BLOC Statement on the shooting of Jacob Blake

From this afternoon’s email: this press release from Black Leaders Organizing for Communities: Once again, we as a Black people have to bear the trauma of witnessing yet another unarmed Black person be shot by a police officer. We stand with Jacob Blake and his family, which includes his own…

Continue Reading

Cops Can’t Do Their Job Without Chemical Weapons?

In anticipation of a traditional Democratic National Convention…and an expected 50,000 attendees…politicians, delegates, vendors, and media types…the Milwaukee Police Department was going to be relying on reinforcements from other police departments from around the state and neighboring states. But as the DNC shrank to a virtual telethon instead of a…

Continue Reading

165,000 Americans Have Died, 30 Million More Are Unemployed, and We Are Worrying About Showerheads…

AGAIN? Nobody had an issue for almost 30 years before the fat man couldn’t get ‘wet’. The Trump Administration wants to change the definition of a showerhead to let more water flow, addressing a pet peeve of the president who complains he isn’t getting wet enough. So showerheads — you…

Continue Reading

Schools Fail Because We Ask Them To Do Too Much

The little quotation following comes from the weekly education column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel written by Alan Borsuk. It is about the pros and cons of re-opening schools this fall and who may succeed and who may fail…at both the school level…and the student level. The article is here…

Continue Reading

Putin’s Bounties vs. Trump’s Regime

Several weeks ago, the New York Times, published an article outlining intelligence reports that Russia was offering bounties to the Afghan Taliban for killing American soldiers. Other media outlets and apparently foreign intelligence agencies corroborated the reports. What was the first response from the White House? Well nobody briefed the…

Continue Reading

Science should not stand in the way

…of schools reopening, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany says. “The science should not stand in the way of this,” she added, saying it is “perfectly safe” to fully reopen all classrooms. I do understand the financial burden of keeping businesses closed. I do understand the issues surrounding opening schools….

Continue Reading

Trump Ceded Afghanistan To The Taliban

After 9/11, the United States had nearly international support as it invaded Afghanistan to find Al Qaeda and drive out the Taliban government who had been harboring them and supporting them. Successful on its face, too many members of both groups managed to escape across the mountains into the border…

Continue Reading

Today Is Independence Day

On July 4th we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence…the colonies declaration to be free and clear and independent of England’s King George III…on July 4th, 1776. It isn’t Flag Day, although I’ve seen a myriad of social media posts centered around the American Flag. Although the flag…

Continue Reading

Celebrating Juneteenth Day!

Now that President Donald Trump has made Juneteenth Day famous… This would have been the 49th Anniversary of Juneteenth Day Street Festival in Milwaukee, had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic. But there are numerous activities and events around the city to commemorate. And for the first time, both…

Continue Reading

Dystopian Madison: GOP Assembly Edition

Wisconsin voters are about split evenly between the Democrats and Republicans with a healthy number who identify as independent. And for most partisan general elections, you can expect the majority of the voters to vote along party lines…with independents voting for someone who best aligns with their interests. But regardless…

Continue Reading