Sunday, May 26, 2019

The New Secession

Residents of the majority-white southeast corner of Baton Rouge want to make their own city, complete with its own schools, breaking away from the majority-black parts of town.


The fight began with little subtlety. White, wealthy parents in the southeastern corner of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, an area known as St. George, wanted their own school district. They argued that the schools in East Baton Rouge were routinely named as among the lowest performing in the state, and were unlikely to improve any time soon. So, in 2012, some of those parents went to the state legislature with a proposal: Create what would be called the Southeast Community School District.
The legislature shot it down. The parents needed a two-thirds majority for the creation of a school district, and they couldn’t marshal the votes. A similar push in 2013 was rebuffed as well.
The organizers were discouraged, but undeterred. They needed a new strategy—and they didn’t have to look far. In 2005, a nearby community, Central, was unable to gather support for a school district from the legislature, so it incorporated as a new city. That helped it gain legislative approval to create its own school district, Central Community Schools, which opened its doors in 2007. The St. George supporters launched a petition drive and, in August 2013, registered a new website: StGeorgeLouisiana.com. They would try to create their own city.

A pattern has emerged over the past two decades: White, wealthy communities have been separating from their city’s school districts to form their own. According to a recent report from EdBuild, a nonprofit focused on public-school funding, 73 communities have split to form their own school districts since 2000, and the rate of places doing so has rapidly accelerated in the past two years. St. George, which activists seek to incorporate as a city, is a textbook example.

Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/05/resegregation-baton-rouge-public-schools/589381/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Wild West: Brothels (Documentary)

Grateful Dead - Truckin'

Man - what a Day - Sun out - and everybody out & about!

This


Saturday, May 25, 2019

Minnesota contractor wins $14M Racine water main job related to Foxconn

A Minnesota contractor has won a job to build a water main to serve Foxconn Technology Group’s factory in Mount Pleasant, beating out two other firms with a bid that nonetheless came in nearly $2 million higher than officials had expected.
Rockville, Minnesota-based S.J. Louis Construction won a contract to install a transmission water main for the Racine Water and Wastewater Utility as part of the agency’s broader effort to improve its infrastructure to support Foxconn’s flatscreen-manufacturing plant, which is expected to draw millions of gallons of water off Lake Michigan a day.
S.J. Louis’ $14.2 million bid beat out Pewaukee-based Globe Contractors’ $14.3 million offer and a $14.9 million bid from Menomonee Falls-based Super Excavators. The Racine Water and Wastewater Utility estimated that the job would cost $12.8 million. Bids closed on April 24.
The Racine Wastewater utility has bid out a flurry of jobs in recent months as part of a $120 million plan to overhaul the county’s water and sewer system. Water-utility projects are starting near the factory and working eastward in keeping with a construction schedule set by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

From:  https://dailyreporter.com/2019/05/23/minnesota-contractor-wins-14m-racine-water-main-job-related-to-foxconn/

Open Blog - Weekend


Hallelujah!

Friday, May 24, 2019

Memorial Day parades, services planned

RACINE COUNTY — These local parades and programs are scheduled to be held in observance of Memorial Day:

Saturday

Sturtevant Memorial Day Parade: The parade starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 26, at Schulte Elementary School, 8515 Westminster Drive, Sturtevant, and proceeds north on 86th Street, west on Buckingham Drive, west on Broadway Drive, north on 97th Street, east on Hulda Drive and north on 95th Street. Ceremony follows at South Park, 95th Street and Hulda Drive.

Sunday

Southern Wisconsin Veterans Cemetery Memorial Day Program, 11 a.m., at the cemetery, 21731 Spring St., Dover.

Monday

Memorial Day Parade: Organized by the Racine Area Veterans Council, the Racine Memorial Day Parade steps off promptly at 10 a.m. Monday, May 27, at West Boulevard and Washington Avenue, Racine, and will end with a memorial ceremony at Graceland Cemetery’s Veterans Memorial, shortly after 11 a.m.
Veterans Memorial Day Parade: Parade starts at 9 a.m. Monday, May 27, at Kane and Edward streets and proceeds through Downtown Burlington. Ends at Echo Park for the Veteran’s ceremonial tribute at approximately 10 a.m.

From:  https://journaltimes.com/news/local/memorial-day-parades-services-planned/article_618dea21-7168-5a33-96a8-b64682a9c80f.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-2

Jefferson's - Alchemy is Everything

About Jefferson’s

Founded in 1997, Jefferson’s is the brainchild of Trey Zoeller and his father Chet, a famed bourbon historian. They were continuing a family tradition that goes back to Trey’s 8th generation grandmother who was arrested in 1799 for the “production and sales of spirituous liquors.” To personify the brand, they chose Thomas Jefferson—known for his curiosity and experimental spirit. This is a mindset to which Trey has dedicated himself, pushing the boundaries of the definition of bourbon. Upholding tradition, yet always discovering new possibilities.

Read more: http://jeffersonsbourbon.com/

Man allegedly hiding drugs in his anus accidentally shoots himself in the testicles

Photo: Cashmere Police Department

CASHMERE, Wash. (WTVO) -- Trouble snowballed for a man who accidentally shot himself in the testicles and was then found to be hiding marijuana in his buttocks, according to police.
The Wenatchee World News reports that 27-year-old Cameron Jeffrey Wilson was carrying a gun in his front pocket on April 5 when it accidentally went off, piercing his testicles and embedding itself in his inner thigh.
When doctors at the hospital tried to operate, a balloon filled with marijuana fell out of his anus.
Police arrived to search Wilson's car and found a bag of meth, according to the report.
Wilson, a convicted felon, was then transported to the Chelan County Jail where he was strip-searched -- and another balloon of marijuana fell out of his anus.
Wilson was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of meth and possession of a controlled substance in a correctional facility.
He pleaded not guilty on all charges and awaits his next court date on June 18.

From:  https://www.wearecentralpa.com/news/man-allegedly-hiding-drugs-in-his-anus-accidentally-shoots-himself-in-the-testicles/2024408255

YC Department of Education: ‘Individualism’ Is ‘White Supremacy Culture’

The New York City Department of Education has instructed its teachers that “objectivity” and “individuals” are “white supremacist” concepts.

According to a report from the New York Times, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza gave a presentation about “white supremacy” culture. In the lesson, Carranza claims that concepts like “perfectionism,” “paternalism,” and “objectivity” are part of “white supremacy culture.”
Surprisingly, documents from Carranza’s presentation do little to tie these concepts to “white supremacy.” A graphic from Carranza’s lesson explains why “objectivity” is a negative concept. “This can lead to the belief that there is an ultimate truth and that alternative viewpoints or emotions are bad, it’s even inherent in the ‘belief that there is such a thing as being objective,'” the graphic reads.
A separate section of the graphic explains why Carranza lumps “individuality” into with “white supremacy culture.” “This idea is found among people who have ‘little experience of comfort working as part of a team.’ It can lead to isolation, and emphasize competition over cooperation,” the graphic reads.

Read more:  https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/05/22/nyc-department-of-education-individualism-is-white-supremacy-culture/

Demolition Man - Def Leppard

Four for Fridays!

Good morning everyone I hope you had a good week. Yes I am up early Drew has to be in work early today. Here are your questions.

1) Do you have plans for Memorial Day?

2) Are you going to be cooking out?

3) Are you going to be going to any parades?

4) What is the last Memorial Day Party you remember attending?

Have a Happy Memorial Day and please be safe.

Open Blog - Friday


Finally.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Birds!

As many of you know this month is the bird migration so I do not see Drew to much. Plus I have to drive him to different places he would like me to take him. I have seen a lot of birds on our patio like Humming Birds, House Sparrows, Cardinals, Catbirds Grackles Starlings and Gold Finches they come to the feeders. I am going to be sharing some pictures with everyone as much as I can keep up with.

                                This is a Green Heron at Myers Park Racine Wi on 5/3/2019.

                         This is a Coopers Hawk at the Lighthouse in Wind Point Wi 5/5/2019

                          This is a Baltimore Oriole at Colonial Park in Racine Wi 5/7/2019

                    This is a Orchid Oriole at Grant Park in South Milwaukee Wi 5/11/2019

                This is a Red Headed Woodpecker at Grant Park in South Milwaukee Wi 5/11/2019

              This is a Red Breasted Grosbeak at Grant Park in South Milwaukee Wi 5/11/2019

This is just the start of some of Drew's pictures he has taken so far this year and there is a lot more to come. I hope that everyone enjoys the pictures.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, kiddos!  How are you?  Isn't this lovely weather?  Cold and rain.  What is it, November?  At least we've had a couple of nice weekends.  Where the hell is spring?  Please, Mother Nature, come to your senses and straighten out the weather.  I'm tired of dressing for winter in the spring.  And I miss the sun sorely.  Please let that shine a lot.  Please.

Big news: Señor Zanza introduced me to his sister Señorita Zena.  I about dropped my turban.  Suddenly, one day, there's a young woman at the door and its her.  She's traveling the country and stopped to say hi to her brother.  I had no idea that he had any siblings.  He keeps so much to himself.  Anyway, the three of us had some tea and a nice chat.   Señorita Zena. just graduated from college and is going to see the country before settling down.  He major in school was Business Administration.  4.0 gpa.  She won't have trouble finding work.  She just has to make sure that she isn't exploited.

Señorita Zena.is staying with us for a few days.  She's a pleasant person and I appreciate the company.  Like her brother, though, she's pretty tight lipped about her past.  Did these people just beam down from a UFO?

I read the article in the Journal Times where all the bicyclists were bitching and moaning about the state of our bike pathways.  Once, when driving on Lake Avenue, I was confronted with six kids on bicycles headed straight for me.  They were going the wrong direction, riding six abreast.  I just hit my brakes and waited.  They drove past me, but not without some kicks to the car.  What did I do to them?  What's wrong with people these days?  Everyone is pissed off.

I have some advice for Trump regarding the Iran situation: nuke them.  Just turn the country into molten glass.  Why do we let countries that are smaller than some of our states threaten and cajole us?  They're warning us about the results of war?  My God, squash the bug.  That might make a few other countries take notice.  Maybe some of them will then shut up about us while taking our foreign aid.  If anybody doesn't like it, cut off their aid.  Why are we supporting the countries that terrorize us?  End the madness.  Push the button.

As I read the news in the Journal Times, I get more and more depressed.  Fights, drugs, hit and runs, burglaries, robberies, child abuse and more are in every issue.  Makes me think of moving, but you can't escape the garbage.  People today are proud of their stupidity.  The light turned green the other day and I pulled out into traffic.  Some idiot making an illegal U-turn started screaming and swearing at me for getting in his way.  He followed me for awhile, screaming all the time.  I put the dreaded Zoltar Curse on him and he shut up quick.

The newspaper keeps talking about Foxcon and all the great things that are coming.  Yet, we've seen nothing of them.  So far it's just been talk.  I know that Mr. Mayor Cory Lawn Gnome gets excited by the talk.  He keeps telling us, "Just wait."  Wait till hell freezes over?  All of this bounty has fallen into his lap.  Instead of acting grateful, he acts as if it's all his doing.  Mayor Butterball is for the rich, as almost all politicians.  There's no profit in being for the poor.

That's it my friends.  As always, I'm thrilled and honored to write a blog for you all.  I love you all and God bless you all.

madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

Pray to the sun god, Sol, for some relief.  We should be running around in shorts, not toting our winter coats.   C'mon sky, crack open that gray and let the sunshine in.  People are sick of this, including me.
_________________________ 
Please donate: paypal.me/jgmazelis  If you don't like PayPal, send me a note at madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com and I'll send you my street address so you can send a check or money order.  Thank you.
 

Open Blog - Wednesday


Enjoy.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

U.S. Postal Service Is Testing Self-Driving Trucks

A mail carrier for the United States Postal Service makes deliveries at a Florida apartment complex in June 2018. The USPS has partnered with TuSimple to launch a multi-state driverless semi-truck test program on Tuesday. It doesn't involve home deliveries.
Brynn Anderson/AP
The U.S. Postal Service is experimenting with self-driving trucks to move mail across state lines.
The USPS has partnered with San Diego-based TuSimple on a two-week pilot program, focusing solely on a 1,000-mile route between Dallas and Phoenix.
TuSimple's Chief Product Officer Chuck Price told NPR the test runs, which began on Tuesday, will help the Postal Service "become future-ready." The aim of the program, according to the Postal Service, is "to accommodate a diverse mail mix, enhance safety, improve service, reduce emissions, and produce operational savings."
It will involve five round trips, traveling major interstates that cross Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Each truck will have a "safety engineer" and driver on board for the duration of the pilot to monitor vehicle performance and to ensure public safety.

Read more:  https://www.npr.org/2019/05/21/725524334/u-s-postal-service-is-testing-self-driving-trucks

Spieler Alert

From The Shepherd Express:



May 21, 2019
4:00 p.m.

I’m Art Kumbalek and man oh manischewitz what a world, ain’a? So listen, it’s that time of year again that finds me pounding the pavement trying to get one of these commencement speaker gigs, what the fock.
But first, I got to send a big ol’ Badger shout-out over to the gang at Madtown’s Crystal Corner Bar (thanks for reading) “charm school” on Williamson Street there for a focking thoughtful donation (five Nixon$, no Jackson$, it’s complicated) to the Art Kumbalek Spring Fund Drive (good works guaranteed, or at least a couple, three good cocktails for the namesake).
Makes me think I would’ve been a good choice for UW-Madison’s graduation gasbag, seeing as how I had some academic experience there way-back-when tear/pepper gas in the air was a familiar springtime sort-of fragrance. God bless America—forget about it, not for me, not then. And now I’m thinking “what’s old is going to be new again,” good lord, what the fock.
But UW never got back to me about the gig, go figure. But I’m still on my annual search for anybody who’s got a bunch of graduates who need speaking to—be they of College, High, Tech, Trade, or Matchbook School; Middle School; Academy Charter Institute of Some Learning for Young People; Grade School; Prison Substance-Abuse Good-Neighbor Sanity Program for Early Release; Pre-School; Nursery School; Daycare Center Who Employs a Bus Driver Who Can Conduct a Head-Count—I’m your talking head. You pony up 50 bucks with a case of ice-cold bottled beer, and I’ll be there. And even if you already got a mouthpiece for your ceremonial shindig, perhaps you could send 50 bucks my way anyways as a gratuity for my generous offer to you, I kid you not.
So, what would I say to your students about to fly your scholastic coop?
Well sir, I always enjoy to kick-off my speechifying remarks with a humorous anecdote, maybe something that goes like this:
Little Jimmy was on his way to visit his grandmother. Seated next to him on the plane was an adult stranger who turned to little Jimmy and said, “Let's talk. I’ve heard that flights pass by more quickly if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.” And little Jimmy, who had just opened a book in the series of “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” closed it slowly and said to the stranger, “What would you like to talk about?”
“How about nuclear power?” the stranger said. And little Jimmy said, “OK, that could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first: A horse, a cow and a deer all eat grass. The same stuff, yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?”
“How about that,” the stranger said, “I have no idea.”
“Well, then,” little Jimmy said, “how is it that you feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don't know shit?” Ba-ding!
And then I might say: In my effort to whip something together for you’s to listen to today, I reflected upon what I wished someone had said to me when I was your age. And what I wished is that someone would had told me that a long lost, distant relative had croaked and left me a hundred million bucks, that’s what. Sadly, I never got that message and I’ll bet a buck two-eighty that none of you ever did either, ’cause otherwise why would you be sitting here today listening to me? If you had a hundred-million bucks, hey, screw school, ain’a?
Then, I might refer back to the Little Jimmy story and say: Sure, you might be walking out of here with some kind of diploma but you don’t know shit, and if you’re smart you’ll want to remind yourself of that each and every day. The smartest thing one of the smartest guys I ever read about said more than 2,000 years ago, “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.” And that’s really all you need to know. Yes, you may learn a lot outside these institutional walls but as long as you know that you don’t know shit, you ought to pass on through the big, wide, world with honors just fine.
And if I haven’t yet been removed from the stage by campus security, I might conclude with this, as always: Finally, I ought to tell you that as you disembark out of this institution of some kind of learning so as to embark upon who-in-the-hell-ever-really-does-know, I’ve always found it wise to regard what we call “life” as one big butt-kicking banquet; and although unfortunately the only thing served at this banquet is crap casserole, I do believe that one can learn to develop a taste for it. Bon appétit and bon voyage ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek and I told you so.

From: https://shepherdexpress.com/advice/art-kumbalek/spieler-alert/

Wisconsin Supreme Court suspends Racine County judge for 'concerning' behavior

Racine County Circuit Court Judge Michael Piontek is shown during a sentencing in 2015.
MADISON — A Racine County judge will be suspended for five days without pay, after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that he his behavior was "concerning" and "obviously unethical" in regards to two 2014 court cases.
The unanimous court, in an unsigned order Tuesday, said that Racine County Circuit Court Judge Michael Piontek's judicial misconduct in two cases from 2014 warranted the suspension.
The ruling comes after a panel of three Wisconsin court of appeals judges in January recommended Piontek be suspended for between five and 15 days without pay. Piontek had urged the panel to recommend “a public reprimand only,” the ruling document states.

Read more:https://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/wisconsin-supreme-court-suspends-racine-county-judge-for-concerning-behavior/article_5d53444b-623a-54c9-abc5-56067ad2a6c1.html 

'They Were Conned': How Bankers Devastated Thousands Of New York City Taxi Medallion Owners

For the last several years, we reported an increase of suicides by taxi drivers in New York City was the result of insurmountable debts and financial stress of medallion owners. During the halving of medallion prices in the last four years, industry leaders and officials conveniently blamed ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft.
But a New York Times report revealed much of financial stress could be linked to industry leaders who artificially drove up prices, creating a huge bubble that would eventually implode.

In the last 12 years, thousands of foreigners poured their life savings into scammy loans and had hundreds of millions of dollars extracted from them by financial institutions.
Bankers, brokers, lawyers, investors, fleet owners, and debt collectors generated huge profits from these business practices. These people became multimillionaires, Wall Street cheered, and medallion brokers bought yachts and waterfront properties.
These predatory practices robbed immigrant families of all their monies, overwhelmed drivers with large debt loads, and collapsed an industry that has been so iconic to New York for more than five decades.

The Times said 950 medallion owners have filed for bankruptcy and thousands more are on the verge of financial ruin.
The Times noted that lending practices were as fraudulent as the subprime mortgage industry pre-summer 2007, that eventually led to the 2008 global economic meltdown.
"The whole thing was like a Ponzi scheme because it totally depended on the value going up," said Haywood Miller, a debt specialist who has consulted for both borrowers and lenders.
"The part that wasn't fair was the guy who's buying is an immigrant, maybe someone who couldn't speak English. They were conned."
The combination of the Federal Reserve's easy money and enthusiastic borrowers helped prices soar from 2002 to 2014. The money was so good that major financial institutions wanted in on the taxi industry after 2008.

The Times even said industry leaders were artificially bidding up medallions to keep the scheme from imploding, moving prices from $200,000 per medallion, to more than $1,000,000 in 2014. During this period of rapid price inflation, driver incomes hardly changed, while Wall Street speculated with thousands of people's lives.

Almost 4,000 drivers bought medallions in those 12 years. These people, mostly foreigners, were excited to achieve the American dream, but the debt-fuelled Ponzi scheme of Wall Street, for the most part, left them all holding the bag.
"Much of the devastation can be traced to a handful of powerful industry leaders who steadily and artificially drove up the price of taxi medallions, creating a bubble that eventually burst. Over more than a decade, they channeled thousands of drivers into reckless loans and extracted hundreds of millions of dollars before the market collapsed."
"The practices were strikingly similar to those behind the housing market crash that led to the 2008 global economic meltdown: Banks and loosely regulated private lenders wrote risky loans and encouraged frequent refinancing; drivers took on debt they could not afford, under terms they often did not understand…Some industry leaders fed the frenzy by purposefully overpaying for medallions in order to inflate prices, The Times discovered.
"As in the housing crash, government officials ignored warning signs and exempted lenders from regulations. The city Taxi and Limousine Commission went the furthest of all, turning into a cheerleader for medallion sales. It was tasked with regulating the industry, but as prices skyrocketed, it sold new medallions and began declaring they were "better than the stock market." …At the market's height, medallion buyers were typically earning about $5,000 a month and paying about $4,500 to their loans," according to the report.
The implosion of the taxi medallion bubble was nothing more than a Ponzi scheme that enabled Wall Street bankers to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from low-income foreigners. The story about Uber and Lyft was just a cover for what really happened.

From: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-20/they-were-conned-how-bankers-devastated-thousands-new-york-city-taxi-medallion

Open Blog - Tuesday


So that's where it is.

Monday, May 20, 2019

The Tinkerings of Robert Noyce

This story, Tom Wolfe's last for Esquire, appeared in the December 1983 issue.
In 1948 there were seven thousand people in Grinnell, Iowa, including more than one who didn't dare take a drink in his own house without pulling the shades down first. It was against the law to sell liquor in Grinnell, but it was perfectly legal to drink it at home. So it wasn't that. It wasn't even that someone might look in through the window and disapprove. God knew Grinnell had more than its share of White Ribbon teetotalers, but by 1948 alcohol was hardly the mark of Cain it had once been. No, those timid souls with their fingers through the shade loops inside the white frame houses on Main Street and Park Street were thinking of something else altogether.
They happened to live on land originally owned by the Congregational minister who had founded the town in 1854, Josiah Grinnell. Josiah Grinnell had sold off lots with covenants, in perpetuity, stating that anyone who allowed alcohol to be drunk on his property forfeited ownership. In perpetuity! In perpetuity was forever, and 1948 was not even a hundred years later. In 1948 there were people walking around Grinnell who had known Josiah Grinnell personally. They were getting old; Grinnell had died in 1891; but they were still walking around. So... why take a chance!

THE END OF THE OIL GIANTS: And What It Means

(by Dr. Louis Arnoux)
Recently, Saudi Aramco, the world largest oil exporter, has acknowledged that Ghawar, the world largest oil field, is in decline. The news went mostly unnoticed except in the specialised media.  OK, so the Saudi have a bit of bother, so what?  In fact, this piece of news is extremely important. Previously the oil world had been led to believe that Ghawar was producing over 5 Million barrels/day (Mb/d).[1] As part of its fund-raising, Aramco has disclosed that it is in fact down to 3.8Mb/d.
THE END OF THE OIL GIANTS:  And What It Means
GUEST POST: By Dr. Louis Arnoux
The meaning of this news snippet takes a bit of explaining.  What the specialised media did not emphasise is what follows:
When giant oil fields go into decline, they usually decline abruptly. Ghawar’s decline is ominous. It was discovered in 1948 and until recently represented about 50% of the oil crude production of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Ghawar is representative of some 100 to 200 giant oil fields. Most of them are old.  The most recently discovered giants are of a diminutive size compared with those old giants.[2]


Read more: https://srsroccoreport.com/the-end-of-the-oil-giants-and-what-it-means/

Open Blog - Monday


Happy Monday.

Saturday, May 18, 2019

Ohio Suicide Rate Jumps 24% From 2008 To 2017 Amid Deindustrialization Wave


America's manufacturing sector was established in Ohio. But decades of deindustrialization have left once-thriving communities across the state in ruins. Ohio's manufacturing jobs were slashed to half by 2016, and median household income fell below the national average.
At the same time, tens of thousands of Ohioans lost their jobs, became depressed under financial pressure, and from 2008 to 2017, the suicide rate in the state jumped 24%, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

Some of the highest rates were located in Appalachian Ohio, the southeastern part of the state, and the suicide rate among men was four times greater than women.


Rates skyrocketed 80% among young millennials (children 14 and younger) and 57% for baby boomers, according to a report published by the 28-organization public-private Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health.
During the period, there were 15,246 suicides across the state, for an average annual rate of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 people, the report says, which equates to more than 520,000 years of life were lost over the decade.

Summit County had 786 suicides from 2008 to 2017, at a rate of 14.51 per 100,000 population. Summit's economy experienced deep deindustrialization over the years, leaving surrounding communities in a state of shock.
Other counties and their suicides and rates were: Stark (591, 15.74), Medina (206, 11.95), Portage (189, 11.71), Cuyahoga (1,461, 11.41) and Wayne (125, 10.92).

Lori Criss, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, said the suicide crisis is a significant concern for the State Health Improvement Plan.
"Our department and a number of others have initiatives that address suicide prevention and support families impacted by losing a loved one to suicide," Criss said. "This gives us a chance to really look at those and to grow them in intentional ways to have the impact that we need with specific communities or populations who are at higher risk."
The report shows nine of the 10 Ohio counties with the highest suicide rates are located in the Appalachian region.
Orman Hall, the study's author, explained these areas had experienced economic deprivation through deindustrialization.
Michelle Price, program director at the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation, added that these counties had seen incomes collapse for farmers and industrial workers.
Other findings: The highest suicide rates were among white Ohioans; rate increases were more in rural communities than in metropolitan areas, and firearms accounted for half of all suicides.
With a manufacturing recovery nowhere in sight and a deepening trade war, it's likely suicide rates across the state will continue to move higher into 2020. When the next downturn strikes, one-off factors relating to financial asset losses could drive the rate to record highs.

Buying Influence for Liquor Licenses

https://talkingracine.com/2019/05/18/buying-influence-for-liquor-licenses/

Queensryche - Jet City Woman (Official Video)

The Great Depression 4 - We have a plan

Open Blog - Weekend


Have a great weekend.

Friday, May 17, 2019

Four for Fridays!

Tenderheart Bear has to attend to some family business up north.  She asked me to fill in for her.  Here are your questions:

1) Do you spend more time on the computer or watching TV?

2) If your vehicle has a flat, can you fix it?

3) Should we go to the moon again (est. cost $1.6 billion)?

4)  Who killed JFK?

I hope you enjoy the questions and have a wonderful week.

Open blog - Friday


Hot damn!

Thursday, May 16, 2019

Fresh coat of paint for sculpture Becker commissioned, part of uptown revitalization


RACINE — Uptown's tangled red sculpture is showing its age; some edges are speckled with rust but in some places, particularly inside the artwork, whole stretches are more rust than paint.
The sculpture was commissioned by former Mayor Gary Becker to herald a new era for the neighborhood as an arts district, a vision that quickly fell apart after Becker's arrest in 2009.
Now, Visioning a Greater Racine's revitalization team is reviving the dream of an arts district but on a smaller scale; instead of inviting artists across the country to flock to Uptown, they hope to beautify and revitalize the district through public art that also promotes local "artists, creatives and influencers."
Kristina Campbell, owner of The Branch, 1501 Washington Ave., is spearheading an initiative, along with the local nonprofit Visioning a Greater Racine, to show the sculpture some love.
"It's in pretty rough shape," she said.

Read more: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/fresh-coat-of-paint-for-sculpture-becker-commissioned-part-of/article_ab1ec5a7-5230-516a-a1cc-e1b196e55009.html#tracking-source=home-top-story


Let it rust away.  That way it will more accurately represent Uptown.

Just say NO to GloboHomo

Sent to Rep Robin Vos: 
 
Just say NO to GloboHomo: 
 
Globohomo - or the acceptance of "Anything Goes" is an Agenda being 
promoted by S.C Johnson & Co. Which is an unaccountable Corporate 
entity which demands special privileges- such as not paying taxes on 
their City of Racine Operations. Just say NO to Globohomo, Pediophila, 
and outsourcing jobs by saying NO to SC Johnson & Sons. 
 
https://journaltimes.com/opinion/letters/blaski-h-r-pushes-lgbt-agenda-on-all/article_80aeda19-71fa-52df-a0e1-d7fac4a161d2.html 

10 Weirdest Animal Defense Mechanisms

Open Blog - Thursday


Have a good one.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Flinging Species

From The Shepherd Express:


Herbie: I don’t have insurance either, but a check-up at the doctor’s is a no-win situation. Say you’re feeling kind of OK but it’s time for your regular physical, so you go and the doctor gives you a gold-star clean bill of health. What have you accomplished?
Emil: Fock if I know.
Herbie: You’ve kissed off a couple hours of your precious time, not to mention the big-ass bite your checkbook just took. It’s like putting on a pair of brown shoes in the morning and then asking the first guy you pass on the street to tell you what color your shoes are. He says, “Your shoes are brown, fockstick.” And you say, “Thank you, sir. Here’s a check for $350 bucks.” Well that’s just crazy, I don’t care who you are.
Ernie: You got a point there, Herbie.
Ray: And speaking of fockstick…
Little Jimmy Iodine: Hey, Artie! Over here. Put a load on your keister.
Art: Hey gents, what do you hear, what do you know.
Ernie: I heard Aaron Rodgers was on that “Thrones” TV game show last Sunday.
Ray: I saw it. And like most focking Sundays the last couple years, he was on the losing side.
Julius: And I know the wife is telling me she wants to sign us up for such a thing, some kind of dancer-cize class. You get to dance with the exercise to boot, she says.
Ray: You got to be jerking my beefaroni. Dance and exercise? What the fock, how can dancing possibly be good for you. You ever see these ballerinas? How can possessing the physical stature of a prisoner-of-war possibly be healthy for you’s? Those gals need to eat more, and I don’t mean “dining,” I mean “chowing.” Skip the tutu; put on the feedbag.
Herbie: Dancing is one of those human baggage things we Homo sapiens still lug around from prehistoric times, like appendicitis. Dancing was discovered by the cavemen, who often stepped on sharp objects ’cause they had yet to evolve the necessary brainpower to invent shoes or the flashlight.
Ernie: And exercise can kill a guy, what the fock. Look at all these knobshines keeling over left and right from this jogging malarkey. All exercising does is to put the unnecessary wear and tear on your muscles, your bones and your what-not.
Emil: I’ll bet you’s a buck two-eighty the Neanderthal man never came back home from a day-and-a-focking-half of hardcore hunting and gathering and told the wife to hold supper for a bit ’cause he wanted to put on his shorts and go for a goddamn jog, ain’a?
Art: Any you’s guys see in the papers that some kind of researchers with fossil records are saying the so-called modern humans 40,000 years were porking the Neanderthals, who happened to be a different focking species?
Ray: A different species? Big focking deal. You ever been to Tijuana?
Little Jimmy: You kind of got to feel sorry for those Neanderthals. I don’t know much about them, but it seems they were like the trailer trash of the human line of evolution, then one day all of a sudden they’re scoring some booty from some hot piece of new species and the next thing they know, they’re extinct.
Art: I’d sure like to shake hands with the first ape-type guy who had the good sense to walk about on only two legs. Focking-A, at the time the rest of his gang probably considered it only a cheap parlor gag, but I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and give this genius some kind of reward for having the presence of mind to understand that a couple, three million years in the future, mankind couldn’t be running around on all fours when he would need two of them to pause the remote, light a cigarette, start the car, or point to someone in the audience at a presidential debate.
Little Jimmy: It’s really a shame. I just wish that the video camera would’ve been discovered before the cavemen found the wheel or invented fire so that we’d have an accurate record of this stuff and be able to give credit where credit’s due, ain’a?
(It’s getting late and I know you got to go, but thanks for letting us bend your ear ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek and I told you so.)

From:  https://shepherdexpress.com/advice/art-kumbalek/flinging-species/

$40M Downtown housing, hotel announced


RACINE — A development of about 190 market-rate apartments and a five-story hotel — an investment of more than $40 million — is proposed for a key Downtown redevelopment site.
At his office Tuesday morning, Mayor Cory Mason announced a partnership with Hovde Properties of Madison to build on the former We Energies property at 233 Lake Ave., the southeast corner of Lake Avenue and Gaslight Drive.
The project includes two multistory apartment buildings, a hotel, a green central courtyard and an enclosed parking structure with a total value exceeding $40 million when completed.
Mason said of the plan: “It provides two things that we need more of: market-rate housing and hotel space, so it seems a good fit for the site.”

Read more:  https://journaltimes.com/business/local/m-downtown-housing-hotel-announced/article_c964619a-47fc-5909-85f3-028297f17e07.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my children!  How are you?  Our weather may actually be catching up to spring.  Or we'll all wear winter coats to the 4th of July Parade.  I'm very disappointed with the weather this spring.  We've had snow and slush on a couple of occasions.  This is autumnal weather.  I keep counting the days till Christmas.

I wouldn't mind a cool summer, but I don't want a cold one.  That seems to be the direction we're headed in.  Climate Change is nasty and can kill thousands of species of animals.  Just what the planet needs: more death.  A couple of days ago there was as much CO2 in the air as there was 300 million years ago.  That was a totally different world than ours.  But we could get there.

What do you think of the idea of redesigning Monument Square?  I think it's idiotic  Why does money burn such a hole in politician's pockets?  We're hiring some sort of firm to oversee the new design.  Always we hire some outside firm for just about everything.  It appears that Racine lacks the talent to do the job ourselves.  In any case, the Square does not need it.  Just you wait: sooner or later someone will suggest removing the monument.  And they'll seriously consider it.

 We have a large crew of "outsiders" running this city.  None of them come from here.  And some come from less than savory backgrounds.  I'm so tired of people who know nothing about Racine telling us what to do with our city.  They're just more suits standing in Mr.Mayor's welfare line.  If he likes you, you're in.  If he doesn't, you're out.  Mr. Mayor and his wife appears to be quite well off.  Especially with the help of the city assessor who valued the Mason's home and lot at about half of what his neighbors received.  It's good to be king.

I'm still waiting for Foxconn to fold.  Maybe it won't happen until the plant is fully engaged.  They have lied so much that I think they could give Lying John a run for his money,  Lies, secret courts, sealed documents, etc., etc. are the fruits of Mason's tree.  And Mr. Gou is running for president of Taiwan.  What a mess.

All of the housing developments because of Foxconn have to pause when Foxconn stalls.  When it finally dumps on us, we'll be left with a mess of housing and no one to live there.  Mr. Mayor Mason will have to come up with some sort of dog and pony show to keep the developers happy.  So it's a waiting game to see what and when Foxconn builds, and how much housing they'll need.  @NorthBeach might turn into a water park after all.

Downtown, downtown, downtown,  It's all you ever hear about.  The rest of the city flounders while downtown flourishes with the constant injection of money into the area.  The areas outside of downtown should secede from Racine.  Let downtown try to stand on its own feet.  Ha!  It would fall flat on its face.  Without a steady stream of subsidy money from the taxpayers.

Oh, the injustices!  Will they ever end?  Only when man changes himself.

madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

In the meantime, try to do right and believe in a Higher Power.  Stay small.  Stay quiet.  Stay simple.  Let your Higher Power find you.  It's the only way to salvation.

_________________________ 
Please donate: paypal.me/jgmazelis  If you don't like PayPal, send me a note at madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com and I'll send you my street address so you can send a check or money order.  Thank you.

Open Blog - Wednesday


That should cover it all.

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Journal Times newspaper in Racine will cut 39 production jobs

The Journal Times newspaper in Racine told state officials Monday it will cut 39 production jobs. (Photo: Rick Romell, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

he Journal Times plans to cut 39 jobs that appear to be associated with production of the daily newspaper in Racine.
Positions being eliminated include press operators, maintenance workers and packaging associates. The Journal Times, part of Lee Enterprises Inc., notified state officials of the job cuts Monday. The layoffs are expected to take place on July 14.
Mark Lewis, president and publisher of The Journal Times, referred an inquiry to the Lee corporate offices in Davenport, Iowa. Lee’s communications director, Charles Arms, told a reporter to contact The Journal Times.
Lee publishes about 50 daily newspapers, including several in Wisconsin. Among the Wisconsin dailies are the Kenosha News, which Lee bought in January; the La Crosse Tribune; and, through the company’s stake in Madison Newspapers Inc., the Wisconsin State Journal.
Contact Rick Romell at (414) 224-2130 or rick.romell@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RickRomell

1:17 / 1:17 CO2 Levels Reach Highest Levels in Human History

Open Blog - Tiesday


We're all invited.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Some hospitals turn away ambulances when the patients are more likely to be poor, study finds

A new study finds that private hospitals close to ambulances more quickly when a nearby public hospital, that has more uninsured patients, goes on ambulance diversion. (Photo: File image)

Hospitals that temporarily shut their doors to ambulances have long argued the decision is driven purely by volume, so sick patients don't have to endure long waits for care in crowded emergency rooms.
But a new study has uncovered evidence of another motive for the practice: Hospitals may be turning away ambulances for financial reasons by avoiding treating patients with government health insurance or no coverage at all.
Using data from California, the study found evidence that suggests private hospitals are more likely to go on what is known as "ambulance diversion" if a nearby public hospital, which treats more indigent patients, is already turning away ambulances. 
In other words, researchers found private hospitals acted differently — by three separate measurements — depending on whether the nearby hospital turning away ambulances was public or private.
The researchers termed this behavior "strategic diversion."
Earlier studies have documented "defensive diversions," where a hospital will close because its ER is being overrun with patients after nearby hospitals also have closed. 



I've been dealing with doctors and hospitals quite a bit lately.  I don't find this the least bit surprising.  Turns out the further you go to the top of hospitals, the more pork you find. 

Keith Richards Reveals If Mick Jagger Is Well Endowed


Then there was Keith’s take on Mick’s private parts. In Life, the Stones guitar player mocked the frontman’s “tiny todger.” Again, it wasn’t the sort of thing you like to hear from an old pal. (Mick said an apology from Keith “a prerequisite” for their relationship to continue following the publication.)

Read more:  https://www.alternativenation.net/keith-richards-reveals-mick-jagger-well-endowed/