Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

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Author: Owen

State DOC In Collapse

by | 0738, 7 Mar 2424 | | 2 Comments

It’s almost tiresome to say, but if this was the Walker Administration, the reaction from the media and various pro-criminal interest groups would be quite different.

MADISON – The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into an alleged conspiracy within Waupun Correctional Institution to bring in cell phones, illegal drugs and other contraband — a probe that has resulted in the suspension of nearly a dozen prison employees.

 

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and state Department of Corrections officials in June asked federal authorities to conduct an investigation into potential criminal activities inside the Waupun prison after a DOC sweep of multiple housing units uncovered prohibited items, according to Evers’ spokeswoman Britt Cudaback.

 

Cudaback said the initial DOC probe “revealed allegations of potential employee involvement in those illegal activities, including information suggesting financial crimes may have occurred.”

 

[…]

 

The investigation is under way as DOC’s top administrator is set to leave his post. Corrections Secretary Kevin Carr announced last week he would be retiring from the Evers administration at the end of this week. Evers told reporters this week that he did not ask Carr to resign. His successor has yet to be named.

 

Eleven Waupun employees were placed on administrative leave by DOC officials between May 2023 and March 2024, some with pay and some without, according to the department.

The investigation comes at a time when state corrections officials face litigation and questions from families of Waupun inmates over conditions in the prison and over the deaths of four inmates in custody of Waupun prison officials.

Georgia State Lawmakers Consider Penalties Against Sanctuary Stories

by | 0725, 7 Mar 2424 | | 0 Comments

Yes. More of this.

ATLANTA (AP) — Some Georgia senators want to punish cities and counties that they say are illegally harboring immigrants who are in the country without permission by cutting off most state aid to the local government and removing elected officials from office.

 

The Senate Public Safety Committee voted 4-1 on Wednesday to rewrite House Bill 301, with supporters saying the move is needed to enforce a 2009 state law that outlaws so-called sanctuary cities and counties.

 

It’s the latest measure proposed by Republicans after police accused a Venezuelan man of beating a nursing student to death on the University of Georgia campus.

I don’t think they should remove local elected officials. Leave that up to the voters. But they can’t leave unaddressed local governments that violate state laws.

Democrat Arizona Governor Welcomes Illegals

by | 1927, 5 Mar 2424 | | 0 Comments

Keep that door wide open, eh?

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona bill that would have made it a crime for noncitizens to enter the state through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry has been vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

 

The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure late last month along party lines. Arizona has emerged as a popular illegal border crossing point, and the bill would have let local law enforcement arrest non-U.S. citizens who enter Arizona from anywhere but a lawful entrance point. A violation would be a top-tier misdemeanor – or a low-level felony for a second offense.

 

In a letter to Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen on Monday, Hobbs said the measure raised constitutional concerns and was expected to lead to costly litigation.

“This bill does not secure our border, will be harmful for communities and businesses in our state, and burdensome for law enforcement personnel and the state judicial system,” Hobbs wrote.

Teaching Jobs Available in Houston

by | 1915, 5 Mar 2424 | | 13 Comments

Change is hard.

Under Miles, the district is implementing a New Education System (NES) reform program, where teachers are directed to teach based on provided curriculum and scripted lessons with their pay tied to standardized test score performances, and proficiency screenings to retain their jobs at NES schools.

 

In February, an education professor at the University of Houston suspended teaching a course in protest of the rigid lesson requirements in HISD that he said made it impossible for his students to complete their assignments.

 

By next school year, 130 schools in Houston will be under the NES program.

 

[…]

 

From August through early January, 633 teachers resigned from HISD, according to information obtained by Houston Public Media through a public records request. During the same time period in the 2022-23 school year, 331 teachers quit. The year before, only 309 resigned.

 

An elementary school teacher at a non-NES school in Houston who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation criticized the teacher evaluations that are being implemented by the district.

 

“They use this made-up evaluation system to make it look like these teachers aren’t good,” they said. “It makes no sense that money is being spent on coming after certain teachers and using attorneys for the district to make sure teachers lose in whatever way possible.”

Making lemonade out of lemons

by | 0728, 5 Mar 2424 | | 0 Comments

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

While the focus of the maps has been on political lean of each district, the opportunity for Republicans — by which I mean the Republican voters and not the elected Republicans — comes in the shakeup of incumbency. According to Ballotpedia, 99% of incumbents of state politicians of either party won re-election in 2022; 97% of them won in 2020. Wisconsin does not have term limits and the power of incumbency is, by far, the greatest force in state elections.

 

Under Evers’ gerrymandered maps, he intentionally drew as many districts as possible to pit Republican incumbents against each other. Thirty-five incumbent Republicans are now in districts with other incumbent Republicans compared with only seven incumbent Democrats. This is Evers’ attempt to counter the power of incumbency and to encourage Republican infighting to sap their strength before a general election.

 

For Republican voters, this is an opportunity to inject a substantial amount of new blood, new faces, and new ideas into the legislative Republican caucuses. Our system of government was never meant to be a job bank for career politicians. The outcome of incumbency is that elected Republicans are often reflecting the views of their constituents from when they were first elected instead of their constituents’ current views. And while a few career politicians remain energetic and effective for their constituents throughout their tenures, too many Wisconsin politicians slouch into the comfortable Madison scene and begin representing Madison’s interests instead of their constituents’ interests.

 

With the power of incumbency disrupted, Republican voters have a chance to have a rigorous debate during the primary to ensure that the elected Republican class is representing the views of the Republican electorate. Let us have that debate on issues and values. Then, let Wisconsin’s Republicans unite in the general election to elect Republican majorities in the Assembly and Senate to ensure that the other two branches of government are not left unchecked to force their Leftist ideologies and turn Wisconsin into Illinois.

SCOTUS Unanimously Sides With Constitution

by | 0933, 4 Mar 2424 | , | 3 Comments

Excellent. Surprising that it was unanimous, but a good sign that the justices can sometimes put aside their personal political biases in favor of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court’s Monday ruling that Donald Trump should appear on the ballot in Colorado is a massive victory for the former president, vanquishing one of the many legal threats that have both plagued and animated his campaign against President Joe Biden.

 

Using the 14th Amendment to derail Trump’s candidacy has always been seen as a legal longshot, but gained significant momentum with a win in Colorado’s top court in December, on its way to the US Supreme Court. Since that decision, Trump was also removed from the ballot in Maine and Illinois.

Squatter Steals Family’s Dream

by | 2108, 3 Mar 2424 | | 0 Comments

Insane.

When the Landas bought the house in October 2023, they discovered their spacious retirement pad came with an unwanted guest — a squatter by the name of Brett Flores.

 

Four months after signing on the dotted line, the senior duo told ABC 7’s “On Your Side” they still hadn’t managed to evict Flores — due to New York’s squatter rights — or move into the property.

 

“We’re looking to hopefully retire and most of all provide for my son Alex, who has Down syndrome,” said Susana, noting that all she can think about is: “When is this guy going to come out?”

 

[…]

 

Under New York state law, squatters are classified as tenants with rights after living in a property for 30 days. To reclaim property from a squatter, the owners must prove their right to the property and proceed with legal eviction proceedings — which is what the Landas are trying to do, but they’re up against roadblocks and delays.

 

Kamala Calls for Ceasefire as Michigan Polls Slump

by | 1905, 3 Mar 2424 | , | 1 Comment

Dead Jews are a price that Biden/Harris is willing to pay for reelection.

Vice President Kamala Harris has broken with President Joe Biden to call for ‘an immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza.

 

[…]

 

‘Before I begin I must address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,’ Harris said. ‘What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating.’

 

Citing the ‘immense scale of suffering’ in the war-torn nation, she stressed ‘there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks’.

 

‘This will get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in. This will allow us to build something more enduring to ensure Israel is secure and to respect the right of Palestinian people to dignity, freedom and self-determination,’ Harris said.

 

Her comments mark a departure from the more cautious approach so far favored by Biden, as he struggles to strike a balance between the US’ role as an ally to Israel, with growing international outrage over its bombing of Gaza.

I highly doubt that this is a break with Biden. This is a strategy for the Biden Administration to try to appease two conflicting Democratic constituencies.

Gators Purge DEI

by | 0915, 2 Mar 2424 | | 0 Comments

It’s a start. Thanks Gov. DeSantis.

The University of Florida announced Friday that it is eliminating all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion employee positions.

This change, announced through an emailed administrative memo, comes after the Florida Board of Governors labeled expenditures related to DEI programs as prohibited expenditures.

The memo explains that “to comply with the Florida Board of Governor’s regulation 9.016 on prohibited expenditures, the University of Florida has closed the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments, and halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors.”

The Board of Governors defines DEI as “any program, campus activity, or policy that classifies individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation and promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals on the basis of such classification.”

Hovde to challenge Baldwin for Senate

by | 0855, 2 Mar 2424 | | 1 Comment

Here is my column for the Washington County Daily News that ran earlier this week.

In 2012, this column supported Eric Hovde in the Republican primary to challenge Representative Tammy Baldwin for the open U.S. Senate seat. Wisconsin juggernaut Tommy Thompson won that primary and went on to lose to Baldwin in an election where President Obama’s electoral strength pulled many down-ballot Democratic candidates to victory.

 

Twelve years later, Baldwin is running for a third term and Eric Hovde is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge her. Hovde is still as great a candidate, and person, as he was in 2012 and Wisconsin would do well to send him to the U.S. Senate.

 

In 12 years as Wisconsin’s senator, Baldwin has been a reliable vote for Democrats, but otherwise a potted plant. She does not matter. She does not have any signature issues on which she leads, nor does she have any significant legislation she championed. According to FiveThirtyEight, Baldwin has voted for Biden’s agenda 95% of the time. When she has bucked Biden, it was because she was even more Marxist. She voted against ending the COVID state of emergency and for vaccine mandates for large businesses. The only time she runs afoul of the prevailing leftist orthodoxy is when it is not totalitarian enough. Even then, she only votes against the Democrat leadership when it is safe to do so.

 

Hovde will matter in Washington. He will make Wisconsin matter. As a fourth-generation Wisconsinite, Hovde made his fortune as a serial entrepreneur in real estate and banking. He made a living buying distressed community banks and leading them to be successful again. He knows and loves Wisconsin. He knows how to do the hard work of taking something that is failing and making it successful.

 

Equally important, Hovde uses his wealth to make the world a better place. Through a foundation created by his brother and him in the 1990s, he has spent tens of millions of dollars to build and support homes in places like Rwanda and Honduras to support, “children who have been abandoned, enslaved, and sex-trafficked, ensuring they are happy, healthy, and prepared for a promising future.”

 

As the overwhelmingly likely Republican candidate, the Baldwin campaign immediately responded to Hovde’s entrance into the race. Even though the policies that Baldwin has supported are causing crushing inflation, an invasion of illegal aliens, and a nation-killing national debt, Baldwin has chosen to attack Hovde on two primary fronts. Let us address them.

 

First, Baldwin has attacked Hovde as a carpetbagger Californian. Hovde does own a business in California and has a house there, but he is a born and raised Wisconsinite. His primary residence is in Wisconsin and he is there 75% of the time. Hovde is active in Wisconsin organizations and activities. Hovde is as Wisconsin as they come.

 

Meanwhile, Baldwin is relying on a biased media to neglect to point out that she has become a creature of Washington. Baldwin and her partner own a $1.3 million penthouse condo in Washington D.C. just steps from the Capitol. It is also worth noting that according to Opensecrets.org, in both 2018 and 2024, roughly 58% of Baldwin’s campaign contributions come from out of state, with California generating more contributions than any other state. Baldwin’s heart is in Washington, D.C., and her support comes from California.

 

Second, Baldwin has hit Hovde on the abortion issue. In 2012, Hovde was firmly anti-abortion and Baldwin is slamming him for that stance. In 2024, Hovde’s position on abortion has shifted. He has said that he personally opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. He has also said that he thinks that a majority of Wisconsinites support abortion in the very early days of pregnancy. Given that the U.S. Supreme Court has correctly relegated abortion policy back to the states, Hovde supports a statewide referendum on abortion to determine the most appropriate policy for Wisconsin. While I disagree with Hovde’s position, his position is far more thoughtful and relevant to the current state of the law than Baldwin is attempting to portray it.

 

It is worth noting that Baldwin’s radical abortion stance is out of sync with most Wisconsinites. Baldwin supports abortion up to the point of birth and is sponsoring a bill in the Senate that would have the federal government require all states to support this stance. In Baldwin’s world view, allowing the killing of a fully viable baby at term is not only permissible, it should be required. This is a bloody, radical position.

 

Hovde has his work cut out for him. Just like in 2012, an incumbent Democrat president is seeking a second term and down-ballot races like this will be heavily influenced by what happens in the presidential race. If Wisconsin Republicans want a chance to win, Hovde needs all of them to get involved and be generous with their time and money to support him. Let’s get to work.

Debt Rising by $1 TRILLION Every 100 Days

by | 2040, 1 Mar 2424 | , | 1 Comment

This is a nation killer. Nothing else will matter when this crushes our economy.

The debt load of the U.S. is growing at a quicker clip in recent months, increasing about $1 trillion nearly every 100 days.

 

The nation’s debt permanently crossed over to $34 trillion on Jan. 4, after briefly crossing the mark on Dec. 29, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It reached $33 trillion on Sept. 15, 2023, and $32 trillion on June 15, 2023, hitting this accelerated pace. Before that, the $1 trillion move higher from $31 trillion took about eight months.

Evers Screws Taxpayers… Again

by | 1800, 1 Mar 2424 | | 1 Comment

What an ass.

One of the proposals would have expanded the second income tax bracket to lower taxes on those earning between $19,000 and $150,000 per year.

 

Another bill would cut retirement income by exempting up to $75,000 retirement income for single filers and $150,000 for joint filers.

 

The third measure Evers rejected would have increased tax credits for newly married couples.

 

In his veto message, Evers expressed concerns the proposals could be risky given the state’s financial situation.

Financial situation? The state has a massive surplus that it’s hoarding.

High Tax States Continue to Drive Away High Income Earners

by | 0832, 1 Mar 2424 | , | 0 Comments

Wisconsin should learn this lesson before it’s too late.

In 2023, California’s population dipped below 39 million, the lowest count since 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Data shows the state lost 75,423 residents last year — continuing a dramatic trend that started with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

 

What’s concerning is not how many people are leaving — the state has experienced lopsided out-migration for decades, according to the Los Angeles Times — but who is leaving.

 

Analysis of the approximately 750,000 people who have bid farewell to California over the last three years has revealed that thousands more high-earning, well-educated workers have left the Golden State than have moved in.

 

[…]

 

It is not just wealthy residents leaving; businesses are also exiting the state — again due to high tax rates, punitive regulations, high labor, utility and energy costs, among other things.

 

That loss of vital income tax is very problematic for California, which is facing a record $68 billion budget deficit, largely due to an unprecedented drop in tax revenue.

 

[…]

 

In tax years 2020 and 2021, the average gross income of taxpayers who moved from California to another state was about $137,000, according to IRS migration and personal income data.

 

That would place those individuals in California’s largest state income tax bracket — at 9.3% — which applies to single filers who earn between $61,215 and $312,686 per year, or married couples filing jointly with an annual income of $122,429 to $625,372.

 

If you earned $137,000 last year in California, your estimated state income tax for 2023 would be $9,896, according to the SmartAsset tax calculator. And if you reduced your taxable income by maxing out your 401(k) contribution at $22,500 (the 2023 total) and your IRA contribution at $7500 (for those aged 50 and older), your estimated state income tax would be around $6,827.

Theater Has “Whites Only” Night

by | 1925, 29 Feb 2424 | | 0 Comments

Just kidding. It’s a “Black Only” night.

Chaos has engulfed a controversial West End play which is selling tickets for ‘black-only’ nights after one of the two dates vanished from its website.

 

Slave Play which is being held at the Noel Coward Theatre later this year has come under fire after announcing it will have two performances aimed at an ‘all-black-identifying audience’ that is ‘free from the white gaze’.

 

Producers, who say they want to ‘increase accessibility to theatre’, had said it would hold these performances on July 17 and September 17, with tickets being sold for as much £125.

 

However, the latter of these has vanished from the show’s website, with potential buyers given no option to buy tickets for a show on September 17, and no performance being listed for this date.

 

The people behind the show have said they are now ‘carefully considering’ how to incorporate the ‘black out’ nights as part of its run and insisted  ‘no-one will be prevented or precluded from attending any performance’.

 

[…]

 

‘The idea of a Black Out night is to say this is a night that we are specifically inviting black people to fill up the space, to feel safe with a lot of other black people in a place where they often do not feel safe.’

Incidentally, I’ve gone to shows in London’s West End and New York’s Broadway in the past eight months and both audiences had a lot of black folks in them. They had a lot of black folks and white folks all enjoying a show together. I challenge their premise.

Hovde Dives In

by | 1839, 29 Feb 2424 | | 0 Comments

TBF, Baldwin would have to fly in from D.C. to take a polar plunge.

Hovde posted a video on X on Thursday showing him pressing through what he says is about a half-inch (1.3-centimeter) layer of ice on Lake Mendota outside of a home he owns.

 

“It was hard to break through but it’s good to get out here for a good cold plunge,” Hovde says before he turns the camera on his shirtless torso.

 

“So the Dems and Sen. Baldwin keep saying I’m not from Wisconsin, which is a complete joke,” a laughing Hovde says into the camera. “Alright Sen. Baldwin, why don’t you get out here in this frozen lake and let’s really see who’s from Wisconsin.”

Google CEO Calls Gemini Debacle “Unacceptable”

by | 1854, 28 Feb 2424 | , | 8 Comments

Not a bad statement. I hope the reality matches the sentiment. I’m pessimistic that it will.

In a memo Tuesday evening, Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the company’s artificial intelligence mistakes, which led to Google taking its Gemini image-generation feature offline for further testing.

 

“I want to address the recent issues with problematic text and image responses in the Gemini app (formerly Bard). I know that some of its responses have offended our users and shown bias – to be clear, that’s completely unacceptable and we got it wrong.”

 

“Our teams have been working around the clock to address these issues. We’re already seeing a substantial improvement on a wide range of prompts. No AI is perfect, especially at this emerging stage of the industry’s development, but we know the bar is high for us and we will keep at it for however long it takes. And we’ll review what happened and make sure we fix it at scale.”

 

“Our mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful is sacrosanct. We’ve always sought to give users helpful, accurate, and unbiased information in our products. That’s why people trust them. This has to be our approach for all our products, including our emerging AI products.”

 

“We’ll be driving a clear set of actions, including structural changes, updated product guidelines, improved launch processes, robust evals and red-teaming, and technical recommendations. We are looking across all of this and will make the necessary changes.”

 

“Even as we learn from what went wrong here, we should also build on the product and technical announcements we’ve made in AI over the last several weeks. That includes some foundational advances in our underlying models e.g. our 1 million long-context window breakthrough and our open models, both of which have been well received.”

 

“We know what it takes to create great products that are used and beloved by billions of people and businesses, and with our infrastructure and research expertise we have an incredible springboard for the AI wave. Let’s focus on what matters most: building helpful products that are deserving of our users’ trust.”

Alphabet Mafia Tries to Purge People Who Don’t Share Their Faith

by | 1835, 28 Feb 2424 | , , | 4 Comments

The LGBTQ activists are refusing to allow any disagreement or debate with their current ideology. They want this guy fired for not agreeing with them. 

Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is standing by policies affecting the transgender community in state schools following the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict, which has resulted in increasing calls for his removal from office.

 

“To make sure that all individuals are safe in a school, we want every student to be protected, we want every student to be successful,” Walters told ABC News in an interview Tuesday. “That also means we’re not going to lie to students. And we’re not going to push a gender ideology.”

 

However, an open letter is calling for Walters’ immediate removal from office for, the letter claims, “fostering a culture of violence and hate against the 2SLGBTQI+ community in Oklahoma schools.” The letter is signed by about 350 local, state, and national organizations, including GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, Oklahomans for Equality and more.

What are Walters’ “radical” views? Pretty much what a majority of people currently believe and what was almost universally accepted as truth just a few years ago.

Walters said he believes there are only two genders and that those are based on the sex someone is “assigned at birth.”

“When you are born, you have a gender: you either have an XX chromosome or an XY chromosome,” Walters said. “We’ve seen radical leftists who’ve tried to create this idea of gender fluidity, which frankly, it confuses students, and causes all kinds of chaos in the classroom and chaos with families.”

 

[…]

 

“What we see here is an effort from the left to lie about the death of this child to push an agenda and to try to push us off of our positions and our stances,” Walters told ABC News. “We’re not going to back down to that. we’re going to continue to move the state forward and education.”

Bearing in mind that the trigger to this latest kerfuffle was the death of a kid whose cause is not yet known. What we do know is that it was not a direct result of bullying or violence at school. It was most likely a drug overdose or unrelated medical issue, but we’re waiting on the autopsy results.

Authorities are awaiting the full results of the autopsy and toxicology reports for more insight into the circumstances surrounding the teen’s death. The state medical examiner’s office will determine the final cause and manner of death.

IOW, Walters is 100% correct. The leftists are using the lie about a dead kid to bully a school district into ideological submission.

NYC Mayor Abandons Illegals

by | 2018, 27 Feb 2424 | | 1 Comment

Ya know… these lefty northern politicians were all about sanctuary status when the illegal people were staying in border states. When they get a tiny fraction of the problem in their back yard, they grow up real quick.

New York Mayor Eric Adams has called for a radical overhaul of its sanctuary city status in a spectacular u-turn as the city buckles under the weight of migrant arrivals.

 

The Democrat leader has faced a furious backlash as schools, hotels and community centers have been turned over to the 180,000 migrants who he has warned will ‘destroy’ the city.

 

He has been a staunch defender of its decades-old sanctuary status which forbids city officials from asking questions about a person’s immigration status, or revealing it to federal authorities.

Hovde to challenge Baldwin for Senate

by | 0726, 27 Feb 2424 | | 1 Comment

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. I’m all in on Hovde. Here’s a part.

In 2012, this column supported Eric Hovde in the Republican primary to challenge Representative Tammy Baldwin for the open U.S. Senate seat. Wisconsin juggernaut Tommy Thompson won that primary and went on to lose to Baldwin in an election where President Obama’s electoral strength pulled many down-ballot Democratic candidates to victory.

 

Twelve years later, Baldwin is running for a third term and Eric Hovde is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge her. Hovde is still as great a candidate, and person, as he was in 2012 and Wisconsin would do well to send him to the U.S. Senate.

 

In 12 years as Wisconsin’s senator, Baldwin has been a reliable vote for Democrats, but otherwise a potted plant. She does not matter. She does not have any signature issues on which she leads, nor does she have any significant legislation she championed. According to FiveThirtyEight, Baldwin has voted for Biden’s agenda 95% of the time. When she has bucked Biden, it was because she was even more Marxist. She voted against ending the COVID state of emergency and for vaccine mandates for large businesses. The only time she runs afoul of the prevailing leftist orthodoxy is when it is not totalitarian enough. Even then, she only votes against the Democrat leadership when it is safe to do so.

 

Hovde will matter in Washington. He will make Wisconsin matter. As a fourth-generation Wisconsinite, Hovde made his fortune as a serial entrepreneur in real estate and banking. He made a living buying distressed community banks and leading them to be successful again. He knows and loves Wisconsin. He knows how to do the hard work of taking something that is failing and making it successful.

 

[…]

 

Second, Baldwin has hit Hovde on the abortion issue. In 2012, Hovde was firmly anti-abortion and Baldwin is slamming him for that stance. In 2024, Hovde’s position on abortion has shifted. He has said that he personally opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. He has also said that he thinks that a majority of Wisconsinites support abortion in the very early days of pregnancy. Given that the U.S. Supreme Court has correctly relegated abortion policy back to the states, Hovde supports a statewide referendum on abortion to determine the most appropriate policy for Wisconsin. While I disagree with Hovde’s position, his position is far more thoughtful and relevant to the current state of the law than Baldwin is attempting to portray it.

 

It is worth noting that Baldwin’s radical abortion stance is out of sync with most Wisconsinites. Baldwin supports abortion up to the point of birth and is sponsoring a bill in the Senate that would have the federal government require all states to support this stance. In Baldwin’s world view, allowing the killing of a fully viable baby at term is not only permissible, it should be required. This is a bloody, radical position.

 

Hovde has his work cut out for him. Just like in 2012, an incumbent Democrat president is seeking a second term and down-ballot races like this will be heavily influenced by what happens in the presidential race. If Wisconsin Republicans want a chance to win, Hovde needs all of them to get involved and be generous with their time and money to support him. Let’s get to work.

Google to Relaunch Gemini AI

by | 1925, 26 Feb 2424 | , | 0 Comments

I can see the memo now… “keep it racist and woke, but a bit less obvious.”

After pulling its artificial intelligence image generation tool on Thursday due to a string of controversies, Google plans to relaunch the product soon, according to Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.

 

Google introduced the image generator earlier this month through Gemini, the company’s main suite of AI models. The tool allows users to enter prompts to create an image. Over the past week, users discovered historical inaccuracies and questionable responses, which have circulated widely on social media.

“We have taken the feature offline while we fix that,” Hassabis said Monday during a panel at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona. “We are hoping to have that back online very shortly in the next couple of weeks, few weeks.” He added that the product was not “working the way we intended.”

 

[…]

When asked for a “historically accurate depiction of a medieval British king,” the model generated another racially diverse set of images, including one of a woman ruler, screenshots show. Users reported similar outcomes when they asked for images of the U.S. founding fathers, an 18th-century king of France, a German couple in the 1800s and more. The model showed an image of Asian men in response to a query about Google’s own founders, users reported.

Make no mistake. It wasn’t a mistake.

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