SwingingTheLamp

No, I wasn't stoned. This thought was inspired by the post the other day about how trees evolved independently (e: multiple times) from different plants, the product of convergent evolution.

A little background information, as I've recounted a few times on Lemmy: Back in the '90s, UW-Madison professor Joel Rogers co-founded an aspirational new political party—creatively named the New Party—that tried to revive fusion voting. They endorsed a Democratic candidate for the Minnesota House in 1994, and the Minnesota DFL objected. They took the case to the Supreme Court, which upheld the ban on fusion voting. The New Party lost momentum and fell apart soon afterwards. Progressive Dane, based in Madison, is the only remaining New Party affiliate.

It's not surprising to see the Wisconsin Republican Party objecting to the practice; it will be interesting to see what the Wisconsin Democratic Party thinks. (I recently learned from the Wikipedia page on fusion voting that the Republicans and Democrats used to run fusion candidates to defeat socialists in Milwaukee.)

I wish United Wisconsin all the luck.

I'm very glad to hear that this wasn't a targeted attack, it was just another instance of routine traffic violence that kills hundreds of people daily. That means that I don't have to care about the victims. I don't have to learn their names, or their stories, or see their faces splashed across the news as tragic, sainted victims of a destructive ideology. They're just more roadkill to be tossed anonymously on the heap of bodies. Thank goodness! There's a lot going on in the world lately, and the last thing I need is more terrorism victims to wring my hands about. I just don't have the time or the energy.

(/satire, I hope obviously)

The partial veto that the Wisconsin governor can do is ridiculous. But it was ridiculous back when Tommy Thompson was doing it, too. If Republicans can use it, so can Democrats.

In a sliver of good news for today, Michael Gableman faces consequences.

I guess that every election now will have a referendum to amend the state constitution for funsies. Let's add Chapter 1 of the statutes—Sovereignty and Jurisdiction of the State—since that seems pretty important. Maybe the state symbols? I mean, nothing's more patriotic than the American Robin. Let's get the lyrics to "On, Wisconsin!" in there, too. That, and the 2025 Green Bay Packers schedule definitely should be in the constitution, and we can add 2026 next year.

Now that it's an open ledger, what other random crap should we put into our foundational document?

This was peak Internet back in the day.

I can hear the vexillologists weep.

Today, I searched DDG for information on Rythmnbox and Jellyfin. For the very first time that I've ever seen it, one of the top results was from Lemmy. Huzzah!

"Boss politics" are a feature of corrupt societies. When a society is dominated by self-dealing, corrupt institutions, strongman leaders can seize control by appealing to the public's fury and desperation. Then, the boss can selectively punish corrupt entities that oppose him, and since everyone is corrupt, these will be valid prosecutions.

These news outlets and the hideous news influencers mimicking them exist not so much to misinform people as to keep people who refuse to learn basic shit in their preferred state of furious unknowing—not just uninformed, but vigorously counter-informed and convinced that something both terrible and vague is being done to them.

This article is too fantastic not to share.

Madison, WI recently added a BRT route to its bus system. Holy hell, that sentence captures the reaction by so many residents.