Usually, the last My Two Cents before Labor Day is dedicated to my guaranteed lock predictions on the upcoming Wisconsin Badgers Football season. But this year I thought I'd switch it up and look back on the off-season instead.
In Madison, two wide receivers expected to start this year are suspended--one for allegedly sexually assaulting two women at the same time--and the other for taking pictures and video of the incidents. In Maryland, their strength and condition coach was fired and their head coach is suspended, pending an internal investigation into allegations that a player was made to run in extreme heat during off-season workouts to the point that he collapsed into a coma and died two weeks later. The head coach is also accused of creating an atmosphere of "intimidation, fear and humiliation" in the locker room by insulting players and screaming at them all the time.
Meanwhile, Ohio State prepared for their season by suspending their head coach for the first three games for failing to properly report allegations of domestic violence against a former assistant coach and then lying about the incident to the media, and then deleting text messages between himself and the alleged victim and then claiming that he just forgot about all of the accusations. Ohio State is also dealing with accusations that a former wrestling team doctor molested hundreds of athletes--who filed complaints but the school did nothing--and now their former coach--who is running for Speaker of the House after Paul Ryan departs--is calling them a bunch of liars.
It's pretty much the same over at Michigan State, where a former athletic department doctor was found guilty of molesting hundreds--if not thousands--of women and girls across the country under the auspices of medical care and physical examinations. All of the coaches in East Lansing claim they never heard about any misconduct. The NCAA just ruled this week that Michigan State did nothing wrong in keeping him on staff for decades. Meanwhile over at Penn State, the push is on to restore honors to their legendary former coach who ignored and tried to cover up the sexual assault of dozens of boys by a former assistant coach in school facilities. And in Minnesota their second year head coach--who believes you win football games by rowing a boat--is still trying to rebuild a program that fired his predecessor for supporting a players' boycott of games because some of them were accused of sexual assault and suspended per university policy.
I'm sure I missed a few other sexual assault allegations or weapons possession cases or physical assault suspensions at the other Big Ten schools--and there will likely be more throughout the season. As I've asked before, if you were starting a university from scratch today, would you include a department on campus that brought this kind of embarrassment and legal headaches? I guess if it guaranteed 75-thousand people showed up every Saturday and forked over big bucks for tickets and sweatshirts and caps, you'd be willing to look the other way and sully the good name of your institution. Besides, once that first kickoff is in the air--and all of the suspended players and coaches return--nobody will even mention all the stuff I just listed.
If you would still like a season prediction, Wisconsin beats Minnesota for the 15TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR--making this another highly-successful season.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
The Circular Firing Squad
There is certainly reason to fear that Socialism and other far-left ideologies will overtake both the US political system and society in general. Identity politics is red hot right now, with everyone having their own victim groups, social justice causes and perceived oppressors. But when you have to blame someone else for everything that happens to you, eventually you run out of people to point the finger at--and that is when the Left turns upon itself.
A couple of high-profile examples of that have happened in just the last couple of weeks. It started with actress Asia Argento--considered one of the co-founders of the #MeToo movement because she was among the first to go public with accusations against Harvey Weinstein--was found to have paid hush money to a then-17-year old boy with whom she'd had a sexual relationship. As you might expect, those targeted by #MeToo howled at the hypocrisy--but those who had supported Argento also immediately turned against her demanding that she stop her advocacy for other "victims" and come clean about what happened.
Actress Rose McGowan--who considers herself a co-founder of #MeToo because she had been making veiled references for years to Harvey Weinstein ruining her career and forcing her to take a bunch of roles that required full-frontal nudity--then stepped into the fray by telling those attacking Argento to "wait until the facts come out" and to "be gentle" in their criticism of their now-fallen hero. McGowan was then ravaged not only by the targets of #MeToo--who pointed to her long list of demands that men accused of harassment or abuse be immediately removed from their jobs, jailed and castrated--but also by those who had obeyed her calls to attack said men with ferocity in all forms of social media, who demanded that she stop "speaking on behalf of the movement". (Just yesterday McGowan claimed that she had talked with Argento's accuser and that she "supports him fully".)
Then you have the case of comedian Michael Ian Black (best known for Kids in the Hall and being a talking head on all of those "I Love the '70's, 80's, 90's, etc series) who has long encouraged his social media followers to attack any and all conservatives in all platforms--backing the harassment of White House staff as they try to dine out or pass through airports. This week, Black re-tweeted a story about comedian Louis CK returning to the stage for the first time since accusations of harassment got him blackballed by the #MeToo movement and mentioned that he hoped CK could rebuild his life. That was immediately met with backlash from Black's own minions--calling him a hypocrite and claiming that even suggesting that an accused harasser be allowed to continue his career showed that "he was part of the problem--and not the solution".
Such in-fighting on the Left is not uncommon--and usually someone steps in and says "We need to stop attacking each other and re-focus on the 'real enemy': straight, white guys!" And there is peace for a little while. But as younger generations choose to divide themselves more and more into smaller and smaller sub-populations with their own sets of grievances and social demands--and expecting greater "purity" in thought, word and deed--it's just a matter of time before they run out of straight white guys to blame--and they have no choice but to turn upon themselves--sabotaging their own efforts.
A couple of high-profile examples of that have happened in just the last couple of weeks. It started with actress Asia Argento--considered one of the co-founders of the #MeToo movement because she was among the first to go public with accusations against Harvey Weinstein--was found to have paid hush money to a then-17-year old boy with whom she'd had a sexual relationship. As you might expect, those targeted by #MeToo howled at the hypocrisy--but those who had supported Argento also immediately turned against her demanding that she stop her advocacy for other "victims" and come clean about what happened.
Actress Rose McGowan--who considers herself a co-founder of #MeToo because she had been making veiled references for years to Harvey Weinstein ruining her career and forcing her to take a bunch of roles that required full-frontal nudity--then stepped into the fray by telling those attacking Argento to "wait until the facts come out" and to "be gentle" in their criticism of their now-fallen hero. McGowan was then ravaged not only by the targets of #MeToo--who pointed to her long list of demands that men accused of harassment or abuse be immediately removed from their jobs, jailed and castrated--but also by those who had obeyed her calls to attack said men with ferocity in all forms of social media, who demanded that she stop "speaking on behalf of the movement". (Just yesterday McGowan claimed that she had talked with Argento's accuser and that she "supports him fully".)
Then you have the case of comedian Michael Ian Black (best known for Kids in the Hall and being a talking head on all of those "I Love the '70's, 80's, 90's, etc series) who has long encouraged his social media followers to attack any and all conservatives in all platforms--backing the harassment of White House staff as they try to dine out or pass through airports. This week, Black re-tweeted a story about comedian Louis CK returning to the stage for the first time since accusations of harassment got him blackballed by the #MeToo movement and mentioned that he hoped CK could rebuild his life. That was immediately met with backlash from Black's own minions--calling him a hypocrite and claiming that even suggesting that an accused harasser be allowed to continue his career showed that "he was part of the problem--and not the solution".
Such in-fighting on the Left is not uncommon--and usually someone steps in and says "We need to stop attacking each other and re-focus on the 'real enemy': straight, white guys!" And there is peace for a little while. But as younger generations choose to divide themselves more and more into smaller and smaller sub-populations with their own sets of grievances and social demands--and expecting greater "purity" in thought, word and deed--it's just a matter of time before they run out of straight white guys to blame--and they have no choice but to turn upon themselves--sabotaging their own efforts.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
School Daze
Let's do a little "Back in my day....." today.
Back in my day, we didn't need "practice bus route day". The Oshkosh School District and Kobussen are sending their buses out on practice runs this morning and this afternoon to make sure drivers know where they need to make their stops starting next week. But the district is also encouraging parents to "practice" getting their kids to the bus stop and getting on the bus. Here was my "instruction" for riding the bus as a grade schooler: "Go stand at the end of the driveway until the bus comes. Don't cross the road until they put out the stop sign and the flashing lights. When you get to Valders High School, get on Bus 33 and take that to St Mary's" Somehow 5 and 6-year old me remembered that and got to class everyday--no practice necessary.
Back in my day, the schools didn't need someone to post every single ingredient and calorie count for all of our hot lunch choices. The Oshkosh School District will be hiring a full-time employee dedicated exclusively to updating an internet site with the contents of every food item in all school cafeterias and their nutritional values. That way, parents can log on and see if their child might be at risk for consuming--or even just coming in contact with--peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, dairy, wheat, sugar, meat, fish, shellfish, sodium, caffeine and any other thing that might cause an allergy or dietary issue. Of course, back in my day, there were a lot fewer kids allergic to anything. And if you didn't like the food plopped down on your tray by the lunch lady, you just went hungry that day, Kid. Back in my day, bigger kids were allowed to go back for seconds too!
And back in my day, parents didn't complain about any of that. It was the same way they were educated and how they learned to take care of themselves--and they were okay with their kids learning the same way. I would note that we were far more adventurous as kids. We figured out how to entertain ourselves without technology. We were allowed to leave our homes without supervision--without our parents being able to call or text us at all times. We were even allowed to fall down, get dirty, lose at sports and fail at something we may not have been able to do.
Back in my day, school wasn't as much "fun"--but we certainly learned a lot more. And back in my day, running schools was much cheaper--with a much better return on a community's investment.
Back in my day, we didn't need "practice bus route day". The Oshkosh School District and Kobussen are sending their buses out on practice runs this morning and this afternoon to make sure drivers know where they need to make their stops starting next week. But the district is also encouraging parents to "practice" getting their kids to the bus stop and getting on the bus. Here was my "instruction" for riding the bus as a grade schooler: "Go stand at the end of the driveway until the bus comes. Don't cross the road until they put out the stop sign and the flashing lights. When you get to Valders High School, get on Bus 33 and take that to St Mary's" Somehow 5 and 6-year old me remembered that and got to class everyday--no practice necessary.
Back in my day, the schools didn't need someone to post every single ingredient and calorie count for all of our hot lunch choices. The Oshkosh School District will be hiring a full-time employee dedicated exclusively to updating an internet site with the contents of every food item in all school cafeterias and their nutritional values. That way, parents can log on and see if their child might be at risk for consuming--or even just coming in contact with--peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, dairy, wheat, sugar, meat, fish, shellfish, sodium, caffeine and any other thing that might cause an allergy or dietary issue. Of course, back in my day, there were a lot fewer kids allergic to anything. And if you didn't like the food plopped down on your tray by the lunch lady, you just went hungry that day, Kid. Back in my day, bigger kids were allowed to go back for seconds too!
And back in my day, parents didn't complain about any of that. It was the same way they were educated and how they learned to take care of themselves--and they were okay with their kids learning the same way. I would note that we were far more adventurous as kids. We figured out how to entertain ourselves without technology. We were allowed to leave our homes without supervision--without our parents being able to call or text us at all times. We were even allowed to fall down, get dirty, lose at sports and fail at something we may not have been able to do.
Back in my day, school wasn't as much "fun"--but we certainly learned a lot more. And back in my day, running schools was much cheaper--with a much better return on a community's investment.
Monday, August 27, 2018
A Tale of Two Men
Let's talk about fear. Like the fear that Captain John McCain likely felt as he ejected from his damaged jet above Hanoi, North Vietnam in October of 1967, knowing that he was likely going to be captured--if he survived the parachute trip to the ground. Or the fear that McCain may have felt when he landed in Truc Bach Lake and nearly drowned as his parachute wrapped around him in the water. Or the fear he may have felt as the North Vietnamese soldiers crushed his shoulder and bayonetted him after finally making it to shore. Or the fear that McCain experienced learning that he was being transferred to the notorious Hoa Lo Prison--derisively known as the "Hanoi Hilton".
Imagine the fear Captain McCain experienced knowing that he was going to be beaten and tortured every day. Or the fear created by being kept in solitary confinement--barely able to communicate with some of his other fellow prisoners for three straight years. Or not knowing what treatment he would receive as the son of a Navy Admiral leading attacks on North Vietnam. What must have gone through his mind when he was offered early release by his captors as a propaganda move--and rejecting that offer because the Military Code calls for those captured first to be released first--and there were American pilots kept in that hellhole longer than he had been held?
And what kind of fear would McCain have to overcome after finally being released in March of 1973--five and a half years tortuous years later? Would he still have a wife and family to return to? How would he be received by his fellow military men? Or the general public that had turned against all of those that had merely gone to Vietnam by order of their country and were now treated as enemies? Would he ever be able to use his arms again? And would the memories of the horrors that he had experienced ever go away?
Compare and contrast that with the "fear" a young Donald J. Trump must have felt after his four educational deferments ran out and he faced the draft in 1968. That fear was abated, however, when a doctor--likely well-compensated by Trump's father--found that young Donald had bone spurs in his heals and would never be able to serve in the military. So for most of the five and a half years while Captain John McCain was tortured on an almost daily basis by his captors in Hanoi, young Mr Trump used the "small gift" of a million dollars that his father gave him to start building a highly-leveraged real estate portfolio.
And it was without fear of reprisal that once-candidate and now-President Trump has bashed the service of John McCain in any and all public forums. He mocked McCain's POW status saying he "prefers his heroes not to be captured", dismissed his stance on prisoner torture--despite first-hand experience, questioned his commitment to his country after not voting for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, claimed that the vote may have been influenced by McCain's brain cancer, and refusing to issue a full statement on the passing of Senator McCain over the weekend and instead posting a one sentence, half-hearted condolence on Twitter.
It's a tale of two men--one who faced fear and overcame it in a never-ending service to his country--and another who ran away from it in never-ending service only to himself.
Imagine the fear Captain McCain experienced knowing that he was going to be beaten and tortured every day. Or the fear created by being kept in solitary confinement--barely able to communicate with some of his other fellow prisoners for three straight years. Or not knowing what treatment he would receive as the son of a Navy Admiral leading attacks on North Vietnam. What must have gone through his mind when he was offered early release by his captors as a propaganda move--and rejecting that offer because the Military Code calls for those captured first to be released first--and there were American pilots kept in that hellhole longer than he had been held?
And what kind of fear would McCain have to overcome after finally being released in March of 1973--five and a half years tortuous years later? Would he still have a wife and family to return to? How would he be received by his fellow military men? Or the general public that had turned against all of those that had merely gone to Vietnam by order of their country and were now treated as enemies? Would he ever be able to use his arms again? And would the memories of the horrors that he had experienced ever go away?
Compare and contrast that with the "fear" a young Donald J. Trump must have felt after his four educational deferments ran out and he faced the draft in 1968. That fear was abated, however, when a doctor--likely well-compensated by Trump's father--found that young Donald had bone spurs in his heals and would never be able to serve in the military. So for most of the five and a half years while Captain John McCain was tortured on an almost daily basis by his captors in Hanoi, young Mr Trump used the "small gift" of a million dollars that his father gave him to start building a highly-leveraged real estate portfolio.
And it was without fear of reprisal that once-candidate and now-President Trump has bashed the service of John McCain in any and all public forums. He mocked McCain's POW status saying he "prefers his heroes not to be captured", dismissed his stance on prisoner torture--despite first-hand experience, questioned his commitment to his country after not voting for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, claimed that the vote may have been influenced by McCain's brain cancer, and refusing to issue a full statement on the passing of Senator McCain over the weekend and instead posting a one sentence, half-hearted condolence on Twitter.
It's a tale of two men--one who faced fear and overcame it in a never-ending service to his country--and another who ran away from it in never-ending service only to himself.
Friday, August 24, 2018
The Oshkosh Taxpayers Arena
As a taxpayer here in Oshkosh, I've already resigned myself to the idea that I'm going to own an arena someday. I'm not liking what I am seeing when it comes to news about the new Menominee Nation Arena. Slow ticket sales for concerts and shows, early management changes, postponement of events and a series of closed door meetings with the Common Council don't fill me with a great deal of confidence in the future of the facility.
And then comes word that the arena slow-paid a considerable bill from the City for infrastructure work done around the site. Followed by filings that show not one but two mortgages being taken out against the building. The first mortgage--more than $13-million--is covering the shortfall in private financing that Fox Valley Pro Basketball thought they would be able to raise by selling stock in the arena prior to construction. That isn't so unusual--nor is the fact that the financing was secured through the general contractor, Bayland Buildings. But it's the second mortgage of $1.3-million taken out just last month that has me concerned. This has the looks of borrowing to meet continuing expenses kind of debt. And I have it on good authority from those doing business with the arena that slow-pay is the modus operandi.
Meanwhile, we await the "premier entertainment" aspect of the operation to kick in. No offense to Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy, but they aren't exactly the hottest names in comedy right now. And Gladys Knight, Peter Cetera and .38 Special aren't finding the ITunes Most Downloaded Chart anymore--which have been borne out by the aforementioned ticket sales.
But there are little things too, like the fact that the City still has not put up any directional signage for the arena. If you were a visitor coming from outside of the area (and you weren't getting turn by turn directions from a GPS unit) what exit would you take along Interstate 41? The arena gets no mentions on any of the big green or blue signs. And once you are off the interstate, you will not find any street signs pointing you in the right direction.
I already own a convention center and an opera house. I used to own a golf course. And I'm pretty sure that someday I'm going to own an arena too.
And then comes word that the arena slow-paid a considerable bill from the City for infrastructure work done around the site. Followed by filings that show not one but two mortgages being taken out against the building. The first mortgage--more than $13-million--is covering the shortfall in private financing that Fox Valley Pro Basketball thought they would be able to raise by selling stock in the arena prior to construction. That isn't so unusual--nor is the fact that the financing was secured through the general contractor, Bayland Buildings. But it's the second mortgage of $1.3-million taken out just last month that has me concerned. This has the looks of borrowing to meet continuing expenses kind of debt. And I have it on good authority from those doing business with the arena that slow-pay is the modus operandi.
Meanwhile, we await the "premier entertainment" aspect of the operation to kick in. No offense to Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy, but they aren't exactly the hottest names in comedy right now. And Gladys Knight, Peter Cetera and .38 Special aren't finding the ITunes Most Downloaded Chart anymore--which have been borne out by the aforementioned ticket sales.
But there are little things too, like the fact that the City still has not put up any directional signage for the arena. If you were a visitor coming from outside of the area (and you weren't getting turn by turn directions from a GPS unit) what exit would you take along Interstate 41? The arena gets no mentions on any of the big green or blue signs. And once you are off the interstate, you will not find any street signs pointing you in the right direction.
I already own a convention center and an opera house. I used to own a golf course. And I'm pretty sure that someday I'm going to own an arena too.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
All the President's Men (and Women)
Richard Nixon apologists (and yes, there were--and still are some) liked to say that Nixon was a "decent and honorable man that was betrayed by the men around him". Yes, Nixon had no role in the planning of the Watergate break-in that eventually led to his downfall--but he did hire or approve of the hiring of many of the men that did the planning and those that directed the efforts to cover up his re-election campaign's role in it. And many of those men were cut from the same cloth as Nixon himself. It's no coincidence that the Committee to Re-elect was known as "CREEP".
In case you have forgotten the players, Charles Colson, HR Haldeman, John Erlichman, John Dean, Former Attorney General John Mitchell and Howard Hunt were all lawyers--just like Nixon. They could be described as acerbic--just like Nixon. They were paranoid--just like Nixon. And they were able to stand in front of microphones and TV cameras and tell bald-faced lies about the Watergate scandal for years--just like Nixon. "Tricky Dick" didn't hire the burglars or create the convoluted money trail through CREEP to pay them and others that worked to sabotage the McGovern campaign--but those who did knew their President was okay with those practices. And when the operation was discovered--would try to cover it up instead of being honest with the American people.
I think about that when I hear folks now trying to explain away President Trump's culpability in the actions of an increasing number of people around him. The President can go on as many Twitter storms as he wants bashing those that have been convicted, or indicted or who have written tell all books or who have secretly recorded conversations inside the White House. But who is the one who hired these people? And how are any of them different from Trump himself?
Paul Manafort pretended to be rich and powerful. He would take money from anyone--including African military dictators and Eastern European oligarchs looking to undermine Western democracy--all while trying to hide that income. Michael Cohen is a loudmouth, brash New Yorker that specializes in intimidation and throwing money at problems until they "go away". His offices were located in Trump Tower for years. Omorosa Manigault rose to fame as a "crazy" reality show contestant whose behavior became more outlandish as the series went on--knowing that was the key to being retained--it was good for TV ratings. And she held absolutely no qualifications for a job in the White House as a consultant on any topic. Do any of these traits sound familiar?
President Trump had some good people around him to start: Reince Priebus and John Kelly among them--but they soon learned the President only wants those just like himself in the White House to tell him he is great at all times and to keep up the façade of an administration that knows what it is doing. And when this all ends in disgrace and prison time, Trump apologists can try to blame "all the President's men--and women".
In case you have forgotten the players, Charles Colson, HR Haldeman, John Erlichman, John Dean, Former Attorney General John Mitchell and Howard Hunt were all lawyers--just like Nixon. They could be described as acerbic--just like Nixon. They were paranoid--just like Nixon. And they were able to stand in front of microphones and TV cameras and tell bald-faced lies about the Watergate scandal for years--just like Nixon. "Tricky Dick" didn't hire the burglars or create the convoluted money trail through CREEP to pay them and others that worked to sabotage the McGovern campaign--but those who did knew their President was okay with those practices. And when the operation was discovered--would try to cover it up instead of being honest with the American people.
I think about that when I hear folks now trying to explain away President Trump's culpability in the actions of an increasing number of people around him. The President can go on as many Twitter storms as he wants bashing those that have been convicted, or indicted or who have written tell all books or who have secretly recorded conversations inside the White House. But who is the one who hired these people? And how are any of them different from Trump himself?
Paul Manafort pretended to be rich and powerful. He would take money from anyone--including African military dictators and Eastern European oligarchs looking to undermine Western democracy--all while trying to hide that income. Michael Cohen is a loudmouth, brash New Yorker that specializes in intimidation and throwing money at problems until they "go away". His offices were located in Trump Tower for years. Omorosa Manigault rose to fame as a "crazy" reality show contestant whose behavior became more outlandish as the series went on--knowing that was the key to being retained--it was good for TV ratings. And she held absolutely no qualifications for a job in the White House as a consultant on any topic. Do any of these traits sound familiar?
President Trump had some good people around him to start: Reince Priebus and John Kelly among them--but they soon learned the President only wants those just like himself in the White House to tell him he is great at all times and to keep up the façade of an administration that knows what it is doing. And when this all ends in disgrace and prison time, Trump apologists can try to blame "all the President's men--and women".
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Always Looking For More Control
Back when the Oshkosh Common Council was twisting itself into knots trying to come up with a rental housing inspection program that would conform to then state law a couple of years ago, I warned homeowners in another My Two Cents to keep a very close eye on the process. At the time I predicted that it would be just a matter of time before there would be a push to require all houses to be inspected in Oshkosh as well. I knew that the argument would be made that "all people have a 'right' to safe housing". Well, little did I know then that that time would be coming less than a couple of years later.
As the City now twists itself into knots trying to come up with a rental inspection program that conforms to a new state law drafted specifically to defeat the previous rental inspection program requirements, the Rental Housing Advisory Board is pushing for a citywide housing inspection program. And the argument is that "all people should live under the same expectations of housing quality". It also gets around the requirement of the new state law to only conduct rental inspections in areas that are deemed "blighted" by the city. So their idea is to have the City inspect all residences on a regular basis and require homeowners to make any repairs required to bring their buildings up to code--just so it can't be called a "rental inspection program". (By the way, that is far beyond the purview of this non-elected advisory board and couldn't even come as an official "recommendation" to the Common Council.)
As with the rental inspection program, there is a major problem with access to private property. Homeowners would retain the right to refuse entry to inspectors--unless they were to come with a court-issued warrant based up suspicion that a crime is or has been committed on the property. So that would mean the vast majority of those residential inspections would be of the "drive by" nature that made up more than 3/4's of the rental inspections before the change in state law forced those to be put on hold.
The one hope that Oshkosh homeowners have is that the City hasn't figured out yet how to make money on a residential inspection program. In his monthly visit to WOSH, City Manager Mark Rohloff admitted that the program would be very expensive and require a lot of manpower. Even if inspectors stood on the sidewalk or the street and only looked at the outside of rental units, they could charge the landlords the full price of a "required inspection". But to do the same to tens of thousands of homeowners would not sit well with the voters--especially the 99% who keep their homes in conditions that meet all city codes.
Yes, all of this inspection talk is just that--talk. But those that want more and more control over your life and your property won't rest--so we will just have to nip their efforts in the bud as early as we can.
As the City now twists itself into knots trying to come up with a rental inspection program that conforms to a new state law drafted specifically to defeat the previous rental inspection program requirements, the Rental Housing Advisory Board is pushing for a citywide housing inspection program. And the argument is that "all people should live under the same expectations of housing quality". It also gets around the requirement of the new state law to only conduct rental inspections in areas that are deemed "blighted" by the city. So their idea is to have the City inspect all residences on a regular basis and require homeowners to make any repairs required to bring their buildings up to code--just so it can't be called a "rental inspection program". (By the way, that is far beyond the purview of this non-elected advisory board and couldn't even come as an official "recommendation" to the Common Council.)
As with the rental inspection program, there is a major problem with access to private property. Homeowners would retain the right to refuse entry to inspectors--unless they were to come with a court-issued warrant based up suspicion that a crime is or has been committed on the property. So that would mean the vast majority of those residential inspections would be of the "drive by" nature that made up more than 3/4's of the rental inspections before the change in state law forced those to be put on hold.
The one hope that Oshkosh homeowners have is that the City hasn't figured out yet how to make money on a residential inspection program. In his monthly visit to WOSH, City Manager Mark Rohloff admitted that the program would be very expensive and require a lot of manpower. Even if inspectors stood on the sidewalk or the street and only looked at the outside of rental units, they could charge the landlords the full price of a "required inspection". But to do the same to tens of thousands of homeowners would not sit well with the voters--especially the 99% who keep their homes in conditions that meet all city codes.
Yes, all of this inspection talk is just that--talk. But those that want more and more control over your life and your property won't rest--so we will just have to nip their efforts in the bud as early as we can.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Ignore That Fool
The scariest man on the planet is back with an ominous message for Republicans: bow down to President Trump or face the wrath of the voters in November. Steve Bannon--the supposed architect of the President's upset victory in 2016--predicts the GOP will lose both the House and the Senate if candidates do not pledge their allegiance to Trump.
This presents a real dilemma for Republicans that still support the traditional ideals of the party: free trade, limited government powers, protecting the country from foreign threats and not letting emotion drive every political policy and decision. 2018 is really the year that the GOP has to decide if it really will become the "Party of Trump"--existing only to serve an angry fringe element to the far right--or if it will return to the principals of the Reagan era that greatly expanded the party's base.
Politics is cyclical, and I am more than okay with the idea of "tanking" a couple of elections to preserve the ideals of the party. Are tax cuts worth continued Russian meddling and influence in our government? Is a pro-life Supreme Court nominee worth the alienation of entire generations of potential voters? Is a border wall worth risking the nation's role as the leading trade partner in the world? These are the questions that Republican candidates--and voters--will have to ask themselves in November.
But if you are to believe Steve Bannon, kowtowing to the whims of unhinged extremists like himself are the only way to "survive". It's like an old-school horror story where a man must choose between living as a monster or dying a noble death. There will be Republican candidates running this year that will not align themselves with the White House on all issues or with Steve Bannon and his acolytes. And they will be the party's hope to preserve its soul--and send the Bannon/Trump extremist to the ash pile of history.
This presents a real dilemma for Republicans that still support the traditional ideals of the party: free trade, limited government powers, protecting the country from foreign threats and not letting emotion drive every political policy and decision. 2018 is really the year that the GOP has to decide if it really will become the "Party of Trump"--existing only to serve an angry fringe element to the far right--or if it will return to the principals of the Reagan era that greatly expanded the party's base.
Politics is cyclical, and I am more than okay with the idea of "tanking" a couple of elections to preserve the ideals of the party. Are tax cuts worth continued Russian meddling and influence in our government? Is a pro-life Supreme Court nominee worth the alienation of entire generations of potential voters? Is a border wall worth risking the nation's role as the leading trade partner in the world? These are the questions that Republican candidates--and voters--will have to ask themselves in November.
But if you are to believe Steve Bannon, kowtowing to the whims of unhinged extremists like himself are the only way to "survive". It's like an old-school horror story where a man must choose between living as a monster or dying a noble death. There will be Republican candidates running this year that will not align themselves with the White House on all issues or with Steve Bannon and his acolytes. And they will be the party's hope to preserve its soul--and send the Bannon/Trump extremist to the ash pile of history.
Friday, August 17, 2018
Getting an Early Start
Nothing says summer like sitting outside on a warm evening, watching the sun set below the horizon and enjoying a little high school football. The new "Boys of Summer" hit the field tonight (with some teams playing already last night in the shadow of the Packers' pre-season game) for the opening of their regular season. This is the earliest that a Wisconsin high school football season has ever started--August 17th.
It will be more than two weeks before most of these kids even start school--and yet they will have played three games--a full one-third of their season--outside of the academic year. Part of that is due to the state law about not starting classes before September 1st (unless you can get a state waiver for your district) but mostly it is due to Thanksgiving being as early as it can be this year--which means that deer hunting is as early as it can be this year--which means the WIAA playoffs have to be done earlier than in the past few seasons.
The outrageously early start to this season hurts high school football--which is already seeing a decline in participation across the country--in a number of ways. First, it requires the start of practice earlier in the summer. That puts teams out on the practice fields on hotter days, with more intense sunshine and higher humidity levels--which increases the risk for heat stroke--and makes it miserable for everyone.
Second, it further condenses the summer for already over-scheduled kids. With classes running into June, vacations or other activities have to be packed into about a six-week window before practices start in the first week of August. If these kids play summer baseball or soccer, there is no break between seasons--as those now have to wrap up by the end of July or lose players to football. And I'm sure there are more than a few parents who would rather spend August weekends Up North at the lake sitting in the boat--instead of on an aluminum bench at a football field.
And finally, it diminishes fan excitement for the sport. Part of the fun of high school football is wearing your jersey to class for the day--and your girlfriend wears the opposite color jersey--and the cheerleaders put the "Good Luck" signs on your locker and maybe there is an all-school pep rally in the afternoon to get everyone fired up. For the first three games this year, there will be none of that. Players will probably sit around and play video games until it's time to head to the field or the bus.
As there always is, there is a very simple solution to this that would get high school football back to its proper place on the calendar in Wisconsin: drastically reduce the number of teams that make the playoffs. The start of the season was moved up a week a couple of years ago when the WIAA decided to do away with the Thursday-Tuesday-Saturday schedule for the final regular season game and the first two levels of the post-season and went to just one game a week. Eliminate two-thirds of the teams that have zero chance of winning a title anyways and you can start on Labor Day weekend and still get your entire season in before Thanksgiving.
Since that is highly unlikely to happen, we are stuck with mid-August games with thunderstorm delays, reduced crowds and heat levels that put the players at risk--all so 120-teams that barely finished with winning records in their conference can get pounded into the turf in an October playoff game that really isn't necessary.
It will be more than two weeks before most of these kids even start school--and yet they will have played three games--a full one-third of their season--outside of the academic year. Part of that is due to the state law about not starting classes before September 1st (unless you can get a state waiver for your district) but mostly it is due to Thanksgiving being as early as it can be this year--which means that deer hunting is as early as it can be this year--which means the WIAA playoffs have to be done earlier than in the past few seasons.
The outrageously early start to this season hurts high school football--which is already seeing a decline in participation across the country--in a number of ways. First, it requires the start of practice earlier in the summer. That puts teams out on the practice fields on hotter days, with more intense sunshine and higher humidity levels--which increases the risk for heat stroke--and makes it miserable for everyone.
Second, it further condenses the summer for already over-scheduled kids. With classes running into June, vacations or other activities have to be packed into about a six-week window before practices start in the first week of August. If these kids play summer baseball or soccer, there is no break between seasons--as those now have to wrap up by the end of July or lose players to football. And I'm sure there are more than a few parents who would rather spend August weekends Up North at the lake sitting in the boat--instead of on an aluminum bench at a football field.
And finally, it diminishes fan excitement for the sport. Part of the fun of high school football is wearing your jersey to class for the day--and your girlfriend wears the opposite color jersey--and the cheerleaders put the "Good Luck" signs on your locker and maybe there is an all-school pep rally in the afternoon to get everyone fired up. For the first three games this year, there will be none of that. Players will probably sit around and play video games until it's time to head to the field or the bus.
As there always is, there is a very simple solution to this that would get high school football back to its proper place on the calendar in Wisconsin: drastically reduce the number of teams that make the playoffs. The start of the season was moved up a week a couple of years ago when the WIAA decided to do away with the Thursday-Tuesday-Saturday schedule for the final regular season game and the first two levels of the post-season and went to just one game a week. Eliminate two-thirds of the teams that have zero chance of winning a title anyways and you can start on Labor Day weekend and still get your entire season in before Thanksgiving.
Since that is highly unlikely to happen, we are stuck with mid-August games with thunderstorm delays, reduced crowds and heat levels that put the players at risk--all so 120-teams that barely finished with winning records in their conference can get pounded into the turf in an October playoff game that really isn't necessary.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
The Real Deep State
The time has come to place greater public scrutiny on some of the "less important" elements of local government. The City of Oshkosh has a number of advisory boards and commissions that for years served as mere sounding boards or rubber stamps for proposals that came out of city departments. But now, those board are taking a much more activist approach to governance--with little public notice, and no electoral accountability.
Three committees in particular--the Bicycle and Pedestrian, Sustainability and Traffic Review--are starting to have real impacts on residents' lives. The "road diets" that have seen some of our main thoroughfares reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction? The idea for that came from those "advisory" committees. Adding seldom-used bike lanes to those very same streets? Also their idea. They also came up with the idea of "sharrows" for drivers to ignore on slightly-less-busy streets.
These committees are also hotbeds for "group think". There is never disagreement about issues--except when someone thinks "more needs to be done" than might be in the original proposal. And the goal of those three appears to be to make traveling by private vehicle as difficult and inconvenient as possible until we all give up and try to ride out bikes to work in the middle of January.
In most cases, anything proposed by these committees has to be approved by the Oshkosh Common Council. And sometimes those on the Council think about the vast majority of residents and the put kibosh on things like parking restrictions or giving all kids free rides on GO Transit buses--even if they aren't going to school. But now we are seeing the Sustainability Board go outside of city government for action.
As we told you this week, all Oshkosh School District Parents will be getting a letter telling them not to idle their cars while they wait for their kids to get out of class or after-school activities. The letter includes dubious claims about increased air pollution and the risk to kids breathing in those fumes--in an open air setting. Neither the Oshkosh Common Council, nor the Oshkosh School Board approved this letter--and it did not go to the Winnebago County Health Department for review. But put on official letterhead--it will no doubt lead some parents to believe that it carries the weight of "official policy".
We had Sustainability Board member Vic Oliver on WOSH this week to discuss the "no idling" letter and she used the phrase "step one is education" in supporting it. Saying it's "step one" leads you to believe that there are more "steps" in this process. You know that when the letter fails to result in everyone partaking in the "correct behavior", "step two" will be regulation. A review of the video of the meeting where the idling letter was finalized finds that Sustainability Board members have already consulted "no idling" ordinance in a couple of other Wisconsin cities. And when "step two" fails to bring enough compliance then step three--enforcement--is put into place. That will mean Oshkosh Police squad cars idling outside of schools looking for moms keeping their cars running, "endangering their children's health and well-being".
So we are going to be keeping a much closer eye on these "advisory" committees from now on--letting you hear what these unelected activists are saying and what they are looking to force you to do--before their "recommendations" show up on Common Council agendas and it might be too late for you to put in your own Two Cents.
Three committees in particular--the Bicycle and Pedestrian, Sustainability and Traffic Review--are starting to have real impacts on residents' lives. The "road diets" that have seen some of our main thoroughfares reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction? The idea for that came from those "advisory" committees. Adding seldom-used bike lanes to those very same streets? Also their idea. They also came up with the idea of "sharrows" for drivers to ignore on slightly-less-busy streets.
These committees are also hotbeds for "group think". There is never disagreement about issues--except when someone thinks "more needs to be done" than might be in the original proposal. And the goal of those three appears to be to make traveling by private vehicle as difficult and inconvenient as possible until we all give up and try to ride out bikes to work in the middle of January.
In most cases, anything proposed by these committees has to be approved by the Oshkosh Common Council. And sometimes those on the Council think about the vast majority of residents and the put kibosh on things like parking restrictions or giving all kids free rides on GO Transit buses--even if they aren't going to school. But now we are seeing the Sustainability Board go outside of city government for action.
As we told you this week, all Oshkosh School District Parents will be getting a letter telling them not to idle their cars while they wait for their kids to get out of class or after-school activities. The letter includes dubious claims about increased air pollution and the risk to kids breathing in those fumes--in an open air setting. Neither the Oshkosh Common Council, nor the Oshkosh School Board approved this letter--and it did not go to the Winnebago County Health Department for review. But put on official letterhead--it will no doubt lead some parents to believe that it carries the weight of "official policy".
We had Sustainability Board member Vic Oliver on WOSH this week to discuss the "no idling" letter and she used the phrase "step one is education" in supporting it. Saying it's "step one" leads you to believe that there are more "steps" in this process. You know that when the letter fails to result in everyone partaking in the "correct behavior", "step two" will be regulation. A review of the video of the meeting where the idling letter was finalized finds that Sustainability Board members have already consulted "no idling" ordinance in a couple of other Wisconsin cities. And when "step two" fails to bring enough compliance then step three--enforcement--is put into place. That will mean Oshkosh Police squad cars idling outside of schools looking for moms keeping their cars running, "endangering their children's health and well-being".
So we are going to be keeping a much closer eye on these "advisory" committees from now on--letting you hear what these unelected activists are saying and what they are looking to force you to do--before their "recommendations" show up on Common Council agendas and it might be too late for you to put in your own Two Cents.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
The Biggest Loser
In a field of eight active candidates, there were bound to be some Democrats running for governor yesterday that were going to finish way behind--and six of those on the ballot failed to garner double digit support, while Superintendent Tony Evers was over 40%. But it was the candidate that finished third in the race that was the biggest loser of the night.
Kelda Roys--who finished more than 25% behind Evers--literally mortgaged her future to lose this race. Roys took out a 235-thousand dollar second mortgage on her home to fund much of her campaign. That self-donation made it look like Roys had a strong campaign going--giving her the fundraising lead at one point in the race. But it was just a matter of time before Daniel Bice at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel would have someone drop a dime on Roys and reveal that she really didn't raise that much on her own.
You may recall that I ran--unsuccessfully--for the State Assembly in 2010. I gave just one-thousand dollars to my campaign--despite plenty of requests from people in the party to contribute more. I just could not justify dipping any further into our personal savings to pursue a job that paid about $50-thousand dollars--and was not guaranteed for any more than two years at a time. Roys chose to borrow 235-thousand dollars--on top of the 390-thousand dollar mortgage she and her husband had refinanced three years ago--to run for an office that pays only about half that annually.
So now Roys and her husband are upside down on their house--owing at least 625-thousand on property assessed at about half a million--and she didn't come close to winning. Such financial irresponsibility should have disqualified her from consideration in running for any office--but as a Democrat, her supporters likely don't know the first thing about economics or personal finance--so they were still cool with it.
Roys promises to remain active in politics and will campaign on behalf of Tony Evers. But she has forfeited her claims to be a "struggling, working mother" in any stump speech for any office that she may seek in the future. Roys made a decision to saddle her family with considerable debt just to further her personal political ambitions. So there is no way she can talk about "having to make choices between new outfits and clothes for her kids" or not having the means to pay for medical bills. And she should certainly not put herself out there as an "inspiration for other women"--because no mother should make such foolish choices to literally take money away from the kids that she claims to care so much about.
Kelda Roys--who finished more than 25% behind Evers--literally mortgaged her future to lose this race. Roys took out a 235-thousand dollar second mortgage on her home to fund much of her campaign. That self-donation made it look like Roys had a strong campaign going--giving her the fundraising lead at one point in the race. But it was just a matter of time before Daniel Bice at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel would have someone drop a dime on Roys and reveal that she really didn't raise that much on her own.
You may recall that I ran--unsuccessfully--for the State Assembly in 2010. I gave just one-thousand dollars to my campaign--despite plenty of requests from people in the party to contribute more. I just could not justify dipping any further into our personal savings to pursue a job that paid about $50-thousand dollars--and was not guaranteed for any more than two years at a time. Roys chose to borrow 235-thousand dollars--on top of the 390-thousand dollar mortgage she and her husband had refinanced three years ago--to run for an office that pays only about half that annually.
So now Roys and her husband are upside down on their house--owing at least 625-thousand on property assessed at about half a million--and she didn't come close to winning. Such financial irresponsibility should have disqualified her from consideration in running for any office--but as a Democrat, her supporters likely don't know the first thing about economics or personal finance--so they were still cool with it.
Roys promises to remain active in politics and will campaign on behalf of Tony Evers. But she has forfeited her claims to be a "struggling, working mother" in any stump speech for any office that she may seek in the future. Roys made a decision to saddle her family with considerable debt just to further her personal political ambitions. So there is no way she can talk about "having to make choices between new outfits and clothes for her kids" or not having the means to pay for medical bills. And she should certainly not put herself out there as an "inspiration for other women"--because no mother should make such foolish choices to literally take money away from the kids that she claims to care so much about.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
A Glaring Lack of Perspective
Back in the day when America got its information in the half-hour nightly newscasts on the broadcast networks, newsroom editors had the difficult--but important--job of deciding what stories were of enough importance to warrant some of that precious airtime. Those editors and producers were blessed with a sense of perspective as to what was really important for people to know--and what did not constitute a story worth of national exposure. It's a sense that their modern day counterparts lack.
We are left to wonder how the CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite would have covered last weekend's white supremacy "rally" in Washington DC. Twenty-four neo-Nazi's showed up for the "march on Washington". They were outnumbered by the hundreds of counter-protesters--while police stood between the two to keep the peace. There may have actually be more members of the media surrounding the two groups than anything else. And yet, that was still the top news story on Saturday--while the video (tightly shot so as not to give the viewers perspective on just how pathetic the turnout was) played on an endless loop on the all news channels.
Of course, all of today's news organizations were "pot committed"--to use a poker term--to covering this "protest" as a major story because they had been hyping it all week. Predictions called for major clashes between skinheads, African-Americans and illegal aliens in the streets of the nation's capital. Pundits were demanding the President denounce the event in advance and to tell "his supporters" to stay home. Regardless of the actual turnout on Saturday, this was going to be the "biggest story of the week".
Now imagine if this same "huge story" had taken place (and probably did numerous times) during the pre-CNN, pre-internet days. Word of the "rally" would have garnered perhaps a 30-second read with a swastika logo used behind the anchor for a little dramatic event--and it would have been presented from the perspective of Washington DC police getting ready for a potential large gathering of neo-Nazis over the weekend. And when nobody showed up, those newsroom editors would have dropped it from their rundown to devote more time to more important stories--or they would have used wide-angle camera shots of the entire scene to show how pathetic it looked so that us viewers could laugh and mock those idiots. It wasn't that the editors were looking to "cover up racism" or placate a "white viewership". They realized that 24-morons standing in the street in Washington wasn't going to have a single bit of impact on the lives of people in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
I understand that the 24-hour news cycle now demands "expanded coverage" of everything--and that in a ratings driven business, "breaking news" that happened 24-hours ago is believed to spur viewership. But you have to ask yourself, with more information available at our fingertips than ever before, are we actually better informed?
We are left to wonder how the CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite would have covered last weekend's white supremacy "rally" in Washington DC. Twenty-four neo-Nazi's showed up for the "march on Washington". They were outnumbered by the hundreds of counter-protesters--while police stood between the two to keep the peace. There may have actually be more members of the media surrounding the two groups than anything else. And yet, that was still the top news story on Saturday--while the video (tightly shot so as not to give the viewers perspective on just how pathetic the turnout was) played on an endless loop on the all news channels.
Of course, all of today's news organizations were "pot committed"--to use a poker term--to covering this "protest" as a major story because they had been hyping it all week. Predictions called for major clashes between skinheads, African-Americans and illegal aliens in the streets of the nation's capital. Pundits were demanding the President denounce the event in advance and to tell "his supporters" to stay home. Regardless of the actual turnout on Saturday, this was going to be the "biggest story of the week".
Now imagine if this same "huge story" had taken place (and probably did numerous times) during the pre-CNN, pre-internet days. Word of the "rally" would have garnered perhaps a 30-second read with a swastika logo used behind the anchor for a little dramatic event--and it would have been presented from the perspective of Washington DC police getting ready for a potential large gathering of neo-Nazis over the weekend. And when nobody showed up, those newsroom editors would have dropped it from their rundown to devote more time to more important stories--or they would have used wide-angle camera shots of the entire scene to show how pathetic it looked so that us viewers could laugh and mock those idiots. It wasn't that the editors were looking to "cover up racism" or placate a "white viewership". They realized that 24-morons standing in the street in Washington wasn't going to have a single bit of impact on the lives of people in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
I understand that the 24-hour news cycle now demands "expanded coverage" of everything--and that in a ratings driven business, "breaking news" that happened 24-hours ago is believed to spur viewership. But you have to ask yourself, with more information available at our fingertips than ever before, are we actually better informed?
Monday, August 13, 2018
Let's Do The Time Warp Again!
If you had awakened from a coma on Sunday afternoon and CBS's coverage of the PGA Championship golf tournament was on the TV in your hospital room, you may have had a very hard time figuring out what decade it is.
For starters, you had Tiger Woods near the top of the leaderboard, making birdies, pumping his fist and getting the crowds fired up like it was the early 2000's. The announcers only wanted to talk about Tiger, to show all of his shots, and replays of all of his shots from every camera angle, and then show his reaction to all of his shots followed by the crowd's reaction to all of his shots. Everyone else in the tournament was secondary to the storyline--and their position on the scoreboard was always referred to in relation to Tiger's score.
But when CBS went to commercial, you saw continuous promos for Murphy Brown--which would make you think that it is the 1990's--as that is when that show was on TV. Yes it was a minor hit--especially when it drew the ire of Vice President Dan Quayle, who didn't think the title character should be an unwed mother--and the show went out of its way to mock Quayle and the Bush administration. But why would there be commercials for that show on in the 2000's? And when did Candace Bergen get so heavy?
And then to add further confusion, the next commercial break featured promos for Magnum P I--a crime drama from the 1980's. There was the red Ferrari 308 GTS, there was the brown, orange and yellow Island Hopper helicopter. But why is Higgins a woman? And were is Magnum's mustache? It's a good thing that CBS wasn't running promos for Hawaii Five-O or that would have led our poor coma patient to think it might be the 1970's yet--just without Jack Lord's awesome pile of hair.
Fortunately, the eventual winner of the PGA brought us back to modern day life. Brooks Koepka is a quintessential millennial. He thinks golf is boring and doesn't watch it if he's not playing in that tournament. Koepka would rather just work out. He endorses Michelob Ultra beer--a low calorie, low carb beverage that barely qualifies as a beer. HIs girlfriend is a social media star/actress/model. And you could tell that it bothered him that the bigger roars were for that "old fart" Tiger Woods all day--while he was the guy that actually won the tournament--and he made it known in the post-round press conference that he still doesn't feel like he gets the adulation that he deserves as a three-time major champion.
As for our former coma patient, you can assure them that this really is 2018 and that Tiger Woods may actually be healthy enough to compete on a regular basis again--and that CBS (like the rest of Hollywood) has completely run out of ideas for new programming and has decided to just "re-boot" every popular show from decades gone by--since their audience is aging baby boomers who don't want to watch anything new anyways. You may want to hold off on telling them The Apprentice guy is now the President, though.
For starters, you had Tiger Woods near the top of the leaderboard, making birdies, pumping his fist and getting the crowds fired up like it was the early 2000's. The announcers only wanted to talk about Tiger, to show all of his shots, and replays of all of his shots from every camera angle, and then show his reaction to all of his shots followed by the crowd's reaction to all of his shots. Everyone else in the tournament was secondary to the storyline--and their position on the scoreboard was always referred to in relation to Tiger's score.
But when CBS went to commercial, you saw continuous promos for Murphy Brown--which would make you think that it is the 1990's--as that is when that show was on TV. Yes it was a minor hit--especially when it drew the ire of Vice President Dan Quayle, who didn't think the title character should be an unwed mother--and the show went out of its way to mock Quayle and the Bush administration. But why would there be commercials for that show on in the 2000's? And when did Candace Bergen get so heavy?
And then to add further confusion, the next commercial break featured promos for Magnum P I--a crime drama from the 1980's. There was the red Ferrari 308 GTS, there was the brown, orange and yellow Island Hopper helicopter. But why is Higgins a woman? And were is Magnum's mustache? It's a good thing that CBS wasn't running promos for Hawaii Five-O or that would have led our poor coma patient to think it might be the 1970's yet--just without Jack Lord's awesome pile of hair.
Fortunately, the eventual winner of the PGA brought us back to modern day life. Brooks Koepka is a quintessential millennial. He thinks golf is boring and doesn't watch it if he's not playing in that tournament. Koepka would rather just work out. He endorses Michelob Ultra beer--a low calorie, low carb beverage that barely qualifies as a beer. HIs girlfriend is a social media star/actress/model. And you could tell that it bothered him that the bigger roars were for that "old fart" Tiger Woods all day--while he was the guy that actually won the tournament--and he made it known in the post-round press conference that he still doesn't feel like he gets the adulation that he deserves as a three-time major champion.
As for our former coma patient, you can assure them that this really is 2018 and that Tiger Woods may actually be healthy enough to compete on a regular basis again--and that CBS (like the rest of Hollywood) has completely run out of ideas for new programming and has decided to just "re-boot" every popular show from decades gone by--since their audience is aging baby boomers who don't want to watch anything new anyways. You may want to hold off on telling them The Apprentice guy is now the President, though.
Friday, August 10, 2018
What a Waste
I used to get emails from a listener complaining that our stories about drug busts and dealer convictions shouldn't include the street value of the drugs, how much cash a dealer may have been carrying or how much a drug ring moved into the community. He feared that by letting people know how much money was involved in the illegal drug trade others would be convinced to get into it--as if there are a bunch of law-abiding citizens listening and thinking "Wow, why am I spending 40-hours a week doing spreadsheets when I can be making so much more in the glamorous world of selling drugs!"
Including details of the amounts of cash involved in the illegal drug trade here in the Fox Valley provides great insight into just how much is wasted--usually by people that can ill-afford to throw away their money on something that provides no value to their lives. Consider this week's busts in Fond du Lac county that broke up a drug ring that had sold $9.6-MILLION in cocaine and crack in a little less than a year. And District Attorney Eric Toney admitted that was a conservative estimate of the group's sales--it easily could have been more than 10-million dollars. Keep in mind, this drug ring involved just 16-people transporting and distributing the drugs. I know more than a few small business owners here in Oshkosh that would love to see those sales numbers from that small a workforce.
As I mentioned, this drug operation took money away from folks that likely aren't just spending disposable income to get high every once in a while. Crack addicts aren't usually the highest-functioning members of society. So that $9.6-MILLION was taking away money from back-to-school shopping for kids, or meals on the dinner table, or a stable housing situation. And who is asked to pick up the tab for providing those services when these drug addicts can't? That's right, the rest of us. How do you think non-profits like the United Way feel when they struggle to meet fundraising goals of just a million dollars--and then they hear that many of the people they serve are wasting ten times that much on drugs?
And unlike purchases on other vices--like alcohol or gambling--illegal drug purchases do nothing to boost the local economy. Yes, low-level sellers reuse some of what they make on the drugs to buy stuff from local stores--but usually they are users too, selling so they can afford their own addictions. I don't know what the average markup is on illegal drugs--but I'm guessing that most of that $9.6-MILLION went back to higher-level traffickers in big cities like Milwaukee and Chicago--where the cash is used to buy stolen guns for gang members--or to pay people with clean criminal records to pass all background checks to purchase guns for those gangs. Eventually some of that cash makes it back to the Mexican drug cartels that terrorize people south of the border and drive them to seek illegal refuge here in the US.
If $9.6-MILLION in just Fond du Lac County shocks you, consider that this ring was moving cocaine and crack--which are not nearly as commonly abused as heroin and other opiates--or as much marijuana as potheads are smoking. It makes you wonder how much less "help" in the forms of government programs and charitable programs we'd have to provide to our neighbors if they weren't blowing so much of their cash--literally.
Including details of the amounts of cash involved in the illegal drug trade here in the Fox Valley provides great insight into just how much is wasted--usually by people that can ill-afford to throw away their money on something that provides no value to their lives. Consider this week's busts in Fond du Lac county that broke up a drug ring that had sold $9.6-MILLION in cocaine and crack in a little less than a year. And District Attorney Eric Toney admitted that was a conservative estimate of the group's sales--it easily could have been more than 10-million dollars. Keep in mind, this drug ring involved just 16-people transporting and distributing the drugs. I know more than a few small business owners here in Oshkosh that would love to see those sales numbers from that small a workforce.
As I mentioned, this drug operation took money away from folks that likely aren't just spending disposable income to get high every once in a while. Crack addicts aren't usually the highest-functioning members of society. So that $9.6-MILLION was taking away money from back-to-school shopping for kids, or meals on the dinner table, or a stable housing situation. And who is asked to pick up the tab for providing those services when these drug addicts can't? That's right, the rest of us. How do you think non-profits like the United Way feel when they struggle to meet fundraising goals of just a million dollars--and then they hear that many of the people they serve are wasting ten times that much on drugs?
And unlike purchases on other vices--like alcohol or gambling--illegal drug purchases do nothing to boost the local economy. Yes, low-level sellers reuse some of what they make on the drugs to buy stuff from local stores--but usually they are users too, selling so they can afford their own addictions. I don't know what the average markup is on illegal drugs--but I'm guessing that most of that $9.6-MILLION went back to higher-level traffickers in big cities like Milwaukee and Chicago--where the cash is used to buy stolen guns for gang members--or to pay people with clean criminal records to pass all background checks to purchase guns for those gangs. Eventually some of that cash makes it back to the Mexican drug cartels that terrorize people south of the border and drive them to seek illegal refuge here in the US.
If $9.6-MILLION in just Fond du Lac County shocks you, consider that this ring was moving cocaine and crack--which are not nearly as commonly abused as heroin and other opiates--or as much marijuana as potheads are smoking. It makes you wonder how much less "help" in the forms of government programs and charitable programs we'd have to provide to our neighbors if they weren't blowing so much of their cash--literally.
Thursday, August 9, 2018
And the Oscar for Best Superhero Goes to.....
Hollywood's self-congratulatory season will be starting soon (the Emmys are in mid-September). After the lowest ratings since the ceremonies were put on television, the Oscars think they are going to give the viewers what they want: an award for movies that people have actually seen.
Nevermind that perhaps viewers don't appreciate being called racist, sexist, misogynist, stupid, war-mongering, violent and out-of-touch by celebrities that with their own actions and tweets show that they are racist, sexist, misogynist, stupid and out-of-touch. And that insult-fest shows no signs of slowing down heading into this year's awards season.
But the Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts thinks the average American will sit through all of that if there is a possibility that one of the endless series of superhero movies might actually win a "major award". Therefore they have created the "Best Achievement in Popular Film" category. Ostensibly, this is for the summer blockbuster that featured no real plot, terrible acting by second-rate performers, a ton of computer-generated action and extremely loud sound effects and soundtrack.
It's like the Academy admits that the movies they think are the best examples of cinematic excellence are also all box office flops. How many people actually saw The Shape of Water? Or Birdman, Spotlight, Moonlight, The Artist, Argo, 12 Years a Slave and The King's Speech? Those are the Best Picture winners this decade. I have seen exactly ZERO.
It should be pointed out that the studios themselves are the ones that submit the films and acting performances honored by the Academy. There is nothing stopping them from submitting X-Men, or Spiderman, or whatever movie features The Rock blowing up a bunch of stuff for 90-minutes for "Best Picture"--well other than embarrassment. You may recall, the Academy doubled the number of nominees for Best Picture a few years ago in hopes of getting more popular fare nominated--but all that led to was more obscure films that could claim to be "Nominated for Best Picture" on their Netflix description a month after being released.
Maybe this desperate grab at ratings for a three-hour snoozefest will work and more people will tune in to see if a movie their teenagers went to see might win an Oscar. But I'm guessing that remote will be changing the channel as soon as the winning director starts talking about #metoo and the President's twitter account.
Nevermind that perhaps viewers don't appreciate being called racist, sexist, misogynist, stupid, war-mongering, violent and out-of-touch by celebrities that with their own actions and tweets show that they are racist, sexist, misogynist, stupid and out-of-touch. And that insult-fest shows no signs of slowing down heading into this year's awards season.
But the Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts thinks the average American will sit through all of that if there is a possibility that one of the endless series of superhero movies might actually win a "major award". Therefore they have created the "Best Achievement in Popular Film" category. Ostensibly, this is for the summer blockbuster that featured no real plot, terrible acting by second-rate performers, a ton of computer-generated action and extremely loud sound effects and soundtrack.
It's like the Academy admits that the movies they think are the best examples of cinematic excellence are also all box office flops. How many people actually saw The Shape of Water? Or Birdman, Spotlight, Moonlight, The Artist, Argo, 12 Years a Slave and The King's Speech? Those are the Best Picture winners this decade. I have seen exactly ZERO.
It should be pointed out that the studios themselves are the ones that submit the films and acting performances honored by the Academy. There is nothing stopping them from submitting X-Men, or Spiderman, or whatever movie features The Rock blowing up a bunch of stuff for 90-minutes for "Best Picture"--well other than embarrassment. You may recall, the Academy doubled the number of nominees for Best Picture a few years ago in hopes of getting more popular fare nominated--but all that led to was more obscure films that could claim to be "Nominated for Best Picture" on their Netflix description a month after being released.
Maybe this desperate grab at ratings for a three-hour snoozefest will work and more people will tune in to see if a movie their teenagers went to see might win an Oscar. But I'm guessing that remote will be changing the channel as soon as the winning director starts talking about #metoo and the President's twitter account.
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Remedia Ignorantiae Plenae Iitterarum Scientific
Nothing reveals the lack of scientific knowledge of the average American like a news story related to science. Earlier this week, there were reports that a hurricane was on the path to hit the Big Island of Hawaii--where the Kilauea volcano continues to erupt. The comments sections following on-line articles were enough to make you cry--either from their unintentional hilarity, or out of grave concern for the future of our populace.
The "Hurricane versus Volcano" reactions fell along three lines: 1--The hurricane is going to "put out the volcano". I believe it was a CNN News Facebook post that saw one woman comment "God is sending the hurricane to save the people of Hawaii!"--which would lead you to ask, why wouldn't God just stop the flow of lava, instead of sending a storm with torrential rains and destructive winds? Those who see the rains "shutting down" Kilauea apparently have seen that Tommy Lee Jones movie where fire crews with water from hoses and helicopters--along with concrete road construction barricades--are able to redirect and stop giant lava flows that come from a new volcano that pops up in the middle of Los Angeles.
The second group of "scientists" predicted that the large amounts of rain water would seep through the porous lava rock until it struck the red-hot lava underground resulting in giant steam explosions that would cause large portions of the Big Island to fall into the sea--creating giant tsunamis that would wash over all of Hawaii and threaten to flood the Pacific Coast several hundred miles inland. There is some basis for this "theory"--as giant sections of both Oahu and Molokai broke off hundreds of thousands of years ago--creating what were likely the largest tsunamis in the planet's history. But geologists doubt that much of the Big Island could be detached at one time to create any concern.
And the final "forecast" from our on-line "experts" was that the "heat and gases from the volcano could create a superstorm" that would rain toxic death from above wherever it continued on its path. Meteorologists say the small area of radiant heat generated by Kilauea would at most cause more ash to lift higher into the storm clouds--only creating more lightning--but not drops of chemical death. What's more, the two giant mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea would cause the Hurricane to weaken dramatically after making landfall.
A quick internet search reveals two hurricanes have passed over Kilauea already this century--neither of which created the type of doomsday scenarios some of our friends and neighbors now fear. It sounds like "Bill Ney the Science Guy" needs to appear before a Congressional sub-committee with a few other celebrities to "teach Americans some real science".
The "Hurricane versus Volcano" reactions fell along three lines: 1--The hurricane is going to "put out the volcano". I believe it was a CNN News Facebook post that saw one woman comment "God is sending the hurricane to save the people of Hawaii!"--which would lead you to ask, why wouldn't God just stop the flow of lava, instead of sending a storm with torrential rains and destructive winds? Those who see the rains "shutting down" Kilauea apparently have seen that Tommy Lee Jones movie where fire crews with water from hoses and helicopters--along with concrete road construction barricades--are able to redirect and stop giant lava flows that come from a new volcano that pops up in the middle of Los Angeles.
The second group of "scientists" predicted that the large amounts of rain water would seep through the porous lava rock until it struck the red-hot lava underground resulting in giant steam explosions that would cause large portions of the Big Island to fall into the sea--creating giant tsunamis that would wash over all of Hawaii and threaten to flood the Pacific Coast several hundred miles inland. There is some basis for this "theory"--as giant sections of both Oahu and Molokai broke off hundreds of thousands of years ago--creating what were likely the largest tsunamis in the planet's history. But geologists doubt that much of the Big Island could be detached at one time to create any concern.
And the final "forecast" from our on-line "experts" was that the "heat and gases from the volcano could create a superstorm" that would rain toxic death from above wherever it continued on its path. Meteorologists say the small area of radiant heat generated by Kilauea would at most cause more ash to lift higher into the storm clouds--only creating more lightning--but not drops of chemical death. What's more, the two giant mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea would cause the Hurricane to weaken dramatically after making landfall.
A quick internet search reveals two hurricanes have passed over Kilauea already this century--neither of which created the type of doomsday scenarios some of our friends and neighbors now fear. It sounds like "Bill Ney the Science Guy" needs to appear before a Congressional sub-committee with a few other celebrities to "teach Americans some real science".
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Lowered Too Much
I anticipate getting the question a couple of times today: "Why are the flags at half staff again?" Almost every time the flags are lowered someone asks me that. I don't blame everyone for not knowing, as the flag flies at half-staff in Wisconsin almost as much as it does at the top of the pole.
Today, the flag is being lowered in honor of former State Senator Mike Ellis. Yes, Ellis died two weeks ago, but there is finally a public memorial service today--so that is why Governor Scott Walker has ordered half-staff. Before that, it was lowered for almost a week after a Milwaukee Police Officer was shot to death. And before that it was for the Sun Prairie Firefighter killed in the explosion. And before that it was another police officer killed in the line of duty. And before that it was the return of the body of a soldier killed in Afghanistan. And before that it was the death of another former lawmaker.
While it seems nice that the Governor would bestow such an honor on public servants, how much of an "honor" is it if the vast majority of people driving by those flags have no idea who, what and why there is such an honor? You could walk through downtown Neenah today and ask 20-people why the flag is at half-staff and I'd bet 19 of them couldn't tell you why--and those are the folks that Mike Ellis used to represent in the Legislature. So how many people in Milwaukee, Wausau, La Crosse and Superior would even have a clue?
What's more, in these hyper-partisan times, you are opening the door to arguments about what level of public service deserves having the flags lowered. Did a former Democratic state lawmaker die that didn't get the half-staff tribute? Is the Governor playing political favorites? Can we get PolitiFact on the investigation into this?
Personally, I think the American flag should be lowered only in periods of national mourning. 9/11, the Space Shuttle disasters, the death of a President--and only by order of the President. If governors want to lower their own state flags, they can do that (however, how many people and businesses fly state flags?). If we are going to drive by a tribute, we all should know why that tribute is being done.
Today, the flag is being lowered in honor of former State Senator Mike Ellis. Yes, Ellis died two weeks ago, but there is finally a public memorial service today--so that is why Governor Scott Walker has ordered half-staff. Before that, it was lowered for almost a week after a Milwaukee Police Officer was shot to death. And before that it was for the Sun Prairie Firefighter killed in the explosion. And before that it was another police officer killed in the line of duty. And before that it was the return of the body of a soldier killed in Afghanistan. And before that it was the death of another former lawmaker.
While it seems nice that the Governor would bestow such an honor on public servants, how much of an "honor" is it if the vast majority of people driving by those flags have no idea who, what and why there is such an honor? You could walk through downtown Neenah today and ask 20-people why the flag is at half-staff and I'd bet 19 of them couldn't tell you why--and those are the folks that Mike Ellis used to represent in the Legislature. So how many people in Milwaukee, Wausau, La Crosse and Superior would even have a clue?
What's more, in these hyper-partisan times, you are opening the door to arguments about what level of public service deserves having the flags lowered. Did a former Democratic state lawmaker die that didn't get the half-staff tribute? Is the Governor playing political favorites? Can we get PolitiFact on the investigation into this?
Personally, I think the American flag should be lowered only in periods of national mourning. 9/11, the Space Shuttle disasters, the death of a President--and only by order of the President. If governors want to lower their own state flags, they can do that (however, how many people and businesses fly state flags?). If we are going to drive by a tribute, we all should know why that tribute is being done.
Monday, August 6, 2018
Mile of White Guy Music
I'm sure that when organizers of Mile of Music in Appleton put together their event, their main concerns are juggling the schedules of so many artists and venues that make up the festival. You have to get acts to fill all of the time slots and to make sure the popularity of some artists match the size of the venue so that attendees aren't getting shut out of all the shows they want to see. After the months of planning and scheduling are done, I doubt they look at their work and say "You know what, we've got too many white guys".
At it's heart, Mile of Music is what I call an "earnest, roots rock festival". That means many of the performers are white guys with guitars that wear hats that went out of style in the 1960's and vests--sort of like Art Carney's look in the Honeymooners--but usually with scraggly beards and lots of tattoos. Sometimes the white guys have their buddies who play piano or drums sit in with them for mostly acoustic sets featuring songs about unrequited love and perhaps a political statement about how conservatives suck. There are a few white ladies who also play guitar and maybe a little piano while wearing a retro-style dress they bought at Ragstock in the Twin Cities (but the "real one" in Uptown--not the "fake one" at the Mall of America). And those that attend Mile of Music--usually in their "You've never heard of my favorite band" t-shirts--all praise the event for being "so authentic".
Well this year some people started questioning if Mile of Music may want to change up the make up of its lineup. Their was criticism that there are few acts featuring people of color--and few openly LGBTQ artists. Founder Corey Chisel even took to Facebook promising to work on booking fewer guys like himself for next year. Of course, the festival was created in Chisel's own image--as he promised to bring his "friends in the industry" to Appleton to play--and then they told their friends who told their friends--most of whom tended to be white guys with guitars, lame hats and vests.
Mile of Music isn't the only festival to get hit with this "too white" criticism. For years, Summerfest in Milwaukee was taken to task for not booking hip hop acts. That criticism came after some high profile reports of violence after previous shows and comments from both Summerfest organizers and Milwaukee police that fans of those bands were solely responsible for the problems. Now, Summerfest usually books one high-profile hip hop act on a mid-week night when crowds are generally smaller just to make everyone happy.
So starting next year, the Mile of Music folks will be working with quotas for black, Latino and gay acts--whether they think the people of the Fox Cities will want to hear them or not. Maybe it will make for a better festival. However, it means less exposure for white guys playing acoustic guitars in porkpie hats and black vests.
At it's heart, Mile of Music is what I call an "earnest, roots rock festival". That means many of the performers are white guys with guitars that wear hats that went out of style in the 1960's and vests--sort of like Art Carney's look in the Honeymooners--but usually with scraggly beards and lots of tattoos. Sometimes the white guys have their buddies who play piano or drums sit in with them for mostly acoustic sets featuring songs about unrequited love and perhaps a political statement about how conservatives suck. There are a few white ladies who also play guitar and maybe a little piano while wearing a retro-style dress they bought at Ragstock in the Twin Cities (but the "real one" in Uptown--not the "fake one" at the Mall of America). And those that attend Mile of Music--usually in their "You've never heard of my favorite band" t-shirts--all praise the event for being "so authentic".
Well this year some people started questioning if Mile of Music may want to change up the make up of its lineup. Their was criticism that there are few acts featuring people of color--and few openly LGBTQ artists. Founder Corey Chisel even took to Facebook promising to work on booking fewer guys like himself for next year. Of course, the festival was created in Chisel's own image--as he promised to bring his "friends in the industry" to Appleton to play--and then they told their friends who told their friends--most of whom tended to be white guys with guitars, lame hats and vests.
Mile of Music isn't the only festival to get hit with this "too white" criticism. For years, Summerfest in Milwaukee was taken to task for not booking hip hop acts. That criticism came after some high profile reports of violence after previous shows and comments from both Summerfest organizers and Milwaukee police that fans of those bands were solely responsible for the problems. Now, Summerfest usually books one high-profile hip hop act on a mid-week night when crowds are generally smaller just to make everyone happy.
So starting next year, the Mile of Music folks will be working with quotas for black, Latino and gay acts--whether they think the people of the Fox Cities will want to hear them or not. Maybe it will make for a better festival. However, it means less exposure for white guys playing acoustic guitars in porkpie hats and black vests.
Friday, August 3, 2018
The Path of Least Resistance
The Golden State Warriors' influence on basketball on all levels continues to grow. It wasn't enough to have 5th grade boys launching 27-foot jumpers without throwing a pass to any teammates on an offensive possession--and not get benched immediately. Nor was it enough to see a college team attempt 40 three-pointers in losing the National Championship game. Now we have high school kids forming their own "super teams" here in Wisconsin.
That is the way it looks as two of the top players in the state have decided to transfer to the same school this year. Jalen Johnson--a junior--has up and moved from Sun Prairie to Glendale--so he can attend Nicolet High School. That announcement (made on Twitter) came after another highly-recruited player, junior Desmond Polk, suddenly left New Berlin West to attend Nicolet last spring. At Nicolet, Johnson and Polk will join another top college prospect--Jamari Sibley, who is also a junior.
Interestingly enough, all three of these kids played together this summer on the AAU tournament circuit with the Phenom University team out of Milwaukee. It's not to hard to imagine that they probably spent time Snapchatting each other--while all sitting in the same row of chairs in the gym--about how they should all play together and win a couple of state championships--instead of competing against each other for the title. Just like Kevin Durant couldn't beat Golden State while playing in Oklahoma City--so he just joined them.
There is a potential holdup to the formation of Wisconsin's High School Superteam. Transfers of athletes after a player's sophomore year require approval from the WIAA before they can play--otherwise the kids have to sit out a year. But families only need to show that they did move to the new school district for a valid reason--beyond the basketball team is better--and the transfer is almost always approved.
As you might expect, backlash to this "free agent" formation of a high school team has come mainly from us older folks that cover sports. We like to point out that Larry Bird never joined the Lakers to win championships with Magic Johnson and that kids today try to find the easy way when it comes to everything. We also like to wring our hands and worry that the days of kids playing together from 5th grade through high school and living out the dream of winning a championship as life-long friends is over. It's just a matter of time before certain schools in certain parts of the state will become "magnets" for top athletes looking to win--and gain recruiting attention--and the rest of the state will be left with the scrubs.
So Nicolet will likely be the target of scorn by us "old-timers" for the next two years--as we root for say a plucky, underdog group of kids from somewhere like Oshkosh West to "out Golden State" Nicolet in a state semi-final game and make 30-three pointers to pull off the major upset--and prove that there are still "right ways to win".
That is the way it looks as two of the top players in the state have decided to transfer to the same school this year. Jalen Johnson--a junior--has up and moved from Sun Prairie to Glendale--so he can attend Nicolet High School. That announcement (made on Twitter) came after another highly-recruited player, junior Desmond Polk, suddenly left New Berlin West to attend Nicolet last spring. At Nicolet, Johnson and Polk will join another top college prospect--Jamari Sibley, who is also a junior.
Interestingly enough, all three of these kids played together this summer on the AAU tournament circuit with the Phenom University team out of Milwaukee. It's not to hard to imagine that they probably spent time Snapchatting each other--while all sitting in the same row of chairs in the gym--about how they should all play together and win a couple of state championships--instead of competing against each other for the title. Just like Kevin Durant couldn't beat Golden State while playing in Oklahoma City--so he just joined them.
There is a potential holdup to the formation of Wisconsin's High School Superteam. Transfers of athletes after a player's sophomore year require approval from the WIAA before they can play--otherwise the kids have to sit out a year. But families only need to show that they did move to the new school district for a valid reason--beyond the basketball team is better--and the transfer is almost always approved.
As you might expect, backlash to this "free agent" formation of a high school team has come mainly from us older folks that cover sports. We like to point out that Larry Bird never joined the Lakers to win championships with Magic Johnson and that kids today try to find the easy way when it comes to everything. We also like to wring our hands and worry that the days of kids playing together from 5th grade through high school and living out the dream of winning a championship as life-long friends is over. It's just a matter of time before certain schools in certain parts of the state will become "magnets" for top athletes looking to win--and gain recruiting attention--and the rest of the state will be left with the scrubs.
So Nicolet will likely be the target of scorn by us "old-timers" for the next two years--as we root for say a plucky, underdog group of kids from somewhere like Oshkosh West to "out Golden State" Nicolet in a state semi-final game and make 30-three pointers to pull off the major upset--and prove that there are still "right ways to win".
Thursday, August 2, 2018
The Fool on the Web
While special investigators, Congress, CNN and MSNBC are all about Russia, Russia, Russia and election meddling in 2016, nobody seems to be taking the time to consider why efforts to influence voters that year were so effective--and why it likely would work again this year and in 2020. And the reason there is no focus on that is because it would force a lot of Americans to do something they hate: blame themselves.
No one is saying that election totals from 2016 were hacked and adjusted to benefit any candidate. Nobody is claiming that Russians used hacked voter rolls to send fake voters to the polls. There aren't even allegations of "dark money" being funneled to political campaigns. What is causing all of the concern was a directed campaign of misinformation on social media.
How did the Russian operatives know that such a campaign would be effective? To me, it's nothing more than the "Nigerian Prince" email scam--something you see in the inbox and delete automatically. Every once in a while we have a story about someone actually being scammed by that email and you wonder how they could possibly be so gullible. And yet, the Russians knew that posting fake news stories from "sources" that no one had ever heard of before would be taken as gospel truth by millions of Facebook and other social media users.
And the Russians didn't even have to get those posts onto everyone's pages because they knew that those that did receive them would gladly repost them for like-minded friends, who would repost for other friends and so on and so on and so on. Let's not forget that they also played both ends of the political spectrum. After a Milwaukee Police shooting of a young, black man, people in that neighborhood were targeted with fake reports meant to incite distrust in the police department and possible unrest--which did happen.
The "collusion" executed by the Trump campaign was to continually tell Americans that they could not trust the information they received from mainstream media outlets--playing directly into the hands of the Russian operatives and social media bots providing Americans with the misinformation that they wanted to hear. And judging by the polling data that shows continued distrust in traditional media outlets, and failure to appreciate real reporting, we remain ripe for another round of "meddling" this year and for years to come.
But it's much easier to blame Russia, Trump campaign workers, Hillary Clinton and her email server and Mark Zuckerberg for "fooling us"--when we ourselves make it so easy.
No one is saying that election totals from 2016 were hacked and adjusted to benefit any candidate. Nobody is claiming that Russians used hacked voter rolls to send fake voters to the polls. There aren't even allegations of "dark money" being funneled to political campaigns. What is causing all of the concern was a directed campaign of misinformation on social media.
How did the Russian operatives know that such a campaign would be effective? To me, it's nothing more than the "Nigerian Prince" email scam--something you see in the inbox and delete automatically. Every once in a while we have a story about someone actually being scammed by that email and you wonder how they could possibly be so gullible. And yet, the Russians knew that posting fake news stories from "sources" that no one had ever heard of before would be taken as gospel truth by millions of Facebook and other social media users.
And the Russians didn't even have to get those posts onto everyone's pages because they knew that those that did receive them would gladly repost them for like-minded friends, who would repost for other friends and so on and so on and so on. Let's not forget that they also played both ends of the political spectrum. After a Milwaukee Police shooting of a young, black man, people in that neighborhood were targeted with fake reports meant to incite distrust in the police department and possible unrest--which did happen.
The "collusion" executed by the Trump campaign was to continually tell Americans that they could not trust the information they received from mainstream media outlets--playing directly into the hands of the Russian operatives and social media bots providing Americans with the misinformation that they wanted to hear. And judging by the polling data that shows continued distrust in traditional media outlets, and failure to appreciate real reporting, we remain ripe for another round of "meddling" this year and for years to come.
But it's much easier to blame Russia, Trump campaign workers, Hillary Clinton and her email server and Mark Zuckerberg for "fooling us"--when we ourselves make it so easy.
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Not What We Are Here To Do
Former House Speaker Tip O'Neill is credited with coining the phrase "All politics is local". When he said that he meant that while those in Washington focus on grandiose plans for international diplomacy and sweeping national social change, the vast majority of voters cast their ballots based on how it will benefit their wallets, their jobs and their personal security. What Tip did not mean was that local government should be all things political. And yet, that is the direction that we are heading--as items that deal with national and state-level issues increasingly clutter up city council, county board and school board agendas.
Stymied at the national level and in the majority of statehouses around the country, Democrats and other liberal groups are recruiting candidates to run for usually, non-partisan, low-turnout local elections. The idea is to "effect change on a grassroots level"--and groom candidates that can move up the political ladder. But these party activists have no interest in the actual governance of their municipality. They are silent on issues like zoning, street repair projects, garbage collection schedules and even entire annual budgets. It is only when their resolution asking the body to "take a stand against partisan redistricting" or their non-binding referendum to no longer enforce drug laws comes up for a vote that you realize they are even on the board.
And such referenda and resolutions bog down meetings--as members with opposing political views engage in lengthy debates about election results in other parts of the state, enforcement policies on national borders 2000 miles away, state corrections policies and competing medical studies on the effects of plants on the human body. None of which are the purview of a city council, a county board or a school board. The last two Winnebago County Board meetings featured hours of debate on the wording of referenda questions on redistricting and recreational marijuana use--neither of which were going to change any county ordinances.
Several supervisors correctly called into question why the Board was even discussing such items--as it is not "county business". They then rightly abstained from voting on them--which in the case of the "legalize pot for all" referendum meant it failed to get on the November ballot.
If we are to prevent City Hall, the County Courthouse and the School District Office Building from becoming the same partisan houses of discord and dysfunction as seen in state capitols and in Washington, it is in our best interests to vote for candidates that actually want to be local politicians.
Stymied at the national level and in the majority of statehouses around the country, Democrats and other liberal groups are recruiting candidates to run for usually, non-partisan, low-turnout local elections. The idea is to "effect change on a grassroots level"--and groom candidates that can move up the political ladder. But these party activists have no interest in the actual governance of their municipality. They are silent on issues like zoning, street repair projects, garbage collection schedules and even entire annual budgets. It is only when their resolution asking the body to "take a stand against partisan redistricting" or their non-binding referendum to no longer enforce drug laws comes up for a vote that you realize they are even on the board.
And such referenda and resolutions bog down meetings--as members with opposing political views engage in lengthy debates about election results in other parts of the state, enforcement policies on national borders 2000 miles away, state corrections policies and competing medical studies on the effects of plants on the human body. None of which are the purview of a city council, a county board or a school board. The last two Winnebago County Board meetings featured hours of debate on the wording of referenda questions on redistricting and recreational marijuana use--neither of which were going to change any county ordinances.
Several supervisors correctly called into question why the Board was even discussing such items--as it is not "county business". They then rightly abstained from voting on them--which in the case of the "legalize pot for all" referendum meant it failed to get on the November ballot.
If we are to prevent City Hall, the County Courthouse and the School District Office Building from becoming the same partisan houses of discord and dysfunction as seen in state capitols and in Washington, it is in our best interests to vote for candidates that actually want to be local politicians.
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