Briefs are posted every weekday morning, M-F

NEWS

Will Milwaukee be a boom town or a ghost town during the RNC?

In the last city to host a full-blown Republican National Convention, the big economic windfall that some local businesses expected to come with it never materialized, a picture that could play out in Milwaukee when the convention arrives in mid-July.

As in Milwaukee, Cleveland leaders sold the convention in 2016 as a major economic driver that would bring around $200 million into the regional economy and be good for local businesses.

But in Cleveland, the last place to hold an in-person RNC eight years ago, the economic impact of the four-day convention was felt unevenly and depended on factors that were sometimes outside of an individual business’ control. Some businesses were able to cash in on the more than 40,000 visitors in town, while others ultimately lost out and got less business than a typical summer day.

A similar picture could play out in Milwaukee, where some bars and restaurants have not seen the private bookings they expected would come flooding in for the convention, set to take place July 15-18 at Fiserv Forum, UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Baird Center in downtown Milwaukee.

If Cleveland’s experience is any guide, bars and restaurants inside the security zone in Milwaukee could see heavy foot traffic and crowds, while those outside the zone but close enough to the convention to keep regulars away might see a drop in business, if they aren’t near visitors’ hotels.

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Republican National Convention to build on Milwaukee’s growing visibility, tourism leader says

Visit Milwaukee’s president and CEO Peggy Williams-Smith addressed Milwaukee’s reputation during an event at the Milwaukee Press Club Monday. She said she takes pride in Milwaukee’s “current swagger.”

“We are people who are very proud even though we’re not braggadocious,” Williams-Smith said.

The convention, which runs July 15-18, is expected to draw 50,000 visitors to the city.

Williams-Smith said the economic impact was the No. 1 reason for hosting the RNC, with an expected almost $200 million coming in — a number some experts dispute. Williams-Smith said the convention plus the expansion of the Baird Center are the “perfect storm” of tourism and publicity for the city.

In 2023, the total economic impact of tourism in Milwaukee County exceeded $4.1 billion. Direct and indirect spending from the RNC will contribute to the reported economic impact for 2024.

In August, Visit Milwaukee plans to make an announcement about an upcoming event whose organizers “would have never considered Milwaukee” without the expansion of the Baird Center and the RNC. Williams-Smith declined to share more details about the event.

—WI Public Radio

Wisconsin Republican hopeful urges conservatives to vote early this year

Wisconsin Republican Senate hopeful Eric Hovde on Monday implored fellow conservatives in his swing state to vote early this election cycle, claiming that the party needed a good “ground game” in order to beat Democrats in November.

The Wisconsin conservative warned voters that waiting until Election Day is too unpredictable, because other things could come up. Issues like bad weather have dampened voter turn out in the past, because it makes it hard for voters to wait in long lines outside of polling stations.

“We need everybody to get out and vote. If, you know, don’t just wait till Election Day, vote early, because something may come up on Election Day,” Hovde said on the “Just The News, No Noise” TV show.

—Just the News

Organizers defend decision to shut down Tacos & Tequila early in Franklin

Was it ludicrous that the Tacos and Tequila event was shut down early in Franklin due to a severe thunderstorm?

Some attendees think so, while others were pleased with the event considering the complications.

A comment storm swept the festival’s social media account following the event shutdown Saturday night, with many upset that headliner Ludacris was only on stage for a few minutes.

“As much as it pained us to receive the news, we had to shut down due to extreme weather conditions and lightening. Safety is always the first priority,” the official Tacos and Tequila Facebook page wrote at 9 p.m. June 22. “Other festivals and live events in the area were also forced to evacuate. Our weather teams were able to closely monitor and get in as much of the show as possible and Milwaukee, you guys showed up and showed out and we appreciate you. Stay dry and see you all next year!”

The festival was promoted on the same social media page as a “rain or shine event” earlier in the day, noting umbrellas were allowed ― as long as they weren’t of the large golf-style or pointed tip variety.

Why not just delay?

Some commented on the post noting how Summerfest reopened after an all-clear was issued for the storm. The Tacos and Tequila account responded by calling them “two different situations.”

“Summerfest has places for people to shelter in place, a minor league baseball stadium does not,” the official account wrote.

Franklin mandated a 10:30 p.m. curfew for the event, according to organizers, and the event account said it wouldn’t have been possible to clear the venue of the 10,000 attendees, wait for the storm to pass, reset the venue and re-scan tickets before that time safely.

“We made the right choice,” the Tacos and Tequila account said. “We understand you and others are upset but we tip our hat to our staff and all that get it.”

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Green Bay Packers name Ed Policy to succeed Mark Murphy as president and CEO in 2025

The Packers board of directors on Monday voted for Policy, the team’s chief operating officer and general counsel, to replace Mark Murphy as chairman, president and CEO of the club in July 2025, when Murphy reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Policy, 53, joined the Packers in 2012 as general counsel. He was promoted to chief operating officer, essentially the No. 2 man in the organization, in 2018. He has been responsible for development of the Packers’ Titletown district west of Lambeau Field. He also joins Murphy in representing the Packers at league meetings. He leads the organization’s communications, marketing and fan engagement, sales and business development, security, and development and hospitality departments.

“This is the absolute best job in sports. We are the stewards of the most iconic and unique organization in all of professional sports. I am excited to continue to work with so many talented teammates who have ensured the Packers’ consistent success on and off the field. We are the people’s team, and I love being a part of it,” Policy said in a prepared statement.

—Green Bay Press Gazette

As Trump eyes VP hopefuls, JD Vance is the MAGA king in the Senate

JD Vance has been in the Senate for less than two years. But in that short time, he has already separated himself as the most consistently MAGA-aligned of the three GOP senators on former President Donald Trump’s shortlist for a running mate.

Vance, an Ohio Republican, has distinguished himself as a harsh critic of American engagement in foreign conflicts and as a populist on most domestic issues. When he splits from the other senators Trump is eyeballing for his ticket — Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina — it is often by embracing GOP base positions at the expense of establishment priorities such as funding government operations, according to an NBC News analysis of their voting records compiled by Congressional Quarterly.

Vance’s adherence to MAGA activists’ preferences, particularly on foreign aid and curbing federal spending, is one of the reasons he is popular enough with the base to have emerged as a leading favorite, along with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, to land in the VP slot on Trump’s ticket.

Trump said this weekend that he knows whom he will choose, but he is waiting to make an announcement. NBC News reported Friday that Burgum and Vance are the leading candidates, according to interviews with more than a dozen sources wired into the process, and that Rubio remains in contention.

—NBC News

CNN abruptly takes Trump campaign spokeswoman off the air mid-interview

CNN abruptly cut Donald Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt from the air Monday morning — just days before the network is set to host the first 2024 presidential debate between her boss and President Biden.

Anchor Kasie Hunt pulled the plug just minutes after the interview got underway after asking Leavitt what the former president’s strategy was for when he takes to the stage in Atlanta, Ga., on Thursday.

“President Trump is well prepared ahead of Thursday’s debates. Unlike Joe Biden, he doesn’t have to hide away and have his advisers tell him what to say. President Trump knows what he wants to say,” Leavitt started.

The spokeswoman then noted the debate stage would likely be a “hostile environment” for her boss — and accused CNN’s debate moderators, co-hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, of biased coverage of him in the past.

“That’s why President Trump is knowingly going into a hostile environment on this very network on CNN with debate moderators who have made their opinions about him very well known over the past eight years in their biased coverage of him,” she said.

“Ma’am, we’re going to stop right there if you’re going to keep attacking my colleagues,” Hunt said. “I would like to talk about Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who you work for.”

“I’m sorry, guys … Karoline, thank you very much for your time. You’re welcome to come back at any time,” Hunt suddenly declared.

—NY Post

Top doc says treat weapons like cigarettes

The soaring number of children killed by firearms has created an “urgent public health crisis” worthy of the response the government took to preventing cigarette smoking or car accidents, the nation’s top doctor said in a first-of-its-kind announcement Tuesday.

In an advisory, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said gun violence demands a public health approach rather than the polarizing political response that has numbed Americans and public officials to enacting change, as gun violence became the leading cause of death in children. Prior public health campaigns provide a playbook for addressing the uniquely American problem of gun violence that kills nearly 50,000 people annually, he said.

“I want people to know this is a profound public health crisis, but it is a solvable public health crisis,” he told USA TODAY. “As a nation, we are not powerless. We can do something about it.”

Murthy’s approach involves a range of responses, including warning labels on firearms, as with other consumer products, reinstating the ban on assault weapons and laws on safe gun storage to reduce the risk of homicides and suicides.

—USA TODAY

As Ukraine Expands Military Draft, Some Men Go Into Hiding

First, Vladyslav stopped going into Kyiv’s city center to avoid draft officers checking papers. Then he stopped exercising at the gym because of patrols in his neighborhood. Now, he spends most of his days holed up in his apartment, often using his binoculars to watch officers serving draft notices to commuters leaving a nearby subway station.

“They’re everywhere now,” said Vladyslav, 45, who requested that his last name not be published. “I’ll try to avoid getting caught,” he said, “but I’m not sure it’s possible.”

As Russian forces are on the attack across the front line, the Ukrainian military has been desperately trying to replenish its war-battered forces, embarking on a large-scale mobilization campaign backed by new laws.

While many Ukrainian men have answered the call to serve, some others have tried to evade conscription. Even before the latest mobilization push, thousands of men had fled the country to avoid service, some of them swimming across a river separating Ukraine from Romania. Now, as officers scour the country’s cities to draft men of military age, currently 25 to 60, many people like Vladyslav have gone into hiding, fearful that conscription is a one-way ticket to the front line.

Social media groups alerting members to the movements of draft officers include tens of thousands of members.

Interviews with a dozen men who say they are staying at home to avoid conscription revealed a range of reasons. All expressed fear of dying in a conflict characterized by bloody trench warfare and devastating bombings. Many also said that they opposed conscription because of what they described as harsh draft tactics and a lack of sufficient training.

—DNYUZ

OPINION

Dobbs at Two

Two years ago yesterday, the Supreme Court issued the Dobbs decision, overturning Roe v. Wade and ending the fantasy that our Constitution included a “right to abortion.” Ever since 1973, American women have been told about the so-called “right to abortion” and how important it is.

Countless American women have been taught that the “right to destroy” a preborn baby makes them “free,” unlike the freedom of speech, the right to assembly, and the freedom of religion. Those rights, which actually are in the Constitution, have been diminished and undermined.

But the Biden administration and the Biden campaign are doubling down on abortion. It’s disgusting, but true. I don’t think it’s going to work.

Young women in any urban area are more afraid for their safety than at any point in their lives. Men are taking over women’s sports teams. Men are coming into their bathrooms and locker rooms. Men are demanding they be treated like women because they say they are women.

Young Jewish women can’t walk safely across a university campus in America today. For most young Americans, the idea of owning a home is laughable because Bidenomics is a bust and Bidenflation is busting budgets.

Joe Biden will try his best, but I don’t think standing on a mountain of dead babies will convince the American people that we need four more years of this disaster.

—Gary Bauer

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY – In 1967, the first live television show via satellite was watched internationally by an estimated 400 million people. Our World featured segments produced in 14 countries on 5 continents (like, Marshall McLuhan in Canada and Pablo Picasso in Spain). The Beatles performed live, debuting a song specially composed for the occasion, ‘All You Need Is Love’, with backing vocals provided by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, Keith Moon and Marianne Faithfull.

Briefs are posted every weekday morning, M-F

NEWS

Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear lawsuit over Evers’ veto power

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has announced it will take up a case filed by a conservative business lobbying group against Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ use of his partial veto power to increase funding for public schools for the next four centuries.

They argued Evers unilaterally allowed property taxes to increase, violating a 1990 amendment to the state constitution that curtailed the governor’s veto power.

“The law is clear,” WMC Litigation Center deputy director Nathan Kane said. “Voters and their elected legislators are the ones empowered to increase taxes, no one else.”

Last July, Evers in the budget used a partial veto to increase state-imposed limits on the revenue public schools can raise per student by $325 annually, through 2425.

He struck a hyphen and a “20” from a reference to the 2024-25 school year to create the extension, resulting in the highest single-year increase in revenue limits in state history.

—Milwaukee Journal Sentienl

A sex historian weighs in on former UW-La Crosse chancellor’s porn scandal

A faculty panel at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse convened (last) week to hear arguments about whether former Chancellor Joe Gow should lose his tenured professor position.

Last year, the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents fired Gow from his position as chancellor after it came to light that he’d been making sex videos with his wife and others and sharing them online.

Gow was quickly removed as chancellor, but he is still employed by the university as a professor in the communication studies department. The university has now charged Gow with 21 violations of university policy, including misuse of university computers and insubordination.

Sex historian and journalist Hallie Lieberman, who received her doctorate from UW-Madison, has been following the story closely. She worries if Gow is dismissed for sexual activities he pursued in his free time, it will set a dangerous precedent to fire professors for saying and doing things the public doesn’t like.

“When they go after porn and sex, it’s low-hanging fruit. What comes next?” she said. “Freedom of speech is for the speech we hate, it’s for the thought we hate.”

Lieberman spoke with (WI Public Radio).

“They can’t really fire him for making porn videos, so they’re trying to get around it by saying he’s insubordinate.

“Sex is going to bring attention. A chancellor having sex in porn videos — that’s clickbait media gold.

“Firing a professor for what they do in their free time — which is what (the university is) trying to do here (with Gow) — and not for anything they’re doing in the classroom is a scary thing to a lot of people.

“If you’re chancellor, you are the public face of the university, so (you can be removed) if you’re doing porn videos. But reputational damage as a professor, that’s a different thing. Lots of professors study and write about unpopular things. If you could argue that what they do causes reputational damage, you could fire a lot of professors. So I don’t see it as a strong argument.”

—WI Public Radio

DNR receives reports of illegal cicada harvesting at Big Foot Beach State Park

The state Department of Natural Resources is reminding people not to illegally take cicadas from state park properties.

The DNR has received multiple reports of people harvesting the insects at Big Foot Beach State Park, the department said in a press release. The park is along Geneva Lake in Walworth County.

Walworth County is a hotspot for cicada activity in Wisconsin, especially in Lake Geneva. Cicadas are a nutritious and welcome food source for many birds, mammals and reptiles.

State law prohibits capturing and removing animals, including insects, from state parks. There are exceptions for hunting and fishing, but that does not include cicadas.

The department’s park staff and wardens have “been instructed to make efforts to first educate the public on cicadas in state parks.” Wardens may take enforcement action in response to violations.

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Thousands of records broken

Last week more than 1,000 temperature records broke around the world, many of them shattered by extreme heat.

Hundreds have perished while making the Hajj pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site, Mecca, while some 100 million people are under a heat advisory in the United States.

—Semafor

The heat day is the new snow day

Extreme heat is changing up school and summer camp schedules.

Existing U.S. infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle record-setting temperatures in the Midwest and Northeast.

School days and even school years, which are now bookended by heat waves, are being shortened in response to heat.

—Axios

Trump Says He Knows Who His Running Mate Will Be

Former President Donald Trump says that he knows who he’s likely to choose as his running mate.

During a campaign stop in Philadelphia on Saturday, the former president was asked by NBC whether he had made his pick already.

Former President Trump replied, “In my mind, yeah.”

The former president added that that person would “most likely” be at his first debate with President Joe Biden on Thursday.

—The Epoch Times

The AP receives backlash for skipping details about a girl allegedly murdered by illegal aliens

The Associated Press is receiving backlash after it left out of a story that the two men who were arrested for allegedly murdering a young Texas girl were illegal aliens from Venezuela.

Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26 were both charged with the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, according to The Daily Wire.

“Martinez and Pena both illegally entered the U.S. without inspection, parole or admission by a U.S. immigration officer on an unknown date and at an unknown location,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

The Houston Police Department said the cause of Nungaray’s death was strangulation, according to Newsweek.

The AP left out of its story that the two suspects entered the U.S. illegally under the Biden administration.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, criticized the AP for this incident.

“AP is fundamentally dishonest,” he said, according to The Daily Wire. “Entire story doesn’t mention that the murderers were ILLEGAL ALIENS. This is not journalism. And hundreds of smaller outlets will run this word-for-word.”

—Just the News

Roe vs Wade overturned two years ago

Monday marks two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion and allowing states to decide whether to restrict access to the procedure or not.

As of Friday, 14 states have ceased nearly all abortion services and three states have enacted six-week bans, according to an ABC News tally.

At least nine states have no restrictions based on how far along a woman is in her pregnancy and many have recently added amendments enshrining the right to abortion in their state constitutions.

Abortions are banned in Wisconsin after 22 weeks’ gestation.

Patients are required to make two trips, one for an in-person counseling session and then 24 hours later for the abortion.

Patients must receive an ultrasound even if medically unnecessary and to receive a medication abortion in person because state laws ban the use of telehealth.

—ABC News

US Supreme Court Still Has Blockbuster Rulings to Issue

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to release a number of significant rulings in the coming week, including (one) relating to whether former President Donald Trump enjoys broad immunity for his activities as president.

The high court tends to release all of its decisions for a term by the end of June, and only several days remain in the month.

(A) case that will likely be ruled on this week involves former President Trump, who had argued that he should be declared immune for his activity after the 2020 election to deal with what he described as election fraud. Special counsel Jack Smith last year charged the former president with conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election, and the former president has appealed the case to the high court.

During arguments, the justices appeared skeptical of the Trump attorneys’ arguments that he should be fully immune from prosecution. But several justices offered warnings that all future former presidents could be prosecuted by their successors if immunity is not upheld.

—The Epoch Times

Nearly Half of US EV Owners Regret Purchase

To listen to the Biden administration, the situation with electric vehicles is going swimmingly. People love them. Government subsidies make them more affordable.

But according to a recent survey from McKinsey and Co. conducted this month, people remain unconvinced, particularly in the United States.

They polled EV owners in nine countries and found that 46% of American owners of EVs want to switch back to gas-powered cars with internal combustion engines.

—Washington Times

Trump Leaves $500 Tip At Philly Cheesesteak Shop

Former President Donald Trump left a $500 tip at a cheesesteak sandwich shop in Philadelphia on Saturday while campaigning on the idea of getting rid of federal taxes on tips if re-elected to the White House.

Video posted to X by a communications aide showed Trump at Tony & Nick’s Steaks ahead of a rally at Temple University, surrounded by people and signing a receipt.

“I’m going to give you 500 bucks. You guys all split it up,” Trump said.

—Daily Wire

OPINION

Some Unsolicited Debate Advice for Trump

As all the world knows, Donald Trump is scheduled to debate Joe Biden this coming Thursday, June 27, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The debate will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, will be hosted by CNN, and will be presided over by CNN’s Jack Tapper and Dana Bash. In other words, Trump will be playing on Biden’s home field.

The public will probably never know what cocktail of steroids and uppers will be administered to the President to see him through the night, but whatever the recipe, they have a lot riding on its efficacy.

Donald Trump can be an effective debater. But he can also be his own worst enemy. He tends to exaggerate. He blusters. He finds it difficult not to strike back when needled. I thought he did reasonably well in his debates against Biden in 2020, but the consensus was that he gave a poor showing, especially in the first debate. Which is why I would urge Trump to take a page from Napoleon and not interfere while his opponent is making a mistake. Given enough time, Joe Biden is certain to release his inner glossolalia. He is guaranteed to start shouting. Trump should allow Biden to do what Biden does so well: to descend into rambling, shrewish incoherence.

When Biden reminds the television audience that Trump is now “a convicted felon,” which he is certain to do early and often, Trump should simply smile and say he is not going to make personal remarks about Biden’s family. He should be like Johnny Mercer and Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive. He can acknowledge that it pains him to call attention to the economy these last few years—the inflation that is hollowing out the middle class—the tsunami of illegal immigrants, the wars raging on several continents. But his focus should be on what a future under Donald Trump might look like.

After all, we have some idea. Trump was president for four years already. For the first three and a half years, until COVID struck, he presided over one of the most successful terms of any American president in history. Trump’s tax cuts and decimation of the regulatory apparatus of state control unleashed the engines of prosperity. As the stock market boomed, so did wages, especially at the lower end of the scale. The southern border was intact. America was energy-independent. The world was at peace.

Did I mention that the world was at peace?

In a recent conversation on the All-In podcast with David Sacks and other tech gurus, Trump performed brilliantly. He outlined a number of policies he would pursue and answered difficult questions about them.

He also acknowledged that Joe Biden could be a formidable debating opponent, recalling his performance against Paul Ryan in 2012.

Biden in 2024 is not the same man as Joe Biden in 2012, but it was well that Trump acknowledged that political reality. It suggests that he understands the tricky rhetorical road he must travel. He must do everything he can to underscore his own strengths without reminding viewers of the “mean Tweet man” of Trump’s first term.

The left-wing “moderators” are sure to bait him, as will Joe Biden, if he can, but Trump must sail above their attacks with humor and concerned candor. Their lines will be all “convicted felon,” “January 6,” “Do you think the 2020 election was stolen?” He must smile and answer: “Listen, this country is in trouble. Our Southern border is essentially nonexistent; we have raging inflation, high interest rates, and an extremely dangerous international situation. We also, as I have reason to know, are living at a time when the Department of Justice has been weaponized to punish opponents of this regime. The rule of law no longer rules; partisan pseudo-justice does. I will undo all that. I am not interested in vengeance; I am interested in Making America Great Again. I did it once. Vote for me, and I will do it again.”

— Roger Kimball is the editor and publisher of The New Criterion and publisher of Encounter Books

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY – In 1947, Kenneth Arnold reported the first known sighting of UFOs after flying over Washington and seeing nine luminous disks in the form of saucers.

Coincidentally, this is also the day when the US Air Force released its report, in 1997, “closing” the investigation of the so-called Roswell Incident, which concluded that the alien bodies witnesses reported seeing in 1947 were actually life-sized test crash dummies.

I’ve said it before, many times, and I will again.

Republicans aren’t perfect. Far from it.

But I thank God every day I’m not a Democrat.

To repeat. I acknowledge Republicans have their faults. One that drives me nuts is, at the risk of not being terribly analytical, that they’re flat out stupid.

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2023, “Former Wyoming GOP Sen. Alan Simpson, one of the most acerbic characters in our politics, used to call Republicans “the stupid party.”  The Natioan Review called Simposn’ assessment “appallingly apt.”

Simpson was right.

How stupid?

Stupid enough to not understand who the GOP’s true political enemy is. It ain’t us. It’s the other party. Supposed to be.

That’s pretty simple to understand. Apparently not simple enough.

Want an easy to grasp recent example?

In the last Wisconsin gubernatorial election Republicans appeared on their way to provide a solid and potentially winning candidacy against the vulnerable Tony Evers when former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch announced she was running.

But Republicans, believing they were sooooooooooo smart thought it would be ingenious to put forth another candidate. In hindsight, a brilliant move, for the Democrats.

Eventually three Republicans ran for governor. Republicans became like rats in a huge cage with a small piece of cheese. They attacked each other, over and over again. The infighting was embarrassing. Tony who?

When Kleefisch didn’t win her primary too many Republican voters decided not to vote against Evers, but too foolishly stay home. Game over.

Now to a more recent example.

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, right, joins with other supporters of former President Donald Trump to deliver petition signatures seeking to recall Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos from office, Tuesday, May 28, 2024, in Madison, Wis. Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

The most powerful Republican in the state of Wisconsin, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, is now the target of an attack, by other Republicans.

Meanwhile, as Republicans beat each other up, Democrats sit back, eat popcorn and laugh.

Stupid Republicans don’t get it, but the Wall Street Journal in an editorial does, recognizing the very serious damage that could result. They wrote this weekend:

Wisconsin’s Republican Masochists

Wisconsin Republicans have an uphill election fight this year after the state Supreme Court threw out legislative maps in December. Now the Wisconsin Elections Commission has to determine whether Republican Assembly Leader Robin Vos will face a recall election based on signatures gathered by … other Republicans. The commission has until June 28 to rule on whether Mr. Vos’s critics have gathered enough signatures to force a recall. An earlier recall attempt failed in April after falling short of the 6,850 signature threshold, but revenge is a Trumpworld staple. The plan is to force the Assembly Speaker to face a recall election only months before his normal election race in November.

You can’t get much politically dumber than this. The recall effort is the brainchild of Trump supporters, including former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who are upset with Mr. Vos for not decertifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in Wisconsin, and for refusing to oust state election official Meagan Wolfe. Mr. Trump lost the state by some 20,000 votes while running behind down-ballot Republicans.

Mr. Vos’s lawyers have challenged the new batch of signatures on grounds that the recall was “initiated in the old 63rd Assembly District.” The state Supreme Court’s injunction against the 2022 legislative maps said the old districts could not be used for future elections. Any recall would fall in late summer, and the challenge points out that a separate election scheduled in July is already using the new maps.

Rational forces are not at work here. Mr. Vos hired Mr. Gableman in 2021 to lead an investigation into the 2020 results, which found no wrongdoing but racked up more than $1 million in legal bills for taxpayers. Mr. Vos said Mr. Gableman’s investigation had been “an embarrassment to the state” and called him “a moron.” Mr. Gableman claimed his first anti-Vos signature petition was “sabotaged.”

The real victims in this fiasco are Wisconsin voters who have to watch state GOP leaders burn resources attacking each other. Mr. Vos’s time is occupied fending off a pointless revenge play instead of raising money for other Republicans now drawn into unfavorable districts by the new maps.

Even if the anti-Vos signatures are approved, the recall would be held at the tail end of Mr. Vos’s current term. He is likely to be re-elected in November regardless.

Great memes are like the Energizer Bunny!

Another Birthday Party? Not Half Bad
BY DALVIN BROWN
April 27, 2024
Personal Tech reporter at The Wall Street Journal 

Ogechukwu Anwaegbu invited her friends on a three-day getaway to New Orleans last year to celebrate turning 24 and a half. They thought she was half joking.

“There was lots of side-eye,” said the Houston medical-school student, now 25.

Her friends went along with it anyway, accompanying her to museums and bars, and a two-hour boat party on Lake Pontchartrain. She paid $1,000 for the trip and her friends paid about the same.

Half-birthdays are the latest milestone, sort of, for adults. They are borrowing an idea more often associated with toddlers, and instead throwing themed picnics, booking DJs and planning vacations that run into the thousands of dollars.

For younger adults especially, traditional milestones like weddings are happening later in life. That has left a void in the calendar that made-up milestones are helping to fill, behavioral scientists say.

“It’s not just a random day; it’s now someone’s half-birthday so you feel like you must step up and make it happen,” said Michael Norton, a professor at Harvard Business School who has studied habits around spending and rituals.

American Greetings, which offers half-birthday cards, says its research shows that 63% of consumers are celebrating less conventional occasions, such as gender-reveal parties, Galentine’s Day and half-birthdays.
Searches on Etsy for half-birthday cards, gifts and decorations jumped 57% in the first three months of 2024 compared with a year earlier, the online marketplace said.

Cheyanne Carroll, 30, a graphic designer who runs an Etsy shop out of Orlando, Fla., began selling half- birthday cards in January. Her card, which cuts the words “Happy-Half Birthday!” in half, outsells most others in her store by two to three times, she said.

Revelers are posting on social media about the best half-birthday gifts (half of a real birthday gift, of course) and writing blogs about the best ways to celebrate.

Grocery stores and restaurant chains including Publix, Chipotle and Baskin Robbins now email discounts and freebies to customers on their half-birthdays.

At Valley & Co. Events in Seattle, demand for unconventional milestone events was up more than 30% in 2023 versus 2022, said Aleah Valley, the company’s co-founder. There were also parties marking the halfway point of home renovations, she said.

The birthday bill

When it comes to adult birthdays, the ones without a zero at the end tend to be marginal affairs. Still, birthday parties are the most common type of celebration Americans attend, and one of the most enjoyed, a 2023 poll by YouGov found.

They are also among the most expensive. Many of the forces driving up the costs of wedding attendance and teen parties have an impact on unconventional celebrations. The rapid increase in prices for travel and dining out— or “funflation”—has hit birthday budgets, too. Birthday celebrations are a top reason millennials overspend in their friendships, according to a Credit Karma survey.

Party inflation is partly driven by the increasing budgets of the wealthy and the efforts of others to match them, said Robert Frank, an economist at Cornell University who studies how social environments shape consumer spending. “It cascades all the way down,” Frank said.

Talia Foster, 45, an entrepreneur based in Detroit, and her daughter treated themselves to a luxury getaway last year in Cancún to celebrate their half-birthdays. The six-day vacation at an all-inclusive resort, came to about $6,000. They went on excursions to swim with dolphins and ziplined. They also commemorated the occasion with a professional beach photo shoot, in flowing gowns. This midyear celebration allowed them to accommodate her daughter’s new job schedule, providing her with ample time to settle in before requesting time off for their retreat.

“We’re the type of family to celebrate any, and everything,” Foster said. “For your birthday, you can have it how you want it, even if that means changing the date.”

When Remaz Abdelrhman received an invitation to a friend’s half-birthday picnic last June, she looked past her initial skepticism and decided to help plan it. The 24- year-old brought an orange color themed basket filled with picnic items, and wore an orange outfit to match. She enjoyed reconnecting with friends she seldom sees, she said. It cost her under $40.

Magis Musa, 27, who invited Abdelrhman, had hoped for gifts, but she didn’t want to be presumptuous. Her friends didn’t bring any. Still, the party was successful enough that she plans to go bigger this year for her half-birthday.

No gifts required

Americans believe it is appropriate to spend about $77 on birthday gifts for significant others and $54 for close friends, according to a 2023 survey by the gifting website Snappy. But etiquette coaches agree that gifts aren’t required for half-birthdays.

“You don’t have to overextend yourself for a made-up event,” said Elaine Swann, founder of the Carlsbad, Calif.-based Swann School of Protocol. “It usually doesn’t carry the same weight.”

Last June, Amalia Karaman, 22, opted for a no-gifts-allowed policy during her half-birthday party at her parents’ home in Nashville, Tenn., which included a DJ and 20 friends. Still, to mark the occasion in a memorable way, a friend brought a birthday cake decorated with “20.5” on top.

Some find creative ways to make their celebrations more affordable. Shaka Smith, a 36- year-old lawyer in Los Angeles, said that when planning his half-birthday, he often tries to arrange discounts with bars and restaurants in return for promoting them on social media. When that doesn’t work, friends usually cover the cost of drinks and food, he said. His actual birthday is a time for introspection, he said, so he celebrates his half-birthday with nightclub outings, brunch with friends and vacations.

“No one is expected to say ‘happy birthday’ to me,” Smith said. “Showing up for my half-birthday is enough to show you are a good friend.”