  (10/10/2019)
Andy Biggs, Arizona.  (10/10/2019)
Debbie Lesko, Arizona.  (10/10/2019)

Rick Crawford, Arkansas.  (10/10/2019)
French Hill, Arkansas.  (10/10/2019)
Steve Womack, Arkansas.  (10/11/2019)
Bruce Westerman, Arkansas.  (10/11/2019)
Tom Cotton, Arkansas.  (10/16/2019)

Doug LaMalfa, California.  (10/11/2019)
Tom McClintock, California.  (10/11/2019)
Paul Cook, California.  (10/11/2019)
Devin Nunes, California.  (10/11/2019)
Kevin McCarthy, California.  (10/12/2019)
Ken Calvert, California.  (10/12/2019)
Duncan Hunter, California.  (10/12/2019)

Ken Buck, Colorado.  (10/13/2019)
Doug Lamborn, Colorado.  (10/13/2019)

Matt Gaetz, Florida.  (10/13/2019)
Ted Yoho, Florida.  (10/14/2019)
Daniel Webster, Florida.  (10/14/2019)
Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida.  (10/14/2019)

Buddy Carter, Georgia.  (10/15/2019)
Rob Woodall, Georgia.  (10/15/2019)
Doug Collins, Georgia.  (10/15/2019)
Jody Hice, Georgia.  (10/16/2019)
Barry Loudermilk, Georgia.  (10/17/2019)
Rick Allen, Georgia.  (10/17/2019)
Tom Graves, Georgia.  (10/17/2019)

Mike Bost, Illinois.  (10/18/2019)
Rodney Davis, Illinois.  (10/18/2019)
John Shimkus, Illinois.  (10/18/2019)
Darin LaHood, Illinois.  (10/19/2019)

Jackie Walorski, Indiana.  (10/19/2019)
Jim Banks, Indiana.  (10/19/2019)
Larry Bucshon, Indiana.  (10/20/2019)

Steve King, Iowa.  (10/20/2019)

James Comer, Kentucky.  (10/20/2019)
Brett Guthrie, Kentucky. (10/21/2019)
Thomas Massie, Kentucky.  (10/21/2019)
Hal Rogers, Kentucky.  (10/21/2019)
Andy Barr, Kentucky.  (10/22/2019)

Steve Scalise, Louisiana.  (10/22/2019)
Mike Johnson, Louisiana.  (10/22/2019)

Andy Harris, Maryland.  (10/22/2019)

Jack Bergman, Michigan.  (10/22/2019)
Tim Walberg, Michigan.  (10/22/2019)

Tom Emmer, Minnesota.  (10/22/2019)

Steve Palazzo, Mississippi.  (10/23/2019)

Ann Wagner, Missouri.  (10/23/2019)
Blaine Luetkemeyer, Missouri.  (10/23/2019)
Vicky Hartzler, Missouri.  (10/23/2019)
Sam Graves, Missouri.  (10/24/2019)
Billy Long, Missouri.  (10/24/2019)
Jason Smith, Missouri.  (10/25/2019)

Greg Gianforte, Montana.  (10/24/2019)

Jeff Fortenberry, Nebraska.  (10/24/2019)
Don Bacon, Nebraska.  (10/25/2019)
Adrian Smith, Nebraska.  (10/25/2019)

Lee Zeldin, New York.  (10/25/2019)
Peter King, New York.  (10/25/2019)
Tom Reed, New York.  (10/25/2019)
John Katko, New York.  (10/25/2019)

George Holding, North Carolina.  (10/27/2019)
Virginia Foxx, North Carolina.  (10/27/2019)
Mark Walker, North Carolina.  (10/27/2019)
Richard Hudson, North Carolina.  (10/27/2019)
Mark Meadows, North Carolina.  (10/27/2019)
Ted Budd, North Carolina.  (10/28/2019)

Steve Chabot, Ohio.  (10/28/2019)
Brad Wenstrup, Ohio.  (10/28/2019)
Jim Jordan, Ohio.  10/29/2019)
Bob Latta, Ohio.  (10/29/2019)
Bill Johnson, Ohio.  (10/30/2019)
Bob Gibbs, Ohio.  (10/30/2019)
Warren Davidson, Ohio.  (10/30/2019)
Michael Turner, Ohio.  (10/31/2019)
Steve Stivers, Ohio.  (10/31/2019)

Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma.  (11/1/2019)
Frank Lucas, Oklahoma.  (11/1/2019)
Tom Cole, Oklahoma.  (11/1/2019)

Scott Perry, Pennsylvania.  (11/1/2019)
Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania.  (11/1/2019)
Mike Kelly, Pennsylvania.  (11/1/2019)

Joe Wilson, South Carolina.  (11/2/2019)
Jeff Duncan, South Carolina.  (11/2/2019)
Ralph Norman, South Carolina.  (11/2/2019)
Tom Rice, South Carolina.  (11/2/2019)

Phil Roe, Tennessee.  (11/2/2019)
Chuck Fleischmann, Tennessee.  (11/2/2019)
Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee.  (11/2/2019)
Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee.  (10/16/2019)

Louie Gohmert, Texas.  (11/2/2019)
John Ratcliffe, Texas.  (11/2/2019)
Kevin Brady, Texas.  (11/2/2019)

The invisible hand of the marketplace strikes a match, lights up nighttime sky in Port Neches, Texas



Reported in Port Neches plant fined $275K for ‘preventable’ violations over past 10 years.  (KHOU, 11/27/2019)



Climate change as a matter of fact: Rising sea levels in the Florida Keys


Photo credit:  ResearchGate

Reported in This Florida Keys Neighborhood Has Been Flooded For Nearly 3 Months.  (NPR, 11/28/2019)

Related reading:
The $27 Billion QuestionCan the Florida Keys adapt to sea level rise?  (The Nature Conservancy, 11/19/2019)
The Great Chinese Climate Hoax Is Recreating Venice in the Florida Keys.  (Esquire,  11/25/2019)

Previous climate change as a matter of fact posts:
Africa
Cape Town, South Africa.  (1/31/2018)
Kenya.  (7/23/2017)

Asia
Sea of Okhotsk.  (11/13/2019)
2022 World Cup games in Qatar moved from July to November.  (10/18/2019)
The thawing of Siberia's permafrost.  (10/5/2019)
Disappearing glaciers of the Himalayas.  (6/21/2019)
No groundwater for 100,000,000 people in India? That sounds like 'unlivable' to me. (6/21/2019)
Kazakhstan: The melting of Tuyuksu glacier.  (1/21/2019)
Record heat in Japan raises concerns over 2020 Olympics.  (7/23/2018)
Lebanon's cedar trees.  (7/19/2018)
Rising seas + draining underground aquifers = Jakarta disaster.  (12/22/2017)

Australia and the Pacific
Dying coral of the Great Barrier Reef.  (4/22/2018)
Easter Island.  (3/18/2018)
Green sea turtles of the Great Barrier Reef.  (1/11/2018)
Kiribati.  (7/6/2016)

Business and industry
It's the business of a ratings agency.  (7/28/2019)

Europe
White truffles production in Italy.  (11/17/2019)
Italy's olive groves.  (3/11/2019)
Rising seas threaten Scottish heritage.  (9/29/2018)
Norway, Finland, and Sweden.  (7/19/2018)
Portugal.  (6/19/2017)
The Netherlands.  (6/19/2017)

North America
Some parcels are off-limits to development in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  (11/23/2019)
Pecan orchards of New Mexico.  (9/29/2019)
Green Bay, Wisconsin.  (Green infrastructure).  (9/17/2019)
Coming alive in the nighttime in Phoenix.  (8/21/2019)
It's an election issue for young Republicans. (8/21/2019)
2°C beyond the limit in New Jersey.  (8/14/2019)
In the newsrooms of Florida newspapers.  (7/10;2/019)
The Point in Newport, Rhode Island.  (7/10/2019)
Expect more fish die-offs in Wisconsin lakes. (7/9/2019)
Still on the front lines in Miami.  (6/26/2019)
Great Marsh, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  (6/4/2019)
Alaska:  Iditarod sled dog race.  (3/3/2019)
Greenland's rapidly melting ice.  (1/22/2019)
Insect apocalypse:  Monarch butterfly.  (12/10/2018)
Hot nights in the U.S.  (9/6/2018)
Hampton Roads, Virginia.  (8/19/2018)
Front-page news at Des Moines Register.  (8/12/2018)
Miami, again.  (6/14/2018)
May 2018 record heat in U.S. (6/9/2018)
Melting outdoor ice rinks in Canada.  (3/21/2018)
Gulf of Maine.  (3/8/2018)
Jean Lafitte, Louisiana.  (2/26/2018)
Lodi, Wisconsin.  (2/3/2018)
Maine shrimp season.  (12/27/2017)
California fires.  (12/8/2017)
Wisconsin.  (11/16/2017)
Hampton Roads, Virginia.  (11/4/2017)
Georgia peach orchards.  (9/18/2017)
Northeast U.S. pine forests.  (8/29/2017)
Tangier Island, Virginia.  (8/25/2017)
South of the Arctic Circle in Alaska. (8/25/2017)
New Orleans.  (8/12/2017)
Mexico City.  (2/19/2017)
Kansas.  (1/29/2017)
Moose of Maine.  (1/21/2017)
Florida Keys.  (1/14/2017)
California wine country.  (1/11/2017)
Kaktovik, Alaska.  (12/20/2016)
Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park.  (7/7/2016)

Polar regions
Unprecedented ice melt in Greenland and the Arctic so far this June.  (6/15/2019)
Disappearing old ice in Arctic.  (6/4/2018)
North Pole.  (2/28/2018)
Beavers migrate to Arctic.  (12/24 /2017)
Shrinking sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.  (12/14/2017)
Emaciated polar bear.  (12/9/2017)

South America
Galapagos Islands.  (12/19/2018)
Peru.  (11/26/2017)
Brazil.  (6/8/2017)
Bolivia.  (7/11/2016)
Peru,  (5/21/2016)

U.S. Military
Military prepares for reality of climate change, rising seas.  (8/11/2018)
U.S. military bases around the world.  (1/8/2018)
U.S. Department of Defense.  (12/16/2017)
U.S. military bases.  (9/22/2017)

Worldwide
Shareholders demand companies address climate change.  (10/16/2019)
Business leaders acknowledge bottom line risks and costs of climate change.  (6/5/2019)
Ocean heat hits record high.  (3/30/2019)
Not just a wake-up call anymore.  (8/10/2018)

GET ME REWRITE: Trump impeachment drive has parallels to Scott Walker recall effort, sez Scott Walker


Scott Walker is the first person quoted in this dubious piece by AP reporter Scott Bauer.


Reported in Trump impeachment drive has parallels to Scott Walker recall effort. (Wisconsin State Journal, 11/28/2019)

You must remember this.



Other impeachment posts:
GET ME REWRITE: Rep Ann Wagner (R-Missouri) gets buttered up by Donald Trump. And she's lovin' it!  (11/24/2019)
Meet the lieutenants of Vladimir Putin.  (11/22/2019)
"New GOP star" Elise Stefanik is likely to have a re-election battle on her hands next year.  (11/21/2019)
October and November Marquette polls highlight respondents' disconnect between 'the President' and 'Trump'.  (11/20/2019)
Comparing the October and November Marquette polls: There's definitely something screwy going on.  (11/20/2019)
In Wisconsin, it appears that Gen X is leading the parade to keep Trump afloat.  (11/20/2019)
GET ME REWRITE: Ron Johnson consults with Lafayette county board chair before appearance on 'Meet the Press'.  (11/18/2019)
Both sides now: When evenhandedness is simply bad journalism (Christian Science Monitor edition).  (11/16/2019)

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Carol Barrett Boltz (1934-2019) Warren High School class of 1934



1952 Dragon yearbook

1967 Warren City Directory
  • Barrett James R (Romayne L) Vice President New Process h7 Park Street North Warren

1983 Warren City Directory
  • Barrett James R & Romayne L; retired h7 Park Street North Warren

The popularity of Carol by name is graphed here.  Let's take a look at Emily.

 Source:  Social Security Administration

A consistently popular name during the 20th century, her low point being #273 in 1962, Emily has been wildly popular since the 1990s, spending 12 years (1996-2007) at #1.

Other class of '52 grads:
2019
Marilyn Smith Miller.  (8/2/2019)
Ralph Wade.  (7/8/2019)
Dudley Donaldson.  (2/8/2019)
June Odmark Wiggins.  (1/5/2019)

2018
Richard Hansen.  (1/2/2018)

2017
Donald "Dean" Webster.  (8/2/2017)
Earl Henry Campbell.  (7/17/2017)
Theodore Shaw.  (6/7/2017)
Richard Suppa.  (5/27/2017)
Neil Siefert.  (4/18/2017)
Mary Anne Handest McHenry.  (3/23/2017)
Reynold Flatt.  (2/27/2017)

2016
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)

2015
Glenn Culbertson.  (10/23/2015)

2014
Elizabeth Eggleston Hoffman.  (10/17/2014)

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Monona, Wisconsin: Where the sidewalk discussion ends.


Start your count of the miles of sidewalk here.



Improvements for bicyclists and walkers spark controversy in sidewalk-averse Monona.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 8/12/2019)
Still, some of the plan’s projects, if ultimately approved, would represent a significant change in a community in which sidewalks only exist on one or both sides of 13.3 out of 44.3 miles of street — not including the Beltline, which is not open to pedestrians anyway. 
“It’s a huge deal and there’s arguments going both ways,” said PJ DeCamp, who moved to Monona about a year ago from Chicago and has been watching the debate play out among residents in an online forum. 
“By no means are we putting sidewalks in all over Monona,” O’Connor said, and the proposed plan is “not a mandate for anything.”

GET ME REWRITE: One-third of this subset of Trump voters might be just enough to doom his re-election



They Voted Democratic. Now They Support Trump.  (The New York Times, 11/26/2019)
And likely rural and older than the average voter.  OK, Boomer!  This group is only a sliver of the electorate — 2 percent of registered voters — and is not representative of all voters. They are overwhelmingly white, 60 percent are male, and two-thirds have no college degree. But the president’s strength among them helps explain why he is highly competitive in states that Democrats carried just one year ago.

Trump won Michigan by a margin of 10,714 votes, or 0.22% of the total number cast.

Trump won Pennsylvania by a margin of 44,282 votes, or 0.72% of the total number cast.

Trump won Wisconsin by a margin of 22,748 votes, or 0.76% of the total number cast.

All of them razor-thin margins.

As the NYT article notes...
Two-thirds of battleground state voters who chose Trump in 2016 but selected Democrats in the midterms say they will return to the president next year.

That might not be enough.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

GET ME REWRITE: Why is this still a thing in the age of Trump?



As for that really likable guy, George W. Bush is 12th worst president ever according to a CBS ranking.  Elected president thanks to name recognition.  (Poor Jeb.  "Why couldn't I have been named George?")


We are indeed boogying our way doomsday.




Original 11/10/2019 post, "Sexism on parade: With Trump as president, pollsters and mainstream media keep yammering away on likability of women candidates", starts here.



Nonvoters Are a Source of Hope for Democrats. But Maybe a False Hope.  (The New York Times, 11/7/2019)

Related reading:
Men Invented ‘Likability.’ Guess Who Benefits.   (The New York Times, 5/4/2019)

But no female candidate has yet led the polls. The men keep joining — Michael Bennet this week, Joe Biden the last — and keep garnering glowing press coverage. Although Mr. Biden fumbled two previous presidential bids, we are told he has “crossover appeal”; Bernie Sanders has been admired by this newspaper as “immune to intimidation”; and Pete Buttigieg, who would be the first openly gay man nominated for president, is “very authentic.” By contrast Ms. Harris is “hard to define”; Ms. Klobuchar is “mean”; and Ms. Warren is a “wonky professor” who — you guessed it — is “not likable enough.” Seeing comments like this, Mrs. Clinton said wryly in January, “really takes me back.”
The Sexism of 'Likeability".  (Ms., 7/31/2019)
Are women “likable?” According to the polls, voters don’t think so, even though former advisors to Elizabeth Warren are doing their best convince us that she is “warm and affectionate.” But the real question is why “grabbing a beer” with a candidate is still the yardstick used to measure their potential—and why female candidates are (still) unfairly suffering from it.
Why women 2020 candidates face 'likability' question even as they make history.  (The Guardian, 2/4/2019)
As a record number of Democratic women seek America’s highest office – and look to limit Donald Trump’s presidency to a single term – familiar patterns have emerged in the narratives that surround them. But so, too, has a backlash to the old tropes, bolstered by the election of a record number of women in the 2018 midterm elections. 
“I think in 2016, the idea that ‘likable’ was gendered wouldn’t have even come up. In 2019, people clearly recognized it and called it out,” said Jess McIntosh, who served as a communications aide to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in the last election cycle.

America's first enclosed shopping mall: Southdale in Edina




Abandoned malls are sputtering back to life with megachurches, rooftop pools and homeless shelters.  (Washington Post, 11/22/2019)
After losing three of its four anchor department stores, the country’s oldest shopping mall was in need of new life. 
Southdale Center in Edina, Minn., [no longer called a mall] is getting it this month in the form of a Life Time “resort,” complete with a rooftop pool and beach club. 
The new gym — which also has a full-service spa, cafe and co-working space — will take the place of a former J.C. Penney store. Life Time is spending $43 million building the three-story facility. 
“Malls have become a phenomenal opportunity for growth,” said Parham Javaheri, executive vice president of real estate and development at Life Time. “They have great visibility, great access and many of them have been around for a long time, so they’re located at the center of offices and residences.”

Current zoom-in, zoom-out map of Southdale

And then there's this history, which does not include a visit to Southdale.


The apartment's location (orange arrow) is 3024 West Lake Street.  And the apartment tower to the right was not even on the drawing board in 1970.

Winter Public Library: 2009-2018 annual circulation and program attendance





Sorted by percentage change in annual program attendance 2009-2018, high to low 


Library hours of operation:



47 hours per week in winter.  (Compared to 43 hours in 2009 and 42 hours in 2014.)

Other posts in the series:
Argyle Public Library.  (10/7/2019)
Arpin.  Lester Public Library.  (10/2/2019)
Belmont.  John Turgeson Public Library.  (10/6/2019)
Benton Public Library.  (10/24/2019)
Bruce Area Public Library.  (11/2/2019)
Cassville.  Eckstein Memorial Library.  (11/16/2019)
Centuria Public Library.  (10/19/2019)
De Soto Public Library.  (10/20/2019)
Drummond Public Library.  (10/15/2019)
Endeavor Public Library.  (10/17/2019)
Fairchild Public Library.  (10/9/2019)
Granton Community Library.  (11/15/2109)
Hawkins Area Library.  (10/6/2019)
Hazel Green Public Library.  (11/25/2019)
Hurley Public Library.  (11/22/2019)
Kendall Public Library.  (10/31/2019)
La Pointe.  Madeline Island Public Library.  (10/26/2019)
Laona.  Edith Evans Community Library.  (11/4/2019)
LaValle Public Library.  (11/19/2019)
Livingston.  Allen Dietzman Public Library.  (10/14/2019)
Lowell Public Library.  (10/10/2019)
Montfort Public Library.  (10/8/2019)
Neshkoro Public Library.  (10/3/2019)
Norwalk Public Library.  (10/16/2019)
Ogema Public Library.  (10/23/2019)
Packwaukee Public Library.  (10/28/2019)
Poy Sippi Public Library.  (11/14/2019)
Readstown Public Library.  (10/25/2019)
Sand Creek.  Clarella Hackett Johnson Public Library.  (10/1/2019)
Shiocton Public Library.  (11/8/2019)
Soldiers Grove Public Library.  (11/24/2019)
Strum Public Library,  (11/172019)
Taylor Memorial Library.  (10/3/2019)
Vesper.  Lester Public Library.  (10/22/2019)
Viola Public Library.  (11/6/2019)
Wabeno Public Library.  (10/4/2019)
Withee Public Library.  (11/18/2019)
Wyocena Public Library.  (10/29/2019)


Karen Arlene Nielsen Swart (1936-2019) Warren High School class of 1953



1953 Dragon yearbook

1967 Warren City Directory
1983 Warren City Directory

The popularity of Karen as a baby name is graphed here.  Let's take a look at Ashley.

Source:  Social Security Administration

Ashley debuted in 1964 and rocketed her way into the top 10, where she spent 23 years (1983-2005), two of them at number one (1991-92).  Currently, she's not the star she used to be.

Other members of the class of 1953:
2019
Rodney Morley.  (11/13/2019)
Kay Steele Wilson.  (4/17/2019)

2018
Marilyn Petersen Mimm Pollino.  (12/28/2018)
Rose Raffaele Scala.  (10/23/2018)
Marilyn John Smith.  (4/30/2018)
Elizabeth Simko.  (3/3/2018)

2017
Hazel Kell Martin.  (9/22/2017
Carole Moore Zimmerman.  (9/11/2017)
Carolyn Webster Coates.  (7/7/2017)
Leroy Sorenson.  (5/25/2017)
Carole Weigel Wunner.  (5/10/2017)
Arthur Wagner.  (1/5/2017)

2016
Robert Harrington.  (12/6/2016)
Beverly Taft Littlefield.  (11/26/2016)
Karolyn Lane Stone.  (11/24/2016)
Roberta Leave Troutman.  (6/8/2016)
Grace Tigani.  (5/20/2016)

2015
Nan Perry Fischer.  (6/18/2015)

GET ME REWRITE: In an unprecedented move, Donald Trump boosts troop morale by pardoning 3 members of armed forces who committed violent crimes


Photo credit:  UC-Davis School of Law

Trump Clears Three Service Members in War Crimes Cases.  (The New York Times, 11/15/2019)

Safety last in Cudahy, Wisconsin



Reported in Milwaukee, other cities are reducing car lanes to make more room for bikes. Cudahy just rejected that idea.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/22/2019)

Google Maps (highlight added)