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This photo shows the 2013 Hyundai Elantra that Edward Vanderventer was driving when he was rear-ended in Caledonia on July 31, 2015. Vanderventer last week was granted a $38.1 million award against Hyundai after his lawyers argued that his debilitating injuries sustained in the crash were due to a defective seat. Hyundai Motor America officials say that they plan to appeal the verdict.
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Saturday, February 15, 2020
Hyundai calls $38.1 million verdict 'an outrageous judgement,' plans to file appeal
From The Journal Times.com:
Friday, February 14, 2020
Four for Fridays!
Happy Valentine's Day. I am so sorry this is late but I had to do some early errands. Here are your questions.
1) Do you think Valentine's Day is a hallmark holiday?
2) Do you buy anything for Valentine's Day for anyone?
3) Do you wear any special color for Valentine's Day?
4) Do you make a special dinner for Valentine's Day?
Have a great weekend!
1) Do you think Valentine's Day is a hallmark holiday?
2) Do you buy anything for Valentine's Day for anyone?
3) Do you wear any special color for Valentine's Day?
4) Do you make a special dinner for Valentine's Day?
Have a great weekend!
Wisconsinites received 515 million robocalls last year -- up more than 80% in three years
From JSOnline:
Rick Barrett, Milwaukee
Rick Barrett, Milwaukee
Instead of just hanging up or letting the calls go to voicemail, Barry Orton attempts to shame phone scammers into seeking another line of work.
The retired University of Wisconsin-Madison telecom professor gets the usual mix of calls peddling everything from back braces to extended car warranties. When it’s a scam and there’s a real person on the line and not a robot, he makes the call a bit personal.
“I tell them that their parents or grandparents would be ashamed if they knew what they were doing. And can’t they get an honest job?” Orton says.
Usually the caller just hangs up.
But the volume of these calls has soared in recent years, including billions of “robocalls” made by machines on behalf of individuals often flouting the law.
Wisconsin received more than 500 million robocalls in 2019, up about 80% in the last three years, according to YouMail, a robocall blocking service that uses its database to come up with the estimates.
Area code 414 received the most robocalls in the state in 2019, an estimated 147,962,500; followed by area codes 608 at 103,569,800; 920 at 96,841,100; 262 at 92,373,800; and 715 at 74,760,400.
Nationwide, in January alone, there were an estimated 4.7 billion robocalls.
Not all robocalling practices are illegal, such as those where you’ve given the caller written consent to be contacted and messages from certain health care providers, political campaigns and debt collectors.
But, nationwide, about 50% of the robocalls are probably in violation of federal laws, said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, based in Irvine, California.
And while the number that appears on a Caller ID may look as though it’s from someone in your area code, it could be a scammer from nearly anywhere in the world disguising their true identity.
The practice is known as “spoofing.”
“We advise people that if they don’t recognize the number, don’t pick up the call,” said Lara Sutherlin, administrator of the consumer protection division of Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Instead, let it go into voicemail and then check on it.
Will the link still work?
http://tax.cityofracine.org/search.aspx
/>
Back when I was a teenager - every Boy wanted to be a JT carrier - and
I had to get an underage work permit and subbed until a nearby route
finally opened up. 7 days a week - no matter the weather. Collecting
money on the weekends with my coupon book - and hoping for a tip.
Nearly every house on the block received the paper- it was the odd few
who didn't. I expect the print edition to eventually vanish and that
the Staff will work from their homes - being able to work from home is
a plus. I checked with the WI DOR IPAS site - and found that the Buyer
paid what the Seller was asking for - $899,000.00 According to City of
Racine Property Tax records - LEE Enterprises owes(d) back taxes from
2018 - paying only $3730.20 out of a levied $6680.45 and in 2019
paying only $2378.00 out of a levied $7016.30. LOL! So the JT joins
the long list of City of Racine tax deadbeats! I suppose the unpaid
amount went to bonuses received by AP/LEE Enterprise CEO and Queen of
Davenport Mary Junck!https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2012/07/30/mary-junck-takes-to-twitter-to-defend-bonuses-and-threaten-employees
/> NO WAIT! The JT was also - according to city of Racine Tax Records - a
tax deadbeat in 2016 and 2015 and now owes $13294.29! LOL! The
property purchase involves a number of parcels - and I'm simply too
lazy to research them - but yeah - JY is a property tax deadbeat - at
least according to City of Racine records. Mark Lewis! Why didn't you
pay your taxes on time?
https://propertyinfo.revenue.wi.gov/WisconsinProd/Datalets/Datalet.aspx?sIndex=2&idx=60
/>https://journaltimes.com/news/local/furniture-company-buys-journal-times-downtown-building/article_722c7626-2181-5212-82f7-dbffed1a29fe.html?mode=comments
/>https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2012/07/30/mary-junck-takes-to-twitter-to-defend-bonuses-and-threaten-employees
/>
/>
Back when I was a teenager - every Boy wanted to be a JT carrier - and
I had to get an underage work permit and subbed until a nearby route
finally opened up. 7 days a week - no matter the weather. Collecting
money on the weekends with my coupon book - and hoping for a tip.
Nearly every house on the block received the paper- it was the odd few
who didn't. I expect the print edition to eventually vanish and that
the Staff will work from their homes - being able to work from home is
a plus. I checked with the WI DOR IPAS site - and found that the Buyer
paid what the Seller was asking for - $899,000.00 According to City of
Racine Property Tax records - LEE Enterprises owes(d) back taxes from
2018 - paying only $3730.20 out of a levied $6680.45 and in 2019
paying only $2378.00 out of a levied $7016.30. LOL! So the JT joins
the long list of City of Racine tax deadbeats! I suppose the unpaid
amount went to bonuses received by AP/LEE Enterprise CEO and Queen of
Davenport Mary Junck!https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2012/07/30/mary-junck-takes-to-twitter-to-defend-bonuses-and-threaten-employees
/> NO WAIT! The JT was also - according to city of Racine Tax Records - a
tax deadbeat in 2016 and 2015 and now owes $13294.29! LOL! The
property purchase involves a number of parcels - and I'm simply too
lazy to research them - but yeah - JY is a property tax deadbeat - at
least according to City of Racine records. Mark Lewis! Why didn't you
pay your taxes on time?
https://propertyinfo.revenue.wi.gov/WisconsinProd/Datalets/Datalet.aspx?sIndex=2&idx=60
/>https://journaltimes.com/news/local/furniture-company-buys-journal-times-downtown-building/article_722c7626-2181-5212-82f7-dbffed1a29fe.html?mode=comments
/>https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2012/07/30/mary-junck-takes-to-twitter-to-defend-bonuses-and-threaten-employees
/>
Thursday, February 13, 2020
New Mexico bid for recreational marijuana is all but doomed
By MORGAN LEE
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| FILE - This April 6, 2018, file photo shows the leaves of a marijuana plant inside Ultra Health's cultivation greenhouse in Bernalillo, N.M. New Mexico would legalize recreational marijuana sales without exceptions for dissenting cities and counties under a rebooted proposal form legislators that emphasizes small business opportunities and ready access to pot for 80,000 current medical cannabis patients. Legalization for the first time enjoys the full throttled support of second-year Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who set up a volunteer commission last year to vet health and public safety concerns about recreational cannabis and on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, pitched the benefits of the pot economy to a gathering business leaders. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File) |
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s bid to become the 12th U.S. state to legalize recreational use of marijuana abruptly fell flat after state senators in a legislature dominated by Democrats rejected a bill that would have forced permission for sales in all of the state’s cities and towns.
In a late-night committee vote Wednesday, two Democratic senators joined with Republicans in a 6-4 vote to halt the legalization bill that would have also expunged past marijuana convictions and helped the state’s existing medical cannabis program with tax breaks and patient subsidies.
It marked the second failure by legalization proponents to achieve their goal in New Mexico since Democrats took control in 2018 of the governor’s office from Republicans and expanded their legislative majority.
The vote all but doomed a bill born from yearlong legalization preparation effort by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham — and illustrated the difficulties of using the legislative process to fully legalizing marijuana.
Thirty-three states and Washington, D.C., have legalized cannabis for medical or recreational use. Michigan and Illinois are the most recent of 11 states to OK recreational sales but only Illinois and Vermont have legalized it through their legislatures. The rest of the recreational sales for states have come via direct voter approval, which New Mexico only allows for amendments to the state constitution.
Lujan Grisham has embraced legalization efforts as her administration strives to attract and build new industries in a state with heavy economic dependence on oil production that leads to boom and bust cycles.
Early last year, she put a trusted ally — Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis — in charge of a traveling task force that painstakingly outlined a regulatory framework to address public concerns about recreational cannabis and intoxicated driving, workplace safety and how to deny access to youths.
But the task force’s work didn’t overcome opposition in some parts of the state and some lawmakers said they were given little time to digest an amended 186-page bill spelling out how sales would work. Moving complex bills through the Legislature is tough because unsalaried lawmakers have only 30 days to conduct this year’s legislative session.
Democratic Judiciary committee chairman Joseph Cervantes objected to licensing provisions for marijuana businesses that required an agreement with organized labor and the granting of business licenses to people with past drug convictions including distribution offenses.
And Republican Sen. Ron Griggs said there was criticism of the requirement that counties, cities and towns allow recreational marijuana sales where local alcohol sales can be prohibited and two counties were “dry” — banning alcohol sales — until just last year.
Rep. Paul Bandy, also a Republican, said there was significant resistance to legalization in his district that borders Colorado and its pioneering recreational pot economy.
“I think the progressives realized that they probably overreached in an election year,” he said.
The New Mexico bill called for a 9% state excise tax on marijuana sales to help fund local law enforcement, education against driving under the influence and substance abuse treatment.
A portion of excise tax proceeds from marijuana sales would have gone toward social justice causes designed to help communities negatively and disproportionately affected by past federal drug policies. Many past pot convictions that did not involve trafficking would have been automatically expunged.
The failure to move the bill forward came after a bipartisan measure last year for recreational cannabis sales at state-owned stores stalled despite backing from three Republican state senators.
This year’s bill called for a private-sector marijuana sales framework that would have required medical cannabis sales at all dispensaries.
The halt to the legalization bill put on hold plans by retired teacher and aspiring marijuana farmer Bob Rogers. He wanted to start a commercial marijuana greenhouse on his 160-acre (65-hectare) ranch near the state line with Texas.
Rogers already grows medical cannabis for his own consumption under a state personal production license to treat diagnosed chronic pain in an injured leg. He had hoped to lure one or both of his adult sons back to New Mexico from New York and California to help run the business.
“I’m proud to be here and looking forward to growing weed if the state ever gives us the chance,” he said.
Despite the vote against the bill and almost no chance of it being revived during the current legislative session, Lujan Grisham said in a statement that “legalized recreational cannabis in New Mexico is inevitable.”
“The people of New Mexico have said they want it. A diversified state economy demands it,” she said.
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Dear Madame Zoltar
The city's computer system is still in the grips of ransomware. Oh my. Mr. Mayor Cory 'Butterball' Mason has no idea of what to do. He regurgitates what he hears from the IT people, but he doesn't understand the fundamental process that is occurring. While he and the IT people are dealing with the symptoms of the attack, the ransomware's creators are mining the system's data. Anyone who has ever paid a property tax bill or otherwise interacted with the city is now vulnerable to a similar attack. The "ransom" that the malware's creators want is not money, but, rather, information. They are getting plenty of that.
Just like anyone connected to Butterball is getting plenty of tax dollars. Butterball likes the high life. However, the higher you are, the further you fall. I wonder if he'll bounce?
In honor of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, I present the following video:
Mr. Lincoln was an extraordinary man. Too bad we have had so few leaders like him. At this point, our system of governance is so corrupt, it may be beyond saving. Only a heavy dose of honesty will tell. And that's not likely to happen anytime soon.
"Racine County launches new website for mental health resources" reads the headline on a JournalTimes.com story. The website, RacineCountyFamilyResources.com, offers a lot more than mental health help. The site offers 21 categories that you can choose from. Or just enter a question or statement, and your location/zip code. This is a great resource and I thank the Journal Times for publicizing it.
I also thank the JT Irregulars for turning me on to Americans Against the Democratic and Republican Parties. Their title says it all. For once, the truth:
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| From: https://www.facebook.com/115432550005993/photos/a.115437540005494/142296987319549/?type=3&theater |
Oh my, I'm quite late in posting this. Oh well. I love you all. Forever and ever. Amen.
madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com
Please be sure to respect one another. It's our best hope for peace.
________________________
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.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Happy Safer Internet Day
Today, Tuesday, 11 February 2020, we celebrate Safer Internet Day (SID) when, once again, we'll join forces across the globe to work "Together for a better internet".
Digital technologies provide you with a world of possibilities at your fingertips. Never before have we enjoyed so many opportunities to learn, exchange, participate and create. Yet, the internet also opens up certain risks to its users – especially the most vulnerable ones, such as children: privacy concerns, cyberbullying, disinformation, exposure to potentially harmful content and predatory behaviours, to quote but a few.
How can we ensure access to a safe and stimulating online environment for the greatest number, where they can make the most of a wealth of opportunities, while at the same time mitigating its negative side-effects? Together, we have the power to inspire positive changes online and to raise awareness of the issues that matter to us.
Browse this platform to find out what countries and supporters are doing locally, nationally and internationally to raise awareness of a safer and better internet.
And don't forget to visit the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) portal regularly to keep up to date on online safety issues all year around, find awareness-raising resources in our resource galleries, and subscribe to the quarterly BIK bulletin for updates direct to your inbox.
* Safer Internet Day (SID) is organised by the joint Insafe-INHOPE network, with the support of the European Commission, with funding provided by the Connecting Europe Facility programme (CEF). Find out more about the EC's ‘European Strategy for a Better Internet for Children' on the Digital Agenda website.
Stung by Oscar speech, dairy farmers suggest actor Joaquin Phoenix doesn't know what he's talking about
From JSOnline:
Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 |
| Joaquin Phoenix accepts the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for "Joker" on Sunday during the 92nd Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Phoenix spoke about dairy farms' treatment of cows during his speech. (Photo: Getty Images) |
Somewhere between referencing the fight against injustice and recalling his late brother's plea for love, actor Joaquin Phoenix spent a chunk of his Academy Award acceptance speech talking about cows. Dairy cows, to be specific.
On Monday, dairy farmers pushed back.
"You should get out of Hollywood for a while," dairy farmer Carrie Mess from Lake Mills wrote on her blog. "The natural world isn’t there, it’s out here and it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood."
Phoenix, who on Sunday night took home the Best Actor award for his role in “Joker,” used his speech to rip on the dairy industry and the breeding of cows.
“I think that we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world and many of us, what we’re guilty of is an egocentric world view — the belief that we’re the center of the universe,” he said.
"We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow, and when she gives birth we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.”
That didn't go over well with dairy farmers, who would have been happier if the actor had just jumped to the part where he acknowledged, "I have been a scoundrel."
A newborn calf is taken from its mother, about 20 minutes after birth, but it’s for their own safety, said dairy farmer Tina Hinchley from Dane County.
“If that mom had manure on her, we would risk that calf, our best genetics on the farm, getting contaminated with Salmonella, E. Coli or Listeria, along with Tetanus and all the other stuff that hangs out on the farm as well,” Hinchley said.
Instead, the calf is given colostrum, from its mother, and is then bottle fed with a milk replacement formula.
“Milk replacer is the best baby formula you can get. It’s powdered milk with all the vitamins and nutrients that a calf needs,” Hinchley said.
As for the "cries of anguish," Hinchley said: “She’s going to moo for that calf a little bit, but she’s not charging at us or anything. It’s almost like ‘Woo hoo, the babysitter is here. Now I can go eat.' And that is what she needs to do.”
For thousands of years, cows have been bred to produce milk for people.
“Today’s modern dairy cow isn’t all that maternal,” Mess said. “Occasionally we will have a cow that shows a little more maternal instinct, but it’s pretty rare.”
Mess has a blog called Dairy Carrie, stemming from her experiences as a farmer. Monday, on her blog, she wrote an open letter to Phoenix — and took a shot at the actor's supposed connection to the "natural world."
Part of it says: "Joaquin, you don’t need to drink milk. You don’t need to use or consume animal products. I respect your beliefs. But understand that there is no one more connected to the natural world than the farmers who are out here in the places you’ve never heard of, caring for the land and the animals. We’ve been sustainable and green since long before it was cool."
Phoenix has spoken out against the wool industry as being cruel to sheep.
To protest fishing, “He’s ‘drowned’ to show how fish typically suffer in their last moments of life,” the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says on its website. A vegan since he was a child, Phoenix was PETA’s 2019 Person of the Year.
An estimated 30 million people watch the Oscars, which makes dairy farmers cringe at the harm that Phoenix’s remarks could have as more consumers turn to soy milk, almond milk and other dairy alternatives.
“We have a free country, with freedom of expression, but we do wish that Joaquin Phoenix would talk with us, rather than at us, because if he did he would learn a lot about the commitment that dairy farmers have for animal welfare,” said Alan Bjerga, spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation.
“This isn’t the first time he has made remarks like this, but it gets more prominence because it was in an Oscars speech,” Bjerga said.
Monday, February 10, 2020
Mount Pleasant files answer to excessive-force case against Officer Giese
From The Journal Times.com:
Read more: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mount-pleasant-files-answer-to-excessive-force-case-against-officer/article_522c36c2-ea70-58d5-8909-0fd161f1d83a.html
MILWAUKEE — The Village of Mount Pleasant and Mount Pleasant Police Sgt. Eric Giese have denied many of the allegations contained in a civil case alleging excessive force against Giese for a Mount Pleasant man who was pulled over on suspicion of drunken driving.
Attorneys for the village and Giese — the Mount Pleasant police sergeant who shot and killed Ty’ Rese West on June 15 in what was later declared to be a lawful act of self-defense — filed an answer Wednesday to the lawsuit that was filed Aug. 23 by Michael Kowalczuk, 31, of Mount Pleasant.
Kowalczuk claims he suffered a broken jaw, dislocated shoulder and an orbital fracture (causing one of his eyes to be knocked out of its socket), after being punched in the face and shocked twice with a Taser stun gun by Giese after Giese handcuffed him for suspected drunken driving in September 2013.
In dash-camera video obtained by The Journal Times, Kowalczuk is shown getting out of his car after he was stopped. Giese is then shown leading him to the ground and telling him to put his hands behind his back. After Kowalczuk is handcuffed, he is shown trying to get up and resisting and Giese is shown punching the handcuffed Kowalczuk.
Read more: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mount-pleasant-files-answer-to-excessive-force-case-against-officer/article_522c36c2-ea70-58d5-8909-0fd161f1d83a.html
Predictions say
From Racine Uncensored:
From: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1783568838634123/permalink/2616819115309087/
From: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1783568838634123/permalink/2616819115309087/
Poor Dorothy in Kansas
Submitted by legal stranger:
"You wouldn't think you'd go to jail over medical bills": County in rural Kansas is jailing people over unpaid medical debt
There is at least one issue a divided electorate can come together on this election year: A recent poll finds 90% of those surveyed agreed on the importance of making health care more affordable.
Millions of Americans remain uninsured.
As Meg Oliver reports in partnership with ProPublica, some people are even going to jail because they're squeezed by a system that's putting new demands on overburdened incomes.
Tres and Heather Biggs' son Lane was diagnosed with leukemia when he was five years old. At the same time, Heather suffered seizures from Lyme disease.
"We had so many — multiple health issues in our family at the same time, it put us in a bracket that made insurance unattainable," Heather Biggs said. "It would have made no sense. We would have had to have not eaten, not had a home."
"We had so many — multiple health issues in our family at the same time, it put us in a bracket that made insurance unattainable," Heather Biggs said. "It would have made no sense. We would have had to have not eaten, not had a home."
