GET ME REWRITE: Power-mad Wisconsin GOP willing to do anything to maintain its gerrymandered majorities in the Senate and Assembly

 

Photos:  Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin  Assembly

Headline:  Vox, 9/7/2023

The state’s legislature is so aggressively gerrymandered that it is likely impossible for Republicans to lose control of it in an election. In 2018, for example, Democratic state assembly candidates received 54 percent of the popular vote in Wisconsin, but Republicans still won 63 of the assembly’s 99 seats. 

There is, however, a light at the end of this tunnel both for small-d democrats and for large-D Democrats in the notoriously contentious swing state. Last April, Justice Janet Protasiewicz won a landslide election victory over a former, very conservative state justice. She took her seat at the beginning of August, giving Democrats a 4-3 majority on the state supreme court. (Technically, supreme court races in Wisconsin are nonpartisan, but every recent race has pitted a liberal supported by Democrats against a conservative supported by Republicans.) 

Litigants challenging the gerrymandered state legislature filed a lawsuit, known as Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, the very next day. 

A quirk in the state constitution, however, may allow Wisconsin’s gerrymandered legislature to strip Protasiewicz of her ability to decide cases, and to do so indefinitely.

Related posts:

September 2023

Wisconsin GOP leadership offers child care proposal based on mansplaining.  (9/5)

August 2023. 

Wisconsin GOP comes up with a laughably inadequate plan to address child care crisis.  (8/31)

Wisconsin GOP legislative leadership lives in a mixed-up, shook-up world when it comes to youth priorities.  (8/19)

Wisconsin GOP legislative leadership pays lip service to hardworking families.  (8/18)

Wisconsin GOP white male legislative leaders continue to freak out over legal marijuana.  (8/14)

Wisconsin white male GOP leadership into clean energy.  (8/12)

Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders show off their family-unfriendly side.  (8/9)

The party of NO, even when it comes to children and families.  (8/8)

July 2023

Wisconsin GOP leadership dutifully does the bidding of billionaires and imports anti-worker legislation from Florida.  (7/12)

The white male party of NO NO NO NO NO.  (7/9)

June 2023

GOP leaders continue their extended University of Wisconsin System funding hissy fit. (6/28)

GOP white men in the Wisconsin state legislature have their own sense of diversity.  (6/22)

Wisconsin GOP punishes hard-working families by refusing to address state's child-care crisis.  (6/22)

Wisconsin Republicans pull the rug out from under hard-working families.  )(6/21/2023)

Wisconsin GOP works to suppress the vote and disenfranchise voters.  (6/20/2021)

The next time the Wisconsin GOP talks about supporting hard-working families, ask them about their lack of support for child care.  (6/17/2023)

See Wisconsin GOP leadership in full flower of racism and misogyny.  (6/13)

Wisconsin GOP leadership puts a pox on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.  (6/11)

Your Wisconsin GOP at work:  Gas-powered machines a top priority.  (6/7)

Bashing public education, promoting discrimination, part 3.  (6/1)

May 2023

Bashing public education, promoting discrimination, part 2.  (5/31)

Bashing public education, promoting discrimination, part 1.  (5/28)

Family leave freakout.  (5/23/2023)

Here's the legacy the "lock-'em-up" prison mentality of Wisconsin's GOP legislative leaders.  (5/23)

Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders show their true colors with efforts to defund campus diversity offices.  (5/21/)

Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders decide transgender athlete ban is top priority.  (5/11)

Wisconsin GOP remain in Dark Ages when it comes to legalization of marijuana.  (5/3)

Local control?  It's the Wisconsin GOP favorite toilet seat!  (5/2)

April 2023

Wisconsin GOP fights crime and inflation with dog whistle legislation.  (4/26)

Wisconsin GOP leadership fights crime and inflation by putting up barriers to health care.  (4/17)

Wisconsin GOP leadership blows on the unemployment benefits dog whistle.  (4/11)

March 2023

Your Wisconsin GOP state legislative leadership at work (transgender assault edition).  (3/26)

Wisconsin GOP leadership remains adamantly opposed to reproductive rights.  (3/22)

Wisconsin GOP leadership promotes a no transparency workplace.  (3/21)

Wisconsin GOP leadership drags its heels on legalization while residents go elsewhere to buy weed.  (3/17)

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)

Time for Wisconsin GOP legislative leadership to step up and ban discriminatory housing covenants.  (2/10)

Spineless Wisconsin GOP leadership unable to build support for medical marijuana.  (2/1)

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)

Environmental Protection is a low priority for the all-white, all-male Wisconsin GOP leadership.  (10/1)

Wisconsin GOP leadership encourages its political appointees not to play by the rules.  (9/30)

Reproductive rights? Fuggedaboudit! What else would you expect from these Wisconsin GOP Gomers? (8/27)

Meet the 4 lapdog judges on the Wisconsin Supreme Court at the beck and call of the GOP. (7/11)

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)

GET ME REWRITE: What happens when Trump-fueled GOP STUPID runs state legislatures

Top headline:  Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/7/2023

Bottom headline:  New York Times, 9/6/2023

From the Chronicle:

The increasingly assertive involvement of conservative lawmakers in the affairs of higher education has spurred concerns about “brain drain” — talented scholars choosing to leave their states or not considering employment there. Now, new statistics from a survey of faculty members in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas back up those fears: Two-thirds of respondents said they wouldn’t recommend academic work in their state to colleagues.

From the Times:

Idaho’s obstetrics exodus is not happening in isolation. Across the country, in red states like Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee, obstetricians — including highly skilled doctors who specialize in handling complex and risky pregnancies — are leaving their practices. Some newly minted doctors are avoiding states like Idaho. 

The departures may result in new maternity care deserts, or areas that lack any maternity care, and they are placing strains on physicians like Dr. Gustafson who are left behind.

Related post:

This is the STUPID that has the majority in the Arizona state legislature.  (8/30/2023)

 

What's the matter with Iowa? Kimmi the Clown's happy talk and twisted priorities

 

From the 6/16/2021 Des Moines Register:

"We’re here because this landmark tax reform legislation doesn’t just deliver needed financial relief to everyday Iowans, it does so while placing our state's mental health system on a firm footing for decades to come," Reynolds said.

From the 9/7/2023 Des Moines Register:

Amid what professionals describe as crisis-level demand for mental health care for youth, Des Moines' oldest mental health nonprofit this summer saw record referrals: The wait for space at its 88-bed psychiatric unit for children grew to five to six months, a historic high.

“Children are just really struggling right now, and the kids we are seeing coming into our (facility) are more acute than ever," said Anne Starr, executive director of Orchard Place, a charity that provides mental health services and residential care for youth. 

The state has worked to improve mental and behavioral health services for children in recent years, responding to a wave of mental health struggles among youth nationwide. But Iowa families have gotten little help navigating a disjointed system to find care for their children. And sometimes, what they are able to get isn’t what they need.  [emphasis added]

Related posts:

2023

September 

GOP voters boogie their way to doomsday with Vivek climate change is a hoax Ramaswamy.  (9/4)

GOP in-your-face racism and homophobia.  (9/2)

August

Kimmi the Clowns power grab. (8/31)

Kimmi the Clown's warped priorities.  (8/30)

Majority of most Iowa GOP caucusgoers.  (8/23)

GOP hypocrisy and Kimmi the Clown's crackpot education policies.  (8/10)

What's the matter with Iowa?  Kimmi the Clown's frantic antics.  (8/3)

July

GOP legislators are at the beck and call of Bob Vander Putz.  (7/13)

Bluenoses are in charge.  (7/12/) 

What's the matter with Iowa?  Political clowns like Attorney General Brenna Bird.  (7/11)

Kimmi the Clown spends too much time with her shovel.  (7/10/2023)

June

Abortion foes at Iowa March for Life attempt to wag the dog.  (6/25)

What;s the matter with Iowa?  The list grows longer and longer.  (6/26)

May

Kimmi the Clown's misplaced priorities!  (5/30/2023)

This is the real Iowa.  (5/20)

Republicans in Iowa House remain squeamish about birth control.  (5/12)

April

Sexual Aversion Disorder and homophobia is running rampant within the ranks.  (4/20)

What's the matter with Iowa?  An increasing lack of transparency.  (4/19)

Iowa GOP fights crime and inflation by watering down child labor laws.  (4/18)

GOP fights crime and inflation by restricting SNAP benefits.  (4/16)

Attorney General Brenna Bird fights crime by freezing funds for emergency contraception.  (4/9)

March

Trump snookered old, rural white folks who identified with his racism in most of the states 99 counties.  (3/21) 

What's the matter with Iowa?  Plenty!  (3/18)

January

What's the matter with Iowa?  Well, you can start at the top of state government.  (1/14)

2022

It looks like a case of cause and effect.  (11/9)

2021

Actually, it appears that 58% of Iowans, many of them nice, are slowly being poisoned to death.  (11/26)

What's the matter with Iowa?  (series)

2018

What's the matter with Iowa? Health benefit plans mean you're screwed when it comes to pre-existing conditions.  (10/5)

Mary Louise Hibner Blick (1932-2023) Warren High School class of 1951

 

1951 Dragon yearbook

   

Source:  Peterson Blick Funeral Home

1967 Warren City Directory

• Hibner Ella M (widow William F) retired h106 Jefferson Street

1983 Warren City Directory,

• Hibner Ella M (widow William F) retired h106 Jefferson Street

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

.

Social Security Administration

Warren spent the first 70 years of the 20th century in the top 200, his best decade being the 1920s when he peaked at #24 in 1921.   He bottomed out in 2006 and has since moved up 205 places on the chart.

Other members of the WHS class of 1951 (40):

2023

Nancy Lauffer Hall.  (6/16)

Patricia Burdick Mazzu.  (3/20)

2022
Nancy Sturdevant Parker.  (11/27

H. Robert Hanpson.  (11/21)

Patricia Miller Van Cise.  (11/18)

Dennis Bonace.  (6/15)

2021

Dora Pace Cicchini.  (12/19)

Robert Hampson.  (11/24)

Barbara Gray Lauffer.  (5/18)

Dorothy Cook Hanson. (5/5)

Alice Hollabaugh Lindell. (3/23)

Dorothy Anderson Barstow.  (3/2)

Doris Whipple Cunningham.  (1/29)

2020
Doris Mason Sadler.  (8/21)

Sarah Irving Crecraft.  (8/10)
Mary Cotillion Young Shaffer.  (6/9)
Richard Campbell.  (5/14)
Patricia Hamm Suppa.  (4/27)

2019
John Steele Sr. (9/9)
Josephine Gregerson Baker.  (6/1)
Tilda Hildum Hulteburg.  (2/7)
George Gern (2/6)

2017
Patricia Elaine Black Williams.  (10/12)
Marilyn Albaugh Frycklund.  (9/23)
Carol Amacher.  (5/30)
John Wood.  (5/28)
Catherine Collins Sheldon.  (4/22)
Ronald McCain.  (4/13)
Elaine Crecraft McDunn.  (3/1)
Albert Kondak.  (2/28)
Richard Cook.  (2/16)
Marilyn Pasquino Nyberg.  (1/19)

2016
Mark Bevevino.  (8/26)
Diedra Peterson Andersen.  (6/8)

Marilyn Lyke Bonace.  (6/6)
John Tingwell.  (6/5)

2015
Donald Quiggle.  (12/19)
Genevieve Larson McKown.  (12/16)
Franklin Reiff.  (7/14)

Mary Ann Font Schafer.  (6/29)

Next Door Adventures: Wendy channels her inner Gladys Kravitz

 

Next Door

Three eye-rolling responses.

Related posts:

2023

September 

Meet Christina Hill, another Gladys Kravitz wannabe.  (9/4)

August

Michele has some fun with the Gladys Kravitz wannabees.  (8/23)

Noelle wants to know what that crazy contraption is.  (8/18)

June

Gladys Kravitz sez she's not cleaning up the horse poop.  (6/26)

Adventures in misinformation.  (6/18)

Here we go again....is it gunshots or it is fireworks?  (6/16/2023)

Jean deservedly roasted for her 'shocking' observation.  (6/10/2023)

May 2023

What the Huell!  It's a "Grumpy Old Men" audition. (5/29)

Daniela has a Gladys Kravitz moment.  (5/21)

Wondering Mary channels Alice Kravitz.  (5/19)

Gladys Kravitz peers out her front window and wonders, "What can we do?".  (5/14)

Viewing the Wisconsin State Capitol:  I'm not like Lesa, let's move on.  (5/12)

Gladys Kravitz would be so proud of Reginald. (5/7)

April 2023

Val channels Gladys Kravitz, peers out the window, lasers in on trouble.  (4/17)

Is the pope Catholic?  Do bears shit in the woods?  (4/15)

Jenn overshares like a contestant on "Queen for a Day".  (4/12)

March 2023

UFO lady gets weak response to birthday wish.  (3/20)

January 2023

Turning the social media app into a 21st century version of "Queen for a Day".  (1/15)

Dog poop in garbage can gets neighbor's dander up.  (1/12)

Anyone doing a production of "The Princess and the Pea"? Free stage props!.  (1/9)

2022

Amanda shares her stupidity with the world.  (12/5)

Dialogue for the ages.  (10/25)

Laments the closing of Middleton Cleaners.  (10/16)

Kathleen Otterson shares a first-world problem.  (8/24)

Wisconsin gerrymandering spotlight on Assembly District 93: Cracking Eau Claire County, packing the City of Eau Claire

 

What's wrong with this picture?

Cracking Eau Claire County, packing the City of Eau Claire!  As we recently saw here and here.

    

Source:  Wikipedia 

The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'cracking' as 

drawing districts in such a way as to divide a concentration of specific types of voters across several districts such that they are a minority in each one, with practically no hope of achieving representation in any of the districts. This practice also helps make districts less competitive. [emphasis added]

The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'packing' as 

the practice of drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party's candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin. Although the opposing party is all but guaranteed the seat, packing makes surrounding districts less competitive, and thus tips the balance of power in the legislative body overall toward the ruling party.

GOP gerrymanderers chomp away at the Eau Claire area community interest..

The 93rd Assembly District stretches 90 miles from west to east across 4 counties:  all but the Town of Clifton in Pierce (red box) a portion of teeny-tiny Pepin (orange), southern Dunn (green), and Eau Claire (purple) .

Passive Warren Petryk (R-Eau Claire) has represented the district since January 2011.  In November 2022, he defeated his Democratic challenger by 19 percentage points.

Photos:  Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin  Assem/bly

Meet the defenders of fair elections.  

Other posts in the series:

Assembly District 2

Assembly District 3

Assembly District 4

Assembly District 5

Assembly District 15

Assembly District 26

Assembly District 27

Assembly District 31

Assembly District 33

Assembly District 37

Assembly District 38

Assembly District 43

Assembly District 44

Assembly District 45

Assembly District 53

Assembly District 54

Assembly District 55

Assembly District 56

Assembly District 57

Assembly District 61

Assembly District 62

Assembly District 63

Assembly District 64

Assembly District 65

Assembly District 66

Assembly District 67

Assembly District 68

Assembly District 70

Assembly District 71

Assembly District 79

Assembly District 80

Assembly District 81

Assembly District 85

Assembly District 86

Assembly District 88

Assembly District 89

Assembly District 90

Assembly District 91

Day 1042 of GOP election denier hysteria (Trump Big Lie Clown Show Circus, Colorado edition)

 

ATTACK Of the Clown Show zombies

starring Colorado queen of election deniers

tina peters

Headline:  9News, 9/6/2023

The trial date was reset after Peters changed counsel. She pled not guilty. 

Peters has claimed, without evidence, that Colorado’s elections are rigged. Prosecutors allege Peters breached the security of Mesa County’s voting system in search of election fraud. Information obtained from Mesa County’s voting equipment was leaked to election rigging conspiracy theorists who have celebrated Peters as a national hero.

Related posts:

Day 376 to 632

Day 633 to  66.

Day 662 to 702  

Day 704 to 709

Day 712 to 720

Day 721 to 729

Day 730 to 736

Day 743 to 744

Day 758 to 765

Day 781 to 787

Day 794 to 798

Day 805 to 807

Day 718 to 839

Day 840 to 848

Day 849 to 855

Day 867 to 878

Day 879 to 889

Day 890 to 897

Day 900 to 910

Day 911 to 919

Day 920 to 923

Day 927 to 928

Day 929

Day 930

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Day 1041

This week in the cereal aisle: Kellogg's Fruit Loops partners with Willa Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Photo by Retiring Guy

Comediva

With all the remakes and sequels Hollywood studios are producing these days, the modern cinema experience is anything but fresh. But you know what isn’t stale? Your favorite breakfast cereal. If movie studios can make the board game Battleship into a film (starring Rihanna, no less), why can’t some of our go-to morning munchies be adapted into high-grossing films? 

Here are the top ten delicious intellectual properties we’d like to see made into movies.

 

Other cereal aisle posts:

2023

31st variety of Cheerios, special edition Lemon Frosted. (8/29)

New shape!  Fruity flavor!  Kellogg's Rainbow Krispies!  (8/24)

Movietime!  (7/24)

And here you thought it was just Hollywood suffering from a lack of originality.  (7/14)

General Mills IHOP Mini Pancake cereal.  (7/13)

Kellogg's Rice Krispies red and blue color mix. (6/13)

Kellogg's Froot Loops Mega MixUps.  (6/9)

Kellogg's Rice Krispies blue and green color mix.  (4/23)

Sugar-loaded cereal bars elbow their way to prominence.  (3/27)

A big dose of sugar for Easter.  (3/25)

Get your recommended daily allowance of synthetic dye.  (2/2)

Kix just keep gettin' harder to find. Again. Two years later.  (1/7)

Kellogg’s Tiger Paws Jumbo Snax.  (1/2)

2022

General MIlls limited edition dessert fest.  (11/30)

Kellogg's Family Size Cosmic Brownies.  (11/6)

Hocus Pocus 2.  (10/17)

General Mills Limited Edition L.O.L. Surprise Birthday Cake Cereal.  (10/12)

Kellogg's shocking orange Halloween Rice Krispies.  (8/24)

And after a few minutes in milk, it looks like a bowl of barf.  (7/15)
Retiring Guy arrives late to Cheerios 80th birthday party.  (7/13)
Wheaties 100 Years of Champions limited edition collector series.  (4/27)

Living dangerously.  (4/19)

2021

Give your kids a sugar buzz with a new Elf on the Shelf tradition.  (11/26)

Limited Edition Kellogg's Frosted Flakes Apple Jacks Mashup,  (10/3)

Fall is here and so are limited edition pumpkin spice choices.  (9/28)

Kellogg;s adds another variety to the Frosted Flakes brand.  (7/12)
Team Cheerios.  (7/9)

Remembering the Apple Jacks bullies jingle.  (6/1)

Kellogg's shamelessly promotes major breakfast sugar buzz.  (5/19)

Kelloggs Crayola gets the puff piece treatment @ BestProducts.  (4/5)
Grape Nuts.  (2/22)
Kix just keep getting harder to find.  (1/23 update)
Cheez-It horns in.  (1/10)

2019
This box wants to party with you.  (6/4)
Blueberry Cheerios.  (5/16)
Snap, crackle and redpop.  (2/26)
Kellogg's Honey Oat Frosted Flakes.  (2/19)
Kellogg's All Bran fights for shelf space.  (1/22)
 
2018
Cheerios adds to its long list of flavors. (12/31)
General Mills offers two flavors of Dippin' Dots.  (11/28)
Kellogg's vanilla latte Frosted Mini-Wheats.  (10/1)
Nutter Butter.  (6/24)
Still a little bit of shelf space provided for boxes of Big Biscuit Shredded Wheat.  (4/3)
Chocolate Frosted Flakes.  (3/30)
It's just peachy, part 2 (with probiotics).  (3/26)
It's just peachy (Cheerios).  (3/25)
Snap, Crackle and Pop shrug off competition from Fancy Friends Cereal Treats.  (2/23)
Lucky Charms wants you to have a daily dose of yellow 5 and blue 1.  (3/9)
The takeover of Mom.  (3/1)
Hoopla over rainbow marshmallows added to Lucky Charms.  (2/22)
Kellogg's Donut Shop in your choice of flavors.  (2/14)
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the shredded wheat go down.  (2/6)
General Mills offers yet another flavor of Cheerios -- chocolate and peanut butter.  (1/30)
I suspect this special edition Cocoa Puffs isn't exactly flying off the shelves.  (1/16)
What's really going on with this General Mills blend.  (1/10)
Giant size bargains to kick off the new year.  (1/3)

2017
Satisfy your craving for chocolate.  (12/22)
Pumpkin Spice runs amok.  (11/7)
Danger lurks.  (11/2)
Dan G. wets himself over Special K Blueberry with Lemon Clusters.  (9/20)
Limited Edition Mocha Crunch.  (7/16)
Kellogg's Frosted Flakes with Marshmallows.  (2/1)
A marriage between General Mills and Girls Scouts of America.  (1/19)

2016
Alpha-Bits is getting squeezed out.  (11/23)
Special K continues to branch out.  (10/23)
Wedding bells chime.  (10/5)
The price of convenience (22.54 cents per ounce).  (8/19)
Make up your mind already!  (8/14)
Remember Nabisco Shredded Wheat?  (7/13)
Features Batman and Superman.  (7/7)
Post wants you to have ice cream for breakfast.  (6/30)

Tiny Toast.  (6/21)

2015
Fewer of us are starting the day with a breakfast "hoop-de-do"!  (2/13)

2014
Kellogg's wants you to put out the box at bedtime.  (12/20)
Decline in cereal sales bite into Kellogg's results.  (Fortune, 10/30)
Americans aren't eating their Wheaties.  (CNN Money, 9/18)
Cereals Begin to Lose Their Snap, Crackle, and Pop.  (The New York Times, 9/10)
Why Don't Americans Like Breakfast Cereal Anymore? The once-loved product whose sales went soggy.  (Adweek, 8/14)
I imagine General Mills has done the research, but what if this is the case?  (7/1)
Maybe it's the rainbow colors.  (7/1)
They still call it 'breakfast cereal'.  (2/14)

2013
Cereal killers:  Americans' new breakfast habits.  (CNBC, 8/2)