Saturday, January 20, 2024

Dear Robin Vos, Will there be a civics unit on politicians who are beholden to pay-to-play, big-money contributors? Best, Retiring Guy

 
In Vos's cases, big money to the tune of $297,471.82.  

Sources:  Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (top; box added)
Wisconsin State Legislature (middle; box added)
Wisconsin Public Radio, 1/19/2024 (bottom)

While Democrats on the Assembly’s education committee agreed with the scope of the problem, they expressed skepticism that this bill is the solution. Democrats questioned whether the bill duplicates what is currently being taught and called the bill “an unfunded mandate.”
“I absolutely agree with you,” said Rep. Kristina Shelton, D-Green Bay. “But it seems to me that where we currently (are), the requirements are within social studies — that already includes state and local government, and that civics is embedded in social studies.”
The legislation closely resembles a Florida bill passed in 2021.  [emphasis added=

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GET ME REWRITE: In Adams County Iowa, a popcorn bucket would easily accommodate 91 slips of paper

 
Screenshot:  Twitter
Caucus results: New York Times

As noted today in Votebeat:  
Now, many people have pointed out that the group of people voting in the Iowa caucuses is hardly a representative one — nor is the process (somehow, popcorn buckets are involved). And this year’s caucuses, held in bone-chilling, life-endangering cold, had 110,000 voters, or roughly 15% of the state’s registered Republicans — the lowest turnout in more than a decade, CBS News reported.

As a result of its continuing population decline -- 73% since its 1900 peak of 13,601 -- the vote-counting process in Adams County gets easier every 4 years.

Source:  Wikipedia

Presidential elections used to be competitive until Trump came along.

Source:  Wikipedia

  • 94.4% of the population is white, compared to 83.7% statewide and 58.9% nationally
  • 24.5% of the population is 65+, compared to 18.3% statewide and 17.3% nationally
  • 21.4% of residents 25+ have a bachelor's degree or higher compared with 30.3% statewide and 34.3% nationally.
Ingredients in a MAGA recipe for success.


Related posts:
2024
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Day 1178 of GOP election denial hysteria (Trump Big Lie Clown Show Circus, Iowa caucusgoers edition)

 
ATTACK Of the Clown Show zombies
Starring two-thirds of the
Iowa GOP caucusgoers
Headline:  Votebeat,  1/20/2024
Reams of ink have been spilled on the clearest takeaway from the Iowa Caucus. Here’s one: Polls of caucusgoers found that around two-thirds didn’t believe President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, and most of those respondents supported former President Donald Trump. 
Now, many people have pointed out that the group of people voting in the Iowa caucuses is hardly a representative one — nor is the process (somehow, popcorn buckets are involved). And this year’s caucuses, held in bone-chilling, life-endangering cold, had 110,000 voters, or roughly 15% of the state’s registered Republicans — the lowest turnout in more than a decade, CBS News reported.
Day 938 (Doug McLinko)
Day 942 (Glenn Youngkin)
Day 944  (Janel Brandtjen)
Day 945 (Jeff Serdy)
Day 946 (Todd Graybill)
Day 947 (Kyle Ardoin)
Day 949 (Frank LaRose)
Day 951 (Garland Favorito)
Day 952 (Doug Logan)
Day 954 (Brian Pritchard)
Day 955 (David Cross)
Day 956 (Suzi Voyles)
Day 957 (Josh McKoon)
Day 958 (David Whipple)
Day 960 (Joe Oltmann)
Day 961 (Theresa Manzella)
Day 962 (Sandra Merchant)
Day 964 (Stuart Hadlund)
Day 965 (Kari Lake)
Day 966  (Andro Lerario)
Day 971 (Jason Snead)
Day 982  (Joseph Mastroianni)
Day 983 (Mike Lindell)
Day 984 (Robert Sutherland)
Day 985 (Charlie Kirk)
Day 992  (Stan Grot)
Day 996 (Tim O'Hare)
Day 998  (Shawnna Bolick)
Day 999 (Dave Williams)
Day 1000 (Mike Lindell)
Day 1003  (Janel Brandtjen)
Day 1004 (Dinesh D'Souza)
Day 1005  (Sonny Borrelli)
Day 1006 (Daire Rendon)
Day 1007 (70% of GOP voters)
Day 1011 (Peter Bernegger)
Day 1013 (Sidney Powell)
Day 1015 (Matt Maddock)
Day 1016 (Nick Sherman)
Day 1017  (Boris Epshteyn)
Day 1019 (Rudy Giuliani)
Day 1020 (Eric Burlison)
Day 1025  (Mark Finchem)
Day 1026 (Brian Schimming)
Day 1027 (Jenna Ellis)
Day 1030 (David Whipple)
Day 1031 (Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman) 
Day 1032 (Joe Oltmann)
Day 1033 (Kari Lake)
Day 1035 (Abe Hamadeh)
Day 1037 (Douglas Frank)
Day 1039 (Warren Daniel)
Day 1040 (Craig Berland)
Day 1041 (Jason Frazier)
Day 1042 (Tina Peters)
Day 1044 (Meshawn Maddock)
Day 1046  (Jim Womack)
Day 1049 (Devin LeMahieu)
Day 1051 (Shawn Still)
Day 1053 (Ron DeSantis)
Day 1054  (Kristina Karamo)
Day 1055 (Cathy Latham)
Day 1056 (Kari Lake)
Day 1057  (Janel Brandtjen)
Day 1059 (Warren Daniel)
Day 1064 (Mike Thompson)
Day 1065 (Scott Hall)
Day 1069  (Janel Brandtjen)
Day 1072 (Mike Lindell)
Day 1074 (Sharon Hewitt)
Day 1081 (Mike Lindell)
Day 1082 (Amanda Jennings Smith)
Day 1083 (Kari Lake)
Day 1084 (Bob Bachenberg)
Day 1085 (Sidney Powell)
Day 1086 (Kenneth Chesebro)
Day 1087 (Gym Jordan)
Day 1088 (Mike Lindell)
Day 1089 (Tom Emmer)
Day 1090 (Mike Johnson)
Day 1091 (Jenna Ellis)
Day 1094 (Jim Marchant)
Day 1095 (Donald Trump)
Day 1096 (Mike Johnson)
Day 1097 (Seth Keshel)
Day 1098 (Doug Basler)
Day 1099 (Amy Kremer)
Day 1100 (Gabrielle Hanson)
Day 1101 (Mike Lindell) 
Day 1102 (Harrison Flo\yd)
Day 1103 (Steve Scalise)
Day 1104 (Kari Lake)
Day 1105 (Deborah Flora)
Day 1107 (Rick Weible) 
Day 1110 (Jenna Ellis)
Day 1112  (Dan Scorvino)
Day 1114 (Mark Zuckerberg)
Day 1115 (Patrick Henry)
Day 1116  (Jim DeMint)
Day 1117 (Peg Cage)
Day 1118  (Sonny Borrelli)
Day 1119 (Kristina Karamo)
Day 1121 (Ron Hanks)
Day 1122 (Tom Crosby, Peggy Judd)
Day 1123 (Nancy Landry)
Day 1124 (Ken Buck)
Day 1125 (Burt Jones)
Day 1128 (Kari Lake)
Day 1129 (Cleta Mitchell)
Day 1132 (Klete Keller)
Day 1133 (Andrew Hitt)
Day 1135 (Alan Hostetter)
Day 1136 (Robert Spindell)
Day 1137 (Donald Trump)
Day 1158 (Leah Anderson)
Day 1160 (John Eastman)
Day 1161 (Rob Natelson)
Day 1162 (Earl Wright)
Day 1163 (Dave Williams)
Day 1165 (Liz Harrington)
Day 1166 (Mike Lindell)
Day 1167 (Kris Kobach)
Day 1168 (Elise Stefanik)
Day 1171 (Gilbert Fonticoba)\
Day 1172 (Bob Bartlesmeyer)
Day 1173 (Robert E. Norton II)
Day 1174 (Sandra Merchant)
Day 1176 (Carlos Ayala)
Day 1177 (Mark Robinson)

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Ottawa County (Michigan) Board: Living on borrowed time as elected officials

 
At least that should be their trajectory in an ideal world.

Ottawa County:  Where loonies reign!

Photo credits:  Ottawa County
Headline: WOOD-TV, 1/19/2024

MAGA ideology run amok
Commissioners backed by the conservative political action committee Ottawa Impact have been trying to oust Hambley since their first meeting in January 2023, when they voted to remove her from her role. She sued, saying that was illegal. Commissioners countered that she was never properly appointed by their predecessors. The Michigan Court of Appeals finally ruled that Hambley was rightfully appointed, but also that the board could fire her if it could prove cause under state law. 
Ottawa Impact commissioners then alleged misconduct in the way Hambley handled and spoke to the press about the annual budgeting process. A hearing for Hambley’s removal was held, but commissioners kept putting off a vote on whether or not to remove her, instead meeting in closed session for hours across three days to discuss the possibility of a settlement that would resolve both the termination hearing and Hambley’s lawsuit. 
Finally, in late November, the county and Hambley’s attorney announced they were bringing in a mediator to help them reach a resolution.

Related posts:
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GET ME REWRITE: Trump snookers his MAGA cult into paying his legal bills

 
Headline:  New York Times,
(appeared on front page, above the fold, of 1/19/2024 print edition)
Mr. Trump is facing 91 criminal charges in four jurisdictions, as well as two costly civil trials, where he has used voluntary appearances at New York courthouses this month as public relations and fund-raising vehicles.

Then we have this on page A17.

Why Trump Is Back in Federal Court
Defending Himself in a Defamation Case
New York Times print headline, 1/19/2024

Question already answered.  (See above)

Most egregious omission:  No mention of 'fundraising'.  

Absolute garbage reporting.  All 1700+ words of it.

According to Merriam-Webster, the first-known use of 'snooker' (verb), defined as to make a dupe of: HOODWINK, occurred in 1925.

  1. christie
  2. curb service
  3. Dick test
  4. headbutt
  5. jive
  6. running dog
  7. take for a ride
  8. uh-oh
  
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Neener-neener: GOP outcast MAGA queen Janel Brandtjen fires back, sez Meagan Wolfe is the grifter

 
Headline:  WisPolitics, 1/19/2024
Brandtjen told WisPolitics her calls on Tuesday were an attempt to make a point that if leadership skips the 12th order of business on the calendar, when lawmakers can move to bring measures to the floor, she wouldn’t be able to be heard. 
“I don’t think being able to be heard about an issue that has unfortunately plagued the state of Wisconsin, Meagan Wolfe, is grifting by any means,” she said. 
Brandtjen’s resolution, AR 18, has yet to be scheduled for a committee hearing.

And it will never be.


Janel's long trail of election denial Kool-Aid servings:
January 2024
And the hits just keep on coming:  GOP Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August calls MAGA queen outcast Janel Brandtjen a grifter.  (1/19)

November 2023
Robin Vos to MAGA Queen Janel Brandtjen:  Stop obsessing about Trump's 2020 election loss.  (11/8)

September 2023

August 2023

June 2023

February 2023
Trump rewards slobbering sycophant and fanatical election denier with endorsement in today's 8th Senate District primary.  (2/20/2023)
Democrats educate voters about off-the-charts whackjob Janel Brandtjen. (2/16/2023)

January 2023
Anti-Trump group campaigns against "inept, unqualified, ineffective" election denier Janel Brandtjen.  (2/13/2023)

December 2022
Spoiler alert:  GOP Dan Feyen drops out of Wisconsin 8th Senate District primary, hoping to keep 'divisive fringe candidate' Janel Brandtjen from winning.  (12/30)War of words between Janel Brandtjen and Robin Vos continues (chapter two).  (12/28)
War of words between Janel Brandtjen and Robin Vos continues.  (12/23/2022)
2020 election denier queen Janel Brandtjen sez she won't shut up or stop drinking the Trump Kool-Aid.  (12/20)
GOP caucus outcast and election denier Janel Brandtjen running for open State Senate seat.  (12/6)
One-woman election denier Looney Tunes festival doesn't realize she's about to get cancelled.  (12/5)

November 2022
As John Torinus describes it, Wisconsin GOP election denier Kool-Aid Queen Janel Brandtjen went ballistic over three grains of sand in the desert.  (11/23)
Wisconsin GOP election denier Kool-Aid Queen Janel Brandtjen is even too toxic for her own party's caucus.  (11/16)
GOP judge quickly slaps down Wisconsin election denier queen's lawsuit to block military votes.  (11/8)

October 2022
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If you laid out Madison's streets end to end, you'd end up in Rapid City, South Dakota

Traveling west.

Headline:  Capital Times, 1/19/2024
While cities surrounding Madison have seen their streets clear up, the Madison Streets Division wrote in a memo that “Madison's responsibilities are vast, with 778 miles of roads within the salt route network.”

 Where you can take a side trip to Mount Rushmore.

Photo by Retiring Guy (September 2020)

Traveling east you'd end up in Corning, New York.


Where you can tour the Museum of Glass.

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According to Merriam-Webster, the first-known use of 'friendzone' occurred in 1994

 
Photo credit:  Wikimedia Commons
(ripped in half for effect by Retiring Guy
Headline:  AlterNet, 1/19/2024
Liberal activist Ron Filipowski tweeted a short video of the Trumps walking to a black SUV, where a Secret Service agent held the passenger-side rear door open for Melania. After she climbed inside, she appeared to say something to her husband, who said something brief and inaudible, turned around and got inside the car behind his wife.

According to Merriam-Webster, the first-known use of 'friendzone' (noun), defined as  a state of friendship in which one's romantic or sexual interest  in someone is not reciprocated, occurred in 1994.

  1. bootylicious
  2. BOtox
  3. bottom surgery
  4. pole dancing
  5. terms of service
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Friday, January 19, 2024

The tender sensibilities of Robin Vos and his Assembly Republicans

 
Headline:  Wisconsin Public Radio, 1/18/2023

Could these GOP elected officials they be more direct in revealing their racism and homophobia?
As written, the bill — which passed by a vote of 62-35 on pure party lines — would guarantee parents control over which health care services, including vaccination, their children receive at school. And schools would be required to notify parents before subjects deemed “controversial” are discussed in class. Parents could opt their kids out of certain lessons and be empowered to file suit for up to $10,000 if they feel any of those rights have been violated. 
The bill defines controversial material as “a subject of substantial public debate, disagreement, or disapproval and specifies that the term includes instruction about gender identity, sexual orientation, racial identity, structural, systemic, or institutional racism, or content that is not age-appropriate.”

Related posts:
Usual GOP suspects sponsor bill to expurgate subjects from school curriculum that bruise their tender sensibilities.  (1/6/2024)
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Project 2025: Blueprint for the genocide of transexuals (among many other despicable goals)

 
Project 2025
Headline: The New Republic, 1/19/2024
In 2023, the Republican Party dropped any pretense of being willing to tolerate transgender people. Almost 600 anti-transgender bills were filed in the states in 2023, and 85 passed. This was a sharp rise from previous years, but also continued a trend going back to 2018. Most of these bills were bans on health care, athletics, and bathrooms for transgender youth. The GOP clearly signaled an intent to go much further, however. 
At the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference, Michael Knowles took the main stage and called for the “eradication of transgenderism from public life” to a standing ovation. Not long after, Project 2025 (led by the Heritage Foundation) published the “Mandate for Leadership,” a 900-plus-page blueprint for the next Republican administration. The first legislative item in the executive summary declares that “transgender ideology” is a form of pornography, and that all pornography should be outlawed. It then goes on to call all trans people “child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women.” It further demands that anyone who is a “purveyor of transgender ideology” be put on sex offender lists and imprisoned. [emphasis added]


Related post:
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GET ME REWRITE: Wisconsin Republicans reluctantly dip a toe into the medical marijuana pond

 
The bill limits the number of dispensaries to 5.  The orange boxes added to the map below indicate the 5 most populous areas of the state:  southeast corner, Madison/Dane County, Fox Valley (Green Bay/Appleton/Oshkosh), Eau Claire/west central, La Crosse/Driftless Area.   Wherever the dispensaries end up, many people will have a long drive to get there.


Wisconsin Examiner, 1.9/2024
At a press conference in the state Capitol, Rep. Jon Plumer (R-Lodi) called the bill a “really strong starting point.” Under the plan, five state-run dispensaries would be established where eligible patients could access certain “medical cannabis products” including oils, edibles, pills, gels and vapors. The bill excludes cannabis that can be smoked. “We want to make this available to people, but we want to have tight controls on it as well,” Plumer said.] 
[snip] 
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said that the proposal is modeled after the program that was in place in Minnesota before it fully legalized marijuana in 2023. He said over the weekend that the Republican bill will probably be “the most restrictive version in the entire country.”  [emphasis added]

He sez with unmistakable pride!

How far behind is Wisconsin when it comes to legalized medical marijuana?  Very!

Related posts:
When it comes to the legalization of marijuana, Wisconsin's all-male, whites-only GOP leadership aren't listening to their constituents.  (12/7/2023)
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CES 2024: iGulu F1 home brewing machine


Small-batch brewing.  5 liters = 1.3 gallons.

 Screenshot from video below

CNET, 1/17/2024
This countertop beer maker we tried out at CES is now available to preorder with late January shipping expected. If you want to make your own beer at home with minimal fuss, it could well be for you since you need only add water at the top and scan a barcode to let the machine know which type you're making. The iGulu F1 will ping your phone when you need to add each ingredient, making things super simple.




Other CES 2024 posts:


Hyundai eVTOL purpose built vehicles (PBVs).  (11/24/2023)

Lumary HDMI sync box.  (11/25/2023)
Serry Smart Cooker.  (11/24/2023)

TomTom Map Maker.  (11/28/2023)
Hisense 5S Series Washer.  (11/28/2023)
Samsung Galaxy Z 5Fold.  (11/28/2023)



Cyrusher Hurricane e-bike.  (12/2/2023) 

Invaiz Grid Pro.  (12/4/2023)

AGC Wideye.  (12/6/2023




"Moonwalker" robotic shoes.  (12/30/2023)


Supernal Vertiport.  (1/6/2024)







C Seed N1 TV.   (1/17/2024)
LG Dukebox speaker.  (1/17/2024)

Nanoleaf Skylight.  (1/18/2024)

Motion Pillow.  (1/19/2024)

From the past:
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