I know that as "Wisconsin's Event City" we love all of our special events equally (except of course for Sawdust Days) but there is one event that continues to be the best event we host--and second place is not even close. I'm talking about Saturday at the EAA Airventure.
I accompanied my parents to the EAA on Saturday, despite a long week of being on the grounds as part of our extended coverage this year here on WOSH because the show the Association puts on that day is absolutely worth missing a little bit more sleep. Consider that you can bring your family to Airventure for that day, see pieces of history in the Warbirds and Vintage areas, check out the latest in military technology in Boeing Plaza, let your kids make their own airplanes, hear from real-life heroes, and maybe even learn a little bit about science and technology--and that is before the afternoon airshow even starts.
Saturday's show featured an hour of Warbirds putting on a living history display--complete with pyrotechnics--and we got a full hour of loud military jets buzzing the field left and right. The night airshow at EAA is worth the price of admission alone--differing from the afternoon show with a more artistic flair, a routine that came straight out of TRON, a laser that could shoot its beam more than 30,000 feet into the sky, a lighted drone display and a fireworks display that is the best north of Festa Italiana in Milwaukee--oh and the there is a giant wall of flame at the end.
I know there are events here that boast of their "million dollar lineup"--but when you consider the value of operating P-51 Mustangs, Corsairs, B-29's and C-47's--along with what Uncle Sam is paying for KC-10 tankers, C-16 cargo jets, F-22's, F-14's and B-52 bombers, I would estimate that Airventure features a quarter-billion dollar lineup.
But maybe the best part of Saturday at the EAA Airventure is what you don't get. You don't get drunk people yelling profanities and getting into fights. You don't get marijuana smoke blown in your face. You don't get uncomfortable public displays of affection or over-exposure of certain body parts. You don't get people puking on the ground. You don't get beer spilled on you when someone's favorite pilot starts doing their favorite routine. You don't even have to worry if your kids decide to run around a little bit while waiting for the airshows to begin.
And maybe that is why at a time when some of our other events here in Oshkosh are downsizing and cutting back on their days due to dwindling attendance, EAA Airventure is seeing record and near-record attendance the past few years (even without a big-name performance jet team this year). In the free-market economy, people vote with their wallets--and they are voting Saturday at Airventure "Event City's Best of the Best".
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Friday, July 20, 2018
Who Is Really Locked Up
If you ever want to start a conversation filled with misinformation and misguided solutions, bring up the topic of corrections reform. I was reminded of that over the past few days after watching the Democratic candidates for Governor debate and the Winnebago County Board meeting. It is clear that those involved in the discussion have no idea who is actually sitting behind bars.
In the Democratic debate we heard plenty about prison overcrowding and how the state should not build another corrections facility--since "too many of the wrong people" are locked up right now anyways. Kelda Roys even claims that she has a plan to cut Wisconsin's prison population in half if elected. What was never mentioned once in the debate is the 2016 Department of Corrections audit that listed the percentage of the inmate population by criminal conviction.
The main talking point among liberals now is that we have too many people incarcerated due to "minor drug offenses". During the Winnebago County Board meeting we got a double dose of this misinformation--as supporters of legalizing marijuana use claimed people are getting locked up for just having a joint on them. Would you like to take a guess as to what the most common crime is among Wisconsin's prison population is? It's sexual offenses--representing 28% of the inmates currently detained. Number 2 is murder/homicide/attempted homicide--that is nearly 20%. Robbery is number three at 13%. Assaults are fourth at ten percent. Burglary is fifth at five percent. Battery is sixth at five percent--and repeat drunk driving offenses are seventh at about five percent.
Drug possession convictions--starting with intent to deliver--followed by manufacturing and delivering take up the next spots at a total of less than seven percent of the prison population. Simple possession--and that is usually nultiple convictions of that offense--represents just one-point-six percent of those men locked up in Wisconsin prisons. And lest you think that possession charges fill up our county jails, Sheriff John Matz informed the County Board this week, he's got two inmates currently being held on that charge.
So when you consider that 85% of our prison population is behind bars for violent crimes that endangered public safety, where is Kelda Roys going to find the 50% that she wants to set free? And Winnebago County's diversion programs are already filled to capacity with so many people on electronic and GPS monitoring that the Sheriff's Department really can't take on any more cases. And when people talk about how we need to use probation and parole as alternatives to incarceration, keep in mind that more than 67-hundred prison inmates currently behind bars are there because their probation and parole was revoked. They were given the chance to remain free and stay out of further trouble--and they simply could not do it--even with the threat of long prison terms hanging over their heads.
Let's stop pointing fingers at the justice system or our laws for the high rates of incarceration in Wisconsin and in the US--and assign the blame to where it really belongs: a society that has decided that it is not going to live within the laws designed to protect the population.
In the Democratic debate we heard plenty about prison overcrowding and how the state should not build another corrections facility--since "too many of the wrong people" are locked up right now anyways. Kelda Roys even claims that she has a plan to cut Wisconsin's prison population in half if elected. What was never mentioned once in the debate is the 2016 Department of Corrections audit that listed the percentage of the inmate population by criminal conviction.
The main talking point among liberals now is that we have too many people incarcerated due to "minor drug offenses". During the Winnebago County Board meeting we got a double dose of this misinformation--as supporters of legalizing marijuana use claimed people are getting locked up for just having a joint on them. Would you like to take a guess as to what the most common crime is among Wisconsin's prison population is? It's sexual offenses--representing 28% of the inmates currently detained. Number 2 is murder/homicide/attempted homicide--that is nearly 20%. Robbery is number three at 13%. Assaults are fourth at ten percent. Burglary is fifth at five percent. Battery is sixth at five percent--and repeat drunk driving offenses are seventh at about five percent.
Drug possession convictions--starting with intent to deliver--followed by manufacturing and delivering take up the next spots at a total of less than seven percent of the prison population. Simple possession--and that is usually nultiple convictions of that offense--represents just one-point-six percent of those men locked up in Wisconsin prisons. And lest you think that possession charges fill up our county jails, Sheriff John Matz informed the County Board this week, he's got two inmates currently being held on that charge.
So when you consider that 85% of our prison population is behind bars for violent crimes that endangered public safety, where is Kelda Roys going to find the 50% that she wants to set free? And Winnebago County's diversion programs are already filled to capacity with so many people on electronic and GPS monitoring that the Sheriff's Department really can't take on any more cases. And when people talk about how we need to use probation and parole as alternatives to incarceration, keep in mind that more than 67-hundred prison inmates currently behind bars are there because their probation and parole was revoked. They were given the chance to remain free and stay out of further trouble--and they simply could not do it--even with the threat of long prison terms hanging over their heads.
Let's stop pointing fingers at the justice system or our laws for the high rates of incarceration in Wisconsin and in the US--and assign the blame to where it really belongs: a society that has decided that it is not going to live within the laws designed to protect the population.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Pot City
The state Democratic Party won't have as many uniformed voters heading to the polls on their behalf in Winnebago County this month. The County Board failed to approve a referendum asking voters if they support legalizing marijuana for recreational and medicinal use last night. A number of speakers from outside the county gave their impassioned pleas to hold the vote--including some claiming to have health conditions that "can only be treated with cannabis (the preferred replacement word for marijuana in this debate"--and that the non-binding referendum is going to "save their lives".
Supervisors themselves trotted out the tired talking points of "they are going to smoke anyway" and "marijuana is a gateway drug to harder stuff" during their debate. Only a handful pointed out that the referendum is pointless--as it will not create any new laws and will be generally ignored by those that actually pass laws in this state. But what is never discussed is what legalized marijuana would actually "look like" here in Oshkosh. I'm not talking about the plant materials being sold--but rather the "industry" and the "culture" that would be created.
In states where recreational and medicinal marijuana use has already been legalized, dispensaries have become concentrated in predominantly minority neighborhoods. There they sit amongst liquor stores, check-cashing outlets, rent-to-own centers and payday lenders--the types of businesses that prey on uneducated consumers and those who really don't have the money to be spending in them in the first place. So where could we expect out pot shops to go up in Oshkosh? Obviously, there will be one near the campus, and probably a couple along North Main Street. Southside locations would include Main Street again and Oregon. If convenience stores don't fit Mayor Steve Cummings "grand vision" for Oshkosh--how will marijuana dispensaries in areas "ripe for redevelopment" go over?
And what will be our policies on public consumption of marijuana? The Oshkosh School District and the Boys and Girls Club conduct programs that seek to counteract the impact on kids of seeing their parents and friends abusing alcohol and drugs. How effective will those be when kids walk past dispensaries on their way to school? The City of Appleton is banning cigarette smoking from within 20-feet of their playgrounds. Would they have to add smoking a joint to that ban--or will the pro-pot groups claim that second-hand smoke would actually "improve" the health of kids--since it provides miracle cures for so many afflictions?
Finally, there are a number of legal aspects that never garner any discussion. We have a defined legal limit for alcohol consumption before one is considered impaired. We don't have a defined legal limit for THC consumption before one is considered impaired. Because the use of a vehicle under the influence of any controlled substance is considered illegal the threshold is legally ZERO. But if marijuana is no longer a controlled substance, lawmakers will have to decide how high is too high to drive. And law enforcement will have to come up with a field test to determine if drivers are over that limit so that they can be removed from the streets--instead of waiting for blood test results that can take weeks. I am yet to hear one marijuana use supporter come before a government body with recommendations on any of the legal issues their proposals would raise.
Democrats are getting a little bit of help from the County Board, as they did approve the "non-paritisan body to oversee redistricting" referendum for the November ballot. But don't ask anyone who "supports" that measure to explain how the math and the political science would work.
Supervisors themselves trotted out the tired talking points of "they are going to smoke anyway" and "marijuana is a gateway drug to harder stuff" during their debate. Only a handful pointed out that the referendum is pointless--as it will not create any new laws and will be generally ignored by those that actually pass laws in this state. But what is never discussed is what legalized marijuana would actually "look like" here in Oshkosh. I'm not talking about the plant materials being sold--but rather the "industry" and the "culture" that would be created.
In states where recreational and medicinal marijuana use has already been legalized, dispensaries have become concentrated in predominantly minority neighborhoods. There they sit amongst liquor stores, check-cashing outlets, rent-to-own centers and payday lenders--the types of businesses that prey on uneducated consumers and those who really don't have the money to be spending in them in the first place. So where could we expect out pot shops to go up in Oshkosh? Obviously, there will be one near the campus, and probably a couple along North Main Street. Southside locations would include Main Street again and Oregon. If convenience stores don't fit Mayor Steve Cummings "grand vision" for Oshkosh--how will marijuana dispensaries in areas "ripe for redevelopment" go over?
And what will be our policies on public consumption of marijuana? The Oshkosh School District and the Boys and Girls Club conduct programs that seek to counteract the impact on kids of seeing their parents and friends abusing alcohol and drugs. How effective will those be when kids walk past dispensaries on their way to school? The City of Appleton is banning cigarette smoking from within 20-feet of their playgrounds. Would they have to add smoking a joint to that ban--or will the pro-pot groups claim that second-hand smoke would actually "improve" the health of kids--since it provides miracle cures for so many afflictions?
Finally, there are a number of legal aspects that never garner any discussion. We have a defined legal limit for alcohol consumption before one is considered impaired. We don't have a defined legal limit for THC consumption before one is considered impaired. Because the use of a vehicle under the influence of any controlled substance is considered illegal the threshold is legally ZERO. But if marijuana is no longer a controlled substance, lawmakers will have to decide how high is too high to drive. And law enforcement will have to come up with a field test to determine if drivers are over that limit so that they can be removed from the streets--instead of waiting for blood test results that can take weeks. I am yet to hear one marijuana use supporter come before a government body with recommendations on any of the legal issues their proposals would raise.
Democrats are getting a little bit of help from the County Board, as they did approve the "non-paritisan body to oversee redistricting" referendum for the November ballot. But don't ask anyone who "supports" that measure to explain how the math and the political science would work.
Monday, July 16, 2018
But When We Get Behind Closed Doors
The meeting that everyone fears will speed up the end of civilization as we know it is now underway. President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are meeting behind closed doors in Helsinki, Finland and only the worst is feared. There is genuine concern that the President will just haphazardly spill classified information to Putin--who will use it to further infiltrate the American political process, drive more wedges between the US and its Western European allies and confound our efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East. Fortunately, reports state that the President doesn't read nor understand the daily security briefings he receives--and therefore likely doesn't have any viable information to provide to Putin--that is unless Fox and Friends discussed classified info recently.
What is happening behind those closed doors is the same melodrama that plays out anytime President Trump meets with other people of power: He will talk big about his private businesses, mistakenly state the position of the US, dismiss the importance of the other leader and demand full loyalty to whatever decisions and courses of actions that he might take in the future--even if they are contradictory in nature. If the world leader agrees to that, the President will publicly praise them and say the meeting went "great--best summit in Presidential history". If the President doesn't get his way--or the other leader challenges or questions his motives, there will be public attacks on that leader, sometimes with them standing right next to him.
The Washington Post had a great article last Friday on why President Trump struggles to get along with our allies--and wants to be so friendly with our enemies: because in his mind, international relations--like everything else in his life--is strictly about him. The President doesn't go to summits seeing himself as a representative of America, he considers himself to be America--so when other leaders don't capitulate to his demands or echo his sentiments on topics, they are seen to be "attacking America". Nevermind that all other facets of relations between our countries are going great--if your leader isn't "nice" to President Trump, our "relations have never been worse--and it's the other country's fault.
Vladimir Putin is no overmatched bureaucrat that rose to power in a political system. He is ex-KGB--and he is ruthless. Putin comes into this meeting knowing everything about President Trump--how to gain his trust, how to push his buttons, how to manipulate his love of the spotlight to advance Russia's ulterior motives--while President Trump likely comes in knowing nothing about how Putin ticks. His strategy will be to brag, threaten and engage in passive-aggressive techniques that will play directly into the Russian dictator's hands.
And once the doors swing open, we will see two smiling men shaking hands--one will be happy because another guy was nice to him and made him feel powerful--and the other one knowing he had just played his adversary for a chump.
What is happening behind those closed doors is the same melodrama that plays out anytime President Trump meets with other people of power: He will talk big about his private businesses, mistakenly state the position of the US, dismiss the importance of the other leader and demand full loyalty to whatever decisions and courses of actions that he might take in the future--even if they are contradictory in nature. If the world leader agrees to that, the President will publicly praise them and say the meeting went "great--best summit in Presidential history". If the President doesn't get his way--or the other leader challenges or questions his motives, there will be public attacks on that leader, sometimes with them standing right next to him.
The Washington Post had a great article last Friday on why President Trump struggles to get along with our allies--and wants to be so friendly with our enemies: because in his mind, international relations--like everything else in his life--is strictly about him. The President doesn't go to summits seeing himself as a representative of America, he considers himself to be America--so when other leaders don't capitulate to his demands or echo his sentiments on topics, they are seen to be "attacking America". Nevermind that all other facets of relations between our countries are going great--if your leader isn't "nice" to President Trump, our "relations have never been worse--and it's the other country's fault.
Vladimir Putin is no overmatched bureaucrat that rose to power in a political system. He is ex-KGB--and he is ruthless. Putin comes into this meeting knowing everything about President Trump--how to gain his trust, how to push his buttons, how to manipulate his love of the spotlight to advance Russia's ulterior motives--while President Trump likely comes in knowing nothing about how Putin ticks. His strategy will be to brag, threaten and engage in passive-aggressive techniques that will play directly into the Russian dictator's hands.
And once the doors swing open, we will see two smiling men shaking hands--one will be happy because another guy was nice to him and made him feel powerful--and the other one knowing he had just played his adversary for a chump.
Friday, July 13, 2018
The Stuntmen of Washington
Everything you need to know about how Washington works nowadays is contained in the mini-drama that is Congressman Mark Pocan's bill to do away with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The opening act featured Pocan making the rounds on the news networks promising to draft the measure--attacking ICE for their detaining illegal immigrants across the country, raiding employers that were hiring undocumented workers and taking children from illegals trying to enter the country outside of proper checkpoints.
Earlier this week in Act Two, Pocan held a press conference here in Wisconsin to "unveil" the bill--and to again attack ICE, claiming that President Trump is using it as a "weapon" against people of color and questioning its very purpose. As expected, Pocan's Dane County supporters backed his effort and called him "brave" to take on the issue. A few other ultra-liberal members of Congress announced they would co-sponsor Pocan's bill.
But then yesterday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy created a major plot twist in Act Three when he announced that he would bring Pocan's bill to the floor for a vote--and all hell broke loose. Immediately, Democrats decried McCarthy's promise--calling it a "political stunt". Supporters of the bill started dropping like flies, and in another plot twist last night, Pocan himself said he would vote against his own bill. So who was really pulling the "political stunt"?
One of the benefits to being in the minority in Congress or the Legislature is that you can introduce measures like Pocan's that you know won't fix a darn thing--but that will be automatically blocked by the majority party. That way in your next campaign, you can tell your supporters "I introduced legislation to address this issue, but that evil other party never allowed it to come up for a vote!" It's the perfect way to "do something" while really doing nothing.
If Pocan's bill were to actually come to the floor for a vote, Democrats would be in an impossible position--at least in how it will play with their base. Vote for it and moderates in your district will question your commitment to enforcing the laws that are on the books. Vote against it and your liberal supporters will question why you didn't "do something" to end the practice of arresting illegal immigrants and separating families at the border.
As the story of the "abolish ICE" movement proves, Washington today is nothing but theatrics created to appeal to certain audiences--and everybody does their own stunts.
Earlier this week in Act Two, Pocan held a press conference here in Wisconsin to "unveil" the bill--and to again attack ICE, claiming that President Trump is using it as a "weapon" against people of color and questioning its very purpose. As expected, Pocan's Dane County supporters backed his effort and called him "brave" to take on the issue. A few other ultra-liberal members of Congress announced they would co-sponsor Pocan's bill.
But then yesterday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy created a major plot twist in Act Three when he announced that he would bring Pocan's bill to the floor for a vote--and all hell broke loose. Immediately, Democrats decried McCarthy's promise--calling it a "political stunt". Supporters of the bill started dropping like flies, and in another plot twist last night, Pocan himself said he would vote against his own bill. So who was really pulling the "political stunt"?
One of the benefits to being in the minority in Congress or the Legislature is that you can introduce measures like Pocan's that you know won't fix a darn thing--but that will be automatically blocked by the majority party. That way in your next campaign, you can tell your supporters "I introduced legislation to address this issue, but that evil other party never allowed it to come up for a vote!" It's the perfect way to "do something" while really doing nothing.
If Pocan's bill were to actually come to the floor for a vote, Democrats would be in an impossible position--at least in how it will play with their base. Vote for it and moderates in your district will question your commitment to enforcing the laws that are on the books. Vote against it and your liberal supporters will question why you didn't "do something" to end the practice of arresting illegal immigrants and separating families at the border.
As the story of the "abolish ICE" movement proves, Washington today is nothing but theatrics created to appeal to certain audiences--and everybody does their own stunts.
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Toe the Line
Every spring there is a big media campaign to get everyone looking to dig up a new garden or planning to plant trees or put up a new fence to "call Diggers Hotline" at least three days before doing any excavating. The ads feature ominous warnings about electrocution or explosions caused by rupturing underground utilities. And yet, it is very rarely the homeowner working in the backyard that is responsible for such incidents. Usually, it is commercial and municipal work crews.
Having access to police and fire scanners, I can tell you that gas leaks are surprisingly common. It's an almost weekly occurrence in the Fox Valley. Just yesterday, there were incidents in Fond du Lac and Sheboygan that required emergency response and small-scale evacuations of surrounding homes and businesses. Fortunately, the events in Sun Prairie this week are extremely rare--as utilities are able to shut off the gas flow quickly and there is not a source of ignition nearby.
The reason you don't see public service announcements telling contractors to call before they dig is because large-scale operations like street and sewer repair are given detailed diagrams of the underground utilities in their project area. Water, sewer, natural gas, power and communications lines are all mapped with their location and depth clearly marked--and yet, crews are cutting through them on a weekly basis.
It is possible that the diagrams and schematics provided to the crews are erroneous. Plotting was a low tech procedure when some lines were installed in the early 1900's--and it's possible that conduit and pipelines could have been marked wrong on original maps. Those elements could also shift with the freezing and thawing cycle of the ground. But it still seems like far too many pipelines and fiber optic cables are being severed during routine construction work.
Keep in mind that backhoes and excavators are not precision instruments. If you've ever driven by a work site, you've likely noticed one guy operating the machine and three or four guys standing around watching him. That's not just a union thing, those guys are likely assigned to keep an eye on the bucket--because as the hole gets deeper, the operator can see less. But still, they should be doing a better job of digging accurately and safely. As Sun Prairie proved, the stakes are much higher than you would think.
Having access to police and fire scanners, I can tell you that gas leaks are surprisingly common. It's an almost weekly occurrence in the Fox Valley. Just yesterday, there were incidents in Fond du Lac and Sheboygan that required emergency response and small-scale evacuations of surrounding homes and businesses. Fortunately, the events in Sun Prairie this week are extremely rare--as utilities are able to shut off the gas flow quickly and there is not a source of ignition nearby.
The reason you don't see public service announcements telling contractors to call before they dig is because large-scale operations like street and sewer repair are given detailed diagrams of the underground utilities in their project area. Water, sewer, natural gas, power and communications lines are all mapped with their location and depth clearly marked--and yet, crews are cutting through them on a weekly basis.
It is possible that the diagrams and schematics provided to the crews are erroneous. Plotting was a low tech procedure when some lines were installed in the early 1900's--and it's possible that conduit and pipelines could have been marked wrong on original maps. Those elements could also shift with the freezing and thawing cycle of the ground. But it still seems like far too many pipelines and fiber optic cables are being severed during routine construction work.
Keep in mind that backhoes and excavators are not precision instruments. If you've ever driven by a work site, you've likely noticed one guy operating the machine and three or four guys standing around watching him. That's not just a union thing, those guys are likely assigned to keep an eye on the bucket--because as the hole gets deeper, the operator can see less. But still, they should be doing a better job of digging accurately and safely. As Sun Prairie proved, the stakes are much higher than you would think.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Ruling the Neighborhood of Make Believe
You could say that almost everyone involved in politics pretends to be someone they are not. In some situations putting on a façade can make you more popular--or increase your appeal to a certain group of people. But those who engage in identity politics are starting to take that to the extreme.
Take Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kelda Roys, who reportedly pretended to be gay in order to appeal to attendees at a gay pride parade in Madison seven years ago. Roys was engaged in a campaign for Congress against Mark Pocan--who actually is gay. Roys reportedly told attendees that she and her "partner" had to go to Iowa to get married. The inference was that Roys was in a same-sex marriage, as that was recognized in Iowa at the time--but not here in Wisconsin. The only thing is, Roys is married to a man.
You can understand why Roys--in the surroundings of a gay pride event--may have decided to take on an alternate identity. In the world of identity politics, if you are gay, you are expected to vote for the gay candidate if there is one. To not do so would be "voting against your own self-interests". Unfortunately for Roys, her opponent was gay (in a race to replace a lesbian member of Congress). So while she may have held all of the "correct" stances on issues related to the gay community, she just wasn't "one of them", so she tried to fake it--knowing that was the only way she could hope to get any support in that primary. By the way, Pocan apparently hasn't forgotten that. When asked about it by reporters, he said Roys likely "regrets the comments she made"--and wouldn't say that he finds her "honest and trustworthy".
The Roys story comes out as the white woman that was pretending to be black in order to get scholarships and jobs--Rachel Dolezal, who now goes by the name Nkechi Diallo--was allegedly pretending to be poor too. Dolezal is charged with welfare fraud--accused of receiving housing assistance for two years, while failing to report 84-thousand dollars in income. I'm sure that she will claim that she is being targeted because of her "race"--and that a famous "white person" would never have been charged.
When you were a kid it was fun to pretend to be someone or something you were not. But as an adult--and especially one running for public office or assuming a "community leadership position", it's just embarrassing and patronizing.
Take Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kelda Roys, who reportedly pretended to be gay in order to appeal to attendees at a gay pride parade in Madison seven years ago. Roys was engaged in a campaign for Congress against Mark Pocan--who actually is gay. Roys reportedly told attendees that she and her "partner" had to go to Iowa to get married. The inference was that Roys was in a same-sex marriage, as that was recognized in Iowa at the time--but not here in Wisconsin. The only thing is, Roys is married to a man.
You can understand why Roys--in the surroundings of a gay pride event--may have decided to take on an alternate identity. In the world of identity politics, if you are gay, you are expected to vote for the gay candidate if there is one. To not do so would be "voting against your own self-interests". Unfortunately for Roys, her opponent was gay (in a race to replace a lesbian member of Congress). So while she may have held all of the "correct" stances on issues related to the gay community, she just wasn't "one of them", so she tried to fake it--knowing that was the only way she could hope to get any support in that primary. By the way, Pocan apparently hasn't forgotten that. When asked about it by reporters, he said Roys likely "regrets the comments she made"--and wouldn't say that he finds her "honest and trustworthy".
The Roys story comes out as the white woman that was pretending to be black in order to get scholarships and jobs--Rachel Dolezal, who now goes by the name Nkechi Diallo--was allegedly pretending to be poor too. Dolezal is charged with welfare fraud--accused of receiving housing assistance for two years, while failing to report 84-thousand dollars in income. I'm sure that she will claim that she is being targeted because of her "race"--and that a famous "white person" would never have been charged.
When you were a kid it was fun to pretend to be someone or something you were not. But as an adult--and especially one running for public office or assuming a "community leadership position", it's just embarrassing and patronizing.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Making a Murderer II: Forget All That Other Stuff
If they really do make a second series of Making a Murderer, those who didn't bother to watch the first installment may want to skip it, because you will have no idea what the heck is going on. If you have seen it, you will recall that the filmmakers want you to believe that Steven Avery is a patsy framed by police, prosecutors and a corrupt justice system in the murder of Teresa Halbach back in 2005.
The original series tries to make the argument--based on Avery's original defense and appeal--that the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department, upset that Avery has been released from prison after DNA evidence proved he did not commit a rape--and now due a large settlement--sets out to frame Avery after it turns out he was the last person to see Halbach alive on his family's compound. The conspiracy grows to include the Calumet County Sheriff's Department--who was called in to handle the on-site investigation because of Avery's relationship with Manitowoc County. Toss in a special prosecutor that was found to be sexting with a much younger domestic abuse victim, the key to Halbach's vehicle that you can't see in picture of Avery's bedroom but was found by investigators, a blood vial with a broken seal in his previous court files, and a confession from Avery's not so intelligent nephew providing all of the gory details and you have yourself a pretty good story to sell.
Making a Murderer had a built-in audience: those who will always believe that law enforcement is crooked and that the justice system is tilted against the "little guy". Hey, "they" put away Avery once for a crime he didn't commit, so why couldn't they do it again? The case became a cause celebre as Hollywood stars, politicians and high-profile attorneys all came to Avery's defense, demanding he be set free and granted another trial--or that the "crooked investigators and prosecutors" be tried instead. He even became a hashtag!!
But as they say in Hollywood, Avery and his high-profile appeals attorney have "flipped the script". In their latest motion for reconsideration, Avery's team completely drops the "he was framed by police" story--and instead are claiming that a member of Avery's own family is framing him. Either his brother-in-law or another nephew is the "real killer"--and they created an elaborate ruse to make it look like Steve is the one that did it. The blood inside Halbach's SUV that we were told came from the court file vial? That was actually collected by the family member from Avery's sink--because he knew that Steve had cut his hand that same day and it hadn't been cleaned up. That same family member then cleaned up all of the blood and planted Halbach's key in Avery's bedroom for police to find when they came back with a second search warrant.
I highly doubt any of this will ever make it to Netflix. It's easy as a moviemaker to accuse police officers, prosecutors, judges and expert witnesses of breaking the law with little to no evidence--as they are public officials and such accusations are generally covered by the first amendment. But when you start accusing Joe Average of murder and conspiracy to conceal you are treading in the dangerous waters of defamation, slander and libel. Not to mention, fewer people will buy it (literally). Plus, there is no liberal cache to blaming family members for framing someone for murder--so the social media buzz will be next to nothing.
However, making the sequel will set us up for Making a Murderer III--where Steven Avery wakes up to find out that Teresa Halbach is still alive--and all of this was just a dream sequence. Hey, it's just as plausible as the first movie.
The original series tries to make the argument--based on Avery's original defense and appeal--that the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department, upset that Avery has been released from prison after DNA evidence proved he did not commit a rape--and now due a large settlement--sets out to frame Avery after it turns out he was the last person to see Halbach alive on his family's compound. The conspiracy grows to include the Calumet County Sheriff's Department--who was called in to handle the on-site investigation because of Avery's relationship with Manitowoc County. Toss in a special prosecutor that was found to be sexting with a much younger domestic abuse victim, the key to Halbach's vehicle that you can't see in picture of Avery's bedroom but was found by investigators, a blood vial with a broken seal in his previous court files, and a confession from Avery's not so intelligent nephew providing all of the gory details and you have yourself a pretty good story to sell.
Making a Murderer had a built-in audience: those who will always believe that law enforcement is crooked and that the justice system is tilted against the "little guy". Hey, "they" put away Avery once for a crime he didn't commit, so why couldn't they do it again? The case became a cause celebre as Hollywood stars, politicians and high-profile attorneys all came to Avery's defense, demanding he be set free and granted another trial--or that the "crooked investigators and prosecutors" be tried instead. He even became a hashtag!!
But as they say in Hollywood, Avery and his high-profile appeals attorney have "flipped the script". In their latest motion for reconsideration, Avery's team completely drops the "he was framed by police" story--and instead are claiming that a member of Avery's own family is framing him. Either his brother-in-law or another nephew is the "real killer"--and they created an elaborate ruse to make it look like Steve is the one that did it. The blood inside Halbach's SUV that we were told came from the court file vial? That was actually collected by the family member from Avery's sink--because he knew that Steve had cut his hand that same day and it hadn't been cleaned up. That same family member then cleaned up all of the blood and planted Halbach's key in Avery's bedroom for police to find when they came back with a second search warrant.
I highly doubt any of this will ever make it to Netflix. It's easy as a moviemaker to accuse police officers, prosecutors, judges and expert witnesses of breaking the law with little to no evidence--as they are public officials and such accusations are generally covered by the first amendment. But when you start accusing Joe Average of murder and conspiracy to conceal you are treading in the dangerous waters of defamation, slander and libel. Not to mention, fewer people will buy it (literally). Plus, there is no liberal cache to blaming family members for framing someone for murder--so the social media buzz will be next to nothing.
However, making the sequel will set us up for Making a Murderer III--where Steven Avery wakes up to find out that Teresa Halbach is still alive--and all of this was just a dream sequence. Hey, it's just as plausible as the first movie.
Monday, July 9, 2018
Europe in Eclipse
Hopefully, we won't be distracted by "concerns" over separated immigrant families as the southern border or Justin Bieber's engagement to pay attention to what could be a huge week in terms of the geo-politics of Europe. President Trump is off to the continent to discuss the future of NATO--and how he thinks it should operate going forward.
The President's main beef is that the US covers seventy percent of the military budget for NATO. Other member countries are required to spend at least two percent of the their gross domestic product on defense--but only four of the 29 are currently meeting that threshold. That "underspending"--and subsequent US funding to cover any shortfalls in NATO's budget--has been a key to the growth of Socialism in Europe.
Living under the protective wing of the United States, countries across Europe have built huge "nanny states" with government-funded health care, secondary education, mass transit, and housing--the types of things you can spend money on when you don't have to build warplanes, missiles and patrol the oceans in nuclear powered aircraft carriers. In a way, the US has helped to subsidize those social programs since the end of World War Two.
For several generations, there were calls on both sides of the Atlantic to reduce American military presence in Europe. Remember the protests when the US placed short-range nuclear weapons near the Iron Curtain under President Reagan? And there have been protests in the streets here about how the US doesn't need to "extend its military presence around the world". But should President Trump come back from his NATO summit this week saying that soldiers are being brought home, that installations will be dismantled and that air and sea patrols will be scaled back and there will be cries of betrayal from all quarters.
It doesn't help that immediately after throwing down the gauntlet with our friends in Europe, Trump plans to meet in private with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. You know that Trump will be more than happy to brag about how Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron begged him not to pull US funding for NATO and how they kissed his feet and promised to start paying their fair share. And Putin will sit there and smile, knowing the enormous social and economic upheaval that would mean for nations that have grown fat and soft under the US's protection.
The seeds of major conflict are always strewn across European soil. Let's hope the President doesn't spread too much manure when he is over there this week.
The President's main beef is that the US covers seventy percent of the military budget for NATO. Other member countries are required to spend at least two percent of the their gross domestic product on defense--but only four of the 29 are currently meeting that threshold. That "underspending"--and subsequent US funding to cover any shortfalls in NATO's budget--has been a key to the growth of Socialism in Europe.
Living under the protective wing of the United States, countries across Europe have built huge "nanny states" with government-funded health care, secondary education, mass transit, and housing--the types of things you can spend money on when you don't have to build warplanes, missiles and patrol the oceans in nuclear powered aircraft carriers. In a way, the US has helped to subsidize those social programs since the end of World War Two.
For several generations, there were calls on both sides of the Atlantic to reduce American military presence in Europe. Remember the protests when the US placed short-range nuclear weapons near the Iron Curtain under President Reagan? And there have been protests in the streets here about how the US doesn't need to "extend its military presence around the world". But should President Trump come back from his NATO summit this week saying that soldiers are being brought home, that installations will be dismantled and that air and sea patrols will be scaled back and there will be cries of betrayal from all quarters.
It doesn't help that immediately after throwing down the gauntlet with our friends in Europe, Trump plans to meet in private with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. You know that Trump will be more than happy to brag about how Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron begged him not to pull US funding for NATO and how they kissed his feet and promised to start paying their fair share. And Putin will sit there and smile, knowing the enormous social and economic upheaval that would mean for nations that have grown fat and soft under the US's protection.
The seeds of major conflict are always strewn across European soil. Let's hope the President doesn't spread too much manure when he is over there this week.
Friday, July 6, 2018
Holding Out
Usually I would never use this space to promote a strike. I find them to usually be counter-productive and only serve to hurt those that walk the picket line. I would usually never encourage someone to take part in a pro-abortion protest, since I was born and wouldn't want to deny someone else the opportunity to enjoy life as much as I have. But I would like to whole-heartedly throw my support behind the #Lysistrata2018 movement.
If you are not familiar, Lysistrata2018 is basically a sex strike. The social media campaign encourages women not to sleep with men in an effort to build public pressure to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court with a nominee that will promise to uphold all decisions dealing with Roe vs Wade. The name comes from Greek mythology--where women of two warring tribes stopped sleeping with their husbands until they called a truce and ended the war.
A good number of men are already laughing at talk of a "sex strike". They have already been dealing with such a "job action" for years--so such a political protest wouldn't make any difference in their lives--or convince them to suddenly abandon their pro-life beliefs. As an added bonus, Lysistrata supporters will be proving that the most effective form of birth control--abstinence--would all but eliminate the need for abortions.
I fully expect to see a CNN report on "The women who have given up sex to save Roe vs Wade" and 50-thousand word essays Salon.com on how Lysistrata helped one woman find a man that "truly loved her for who she was and not for her body"--even though he is likely asexual and had no interest in physical intimacy with her in the first place. However, there will not be any follow ups report or essays from those same women when they decide to "cross the picket line" again a few weeks or months after the "sex strike" no longer generates any public interest.
It would be interesting if this effort did last for years or even decades. How would it affect the abortion rate? What reduction would there be in demand for welfare, food stamps, subsidized child care, housing assistance, and special education requirements in public schools? And what would happen to the Democratic voting base--as how we are raised can have a great influence on our political view of the world? So that's why I encourage our liberal sisters to "join the movement", "be strong" and "hold the line"! You may actually being doing American society a favor.
If you are not familiar, Lysistrata2018 is basically a sex strike. The social media campaign encourages women not to sleep with men in an effort to build public pressure to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court with a nominee that will promise to uphold all decisions dealing with Roe vs Wade. The name comes from Greek mythology--where women of two warring tribes stopped sleeping with their husbands until they called a truce and ended the war.
A good number of men are already laughing at talk of a "sex strike". They have already been dealing with such a "job action" for years--so such a political protest wouldn't make any difference in their lives--or convince them to suddenly abandon their pro-life beliefs. As an added bonus, Lysistrata supporters will be proving that the most effective form of birth control--abstinence--would all but eliminate the need for abortions.
I fully expect to see a CNN report on "The women who have given up sex to save Roe vs Wade" and 50-thousand word essays Salon.com on how Lysistrata helped one woman find a man that "truly loved her for who she was and not for her body"--even though he is likely asexual and had no interest in physical intimacy with her in the first place. However, there will not be any follow ups report or essays from those same women when they decide to "cross the picket line" again a few weeks or months after the "sex strike" no longer generates any public interest.
It would be interesting if this effort did last for years or even decades. How would it affect the abortion rate? What reduction would there be in demand for welfare, food stamps, subsidized child care, housing assistance, and special education requirements in public schools? And what would happen to the Democratic voting base--as how we are raised can have a great influence on our political view of the world? So that's why I encourage our liberal sisters to "join the movement", "be strong" and "hold the line"! You may actually being doing American society a favor.
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
The No Balance Association
While the World Cup has Americans thinking about soccer for five minutes, now would be the time to talk about a system used in European Football called "relegation". As an incentive for teams not to tank games or threaten to move to other cities for better stadium deals, many leagues drop the bottom three or four teams in the standings to "second tier" leagues--and "bring up" the three of four top teams from the lower division to play in the bigs the next season. When the English Premier League finished their season a couple of weeks ago, I saw a team and their fans celebrate finishing in 14th place--thereby avoiding relegation--like they had just won the championship.
Obviously, we don't have relegation in our American sports leagues. However, the NBA is moving very close to it. With LaBron James signing with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, the Eastern Conference is left with no teams even remotely capable of winning a league championship. Consider that the team LaBron played for--whether it be Cleveland the first time, the Miami Heat and Cleveland again--had represented the East in the Finals for eight consecutive seasons. And I would be hard pressed to recall a year when one of those LaBron teams was even challenged in the first three rounds of the playoffs.
The Lakers then added a few other pretty good players to surround LaBron on Monday, believing they now have the talent to challenge the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors--who have been to four straight finals. But the Dubs had a surprise for the Lakers as they signed the best center in the league--which admittedly isn't saying much anymore--in Boogie Cousins to shore up their greatest weakness. Throw in Houston maintaining their high-scoring lineup and the Western Conference is a conglomeration of "super teams" stacked with All Star talent--while the East is riddled with second tier talent and teams that are going nowhere fast. There was serious debate on Twitter last night among sports talking heads if the Eastern Conference All-Star team could beat Golden State and the consensus was that it would be a close game.
So now the NBA is left with the greatest imbalance of talent in sports since the National League dominated the American League in baseball back in the 1960's--as NL teams were more willing to sign Black and Latin players than owners in the AL. And a system of relegation has developed where it's not teams being promoted to the big show--but rather the star players leaving the lower division teams behind. Of course, the NBA isn't going to call much attention to this one-sided conference structure. Instead, they will point out that the "East is wide open now--with any team capable of making a run go the Finals!"
What the Association should really do is run two separate playoffs next year--one for the Eastern Conference teams and allow the winner of that to join the Western Conference next year--where they can play for what will really be the NBA Championship.
Obviously, we don't have relegation in our American sports leagues. However, the NBA is moving very close to it. With LaBron James signing with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, the Eastern Conference is left with no teams even remotely capable of winning a league championship. Consider that the team LaBron played for--whether it be Cleveland the first time, the Miami Heat and Cleveland again--had represented the East in the Finals for eight consecutive seasons. And I would be hard pressed to recall a year when one of those LaBron teams was even challenged in the first three rounds of the playoffs.
The Lakers then added a few other pretty good players to surround LaBron on Monday, believing they now have the talent to challenge the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors--who have been to four straight finals. But the Dubs had a surprise for the Lakers as they signed the best center in the league--which admittedly isn't saying much anymore--in Boogie Cousins to shore up their greatest weakness. Throw in Houston maintaining their high-scoring lineup and the Western Conference is a conglomeration of "super teams" stacked with All Star talent--while the East is riddled with second tier talent and teams that are going nowhere fast. There was serious debate on Twitter last night among sports talking heads if the Eastern Conference All-Star team could beat Golden State and the consensus was that it would be a close game.
So now the NBA is left with the greatest imbalance of talent in sports since the National League dominated the American League in baseball back in the 1960's--as NL teams were more willing to sign Black and Latin players than owners in the AL. And a system of relegation has developed where it's not teams being promoted to the big show--but rather the star players leaving the lower division teams behind. Of course, the NBA isn't going to call much attention to this one-sided conference structure. Instead, they will point out that the "East is wide open now--with any team capable of making a run go the Finals!"
What the Association should really do is run two separate playoffs next year--one for the Eastern Conference teams and allow the winner of that to join the Western Conference next year--where they can play for what will really be the NBA Championship.
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