Saturday, June 23, 2018

UPDATE: 3 pics and 1 video of old Hill Farms State Office Building demolition


Photos by Retiring Guy







Original 4/25/2018 post, "Starting fresh with an after-hours tour of Hills Farms State Office campus", starts here.

New parking ramp
All photo by Retiring Guy

New office building (landscape)

New office building (portrait)

Old office building in early stage of demolition
 Close-up of 4th and 5th floors vomiting debris

The old annex building

Going up

At the top (1)
 At the top with a slightly tighter focus

Pausing as I take the stair back down to ground level

Series of posts from July 2014 to April 2018 found here.

Plenty of good paying jobs is not Foxconn’s long term goal



Reported in Here’s how the plan to replace the humans who make iPhones with bots is going.  (Quartz, 6/22/2018)

Related posts:
Make way for robots.  (2/25/2018)
Get me rewrite: Foxconn CEO Terry Gou interested in UW-Madison AI expertise to automate his factories.  (2/9/2018)
Gateway Technical College cutting-edge Foxconn curriculum does not include workforce development, employee relations, and management concepts.  (12/25/2017)
Scott Walker, meet Andrew Ng, who wants to help Foxconn bring intelligence displayed by machines to Racine County.  (12/14/2017)
Foxconn has been looking to replace workers with robots for at least 2 years. (8/9/2017)

Ha ha, said the clown. Judge finds nothing to laugh about.


McCune is not only a county board supervisor, he's also the first vice-chair.


Reported by Jim Stingl in Washington County Board member shows up in a clown suit at his seat belt trial.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/22/2018)

"Ha Ha Said the Clown"  by the Yardbirds debuted at #80 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending August 5, 1967.  It spent 7 weeks on the chart, peaking at #45 for 2 weeks

Donald Trump writes a new chapter in the annals of barbarism



Excerpt from Trump Wasn’t First to Separate Families, but Policy Was Still EvilNicholas Kristof,  by Nicholas Kristof.  (The New York Times, 6/20/2018)
“She fell at his feet and clung to his knees, entreating him in tones that a mother only could command to buy her baby as well as herself. … I must have been then between 5 and 6 years old. I seem to see and hear my poor weeping mother now.” 
— Josiah Henson, a slave in Maryland, in his account of his life from 1858 
“The Negroes at home are quite disconsolate but this will soon blow over. They may see their children again in time.” 
— Thomas Chaplin, a slave owner, in 1845, quoted in “Help Me to Find My People,” by Heather Andrea Williams

Related post:
Scott Walker zips his lips but not three years ago.  (6/20/2018)

Around Town UPDATE: If it's not one thing, it's another



Photo by Retiring Guy


12/24/2017 update, "A sure sign that this request went unheeded, if not unseen", starts here.

Photo by Retiring Guy

Original 12/19/2017 post, "Be nice to this person; you've been granted an additional foot of parking space", starts here.

 Photo by Retiring Guy

Source:  Wisconsin State Statutes (highlights, arrow added)

Other Around Town posts
June 2018
Bloom Bake Shop to reopen as Bloom Bindery, a bakery/bookstore.  (6/15/2018)

May 2018
The Tiedeman Pond frog chorus.  (5/15/2018)

March 2018
Tiedeman Pond winter fish kill.  (3/30/2018)
Hear that lonesome whistle blow.  (3/22/2018)
Explosion on Elmwood Avenue.  (3/20/2018)
Googling 'Henry Hubbard'.  (3/18/2018) 
A not-so-faded Flo strikes a new pose.  (3/12/2018)

February 2018

Friday, June 22, 2018

Around Town: If this electrical wire sags any lower, we'll be doing the Limbo Rock in the The Meadows neighborhood


Photo by Retiring Guy

For those of you, like me, who have incipient macular degenerationissues, here's the red arrow version.



"Limbo Rock" by Chubby Checker debuted at #85 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending 9/8/1962.  It spent an inexplicable 23 weeks on the chart, peakng at #2 for 2 weeks.



Other Around Town posts
June 2018
Bloom Bake Shop to reopen as Bloom Bindery, a bakery/bookstore.  (6/15/2018)

May 2018
The Tiedeman Pond frog chorus.  (5/15/2018)

March 2018
Tiedeman Pond winter fish kill.  (3/30/2018)
Hear that lonesome whistle blow.  (3/22/2018)
Explosion on Elmwood Avenue.  (3/20/2018)
Googling 'Henry Hubbard'.  (3/18/2018) 
A not-so-faded Flo strikes a new pose.  (3/12/2018)

February 2018

"Only in Wisconsin"


Photo by Retiring Guy

Related reading:
Wisconsin's breweries are good for what `ales' you.  (Chicago Tribune, 8/13/2000)
Brewer's success leaves Illinois flat.  (Chicago Tribune, 12/4/2002)
Very, very, very slow news day.  Mary Burke says Spotted Cow beer available only in Wisconsin.  (PolitiFact Wisconsin, 8/25/2014)  It's true.
Minnesota bar busted for selling Wisconsin beer.  (Chicago Tribune, 4/21/2015)
New Glarus Brewing Co. moves up the list of biggest brewers.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 3/16/2017)
New Glarus to double capacity with new tanks.  (7/12/2017)

In 2060, Trump's America will be at least a century in the past



Fewer Births Than Deaths Among Whites in Majority of U.S. States. (The New York Times, 6/20/2018)
“It’s happening a lot faster than we thought,” said Rogelio Sáenz, a demographer at the University of Texas at San Antonio and a co-author of the report. It examines the period from 1999 to 2016 using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the federal agency that tracks births and deaths. He said he was so surprised at the finding that at first he thought it was a mistake.

Related reading:
White Deaths Exceed Births in a Majority of U.S. States.  (Applied Population Laboratory) 


Pessimists still outweigh optimists in employment and tax dollar benefits of Foxconn project


'Treading water', as the headline below describes it.

Source:  Marquette Law School poll (October 2017, March 2018, June 2018)

Foxconn: MU poll shows support for project treading water.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/20/2018)


Original 3/5/2018 post, "Marquette Law School poll:  Most folks aren't buying Scott Walker BS about statewide benefits of Foxconn deal", starts here.



Public skeptical about Foxconn heading into critical 2018 election year.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 3/5/2018)
However, Franklin said there is "profound skepticism" whether Foxconn will benefit businesses near them. Two thirds (66 percent) of respondents said it wouldn't benefit local businesses, compared with 25 percent who said it would benefit them. Additionally, 62 percent raised concerns about the environmental impact of the factory and 32 percent said they were not concerned.


Other FoxCon posts:
June 2018
Headline news: Makes me wonder if something fishy is going on at Foxconn.  (6/12/2018)
Yet another example of how poorly Foxconn treats its employees.  (6/11/2018)
Irony alert: Mount Pleasant village board votes to designate Foxconn Technology Campus a blighted area.  (6/6/2018)

May 2018
No need to shed a tear for Foxconn.  (5/15/2018)
The fact, Scott Walker, is that companies in 63 Wisconsin counties were not awarded contracts by Foxconn.  (5/9/2018)
 Foxconn's rising stock? I guess WisPolitics staff don't get around much anymore.  (5/3/2018)
Foxconn present, "Listen to Louis".  (5/2/2018)
Foxconn and self-driving trucks:  Wishing won't make it so.  (5/1/2018)

April 2018
Did Louis Woo just let the cat out of the bag?  (4/30/2018)
UPDATE: So, basically, Louis Woo, what's really going on in that rental building?  (4/30/2018)
Foxconn and robots:  Joined at the hip.  (4/26/2018)
UPDATE. Woo sez Foxconn wowed by 4 billion dollars' worth of Walker wooing.  (4/26/2018)
State Senator Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) conducts a Foxconn storytime at the Greenwood Cafe.  (4/26/2018)
Question of the day: Do you take Foxconn's pledge at face value? (4/25/2018)
Foxconn decision: The $4.7 billions in assistance, of course, has nothing to do with it.  (4/19/2018)
In deep red Ozaukee County, disparagement of Scott Walker's Foxconn giveaways.  (4/19/2018)
City of Milwaukee publishes Foxconn company profile.  (4/18/2018)
That Foxconn sucking sound: Up to $40 million for a single county highway project vs. a $47 million funding distribution for the entire North Central region of Wisconsin. / (4/8/2018)

March 2018
The fantasy life of our sloganeering governor Scott Walker.  (3/21/2018)
Racine County air quality alert: Foxconn emissions of ozone precursors.  (3/16/2018)
Here's a proposal that's chock full of nuts.  (3/9/2018)
The toxic possibilities of Foxconn's wastewater discharge.  (3/8/2018)
Marquette Law School poll: Most folks aren't buying Scott Walker BS about statewide benefits of Foxconn deal.  (3/5/2018)
Wisconsin Department of Administration policy analyst: Walker pretty much shot his wad with Foxconn deal.  (3/5/2018)
UPDATE. John and Kim Mahoney take issue with that 'generous offers' happy talk.  (3/3/2018)
 
February 2018
Make way for robots.  (2/25/2018)
Foxconn now classified as public works project.  (2/21/2018)
Two peas in a pod: Scott Walker in top 10 of least popular governors, Terry Gou's Foxconn in top 10 of America's most hated tech companies.  (2/13/2018
Scott Walker pins his hopes on an old-fashioned manufacturing kind of guy.  (2/13/2018)
Con artists reap benefits of Scott Walker's Foxconn deal.  (2/10/2018)
Get me rewrite: Foxconn CEO Terry Gou interested in UW-Madison AI expertise to automate his factories.  (2/9/2018)
Foxconn puff piece: Will the real Naoki Hosoya please stand up.  (2/8/2018)
Wisconsin taxpayers carry the burden for job creators.  (2/6/2018)

January 2018
Not to mention Grantsburg, Hayward, Bayfield, Ashland, Hurley, Eagle River, Crandon, and Florence.  (1/26/2018)
Wisconsin cities with highest unemployment rates could use some of that Chicago millennials Foxconn love that Scott Walker is dishing out.  (1/27/2018)
GOP bastion in Racine County sez 'no' to Foxconn-related development.  (1/21/2018)
UPDATE. Here comes that specious Foxconn-Boeing comparison again.  (1/18/.2018)
The Foxconn ka-ching ka-ching ka-ching.  (1/17/2018)
FierceWireless's buzzkill on the Foxconn deal.  (2/16/2018)
Official press agency of People's Republic of China: 'Villagers' in Racine County rebel against Foxconn land grab.  (1/12/2018)
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)
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)

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

The company he keeps: Donald Trump's USA



Reported in Trump Administration Withdraws U.S. From U.N. Human Rights Council.  (The New York Times, 6/19/2018)

Related reading:
How Trump's foreign policy threatens to make America weak again.  (The Guardian, /7/2/2017)
Trump's 'America First' policy has isolated U.S. from world leaders.  (NBC News, 12/29/2017)

Related post:
UPDATE. Donald Trump and the company he keeps: The Robert Jeffress edition.  (10/22/2017)

UPDATE. You'll probably want to take this Louis Woo statement with a grain of salt



Quoted in Glass plant not a ‘necessity’ with Foxconn making smaller screens.  (Milwaukee Business News, 6/20/2018)
The change gives Foxconn more flexibility in deciding which products to produce in Wisconsin but also removes the need for a Corning glass plant to co-locate at the site, Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn chairman Terry Gou, said in an interview this week.

Scott Walker is not going to be happy, Louis.  You just put a dent in his 'real results', indirect jobs count.



Original 6/20/2018 post, "Louis Woo has a bridge to sell us", starts here.

For Foxconn, of course, the first step is to exempt itself from as many environmental regulations as possible.  

"Sweeping"?  That means they done good.  Mission accomplished!


Sources:

Other FoxCon posts:
June 2018
Headline news: Makes me wonder if something fishy is going on at Foxconn.  (6/12/2018)
Yet another example of how poorly Foxconn treats its employees.  (6/11/2018)
Irony alert: Mount Pleasant village board votes to designate Foxconn Technology Campus a blighted area.  (6/6/2018)

May 2018
No need to shed a tear for Foxconn.  (5/15/2018)
The fact, Scott Walker, is that companies in 63 Wisconsin counties were not awarded contracts by Foxconn.  (5/9/2018)
 Foxconn's rising stock? I guess WisPolitics staff don't get around much anymore.  (5/3/2018)
Foxconn present, "Listen to Louis".  (5/2/2018)
Foxconn and self-driving trucks:  Wishing won't make it so.  (5/1/2018)

April 2018
Did Louis Woo just let the cat out of the bag?  (4/30/2018)
UPDATE: So, basically, Louis Woo, what's really going on in that rental building?  (4/30/2018)
Foxconn and robots:  Joined at the hip.  (4/26/2018)
UPDATE. Woo sez Foxconn wowed by 4 billion dollars' worth of Walker wooing.  (4/26/2018)
State Senator Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) conducts a Foxconn storytime at the Greenwood Cafe.  (4/26/2018)
Question of the day: Do you take Foxconn's pledge at face value? (4/25/2018)
Foxconn decision: The $4.7 billions in assistance, of course, has nothing to do with it.  (4/19/2018)
In deep red Ozaukee County, disparagement of Scott Walker's Foxconn giveaways.  (4/19/2018)
City of Milwaukee publishes Foxconn company profile.  (4/18/2018)
That Foxconn sucking sound: Up to $40 million for a single county highway project vs. a $47 million funding distribution for the entire North Central region of Wisconsin. / (4/8/2018)

March 2018
The fantasy life of our sloganeering governor Scott Walker.  (3/21/2018)
Racine County air quality alert: Foxconn emissions of ozone precursors.  (3/16/2018)
Here's a proposal that's chock full of nuts.  (3/9/2018)
The toxic possibilities of Foxconn's wastewater discharge.  (3/8/2018)
Marquette Law School poll: Most folks aren't buying Scott Walker BS about statewide benefits of Foxconn deal.  (3/5/2018)
Wisconsin Department of Administration policy analyst: Walker pretty much shot his wad with Foxconn deal.  (3/5/2018)
UPDATE. John and Kim Mahoney take issue with that 'generous offers' happy talk.  (3/3/2018)

February 2018
Make way for robots.  (2/25/2018)
Foxconn now classified as public works project.  (2/21/2018)
Two peas in a pod: Scott Walker in top 10 of least popular governors, Terry Gou's Foxconn in top 10 of America's most hated tech companies.  (2/13/2018
Scott Walker pins his hopes on an old-fashioned manufacturing kind of guy.  (2/13/2018)
Con artists reap benefits of Scott Walker's Foxconn deal.  (2/10/2018)
Get me rewrite: Foxconn CEO Terry Gou interested in UW-Madison AI expertise to automate his factories.  (2/9/2018)
Foxconn puff piece: Will the real Naoki Hosoya please stand up.  (2/8/2018)
Wisconsin taxpayers carry the burden for job creators.  (2/6/2018)

January 2018
Not to mention Grantsburg, Hayward, Bayfield, Ashland, Hurley, Eagle River, Crandon, and Florence.  (1/26/2018)
Wisconsin cities with highest unemployment rates could use some of that Chicago millennials Foxconn love that Scott Walker is dishing out.  (1/27/2018)
GOP bastion in Racine County sez 'no' to Foxconn-related development.  (1/21/2018)
UPDATE. Here comes that specious Foxconn-Boeing comparison again.  (1/18/.2018)
The Foxconn ka-ching ka-ching ka-ching.  (1/17/2018)
FierceWireless's buzzkill on the Foxconn deal.  (`/16/2018)
Official press agency of People's Republic of China: 'Villagers' in Racine County rebel against Foxconn land grab.  (1/12/2018)
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)
Reggie White:Green Bay Packers:: Foxconn:Wisconsin (Scott Walker analogy reveals his crazed desperation).  (8/10/2017)

Scott Walker touts big tax cuts while problems mount in the state he governs



Education


Transportation



A combination of the 2:  
Education and transportation

Foxconn
(reaffirmed in June poll)

A combination of the 2:  
Foxconn and transportation

Corrections


Broadband

Environment

And this is just a start.

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Could we please, please, get rid of this clown?



Grothman Speaks About U.S.-Mexico Border Situation. (6/19/2018)

According to the U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report (June 2017), Mexico appears on the Tier 2 Watch List.
Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.

And then there's the Tier 3 countries...
...whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so
...which include Donald Trump's two favorite world powers -- Russia and North Korea -- but just two countries from Central and South America, Belize and Venezuela.


No roughing it at this camp site



Glamping Slips Into the Mainstream.  (The New York Times, 6/15/2018)
Camping in the wild with all the comforts of a deluxe hotel, including real beds, plush furnishings and attending stewards, has been around since 19th-century African wildlife safaris. Now known as glamping — short for glamorous camping — the hybrid of camp and resort has exploded, bringing a wave of new glamping destinations this year in a variety of price ranges.

According to Merriam Webster, the first known use of 'glamping' occurred in 2005.

Other coinages from the same year
  • locovore
  • microblogging
  • ransomeware
  • sexting
  • truther


When it comes to name recognition, the 2 Wisconsin GOP candidates for U.S. Senate have lots of work to do





Even though her name recognition is a bit lower, Leah polls better than the opportunistic central-casting prettyboy in the latest Marquette Law School poll.

  • Baldwin 49%, Vukmir 40%
  • Baldwin 50%, Nicholson 39%

Not by much, and certainly within the margin of error.

But Leah tries to take advantage nonetheless.


Related posts:
Daniel Bice neglects to tell the whole story.  (6/21/2018)

Daniel Bice neglects to tell the whole story


6 things we learned from the Marquette University Law School Poll.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/20/2018)
But the first-term senator should be doing better than she is after a big round of TV spending.



The claim is rated 'mostly true'.

And they've only just begun.

Published in the paper Bice works for.

Tammy Baldwin defiant as millions in outside money pours in against her in Senate race.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/12/2018)

And one he most likely reads for Capitol news.

'Unprecedented' outside spending hits Tammy Baldwin, boosts Kevin Nicholson in US Senate race.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 4/10/2018)

The good news here is that Tammy leads the opportunistic, central-casting prettyboy in the latest Marquette Law School poll 50% to 39%.