Fleeing Wisconsin

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The U.S. States People Are Fleeing (And The Ones They Are Moving To)
Karsten Strauss, Forbes, Jan 18, 2018

10. Wisconsin

• Total Moves: 3,285
• Percentage Moving Out: 54.5%

Madison was #10 loser last year, according to Forbes and United Van Lines, with a net - 4.5%. Maybe this is why Republican Governor Scott Walker is spending $7 million on a national ad campaign to attract workers.

According to another Forbes article on state business climate, Wisconsin's Labor Supply ranking is lower than any nearby state but Michigan. The ranking considers college or high school grade levels, net migration, projected population growth, union workforce, and population between 25 and 34.

According to a Forbes source, “Finding highly-educated millennials is top of mind for all of our clients.” Wisconsin's college attendance and net migration in 2016 were worse than Minnesota's. More people are going to college in Minnesota, and voting for Minnesota with their feet.
 

Everything we love about Ponzi schemes

Some of the most skeptical folks about Bitcoin are experts in cryptography and computer security:

“A lab experiment that escaped into the wild.”
— Steven Bellovin, computer security expert and professor at Columbia University, saying the technology is still too buggy

"It’s hard to trust a currency that’s backed by the full faith and credit of software that has to be updated monthly."
— Steven Bellovin

“Cryptocurrency somehow combines everything we love about religious fanatics with everything we love about Ponzi schemes.”
— Security expert Matt Blaze tweet

"Investing in Bitcoin might make you rich, sure. But how much do you know about tulips? No bubble is too big to burst," John Schwartz, The New York Times, Jan. 12, 2018
 

Is Trump a Fourth-Grader?

Newsweek's "Trump Speaks At Fourth-Grade Level, Lowest Of Last 15 U.S. Presidents, New Analysis Finds" ¹ and its source, FactSquared's “'Stable Genius' – Let’s Go to the Data," ² are fun to read because everyone has been dumbfounded by one of Donald Trump's incoherent tweets. But no tweets were used in the making of this chart.

Continual and Fearless Sifting and Winnowing

University of Wisconsin President Charles Kendall Adams and economics Professor Richard T. Ely (Wikipedia)

Sifting and winnowing is a metaphor for the academic pursuit of truth associated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison, coined by University President Charles Kendall Adams.

Professor Richard T. Ely was known to be liberal and pro-union, having published a book on socialism. In 1894 Superintendent of Public Instruction Oliver Wells protested Ely's socialist beliefs, teaching, and public speaking to President Adams and the Board of Regents.¹

Madison's Confederate Memorials

This 1981 memorial at Forest Hill Cemetery was removed August 16, 2017. (Patrick Mack/Wisconsin State Journal)

A Timeline of Civil War Memorials
United States	Year	Madison
In Dred Scott v. Sanford the Supreme Court rules that a slave, or a descendant of slaves, is not an American citizen and has no standing to sue in federal court for freedom in a free state.6	1857	The City of Madison purchases land for Forest Hill Cemetery to replace the village cemetery in Block 180, now Orton Park.3

League of Women Voters on the Elections and Ethics Commissions

Republicans should call off the attack and restore cuts by Governor Walker

Erin Grunze, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Dec. 29, 2017

Wisconsin Capitol, Madison
(Photo: Journal Sentinel)

It is troubling to see the John Doe investigations and fallout back in the news as it has escalated to the point where legislative leaders are calling for Elections Commission Administrator Mike Haas and other officials to resign, despite no accusations of wrongdoing or any recommendation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice for their resignation.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin trusts the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission to be able to evaluate their staff and make decisions about their ability to maintain nonpartisanship of our elections.

Under Haas’ leadership, the Elections Commission has successfully administered the 2016 statewide presidential recount, implemented online voter registration, provided training for clerks across the state on changes in election law, and implemented a new statewide voter database and election administration system. The League has interfaced with Mr. Haas and other WEC staff in our voter service work and always found them to be helpful, nonpartisan and highly professional.

Heading into an election year our hope would be that lawmakers be concerned with how to support the Wisconsin Elections Commission in running accessible and fair elections. They can do that by restoring the needed staffing which the governor cut in the state budget. They certainly will not improve elections by stripping the agency of its leadership at a critical time. Bringing a partisan dispute to a bipartisan commission that has been functioning well harms the reputation of the Wisconsin Elections Commission in a time when it is working to address the real challenges with election security, how to implement new and evolving technology, and educating voters so they can understand and comply with the many changes in voting laws.

More Obfuscation

Secrets are lies.
Sharing is caring.
Privacy is theft.
— Dave Eggers, The Circle

War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
― George Orwell, 1984

I know you think you understand what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
― The earliest known print attribution is to U.S. State Department spokesman Robert McCloskey by CBS reporter Marvin Kalb (TV Guide, 31 March 1984), citing an unspecified press briefing during the Vietnam War. Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier (2006, p. 233)