Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

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Month: June 2024

Presidential Debate Answers a Lot of Questions

by | 0530, 28 Jun 2424 | | 22 Comments

I listened to the debate on WISN, which had the Fox News Radio feed. Some thoughts, but first this:

The president came into the debate with a low bar to clear, and he stumbled. He was flat. He was rambling. He was unclear.

 

Roughly midway through the debate, the Biden campaign told reporters that the president was battling a cold – an attempt to explain his raspy voice. That may be so, but it also sounded like an excuse.

 

For 90 minutes, more often than not, Joe Biden was on the ropes. Particularly early in the evening, some of his answers were nonsensical. After losing his train of thought he ended one answer by saying, “We finally beat Medicare” – an odd reference to the government run healthcare programme for the elderly.

 

[…]

 

For those of us who have been paying attention, Biden’s terrible performance was not a surprise. At least, the fact that he’s an incoherent, mumbling, liar who is clearly well down the path of mental decline, was not a surprise. Perhaps the only surprise was the degree to which that is true and the fact that he is so far gone that they couldn’t juice him up enough to even pull off the first half hour of the debate before slipping.

The most pressing concern I had throughout the debate is, “WHO THE HELL IS RUNNING THIS COUNTRY!?!?” And no matter what one thinks about how the debate impacts the election, it cannot be overstated how the world just saw that the United States is rudderless without a captain at the helm right now.

While Biden’s performance was very bad, Trump’s performance was pretty good. There were a few times when he let his temper get the best of him and he strayed, but most of the time he was measured, direct, and stayed on the issues.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the debate format and moderators. I enjoyed the way each candidate spoke with very little crosstalk. The format, with slotted time and muted microphones, ended up favoring Trump. It kept him disciplined and on message. And the questions, while slightly slanted to the Left, were not terrible. They asked hard questions about the economy, border, inflation, etc. to Biden. These are issues that favor Trump. Of course they asked about abortion and global warming too. Trump’s answer on the abortion question was quite good. It was nuanced and compassionate while Biden’s was a screed. The only hot topic that was glaringly missed was about trans issues. But given the content of the rest of the debate, it may have just fallen victim to time.

By the standard that it is very hard to win a debate, but the goal is to not lose… Biden clearly lost. But even had Biden been more coherent in his delivery, his content was also bad. He contradicted himself on raising taxes, the inflation rate when he took office, and his administration’s record. He also shamed himself by bragging about the Afghanistan surrender and ignoring the Americans who were killed. Biden repeated proven lies, like the Charlottsville claim, even though that was debunked as recently as last week. It is clear that there is a world happening in his addled brain that is a reflection of BS that his wife and staff have been feeding him, and there is the world we are all living in. We needed a president who was willing and able to address the real issues hitting Americans. Biden is not that president.

Will the Democrats replace Biden? That seems to have been the overarching question after the debate being proffered by liberals and conservatives alike. I think some might try, but it will be difficult. There are two major roadblocks. First, the Democratic Party consolidated so much power into the hands of the president during Obama that Biden holds all of the reins of power. They cannot oust him without his consent. Given Biden’s tremendous ego and seemingly sincere belief that he is doing a great job and is the best protection for America against Trump, I do not think he will abandon his campaign unless he dies.

Second, who do you replace Biden with? The only real choice is Kamala Harris. She has the national name recognition and the Democrats have been telling us for four years that she is the best person to be a heartbeat away from the big chair. But if there is any Democrats less liked than Biden right now, it’s Harris. And were she to be the nominee, she would still have to own the disastrous results of the Biden presidency. But her ego is such that she will not willingly step aside either. And the intersectionality of the Democrat Party culture will not abide them pushing aside a Black woman in favor of another candidate. Such a move would fracture their already fragile coalition.

I believe that the most likely scenario is still that Biden meanders his way to November with his staff doing their best to hide him and gaslight the American people. Then the American voters will have a choice to make. Let us hope that that choice will be accurately reflected by our questionably secure and accurate electoral process.

Choice for Waukesha County D.A. is Becoming More Clear

by | 1802, 27 Jun 2424 | | 2 Comments

Ummmm… yeah. Boese is right. And Thurston’s position is stupid bordering on nutty. Why is it that so many Republicans reflexively want to include Democrats when Republicans win elections? Democrats feel no such compunction. Just ask those in Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, etc. Republicans in those places are ignored and excluded.

Waukesha County District Attorney candidate Mike Thurston said during a June 19 debate that, if elected, he would invite Democrats to train prosecutors in the DA’s office on election integrity matters, a plan his opponent Lesli Boese called “silliness.”

 

Thurston said he would also invite Republican experts.

 

“This wouldn’t just be a Republican thing,” Thurston, a deputy DA in the office, said. “I’d invite Democrats too. They could come in. They could train us.” He didn’t name the experts who would get his invitations.

 

The idea of bringing Democrats in to train Waukesha prosecutors on election integrity generated a sharp rebuttal from his opponent in the race, Deputy DA Lesli Boese.

 

“This county needs a conservative candidate to run this office – that’s the bottom line. I am that candidate,” said Boese, who also hammered Thurston for five donations he made to Democratic DA John Chisholm, as well as other Democrats.

“Mr. Thurston says he wants to, for election integrity, he wants to bring in Democrats to help. Is it because of all the experience that they have without election integrity? That’s silliness,” she added. “We don’t need politicians to come in and tell us how to follow the rules. That’s called the rule of law. You read the statute; you apply the statute to what’s going on in the community. We don’t need people to guide us. We have the statutes to guide us.”

Justice Jackson Still Can’t Define What a Woman Is

by | 1753, 27 Jun 2424 | , | 0 Comments

She still doesn’t know that only women get pregnant.

WASHINGTON — In a scathing dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned Thursday that the Supreme Court’s Idaho abortion decision is “not a victory for pregnant patients,” even though it allows emergency abortions for now.

 

“It is delay,” she wrote in her dissent, which she read from the bench. “While this court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant people experiencing emergency medical conditions remain in a precarious position, as their doctors are kept in the dark about what the law requires.”

Coup in Bolivia

by | 1700, 26 Jun 2424 | | 1 Comment

These two things can’t possibly be related, can they?

In 2005, Morales, an Aymara India rode discontent with foreign-backed coca eradication programs into the presidency. For more than a decade he made a name for himself as the unyielding and insurgent leader of the coca-growers union. His defiant, leftist rhetoric electrified Bolivia’s long-marginalized indigenous majority. Morales spoke of nationalizing industries, empowering labourers, and forcibly redistributing land held by wealthy elites.

 

For some, he became a champion of the oppressed. For others, a dangerous demagogue threatening free markets and private property.

 

The socialist policies he implemented are credited by supporters with fueling economic growth and lifting many Bolivians out of poverty. His Movement for Socialism (MAS by its Spanish initials) party has dominated elections for two decades, giving him a 14-year-run as president.

And the coup…

Bolivia, a country of 12 million people, has seen intensifying protests in recent months over the economy’s precipitous decline from one of the continent’s fastest-growing two decades ago to one of its most crisis-stricken.

Let’s see…. for 20 years a socialist party has been in control. They implemented socialist policies and drove their once-flying economy into recession. And now civil unrest is manifesting as a coup.

Are you watching, America? We’ve seen this story play out the same way dozens of times. Yes, it can happen here. It already is.

West Bend School Board Spitballs Referendum Amount

by | 1629, 26 Jun 2424 | , | 0 Comments

FFS.

– After discussion on maintenance needs, the board returned to the discussion of the referendum total. “We kinda need that price point so we can combobulate that accordingly,” said Wimmer.

 

– An initial total of $110 million was proposed as a starting point.

 

– “Typically, the minimum would be $80 million to get a new Jackson K-5 built,” said Donaldson. “Asking for extra money to do something that has to be done anyway; if we’re going to ask for the money just to make it easier to balance the budget…I think that’s wrong.  We do have a capital maintenance budget if we have to shift stuff around or using the money we already get, using it the right way then… $100 million gets us $20 more million anyway.”

  • “So you’re telling me if we don’t get $80 million, we’re leaving all the schools open,” said Donaldson.

  • “No, you can still close schools,” said Wimmer.

  • “That’s what I’m talking about,” said Donaldson. “Those things have to happen anyway … just to be utilizing the district the way it should be. We are way under capacity at schools. Silverbrook has half the school closed down in sections because they don’t have enough students to fill them.”

  • “Once we know what Phase 1 is … and if it fails – I’m still going to close some things, voting ‘No’ doesn’t mean I will keep your school open,” said Wimmer.

  • “The purpose of this work session is to pick a number, whatever it is and then you’re coming back to us with (a list) of this is what you will get for it,” said Zwygart.

Notice how this discussion is going. Instead of defining a list of critical needs, adding up the cost, and going to the taxpayers with the request, they are starting with the number and working backwards. They are trying to gauge how much they think they can bamboozle the taxpayers into approving and then seeing how much they can do with it.

Having followed this district for over 20 years and seen referendum after referendum, they are running a playbook. They are flush with cash and could free up more cashflow by just closing some buildings and right-sizing staffing. They haven’t done that. Instead, they are fishing around for the right number and the right messaging to see what they think will cobble together enough votes to pass a referendum. They just want to spend some money and take credit for “doing something.” This is not about improving education.

SCOTUS Denies Standing for Social Media Litigants

by | 1615, 26 Jun 2424 | | 0 Comments

It seems that they took a pass on weighing in on perhaps one of the most important 1st Amendment debates of the modern era. On the one hand, I would have liked to see the court take a firm stance against the government dictating speech. On the other hand, a humble, constructionist court might be right to take a strict position on standing. Either way, this ruling is not good for our Republic and our state of freedom. And the liberals cheering today will come to rue the ruling.

Of immediate significance, the decision means that the Department of Homeland Security may continue to flag posts to social media companies such as Facebook and X that it believes may be the work of foreign agents seeking to disrupt this year’s presidential race.

 

Rather than delving into the weighty First Amendment questions raised by the case, the court ruled that the state and social media users who challenged the Biden administration did not have standing to sue.

 

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the opinion for a 6-3 majority.

 

“To establish standing, the plaintiffs must demonstrate a substantial risk that, in the near future, they will suffer an injury that is traceable to a government defendant and redressable by the injunction they seek,” Barrett wrote. “Because no plaintiff has carried that burden, none has standing to seek a preliminary injunction.”

Federal Courts Attempt to Stem Biden’s Lawlessness

by | 0655, 25 Jun 2424 | , | 0 Comments

It’s not much, but it’s something. The playbook that Biden learned from Democrats is to just do what you want a dozen different ways and let the chips fall. Sure, a court or two may push back on a couple of ways, but that will be years down the road. And the other 10 things you tried went through. We are living under a lawless regime.

TOPEKA, Kan. — Federal judges in Kansas and Missouri on Monday together blocked much of a Biden administration student loan repayment plan that provides a faster path to cancellation and lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers.

 

The judges’ rulings prevent the U.S. Department of Education from helping many of the intended borrowers ease their loan repayment burdens going forward under a rule set to go into effect July 1. The decisions do not cancel assistance already provided to borrowers.

 

In Kansas, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled in a lawsuit filed by the state’s attorney general, Kris Kobach, on behalf of his state and 10 others. In his ruling, Crabtree allowed parts of the program that allow students who borrowed $12,000 or less to have the rest of their loans forgiven if they make 10 years’ worth of payments, instead of the standard 25.

 

But Crabtree said that the Department of Education won’t be allowed to implement parts of the program meant to help students who had larger loans and could have their monthly payments lowered and their required payment period reduced from 25 years to 20 years.

 

In Missouri, U.S. District Judge John Ross’ order applies to different parts of the program than Crabtree’s. His order says that the U.S. Department of Education cannot forgive loan balances going forward. He said the department still could lower monthly payments.

Abortion Propaganda

by | 0647, 25 Jun 2424 | | 0 Comments

What a morbid position.

Infant mortality increased by 12.9% from 2021 to 2022 in Texas after Texas’ near-total ban on abortion was enacted, according to a new study published today in JAMA Pediatrics. A total of 2243 Texas infants, or children under 1 year, died in 2022 compared to 1985 Texas infant deaths in 2021.

So what they are saying is that we should kill babies with defects before they are born so that we can keep the infant mortality rate lower? What is the infant mortality rate if you include aborted babies?

 

Monthly Cost of Owning a Home is Highest Ever Recorded

by | 0639, 25 Jun 2424 | | 0 Comments

Biden’s economy continues to sting. Equity in a home is nice for your net worth, but it doesn’t pay the bills every month. And as house values go up, so do all of the things associated with the price of the home (replacement value, repair costs, etc.).

As home prices soar, property owners are sitting on historic levels of home equity. The average homeowner’s equity has soared by $28,000 just over the past year — growing to an average of about $305,000, according to Corelogic.

But even many of those lucky homeowners are increasingly struggling with the rising costs of home insurance premiums, home repairs, and property taxes. And they can’t afford to move.

Lower-income, older people, and people of color are among the most vulnerable. Their options for moving or downsizing are increasingly limited with high mortgage rates and a scarcity of smaller, accessible homes.

The number of cost-burdened homeowners — those who spent more than 30% of their income on housing and utilities — rose by about three million people between 2019 and 2022. Most of this increase was among those who make less than $30,000 a year. A full 30% of Black and 28% of Hispanic homeowners are cost-burdened, compared to 21% of white homeowners, the Harvard report found.

“The all-in monthly costs of the median-priced home in the US are the highest since these data were first collected more than 30 years ago,” the Harvard report found.

Wisconsin Leftist Groups Sue for Electronic Voting for People with Disabilities

by | 0708, 24 Jun 2424 | , | 0 Comments

No.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Monday is expected to consider whether to allow people with disabilities to vote electronically from home in the swing state this fall.

 

Disability Rights Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters and four disabled people filed a lawsuit in April demanding disabled people be allowed to cast absentee ballots electronically from home.

 

They asked Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell to issue a temporary injunction before the lawsuit is resolved granting the accommodation in the state’s Aug. 13 primary and November presidential election. Mitchell scheduled a Monday hearing on the injunction.

 

[…]

 

They argue many people with disabilities can’t cast paper ballots without assistance, violating their right to protect the secrecy of their votes. They say allowing electronic accessibility devices in their homes would allow them to cast a ballot unassisted.

Is it a good idea to allow disabled people to vote electronically? Yeah, maybe. If it can be done in a way with strict, clear requirements in a secure fashion. But that’s not the law. In a functioning republican system of government, it is not within the power of any judge to just create new laws and new ways of voting because he or she thinks it’s a good idea. Laws are to be debated and passed in the legislature by the people’s representatives so that all viewpoints can be heard and considered. Will this judge exercise humility and judicial restraint?

Probably not.

DOJ Seeks to Muzzle Trump

by | 0659, 24 Jun 2424 | , | 0 Comments

Give me a break.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the classified documents prosecution of Donald Trump is hearing arguments Monday on whether to bar the former president from public comments that prosecutors say could endanger the lives of FBI agents working on the case.

 

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team says the restrictions are necessary in light of Trump’s false comments that the FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 for classified documents were out to kill him and his family. Trump’s lawyers say any gag order would improperly silence Trump in the heat of a presidential campaign in which he is the presumptive Republican nominee.

 

[…]

 

Smith’s team objected last month after Trump claimed that the FBI was prepared to kill him while executing a court-authorized search warrant of Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, 2022. He was referencing boilerplate language from FBI policy that prohibits the use of deadly force except when the officer conducting the search has a reasonable belief that the “subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”

Biden’s Illegals Slaughter Little Girl

by | 1812, 23 Jun 2424 | , | 0 Comments

As the Left is fond of saying… thoughts and prayers are not enough. Biden has blood on his hands. Close the dang border.

The White House and Biden campaign responded Friday to the death of a 12-year-old girl in Houston after two suspects charged with capital murder were found to be undocumented migrants.

 

Jocelyn Nungaray was discovered Monday in a shallow creek after being strangled to death, according to the Houston Police Department.

 

A White House spokesperson said, “Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of Jocelyn Nungaray.”

 

“We cannot comment on active law enforcement cases,” the spokesperson continued. “But fundamentally, anyone found guilty of this type of heinous and shocking crime should be held accountable, to the fullest extent of the law.”

 

Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Pena, 26, have been arrested and charged with her murder.

 

The two men had immigration violation holds from Immigration and Customs Enforcement on their court records. According to an ICE spokesperson, Martinez and Pena both illegally crossed the border, and on March 14, Martinez was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas. That same day, he was released on an order of recognizance with a notice to appear. Pena was apprehended by Border Patrol on May 28 near El Paso. He was released on an order of recognizance with a notice to appear the same day he was apprehended.

Trump Pulls Even with Biden Fundraising

by | 1808, 23 Jun 2424 | | 0 Comments

While matching the money is great, it’s all about how they spend it. So far, the Democrats are more effective with their resources hiring professional GOTV staffs in key states. The Republicans are running a 2016 campaign.

“There was the strategy of raising all this money on the front end so we could have this huge edge,” said one Biden bundler, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “The whole point of it was to come out with a sizable cash advantage and, you know, we’re now even and it’s June. … I have no other word for it other than ‘depression’ among Biden supporters.”

 

Another major Biden bundler, also granted anonymity, called the development “disappointing, but not surprising.”

In the 2024 money race, not only was Trump out-raising Biden, but he also had more cash on hand. And Republican megadonors, too, rolled out enormous checks for Trump in recent days, including $50 million from longtime GOP donor Timothy Mellon to a pro-Trump super PAC.

 

Several Biden donors insisted that they expected — and planned — for Trump to close the gap after he clinched the Republican nomination, comparing it to when Mitt Romney caught up to then-President Barack Obama in fundraising over the summer of 2012. Part of the disparity between the campaigns was that Biden was spending more heavily, building “out an unbelievable campaign structure in battleground states,” while “Trump has done nothing,” said Chip Forrester, co-chair of the Biden-Harris Southern finance committee.

 

“That early money counted because it allowed for Biden to build out all of these offices, which have been cranking along, and that’s not something Trump can catch up on,” said Alan Kessler, a Pennsylvania-based donor. “Trump can’t get back February, March, April and May, when the Biden campaign was getting boots on the ground.”

 

The Trump campaign, for its part, has described its in-state infrastructure as “leaner,” relying far more heavily on outside groups to execute it.

Biden Mobilizes Federal Agencies for Democratic GOTV Effort

by | 0935, 22 Jun 2424 | | 0 Comments

Yet another case of the modern Democratic Party of using government power to advance their political gains.

Biden issued the executive order on March 7, 2021, noting the federal government’s “duty to ensure that registering to vote and the act of voting be made simple and easy for all those eligible to do so” and that it would be implemented “consistent with applicable law.” Agency leaders were asked to submit a strategic plan within 200 days.

 

[…]

 

Republicans said the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service had informed state agencies that the costs of providing voter registration services were allowable administrative expenses under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and could be “reimbursed at the 50 percent level.”

 

“Using the nation’s multi-billion-dollar nutrition program to implement the Biden Administration’s voter registration scheme is not only a cause for concern, but one that necessitates further scrutiny,” the Republicans wrote.

 

[…]

 

A few months later, Republicans sent letters to federal agencies requesting information about their plans to comply with the order. They also included repealing the executive order in a broad elections bill they introduced last year.

 

Last month, the chairman of the Committee on House Administration sent letters requesting documents related to the order and set a two-week deadline to comply. The chairman, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Bryan Steil, then issued subpoenas. He called the federal order “another attempt by the Biden Administration to tilt the scales ahead of 2024.”

 

[…]

 

While federal agencies have not published their proposals, they have announced steps they’ve taken to comply with the order.

This is a problem for a few reasons. First, it simply is not the role of federal agencies to be involved in elections. They should neither use their resources to promote, facilitate, or participate in the electoral process. That is not their mission. And although it may seem benign to the naive, every agency is run by humans who will naturally let their personal biases slip into whatever they do – intentionally or not. They wield too much power to allow that to take place. All federal agencies should do regarding elections is to ensure that there are no unreasonable barriers to their employees to vote.

Second, done by executive order, the Biden Administration is allocating tax dollars without Congressional authority. These agencies are not funded to participate in electioneering and their funds should not be used for such.

Third, it is telling that after three years, these agencies are stonewalling Congress to share their strategic plans. According to the order, these plans were to be developed within 200 days. That would have been September 23, 2001 – two-and-a-half years ago. These strategic plans should be well worn documents sitting in a file somewhere that are readily available to share with Congress as part of Congress’ constitutional oversight role. Why are the agencies stonewalling? Was is in those plans that they do not want revealed?

This has all of the hallmarks of what we have seen throughout our governments. Every agency is being corrupted for political ends to support the ruling party.

Jay Z’s Company Pushes for School Choice

by | 0918, 22 Jun 2424 | , | 0 Comments

This is the way.

Philadelphia parents learned about school choice on Friday at a lunch provided by an unusual benefactor: Jay Z‘s entertainment company Roc Nation.

 

The A-lister is making his final push in a campaign to urge Pennsylvania lawmakers to spend millions on school vouchers ahead of the state’s budget deadline, June 30. The vouchers would entitle families to use public funds traditionally used for public schools toward private and parochial schools.

 

Jay Z’s New York-based entertainment company announced this month it was backing a $100 million private school choice program in Pennsylvania.

Desiree Perez, Roc Nation’s CEO, said the state’s public school system doesn’t work for some disadvantaged students, and their families deserve unfettered access to alternative options, including high-performing private schools.

 

“It’s an immediate need,” Perez said.

Educational freedom used to be an issue initiated and championed by the Black community. They have been muted in the last couple of decades as they adopted the anti-choice stances of the Leftists. It is good to see the Black community reasserting their power and influence on this important issue.

Democrats to Force Women to Register for the Draft

by | 0706, 20 Jun 2424 | | 1 Comment

I have mixed feelings on this issue.

Senate Democrats have added language to the annual defense authorization bill to require women to register for the draft, prompting a backlash from Republicans and social conservatives and complicating the chances of moving the bill on the Senate floor before Election Day.

As the father of several draft-age men and women, my interests are as personal as philosophical. Let’s think about it from a couple of perspectives.

As a man and a father with mostly traditional values, I do think it is largely the appropriate and historic role for men to be protectors and providers. The thought of sending women off to war is instinctively abhorrent to me. While women have always served in war in every conflict, it has traditionally when they volunteer or when the war comes to their doors. It is the duty of men to go to faraway places and kill the enemy before they reach their doors.

There is also a practical, if grim, reason for this traditional role. In the event of a bloody war where a great number of people are killed, any country/society/culture needs women to repopulate. Our nation can repopulate with more women than men. It is much more difficult when men outnumber women (see: China). Part of our evolutionary survival as a species is because we have traditionally protected the fairer sex from violence so that they can continue the species. In other words, men are more expendable to the species than women.

But… I also think that women are capable of being great war fighters in modern combat. Except for a few select roles that require great physical strength where men’s biological advantages prevail, modern combat is largely mechanical and technological thus reducing the physical requirements. Other nations have proven the effectiveness of women in combat.

Furthermore, women are full-fledged individual citizens imbued with all of the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen. One of those responsibilities is to fight, kill, and die to protect our nation. Why should women be excluded from this responsibility when they enjoy all of the same rights?

So I am torn. The small “r” republican supports including women in the draft. The rest of me recoils at the notion.

Court Karens Purge Name of Conservative Predecessor

by | 0638, 20 Jun 2424 | , , | 0 Comments

It should worry us all that people who are this bitter and petty are making judgments about anything to do with us. These are the people you see berating the poor barista for putting too little oat milk in their latte.

The liberal partisans on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are erasing former conservative Justice David Prosser’s name from the state Law Library, a move that conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley labeled a “petty and vindictive maneuver.”

 

They are replacing his name with the name of Lavinia Goodell, “Wisconsin’s first female lawyer,” according to a press release from the Court.

 

[…]

 

In 2016, then Supreme Court Chief Justice Pat Roggensack, a conservative, announced that the law library would be named after Prosser “in light of Prosser’s upcoming retirement and many years of service.”

 

Prosser served on the court for 18 years. He was first appointed to the court by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1998 and was re-elected twice, according to his court bio.

 

A Supreme Court press release at the time the law library was named for Prosser says, “In all, Prosser spent more than 40 years in public service, including experience in all three branches of state government. He retired July 31, after 18 years on the Supreme Court. Earlier in his career, he served as a tax appeals commissioner, legislative leader, and a prosecutor.”

Cocaine Found Floating Off Miami

by | 0617, 20 Jun 2424 | | 0 Comments

Hunter?

MIAMI — Recreational boaters found $1 million worth of cocaine floating in the ocean off the Florida Keys.

 

Samuel Briggs II, the acting chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol, wrote about the find in a social media post on X. Briggs posted video Monday night showing the wrapped packages of cocaine being wheeled away on a cart.

West Bend Schools Ape Milwaukee Schools

by | 0636, 19 Jun 2424 | , | 0 Comments

Heh.

WEST BEND — The West Bend School District (WBSD) announced on Monday the results of their recent community survey on facilities showed a majority of respondents support a capital referendum on the November ballot to address urgent needs in the district.

 

According to the release, 86.02% of respondents believe the district’s urgent facility needs must be addressed immediately, and 72.28% of respondents support a $100 million capital referendum to address a large portion of Phase 1 needs.

There are two possible explanations for these results in the current economic climate in conservative-leaning West Bend. Fist, it’s a BS survey. This is certainly true. They even say in the survey results, “by design, this data is not based on a scientific sample. Therefore, it should be treated as qualitative data.”

It’s also worth noting that the survey questions were long and intrusive. Rather than a simple survey, this one took some effort to respond to. What does that do to results? It ensures that only people motivated will fill it out. Who is that? People who really want the referendum and people who hate it. The indifferent or uninterested won’t take the time. But those people vote.

The second possibility is that even with the goofy survey structure, that the majority of people in the West Bend District do actually want to drop another $100 million into buildings. In this regard, they would be going the way of Milwaukee. There are many of the same factors at play.

Milwaukee’s educational performance has been bad and declining for years despite more money. West Bend’s educational performance is better but has been mediocre to declining for years despite increasing funding every year. Are Benders satisfied with less than half of their kids being able to read at grade level? I guess so.

Milwaukee’s school board has been opaque about the district’s finances to the point of outright fraud. West Bend’s school board has been opaque about the district’s finances. Go to the district’s website and try to find budget information. It’s there. Kind of. There are occasionally a couple of high-level slides in a board meeting if you know which board meeting to go look at. Years ago, the district published actual detailed budget information. That no longer happens. Every school board candidate for a decade has run promising more “transparency” and the board has gotten increasingly less transparent. Where is all of the money going? Your guess is as good as mine. Wherever it’s going, it’s not improving outcomes for kids.

Milwaukee has been facing declining enrolment for years. West Bend has been facing declining enrollment for years. A district that once served over 7,000 students with the same building structures is projected to serve just over 4,000 students by the end of the decade (table 12). That is a 40% drop in enrollment. Why is spending not decreasing with the decline in enrollment? Why does this school board want to spend another $100 million on top of their already bloated budget? If the taxpayers are stupid enough to let them, they will.

The West Bend School District is only different from the disaster of the Milwaukee School Board by a matter of degrees. Let us pray that the voters are not so stupid as the voters of Milwaukee to give them more money to waste.

 

 

Biden Embraces Lawlessness with Mass Amnesty

by | 2003, 18 Jun 2424 | | 2 Comments

Just in case you were under the impression from Biden’s intern’s tweets that he was serious about enforcing the border, this should disabuse you of such fantasies.

The president announced that his administration will, in the coming months, allow certain U.S. citizens’ spouses without legal status to apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship without having to first depart the country. The action by Biden, a Democrat, could affect upwards of half a million immigrants, according to senior administration officials.

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