Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

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Month: August 2020

Formulating Public Policy is a Balancing Act

by | 1234, 23 Aug 2020 | | 4 Comments

The Associated Press is treating this like a scandal, but why? It is the job of our government officials to accept advice from multiple interests, weigh the information, measure the priorities, and move forward with public policy that attempts to find a balance that promotes the common good. The notion that we should turn public policy over to a single voice – like public health officials – is ridiculous. It is equally ridiculous to turn public policy over to the exclusive wishes of businesses, public employees, environmentalists, or any other single group. The entire reason we have representative government is for all voices to be represented and then for elected representatives to issue public policy that takes those voices into account.

As South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster prepared to announce the end of a coronavirus stay-at-home order, his top staff received an email from the state health department.

The message, highlighted in bold, was clear: Wait longer before allowing customers back inside restaurants, hair salons and other businesses where people will be in close contact.

Instead, McMaster pressed ahead with a plan written by the state restaurant association to resume inside dining on May 11. The guidelines made masks optional for employees and allowed more customers inside than the health agency had advised.

A few days later, the Republican governor opened the doors to salons, fitness centers and swimming pools. He did not wait to gauge the effect of the restaurant reopening on the virus, as public health officials had suggested. Like many states, South Carolina later experienced a surge in infections that forced McMaster to dial back his reopening plan.

He was hardly alone. Thousands of pages of emails provided to The Associated Press under open-records laws show that governors across the U.S. were inundated with reopening advice from a wide range of industries — from campgrounds in New Hampshire to car washes in Washington. Some governors put economic interests ahead of public health guidance, and certain businesses were allowed to write the rules that would govern their own operations.

As job losses accelerated, the pressure to reopen intensified.

Asteroid Might Hit Earth

by | 1402, 22 Aug 2020 | | 5 Comments

The likelihood of this asteroid hitting earth is roughly the same likelihood of someone under the age of 70 dying of COVID-19 in Wisconsin.

Amid a pandemic, civil unrest and a divisive US election season, we now have an asteroid zooming toward us.
On the day before the presidential vote, no less.
Yep. The celestial object known as 2018VP1 is projected to come close to Earth on November 2, according to the Center for Near Earth Objects Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Its diameter is 0.002 km, or about 6.5 feet, according to NASA’s data. It was first identified at Palomar Observatory in California in 2018.
NASA says there are three potential impacts, but “based on 21 observations spanning 12.968 days,” the agency has determined the asteroid probably — phew! — won’t have a direct impact, let alone bring Armageddon.
The chance of it hitting us is just 0.41%, data show.

Biden Would Shut Down Country

by | 2126, 21 Aug 2020 | | 134 Comments

This is precisely why he should not be elected. He would throw away our jobs, our savings, our lives, and our futures. He has no judgment and no ability to balance competing interests and conflicting information. The notion that he would shut down the country – as if POTUS even had that authority – because “the scientists” said so is disgusting.

Former Vice President Joe Biden said in an exclusive interview with ABC “World News Tonight” Anchor David Muir on Friday that as president, he would shut the country down to stop the spread of COVID-19 if the move was recommended to him by scientists.

“I would shut it down; I would listen to the scientists,” Biden told Muir Friday, alongside his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., during their first joint interview since officially becoming the Democratic Party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees.

Traitor Caught

by | 2103, 21 Aug 2020 | , | 31 Comments

Hang ’em high (if he’s guilty)

(CNN)A former Army Green Beret has been charged with providing information about US national defenses to Russian agents, the Department of Justice announced on Friday.

Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins was arrested for allegedly releasing details to Russian intelligence operatives about the chemical and Special Forces unit he was a part of before and while serving in the US Army.
Prosecutors with the Eastern District of Virginia say Debbins met with Russian operatives on multiple occasions from 1996 to 2011 and was even assigned a code name, “Ikar Lesnikov,” by Russian intel agents. Debbins is also accused of signing a statement allegedly affirming that he wanted to serve Russia.
The FBI alleges that “Mr. Debbins knowingly provided information to self-proclaimed members of Russia’s Intelligence Service, the GRU,” said James A. Dawson, acting assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office.

Collegiate Sports Begin to Topple

by | 2032, 21 Aug 2020 | | 7 Comments

The first wave. For all of those people who gripe about the attention that college football and basketball get, those sports pay for a lot of other sports. I expect a lot of schools will have to limit their sports offerings.

Iowa will drop four sports programs as part of the athletic department’s response to a projected loss of $100 million in revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic.

School president Bruce Harreld and athletic director Gary Barta said Friday that men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis and men’s and women’s swimming and diving will be discontinued after the 2020-21 academic year.

Barta said the Big Ten’s decision to postpone football and other fall sports until the spring will create an overall budget deficit between $60 million and $75 million this year.

“A loss of this magnitude will take years to overcome. We have a plan to recover, but the journey will be challenging,” Harreld and Barta said.

Black Advocacy Group Rejects Madison School Referendum

by | 0807, 20 Aug 2020 | , | 2 Comments

Good for them.

An advocacy group of Black leaders is opposing the Madison School District’s $350 million ask of taxpayers this fall, arguing the proposals are under-developed and the district hasn’t done enough to support African American children to get their endorsement on the two November ballot referendums.

In a statement sent to some media members Tuesday, Blacks for Political and Social Action of Dane County said it’s concerned with the progress on closing wide racial achievement gaps; the cost of the referendums could be burdensome on fixed-income residents; and educational priorities in the COVID-19 pandemic have shifted since the referendums were first proposed more than a year ago.

“We have not been presented with evidence that links additional public expenditures with increasing the academic performance of African American students,” the organization said in the statement. “More of the same for African American students is unacceptable.”

I’d go one step further… we have not been presented with evidence that links additional public expenditures with increasing academic performance for any students.

Mask Mandate Isn’t Helping, and it May be Hurting

by | 0750, 20 Aug 2020 | | 51 Comments

From Right Wisconsin. Listen to the science, indeed.

Accounting for daily tests, the mask mandate is actually significantly related to an increase in positive tests of about 1.7%. Daily tests has the expected relationship to positivity rates—more testing tends to lower them.

Does this mean that the mask mandate has had a negative impact on the state’s COVID rates? Likely not. But when the effect is in the wrong direction, we can be relatively certain that the mandate has not had the intended impact of mitigating the virus.

Profound societal shifts are underway

by | 0820, 19 Aug 2020 | , , , | 21 Comments

Here is my column that ran in the Washington County Daily News yesterday.

Last week I took a mind to head to the pistol range for some practice. After a quick assessment of my current inventory of ammunition, it was clear that I had let it dwindle to the point of needing replenishment. I headed to the store to stock up only to find the shelves stripped bare. All told, I went to five stores that day for ammunition. One store had five boxes that had just arrived but would only sell two of them to me. The fifth store would sell me more, but it cost me almost twice the normal price. Clearly, something is going on.

Earlier this year, a friend approached me about advice on a weapon to carry concealed. A quick search of the internet will find very strong and contradictory opinions on this topic and I certainly have my own thoughts after carrying a weapon for the majority of my adult life. My friend had used a gun before but did not currently own one. However, with the civil unrest, defunding of law enforcement, and general anarchy roiling our nation, my friend thought it was time strengthen his defensive posture for himself and his family.

My friend is not alone. I also sat in a class for concealed carry holders this month and it was packed. One older lady in the class had taken her first handgun class the week prior. A middle- aged couple had long guns already, but had decided to get their licenses to carry concealed. According to the instructor, he has never been so busy as the past few months. The statistics about the incredible rise in gun ownership have been on display for months and much of it is being driven by people who are buying their first gun for the purpose of defending themselves. They have lost confidence in our government to maintain order.

2020 is proving to be a fulcrum year where events are shifting our society and culture in ways yet unknown. The swiftness with which our government stripped us of our rights in an overreaction to a public health concern at the same time that fascist mobs are given license to maraud by the very same government has shocked the sensibilities of many Americans and undermined some of the principles that have cemented our nation’s foundation since its inception. As our society shifts, it will be seen in what people do — not what they say. One thing they are doing is buying a lot of guns.

Another thing that many more people are doing is moving out of cities to more suburban and rural areas. This movement would be a reversal of recent migration patterns. The reasons are myriad. Coronavirus has made some people realize that urban living is a perfect environment for the spread of diseases at the same time that the widespread closures of cultural attractions has diminished the allure of city living. When one combines that with the increase in violence and crime that many cities are suffering, it is easy to see why a young family might choose to look elsewhere to raise their children.

Another enabler of city flight is the move to virtual work. Coronavirus shoved many workers from their offices into their homes. The shock of that movement is over, and many businesses are finding that remote workers are just as productive without the need of providing a large office complex or amenities. Furthermore, virtual workers reduce the potential liability and disruption of a disease outbreak. Right now, many businesses are having to shut down their offices if a single employee tests positive for COVID-19. That is not a risk with virtual employees.

Helpfully for the businesses, many workers found that they enjoyed, or could tolerate, working virtually even if they had not previously thought so. REI has already decided to abandon its eight acre office campus in Washington state in favor of smaller offices and a much larger remote workforce. In Wisconsin, Epic Systems faced an employee revolt when they attempted to force workers back to their desks in Epic’s massive office. Northwestern Mutual’s brand new office tower in downtown Milwaukee sits almost empty and may never reach capacity. The trend of large office campuses and towers is being supplanted by home offices and virtual backgrounds. This trend also makes it economical for knowledge workers to seek communities with a bit more elbow room and less crime.

Societal shifts take years to unfold. The decision to buy a gun can be done quickly, but moving one’s family to a new community may take months or years. As 2020 has shown us, our society can shift very quickly, but America in 2025 looks like it is going to be more suburban, more virtual, and abundantly armed.

Mequon Public School Abandon Duty to Educate

by | 0741, 19 Aug 2020 | , | 9 Comments

Despicable. And then the Superintendent hides. What a complete abandonment of public duty to the kids.

MEQUON, Wis. — The Mequon-Thiensville School District planned to bring kids back to class but decided Monday night to start school virtually.

Many parents said they were blindsided, but in a letter to parents Tuesday afternoon, the superintendent said the risk for COVID-19 spread is just too high to bring kids back in a few weeks.

[…]

WISN 12 News tried to ask the superintendent about the decision.

A spokesperson said he wasn’t available.

Sheboygan County Considers Onerous Health Powers

by | 0737, 19 Aug 2020 | | 72 Comments

These health officials have lost the trust they may have once had due their dictatorial abuse of power. No, it wasn’t all of them, but enough of them that people aren’t going to just sit by and trust that they will only use their power in a restrained and judicious manner.

SHEBOYGAN – One Sheboygan County official said a mere proposal led to a protest Tuesday evening, Aug. 18 after swirling internet rumors led to confusion and angst among community members.

“I’ve never in my 22-year career of working here in Sheboygan County, have seen this level of angst and stress,” said Adam Payne, Sheboygan County administrator.

Outside of the Sheboygan County Courthouse on Tuesday, fear over a proposed public health ordinance was felt by protesters. Payne also said he has already received dozens of calls and emails in protests to the ordinance, which was drafted Friday.

“We’re not looking to surprise anybody, we’re not looking to hurt anybody,” Payne said. “We’re looking to protect our community and be prepared if things get worse.”

Profound societal shifts are underway

by | 0729, 18 Aug 2020 | , , , | 51 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:

2020 is proving to be a fulcrum year where events are shifting our society and culture in ways yet unknown. The swiftness with which our government stripped us of our rights in an overreaction to a public health concern at the same time that fascist mobs are given license to maraud by the very same government has shocked the sensibilities of many Americans and undermined some of the principles that have cemented our nation’s foundation since its inception. As our society shifts, it will be seen in what people do — not what they say. One thing they are doing is buying a lot of guns.

“Mostly Peaceful” Protesters Beat Man Senseless

by | 0746, 17 Aug 2020 | | 47 Comments

Tragic that officialdom is allowing this to happen.

This is the sickening moment a truck driver was kicked unconscious after protesters chased his vehicle and he crashed into the sidewalk in Portland.

Just blocks a way from a black rights demonstration in Oregon’s capital, demonstrators hauled a man out of his truck after he crashed it into a tree last night.

He appeared dazed and was bleeding profusely from the head when he was made to sit on the ground and told ‘wait for police to arrive.’

The man, who some rioters claimed had driven at them, was then knocked clean out by a vicious roundhouse kick delivered to the back of his head.

As he lay unconscious on the ground, shouts of ‘Black Lives Matter’ were heard as other protesters attempted to provide first aid.

The man, who some rioters claimed had driven at them, was then knocked clean out by a vicious roundhouse kick delivered to the back of his head.

As he lay unconscious on the ground, shouts of ‘Black Lives Matter’ were heard as other protesters attempted to provide first aid.

Wisconsin Ranks Last in Racial Equality in Education

by | 0727, 17 Aug 2020 | , | 10 Comments

Let’s be honest… this is roughly 96% the failure of Milwaukee Public Schools. At this point, we are doing more harm than good keeping that district operating.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin came in lowest in a new study by the WalletHub website that examines equality between white and black students in educational progress among the 50 states, based on six key dimensions.

Wisconsin earned a total score of 13.44 in the study by the personal finances website, with the maximum score being 100. The key educational dimensions in terms of differences between blacks and whites are the share of adults with at least a high school diploma, share of adults with at least a four-year degree, standardized test scores, mean SAT score, average ACT score and public high school graduation rate.

Calling for Peace

by | 2216, 16 Aug 2020 | | 14 Comments

Awesome.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Telephone calls began ringing Sunday between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, marking the first concrete step of a U.S.-brokered diplomatic deal between the nations that required Israel to halt plans to annex land sought by the Palestinians.

Anger over the deal however continued as well, with protesters in Pakistan criticizing the UAE and Iran making new threats about the accord, which will see the Emirates become only the third Arab nation to currently recognize Israel. The UAE responded by summoning Iran’s chargé d’affairs to criticize earlier comments by Iran’s president it described as threatening.

But for Dubai’s small expatriate Jewish community, which has worshipped for years at an unmarked villa in this city-state, the calls represented so much more than just the convenience of being able to directly dial loved ones in Israel.

“There’s a sense of a miracle upon a miracle upon a miracle, as all of these hurdles fall away and people at last can come together and start talking,” Ross Kriel, the president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates, told The Associated Press.

Direct telephone calls have been blocked in the Emirates, a U.S.-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, since its founding in 1971. That backed the standing position of Arab nations at the time, that Israel must first grant concessions to the Palestinians before being recognized — one of their few points of leverage.

New Zealand Locks Down and Delays Election

by | 2110, 16 Aug 2020 | | 47 Comments

Ominous. This is how a lot of people in America would like us to respond… lock everything up when there are even a handful of cases. There’s no end to it if that’s the standard.

Auckland (CNN)New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she is delaying the country’s parliamentary election by four weeks to October 17 after the reemergence of Covid-19 in the country last week.

The announcement on Tuesday that locally acquired cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in the New Zealand’s biggest city, Auckland, prompted the government to introduce strict level three lockdown measures on August 12. This comes after around 100 days without community spread.
The rest of the country was put into level two lockdown, with both lockdown periods extended until at least August 26 as further cases of coronavirus were confirmed.

Let the school year begin — and continue

by | 0812, 15 Aug 2020 | , | 9 Comments

Here is my full column that ran this week in the Washington County Daily News.

After a truncated school year and a summer that has been robbed of the normal cultural milestones, it is almost difficult to believe that the new school year is upon us. Yet upon us it is and school districts all over the state are releasing their plans to open.

The science and public opinion overwhelmingly support opening schools with in-person instruction with reasonable precautions to mitigate the spread of disease. The Centers for Disease Control said, “The unique and critical role that schools play makes them a priority for opening and remaining open, enabling students to receive both academic instruction and support as well as critical services.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics “strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school. The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020.”

The vast majority of people agree. According to a recent AP-NORC poll, 68% of Americans think that schools should have in-person instruction with some changes to lessen the chance for spreading diseases. The myriad surveys that local school districts conducted came back with even stronger preferences with as much as 88% (West Bend) wanting some form of in-person school instruction.

To their credit, every public and private school and school district in Washington County responded accordingly and is opening with a plan that includes in-person instruction. Some plans are better than others. The West Bend School District is offering in-person, virtual, or hybrid models so that each family can choose what best fits their situation and risk tolerance. The Germantown School District is offering an in-person or virtual model, but the in-person model for high schoolers is a goofy alternating schedule that wreaks havoc on family schedules.

Still, the schools in Washington County will be open for education and that is to be commended. It demonstrates that education truly is a priority when so many other schools across the state and country are choosing to eschew their duty to educate the adults of tomorrow. Opening our schools is not only vitally important for the education of our kids, it is also imperative for their social and emotional well-being.

But we must gird ourselves for the inevitable outbreak of COVID-19 when our schools open. Every parent knows that some sniffle or cough will ravage their household within a couple weeks of school opening every year. It is the unavoidable outcome of the commingling of hundreds of humans with questionable hygiene. The implementation of social distancing, thorough sanitation, masks, shields, and limited or coordinated movement will surely reduce the spread of disease, but nature has a way of finding holes in any defense. There will be outbreaks of various contagious diseases and, undoubtedly, one of those will be COVID-19.

Davy Crockett was fond of saying, “Be always sure you are right, then go ahead.” That is the attitude we will need from our school leaders and parents when outbreaks happen. The science is sound. Our kids need to be in school and they cannot afford to miss any more. The risk of kids suffering severe harm from COVID-19 or spreading it is low. The short- and long-term educational, emotional, and social harm our kids will suffer if they miss more school is immense.

When the outbreaks come, and they will, we must not panic. We must act, but we must not panic. And when we act to isolate the infected and mitigate the spread, we must do so with the overarching goal of keeping our schools open.

The schools must open. They must stay open. We are sure we are right. We must go ahead.

 

Two Teens Arrested in Murder of 11-Year-Old Madison Girl

by | 2205, 14 Aug 2020 | | 1 Comment

Good. Let’s hope they got the right guys and that convictions are forthcoming.

Two males — one 16, the other 19 — have been arrested in the slaying of 11-year-old Anisa Scott on Madison’s East Side earlier this week, Madison police said Friday.

The 19-year-old, Perion Carreon, was arrested Wednesday, while the 16-year-old, Andre Brown, was arrested Friday. Both are from Madison and were arrested on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide, both as a party to a crime.

If he’s charged with first-degree intentional homicide, Brown would be charged in adult court even though he is only 16. State law requires anyone 10 or older charged with first-degree intentional homicide to be charged as an adult.

[…]

Anisa was a passenger in a car that was being driven on East Washington Avenue near Lexington Avenue about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday when it was struck by bullets, likely intended for the driver. Anisa was struck and wounded.

On Thursday, her family removed her from life support, at 11:11 a.m., signifying the date the shooting occurred and her age. She is Madison’s 10th homicide victim of 2020.

2nd Amendment Activists Proliferate

by | 1911, 14 Aug 2020 | | 103 Comments

Good stuff.

On the one hand, the NRA certifies gun owners in many states. But that narrow utility makes it expendable, especially for Black gun owners, whom the NRA has historically struggled to engage as members.

“The NRA is just a political tool for us to be able to arm ourselves, but we don’t buy into the politics of any of it since it’s the right of every American to take advantage of [the Second Amendment],” says Mr. Omowale, who has joined armed rallies recently on behalf of Black rights. “I believe it’s time for [Black people] to start our own NRA.”

[…]

The NRA’s “insularity is intimately connected with the ideological alignment … with politically conservative culture warriors,” says Wake Forest University sociologist David Yamane, founder of the Gun Culture 2.0 blog, in an email. Now, “the proliferation of gun clubs, groups and organizations representing diverse gun owners – [National African American Gun Association], A Girl and a Gun, Liberal Gun Owners, to name a few – fills the vacuum left by the NRA.”

I’m for all of this. Personally, I never thought of the NRA as aligning with conservative ideology other than both political Conservatives and the NRA support our right to keep and bear arms. But if black folks or gay folks or female folks or whatever want to have their own group to support the 2nd Amendment, it’s all good.

Evers Insists that Trump Wear Mask While In Wisconsin

by | 0732, 14 Aug 2020 | , | 15 Comments

Yeah, good luck with that.

President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, a bus promoting Women for Trump, and possibly other supporters of the president are all scheduled to campaign in Wisconsin next week. However, the presumptive Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will make their remarks to the Democratic National Convention from elsewhere due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has a message for the visiting Republicans about limiting the spread of COVID-19

“They have to wear a mask if they’re in buildings. They have to make sure their audience is physically distant from each other. We can’t afford to have these events make it more difficult for us to prevent the virus from being transmitted in the state of Wisconsin,” Evers said. “My expectation is they’re masking up. They’re going to follow the order.”

People Are Lying to Contact Tracers

by | 0729, 14 Aug 2020 | , | 7 Comments

People are less and less trusting of government officials who have continually abused that trust. Nobody wants to rat out their favorite bar or store or neighbor to the government health department and risk having the government shut down society again.

As the number of people contracting COVID-19 across Wisconsin continues to rise, tracking down everyone who people infected with the virus have been in contact with is becoming increasingly difficult, county health department directors said.

Their challenge comes not only from the growing volume of cases, they said, but from people infected with the coronavirus being less than forthcoming about where they’ve been and who they’ve been around.

[…]

Quickly getting in touch with people who are infected is only part of the battle. Lindsay Sarauer, who holds various roles related to COVID-19 at the Kenosha County Health Department, said contact tracers there have been incredibly successful getting in touch with people who test positive, but fewer and fewer people are giving truthful answers to questions about where they’ve been and who they’ve been in contact with.

“We’re seeing, ‘No, I didn’t go anywhere. I’ve never been to the grocery store. I don’t have anybody in my household. I don’t have a significant other,’ or things like that,” Sarauer said. “So, they’re taking contact tracing and quarantining into their own hands instead of us giving them the guidance that’s needed from a health department aspect.”

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