Saturday, September 6, 2025
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Thursday, August 14, 2025
U.S. Crime
2024 Elections Results Map
Republican Percent of 5 Highest Aggravated Assault States: 80%
Democrat Percent of 5 Lowest Aggravated Assault States: 80%
Republican Percent of 5 Highest Violent Crime States: 80%
Democrat Percent of 5 Lowest Violent Crime States: 100%
Republican Percent of 5 Highest Murder Rate States: 80%
Democrat Percent of 5 Lowest Murder Rate States: 80%
Republican Percent of 5 Highest Burglary Rate States: 60%
Democrat Percent of 5 Lowest Burglary Rate States: 100%
State ranking source: safehome.org
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Wisconsin, We Can Do Better Than Derrick Van Orden
Ron Johnson has competition for the biggest-idiot prize
Your Republican Party: Asshole Hate Rage Edition
Republican mocked for sharing nonsensical post in Elizabeth Warren attack
Derrick Van Orden’s seat is up in 2026.
Wisconsin, We Can Do Better Than Robin Vos
Robin Vos is a self-serving, slimy, and corrupt hypocrite.
After a fire left 5 people dead and 100 displaced, Vos was indifferent toward mandating retrofitting sprinklers in older buildings to prevent such a loss in the future.
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says changes to sprinkler laws unlikely after Milwaukee fireAfter a right-wing lunatic gunned down lawmakers (with plans to kill others), Vos wanted more security for sessions at the Capitol.
Rep. Robin Vos asks for increased security for upcoming Assembly session after Minnesota shootings
For Vos, the safety of others - no so important. But for himself, spare no expense.
Robin Vos is a selfish piece of shit.
Wisconsin, when will you finally be embarrassed by politicians like Vos? Vos (like most Republicans) got into politics for money and power. He doesn't care about Wisconsinites. He isn't trying to improve anyones' quality of life other than his own.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Questionable Economic Impact Claims
Wisconsin Department of Tourism claims $321 million economic impact from Republican National Convention.
As Center Square clarified:
Economists who have studied the impact of national party conventions says a report from the marketing firm Tourism Economics does not accurately reflect the actual impact of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Economist Victor Matheson of College of the Holy Cross has studied and written on national conventions and large events, He called the release, which claims the event had a $321.5 million impact, a “promotional booklet/press release, not a serious economic impact study.”
Center Square, in other economic impact reporting, further noted:
Economists say the numbers produced by the marketing group do not follow economic study principals and are not reputable. The numbers are used by politicians and state tourism departments to justify spending.
“Viewing what ‘economic impact’ consultants do to be economics is like considering horoscopes to be astronomy,” economist J.C. Bradbury of Georgia’s Kennesaw State University recently wrote. “Newspapers are smart enough to put horoscopes next to the comics and Dear Abby, while economic impact ‘studies’ get banner headlines on the front page.”
Bradbury noted economic impact analysis is not something real economists do and there is a reason that work is not presented at conferences or published in journals.Economic impact is often claimed surrounding publicly funded sports stadium projects or sporting events.
The annual tourism reports are paid for by state tourism departments and national tourism agencies.
Urban Milwaukee reported:
But when the Common Council discussed the RNC in September, it wasn’t as favorable.
“It didn’t trickle into the neighborhoods,” said Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic of the economic impact.
In an email to Dimitrijevic, LuLu Cafe & Bar owner Cameryne Roberts said the RNC didn’t result in a business boom. “For what it’s worth, the RNC was a complete bust for us and most of the other Bay View business owners I spoke with, not to mention those in other parts of town.”
Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs asked for the final report to include a geographic breakdown and diversity data. “I just want us, as a council, in case we’re asked again to sign on to anything like this, to be aware of its impact. And where things might not have been how we wanted it to be, or we might not have achieved the goals we were going to achieve, that we recognize that and that we work differently in the future to better achieve those goals,” said Coggs. The final report does not include the breakdown requested.
Reports during the convention highlighted how many businesses outside of the hard security perimeter were seeing lackluster business. Across the month of July, sales tax revenue in Milwaukee was actually down year over year. But the state, which collects the revenue, does not collect data by week.
Per usual, many of these economic-impact no-brainers (conventions, stadiums, Olympics, etc.) which are touted to be win-wins for cities and states are anything but.
Friday, May 16, 2025
Saturday, February 22, 2025
Sliding Back Into Superstition And Darkness
“I have a foreboding of America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time–when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all of the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; with our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.
And when the dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites now down to 10 seconds or less, lowest-common-denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.”
“It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.”
And when the dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites now down to 10 seconds or less, lowest-common-denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.”
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”
Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Carl Sagan
Largest National Debt Increase In U.S. History Occurred During Donald Trump's First Term
'I Did The Math, Sean': James Carville Hits Hannity With Searing Fact Check On Live TV
The national debt — under Trump’s first term in office — grew by $7.8 trillion, the largest four-year increase in history, The Washington Post found last year.
The national debt — under Trump’s first term in office — grew by $7.8 trillion, the largest four-year increase in history, The Washington Post found last year.
Sunday, January 26, 2025
Best Metal of 2024
Full of Hell & Andrew Nolan – Scraping the Divine
Full of Hell - Coagulated Bliss
Resin Tomb – Cerebral Purgatory
Necrot – Lifeless Birth
Undeath – More Insane
Couch Slut – You Could Do It Tonight
Krallice – Inorganic Rites
Judas Priest – Invincible Shield
Gigan – Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus
Ulcerate – Cutting the Throat of God
Oranssi Pazuzu – Muuntautuja
Frail Body – Artificial Bouquet
Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
High on Fire - Cometh the Storm
Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To
Gatecreeper - Dark Superstition
Chat Pile - Cool World
Drug Church - Prude
Devin Townsend - PowerNerd
Opeth - The Last Will and Testament
Crypt Sermon - The Stygian Rose
Ihsahn - Ihsahn
Resin Tomb – Cerebral Purgatory
Necrot – Lifeless Birth
Undeath – More Insane
Couch Slut – You Could Do It Tonight
Krallice – Inorganic Rites
Judas Priest – Invincible Shield
Gigan – Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus
Ulcerate – Cutting the Throat of God
Oranssi Pazuzu – Muuntautuja
Frail Body – Artificial Bouquet
Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
High on Fire - Cometh the Storm
Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To
Gatecreeper - Dark Superstition
Chat Pile - Cool World
Drug Church - Prude
Devin Townsend - PowerNerd
Opeth - The Last Will and Testament
Crypt Sermon - The Stygian Rose
Ihsahn - Ihsahn
Aborted - Vault of Horrors
Lucifer - Lucifer V
Zeal and Ardor - Greif
Job for a Cowboy - Moon Healer
Tribulation - Sub Rosa In Aeternum
Benighted - Ekbom
Akhlys - House of the Black Geminus
Black Lava - Savage Winds to Wisdom
Cognizance - Phantazein
Crypt Sermon - The Stygian Rose
Fleshgod Apocalypse - Opera
Ingested - The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams
Ministry - Hopiumforthemasses
Vale of Pnath - Between the Worlds of Life and Death
Thou - Umbilical
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Monday, January 20, 2025
Friday, January 10, 2025
Sunday, December 29, 2024
Thursday, December 26, 2024
Sunday, November 24, 2024
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Endarkenment
So the supposedly Jesus-loving, flag-waving crowd feels a convicted felon, convicted rapist, bankrupt, tax cheat, philandering, con man is the best leader for our country and the example they'd like to set for the children. What a disgrace!
Republicans, don't preach another second about law-and-order, God, morality, right-and-wrong, or any of your other meaningless talking points. The Republicans are the party of stupid. They are the party of ignorance. They are the party of immaturity. They are the party of hypocrisy. They are the party of petulance. They are the party of greed. They are the party of misogyny. They are the party of racism. They are the party of homophobia. They are the party of transphobia. They are the party of cognitive dissonance. Republicans are non-thinking, spineless, windbags.
But now let's talk about the apathetic American voter. In 2020, 66% of eligible voters went to the polls. Pathetic in it's own right. But, in 2024, what was deemed the most consequential election ever, even fewer voters turned out. Twenty million less people (as of this writing) voted for president in 2024 than in 2020. Embarrassing!
Let's not forget about the media. Normalizing this insanity every step of the way. I'm not just talking about Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN. We all know they are full-of-shit shills. But all media outlets reporting on the Trump candidacy as if it were just any other. If anyone should have been continually sounding the alarm and raising questions about a cheating, traitorous, felon, it was our media. Instead, Trump got a pass. His incoherence and ramblings were largely ignored. The media overlooked the actual economic record of Biden/Harris and failed to correct the narrative that the economy was doing poorly. Everyone was focused on questioning Kamala and having her discuss specific policies. Meanwhile, Trump was allowed to ramble and dance at his rallies.
I can't end this without mentioning the fact that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris entered office and ushered us out of the pandemic without pulling us down into a recession. In case you forget, Donald Trump had lost jobs, lowered the American standard of living, ignored the pandemic and told people to drink bleach. [Plus this, this, and this.] And, not only did the U.S. not enter a recession under Biden/Harris, our economy is leading the world - the stock market it up, GDP is up, wages are up, jobs are up, and inflation is down. As The Economist noted, The U.S. Economy is the Envy of The World. This is what the geniuses on the right have voted against and the apathetic slouches on the left decided not to vote for. Sad.
For Further Reading:
U.S. economic growth remains impressive. It’s the envy of the world, except at home
The American economy has left other rich countries in the dust
The U.S. Economy Reaches Superstar Status
The robust U.S. economy is leaving ‘other rich countries in the dust’
The envy of the world
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
The Writing On The Wall
Republicans have seen the writing on the wall. Decades of indicators have shown the majority of voters align with Democrats' policies. This is why Republicans have gerrymandered, suppressed votes, pushed voter identification, closed polls, and just generally tried to make it harder to vote or exclude people from voting. It's the only way Republicans have been able to win elections. The Republicans don't really have any ideas for public policy. And, they really don't care. Power is their ultimate goal. The power to control the purse strings of the government. Hence, they are continually trying to make it so that only those voting Republican can vote.
Republicans threaten a government shutdown unless Congress makes it harder to vote
Monday, August 12, 2024
Monday, July 29, 2024
Really Frickin' Petty (RFP)
New Land blasts city development office shortly before downtown site award
It’s a shame when things don’t go your way. But for those who are supposed to be the bastions of free market competitiveness, there seems to be a lot of dependency on the public sector. And when contracts aren’t awarded, some of these private entities lash out, point fingers, and cry the blues.
This criticism is laughable considering development companies are the ones who continually beat the market drum all the while insisting cities and states fork over millions to help fund their projects. And then if they don’t get their way, and a pile of cash, something is wrong with the process.
The Business Journal article notes:
New Land's criticisms of the city's development department extend beyond the Marcus Center parking structure project: Gokhman says the department has "chronic problems" and "deep dysfunction" that are "stifling development"
This coming from a company that has been awarded similar projects in the past. The company was also involved in foreclosure proceedings in the not-so-distant past. What's that old saying about glass houses? Funny how private developers believe they should be able to dictate what a city’s development department does.
Regarding another often-used development handout, the article details, “Tax incremental financing is a tool local governments can use to pay for new developments that are expected to grow the tax base by using future property taxes those developments generate to help repay the city's investment in those projects.” What they leave out is that this financing was intended to serve blighted areas, not locations where development is already thriving.
The Journal article quotes another developer:
"When you do put out an RFP, you have to be ready, willing and able to make the commitment to help make it successful," said Bob Monnat of Milwaukee development firm Mandel Group Inc. "None of these larger RFP sites have anywhere of a chance of creating the kind of outcome that everyone would like to see unless there's some major participation on the part of the city to help get it over the hump."
Talk about entitlement. Developers seem to believe the City should alleviate all risk from the project, while the private developers get to walk away with all the profits. What a partnership!
Aren’t some of these concepts what the free market is supposed to be all about? Isn’t this part of the conservative mythology we’ve heard over the last many decades about the private sector, job creators, the wise surveyors of the market? So why do they even need the inefficient, mismanaged, inconsistent, misleading, and dysfunctional public sector?
A big problem for New Land’s Gokhman seems to be that the City Development Department took longer than expected. I’m sure that developers never take longer than expected. They’re always on time and everything they propose is seen through to completion. [Sigh. Eye roll.]
Seems odd to have such an issue with not being awarded this site, but then to also state:
New Land supports Johnson’s vision of growing Milwaukee and believes the city's current zoning code and DCD's urban planning team are "one of the best in the country," Gokhman said.
But then Mr. Gokhman continued:
He cites the downtown Fourth and Wisconsin site near the Baird Center and the former Army Reserve site in the city's Bay View neighborhood — which both remain undeveloped after years of discussion — as key examples of failure."No one at DCD loses their job if development doesn’t occur," Gokhman said. "There’s no accountability."
So, unless every city site is maximally developed, by the city, someone has failed? Seems there is a lot of contradictory ideas and sour grapes going on here. Let’s not forget - failure happens. Everything doesn’t work out as planned in life. [As an example, see the above discussion of Mr. Gokhman’s company's foreclosure activities.]
City development is booming. Newer offices, hotels, apartments, retail, etc. have steadily been built over the last few decades. Milwaukee has seen downtown development unlike anything since WWII. But the City should throw more money at private developers because a few sites have yet to be developed? Or should the City allow itself to be bullied by developers attempting to rake them over the coals in the media? I don't think either of these would be policy or process improvements.
These developers' public whining is just a big bushel of bitter, sour grapes.
Friday, July 19, 2024
Thursday, July 18, 2024
Me Thinks Thou Doth Protest Too Much
It's been a great strategy for the Republican party - accuse Democrats of being guilty of all the Republicans' wrongdoings.
They repeat the lie about rampant voter fraud...and in the majority of the few cases of fraud, the perpetrator is a Republican.
During this latest campaign, and most recently at the Republican National Convention, one prominent Republican talking-point point is that Biden (or the Biden administration) is corrupt.
I thought it might be helpful to remind all of the crimes committed by Trump and his associates.
The Cases Against Trump: A GuideTrump criminal charges guidebook: Here are all the felony counts against the former presidentKeeping Track of the Trump Criminal Cases
Here’s a list of Trump’s ex-associates who have faced chargesCharted: Trump world allies sentenced to prison11 Trump associates have now been charged with crimes.
A Guide to Trump Allies Who've Pleaded Guilty or Been Convicted of CrimesThere is a swamp in Washington...brought to America by the Donald Trump administration. The fact that the Republican party has chosen this felon (and his cabal of miscreants) as their leader and candidate for the presidency is hypocritical, irresponsible, and embarrassing. The (supposed) party of law and order, Christian values, right and wrong, etc., supporting a philandering, tax cheating, felon for president is as stupid as it is shameless.
Donald Trump and his sycophants are not fit for office. No responsible, reasonable, clear-thinking American should vote for any of these Republican clowns. They are selfish, spineless, greedy, opportunists only concerned with their own well-being. None of them have any inkling of duty or commitment to public policy and what is best for America.
Let's keep government functioning in the interest of the citizens, not the monied elite. Let's keep investing in American infrastructure and jobs, Social Security and Medicare, public schools, clean air and water, to name a few. To go back to the ways of Trump and Project 2025 would be to abandon the American dream and relegate America to a dictator and plutocrats.
Keep America sane. This November, vote Democrat.
For Further Reading:
30 Things Joe Biden Did as President You Might Have Missed
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