Ted Pelkey's protest of his treatment by the town of Westford is lit at night.(Photo: Courtesy Ted Pelkey)
If you find yourself doing a double-take while driving down Route 128 between Westford and Fairfax — yes, that is a seven-foot-tall sculpture of a raised middle finger, carved from a 700-pound block of pine and perched atop a 16-foot pole on the property of Ted Pelkey.
Oh, and it's lit up at night.
Pelkey erected the provocative sculpture on Friday in protest of a long-running dispute with the town of Westford. The town's Development Review Board denied Pelkey a permit for an 8,000-square-foot garage he wants to build on his 11-acre property.
He spent $4,000 on the middle finger sculpture, carved in Vermont by an artisan he declined to name.
"We've been trying to put a business there for the past 10 years," Pelkey said. "It's just never-ending. They're railroading us really good."
Pelkey's business is currently located in Swanton, where he says he's running out of space. His main business is cleaning spools for a monofilament line company. Pelkey and his son also do some truck repair on the side.
"It's a low impact thing," Pelkey said of his business. "We have such little traffic you'd wonder if we were open.
Good morning everyone I hope you had a good week. Mine is going alright and I will be starting my Christmas cookies this weekend. Here are your questions.
1) Are you hibernating from the cold weather already?
2) Have you winterized your car yet?
3) Do you have anything in your car to keep you warm in case of emergency?
4) Do you have anyone to call in case of emergency?
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, left, with the help of the Mary and Don Miller family from Plainfield, Wis., flipped the switch to light the state Christmas Tree in the Capitol Rotunda, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018 at the Capitol in Madison, Wis. The Senate and Assembly are set to send dozens of changes in state law to Walker's desk Tuesday. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Demonstrators booed outgoing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, a sign of tumult as Republicans in the Legislature met to push through measures to gut the powers of his Democratic successor.
The Legislature met deep into the night Tuesday to pass a series of bills, first unveiled Friday, that would weaken the governor’s office and transfer power away from the Democratic-elect attorney general and give it to the Legislature. The Legislature wasn’t expected to complete its work until early Wednesday morning.
Walker has signaled support, but he couldn’t escape anger over the rare lame-duck session even during what is normally an upbeat holiday tradition.
The governor, wearing a Santa tie, appeared unfazed as he flipped the switch to light the Christmas tree while one protester shouted “Hey Walker! Go home!” He left without taking questions from reporters about the bills being considered in the rare lame-duck legislative session. Walker, who has signaled support for the measures, later tweeted that he “can handle the shouts,” but he urged protesters to “leave the kids alone.”
Unfortunately, Madame Zoltar had cataract surgery and can't see the keyboard or what she's typing. However, she did offer this opinion, "The Packers should have kept McCarthy and gotten rid of Rodgers instead. But who wants the highest paid, injury prone quartersack in the league?"
I think what could cinch it for me is if I could get a message to Aaron Rodgers and let him know that if I was to be the coach, I’d abso-focking-lutely let him do whatever the hell he wanted to do at all times. I wouldn’t get in his way about anything. Call all the plays? You betcha. Call the other team’s plays to boot? Be my guest. Give Clay a sponge bath after practice? Here’s the soap. Bang Danica on the 50-yard line during halftime? No problemo. Have me stop by the Rodgers abode to do some light housekeeping and clean the toilets? Heck yeah, I’ve got rubber gloves and a dust pan, what the fock.
And I could be had for nowhere what they were paying Mike McCarthy—which I hear was about $6 million a year. I’d be happy to coach for half that figure, and what team doesn’t like to save some dough when they can? Hey, you tell me.
And then I’ll tell you’s I got to go, but you’re welcome to stick around and browse Art’s Holiday Ba-ding! Boutique ’cause why not this year give everyone on your goddamn Christmas list the gift of laughter? This gift won’t cost you a focking dime and you can use the money saved on a big ol’ bottle of holiday cheer all for yourself and drown your seasonal depression like a bag of cats over the bridge.
What follows are a couple, three items that may interest you. Feel free to stroll around the page and choose whatever catches your eye. Ned walks into his bedroom with a sheep under his arm and says: “Darling, this is the pig I have sex with when you have a headache.” His girlfriend is lying in bed and replies: “I think you’ll find that’s a sheep, you focking idiot.” And Ned says: “And I think you’ll find I wasn’t talking to you.” Ba-ding! Three men were waiting at Heaven’s Gate. St. Peter says, “OK, guys, pretty much anything goes up here, but whatever you do, never lie, or you will spend the rest of eternity with the ugliest woman in the universe.” They all agree and St. Pete gives them the green light to pass through. The first guy makes it a week before he lies about how rich he was on Earth. Bingo! Right at his side appears the ugliest woman he had ever seen. The second guy makes it another couple weeks before he lies about how smart he is. Blammo! At his side appears the second ugliest woman in the universe. So the first two guys are walking around with their grotesque gals when they see their third friend walking with the hottest woman ever seen by man. In unison they ask, “How did you land with that spectacular beauty when we get stuck with these loathsome ladies?” He nudges the babe and says, “Hon, tell them.” She says to the first two guys, “I lied.” Ba-ding! At a major medical convention a noted internist arose to announce that he had discovered a new miracle antibiotic. “What’s it cure?” asks a member of the audience. “Nothing we don’t already have a drug for,” the internist replies. “Then what’s so miraculous about it?” Internist says, “One of the side effects is short-term memory loss. Several of my patients have paid my bill three or four times.” Ba-ding! So this gal walks into the local dry cleaners. She places a garment on the counter and says, “I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon to pick up my dress.” The clerk, cupping his ear says, “Come again?” And the gal says, “No. This time it’s mayonnaise.” Ba-ding! Some shepherd pulled Mary aside shortly after the birth of the Christ child and all the hoopla with the three wise men had died down. He said unto her, “Don’t you think that instead of all this business about ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo’ etcetera, how about a nice simple ‘Season’s Greetings’?” And Mary said unto him, “What, my son has come to Earth to deliver the message, ‘Hello, it’s winter’? Focking forget about it.” Ba-ding!
Okey-dokey, got to close up shop. Hope you found something you liked, you cheap bastards, ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek and I told you so.
The events in Camden NJ bear a striking resemblance to the Dickert/Mason failed "Chicanery Row" project - except the demolition costs appear to be much lower.
"Camden's abandoned baseball stadium, once celebrated by local officials as a new beginning for the city's waterfront, will soon be demolished and replaced with three Rutgers University athletic fields.Here is the problem: the Camden County Improvement Authority approved a $1 million contract this month to demolish the 17-year-old stadium after $21 million in taxpayers dollars built the structure for an independent minor league baseball team as hopes it would draw economic development to the area.
At a groundbreaking ceremony in 1999, Gov. Christie Whitman said the "partners" behind the stadium "have heard the message from the movie Field of Dreams: 'If you build it, they will come.'"
However, that was not the case.
The goal in the early 2000s was to redevelop the Camden waterfront into an economic zone, but it has since been a financial disaster, all at the expense of the taxpayer.
"Unfortunately, the state, in its lack of wisdom, built a
baseball stadium for an unaffiliated, independent league (team) that
folded and $35 million disappeared," South Jersey political powerbroker George Norcross III said in 2017.
It's kinda interesting - watching it ll - knowing that the reason Nixon repudiated Bretton Woods and thus was born the Petro-Dollar, was because French President DeGaulle had insisted on trading his fiat dollars for gold!
“Well, we see that America has now begun to use its economic and
military might to take what it wants. And this returns the world to
something we have not seen for a very, very long time - where might
makes right. To the law of the jungle.”
PARIS (Reuters) - Workmen cleared away burned hulks of cars, scrubbed the defaced Arc de Triomphe monument and replaced the shattered windows of luxury boutiques in Paris on Sunday after the worst riots in the center of the capital in half a century.
Several thousand riot police were overwhelmed on Saturday as they fought running battles with protesters in the shadows of some of Paris’ fabled landmarks and through its fanciest shopping districts. More than 400 people were arrested and more than 100 injured, shocking Parisians and tourists alike.
At the base of the 19th-century Arc de Triomphe, police kept the public back as cleanup crews set about erasing graffiti, much of it targeting President Emmanuel Macron and some exuding anarchist sentiment such as, “Overthrow the bourgeoisie!”
“MAYBE THE ARMY SHOULD INTERVENE”
“We’re already afraid of what’s going to happen next week. The violence is escalating at an exponential rate,” said Claude, a well-heeled woman who lives next to the Belle Armee brasserie that was set ablaze. “The state is losing control. They cannot let this happen. Maybe the army should intervene.”
Parisians and tourists surveyed the aftermath, capturing the moment on smartphones as the capital digested the chaos that now poses a serious challenge to Macron’s presidency.
“Macron has a problem on his hands. Everyone’s fed up. He’s got to listen more,” said Amaya Fuster, eyeing graffiti daubed on a Printemps department store window that read: “There’s enough money in the coffers of businessmen. Share the riches!”
t appears Mr. Bhatia’s reelection campaign has begun with the traditional strategy of selectively focusing on presumed accomplishments, hoping voters won’t recall his liabilities and missteps on Election Day.
Bhatia is correct on one item: Six of the seven village trustees are working together as one body under the leadership of Village President Dave DeGroot, the only village leader to have ever been censured in the history of the community.
Together, with Mr. Bhatia’s full endorsement, he and his friends voted to “blight” 3000 acres of private property, intentionally opening the door to eminent domain seizure of land to convey to a private, foreign corporation - a company that is no longer making the same product line described in the developer’s contract and altered their workforce projections that was originally agreed upon.
Together, Mr. Bhatia and his friends sat stupefied and confused when residents came forward to reveal malicious eminent domain actions and threats made to them by staff and contractors - seemingly unaware and uninformed about the activities taking place on their behalf. At the time, Mr. Bhatia admitted not to understanding the meaning and impact of his vote upon the residents in the audience, and then sat silently when Special Counsel called the same residents a “bunch of a holes” publicly and on record.
Together, Mr. Bhatia and his friends failed to provide promised leadership and oversight authority to the community for stormwater pollution and erosion control for the Foxconn development - leading to a DNR citation and fine for polluting the Pike River watershed before Foxconn put up the first wall of the first building.
Together, Mr. Bhatia and his friends voted to increase the construction costs for a proposed EMS station which is now more than 100% over budget because they failed to require the most basic cost projections from Chief Stedman - who coincidentally makes campaign contributions to the Village President, Trustees Eastman, Clausen and to Bhatia.
It has come to my attention that a licensed Gaming Hall, located at 1661 Douglas Avenue, has failed to pay it's property taxes due since 2011 and is in arrears for $217,604.36. This is an outrage! And the Business license needs to be pulled ASAP, the County needs to begin the tax delinquent foreclosure process, the Building Inspector needs to ensure that the property meets code compliance, and it needs to be sold to a RESPONSIBLE Developer - once the tax foreclosure process is done.
See the attached property tax bill - from Racine County Tax Records
The Common Council needs to protect the taxpayers who pay their fair share and level the playing filed. Allowing a Gaming Operation to exist within City limits - which refuses to pay it's property taxes - IS AN OUTRAGE!
Especially since the Chairman of the Gaming Operation is none other than Talking Racine Panel Member and former Racine County Supervisor Ken Lumpkin!
In attempting to find the answer to the question of why the Racine Equality Project shattered into disarray following the Complaint which was filed against Racine County Supervisor Monte Osterman, an investigation has discovered that at the same time (former) Racine County Supervisor Ken Lumpkin, also a member of the Racine Equality Project, was the Chairman of the 501c-3 non-profit Northside Redevelopment Project INC., located at 1661 Douglas Avenue, also known as Flatiron Village Mall.
RACINE — The City of Racine may decide to settle a lawsuit related to when a dog was shot and killed as police executed a search warrant in December 2016.
The Racine City Council’s Executive Committee is scheduled to meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday in room 303 at City Hall to discuss a possible settlement between Susan Harmon and the city.
The committee does plan to go into open session to take action on the settlement. No dollar amount has been set yet in the case.
A settlement may have been reached on Wednesday, but further action is needed before any damages are awarded.
City Attorney Scott Letteney plans to brief the committee on the case and a settlement can only be awarded after it is approved by the City Council.
Dear Village Board,
*WOW*
The Fascists have unmasked themselves - *RESIST HATE* applies....
The election results have....... disturbed the *POPKORN KING*
Robin Vos is a serial Polygamist - and Adulterer! God be damxed.
https://journaltimes.com/news/local/gop-lawmakers-seek-to-limit-powers-of-incoming-democratic-governor/article_6529c890-75bf-55b8-9260-7eac074d2a06.html
*RESIST HATE*
MADISON — GOP state lawmakers want to limit the powers of incoming
Democratic Gov-elect Tony Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul,
and impose new restrictions on early voting, under bill drafts for
consideration during a lame-duck session next week.
One of the bills would limit the ability of the new Democratic
attorney general to represent the state when laws are challenged.
The Assembly could also vote next week to bar early voting from
starting earlier than two weeks before an election — despite a federal
judge's ruling two years ago that struck down similar restrictions,
calling them racially discriminatory.
One proposed change would move Wisconsin's presidential primary to
March, a change local election officials have said would be
"impossible" to carry out.
Another would give GOP lawmakers more power over Gov. Scott Walker's
economic-development agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.,
which Evers has sought to dissolve.
Just say NO to a Fourth Reich!
Sincerely,
Tim & Cindy
Good morning everyone I am back and I would like to thank the Sheriff for covering for me last week. We spent Thanksgiving with the family up north and we had a great time. Here are your questions.
1) Have you put up your Christmas tree?
2) Have you put up any other Christmas decorations?
3) Do you go driving around looking at the Christmas decorations?
4) Do you remember the last time you did go driving around looking at the Christmas decorations?
Hello, boys and girls! How are you? Did you survive the big snowstorm? More of a pain in the butt than anything else. Our excellent public work employees moved the snow swiftly and surely. Thank you. By the time I hit the road, the streets were cleared. Of course, I didn't have to shovel the snow. I understand it was wet and neavy. Thank you Señor Zanza and Junior for clearing our house and driveway.
How about dem Packers? I'm almost ashamed to say I'm a Packer fan. Think McCarthy will get sacked? We''ll see. Anyway, they're facing the Carolina Panthers in their next game, perhaps the only team sorrier than the Pack. If we don't beat them, we're out of the playoffs. What the heck happened to them? Was it injuries? Bad coaching? Poor throws by Rodgers? What?
Here are the standings in the Irregular Football League:
OK, I've sunk a bit, but, unlike the Packers, I'm assured of being in the playoffs. Mr OrbsCorbs' team is showing remarkable prpgress, but The Mighty Bears have us both beat.
Soon it will be December and the countdown begins to Christmas. Junior is on his very best behavior because he wants to impress "Santa Claus." I think he wants something for his car, but I don't know what. As far as I'm concerned, he should wish for a whole new car. He drives around in that wreck like he's in the Indy 500. He's on Señor Zanza's insurance, so I shouldn't complain.
Everywhere you go, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Our early winter has brought on early celebrating. Christmas parties are popping up all over the place. If you can't make it to one, throw one yourself. All you need are booze, glasses, and Christmas CDs. Play those CDs until you're sick of them. Then throw them in the garbage. You can only hear certain songs a number of times before you go berserk. I'm surprised there haven't been any mass shootings over this. I don't think that Christmas music makes you more likely to buy anything, It's just an annoyance.
Daily my answering machinwe has scams on it. It's incredible the stuff that's out there. And people fall for them over and over again. It makes me think of doing a Zoltar scam. I wonder how much money I'd make? I wonder if I could sleepr at night.
I love you all, just like Santa. Behave and be careful when dealing with winter's wrath. You're all my friends.
Stay warm and drive very carefully. Your vehicle could slip and slide on the ice and frozen snow. If you have 4-wheel drive, good for you! Please realize that most people don't have it and therefore may go slower than you'd like. Go to a rally if you want to speed. _________________________ 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.
Hey Artie, is there anything that can be done so that the Christmas and the New Year’s can always be on the same days every year? I got a heck of a time keeping track of when they’re supposed to be year to year and sometimes I end up missing them altogether. And when the Christmas comes on the weekend, the workingman really gets screwed, ain’a? —Your buddy Little Jimmy Iodine
I’m with you, pally. The holiday days need be made more convenient and just gosh darn more focking practical for the modern man. Behold, let’s say we could give a rat’s ass as to when the actual Dec. 24 fell and instead always put the Christmas Eve on a Monday with the Christmas Day always on the Tuesday. Eureka!—most of us could worm a four-day weekend out of a set-up like that and we’d arrange the New Year’s likewise. Sure, there’d be plenty of heat coming out the ears of your blubbering, blabbering traditionalists. Screw ’em. Where were they when the powers-that-be dicked with Lincoln, Washington, King and Columbus and made their big day always be a Monday? Hey, Jesus may have died for our sins but the Ol’ Railsplitter freed the slaves and that ain’t beanbag. Dear Sir: A lady friend of mine believes that Santa can’t possibly be a man. Logic tells her Santa is a woman for more than the reasons I’ll mention here: Men can’t pack a bag. Men don’t answer their mail. They aren’t interested in stockings unless someone’s wearing them, not to mention that being responsible for Christmas would require commitment. —Stormy Daniels
I would suggest that your friend simply consider the symbolic imagery that surrounds the Santa mythology to know that the fat man is no “skirt.” To deliver his goods, Santa comes in and out a hot chimney repeatedly rather than slide up and down on a big ol’ candy cane. According to my good book, that alone qualifies him as a male of the heterosexual nature who really knows from around-the-world in a single night, ain’a? Hey turkey neck, how come you’re so full of crap all the time? —Ernie
Yes, holiday stress has been known to smite the best of us, even the knobshine who sent me the above letter. This stress can cause some to lash out at the ones they love and/or respect the most, not to mention their intellectual and social superiors. I would advise this correspondent to consider the three-step stress-buster program I follow religiously at the first sign that I may ring in the new year by wringing someone’s neck: One, light up a nice, relaxing cigarette. Two, crank up the thermostat. Three, mix another hot focking toddy. And here’s a bonus tip specifically for the letter writer: kiss my sorry ass, dickweed. Dear Mr. Kumbalek, I’m having a problem with my husband. He thinks he’s a refrigerator. I consulted a psychologist about this who told me not to be too concerned, that it’s a relatively harmless complex. But the problem is that my husband snores with his mouth open and the light keeps me awake. What am I to do? —Mrs. Youngman
I don’t know what your focking problem has to do with the holidays, but try pulling his plug. My son, do you foresee peace on Earth any time soon? —Pope Francis
Well sir, betweenst you and me, if not for the bullshit that organized religion and its goddamn followers spew out all the time like crap through a goose—yeah yeah, you betcha we could have “peace on Earth” sooner rather than later. On this topic, allow me to quote crooner-as-god Mr. Frank Sinatra (The Chairman of the Board, or depending on your gender, also known as the Chairman of the Broad), from a 1963 Playboy interview, words, if taken to heart, just might calm down the hullabaloo in the Middle East for starters: “I’ve always had a theory that whenever guys and gals start swinging, they begin to lose interest in conquering the world. They just want a comfortable pad and stereo and wheels, and their thoughts turn to the good things of life—not to war. They loosen up, they live and they’re more apt to let live. Dig?”
“Dig” I do, Ol’ Blue Eyes, ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek, and I told you so.
Read this. Share This.
~ Residents were not allowed to see the developer's agreement with
Foxconn until AFTER it was approved by Trustees who could not discuss
it.
~ Appraisals for purchased properties that appear to exceed the
village's stated "formula" are being withheld from public view by
village attorneys.
~ At least 18 eminent domain actions were filed against residents by
the Village Administrator which were never discussed or approved by
Trustees in open and public meetings.
~ No one knows what Foxconn plans to make.
~ No one knows what chemicals Foxconn plans to use.
~ No one know what kind of workers Foxconn plans to hire.
~ No one knows what Foxconn plans to do with 2000 acres of extra land
the village is purchasing and moving out residents to benefit Foxconn.
PLAINFIELD -
A subsidiary of Taiwan-based Foxconn/Hon Hai Technology Group has
announced plans to reduce its workforce in Plainfield. Q-Edge Corp.
says it will lay off more than 150 employees at the Hendricks County
facility over the next three months.
In a notice to the state, Q-Edge says the layoffs are "due to changes
in our business and production objectives." The company says the
layoffs are expected to begin "shortly," though a specific time frame
was not given.
The majority of the affected positions include manufacturing and
assembly employees, as well as related office personnel. The layoffs
are expected to be permanent, however the company says "Should the
Company experience a return of such business, these employees may be
considered for rehire, but this cannot be determined at this time."
Inside INdiana Business has reached out to Foxconn for more information.
http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/39538585/layoffs-planned-for-plainfield-plant
And so it begins.....
Update 6: While we wait to learn what was discussed during Mary
Barra's Monday afternoon meeting with Larry Kudlow, here's a chart to
put today's job cuts in context: GM's job cuts are the seventh largest
since 2001. GM also claimed the sixth-place spot with layoffs of some
20,000 workers in Detroit during the depths of the crisis.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-26/gm-expected-close-100-year-old-ontario-plant-car-sales-faltershttps://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/26/ford-is-basically-giving-up-on-us-car-business-and-gm-is-not-far-behind.html
It will make the decision for Foxconn to delay development all the
easier.... although that was probably the plan all along.
Gonna also be a long cold Winter - no sunspot activity - predictions
once again of a mini-ice age. Lots of construction Workers going to be
laid off - and find themsleves in an economic crunch. It happened to
me.
Daily Job Cuts - it can be gut wrenching to look at....
http://www.dailyjobcuts.com/
Here is what a SmartCity in China does ...... Cory Mason can't wait!
Beijing plans to reward and punish its residents based on data that
will be collected from various departments monitoring citizens’ social
behavior, according to a detailed “action plan” posted on Monday to
the city’s municipal website.
By the beginning of 2020, the announcement declares, China’s capital
city will have all residents officially locked into the permanent
surveillance program, part of a broader effort to have every Chinese
citizen rated on a “social credit system” decreeing what public
services a person can use based on their obedience to laws and loyalty
to the communist regime.
The government will use the data collected to assess citizens’
behavior to decide if an individual is law-abiding and “trustworthy”
to the Communist Party.
Residents who behave properly in the eyes of the Chinese government
will receive high credit scores, while residents who misbehave will
receive low scores, causing them to lead more difficult lives.
“Efforts will be made to build a market supervision mechanism with
corporate credit as the core,” states Beijing’s municipal website,
adding that it will explore the implementation of what it calls “the
personal integrity project,” which will utilize residents’ credit
scores for “market access, public services, tourism,” and “fields such
as entrepreneurship and job hunting.”
Higher scores can also open the “green channel,” which will expedite
residents’ applications for higher quality “education and medical
resources.”
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/11/23/beijing-debuts-plan-monitor-behavior-every-resident-end-2020/
Impoverishing the Masses is Conservation by Other Means - and will be
necessary when the oil shortages begin.....
RACINE — After being named the fourth-worst area in the U.S. for black Americans last year, the Racine area has been named the third-worst city this year, according to a recent 24/7 Wall St. article.
The list was created by Delaware-based financial news and opinion company 24/7 Wall St., and was compiled using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey. The study factored in household income, poverty, adult high school and bachelor’s degree attainment, home ownership and unemployment.
The ranking also used recent data from The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit dedicated to criminal justice reform.
According to 24/7 Wall St., the 2018 top five worst areas/cities for black Americans, all of which are located in the Midwest, are:
The night descending on Paris has brought no ease of tensions over
fuel price hikes. ‘Yellow Vest’ protesters set more barricades ablaze,
turning the French capital into a kind of war zone.
The filmed scenes resembled street battles, with rioters engaging in
scuffles with police, which struggled to bring the situation under
control.
The video shows brazen protesters setting barricades and tents on
fire, as well as riot police using tear gas and water cannons to
disperse the crowds. People have been venting their anger for the past
two weeks over rising fuel prices and a government-proposed fuel tax,
which is due to come into force in January 2019.
https://www.rt.com/news/444817-paris-protests-night-fire/
I added some annotations to the IEA Graph - which only predicts the
future, and may be completely wrong. With enough technology + time, we
could be mining asteroids and the Planets - or discover completely new
and abundant resources to use as fuel to maintain Industrial
Civilization.
There are Optimists, Pessimists and Realists. Some say that more
people on Planet Earth = more minds to solve problems and create
solutions.
Some say that we have already overshot carrying capacity and are about
to fall off the Seneca Cliff. That solutions to the problems
Industrial Civilization only adds to complexity and ensures a Seneca
Cliff collapse. I'm in agreement with that.
There is absolutely NO solutions to our dilemma, because Humans can't
seem to grasp that creating cooperative and sustainable civilization
requires sacrifice by all - we must all agree to give up something....
but we only want more.
We can only continue to carry on with BAU (Business as Usual) until we can't.
The fewer people that can afford fuel - the more there is for those
who can. Those at the top, will push down those at the bottom.
When the petro-dollar dies, so does our way of life - what then?
Right now - People from Africa,the Middle East and South America are
fleeing the endless wars and poverty, coming to Europe and America.
What are you willing to give up - what part of your slice of the pie
will you share?
Or, as George Bush declared....
“THE American way of life is not up for negotiation.” That was the
stance struck by the elder George Bush at the first Earth Summit in
Rio de Janeiro in 1992. He was responding to the thousands of green,
anti-capitalist and other activists who were claiming that the United
States, then as now the world's biggest energy consumer, was also its
biggest polluter. That makes it all the more striking that his son has
just proposed environmental policies that, he says, will
“fundamentally alter the American way of life in a positive way.”
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2003/02/13/a-greener-bush
Endless wars for Oil and to prop up the Petro-Dollar - until the last
American Soldier is dead.
Rick Romell, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Published 8:20 a.m. CT Nov. 23, 2018 | Updated 7:33 p.m. CT Nov. 23, 2018
The first structure on the Foxconn construction site, a 120,000-square-foot "multi-purpose building," is up, with the building expected to be substantially completed late this year. Construction is well underway at the site of the Foxconn Technology Group $10 billion manufacturing and research complex in Mount Pleasant on Monday, October 22, 2018. The eventual 2,800 acre facility will produce high-definition display panels. - Photo by Jim Nelson and Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel(Photo: Jim Nelson and Mike De Sisti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
The state's deal with Foxconn Technology Group is done and the contracts signed, but the recently unveiled agreements between Amazon and New York and Virginia have put Wisconsin’s subsidies for the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer in the spotlight again.
Comparing the deals is muddy work, but even by the most generous reckoning, it appears Wisconsin is paying more per job than will go to Amazon for its much-watched “second headquarters” developments in New York and Virginia.
Whether Wisconsin’s huge incentive package proves to be worthwhile — and Amazon comparisons aside, many question the wisdom of the very practice of public subsidies for corporations — won’t be known for years
.
Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Published 12:12 p.m. CT Nov. 16, 2018 | Updated 3:38 p.m. CT Nov. 23, 2018
Greg Septon returns a young peregrine falcon to its nest box on the roof of a Veolia North America building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bird and three other nestlings were banded as part of the Wisconsin Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project led since 1986 by Septon.(Photo: Paul A. Smith)
The bird specimen bottle had been sealed for nearly 60 years, collecting dust in a storage area at the Milwaukee Public Museum.
In December 1979, Greg Septon, then 27 years old and a taxidermist for the organization, grew curious about its contents.
He held up the jar of murky alcohol and looked for clues. His heart jumped: A notched beak was pressed up against the glass.
A
licensed falconer and raptor bander, Septon immediately knew the jar
held falcon chicks. Once opened, the container produced
three young peregrine falcons.
A tag inside the bottle revealed the birds' origin.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018 at 9:00 AM by Tamarine Cornelius
http://www.wisconsinbudgetproject.org/wisconsins-tax-system-requires-the-least-from-those-who-have-the-most-2
Wisconsin is a better place for everyone when hard-working families
are able to provide for their families and climb the economic ladder.
But when the lion’s share of economic gains goes to a small number of
wealthy and well-connected individuals who have rigged the system for
their own benefit, it is more difficult for Wisconsin families to get
ahead. Wisconsin’s tax system contributes to the growing concentration
of wealth by calling on the richest residents to pay the smallest
share of their income in taxes, and requiring residents with low and
moderate incomes to pay more than their fair share.
Wisconsin residents with the lowest incomes pay about a third more of
their income in state and local taxes than the wealthiest residents,
according to new figures from the Institute on Taxation and Economic
Policy. The poorest 20% of Wisconsin residents—a group with an average
income of $14,700—pays 10.1 cents out of every $1 of their income in
state and local taxes on average. In comparison, the richest residents
of Wisconsin, who have an average income of $1.2 million, pay just 7.7
cents out of every $1 in income in state and local taxes.
Wisconsin is one of 45 states that taxes poorer residents at a higher
rate than richer residents. Our neighbor Minnesota is one of the
states that provides a model for a better tax system, one that taxes
poorer residents a smaller share of their income and the richest
residents a higher share. In Minnesota, taxpayers in the lowest 20% by
income pay 8.7% of their income in state and local taxes on average,
lower than the 10.1% paid by the lowest income group in Wisconsin.
That relationship is reversed at the highest income level: The top 1%
in Minnesota pays 10.1% of their income in taxes on average, compared
to just 7.7% in Wisconsin.
Our rigged tax system is a major driver of inequality and contributes
to the increasing concentration of income and wealth in a few
hands—hands that are most likely to be white, due to a long history of
racial discrimination. The recent tax changes at the federal level
under the GOP Tax Plan also demonstrate how our tax system can be
manipulated to funnel resources to a small group of wealthy, typically
white individuals. The tax cuts that President Trump signed into law
last year reward white wealth at the expense of the economic security
of poor, middle-class households and households of color. On average,
white households receive $2,020 from the Trump tax cuts, Latino
households receive $970, and Black households receive $840, according
to research from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. Even
among the ultra-wealthy, whites fare better, because the law gives
bigger tax cuts to income earned in ways that are more typical of
white individuals than individuals of color.
Wisconsin can improve its state and local tax system in a way that
gives all families greater access to opportunity, regardless of race,
ethnicity, or income. Here are four steps state lawmakers should take
to make sure Wisconsin families and communities can thrive, and what
they’re doing instead:
Boost tax credits aimed at supporting taxpayers with low and moderate
incomes. Instead, Wisconsin lawmakers have cut and/or restricted
eligibility for two important tax credits in recent years: the Earned
Income Tax Credit (EITC), which gives a bigger tax refund to working
parents, and the Homestead Credit, which keeps property taxes
manageable for people with low incomes.
Reduce tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy. Wisconsin lawmakers
have introduced several new loopholes in recent years that direct
resources into the pockets of the very highest earners and shut out
nearly everyone else. One example is the state’s Manufacturing and
Agriculture Credit, which allows the owners of manufacturing companies
and some other businesses to pay next to nothing in income taxes.
Implement highly progressive income tax brackets and rates. An income
tax rate structure that taxes people with higher incomes at higher
rates can counteract the effect of regressive sales and property
taxes. In Wisconsin, the record on this is mixed: In recent years,
state lawmakers broadened the gap between the top and bottom marginal
tax rates, but also collapsed two tax brackets into one, giving
taxpayers with moderately high incomes a significant income tax rate
cut.
Design a state tax system that relies more on the income tax than the
sales tax. States with no income tax typically have a very high sales
tax, and shift the responsibility of paying for schools, roads, and
communities onto those who can least afford it.
Tamarine Cornelius
RACINE COUNTY — The rise of
technology and the smartphone have resulted in many people documenting
their lives through social media. Whether it’s Snapchat, Twitter,
Instagram or Facebook, many people share their most important moments —
and their mundane ones — on social media platforms.
This
has provided a unique opportunity for law enforcement, providing police
with an additional tool to assist in their investigations, particularly
when it comes to the activity on a suspect’s Facebook account.
http://rockythedog.net/spooky/NROp1.html
It's always strange.... because my cousins had a Rocky the Dog - who
actually would retrieve thrown rocks - got to visit them once in
California - Granada Hills area.
Well, my Uncle Ron worked overseas until he died at an early age - he
enjoyed Cottage Cheese, Vodka, and Winston Cigarettes for Breakfast!
Spoke Farsi and lived under the Shah - kicked out under Kohmenini -
went to live on in Saudi and eventually dies while working in Oman for
the Minister of Defense.
He dressed in traditional Arab dress! White Robe and coiled red
headdress! I have a pic somewhere.
This Trowbridge Ford is an interesting guy - with his "wacky claims" -
but there is a lot of truth in there.....
Trowbridge Ford is a former US Army Counter Intelligence Corps
analyst. Now retired in Sweden, he theorises about deep events and
deep politics.
https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Trowbridge_Ford
Akihiko Kondo, 35, who teaches at a middle school in Tokyo, married Hatsune Miku, a virtual hologram of a teenage girl, earlier this month, Reuters reports. The hologram, which takes the shape of a 16-year-old girl
with long, turquoise ponytails, "is a singing voice synthesizer featured
in over 100,000 songs,” according to Crypton Future Media, the company behind the digital character.
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