A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In…
HEROES OF THE WEEK
Marty Schreiber
My longtime friend and colleague, Dan Harris
Shawn Fleetwood, an intern at The Federalist and a senior at the University of Mary Washington
Jacky Hunt-Broersma
VILLAINS OF THE WEEK
Khalil Perry
Russian soldiers
Could pick him every week. Joe Biden.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“‘Elon Musk could end world hunger with $6 billion.’ Well, Elon paid $11 billion in federal taxes last year which coincidently is the same amount of money America gave to the UN. Why hasn’t the UN ended world hunger yet?”
Greg Price
“Musk is going to make it the open platform it was supposed to be. … His view seems to be the old view that animated the Founding Fathers of our country, that the answer to objectionable speech is not less speech, it’s more speech. As Thomas Jefferson put it, this is a country where we’re not afraid to tolerate error so long as ‘reason is free to combat it.’ Content moderators don’t want to combat it, they want to silence it. … Free speech on Twitter is not going to harm America.”
Brit Hume
“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
Elon Musk
“The president has long been concerned about the power of large social-media platforms, the power they have over our everyday lives.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
“Dear Jen: How does Joe Biden feel about the fact that Twitter helped get him elected by censoring the New York Post’s 100% verified and corroborated blockbuster about his son Hunter’s laptop revealing family corruption? Does that power concern the president?”
Nate Jackson
“Netflix losing subscribers. CNN+ shuts down. Disney stock value dropping. Twitter takeover by Musk. Just the beginning?”
Laura Ingraham
“If you think you’re having a bad day, spare a thought for the Twitter person who decided it was a good idea to ban the Babylon Bee.”
David Burge
“What’s remarkable is that one of the most stunning turns in the history of public discourse occurred because a satire account said a man is not a woman.”
Allie Beth Stuckey
“I got involved in politics because I think the greatest sin anyone can commit is the abuse of power.”
Joe Biden
“They’re all our children. And the reason you’re the teachers of the year is because you recognize that. They’re not somebody else’s children. They’re like yours when they’re in the classroom.”
Joe Biden
“There are limitations that have been imposed upon him and us because of COVID that I think have not allowed people to see at all times what his magic is, right?”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki when asked about the “perception” that Joe Biden is not very good at getting the message out
“Now we’re supposed to disregard what we see with our own eyes. Many of us have had our own confused grandpa, starting one story and finishing another or rambling from one topic to the next nonsensically. Grandpa sometimes wanders. The trouble is this confused grandpa (Biden) has a bit more power than your own.”
Karol Markowicz, NY Post
“It is not, as strategists and consultants insist, a failure to communicate, but a skeptical and deeply discontented public that sees for itself the chasm that has opened between reality and deception. Americans are reminded every day the administration’s Titanic is clanging off one iceberg after another while the captain and first mate insist all is well and can be explained away easily. Only the willfully naïve and terminally gullible accept the Administration rationales, explanations that are patently absurd and highlight the massive disconnect between the Administration’s rhetoric and the everyday experiences of Americans.”
Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey
“The administration fears the anger of the hard Left more than the furor of the American people. So it will not change, preferring to be politically correct and a failure than to be ideologically incorrect and successful. … Biden knows that he inherited a stable, prosperous America and has nearly ruined it. And he knows the American people know that too.”
Victor Davis Hanson
“The left have this fantasy that if they can just suppress people from seeing right-wing viewpoints then everyone will have no choice but to believe moronic left-wing ideas.”
Frank J. Fleming
“There is no such thing as student debt forgiveness. The burden is not forgiven but rather transferred from the people who took out the loans to people who did not.”
Matt Walsh
“Forgiving student loans is a great way to slap everyone in the face who took out a loan with the intent of paying it back. Punishing people who worked their [butts] off to pay off their loans is quite the strategy.”
Caleb Hull
“There’s never been a tougher time to be a cop than right now. After years of lopsided media portrayals and misguided attempts to defund law enforcement, many Americans have formed a wildly inaccurate view of the 800,000 good cops out there who will never wind up in the headlines for disrespecting their uniform or abusing their badge. As a result, we’re not only seeing a devastating rise in crime all over the country, we’re seeing unprecedented attacks on cops. … There’s a line between civilization and anarchy. It’s thin, and it’s blue.”
Mike Rowe
“LGBTQ activists are using corporations to force their agenda on the public, and companies may want to take another look at what they are allowing to happen. Disney has gone too far. The people of Florida have revolted, and it’s going to cost Disney big time. Disney had a special tax status in the state which they benefitted from in a huge way — but because they came out against the parents of Florida, the governor and legislators have revoked that status. What has happened at Disney is moral failure. Walt Disney had a vision for wholesome family entertainment. He was committed to the family. The morals of the corporate leadership of Disney today are in the gutter, and they want to redefine family counter to God’s original design and flaunt sin.”
Franklin Graham
“Leftists have a major problem with women (or minorities) in authority thinking for themselves and coming to conservative conclusions. Diversity is great as long as there’s no deviation from leftist dogma.”
Nate Jackson of The Patriot Post
“The political party that believes men can be women and women can be men is worried about disinformation.”
Lisa Boothe
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
More Secret Gender Transition Closets Discovered in Public Schools
MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK
California, New York, Illinois used COVID-19 relief funds to push CRT in schools
MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK
Liberals in meltdown over Elon Musk
MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK
Woman who fell in Mt. Walker vault toilet while trying to retrieve phone rescued
The Barking Lot is a regular weekly feature of This Just In…Originally written by both my lovely wife, Jennifer and me, this blog brings you the latest news about our furry friends including articles, columns, photos and videos. Enjoy!
THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors.
TODAY: Cloudy with periods of rain. Becoming windy in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High of 54. Winds ESE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 90%. “D”
SUNDAY: Overcast. High of 54. “C”
Time now for DOGS IN THE NEWS, canines that made headlines the past week.
Woman Who Lost Arms in Dog Attack Keeps Asking Mom to Hold Her Hand.
VIDEO: Philadelphia woman’s dying wish is to find new owner for her dog…
Less than 24 hours after Alexander spoke to FOX 29’s Chris O’Connell about her last request, over 300 people have reached out to help Rosie. Now comes the search to find Rosie a perfect match from hundreds of interested adopters, so Alexander can find peace.
VIDEO: Jump!
VIDEO and ARTICLE: NYC cracks down on lazy dog walkers: ‘There is no poop fairy.’
Good dog or bad dog? New study shows that breed isn’t really a predictor of behavior.
VIDEO and ARTICLE: Patron is a hero.
VIDEO: Gus is a hero.
Shaggy fur, an important job and a link to an extinct breed: Meet a dog breed you’ve never heard of.
Dog longevity: How long will my pet dog live?
The world’s oldest living dog is 21. Here’s how his owner keeps him fit.
Do Dogs Actually Have Two Noses?
That’s it for this week. Thanks for stopping by.
We’d really appreciate it if you forward this on to other dog lovers you know. Let them have some fun!
See ya, BARK, next Saturday!
Every Friday night we smooth our way into the weekend with music, the universal language. These selections demonstrate that despite what is being passed off as art today, there is plenty of really good music available. Come along and enjoy!
ONE NIGHT ONLY: Get ready to rock at The Music of the Rolling Stones with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra on April 30 as they pay tribute to The World’s Greatest Rock ‘n Roll Band with guest vocalist MiG Ayesa and a full rock band.
Don’t have tickets? Wondering what that concert might sound like?
Symphonic Stones. That’s our focus this week. Let’s start you up.
I know what you’re thinking. C’mon. Can an orchestra do the Rolling Stones justice? I mean, after all. Remember the 60’s?
There’s no argument. That was the Stones’ greatest and most popular hit.
The Andrew Oldham Orchestra was created in the mid-1960s by Andrew Loog-Oldham, the original manager and record producer of the Rolling Stones who assembled a bunch of studio musicians and came up with….
In researching this week’s feature I stumbled across one rock writer’s listing ranking the 50 best Stones recordings.
Number 2 was “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”
Number 2? Are you kidding me?
What could possibly be #1 according to this “rock writer”? He went with “Gimme Shelter.”
Please.
We move on.
“Sympathy for the Devil” further cemented the Stones’ reputation as bad boys.
Mikhail Bulgakov’s book “The Master and Margarita” that depicted the devil as a sophisticated socialite inspired the lyrics. British singer Marianne Faithfull was Mick Jagger’s girlfriend at the time and she gave him the book.
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
‘Cause I’m in need of some restraint
So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politnesse
Or I’ll lay your soul to waste
Jagger claimed the song was about the dark side of man, not a celebration of Satanism.
Let’s contrast. First a dark, sinister short clip from jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears.
And that can be made into something orchestral?
Actually…
Jagger: “I wrote it one way and then we started to change the rhythm. And then it became completely different. And then it got very exciting. It started off as a folk song and then became a samba. A good song can become anything.”
Yeh. Like a symphonic variation.
Mick Jagger along with Keith Richards wrote “As Tears Go By” for the popular UK teenage singer Marianne Faithfull. In 1964 it became Faithfull’s first big hit.
“I wrote the lyrics, and Keith wrote the melody,” said Jagger. “It’s a very melancholy song for a 21-year-old to write: The evening of the day, watching children play – it’s very dumb and naive, but it’s got a very sad sort of thing about it, almost like an older person might write. You know, it’s like a metaphor for being old: You’re watching children playing and realizing you’re not a child. It’s a relatively mature song considering the rest of the output at the time. And we didn’t think of doing it, because the Rolling Stones were a butch Blues group.”
But the Stones would record their own version a year later proving the blues-oriented band was more than capable of handling a ballad.
That’s it for this week.
Goodnight.
Sleep well.
Have a great weekend.
We close with an amazing mega-medley. See how many you recognize.
This year the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra based in London celebrates 75 years of music-making.
I’ve written about artists that take classical themes and transform them into modern music for singles and albums that actually perform well on the pop charts.
A perfect example would be Walter Murphy’s “A Fifth of Beethoven.” Here’s another.
More than 300 years after Bach, a group of studio musicians was formed by multi-instrumentalist and arranger Tom Parker who could play piano, other keyboards, clarinet, saxophone, trombone and trumpet.
At the age of six Parker was playing piano. In his teens he could be found performing in clubs in London. During the 1960s he was a session musician, and was a member of The Animals.
Parker’s group Apollo 100 released their first recording in 1972 that went to #6 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Number 6 on the Top 100? Not bad. So why not release another single from the same album that featured “Joy?” Made sense.
Someone decided to push the ensemble’s rendition of “Mendelssohn’s 4th Symphony (Second Movement).”
Let’s give a short listen to the classical variety.
Hmm. Could use a little pep you say?
OK Apollo 100…you’re on!
The ears of purists everywhere are bleeding.
So how did the Mendelssohn exercise do? Oy vey.
The 1972 record, released 50 years ago this month, made Billboard’s Hot 100, but got no higher than #94. and was only on the chart for three weeks. Apollo 100 broke up the following year.
Today’s read is a dandy, from Kylee Zempel, an assistant editor at The Federalist. Here’s your obligatory tease.
It’s only been a couple of days since Elon Musk officially took the Twitter reins completely, and already notable conservative accounts are seeing a remarkable spike in followers.
Here’s to no more “hateful content” warnings for pointing out the Y chromosome or saying the 2020 election wasn’t perfect. To that end, I’ve compiled 100 facts that censorious Democrats might not like but Musk-owned Twitter should let people tweet.
Read the column and list of 100 here.
The Franklin School Board has chosen a new school district administrator to replace retiring Judy Mueller, but isn’t ready to announce who it is just yet.
Today a school board member responded to a Franklin parent who raised concerns. The parent told the school board member in part:
I have found that the three candidates chosen are quite polarizing. None of the candidates are strong advocates for student and academic achievement. Instead, their focus is on pushing their own ideologies. I’m shocked we aren’t interviewing candidates that are focused on increasing math and reading scores here in Franklin. Perhaps we should take our time, and do our due diligence, to ensure we find the best candidate?
The school board member replied in part:
The search firm we used recommended a slate of 6 candidates which the Board (with the exception of Dr. Khan, he was out of town) interviewed last week Monday. That list was then narrowed to the 3 candidates you referred to in your email. This week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we interviewed the finalists again, asking that they make a ten minute presentation to us on a specified topic; Recruitment, training and retention of highly qualified staff and with an equity, diversity and inclusion focus. Following these presentations, we interviewed the candidates again with a new set of questions, (all Board members were there for this as well as the final Thursday evening meeting). During the Thursday evening meeting the entire Board debated and debated regarding the best choice for the District. A decision was made, (this is what I am unable to share at this time) a contract to present was discussed and the meeting adjourned. The offer will be made to the finalist today by Mike Spragg, Board President. We do believe it will take a few days before the finalist accepts the contract as there may be some back and forth regarding it.
Take note of what the candidates were asked to discuss: Recruitment, training and retention of highly qualified staff and with an equity, diversity and inclusion focus.
While I appreciate the school board member’s willingness to communicate the mention about a focus on equity and diversity is ridiculous. I feared this might be an emphasis of the administration.
Christopher F. Rufo is founder and director of Battlefront, a public policy research center. He’s the foremost authority on Critical Race Theory (CRT) in America and has written the following that is very important:
There are a series of euphemisms deployed by (CRT) supporters to describe critical race theory, including “equity,” “social justice,” “diversity and inclusion,” and “culturally responsive teaching.” Critical race theorists, masters of language construction, realize that “neo-Marxism” would be a hard sell. Equity, on the other hand, sounds non-threatening and is easily confused with the American principle of equality. But the distinction is vast and important. Indeed, equality—the principle proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, defended in the Civil War, and codified into law with the 14th and 15th Amendments, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965—is explicitly rejected by critical race theorists. To them, equality represents “mere nondiscrimination” and provides “camouflage” for white supremacy, patriarchy, and oppression.
|In contrast to equality, equity as defined and promoted by critical race theorists is little more than reformulated Marxism.
The aforementioned parent is correct. Priority #1 for this school board and the incoming superintendent should be student achievement. Disguised CRT should NOT be a focus, period.
Previously on This Just In…
The update: Gov. Evers and Eight Midwest States Support Year-Round E15 Sales
Related reading: Remember ethanol?
Our attendance has been dropping gradually over the past several years but really plummeted during COVID.
Fewer fannies in the pew became quite noticeable when our parish implemented very strict restrictions. And then the unthinkable happened. People arrived one Sunday to find the doors locked. No Mass would take place. And the lockdown would occur for four straight weeks before the 10:00 weekly Mass would be open to parishioners again.
The result was even more people said forget it; we’ll take our fannies and church envelopes somewhere else. St. Anthony’s has yet to recover.
The update:
From this past Sunday’s church bulletin, April 24, 2022:
St. Anthony Parish Finance Report
Fiscal year from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020
This year was the beginning of the pandemic and the collections began to drop because there were no special celebrations, regular masses, or parish events. As a consequence, expenses also fell and the decrease in collection was offset by the decrease in expenses, so we were able to end the year with $4,955 in favor.
Fiscal year from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021
This year the collections remained even lower, but thanks to the raffle that was held, it was possible to continue paying the most necessary expenses. At the end of the fiscal year the parish was in favor with $3084 after expenses.
Fiscal year from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022
Counting 8 months of this fiscal year from July 2021 to February 2022
Collections continue to be low, even though there are already regular masses, no events have been held yet. Until these 8 months we are at least minus ($71,777) below the budget to be able to maintain the most necessary expenses of the parish. It is expected that in the rest of this fiscal year the collections will increase, it is projected that the parish will remain in negative numbers minus ($35,992),it is expected that our festival will be a success and have profits more than $40,000 and so with the festival it is projected that the parish will remain in minus ($16,094) it is still a negative number, that is why we have to increase the collections urgently and the negative numbers change to positive, only then the expenses can be paid and the repairs that already need our parish can be made. This will only be achieved with the support of the parish community, the registered members, the people who are not yet members but like to attend our parish, as well as the support of the parish groups with the parish activities. Let us all join the effort for the benefit of our parish because we all love St. Anthony Parish.
$71,777 in debt. After shunning us and turning us away we are now asked to bail the church out.
This Just In... From Franklin, WI 
