The president of Chicago Teachers Union has sent her eldest son to a private school in the city, it has emerged – a month after she called those who supported school choice ‘fascists’.
Stacy Davis Gates, who in 2018 tweeted that private schools were ‘segregation academies’, enrolled her son 14 year-old son Kevin this term in a Catholic school. Her younger two children attend a Chicago public elementary school.
Remember when we said that the Marxists were trying to declare “gun crime” a public health emergency so that they could use emergency power to abuse our Constitutional rights? Remember when America proved it by allowing them to use the public health system to suspend our rights and we warned that that was the beginning – not the end?
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days in response to a spate of gun violence.
The Democratic governor said she expects legal challenges but was compelled to act because of recent shootings, including the death of an 11-year-old boy outside a minor league baseball stadium this week.
Lujan Grisham said state police would be responsible for enforcing what amount to civil violations. Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina said he won’t enforce it, and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he’s uneasy about it because it raises too many questions about constitutional rights.
The firearms suspension, classified as an emergency public health order, applies to open and concealed carry in most public places, from city sidewalks to urban recreational parks. The restriction is tied to a threshold for violent crime rates currently only met by the metropolitan Albuquerque. Police and licensed security guards are exempt from the temporary ban.
Really… it’s not even about party. It’s time for the Boomers to move the eff on and release their bony grip on power. I’m sick of being badly ruled by people whose only connection to how real people live is through a newspaper – an actual, physical newspaper – and a foggy memory of how life was when they were young.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Friday she will run for reelection in 2024.
“Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery,” Pelosi wrote in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Our country needs America to show the world that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for ALL. That is why I am running for reelection — and respectfully ask for your vote,” she continued.
Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News earlier this week.
What do we do when high government officials act without regard to the Constitution or law? What do we do when government officials engage in a bloodless insurrection and usurp power that is not theirs? It is happening in the Wisconsin Supreme Court as the new liberal majority has moved swiftly to orchestrate a coup while running roughshod over the state Constitution, the law, and long-established court rules.
Even before Janet Protasiewicz was seated, the incoming liberal majority had notified the long-standing and award-winning State Courts Director, Randy Koshnick, that he was fired. The firing violated several internal court rules and simple decency toward a longstanding state employee.
Continuing their galumph over court rules and state law, the liberal gang appointed Milwaukee Judge Audrey Skwierawski to replace Koshnick. Not only was it not a competitive hiring process in which persons of color and others candidates were considered, but it violates state law. Wisconsin statute 757.02(2) states, “The judge of any court of record in this state shall be ineligible to hold any office of public trust, except a judicial office, during the term for which he or she was elected or appointed.”
Skwierawski claims to be on leave, but the statute is clear that she cannot legally serve as the State Courts Director during the term for which she was elected. The only way she could legally hold the position is if she resigned as a judge, but she has declined to do so.
We have quickly learned why the leftist majority rammed Skwierawski into the position. Last week, Chief Justice Annette Ziegler discovered that Skwierawski had been signing reserve judge orders with Justice Ziegler’s name without Ziegler’s knowledge or permission. It is unclear what else Skwierawski may have signed while impersonating the Chief Justice. This alleged identity theft by Skwierawski is a direct usurpation of Ziegler’s power and a violation of her person.
The leftist majority also violated court rules to pass new administrative rules to usurp the Chief Justice’s power. Under court rule III(A), any change to the court schedule agreed upon in the spring requires unanimous approval of all seven elected justices. These rules have been in effect since 1984 and adhered to in times of liberal and conservative majorities. Contrary to that rule, the four leftist justices met alone on August fourth to change the administrative structure of the court.
Not only was their meeting unauthorized and invalid, but the rule they “passed” violates the state Constitution. One of the changes was to create a three-justice committee to administer the court. The committee consists of the Chief Justice and two justices elected by the leftist majority. Of course, those two elected committee members are elected by the leftist majority and would effectively usurp all of the power of the Chief Justice.
The Wisconsin State Constitution Article VII Section 4(3) states, “The chief justice of the supreme court shall be the administrative head of the judicial system and shall exercise this administrative authority pursuant to procedures adopted by the supreme court.” The Chief Justice’s exclusive authority to administer the Supreme Court is granted by, and protected by, the Constitution. The leftist majority’s administrative committee is a direct violation of the Constitution.
It has only been a month and the leftists on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has been acting with Marxist disregard for the rule of law in pursuit of overwhelming power that would make Comrade Stalin wince at their brazenness.
When a majority of the justices on the state’s high court are so clearly and openly violating the court’s own rules, state law, and the Constitution, they have forfeited their authority and surrendered their power to judge the affairs of the people of Wisconsin. If they do not follow the law and the Constitution, they have no authority to judge whether we do.
With decades of failed attempts at gun reform amid the frequency in mass shootings, some have sought alternative solutions through artificial intelligence.
The Ocean City School District in New Jersey, as well as the city’s boardwalk, have implemented new technology developed by ZeroEyes, a company that says it uses AI, paired with human experts, to scan camera feeds for guns.
“I don’t think anybody should question or be fearful of an artificial intelligence program that’s going to identify an immediate imminent threat of someone being shot or killed. You can’t put a price tag on saving a life,” Jay Prettyman, the police chief in Ocean City, told ABC News.
I truly think it’s possible that Evers is so clueless about life that he didn’t know you can’t do these things anymore. For him, maybe it’s still the 1960s. Maybe his office is like the one on “Mad Men” where all the big shots were scoring with their secretaries. But Democrats who know Evers say he’s obviously aware of what contemporary rules are, having been a school superintendent and all. If so, why is Evers enabling his chief of staff’s hookup with a high-ranking underling?
Gau is super-powerful. Evers is an often absent and absent-minded governor. Gau runs the governor’s office and is a micromanager. She makes all decisions on everything. Evers is almost a figurehead. Maybe Evers simply delegated the decision on Gau’s link with Cudaback to Gau herself. Maybe Evers is so terrified of losing Gau that he can’t say no to her.
What will sure be interesting are Cudaback’s performance reviews should an open records request get them to surface. Or, state paid travel vouchers. Were the taxpayers paying for both to travel on business in which only one was needed? Bice’s report quoted other Evers staffers and Democrats as being uncomfortable with the whole situation and said they were uneasy about criticizing Cudaback because of her special role in Gau’s life.
What do we do when high government officials act without regard to the Constitution or law? What do we do when government officials engage in a bloodless insurrection and usurp power that is not theirs? It is happening in the Wisconsin Supreme Court as the new liberal majority has moved swiftly to orchestrate a coup while running roughshod over the state Constitution, the law, and long-established court rules.
[…]
Continuing their galumph over court rules and state law, the liberal gang appointed Milwaukee Judge Audrey Skwierawski to replace Koshnick. Not only was it not a competitive hiring process in which persons of color and others candidates were considered, but it violates state law. Wisconsin statute 757.02(2) states, “The judge of any court of record in this state shall be ineligible to hold any office of public trust, except a judicial office, during the term for which he or she was elected or appointed.”
Skwierawski claims to be on leave, but the statute is clear that she cannot legally serve as the State Courts Director during the term for which she was elected. The only way she could legally hold the position is if she resigned as a judge, but she has declined to do so.
We have quickly learned why the leftist majority rammed Skwierawski into the position. Last week, Chief Justice Annette Ziegler discovered that Skwierawski had been signing reserve judge orders with Justice Ziegler’s name without Ziegler’s knowledge or permission. It is unclear what else Skwierawski may have signed while impersonating the Chief Justice. This alleged identity theft by Skwierawski is a direct usurpation of Ziegler’s power and a violation of her person.
[…]
It has only been a month and the leftists on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has been acting with Marxist disregard for the rule of law in pursuit of overwhelming power that would make Comrade Stalin wince at their brazenness.
When a majority of the justices on the state’s high court are so clearly and openly violating the court’s own rules, state law, and the Constitution, they have forfeited their authority and surrendered their power to judge the affairs of the people of Wisconsin. If they do not follow the law and the Constitution, they have no authority to judge whether we do.
Staggering figures have revealed that over 1.2million US-born workers lost their jobs last month while the foreign-born workforce increased by 668,000 – as migrants continue to flood across the border under Biden’s administration.
Data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that between July and August, there was a staggering decrease of 1.223million native-born people in the workforce – which is a low that has not been seen since April 2020.
Figures, buried in the data published on September 1, laid bare how many US citizens are losing their livelihoods and emphasized the effects Trump and Biden’s respective border policies have had on the US job market.
[…]
What the figures suggest is there has been nearly a net-zero increase in native-born jobs created since the Covid economic crash. The job market is only just about reaching the highs seen in October 2019, where employment was 131.72million.
Comparing figures from the first three years of each of their tenures, the Republican president’s foreign-born workforce expanded by 752,000 between August 2017 to 2019.
By contrast, Democrat Biden’s figure from August 2021 to 2023 was 3.943million.
During Trump’s presidency, between July and August of 2017, foreign-born employment rose by just 82,000.
The 668,000 foreign workforce figure in 2023 is a staggering eight times more – set on the backdrop of the Biden administration’s control of the movement across the US-Mexico border since the end of pandemic-era Title 42 in May.
Between July and August of 2018, foreign-born employment increased by 168,000, and 2019’s corresponding figure was 132,000.
Body camera video of the fatal police shooting of Ta’Kiya Young, a 21-year-old pregnant mother in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, has raised questions about how an allegation of shoplifting led to a bullet being fired through her windshield.
[…]
The video of the Aug. 24 shooting, released Friday, shows Young in her car in a parking space as a police officer orders her to exit the vehicle. A second officer is seen drawing his firearm and stepping in front of the car, despite a department policy advising officers to get out of the way of an approaching vehicle instead of firing their weapon.
“Are you going to shoot me?” Young asks, seconds before she turns the steering wheel to the right and the car moves toward the second officer. The officer fires through the windshield and Young’s sedan drifts into the grocery store’s brick wall.
I’ve watched the video. You should too. A few thoughts…
The fact that the woman was young and pregnant is irrelevant. She was accused of shoplifting – that’s why the police were stopping her – but I can’t find any story that says whether she was likely guilty of that or not. That is, however, also irrelevant.
What is relevant is that she was given a lawful order to stop, and she proceeded to use her vehicle as a weapon to hit the officer in front of her car and drag (slightly) the one on the side in an attempt to flee. On the other hand, the officers demonstrated poor judgment by putting themselves in harm’s way in an attempt to apprehend her for a minor crime. If she fled without hitting them, then any use of deadly force would not have been justified. But she didn’t. She hit them.
So… in my humble opinion, the shooting was justified as she used deadly force against the officers in her attempt to flee. But it would have never happened if the officers had not put themselves physically in the way to apprehend her. It’s easy for us to second-guess the decisions made in seconds. I give officers a lot of leeway.
Speculations about the replacement of Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defence minister since November 2021, have been rife for months.
While personally not accused of any wrongdoing, the man by President Zelensky’s side since day one of the Russian full-scale invasion was seen as unable to stop corruption penetrating his ministry.
Military procurement scandals and accusations of bribery against officials at enlistment centres made him damaged goods in the eyes of Ukrainian society, currently in need of a morale boost in the wake of a slower than expected offensive.
Irrespective of your opinion on whether or not the United States should be funding the Ukranian war machine, it is no secret that the entire government has been riddled with corruption for many, many years. Just accept that billions of dollars have been siphoned into corrupt pockets and our weapons have been sold to bad actors around the world. And yes… it is almost certain that a significant amount of money has made it back into American bank accounts – particularly politicians and their families.
Yes, there is a justification to support the war. I don’t agree with it, but there is a rational argument. But that does not change the fact that we are shoving billions of borrowed dollars and millions of weapons of war through an irrevocably corrupt system. We will be uncovering corruption for years and feeling the negative impact for a generation.
Joe Biden claims that his recent string of stays at his Rehoboth Beach house are not vacations since he can’t return to his Wilmington home while it is undergoing security upgrades.
Speaking with reporters Sunday in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware following a mass service, the President said, unprompted: ‘I have no home to go to.’
Almost every weekend, Biden escapes Washington, D.C. to Delaware – and used to spend all of that time at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. It has been a few months, however, since he has spent a night at his primary residence as Secret Service conducts security upgrades there.
I love the power of economics forces. The blistering hot weather combined with a patsy team meant that tickets were quite reasonable to watch my Fightin’ Texas Aggies kick off their season from the comfy seats. It was a good start to the season.
This is sexual harassment training 101. People cannot date – much less live with – people in their direct chain of command. It is poisonous to the workplace and puts the organization at tremendous risk of legal hazard. In this case, it doesn’t even appear that Gau and her partner fell in love while working in the same team. That happens and when it does, it is the responsibility for one of them to quit or transfer. But no. In this case, it looks like Gau brought her lover to her team and gave him/her massive raises. This is clearly unethical and probably illegal.
Evers doesn’t care. He’s the shingles of state government.
Gov. Tony Evers acknowledged that his office doesn’t restrict supervisors from engaging in consensual romantic relationships with the staffers they oversee. Evers, a second-term Democrat, said he keeps a close eye on what is going on in his office, which has some 37 employees.
“It’s a small group of people, and I monitor their performance on a regular basis,” Evers said. “One of my jobs as governor is to monitor the performance of my staff, and I believe they are doing a good job.”
But a handful of Democrats have spoken to the Journal Sentinel in recent weeks to express their concerns that Maggie Gau, Evers’ powerful chief of staff, is — from all appearances — in a longtime romantic relationship with another senior employee whom she directly supervises.
Evers refused to discuss that particular situation on Tuesday during a stop at Greenwood Junior-Senior High School in Clark County.
Sources said the relationship was creating a difficult environment in Evers’ office, especially because they believe no one can raise concerns to Gau about her partner. Asked about this, the governor said, “That’s not accurate. It’s as simple as that. No way.”
[…]
The statement went on to say that the subordinate was appointed to a deputy’s position at a pay of $62,000 a year in January 2019, a position that did not report directly to Gau but was still under her chain of command. The staffer was promoted by Evers to a top-level position that does report to Gau on Nov. 8, 2020, with an annual salary of $100,006. That pay was boosted to $112,008 per year in January — an 80% pay increase in four years.
by Owen | 0736, 31 Aug 2323 | Politics | 2 Comments
Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News earlier this week.
For the few of us who watched it, the first Republican presidential debate, which was held in the same city that will host the Republican National Convention next year, Milwaukee, was a delight.
Punctuated with a few sparks, the debate showed the depth of policy understanding, compassion for the American people, and broad range of opinion imbued in the Republican Party.
My bias is that I do not want Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee.
While I appreciate much about his presidency, he is not the same man who ran in 2020 or 2016. If elected, his constitutionally required single term would make him a lame duck and his ability to deliver the policy successes of his first term is weak.
Furthermore, it is exceedingly improbable that Trump can win a second term. He caught lightning in a bottle in 2016, lost in 2020 as the incumbent, and America in 2024 has moved on. The independents who flocked to his populist message have turned away, and many of the core Republicans who voted for him are not going to do it again. Faced with the prospect of giving President Biden and the Marxists another term to burn down our nation, the Republicans need to nominate someone who can win the general election.
None of the internecine Republican disagreements matter if they lose again.
Back to the debate: Without Trump, the debate was an enlightening display of thoughtful policy disagreements within the Republican Party. It showed the broad tent of a Republican Party that embraces a range of opinions.
When the United States Supreme Court usurped the people’s power with Roe v. Wade, it also short-circuited a substantive policy debate about abortion by making support or opposition to the ruling the proxy for a meaningful discussion.
Absent that proxy, we see a wide range of opinion on abortion and the role of government to regulate it. Former Gov. Nikki Haley made an impassioned appeal for more lenient abortion policy while former Vice President Mike Pence shared his Christian opposition to all abortion. Sen. Tim Scott advocated a federal abortion ban before 15 weeks while Gov. Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie thought that abortion policy should be left to the states. Irrespective of where one’s own opinion falls on this topic, it was a good discussion of the moral and constitutional layers of the issue.
The debate about the United States’ funding of the war in Ukraine was another mature discussion. Vivek Ramaswamy advocated for the immediate stop to funding the war while Haley, Pence, and Gov. Asa Hutchinson strongly supported the funding as an imperative to stop Russian and Chinese aggression on the world stage.
The candidates had varying opinions on climate change, the events of January 6, inflation, border policy, the pandemic response, crime, education, and a host of issues. It was refreshing to listen to an actual debate by thoughtful people of substance about issues that matter to my neighbors and me. While the media likes to obsess over personalities and scandals, we are far more concerned with the issues that impact our everyday lives.
The other thing that struck me about the debate was how much I long for a younger president. Between an octogenarian Biden, a septuagenarian Trump, and our increasingly elderly congressional leaders, our nation needs to move on from the gerontocracy we have allowed to fester. I just do not care about the caustic arguments of old men when our nation is accelerating into ruin.
While it appears that the Republican Party is determined to lose another national election by putting Trump up as their nominee, it is still months until the first votes are taken.
The candidates who respected the voters enough to stand on stage last week and debate the issues that are important to the American people deserve serious consideration.
Yes. Pass it. Evers probably won’t sign it, but Republicans should keep passing spending and tax cuts to keep focus on the fact that Evers refuses to give taxpayers any relief.
Republicans called for tapping the state’s projected $4 billion budget surplus to pay for the tax cut, which would lower the state’s third income tax bracket from 5.3% to 4.4% and exclude the first $150,000 of a couple’s retirement income from taxes. That would apply to people over age 67.
The income tax cut would mean that taxes for income between $27,630 and $304,170 for individuals, and between $36,840 and $405,550 for married couples, would drop from 5.3% to 4.4%. Every joint filer earning between $18,420 and $405,550 would be taxed at the same 4.4% rate.
[…]
The retirement tax cut is a new proposal. It would exempt the first $100,000 from an individual’s retirement income from taxes and the first $150,000 from a couple’s income. Under current law, money withdrawn from an individual retirement account, 401(k) plan or other retirement savings accounts are subject to Wisconsin income tax.
For the few of us who watched it, the first Republican presidential debate, which was held in the same city that will host the Republican National Convention next year, Milwaukee, was a delight.
Punctuated with a few sparks, the debate showed the depth of policy understanding, compassion for the American people, and broad range of opinion imbued in the Republican Party.
[…]
The candidates had varying opinions on climate change, the events of January 6, inflation, border policy, the pandemic response, crime, education, and a host of issues. It was refreshing to listen to an actual debate by thoughtful people of substance about issues that matter to my neighbors and me. While the media likes to obsess over personalities and scandals, we are far more concerned with the issues that impact our everyday lives.
The other thing that struck me about the debate was how much I long for a younger president. Between an octogenarian Biden, a septuagenarian Trump, and our increasingly elderly congressional leaders, our nation needs to move on from the gerontocracy we have allowed to fester. I just do not care about the caustic arguments of old men when our nation is accelerating into ruin.
One of Miles’ boldest projects has been a major restructuring of 28 underperforming schools, many of which are located in lower-income neighborhoods. Their teachers must now follow a centrally scripted curriculum, with in-classroom cameras monitoring their performance and pay based largely on standardized test scores.
Miles, who developed these ideas as CEO of a charter school network, has said he wants to eventually expand his “New Education System” to 150 of the district’s 274 schools, whose nearly 200,000 students are more than 80% Latino and Black.
Miles also has disbanded a team that supported students with autism, although his staff says special education services will continue as part of a restructuring, and filled some vacancies with uncertified teachers.
His most criticized change is transforming libraries at dozens of underperforming schools into “team centers” where students will get extra help and where those who misbehave will be disciplined, watching lessons on Zoom rather than disrupting their classrooms.
I do think that we overthink these things. If we have decided that execution is still moral and right as a punishment for the worst crimes, then the moral boundary has been crossed. From there, we just need to determine the most effective, least costly, and most humane way to do it. And frankly, the first two considerations are more important than the third.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen.
The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58. The court filing indicated Alabama plans to put him to death by nitrogen hypoxia, an execution method that is authorized in three states but has never been used.
Nitrogen hypoxia is caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen and causing them to die. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when inhaled with oxygen. While proponents of the new method have theorized it would be painless, opponents have likened it to human experimentation.
Alabama authorized nitrogen hypoxia in 2018 amid a shortage of drugs used to carry out lethal injections, but the state has not attempted to use it until now to carry out a death sentence. Oklahoma and Mississippi have also authorized nitrogen hypoxia, but have not used it.
Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News earlier this week:
With the beginning of another school year bursting with hope and promise, it is sobering to pause and reflect on just how bad Wisconsin’s schools are. For generations, Wisconsinites have pointed to the educational system as a point of pride. No doubt there was a time when the state’s schools were great and the pride was justified, but it has not been true for decades. We are lying to ourselves.
Yes, there are bright spots, but as a whole, Wisconsin’s education system is failing our children on a monumental scale even as we pat ourselves on the backs, increase the funding, and gaslight ourselves about what a good education our children are getting. If the first step to any recovery is admitting that we have a problem, then Wisconsinites must admit that the schools are failing.
The truth is in the data. While some bemoan standardized tests, they are a useful tool to provide objective insight into the outcomes that the schools are delivering. They also provide a longitudinal look at performance to measure the impact of changes in policy. While some kids are better than others at tests, the widespread application of tests provides a statistically relevant view of school performance in the job that matters most — are the kids learning? Are the schools teaching kids to read? To write? Do math? Civics? Science? To reason? To think? Are they teaching kids basic facts that form a base of knowledge from which kids can understand and evaluate the world around them? Are the schools teaching kids to concentrate? Study? Sort and prioritize knowledge?
For the majority of kids in Wisconsin, the answer is “no.”
Wisconsin began administering the Forward Exam in the 2015-2016 school year. The Wisconsin Department of Administration says that, “The Exam is designed to gauge how well students are doing in relation to the Wisconsin Academic Standards. These standards outline what students should know and be able to do in order to be college and career ready.” The exam is not testing to see if a kid is a genius. It is merely testing to see if he or she is proficient according to the standards for their grade level.
The results are appalling. For the 2020-2021 school year, the most recent data available, a mere 39.2 percent of students between grades three and eight were at least proficient in math. Over 57 percent of students cannot do math at their grade level. For the same age group, only 37 percent of students were at least proficient in language arts. Almost 60 percent are not able to understand language at the appropriate grade level.
It does not get better as they get older. In the eleventh grade, over 90 percent of Wisconsin’s students take the ACT exam. On that test for the 2020-2021 school year, only 27 percent of students were at least proficient in math. Only 28.1 percent of students are at least proficient in science. 35 percent of students are at least proficient in English language arts.
For every three kids who enter a Wisconsin school this year, only one of them will end the year proficient in math or language.
Yet, Wisconsin’s schools boast a 90.2 percent graduation rate. Why in the world are we graduating 90 percent of kids when only one in three of them can do math at grade level? How are we looking ourselves in the mirror and telling ourselves that we are equipping our children for the world of tomorrow when we thrust a diploma into their hands despite the fact that over half of them cannot read at an adult level?
Wisconsinites should be ashamed and angry that our schools are so abysmal at performing their core duty — educating children. Instead, we shovel more money into the Government Education Complex, celebrate that our kids managed to get a piece of paper, and throw kids into a complex world for which they are debilitatingly unprepared.
Our children deserve better, but they will not get better until Wisconsinites stop living in a fantasy and admit that our schools are failing.
