Manly Hollywood

The Brutal Math of Gender Inequality in Hollywood.  (The Atlantic, 1/11/2018)

Lady Bird won the award for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but its writer and director Greta Gerwig was curiously not nominated for Best Director. That category’s five nominees were all male. In fact, only one woman has ever won a Golden Globe for directing: Barbra Streisand, in 1984, for Yentl. At the time, Gerwig was six months old, and her film’s lead actress had not yet been born. Hollywood remains an industry where women are more likely to be celebrated for speaking out in front of a camera than for holding one.

Related reading:
Purge of Kevin Spacey Gives ‘All the Money in the World’ a Pay Problem.  (The New York Times, 1/10/2018)

The film’s female star, Michelle Williams, was paid a per diem of $80, a bit above the union minimum, for 10 days of added work. Her male counterpart, Mark Wahlberg, received the same per diem — plus $1.5 million.

This just in.
Mark Wahlberg and Agency Will Donate $2 Million to Time’s Up After Outcry Over Pay.  (The New York Times, 1/13/2018)

Holiday gifts bought but not paid for

Reported in Holiday Retail Sales Soared, With Biggest Increase Since Recession.  (The New York Times, 1/12/2018)

Reported in How do you pay off all that credit card debt?  (USA Today, 1/13/2018)

As you might expect, Trump likes the orange countries of the world

Map:   A revealing map of the world’s most and least ethnically diverse countries.  (Washington Post, 5/16/2013)

Text:  Trump Alarms Lawmakers With Disparaging Words for Haiti and Africa.  (The New York Times, 1/11/2018)

Related posts:

Donald Trump sycophants and possible meeting crashers issue joint statement.  (1/13/2018)

"You just tell then and they believe you". The shithole edition.  (1/13/2018)

Donald Trump sycophants and possible meeting crashers issue joint statement

Quoted in A Senior Republican Senator Admonishes Trump: ‘America Is an Idea, Not a Race’.  (The New York Times, 1/12/2018)

Mr. Trump had responded approvingly to the proposal after hearing Mr. Graham and Mr. Durbin describe it over the phone on Thursday morning, according to people familiar with the conversations, but the pair arrived at the White House to brief the president about it not long after to find several Republicans they were not expecting sitting in on the session.

Cotton and Perdue??

Related post:
"You just tell then and they believe you". The shithole edition.  (1/13/2018)

Wisconsin GOP continues to tarnish its #1, most cherished governing principle

This will certainly impress Chicagoland millenials!

Wisconsin mulls limiting pro-worker local ordinances. (Chicago Tribune, 11/10/2018)

Business and labor clashed Wednesday over a Republican bill that would prevent local governments in Wisconsin from enacting a variety of ordinances pertaining to employment matters, including limits on working hours, overtime, benefits, and discrimination and wage claims.

Yet another clusterfuck

2017 Assembly Bill 748

Other Clusterfuck Caucus posts:
Cartoon conservative principles: Another clusterfuck of Wisconsin GOP hypocrisy.  (12/1/2017)
UPDATE. Vote to changes the rules on recounts creates the usual collar counties clusterfuck, plus Fox Valley loop and a spritz.  (12/1/2017)
That gasket-blowin' Clusterfuck Caucus member Bob Gannon flips off Wisconsin's dairy farmers.  (8/10/2017)
Wisconsin Clusterfuck Caucus puts immigration and sanctuary cities in their sights (part 2).  (8/8/2017)
Wisconsin Clusterfuck Caucus puts immigration and sanctuary cities in their sights (part 1).  (8/8/2017

Around Town: This 1955, 1296-square-foot ranch on Cooper Avenue was listed at $219,500

Photo by Retiring Guy

According to Trulia:

Charming and efficient ranch in mint condition is ready for your immediate occupancy! With 3 bedrooms on the main floor, 3-season porch & fabulous natural lighting, you'll love the just-installed new carpeting & many updates throughout! Cozy lower level family room has knotty pine paneling, ½ bath and stone fireplace heated with electric logs, as well as workshop and storage areas. With an attached deep 1-car garage, there is also a detached 1+ garage/workshop in the spacious backyard. Ideal location within walking distance to downtown Middleton and all schools!

It last sold for $170,000 in 2013. 

Realtor.com lists the current value at $235,000.  (Note the screaming roller-coaster ride in 2013-2014.)

1 of 15 seats contested on the Sawyer County Board of Supervisors

Source:  Sawyer County Board of Supersivors

Ballots set for spring election.  (Sawyer County Record, 1/11/2018)

All 15 Sawyer County supervisors are up for election this spring. No one is running in District 4, as incumbent Iras Humphreys filed a notice that she is not a candidate. 

The district consists of Wards 3 and 4 in the Town of Hayward. 

Individuals who wish to run as a write-in candidate for District 4 must register with the county clerk by noon Friday, March 30. If the office is closed that day, there will be a notice on the door about how to contact Clerk Carol Williamson.

Related board of supervisors posts:
Douglas County:  2 of 21 seats contested.  (1/7/2018)
Kenosha County:  8 of 23 seats contested.  (1/11/2018)
Oneida County:  5 of 21.  (1/12/2018)
Wood County:  8 of 19 seats contested.  (1/12/2018

Well, how about that?! We have yet another Scott Walker-Donald Trump connection

Meanwhile, someone should get a message to the Trumpster that Melania really, really, really, doesn't want this First Lady gig.

Source:  Red Alert Politics (highlights, arrows added)

Melania Trump Hires Policy Director Amid Scrutiny From New Book.  (The New York Times, 1/11/2018)

Funny they don't mention Scott Walker.  For months, Mrs. Trump’s East Wing had searched for a policy director who could further an agenda that has been broadly defined as helping children. On Thursday, the White House announced the first lady’s choice: Reagan Thompson, 27, who had previously served as an executive assistant on the National Security Council. 

Before working for the N.S.C., Ms. Thompson was a communications and policy adviser for Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, when he was a hard-line Republican congressman.

Regular readers will understand why I'm going in this direction.

Source:  Social Security Administration Popular Baby Names

UPDATE. Brandon Scholz's largest and smallest campaign contributions have gone to Scott Walker

Source:  Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (highlights added)

Photo credit:  LinkedIn

Quoted in Walker, state jobs agency paint contradictory pictures of Madison.  (Madison.com, 1/12/2018)

What can we say?  How about 'opportunist', 'machinator', 'self-seeker', 'conniver'.  As part of an effort to draw more people to a state that faces a looming workforce shortage, Republican Gov. Scott Walker's job-creation agency has commissioned a marketing campaign with promotional videos that are much kinder to Madison than longstanding Republican portrayals of the city as an ultra-liberal, out-of-touch "77 square miles surrounded by reality."

 

1/10/2018 update, "Just a coincidence or is the Governor's staff reading Retiring Guy's Digest?", starts here.

Making those 2010 vs. 2017 comparisons.

This is obviously a Trump thing:  the WI drop at 4.9 (percentage points) is bigger than the Madison drop at 3.5 (percentage points).

But let's take a look at the actual percentages:

But here's the most disturbing thing.  Scott Walker thinks Wisconsin doesn't need an extremely healthy drop in the unemployment rate.

Scott Walker doesn't think Wisconsin needs a healthy growth in population.

Not to mention job growth.  (See Powerpoint slide below.)

Scott Walker seems to want to kill the golden goose, if for no other reason than spite.

Do you really want to see this guy serve a third term as Governor?


1/10/2018 update, "Madison and Dane County continue to give Scott Walker the willies", starts here.

Ten months before the gubernatorial election, Scott Walker is playing the boogity-boogity-boogity Madison card.  He increasingly sounds like Donald Trump when he tweets.

Sources

• Population
• Unemployment
• Job growth

Original 8/2/2017 post, "Here's some news that pains Scott Walker to his core:  Foxconn considering Dane County site", starts here.

Italics quoted in Foxconn eyeing secondary site in Dane County.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 8/2/2017)

Other Foxconn posts:
Fast Company: Scott Walker deal a transfer of wealth from Wisconsin taxpayers to Foxconn shareholders. (8/2/2017)
Donald Trump pinches off another loaf.  (8/1/2017)
Scott Walker lets Fiserv piggyback onto Foxconn legislation.  (8/1/2017)
Calendar UPDATE. In the case of the committee hearing, 1 day is sufficient time to prepare, sez Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.  (8/1/2017) 
Rep. Bob Kulp sprinkles Foxconn fairy dust all over the Badger State.  (8/1/2017)
Of which just 3,000 of these 'new' jobs are permanent.  (7/31/2017)
UPDATE. State Sen. Van Wanggaard on board with Wisconsin's Foxconn deep-pockets strategy.  (7/30/2017)
A Ring of Familiarity. Once upon a time in Pennsylvania.....  (7/29/2017)
Matt, it doesn't appear that 'rigorous' and 'review' are in Scott Walker's and Foxconn's vocabulary.  (7/29/2017)
Scott Walker and Foxconn steamroll environmental regulation going forward.  (7/29/2017)
UPDATE.  The luring of Foxconn intensifies in Wisconsin.   (7/20/2017)
While Wisconsin and Michigan duke it out for low-paying jobs, Foxconn announces $5 billion investment in India.  (7/8/2017)
UPDATE. Foxconn becomes pawn in Wisconsin transportation funding tussle.  (7/6/2017)
Foxconn officials eyeing sites in Michigan.  (7/6/2017)
UPDATE. Foxconn becomes pawn in Wisconsin transportation funding tussle.  (7/6/2017)

Boys' club: 5 of 21 seats contested on the Oneida County Board of Supervisors

Source:  Oneida County Board of Supersivors

Rhinelander mayoral field.  (Rhinelander Daily News, 1/4/2018)

There will be five contested races for the Oneida County Board of Supervisors this spring. 

In District 19, which consists of Wards 5 and 6 in the town of Minocqua and Ward 1 in the town of Lynne, incumbent Lisa Zunker has filed a notice of non-candidacy. 

Jeff Vollmer of Minocqua, who ran against Zunker in 2016, has filed again. His opponent will be Robert Almekinder, also of Minocqua. 

District 5, which incliudes Wards 9, 12 and 14 in the city of Rhinelander and Ward 2 in the town of Pelican, will also have a new supervisor as incumbent Carol Pederson has decided not to run for re-election. 

Russ Fisher of the town of Pelican and Rhinelander's Gerald Anderson, who was defeated by Pederson in 2016, will square off in April. 

In District 7, incumbent Bob Mott, who represents the towns of Enterprise, Schoepke, Monico, Piehl, part of Three Lakes and part of Stella, will be opposed by Dennis Schoeneck of the town of Enterprise. 

In District 3, which includes Wards 5 and 10 in the city of Rhinelander, incumbent Alex Young, who is also running for mayor of Rhinelander, is opposed by William Liebert. 

The final incumbent facing opposition in his bid for re-election is District 4 representative, Bill Freudenberg. District four consists of Rhinelander Wards 4, 7,11. 

Freudenberg's opponent is Steve Schreier of Rhinelander.

Related board of supervisors posts:
Douglas County:  2 of 21 seats contested.  (1/7/2018)
Kenosha County:  8 of 23 seats contested.  (1/11/2018)
Wood County:  8 of 19 seats contested.  (1/12/2018

CES 2018. Meet AvatarMind's iPal

CES 2018: What the Gadget Fest Looks Like in ‘the Year of A.I.’.  (The New York Times, 1/11/2018)

Now available in a kindergarten teacher model!  Zipping along the convention floor were robots yielding a host of skills. One robot, Loomo, doubles as a hoverboard and a companion that can take photos. Another robot, iPal, above, serves as companion to older and younger users. Designed by AvatarMind, the $1,500 humanoid robot can remind elders to take medicine or greet children at the door.

Other CES 2018 posts:
Security robot Nimbo scares away the bad guys.  (1/12/2018)
Concept robots designed to eliminate service sector jobs.  (1/5/2018)
Travelmate Robotics suitcase.  (1/5/2018)
Samsung's GoBreath.  (1/3/2018)
A robot that plays Scrabble without making a mess.  (1/1/2018)
Keratase hair coach.  (12/23/2017)
Travis the Translator.  (12/20/2017)
Pro-Protection toothbrush holder.  (12/19/2017)
PetMio smart technology.  (12/18/2017)
Rinspeed Snap concept vehicle.  (12/17/2017)
SignAll, an automated sign language translator.  (12/13/2017) 
Homni sleep solution.  (12/11/2017)
Guz 2 electronic dartboard connects you to the world.  (11/22/2017)
I assume the SureFly will also be able to carry women.  (11/21/2017)
Now you can party every day and rock all night at any age.  (11/17/2017)
Pointivo.  (11/17/2017)
Jibo, the social robot, makes the cover of TIME.  (11/17/2017)

CES 2018. Security robot Nimbo scares away the bad guys

CES 2018: Turing Video and Segway Robotics Introduce Intelligent, Affordable Security Robot NIMBO.  (Cision PR Newswire, 1/9/2018)

As its name would suggest, the robot is nimble - quick and agile, both physically and mentally. Nimbo can be pre-programmed to patrol specific routes or self-optimized routes while analyzing human activities and surrounding environments in real time. It is designed to detect security violations or anomalies and approach the area with light/audio/video warnings that correspond to the situation. It collects HD video evidence and pushes notifications to security personnel including live video streaming to mobile devices. It also supports two-way audio, 24/7 continuous video history and auto charging stations.

No cost information yet.

Other CES 2018 posts:
Concept robots designed to eliminate service sector jobs.  (1/5/2018)
Travelmate Robotics suitcase.  (1/5/2018)
Samsung's GoBreath.  (1/3/2018)
A robot that plays Scrabble without making a mess.  (1/1/2018)
Keratase hair coach.  (12/23/2017)
Travis the Translator.  (12/20/2017)
Pro-Protection toothbrush holder.  (12/19/2017)
PetMio smart technology.  (12/18/2017)
Rinspeed Snap concept vehicle.  (12/17/2017)
SignAll, an automated sign language translator.  (12/13/2017) 
Homni sleep solution.  (12/11/2017)
Guz 2 electronic dartboard connects you to the world.  (11/22/2017)
I assume the SureFly will also be able to carry women.  (11/21/2017)
Now you can party every day and rock all night at any age.  (11/17/2017)
Pointivo.  (11/17/2017)
Jibo, the social robot, makes the cover of TIME.  (11/17/2017)

8 of 19 seats contested on the Wood County Board of Supervisors

Wood County Board of Supervisors

Wisconsin Rapids candidates to vie for city, county seats.  (Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, 1/4/2018)

Related posts:
UPDATE: Pending any appeals, it looks like we're down to 8 contested county board races in Kenosha County. (1/11/2018) 

Meet the only member of the Douglas County Board of Supervisor facing a challenger in the April election.  (1/7/2018)

Working-class hero prices available for Springsteen tickets at Walter Kerr Theater

26 tickets = 2.6% of the capacity of the Walker Kerr Theater (939 seats)

(highlight of 26 little purple squares added)

Reported in The Year of Living Angrily (Print headline:  "2017 Was Worse Than You Think") by Ginia Bellafante.  (The New York Times, 12/28/2017)

$8,000 is definitely the exception, not the rule.

Dennis Brown (1949-2017) Warren Area High School class of 1968

Source:  Warren Times Observer

1968 Dragon yearbook

1967 Warren City Directory

• [county section] Brown Gloria 30 Weiler Road (Starbrick)
• [county section] Brown Howard 30 Weiler Road

1983 Warren City Directory  

• Brown Dennis J & Judy A; safety supvr Crossett Inc h86 Kamp St
• [county section] Brown Gloria 30 Weiler Road 
• [county section] Brown Howard 30 Weiler Road

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

Source:  Social Security Administration

Justin compiled a bouncy and unimpressive track record during the 1st half of the 20th century but came into his own during the second half, peaking at #7 in 1988, one of 4 years in the top 10.   No longer a star performer of late.

Other class of '68 members:

2017
Judy Berdine.  (12/4/2017)
Rose Armogast Filiatrault.  (11/2/2017)
Cathryne Stewart Solock.  (5/11/2017)
Douglas Peterson.  (3/7/2017)
2015
Mary Lou Slack Schumann Hotaling.  (9/17/2015)
William Leonard.  (2/7/2015)
2014
Douglas Coates.  (12/29/2014)
Jennifer Robinault Morell.  (9/6/2014)
Jacquelyn Johnston Malone.  (7/31/2014)
Janet Vavala Smith.  (3/25/2014)

Knoxville News Sentinel columnist Greg Johnson alliteratively sums up Trump's recent visit to Tennessee

Trump overshadows good ideas on rural rot.  (Knoxville News Sentinel, 1/11/2018)

Official press agency of People's Republic of China: 'Villagers' in Racine County rebel against Foxconn land grab

Reported in Controversial land acquisition hinders Foxconn project in U.S. Wisconsin.  (Xinhua.net, 1/12/2018)

Following the controversy over parts of the land being forcibly taken from their owners, Foxconn has agreed to give more time to solve the issue, the Milwaukee newspaper reported.

Other Foxconn posts:
January 2018
Owner of company that wins Foxconn road construction contract serves up heaping helping of hyperbole, as well campaign contributions to GOP incumbents.  (1/5/2018)

December 2017
Historic giveaways: Most expensive taxpayer-funded jobs in history is Scott Walker's top accomplishment in 2017.  (12/26/2017)
Gateway Technical College cutting-edge Foxconn curriculum does not include workforce development, employee relations, and management concepts.  (12/25/2017)
Let's put this Foxconn deposit in perspective.  (12/23/2017)
UPDATE. Scott Walker Monday tweet storm attempts to distract us from his highway funding mess.  (12/19/2017) 
GOP legislative aide and letter writer Keith Best needs to brush up on his Foxconn analogies.  (12/16/2017)
UPDATE: The Wisconn Valley Way to Wisconsin's fiscal and moral bankruptcy.  (12/15/2017)
Scott Walker, meet Andrew Ng, who wants to help Foxconn bring intelligence displayed by machines to Racine County.  (12/14/2017)
Billions for Foxconn but a raw deal for Mount Pleasant residents John and Kim Mahoney.  (12/13/2017)
Some residents of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois will help to foot the bill for a $140,000,000 Foxconn campus electrical substation.  (12/12/2017)
A deafening silence: What role will robotics play at Foxconn's Mount Pleasant manufacturing plant?  (12/12/2017)
Inquiring minds want to know why driverless technology wasn't discussed during Foxconn contract negoatiations, Scott Walker.  (12/12/2017)
Donald Trump and Terry Gou: Scott Walker loves these two peas in a pod.  (12/9/2017)

Foxconn moves into Hallmark territory: They like us, they really like us!  (12/3/2017)
 
November 2017
Scott Walker and Terry Gou agree that a projection is not the same as an obligation.  (11/30/2017)
Multinational company earning billions in annual revenue gets loan from Racine County.  (11/26/2017)
Scott Walker:  Dealmaker, optimist.  (11/25/2017)
Foxconn now hiring: Competitive pay and comprehensive benefits.  (11/19/2017)
Hypocrisy alert: The free-market, individual responsiblity, limited government-lovin' MacIver Institute approves Wisconsin's $3 billion Foxconn dole.  (11/14/2017)
Scott Walker views his Foxconn deal through rose-colored glasses.  (11/13/2017) 

October 2017

Survey says (in so many words): "Pshaw" to the hogwash that Foxconn will benefit all of Wisconsin.  (10/27/2017)
UPDATE. Robin Vos doesn't want to count his chickens before they hatch but remains confident it's going to happen.  (10/23/2017)

Big payday for some Racine County farmers, not so much for homeowners.  (10/12/2017)

Racine County, Mount Pleasant, to Foxconn: No need to reach for your wallet.  (10/11/2017)

Incoming Quality Control Specialist at Foxconn requires high school diploma or equivalency.  (10/9/2017)

In the bonus round, Tammy finds herself in a big yellow taxi mood.  (10/9/2017)

Mount Pleasant Village President welcomes average debt of $3,917.55 per person with open arms.  (10/8/2017)

Dear Politifact, Hairsplitting aside, America has a gun violence epidemic.  (10/5/2017)

August 2017

WEDC hasn't done its Foxconn homework yet and GOP committee members are fine with that.  (8/16/2017)

UPDATE. Funny how there's all this talk about Foxconn jobs that pay well below the alleged average salary.  (8/12/2017)

Reggie White:Green Bay Packers:: Foxconn:Wisconsin (Scott Walker analogy reveals his crazed desperation).  (8/10/2017)

Foxconn has been looking to replace workers with robots for at least 2 years. (8/9/2017)

Scott Walker and Terry Gou share a laugh at Wisconsin taxpayers' expense.  (8/8/2017)

Really, Ray, all this and heaven too provided by a factory to assemble display panel screens?  (8/6/2017)

That was then. This is now. The free market/small government Robin Vos.  (8/4/2017)

Bloomberg sees short-term gain, long-term pain for Wisconsin's Foxconn deal.  (8/4/2017)

Sean Duffy gets it wrong.  (8/3/2017)

Scott Walker and Paul Ryan collude on campaign digital ads for Foxconn.  (8/3/2017)

Here's some news that pains Scott Walker to his core: Foxconn considering Dane County site.  (8/2/2017)

Fast Company: Scott Walker deal a transfer of wealth from Wisconsin taxpayers to Foxconn shareholders. (8/2/2017)

Donald Trump pinches off another loaf.  (8/1/2017)

Scott Walker lets Fiserv piggyback onto Foxconn legislation.  (8/1/2017)

Calendar UPDATE. In the case of the committee hearing, 1 day is sufficient time to prepare, sez Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.  (8/1/2017) 

Rep. Bob Kulp sprinkles Foxconn fairy dust all over the Badger State.  (8/1/2017)

July 2017

Of which just 3,000 of these 'new' jobs are permanent.  (7/31/2017)

UPDATE. State Sen. Van Wanggaard on board with Wisconsin's Foxconn deep-pockets strategy.  (7/30/2017)

A Ring of Familiarity. Once upon a time in Pennsylvania.....  (7/29/2017)

Matt, it doesn't appear that 'rigorous' and 'review' are in Scott Walker's and Foxconn's vocabulary.  (7/29/2017)

Scott Walker and Foxconn steamroll environmental regulation going forward.  (7/29/2017)

UPDATE.  The luring of Foxconn intensifies in Wisconsin.   (7/20/2017)

While Wisconsin and Michigan duke it out for low-paying jobs, Foxconn announces $5 billion investment in India.  (7/8/2017)

UPDATE. Foxconn becomes pawn in Wisconsin transportation funding tussle.  (7/6/2017)

Foxconn officials eyeing sites in Michigan.  (7/6/2017)

UPDATE. Foxconn becomes pawn in Wisconsin transportation funding tussle.  (7/6/2017)

Climate change as a matter of fact: Bats brains boil in Australia

Australia's Heat Wave Fries Bats' Brains, Hundreds Found Dead.  (NPR, 1/10/2018)

Hundreds of fur-covered flying fox bats, which lack sufficient canopy cover and shade in Australia's suburbs, died outside Sydney over the weekend as temperatures soared to 117 degrees F, the hottest it's been since 1939.  

[snip]

Flying fox bats help in the regeneration of Australia's forests, pollinating and dispersing the seeds of numerous native plant species.

Related news:
Thousands of bats drop dead from trees in Australia heatwave.  (Stuff, 2/14/2017) 
Heatwave hell as 5000 dead bats drop from trees in Casino, northern NSW.  (Daily Telegraph, 11/24/2014)
Killer climate: tens of thousands of flying foxes dead in a day.  (The Conversation, 2/24/2014)
100,000 bats fall dead from the sky during a heatwave in Australia.  (Telegraph, 1/8/2014)


Previous climate change as a matter of fact posts:
Green sea turtles of the Great Barrier Reef.  (1/11/2018)
U.S. military bases around the world.  (1/8/2018)
Maine shrimp season.  (12/27/2017)
Beavers migrate to Arctic.  (12/24 /2017)
Rising seas + draining underground aquifers = Jakarta disaster.  (12/22/2017)
U.S. Department of Defense.  (12/16/2017)
Shrinking sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.  (12/14/2017)
Emaciated polar bear.  (12/9/2017)
California fires.  (12/8/2017)
Wisconsin.  (11/16/2017)
Hampton Roads, Virginia.  (11/4/2017)
U.S. military bases.  (9/22/2017)
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)
Kenya.  (7/23/2017)
Portugal.  (6/19/2017)
The Netherlands.  (6/19/2017)
Brazil.  (6/8/2017)

Suitable for framing: The art of the North Carolina gerrymanders

Map source:  govtrack

N.C. Dealing With Chaos After Ruling That Districts Are Illegal Partisan Gerrymanders.  (NPR, 1/10/2018)

North Carolina's congressional candidates can officially file to run just one month from now. That date is important if the state is to hold its May 8 primary on schedule. North Carolina's Republican-controlled General Assembly has been given just two weeks to redraw all the state's congressional districts.

Related posts:
AP analysis indicates that redistricting benefits GOP, and here's Exhibit A,  (6/26/2017)

UPDATE. Get me rewrite: It reads much better this way

Heads out.

Wisconsin Public Radio, 1/9/2018)

In his 24th year in the Wisconsin State Senate, career politician Scott Fitzgerald answers to his big donors, not to his constituents.

Source:  Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

12/29/2017 update, " Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald:  Fraidy-cat judge, jury and executioner", starts here.

Reported in Commissioners to Scott Fitzgerald: Give ethics chief a hearing before voting on his fate. (Madison.com, 12/29/2017)


12/16/2017 update, " In Scott Fitzgerald's GOPland, if you don't like the message, you shoot the messengers", starts here.

Reported in Power play: Scott Fitzgerald threatens to force out state elections, ethics chiefs.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 12/16/2017)


Original 12/15/2017 post, "Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders bully oversight commissions", starts here.

Sources:

• Wisconsin Elections Commission
• Wisconsin Ethics Commission

Robin Vos, Scott Fitzgerald to state ethics, elections chiefs: Resign.  (Madison, com, 12/15/2017)

 Ethics commissioners, Republican and Democratic, also have defended Bell from fallout from a report issued last week by Republican state Attorney General Brad Schimel — to which Vos and Fitzgerald referred in their letters.

 Robin and Scottm doing what they do best:  playing politics.

Left behind: Most Midwest small towns and counties have been bleeding population for decades

Boothe: Identity Politics & Trump Resistance Won't Help Dems in the Heartland.  (Fox News Insider, 1/11/2018)

Take Iowa, for example,

Original 2/1/2015 post, "Road Trip to Iowa's 99 Counties", starts here.

Iowa governor says candidates should visit 99 counties.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/24/2015)

GOP presidential candidates should visit all 99 Iowa counties over the next year if they want to clinch their party’s nomination, Iowa Gov. Terry Brandstad said Saturday.

And of those 99 counties, 84 of them are losing population.

• 13 of them more than 50% (purple)
• 11 of them 40-49% (orange)
• 15 of them 30-39% (yellow)

ISU analysis of census data shows that majority of Iowa communities are shrinking.  (Iowa State University, 5/27/2014)

And have been shrinking for quite some time.

Related reading (added to this updated post):
Kansas population continues shift to urban centers, latest census estimates show.  (Lawrence Journal-World, 4/16/2016)

But nearly all of that growth in Kansas can be attributed to just three counties — Johnson, Wyandotte and Douglas — which grew by a combined 4.9 percent. That accounted for 84 percent of all the net growth in the state over the five-year period.

60 Nebraska counties lose population.  (Panhandle Post, 3/14/2013)

The 2012 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show population declines in 60 of Nebraska’s 93 counties. And 42 counties recorded more deaths that births.

Related post:
UPDATE. The myopic, fascistic Lisa Boothe is extremely uncomfortable with the thought of a successful black man.  (9/6/2017)

That was then (neighborhood covenants); this is now (lack of diversity)

Screenshot from Retiring Guy's video

How ‘Not in My Backyard’ Became ‘Not in My Neighborhood’  (The New York Times, 1/3/2018)

The story of how Americans came to peer beyond their own properties is also, inescapably, about race. As urbanization brought blacks and whites closer together, white communities reacted with racially restrictive covenants, aiming to keep blacks and their perceived threat to property values out of white neighborhoods. The Supreme Court ruled such covenants unenforceable in 1948, but they had long-lasting effects on how homeowners looked at the world around them, and the need to control it.

Screenshot by Retiring Guy's video

From the same New York Times article:

“One of them was to make white people think that the value of their homes depended on living in a segregated community,” said Carol Rose, a law professor at Yale. “That outlived racially restrictive covenants.”

Way too much TV, and little of it, no doubt, must-see bingeworthy

487 Original Programs Aired in 2017. Bet You Didn’t Watch Them All.  (The New York Times, 1/10/2018)

The staggering growth largely comes from the seemingly endless budget lines that help produce new shows for streaming services. Netflix, for example, has said it will spend a $8 billion on content this year.

Three of my favorite TV shows of all time debuted in fall of 1955.  You can call me old-fashioned, because indeed I am when it comes to TV.  (I wasn't there at the creation, as we didn't become a TV household until late 1956.)

The Honeymooners

The Phil Silvers Show

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Good riddance to Darrell Issa, richest member of the U.S. House

Another great opportunity for Democrats to pick up a seat.  Issa (net worth:  $303,575,011) won by just 0.6 percentage points in 2016, and Clinton beat Trump in this district 50.7% to 43.2%.  

Source:  Ballotpedia

Darrell Issa, a California Republican, Will Not Seek Re-election to House.  (The New York Times, 1/10/2018)

Not that he couldn't afford to defend it.  Mr. Issa, 64, who has represented an idyllic stretch of Southern California coast since 2001, won re-election in 2016 by just 1,600 votes out or more than 300,000 cast, while Hillary Clinton carried it by more than seven percentage points. 

Mr. Issa had indicated that he was preparing to defend the seat, despite agreement by outside analysts and campaign operatives in both parties that it would have been one of the most competitive races in the country. 

Source:  govtrack

Related Congress retirement/resignation posts:
AZ CD-8.  Trent Franks. (12/7/2017)
CA CD-39.  Ed Royce.  (11/10/2018)
FL CD-18.  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.  (10/27/2017)
KS CD-2.  Lynn Jenkins.  (11/6/2017)
MI CD-11.  Dave Trott.  (10/23/2017)
NJ CD-2.  Frank LoBiondo.  (11/9/2017)
OH CD-12.  Patrick Tiberi.  (10/22/2017)
PA CD-15.  Charlie Dent.  (10/24/2017)
PA CD-18.  Bill Shuster.  (1/3/2018)
TN. CD-6.  Diane Black.  (11/6/2017)
TX CD-2.  Ted Poe.  (11/9/2017)
TX CD-5.  Jeb Hensarling.  (10/31/2017)
TX CD-5.  Joe Barton.  (12/4/2017)
TX CD-21. Lamar Smith.  (11/3/2017)
VA CD-6.  Bob Goodlatte.  (11/10/2017)