More than twice as many Wisconsin families as a year ago have told the state they plan to homeschool for the 2020-21 school year.
According to data from the state Department of Public Instruction, 1,661 families filed forms to homeschool between July 1 and Aug. 6, up from 727 during the same period a year ago and 599 two years ago. The number of students in those families is up to 2,792 from 1,279 last year and 1,088 two years ago.
The same is true locally, as 122 Dane County families with 202 students filed forms in that period, up from 55 and 80 last year.
Michelle Yoo, the administrator of the Madison Area Homeschoolers Facebook page, said she’s seen evidence of the uptick in interest.
“When Madison announced they were doing online school, I think I had about 100 requests to join in about a two-week period,” Yoo said. “I can’t tell you what I used to get, but it was nowhere near 100.”
Major League Soccer players from FC Dallas and Nashville SC were met with some boos from a small crowd after they took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement before a match Wednesday night in Frisco, Texas.
The boos came as MLS for the first time allowed up to 5,000 fans to attend the game in the 20,500-seat stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing guidelines, with estimates showing a smaller number attending.
“You can’t even have support from your own fans in your own stadium,” FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon said. “It’s baffling to me.”
Ohhh… so they can take a knee to show that they won’t honor America and the flag, but when fans show their disapproval of their actions, it’s out of bounds? Whatevs. If they insist on making their entertainment product a political statement, then they shouldn’t be surprised when people express opposing views.
On a related note, I still don’t get the stupidity of these sports teams. Their revenues are already in the toilet because of COVID and they still insist on pissing off a sizable number of what’s left of their fans. Those handful of fans paid good money to be one of the first ones to attend a game again and are greeted with players crapping on our country. How many of those fans will pay for another ticket anytime soon? These players can pound sand when they are whining about having to dust off their barista skills.
This is a shift that will accelerate and be permanent. I’ve been a remote worker for over 15 years. I can’t imagine having to actually go to an office every day anymore and it would take a LOT of money to make me do it again. I expect many others will find the virtues of remote working to be alluring.
Outdoor retailerREI is selling its newly completed — and currently unused — 8-acre corporate campus in Bellevue, Washington, instead shifting to a “less centralized approach to its headquarters presence in the Seattle area.”
“The dramatic events of 2020 have challenged us to reexamine and rethink every aspect of our business and many of the assumptions of the past. That includes where and how we work,” said REI CEO Eric Artz in a statement. “As a result, our new experience of ‘headquarters’ will be very different than the one we imagined.”
The future “headquarters” will instead consist of multiple satellite campuses in the Seattle area, the retailer said, rather than one central location. Remote working will be the “normalized model” for headquarters employees.
The new strategy, Artz argued, has benefits. Remote working offers greater flexibility for employees to live outside of the Puget Sound region, he said, which would shrink the retailer’s carbon footprint.
Apple supplier Foxconn is ahead of its competitors in diversifying its supply network in order to avoid getting caught up in the U.S.-China dispute, one analyst told CNBC.
[…]
The company reported a 34% on-year increase in net profit of about 22.9 billion New Taiwan dollars ($778.54 million), driven by its server and computing businesses, according to Reuters. It exceeded analysts’ prediction of 17.95 billion New Taiwan dollars, the report said.
Foxconn said revenue from key consumer products, mainly smartphones, declined more than 15% from a year ago, as demand for global electronics was hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, the news wire said.
[…]
Foxconn manufactures and assembles about 30% of its products outside China. Chairman Liu Young-way told an investor conference that ratio could increase in the future, Reuters reported.
“I think they are doing the right thing because previously, Hon Hai or Foxconn’s business model was always to serve customers locally,” Yang said, pointing to the company’s local operations in Texas,that used to previously serve computer-maker Compaq, and had a presence in Indiana and California. Foxconn’s first U.S. manufacturing facility was in Wisconsin and has attracted some controversies.
[…]
Being closer to customers is not the only consideration.
Yang explained that while China has relatively lower labor costs, the ongoing trade dispute between Beijing and Washington factors into Foxconn’s efforts to diversify its supply chain. iPhones assembled in China and shipped to the United States would be slapped with tariffs.
It’s not about the chief. It’s not about Mensah. It’s not about the dead boys. It’s about destabilizing the system to invoke a societal upheaval. It’s about anarchy.
There are calls for the city of Wauwatosa to fire its police chief.
The calls are coming from the families of three men killed by the same Wauwatosa police officer in a five-year span.
A Justice Department investigation has found Yale University favored black students and illegally discriminated against white and Asian American applicants, in violation of federal civil rights law, officials said.
The findings were detailed in a letter to the college’s attorneys on Thursday, following a two-year investigation after students had complained about the application process at some Ivy League schools.
It marks the latest action by the Trump administration aimed at rooting out discrimination in college admissions.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to normalise relations, US President Donald Trump has announced.
A joint statement by Mr Trump, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Al Nahyan said they hoped the “historic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East”.
As a result, they added, Israel would suspend its plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank.
Until now Israel has had no diplomatic relations with Gulf Arab countries
OSHKOSH (WLUK) — President Donald Trump is expected to visit Oshkosh Monday.
The president confirmed the visit to Wisconsin himself on a phone call with voters Wednesday evening.
[…]
The visit would mark the president’s second trip to Northeast Wisconsin in 2020. Trump traveled to Marinette in June where he gave a speech at Fincantieri Marinette Marine and toured the facility.
Vice President Mike Pence also traveled to Ripon last month and gave a speech at Ripon College.
MILWAUKEE — As school districts continue to release plans for the start of the year, parents are quickly making decisions on their children’s education. It’s creating a trend across the country, including Wisconsin, with a lot of kids transferring to private schools with in-person instruction.
[…]
Head of School at Milwaukee Montessori, Monica Van Aken, said since early July they’ve seen a 15 to 20 percent increase in enrollment for first through sixth grade compared to the same time last year, with parents specifically looking for in-person learning.
[…]
St. Robert School in Shorewood and the University School of Milwaukee also told TMJ4 News, they’ve seen unusual spikes in enrollment for this time of the year.
A spokesperson for the University School released a statement saying in part, they “have had more inquiries in the last two weeks than in any other two-week period in at least the last six years.”
Jim Bender of School Choice Wisconsin, a nonprofit that works with private schools, said the trend towards private schools is widespread, even if it means paying tuition.
“It’s something new. You don’t see just real dramatic changes in enrollment like this happening right now,” Bender said.
Though, he also said it could have an impact on public schools.
“When that student is no longer enrolled in that public school district, that public school district will no longer get funding for that student,” Bender said.
The University of Wisconsin System holds $1.33 billion in reserve balances, according to a new audit report. Of the fund, $866.6 million is made up of unrestricted balances, and $468 million is restricted balances.
The audit, released by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau on July 30, shows total program revenue balances have increased by 0.8 percent since the previous year, when the system held $1.32 billion total. While restricted balances increased from $417 million to $468 million this year, unrestricted balances fell from $906.9 million to $866.6 million.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a statement Tuesday that the “senseless violence must stop.” As the MPD investigates these incidents, she said she will advocate for “common sense gun laws” and her staff will build violence prevention strategies.
Who is going to enforce all of those “common sense gun laws” if they defund the police? Perhaps more police and intolerance to violence would help, no?
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has named Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate – the first black woman and Asian American in the role.
Once a rival for the top job, the California senator of Indian-Jamaican heritage had long been considered the front-runner for the number two slot.
The former California attorney general has been urging police reform amid nationwide anti-racism protests.
[…]
She repeatedly clashed with Mr Biden during the primary election debates, most notably criticising his praise for the “civil” working relationship he had with former senators who favoured racial segregation.
The Democrat was born in Oakland, California, to two immigrant parents: an Indian-born mother and Jamaican-born father.
She went on to attend Howard University, one of the nation’s preeminent historically black colleges and universities. She has described her time there as among the most formative experiences of her life.
[…]
After four years at Howard, Ms Harris went on to earn her law degree at the University of California, Hastings, and began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
She became the district attorney – the top prosecutor – for San Francisco in 2003, before being elected the first woman and the first African American to serve as California’s attorney general, the top lawyer and law enforcement official in America’s most populous state.
[…]
But the senator failed to articulate a clear rationale for her campaign, and gave muddled answers to questions in key policy areas like healthcare.
She was also unable to capitalise on the clear high point of her candidacy: debate performances that showed off her prosecutorial skills, often placing Mr Biden in the line of attack.
My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:
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.
CHICAGO — Hundreds of people descended on downtown Chicago early Monday following a police shooting on the city’s South Side, with vandals smashing the windows of dozens of businesses and making off with merchandise, cash machines and anything else they could carry, police said.
Police Superintendent David Brown told reporters that the Sunday afternoon shooting of the man who had opened fire on officers apparently prompted a social media post that urged people to form a car caravan and converge on the business and shopping district.
Some 400 additional officers were dispatched to the area after the department spotted the post. Over several hours, police made more than 100 arrests and 13 officers were injured, including one who was struck in the head with a bottle, Brown said.
Brown dismissed any suggestion that the chaos was part of an organized protest of the shooting, calling it “pure criminality” that included occupants of a vehicle opening fire on police who were arresting a man they spotted carrying a cash register.
No officers were wounded by gunfire, but a security guard and a civilian were hospitalized in critical condition after being shot, and five guns were recovered, he said.
If he had an ounce of integrity or morality, he would have denounced his comrades and resigned by now. Instead, he continues to egg on the violence and spread lies. What a rotten human being.
Democratic State Representative David Bowen has admitted to being part of a group of people that assaulted and fired a shotgun at Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah on Saturday night.
“In my time at the protest in front of Mensah’s home, I personally felt threatened by his actions: spraying pepper spray into the crowd, yelling and inviting protesters to fight him, [and] taking his big dog out to potentially attack people,” Bowen said in a statement released Monday accusing both Mensah and the Wauwatosa Police Department of lying about the group’s actions.
Video of the attack on Mensah’s girlfriend’s home provided to “The Dan O’Donnell Show” contradicts Bowen’s statement, as dozens of people threw toilet paper and other objects at the house and screamed obscenities at Mensah and his family before at least one gunshot was fired. Mensah’s girlfriend, a law enforcement officer who is not being named to protect her identity, was violently assaulted and posted pictures of her injuries to social media.
Her children were in the home when one of the attackers fired a shotgun into it.
WAUWATOSA – Police are investigating an incident that happened at the private residence of Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah around 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 8.
According to police, a group of approximately 50-60 people vandalized the home on N. 100th Street and W. Vienna Street.
Officer Mensah allegedly attempted to communicate with the group but was physically assaulted outside his home, according to a release from Wauwatosa Police around 11 a.m. Sunday morning.
As the officer made his way back into his home, armed protestors approached the rear door and shot a single shotgun round into the back door.
At this time, the investigation into this incident is ongoing.
The Wauwatosa Police Department received assistance in disbursing the crowd from numerous neighboring agencies.
President Donald Trump is moving to suspend payroll taxes and extend expired unemployment benefits after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed.
Trump signed four executive orders related to what he called ‘China virus relief’ during a press conference at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Saturday afternoon.
It came hours after the White House signaled that Washington’s gridlock had compelled him to act as the pandemic undermined the country’s economy and the November election nears.
[…]
Trump first announced an order that would allow employers to defer payroll tax through the end of the year.
The second order included a freeze on evictions that will allow hard-hit renters to remain in their homes even if they can’t afford payments.
A third order, perhaps the most crucial, will extend the unemployment benefits that have run out, offering people an additional $400 per week – down from the $600 that was part of the relief package that expired this month.
No, I don’t think this is legal. This is an executive fiat that is beyond the power granted to the president. And no, I don’t think this is good policy. It retards economic recovery and adds another fortune of spending for future generations to pay back.
The man was sunbathing naked at the Teufelssee in west Berlin, a popular and perfectly legal practice in the German capital as part of what is known as FKK, or Freikörperkultur (free body culture).
The man’s pursuit had a happy ending when he got his laptop back. Photograph: Adele Landauer/pixel8000
The wild boar, sightings of which have become increasingly common, had apparently spotted a pizza being eaten by other bathers. It seized a yellow bag containing the man’s laptop, probably believing it to contain food, and was chased by the man into the undergrowth.
“Because the bag contained his laptop, he gave it his all, even though he was in his birthday suit,” explained Landauer.
The boar’s flight was slowed by a cardboard box in its path. The man clapped his hands and hit the ground with the stick, prompting the boar to drop the laptop.
Another witness said: “When he returned from the forest, everyone applauded him.”
WASHINGTON COUNTY — Although the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and several local police departments have said they won’t be enforcing Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate, there is a place where residents can report their concerns.
The Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department has created an email address specifically for people to report complaints related to Executive Order #82, which declared that every individual age 5 and older must wear a face covering in indoor or enclosed public spaces, other than when at home. The creation of this email, covidcomplaints@ washozwi.gov,
has led Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann to issue a statement asking residents not to further burden health department officials.
“Washington County is not enforcing the mandatory mask mandate. Sheriff (Martin) Schulteis has made this clear from his law enforcement perspective, District Attorney (Mark) Bensen has said it is extremely difficult to prove and Public Health Officer (Kirsten) Johnson has made clear that the health department does not have the time or the resources to pursue any complaints,” Schoemann said.
Johnson said the department created the email address so residents can send their concerns efficiently and added that there could be investigations in certain cases.
Our country is engaging in cultural and civic (not civil, yet) war that is challenging some of the national principles that used to be held inviolable. As we watch the 1st Amendment make a confused retreat, we are seeing the 2nd Amendment make a vigorous advance.
The 1st and 2nd Amendments refer, of course, to the Constitution’s prohibition of the federal government from infringing on our natural rights to speak (among other things) and to keep and bear arms, respectively. But they are also used as shorthand to express our collective support for the underlying natural rights.
While the practice of our 1st Amendment right to free speech has ebbed and flowed throughout our nation’s history, the general ethos has been robust support for people to say anything they want as long as it does not drift into defamation or incitement – and even then we have generally been very generous with where that boundary lies.
I am reminded of a comment by Jim Croce: “I don’t care, as long as they don’t be putting their hands on me. I don’t mind people talking and saying different things. Everybody gotta say something.” That pretty well sums up what our attitude used to be about people speaking their minds. Now we are seeing the onset of outrage mobs that seek out people who express opinions with which they disagree and try to destroy them personally and professionally. This is the so-called “cancel culture” where we no longer meet objectionable speech with more speech. Instead, these mobs consider contrary opinions to be so fundamentally immoral that they must not be spoken, and the people speaking them must be ruined to force adherence to the current, if fluid, orthodoxy. What is even more chilling is that the opinions being canceled are views that were mainstream as recently as a few months ago. Support for law enforcement, standing for the National Anthem, celebrating Independence Day, honoring George Washington, etc. are things that were commonplace and integral parts of the national psyche. Now such views are just as likely to attract an online or physical mob to your doorstep. There has been a very rapid and scary retreat of our collective support for free speech.
Meanwhile, support for the right to keep and bear arms is exploding. I recently witnessed a couple of protest marches in suburban communities. In both cases, firearms were plentiful and visible in the hands of both protesters and counter-protesters. Furthermore, as the mobs and the elected Democrats who support them defund the police and force law enforcement into a defensive crouch, The People are taking the hint and arming themselves for personal protection.
Across the nation, federal background checks, which serve as a proxy for measuring the sale of all guns, were up 69% in June versus last year. Background checks specifically for handgun purchases were up 80% over last year. In many cases, people are buying multiple guns at a time with Small Arms Analytics and Forecasting showing a 145% increase in guns sold in June compared to the same month last year. The June estimates are on top of similar trends for April and May. According to industry analysts, roughly 40% of gun purchases in the past few months are being made by first time buyers. A quick trip to any gun store will find empty shelves and depleted inventories.
At the heart of the surge in gun ownership are two trends. First, there is the general concern for personal safety. Democrats are echoing the mob’s demand to defund the police and several cities have already started the process. With fewer police with fewer resources, law-abiding people are empowering themselves to defend themselves and their families. The old saying that “when seconds count, the police are minutes away” has become a stark realization for many people.
Second, Americans are watching Marxists and anarchists violently take over parts of our country. Often, they are doing so with the permission or support of government officials. We are witnessing the violent overthrow of portions of our government with the intent to rebuild something that is no longer American. The right to keep and bear arms has always been the last resort for a free people to ensure their right to self-governance. An armed citizenry cannot be easily subjugated.
Our natural rights, as secured in our Constitution, are the bases and guardians of our government and way of life. While we continue to push our nation toward our founding ideals, we must never surrender the ground we have fought so hard to gain.
