Workers Memorial Day

Every April 28th is Workers Memorial Day. It is a day to remember the men and women who lost their lives on the job or due to their job.

Here are some facts to reflect upon today, from the AFL-CIO WI:

In 2024, more than 380 workers died each day from hazardous working conditions – totaling 5,070 workers killed on the job in the United States in 2024. Additionally, an estimated 135,000 workers died from occupational diseases in 2024.

[...]

Nationally, the overall job fatality rate was 3.3 per 100,000 workers in 2024. The job fatality rate in Wisconsin in 2024 was higher, at 3.7 per 100,000 workers. Workplace homicides continue to be a significant problem, increasing by 3 percent since 2023.

Workers of color die on the job at a higher rate: Black (3.4 per 100,000 workers) and Latino (4.3) worker job fatality rates are disproportionate compared with all other workers.

An estimated 530 workers died from heat on the job in 2024, but both fatal and nonfatal data are an undercount of the heat exhaustion on the job in America.

This occasion is part of International Workers Memorial Day, held yearly on April 28th, where tens of thousands of groups around the globe unite to honor the fallen and to remind everyone that “One worker’s life lost is one too many.”

As Mother Jones said - Mourn the dead and fight like hell for the living!

Rep. Derrick Van Orden Is Certainly Self Aware!

 From an article about his re-election bid from The Hill:

“I’m just a horrible politician, I guess,” he (Van Orden) added.

In Memoriam Of A Good Union Man

 Two weeks ago, Wisconsin lost a good union man, David Eisner. 

David had worked for Milwaukee County before moving on to work for AFSCME. David had forgotten more about how the County operated and what was in the county rules and in the contracts than any bureaucrat ever knew.

David was never one to back away from a fight, especially when it involved one of his union members. I was a benefactor of David's knowledge and skill on more than one occcasion, whether it was defending me against Scott Walker's retaliation to getting the county to move on repairing the air conditioning during a dangerous hot spell.

He was the personification of solidarity and union power.

He will be sorely missed by all who knew him, whether through the union or outside of it.

Coincidentally, today is his birthday. Happy heavenly birthday, my friend. 

Wisconsin Congressmen Hold 2 Of The Top 8 Positions For Using The "F" Word

 From the NY Times:

In The Times’s social media tally, Mr. Gallego was far ahead of the pack, using the word in at least 77 X posts from 2020 through the end of March 2026.

Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin clocked in as the No. 2 Democrat in The Times’s ranking, at 30 uses of the word, to which he replied: “All right!”

Here you have it:

 

Stolen From Social Media: Hungary Understood The Assignment

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has inspired populist movements globally, conceded defeat on Sunday in a general election after 16 years on power. Trump sent J.D. Vance to bolster Orban's chances.

Pay attention America, please get your head around the assignment.

 

The Trump Administration Actually Thought A Peace Agreement Would Happen in ONE DAY?

Apparently. And after that one day meeting without a peace resolution, Vice President J.D. Vance left Pakistan.

And in a bold reversal, Trump now says instead of opening the Strait of Hormuz, he's going to close them (blockade). 

Please send him a copy of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and then find someone to read it to him.

Swalwell Needs To Go

Rep Eric Swalwell (D-CA) has had four women come out and accuse him of sexual harassment and rape.  I'm sure these are just the first four, and more will be stepping forward.

Swalwell, who is running to be the governor of California, is watching his campaign implode before his very eyes. Top staffers are resigning. People who endorsed him are rescinding their endorsements. 

Swalwell did himself no favors by issuing a video in which he started by gaslighting the public, claiming that the women were anonymous. Yeah, they were so anonymous that his lawyers were texting cease-and-desist letters to the women in the middle of the night.

Even if he doesn't want to admit it, Swalwell is done. Four things need to happen now:

1. Swalwell needs to apologize to his victims and to the public. He also needs to set up a trust fund to pay for any therapy his victims might need.
2. Swalwell needs to drop out of the governor's race.
3. Swalwell needs to resign from Congress.
4. Swalwell needs to be criminally investigated and prosecuted.

I must say that it is a relief that many people on the left are treating this appropriately, but I am sorely disappointed in those who are acting like lefty MAGA morons, looking for conspiracy theories or being in downright denial of what has happened.

Tom Tiffany Is Running In The Wrong State

 After Tuesday's election, when Justice-elect Chris Taylor and the Democrats shellacked the Republicans, Tom Tiffany made a brief statement about it and what it means for his campaign to be governor:

Well, we got our butts kicked last night, right? There's no doubt about it, and we should acknowledge that. But the election we have coming up this fall, in November, is a new election. And you guys know as well as anyone, every election is unique. And I have built a campaign - money, manpower, and messaging. We're going to compete on all fronts.

While Tiffany is trying to convince himself that the fall election is separate and apart from all other elections, the fact is that one has to look at the trends. And those trends are not in Tiffany's favor.  As this graphic shows, almost the entire state took a hard shift to the left:

While Republican denialists might try to argue that this election was not in some part a refutation of Trump, it obviously was.  And November's election is going to be even more of a referendum on the Orange Menace. And given how far Tiffany has his nose up Trump's rump, I don't see him changing these directions in just a few months.

A breakdown of Taylor's victory on Tuesday by congressional district shows that Tiffany would have been hard-pressed to win reelection in his own district. Keep in mind that the congressional maps are still gerrymandered to favor the Republicans.  

Barring some drastic unforeseen changes, this November could be just as much fun as yesterday was. However, it does not mean that we can take our collective foot off the gas by any stretch of the imagination. It's still going to take a lot of hard work to get across the finish line, but it's very doable.

It doesn't hurt that Tiffany is apparently running to be the governor of the state of denial.

Taylor Wins!

In what was an almost foregone conclusion, Judge Chris Taylor was elected as the next Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice.

Her campaign issued this statement:

“Tonight, the people of Wisconsin spoke,” said Justice-elect Chris Taylor. “What they said is clear — we are moving forward, for our rights, for our democracy, for every family in this state that deserves a fair shot at justice. Tonight we stand strongly for a state Supreme Court that prioritizes the people of Wisconsin, their rights, their lives, and the independence of our great state. And for a Court that holds everyone accountable under the law — no matter how powerful or privileged. I will be a justice for you, the people of Wisconsin. Thank you Wisconsin!  Forward we go together!”

This election was as sure a bet as an election can be.  Taylor's popularity caused the incumbent, Becky Bradley, to choose not to run again, leaving the Republicans with a lackluster Maria Lazar to offer a token opposition to Taylor. Adding to this was the fact that the election would not change the court's leanings, which caused a huge enthusiasm gap for the right.

The last remaining hardcore fascist on the court, Annette Ziegler, has already ceded next year's election and announced that she is not running for reelection.  

Given that justice will be served for at least the next four years, I gotta say, the future of the state supreme court looks pretty darn good.  

No American President Should Ever Talk Like This! Why Is The GOP Silent?

This and his unhinged speech from April 1st should be Trump's 'Joe Biden' moments and Trump should be out of there.

And yes, this is his real post. It has been corroborated any number of times already.

And This Is Different From A Muslim Head Scarf, HOW?

 I am not going to dive into the other issues here in this post, particularly voting rights for women,  but you should warn yourself here: The Women Who Believe Women Should Lose the Right to Vote.

But I am very very curious on why what these "Christian" women are doing is different than the headscarves that many Muslim women wear. I mean other than style and color, etc.

"Sundays, most of the women at King’s Way Reformed Church in the old mining town of Prescott, Ariz., wore dainty kerchiefs knotted over their hair to show devotion to God. Marybelle East, 36, wore hers all the time, she said — seven days a week — “for him to see that I submit to his authority.” Her husband’s authority, that is.

Her head scarf is a physical reminder of biblical patriarchy, the kind of marriage the church preaches. “It keeps me from running my mouth,” she said."

Who wants to jump in and explain this to me??

BTW: later in the article it mentions that many of these churches would like the USA to be a theocracy. And again, I will ask, how is this different than say...Iran? 

I am going to leave this here for now.

The United States Can Elect A Convicted Felon President but in Canada:

Yes, the United States has elected a convicted felon, unabashed habitual liar, pedophile, financial disaster, scam artist, war criminal, someone with little knowledge of the world, and a limited facility with English to the US Presidency, but everyone seems to be cool with that (sarcasm alert), RIGHT?

But in Canada:

Air Canada’s chief executive, Michael Rousseau, said Monday that he would step down, days after criticism over his condolence message, delivered almost entirely in English, following a fatal accident involving an Air Canada plane at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

Mr. Rousseau, 68, faced backlash after releasing a video primarily in English and little French, such as “bonjour” and “merci,” which was criticized as dismissive of French-speaking Canadians. Politicians quickly voiced their frustrations, arguing that Mr. Rousseau’s inability to speak French showed a disconnect from a significant portion of the country.

???? Please make sense of this?

Trump's Losers - Drunken Van Orden Edition

“I always like to hang around with losers, actually, because it makes me feel better.” - Donald Trump, March 27, 2026

Wait And Wait, There's More

 

As the gentle reader probably already knows, GOP activist and election denier Harry Wait has been convicted of two counts of election fraud and one count of identity theft. Wait had asked for and received eight absentee ballots in the 2022 election, including those for Racine Mayor Cory Mason and soon-to-be former Speaker Robbin' Vos.

Ironically, Wait was part of the group that went after Vos for not doing enough about election fraud, just as Wait had committed.

The convictions in themselves are not a surprise. Wait went on social media bragging about his crimes, falsely claiming that the system doesn't work when it clearly does.

However, there are a couple of parts of the story I would have liked to see some follow-up on.

One was whether Sen. Ron Johnson still thinks that Wait is a "white hat hacker."  My guess is that he would say yes. After all, election fraudsters have to stick together.

The other issue I have is with Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmailing. Wait had notified Schmaling via email of his crimes, but instead of arresting Wait, Schmaling joined in on the bragging: 

Schmaling did not arrest Wait and instead publicized the plot on social media as being helpful in rooting out vulnerabilities in the state election system and blamed the Wisconsin Elections Commission, calling on commissioners to remove a way voters can easily request ballots online.

I want to know why Schmaling was not investigated and charged as a party to the crime.  After all, the system will only work if law enforcement enforces the laws, which Schmaling obviously did not.

If You Want Your Kid To Go And Fight In Some Stupid Globalist War, Vote For Joe Biden, said?