Saturday, June 24, 2023

Meet Baker City Oregon Mayor Matt Diaz, dressed for work

 

Headline:  Oregon Public Broadcasting,  6/23/2023
“His words cast shadows far beyond our city limits as this discussion will carry on in social media platforms forever,” she wrote. “This will impact our efforts to attract new businesses as well as the tourism that our communities depend upon. It’s not a small thing, it is a significant breach of fitness regarding public service.”

What else would you expect from Trump's America?

Source:  Wikipedia
3rd-party candidates received 30.2% of vote in 1992, 15.3% of vote in 1996, 8.7% in 2016;
(Alabama segregationist George Wallace received 7.7% of the vote in 1968)

A place where the population has been treading water since 1910.



Dear Ryan Walters, We all know that 'Western culture' is a dog whistle for white power. Best, Retiring Guy

 
Headline:  The Oklahoman, 6/23/2023
Walters discussed recommendations from a group calling itself the Oklahoma Advisory Council on Founding Principles during Thursday’s Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting. The council offered three recommendations, which Walters endorsed: 
Hold a minute of silence at the beginning of the school day with the following announcement: “We now pause for a minute of silence in which students and teachers may use this minute to reflect, meditate, pray or engage in any other silent activity.”\ 
Display a “durable poster or framed copy” of the Ten Commandments in each public school classroom. 
Require a “Western civilization” course for graduation “to strengthen the heritage which was integral to the nation’s founding and its western culture, as well as to foster gratitude and informed citizenship.”

Ryan does the hand sign.




Cruising the streets of Waterloo, Wisconsin

 
Screenshot and video by Retiring Guy


Waterloo is located in the northwest corner of Jefferson County, 26 miles ENE of Madison and 62 miles WNW of Milwaukee.   After a growth spurt in the 1980s and 1990s, its population increasing by nearly 40%, the city's rate of growth has cooled.

SourceWikipedia




Related posts:
Cruising around the block at Waupun Correctional Institution, Wisconsin.  (6/17/2023)

GET ME REWRITE: New York Times runs into the arms of homophobe and religious bigot Bob Vander Plaats for the inside Iowa scoop

 
HeadlineNew York Times, 6/23/2023
In our final episode of the season, The Run-Up goes to Iowa and inside the evangelical church. We speak with Bob Vander Plaats, an evangelical activist with a history of picking Iowa’s winners. And we go to [ultraconservativeEternity Church, where Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida recently spoke, and talk to Jesse Newman, the pastor, and other members of the congregation.

Cruising Main Street and Commons Park in Lake Mills, Wisconsin

 
Screenshot and video by Retiring Guy


Lake Mills is located in western Jefferson County, 28 miles east of Madison and 53 miles west of Milwaukee.  Its population has increased % since 1990.

SourceWikipedia


The L. D. Fargo Public Library in Lake Mills is beautiful inside and out.





Related posts:
Cruising around the block at Waupun Correctional Institution, Wisconsin.  (6/17/2023)

Friday, June 23, 2023

Cruising Charles Street in Rockford Illinois

 
This photo and video by Retiring Guy


Photo of 1815 Charles Street by Retiring Guy's dad (8/31/1939)

My dad was born (10/10/1915) and raised on the first floor of this house, which had just two bedrooms.    He was the youngest of Herman and Anna Nelson's 7 children.  His 5 sisters shared one of the bedrooms.  Dad and his older brother Ford slept in the dining room.  On cots?  

This is what happens when you delve into your family's history at an advanced age.  Those who can describe how things were back then are long gone.  

Memories forever lost.  

Related posts:
Cruising around the block at Waupun Correctional Institution, Wisconsin.  (6/17/2023)

Cruising our way to the 8th wonder of the world on state highway 311 in Mount Pleasant, Racine County, Wisconsin

 
SH311 is a recently construction, divided, 4-lane highway that run parallel to Interstate 94.   At a mere 2 miles in length, it is undoubtedly one of the shortest state-maintained highways.

Note the streams of traffic in the northbound lanes.

Screenshot and video by Retiring Guy



“Wisconn Valley" was the name coined by former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Foxconn CEO Terry Gou. At the time, Foxconn was promising to create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin in exchange for nearly $3 billion in state tax credits. 
Foxconn was also going to give $100 million to UW-Madison, build innovation centers across the state and open the company's North American headquarters in downtown Milwaukee. 
None of those things have happened.


Related posts:
Cruising around the block at Waupun Correctional Institution, Wisconsin.  (6/17/2023)

GET ME REWRITE!! These 8 Wisconsin Republicans want to punish school librarians for doing their job

 

HeadlineWisconsin Public Radio, 6/22/2023
Republican lawmakers are proposing a bill that would target "obscene" materials in school libraries and overturn a law that protects public and private school employees from prosecution for distributing the materials. 
A companion bill would prohibit a school district from using school library aid money to purchase any item that could be considered obscene. State Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, who co-sponsored both bills, said the state holds the "burden of responsibility" to make sure schools aren’t pushing obscenity limits.

Related post:

Day 965 of GOP election denier hysteria (Trump Big Lie Clown Show Circus, Kari Lake at Mar-a-Lago edition)

 
ATTACK Of the Clown Show zombies 
Starring Arizona Denier Queen Kari Lake

HeadlineVanity Fair, 6/22/2023
Yes, People reports the bizarre news that, according to a source familiar with the matter, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake—who, like Trump, insists the election was rigged against her—“spent a significant portion of her time at Mar-a-Lago during its open season.” How much time is considered “significant”? According to the outlet, Lake has appeared at the Palm Beach resort “more than Melania Trump,” a.k.a. Trump’s wife. “Kari Lake is there all the time,” the source told People. “There’s a suite there that she practically lives in.” After Trump announced a third run for office, other sources told the publication that Lake very much wanted to be named his number two, with one saying: “She is working the deal. She wants something bigger, fast, to compensate for her loss in Arizona.”

Cruising south on state highway 213 through Orfordville, Wisconsin

 
Screenshot and video by Retiring Guy


Orfordville is located in western Rock County, 14 miles west/southwest of Janesville and 34 miles south of Madison.  It has experienced continuous population growth since its founding, with its largest gains taking place in the 1960s and 2000s.

Orfordville has built a new public library since this 2009 post was published






Related posts:
Cruising around the block at Waupun Correctional Institution, Wisconsin.  (6/17/2023)

GET ME REWRITE: Wisconsin Republicans shows us how plutocracy works

 
The plan would reduce the top tax rate of 7.65% to 6.5%, which amounts to a 15% reduction for the top earners in the state who earn as a married couple $405,550 or more annually.  
[snip] 
"We've been hearing about this $7 billion surplus for what, six months or so and the (budget committee) has been working closely on how to organize our priorities on that. And so we wanted to be sure that we left enough money in there for a substantial tax relief," Rep. Terry Katsma, R-Oostburg, said at a press conference before the Joint Committee on Finance's final meeting before sending the full state budget to the floors of the state Assembly and Senate.

Related posts:
June 2023

May 2023
Family leave freakout.  (5/23/2023)

April 2023

March 2023

February 2023
Wisconsin GOP leadership fights crime and inflation by ignoring Black priorities and promoting voter suppression.  (2/15)
Wacky white Wisconsin GOP boys club once against demonstrates its inability to govern.  (2/12)

2022
Wisconsin GOP shows off the diversity of its legislative leadership.  (12/21)
With another heated Wisconsin election around the corner, Republicans delude themselves into thinking they can defuse abortion as an issue.  (12/7)
It took all of 15 seconds for these 6 white guys -- the Wisconsin GOP legislative leadership -- to slam the door on reproductive rights.  (10/4)
Reproductive rights? Fuggedaboudit! What else would you expect from these Wisconsin GOP Gomers? (8/27)
Distrust of elections? What about contempt for Wisconsin's all-white, all-male GOP leadership?. (3/28)
Apparently, the all-white, all-male Wisconsin GOP leadership must think they're something special.  (3/8)