Poverty

 

[source]

Midweek Reading

The Gadfly of American Plutocracy
How Compass Became the Bane of Real Estate
How One of the Reddest States Became the Nation’s Hottest Weed Market

Police Association Calls BLM Protesters ‘Terrorists’

Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds Biden's win, rejects Trump lawsuit

Senator Ron Johnson No Longer Has Constituents; He Has a Boss, a Don

The Election is Over. Wisconsin Turns to Redistricting.

Democrat asks Pelosi to refuse to seat lawmakers supporting Trump's election challenges

A new California bill would require a 4-year degree to become a cop

Violence flares in Washington as far-right Trump supporters clash with counter-protesters

Everything We’ve Learned About Modern Economic Theory Is Wrong

Best Metal Music Of 2020

Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment

Rebel Wizard - Magickal Mystical Indifference

Midnight - Rebirth By Blasphemy

Enslaved - Utgard

Sepultura - Quadra

King Diamond - The Institute

Protest The Hero - Palimpsest

The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic

Intronaut - Fluid Existential Inversions

Igorr - Spirituality And Distortion

Warbringer - Weapons of Tomorrow

Cryptic Shift - Visitations From Enceladus

Lamb of God - Lamb of God

Umbra Vitae – Shadow of Life

Vader – Solitude in Madness

Cirith Ungol – Forever Black

Ulcerate – Stare Into Death and Be Still

Lucifer – Lucifer III

Sylosis – Cycle Of Suffering 

Plague - Portraits of Mind
VoidCeremony - Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel

August Burns Red - Guardians

Inferi - Of Sunless Realms

Spirit Adrift - Enlightened In Eternity

Carcass - Despicable

Pallbearer - Forgotten Days

Hellripper - The Affair of the Poisons

Uada - Djinn

Harakiri for the Sky - I, Pallbearer

Necrot - Mortal

Antichrist Demoncore - Satan Is King

Adzes - No On Wants To Speak About It

Gulch - Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress

Satan's Fall - Final Day

Testament - Titans of Creation

Buzzwords Are Not Public Policy or We've Heard Enough From So-Called Business Experts

More cliched economic jargon from error-prone businessmen. 

Biden Needs Some Business Experts

The article moans, "The new administration does not have a lot of chops when it comes to job creation. That’s largely in the domain of the private sector. Biden and his crew are loaded with experience in managing the government, but are extremely shallow in knowing what to do to help the private sector become vibrant again. Remember, all tax revenues come directly or indirectly from dynamism in the private sector. Most companies deserve to be revered for providing jobs and tax revenues, but that is not the mindset of the progressives in the Democratic Party. Their proclivity is regulation. Common sense regulation is a necessity in any economy, but more important is turning entrepreneurs loose to reinvent the economy. They are the job creators, not the government."

There is so much wrong here, it's hard to know where to begin. There are so many regurgitated conservative falsehoods in this right-wing word salad, it really does make the mind spin. For someone who can occasionally make reasonable sounding arguments, John Torinus, more often, just parrots typical Republican talking-points. 

Biden has been working for the citizens his entire adult life. He's plenty familiar with job creation. Republicans are the party that has left this country in recession after recession over the past few decades. And, it has been the Democrats who enacted targeted policies to help pull the country out. Biden was Vice President during the Obama Administration, in case Mr. Torinus has forgotten that fact. 

What did Obama and Biden do? There has not been a consistent job market expansion on record, dating back to 1939, that lasted longer than the expansion during their administration. Job growth was faster than population growth—a key measure of a healthy job market expansion. The typical weekly pay of U.S. workers has been increasing since early 2013 and re The ACA made it possible for more than 20 million individuals to afford health insurance and decreased the share of Americans without health insurance to an all-time low.ached its highest level on record, dating back to 1979, at the end of 2016. They inherited a deficit that claimed 9.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal year 2009. By FY 2016, the deficit had fallen to less than one-third of that, at 3.2 percent of GDP.

Seems like they know something about job creation, reinventing the economy and helping the private sector be vibrant.

And this "dynamism in the private sector" and "turning entrepreneurs loose" are, as Joe Biden would say, a bunch of malarkey. This country has been cutting taxes and deregulating the past 40 years. If the private sector entrepreneurs are so damn dynamic, why does the economy keep falling back into recession when we allow Republicans control of the government?

It's long overdue for the private sector knows it all, government needs to get out of the way-gang to go away. The public sector employs over 20 millions people. The public sector accounts for nearly half of the entire economy. This idea, pushed by Republicans for decades, that government is inept and wasteful is wrong. If anything, the private sector is the wasteful and inefficient actor. Not to mention the fact that the private sector is also selfish and greedy.

Private retirement account fees are drastically higher than public pension fees or Social Security fees. Much of the medical advancements we see are due to university research and the National Institutes of Health. Study after study has shown that public infrastrucutre projects are cheaper when done by unionized public workers, rather than being bid out to private corporations.

 

So, please, Republicans, conservatives, dynamic private sector know-it-alls, please step aside and let the adults in the Democratic party save the country from your destructive and misguided ramblings once again.

Weekend Reading

Robin Vos' plan puts politics ahead of health

One call for PPP loans — that's all Gruber, Irgens needed

Milton Friedman was wrong on the corporation

Beating Up on Finance

Trump Won State, GOP Legislators Declare

The Republican Party Is Now a Seditious Organization

Skills To Pay The Bills

More proof there is no skills gap or skills shortage. 

6 of the top 10 most in demand jobs in Wisconsin through 2026 require a high school diploma, or job-specific training, at most.

[source]

Weekend Reading

How Ronald Reagan’s Racism Helped Pave the Way for Donald Trump’s

Senate GOP confirms yet another 'not qualified' judicial nominee

In Case You Missed It, Reagan Was A Scumbag

Tony Evers releases $541M COVID-19 relief package but Republicans signal tough path

Home Prices Are In a Bubble. Full Stop.

Alito drops pretense of impartiality, delivers political remarks

Milwaukee paid $40M+ in police brutality cases

Ron Johnson More Trumpian Than Trump?

After NY Gov. Cuomo Accuses SC of Partisanship, Cardinal Dolan Hails Decision to Block COVID Church Restrictions

Supreme Court's scientifically illiterate decision will cost lives

The Wisconsin Legislature is a gerrymandered swamp run by self-serving Republicans

Documentary Wants You To ‘Slay the Dragon’ of Gerrymandering In Wisconsin

Republican Senator Faces Insider-Trading Accusations Ahead of Georgia Runoff

'Bye-Bye, Betsy DeVos. You Won't Be Missed,' Says Sanders as Billionaire Education Secretary Attacks Push for Tuition-Free College

Michael Flynn calls for Trump to suspend the constitution and declare martial law to re-run election

How Trump Took the Middle Class to the Cleaners

Iowa Is What Happens When Government Does Nothing

'In Breaking the Senate, We Are Abandoning Our People': Watch AOC Excoriate McConnell on House Floor

Baby boomers have an average of $25,812 of debt, not including mortgages—here’s how they compare to other generations

Why Is Life Expectancy In The US Lower Than In Other Rich Countries?

 

[source]

2020 Takes Alex Trebek But Leaves Mitch McConnell

Fox 6 anchor Ted Perry apologizes for joking about the death of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

If Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, Brian Kilmeade, Steve Doocy, Laura Ingrahm, Tucker Carlson, et al, can pretend they are serious journalists bringing their viewers an honest take on the stories of the day, why can't a local news reporter express his view about a vile man, with a humorous quip, on his private Twitter account?

For context, Mitch McConnell is a piece of shit. He's a power-hungry, know-nothing that has done all he can to steal elections, take away health care, and generally make the lives of Americans more difficult.

Does anyone really think Ted Perry wants McConnell dead? Again, he's just using some humor to drive home the point that we're stuck with some very shitty people, while some of the good ones have passed away. Someone, anyone, argue that Mitch McConnell has done anything good for anyone but himself over his entire political career.

So, for those who can't deal in metaphors, maybe McConnell doesn't need to actually die. But he does need to be voted out of office. He's a terrible public servant. He's a miserable human being. Fuck Mitch McConnell! And fuck anyone that would defend that pile of garbage!

A Message To Trump Supporters Dealing With The Loss Of Their Dear Leader

So here's the deal for all the anti-science, racist, misogynistic, road-blocking, gun-totting, know-nothing, taunting, harassing, hate-spewing, douchebag Trump supporters and voters ... go fuck yourselves!

Now, to live up to all the bullshit you emit into the world, to uphold your anti-socialism blather, your anti-government rhetoric: 

stop relying on police and fire fighters

refuse Medicare and Social Security 

stop driving on the roads

stop using trains and airports

pull your children out of public schools

stop collecting your farm subsidies

stop using food stamps 

don't you dare set foot in a public museum, a public park or a zoo

plow your own roads

clear your own sewage

light your own streets

(to name a few) 

But most of all, and I repeat, go fuck yourselves!!! 

Weekend Reading

How risky is air travel in the pandemic? Here’s what the science says.

Yes, Naps Are Good for You — If You Do It Right

Democrats Have a Much Bigger Problem Than the Senate or the Electoral College

Uline founders Liz and Dick Uihlein test positive for COVID-19. She has criticized coronavirus restrictions.

Republicans claim Wisconsin clerks illegally altered absentee ballots, but they were following election guidance

The U.S. was the world's best prepared nation to confront a pandemic. How did it spiral to 'almost inconceivable' failure?

Biden Could Roll Back Trump Agenda With Blitz of Executive Actions

'This crisis is urgent': Tony Evers urges Wisconsin to stay home on day of record cases, deaths

Progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib Fires Back At Centrist Democrats: ‘I Can’t Be Silent’

Is It Safe To Host Thanksgiving Dinner During The COVID-19 Pandemic?

Ron Johnson is more loyal to Donald Trump than democracy

Fox News: So Full Of Shit

From Reagan to Trump: Here's How Stocks Performed Under Each President

 

[source]

Midweek Reading

Changes that Would Make a Difference in the Biden Administration

AOC’S NEXT FOUR YEARS

The stock market is overvalued, according to almost every measure dating to 1950

What Foxconn Will Cost Taxpayers

The stock market’s strength tells us less about the true state of the economy than at almost any other time over the last five decades

By one key measure, household income, metro Milwaukee is worse off than it was in 1980

If Wisconsin's Legislature were a business, Republicans would've already been fired

How the Satanic Panic Led Straight to QAnon

TRUMP IS TERRIFIED ABOUT GOING TO PRISON AFTER LOSING THE ELECTION, AS HE SHOULD BE

Trump Supporters Spend Weekend Clogging America’s Highways

Disappearing Data

Data show these US industries have the most recession proof jobs

The Other Tool Democrats Have to Rein in the Supreme Court

The NFL rewards men who put their hands on women

The current state of the pandemic in five graphs

Republican senator ‘personally benefited from tax change he sought’ (Ron Johnson is a piece of shit)

To Hell With Florida

Science Denial and COVID Conspiracy Theories

Vos, GOP Use Faked Photos Against Opponents

Trump Supporters: Not Just Ignorant, Also Powerfully Stupid

Rife With Corruption

Trump Supporters

Weekend Reading

Yes, Wisconsin legislators haven’t passed a bill in 6 months

The 50 Richest Americans Are Worth as Much as the Poorest 165 Million

Face masks: what the data say

Every Black Woman Has Faced A Mike Pence

We Must Save Democracy From Conspiracies

Trump Is Killing the Economy Out of Spite

Donald Trump: Biden Better Take COVID-19 More Seriously or He Might Get It and Infect a Bunch of People

Why Wisconsin's largest business group endorses mask-wearing campaign while opposing Evers' mandate (because they're assholes)

‘Wisconsin is what happens when you politicize public health,’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot says

Economists are more like storytellers than scientists – don’t let the Nobel for ‘economic sciences’ fool you

Supercut Exposes Fox News’ Hypocrisy On Kamala Harris Debate Criticism

The “Bluelining” of Cities in Red States

Trump’s Covid Treatments Were Tested in Cells Derived From Fetal Tissue

Disdainful Mark Meadows Refuses Reporter Request To Put On His Face Mask

Do Trump’s Taxes Show He’s a Failure, a Cheat, or a Criminal?

Half of the 20 Metro Areas Worst-Hit by COVID Are All in One State

Mitch McConnell showed his true colors in a Kentucky Senate debate against Amy McGrath

Sheldon Whitehouse Made the Case That Amy Coney Barrett's Nomination Is a Bag Job

The U.S. was the world's best prepared nation to confront a pandemic. How did it spiral to 'almost inconceivable' failure?

Convention Center Expansion Approved

Hundreds of millions for another boondoggle.

Wisconsin Center Gives Final Approval for $420 Million Expansion

There are many better ways to spend this money.

See Milwaukee's Boondoggle Twofer, The Economic Impact Mythology Of Convention Centers, The Convention Center Cabal and Beware Of The Economic Development Hucksters.

Amendments

Pelosi introduces bill under 25th Amendment for commission to evaluate fitness of future presidents

While the Democrats are introducing new Amendments, how about a few of these:

• Abolish the Electoral College
• Make the number of Senators a state has dependent on the state's population
• Make elections free and fair
• Correct gerrymandered districts, bi-partisanly establish how districts are to be drawn 
• Set term limits for the Supreme Court

Weekend Reading

Should Sheriff’s Budget Be Cut?

How to Spend Less On Police

Conservative Group Seeks Immediate Stop To Wisconsin Mask Mandate

Wisconsin Is on the Brink of a Major Outbreak

The truth about violent crime in American cities, explained in 11 charts

Revealed: pro-Trump activists plotted violence ahead of Portland rallies

Black people were 8 times more likely to be pulled over by Milwaukee police in 2019 than white people, new report says

Trump’s Closing Message to Seniors: I Don’t Care If You Die

Idaho pastor who encouraged congregants to go maskless is in intensive care unit after contracting coronavirus

GOP appeals ruling that extended time to count Wisconsin absentee ballots

A Disgusting Night for Democracy

Night Parking Rules a Tax on the Poor?

Covid-19’s stunningly unequal death toll in America, in one chart

When the American Dream Became the Urban Planning Nightmare

The Decline of Wisconsin’s Republican Party

GOP leaders go to court in support of effort to strike down Tony Evers' mask mandate

Trumpworld delighted in cruelty. Now that Trump has COVID, it demands empathy.

They Went Full Malkin. You Never Go Full Malkin.

‘A Symbol Of Your Own Failures’: Jake Tapper Takes It To Trump

Do Students Need Calculus Anymore?

Why Should Court End Mask Mandate, Judge Asks

Wisconsin’s Legislature Laziest in U.S.?

Brianna Keilar Destroys Larry Kudlow, Trump's Economic Lap Dog

Trump Says COVID “Affects Virtually Nobody” As Death Toll Hits 200,000

Hollywood Pedo Industrial Complex

Lies, Lies, Lies

Weekend Reading

A conservative legal gadfly faces the music

Humans Wiped Out Two-Thirds of the World’s Wildlife in 50 Years

THE FBI DIRECTOR JUST BLEW UP TEAM TRUMP’S ANTI-ANTIFA WAR PLAN

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio on capitalism’s crisis: The world is going to change ‘in shocking ways’ in the next five years

White House on 200,000 Coronavirus Deaths: Call Us When 2 Million of You Are Dead

The US leads the world in exactly one of 50 social progress indicators

CDC Now Says COVID-19 Isn’t Airborne Threat. Scientists Say That’s Wrong.

How the Right Rigs Elections

Nassim Taleb - and Universa - Versus the World

CNN Host Delivers 6-Minute Takedown Of Fox News’ Coronavirus Misinformation

The Notorious RBG & The Billionaire-Fueled, Republican Party's Last Gasp

Republicans: Hypocritical, Nihilistic, Shameless, Moral Black Holes

Midweek Reading

Milton Friedman’s Vision Has Failed. Let’s Bury It and Move On.

America’s real law-and-order problem is racism

Trade Wars Are Class Wars: Even More than Klein and Pettis Say

Lindsey Graham Earlier Vowed a President in Their Last Year Shouldn't Fill Supreme Court Vacancy: 'Use My Words Against Me'

In A Change From 2016 Stance, Ron Johnson Favors Vote On SCOTUS Nominee

Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration

The Republican ‘Do Nothing’ Strategy

Noam Chomsky’s Green New Deal

A Much Bigger Income Shift To Top 1% Than Anyone Thought

Landmark Study: A Much Bigger Income Shift To Top 1% Than Anyone Thought

A new analysis by the RAND Corporation examines what rising inequality has cost Americans in lost income—and the results are even bigger than expected.

Midweek Reading

Blue States are Not Wrong to Want to Restore the Deduction for State and Local Taxes

After Kenosha shootings, former Sheriff David Clarke advises radio listeners on how to get away with killing protesters

Trump calls for Fox News journalist to be fired for report on war dead scandal

Trump is making a mockery of public health. His rally in North Carolina demonstrated it.

How Dangerous Is Police Work?

120 Officer Cut May Be Just The Beginning

Science Magazine Editor Pens Scathing Critique Of Trump’s ‘Shameful’ COVID-19 Lies

US elections 2020: Fact-checking Trump on crime in Democratic-run cities

Trump claims crime is up in US cities. The truth is more complicated.

Confederate Statues Were Never Really About Preserving History

58% of Key Great Lakes Wetlands Unprotected

Trump’s ABC town hall revealed a president disconnected from reality

50 years later, Milton Friedman’s shareholder doctrine is dead

Karma

Oregon Republican Who Blocked Climate Change Bill Loses Home To Wildfires

More Holiday Reading

Norquist Says City Not ‘Most Racist’

Trump Defends Kenosha Shooting Suspect

Trump Compares Police Shooting Of Jacob Blake To Golfer Who ‘Chokes’ During Putt

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson Touts ‘Citizen Soldiers’ To ‘Overwhelm Rioters’

Bill Ackman on saving capitalism: Every child in the U.S. could be given enough money at birth to become millionaires by retirement

Civil unrest is happening in Donald Trump’s America, not Joe Biden’s

Kenosha destroyed Tucker Carlson’s narrative

Republican Senators Offer 8 Police Bills

From QAnon to Kyle Rittenhouse, the Right is Sinking Deeper Into an Alternate Reality

Stocks Are Soaring. So Is Misery.

Kyle Rittenhouse, Kenosha, and the Sheepdog Mentality

White Vigilantes Have Always Had A Friend In Police

Trump's Presidency in Seven Metrics

Cities and States Are Facing a $1 Trillion Budget Mess. There Will Be More Trouble Ahead.

White supremacists and militias have infiltrated police across US, report says

The Crowding-Out Myth

How the Myth of a Liberal North Erases a Long History of White Violence

Why police encouraged a teenager with a gun to patrol Kenosha’s streets
Central bankers need to overhaul outdated thinking on labor markets

Writing is the best way to discover what you think

Capturing The Police

Holiday Reading

The Fed has a new approach to inflation: What it means for your savings, credit-card debt — and your mortgage rate

Why do taxpayers subsidize rich farmers?

U.S. Debt Is Set to Exceed Size of the Economy Next Year, a First Since World War II

Want to Be a Landlord? Consider This First

Black-Scholes Option Pricing is Wrong

Chicago 's Wall: Race, Segregation and the Chicago Housing Authority

How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering

10 Crucial Things That Result From Einstein’s Theories of Relativity

Do Your Fucking Job!!!

Vos Task Force Deflects Actual Action. Speaker refuses to convene legislature to address policing and racial disparities.

Robin Vos is a piece of shit.

Sorry, maybe that's unfair to feces.

Robin Vos is a selfish, know-nothing, do-nothing, waste of space. 

Weekend Reading

Jacob Blake's mother calls for prayers, end to violent protests in Kenosha

Colectivo Owners Oppose Union

CEO Pay Has Risen 1,167% Since 1978

Russiagate Was Not a Hoax

The MyPillow Guy, explained by someone who read his memoir

Milwaukee Police Gobble Up City Budget

The age of endarkenment

Doctors to Ron Johnson: COVID-19 Is More Lethal Than the Flu

Record $926 million flows into controversial Chicago TIF districts, more than a third of city property taxes

The City Planners' Case for Defunding the Police
Daniel Dale On Convention Lies: 'It's Hard For Me To Know Where To Start'

Crooks & Liars Staffers Remember The Wonderful Values Of Ronald Reagan

This Presidential Candidate Is Not Well

Endarkenment

Weekend Reading

Barr Condemned For Spreading Misinformation On Vote By Mail

Rep. Jayapal was on fire, and absolutely destroyed Bill Barr.

150,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. Here's why that staggering loss of life can't be ignored

Great Time for a Vacant Property Tax

It’s Going to Be a Long and Harsh Recession: NYT Warns of Skills Gap

Thoughts on Zachary Carter’s The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes

United States of Conspiracy

A Milwaukee pastor compared mask mandates to the Holocaust at a Brookfield Common Council meeting

We already know how to beat COVID-19 in three easy steps

Why Vos and Fitzgerald Fear Fair Maps
Most Americans Are Buying Into President Trump’s False Arguments About Crime

Gov. Tony Evers Issues Statewide Mask Mandate For Wisconsin

Conservative Legal Expert: Trump Election Tweets Are Grounds For Impeachment

Republican Ideology: Unfair & Unbalanced

Midweek Reading

A New Understanding of Herd Immunity

Tom Brady's pseudoscientific wellness racket is the American dream

Financial challenges will force conversation about cutting Milwaukee police budget

Mike Pence’s Unreality Show

Inside Trump’s Failure: The Rush to Abandon Leadership Role on the Virus

The State of Black Milwaukee in National Perspective: Racial Inequality in the Nation’s 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas. In 65 Charts and Tables

Ohio House Speaker Arrested In Connection With $60 Million Bribery Scheme

A new Trump campaign ad depicting a police officer being attacked by protesters is actually a 2014 photo of pro-democracy protests in Ukraine

Obama Built Most of Trump’s Good Economy

The Math of Social Distancing Is a Lesson in Geometry

An Extreme Indifference to Human Life

Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers

Midweek Reading

Lincoln Project’s new ad brutally smacks down GOP cowardice

Trump Jr. gets dragged for self-published book that includes glaring error on the cover

It’s Going to Be a Long and Harsh Recession: NYT Warns of Skills Gap

75 Years of American Finance: 1861-1935
The leveraging of America: how companies became addicted to debt

The Boat Business is Booming

Is your dog younger (relative to human years) than you think? Study debunks 7 years claim

The Math of Social Distancing Is a Lesson in Geometry

Wisconsin Ranks Worst in the Country for the Spread of Coronavirus

County Parks Lost Funding to Bucks Arena

Chris Hayes Unloads On GOP: ‘One Of Worst Parties In Power In Entire Democratic World’

Paul Krugman Sinks Donald Trump With A Titanic Analogy About His Coronavirus Failings

Masks help prevent the spread of the coronavirus—here’s a breakdown of how effective they are

Roger Stone Still A ‘Convicted Felon,’ And ‘Rightly So,’ Says Robert Mueller In Angry Op-Ed

GOP congressman suffers coughing fit — while praising Trump at mask-optional GOP convention

The murder that inspired Twin Peaks is the subject of a new documentary

Republican Business As Usual: Do As They Say, Not As They Do

Legislators Who Opposed Pandemic Aid Grab Grants

Robin Vos and three other Republicans who opposed federal grants got at least $150,000.

McConnell's Wife's Family Business Appears on Trump Admin's List of Companies That Received Most PPP Money

A shipping business started by Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao's family received at least $350,000 in loans set aside for companies struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to data published Monday by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Midweek Reading

The real cost of Amazon

Spending on Police Up 30% Since 1986

How Many Fewer Cops With A 10% Cut?

The Banality of State Sen. Luther Olsen

Republicans fought for local control over virus restrictions, now they’re fighting that local control

Just Use Your Thinking Pump!

Why venture capital doesn’t build the things we really need

Wisconsin Billionaires’ Net Worth Rose 36% During Pandemic

Oil And Gas Pipelines Look Like Increasingly Risky Bets
Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks’ controversial charter school

Legislators Who Opposed Pandemic Aid Grab Grants

McConnell's Wife's Family Business Appears on Trump Admin's List of Companies That Received Most PPP Money

Wisconsin Has Fastest COVID-19 Spread In U.S.

The Study That Debunks Most Anti-Abortion Arguments

The Guardians of Gotcha

Most Dangerous Jobs

[source, source]

Police Education & Training

Since we often hear about how stressful, complicated and dangerous the job of law enforcement is, why aren't we requiring more education and training for those jobs? Since police are surely paid like a professionals, the requirements to obtain the job should be commensurate.

Midweek Reading

Wisconsin Police Have $45 Million Surplus In Military Equipment

Supreme Court Leaves Clean Water Act Intact

Why UWM Matters

Protests against police put $454 million in military gear under spotlight

The Supreme Court’s landmark LGBTQ rights decision, explained in 5 simple sentences

Coronavirus Cases Surge In Alabama, South Carolina And Oklahoma

The Coronavirus Is Still Spreading, Trump And Congress Are Still Dithering

One of America’s worst acts of racial violence was in Tulsa. Now, it’s the site of Trump’s first rally in months.

Trump Puts A Bull's-eye On His Own Health
Racism is undeniably a public health issue

Stop Measuring Life According To The Stock Market

Too Many Cops

The national average is just under 28 per 10,000.

[source]

We must also remember that the current average of 28 per 10,000 population is the average in our current over-policed nation.  It's plausible and probably preferable that the average be closer to 20, 15 or even 10 per 10,000 population.  This further drives home the point that we have too many police.

Midweek Reading

A federal judge who accused Barr of ‘distorting’ the Mueller report has read an unredacted version — and now he’s demanding some answers

The devaluing of black property has led to the devaluing of black lives

Minneapolis may be the first city to dismantle the police

10 things we know about race and policing in the U.S.

Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing, on why cops are being so brutal and what should be done with them

NYC has way too many cops

America’s Civil War

Amazon: Taxpayer Subsidies Help Build its Monopoly

10 Steps States Should Take to End Corporate Giveaways
Milwaukee now in phase 3 of reopening: Here's what that means

As They Scream Voter Fraud, Trump And His Press Secretary May Have Voted Illegally

Trump Has Imprisoned Himself in the White House

US billionaires have regained $565 billion in wealth since the pit of the crisis

Police unions dig in as calls for reform grow

After Protests, Politicians Reconsider Police Budgets and Discipline

The Police

The Inappropriately High Cost Of Police

This Is How Much Major Cities Prioritize Police Spending Versus Everything Else

Growing calls to “defund the police,” explained

Why Rising Police Budgets Aren’t Making Cities Safer

Cities Spend More and More on Police. Is It Working?

How Much Do U.S. Cities Spend Every Year On Policing?

City Coffers, Not Police Budgets, Hit Hard By the High Cost of Brutality

What a World Without Cops Would Look Like

NEW YORK CITY AND LOS ANGELES SLASH BUDGETS — BUT NOT FOR POLICE

POLICE BUDGETS PUT OTHER RESOURCES IN JEOPARDY

The Price of Defunding the Police

SPENDING BILLIONS ON POLICING, THEN MILLIONS ON POLICE MISCONDUCT

Federal Programs and The Real Cost of Policing

Exploitative Revenues, Law Enforcement, and the Quality of Government Service

Police Misconduct Is Increasingly a Financial Issue

No More Cop Unions

Making Policing More Affordable

Measuring the Costs of Police Services 

Police and Corrections Expenditures

How Cities Offload the Cost of Police Brutality

The Burden of Municipal Police Costs

The Only Way To Fix It Is To Flush It All Away

Voting By Mail

Bad Cops & The Insufferably Woke

Times are tough. Really tough. Donald Trump is our so-called leader. A pandemic is sweeping the globe. Unemployment has exploded. America's inability to address racism and inequality is, again, on display.

Social media has been full of hashtags and finger-pointing. The righteous woke folk, cohorts of the cancel culture, are again calling for purity among the herd, while virtue-signaling their own superiority.

Most recently, in Milwaukee, the dust-up has been over Mayor Tom Barrett, on a Thursday, announcing that bars and restaurants could open to 25% capacity, on a Friday.

Complaints of this announcement ranged from a lack of notice, being a distraction, being political, to ... well, things really just went off the rails. This seems typical of liberals - the urge to eat their own. The immediate issue here would seem to be racism and/or police brutality. Yet somehow this has veered off into when and how restaurants should open up, how they're notified about such, the guidelines, how the mayor is a meanie, being a distraction or not, and so many other rabbit holes.

It became clear this was, again, another case of the self-superior types (and they all seem to be white) patting themselves on the back while, in essence, going after what would appear to be their allies because of a perceived lack of purity.

Lack of Notice

Many complaints were about the lack of notice regarding the reopening and their inability, thus, to prepare for such. But nothing said your bar or restaurant has to reopen right now. The mayor just gave notice that bars and restaurants could open at 25% capacity. After being closed for over two months (or just having curbside pick-up) one would think this would be good news for struggling bars and restaurants.

And, what exactly would have been the right amount of notice? How should this notice have been given? Is it a week? Two weeks? Was the mayor supposed to call each and every bar and restaurant owner to notify and or discuss.

If you don't want to open, don't. But know that you can when you want to and you are ready.

Guidelines

Another complaint was a perceived lack of guidelines for reopening. Yet guidelines for how we all interact during the pandemic have been spelled out, repeatedly, by the CDC, the WHO, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the Wisconsin Department of Health and the City of Milwaukee Health Department, to name a few. Wear a mask, stay 6 feet apart, wash your hands a lot, disinfect surfaces a lot, etc.

Milwaukee Releases Five Criteria To Open Up

Milwaukee outlines plan to re-open city

Distraction

Others complained this was a distraction - to allow bars and restaurants to open up now - during a time of protest for racial justice and police accountability. So, my question here is, are businesses to stay closed until we have complete racial harmony? What is the time frame?

Do some think people don't have the ability to walk and chew gum? People can't be focused on societal improvement ... and occasionally go out to eat?

So, let me get this straight, the George Floyd murder, at the hands of a piece of shit cop (and his shitty accomplices), has inflamed our better senses, but if we can suddenly dine out again, we'll forget about that? If that's the case, you're not as righteous, woke, or enlightened as you think you are.

Pushing for people to concentrate on one thought, or being able to only hold one idea at a time, doesn't make you a woke warrior, it makes you a baby. People can do more than one thing. If the fact that the mayor announcing a 25% capacity reopening for bars and restaurants has distracted you from the fact that America is, and has been, extremely racist and has a lot of work do, you're not woke, you're not an adult, you're just a squirrel distracted by any sudden noise or light.

And, it appears most of the recent distraction and other complaints about reopening are coming from white people. Which begs the question, where have you been? There's a long history of racism, oppression, segregation and inequality in America. It didn't just start in May 2020.

If you're so woke, let's look through all of your Twitter, Instagram and Facebook posts over the years and see how much time and effort you put forth in seeking racial equality and justice. Some of these same people were complaining of the lockdown not too long ago. Being closed, or being deemed non-essential, not being able to operate, that was un-American. The government, in trying to manage the pandemic, was overreaching and putting businesses at risk.

Seems to be a lot of bandwagon-jumpers with slogans and hashtags, pretending they've been part of the solution all along, and then criticizing, what would appear to be, their allies for not being as perfect as them, in their little fictionalized, sanitized, revisionist world.

The Mayor

A lot of vitriol has been throw at Mayor Barrett. He may not be perfect, but he sure as hell just seems to be trying to do the right thing. But let me get this straight, he alone is supposed to run a major city, try to manage the pandemic and solve racism?

Further, the mayor is not the police. Tom Barrett doesn't make the call for tear gas, rubber bullets or the use of force. Tom Barrett has called for officers to be fired and he has marched with the protesters. Tom Barrett took a pipe beating at State Fair to protect a baby and her grandmother. He is not some insensitive, racist, political apparatchik. He's doing his best to try to keep the city safe while trying to figure out how to move forward and right the wrongs. But there are no guidelines for this (at least not as many clear and concise guidelines as there are for operating your business during a pandemic); sometimes you have to figure it out as you go.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett joins protesters in Wisconsin against police killing of George Floyd

The Police

I've long complained about the police. Not that they are all bad or that it's not a tough job. But their budgets take way too much money from municipalities, which could be used for economic development, training, education, small business loans, etc. Which could go a long way toward helping poverty and inequality.

Yet, there are a lot of bad police doing bad things and costing their municipalities millions of dollars for their criminality. They need better vetting, training and accountability. Our country needs a paradigm shift in how we look at and operate our policing and law enforcement.

Also, we just have too many police in too many communities. We need to focus on police serving and protecting rather than simply enforcing the law. Because their emphasis seems to be on the force part of enforcement. 

In Closing

This country has a long way to go toward racial justice, fair pay, equal opportunity, health care as a right, giving voice to the voiceless, and numerous other issues where we sadly lag behind. So, by all means, peacefully protest, run for office, vote for candidates that will actually do something, join an advocacy or lobbying organization, or start a local group to focus on a particular issue. Focus on the issue(s), know your true enemy and don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

Proactive, Productive Ways to Help

Milwaukee Urban League using community roundtables to identify solutions to end injustice

A guide to protesting during a pandemic
How To Protest Safely During A Pandemic
Barack Obama Shares Action Plan For Real Change Amid Protest
If you're planning to take part in protests, know your rights
Teaching Ideas and Resources to Help Students Make Sense of the George Floyd Protests

4 Ideas That Could Begin to Reform the Criminal Justice System and Improve Police-Community Relations

Police Reform
Five Reforms Every Police Department Should Make

How To Reform American Police

5 Issues that Should Be Part of Efforts to Reform Policing in Local Communities

Reforming Police

Statistical, References

U.S. Police Shootings: Blacks Disproportionately Affected

The list of people injured or killed in officer-involved incidents is still growing

How much do we need the police?

The End of Policing

Majority of Minneapolis City Council Pledges to Dismantle Police Department