Dancing Ink Press, a division of Home Brew Press & MCM

27/08/2024

Fall Books 📖

See what we published in last week's double print issue of 'Publishers Weekly,' including our preview of the upcoming fall regional bookselling shows and more.

27/08/2024

Fold it, properly.😉

12/08/2024

😉🤣

11/08/2024

Good morning 😎

05/08/2024

Watercolor Bookmarks this morning.🥰

02/08/2024

Pursue your passions.🥰

🖤🔥🖤
Carini Arts 👈 👍

29/07/2024

🤣😎

29/07/2024

RIP Edna💖

After early novels that won international acclaim but were banned at home, the Irish author had a prolific career lasting more than half a century

27/07/2024

You’re 😉

27/07/2024

😉🤣😎

18/07/2024

17/07/2024

A🎵🎶 clip from Tambourine Lounge:
“A bridge leads to possibilities,” Kate Vargas. Kate & Eric talking to pat Macdonald.

17/07/2024

16/07/2024

16/07/2024

16/07/2024

21/06/2024

Me, and my shadow🎶😉

17/06/2024

I believe in choice.💖

Her mother was furious at having no control over the end of her life. Now the actor is channelling that anger into getting the law changed

06/06/2024

Isherwood Hall🎶😎😍

18/03/2024

Alexander Hamilton 😎

QOTD:
"When a man unprincipled in private life,
desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper... despotic in his ordinary demeanour - known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty -- when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity -- to join in the cry of danger to liberty -to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion -- to flatter and fall in with all the nonsense of the zealots of the day - Ilt may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may 'ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.'" --Alexander Hamilton

17/03/2024

VOTE “NO” on BOTH on April 2:

“From Common Cause, one of the better, more explicit explanations of the two referendum questions on the April 2 ballot. The easy message is: Vote No on both of them.

However, Common Cause is not content to give the easy message. Here, they are giving you the complete message so that you can walk into the voting booth informed. This is long, but worth reading to understand the degree of threat voting rights are facing. Please read it.

And please, Vote No on both of these questions.

Common Cause:

I wanted to make you aware of two statewide constitutional amendments that will appear on your ballot for this April's election.

On the April 2nd Spring Election ballot in Wisconsin, in addition to contests for local offices, judgeships, school board members and other positions, the Wisconsin Legislature had directed that there were also be two constitutional amendments passed by the Republican majority in the Legislature over the last several years to be put before voters for approval or rejection.

These questions received comparatively little public attention, but they are extremely important in how they may affect elections and democracy in Wisconsin and in your ability to participate in those elections fairly and freely.

In order to help you better understand these questions and their implications we defer to election law legal and policy expert, attorney Doug Poland of the Madison law firm of Stafford Rosenbaum, and one of the founders of the public interest consortium Law Forward, which defends and prosecutes many voter rights cases. Law Forward filed the legal challenge on behalf of 19 named Wisconsin plaintiffs to the 2021-22 Wisconsin gerrymander of state legislative districts last August which ultimately resulted in 2024 Act 94 – the establishment of new, constitutional and far more fair state legislative district maps for the upcoming 2024 August primary and November general elections.

Here is how Mr. Poland ably explains the two constitutional amendment questions:

Question 1

The first question, which will appear as Question 1, reads as follows:

Question 1: “Use of private funds in election administration. Shall section 7 (1) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that private donations and grants may not be applied for, accepted, expended, or used in connection with the conduct of any primary, election, or referendum?”

The background for this proposed amendment is that in 2020, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, donated a total of $350 million to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), an existing nonprofit based in Chicago that describes itself as “a team of civic technologists, trainers, researchers, election administration and data experts working to foster a more informed and engaged democracy, and helping to modernize U.S. elections.” Approximately $10 million of those funds were used by over 100 municipalities in 38 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties that applied for and received funding to cover the increased costs of administering elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds that were donated were given to support the following types of expenses:

Poll worker recruitment, hazard pay, and training

Polling place rental

Temporary staffing support

Drive-through voting

Equipment to process ballots and applications

Personal protective equipment (PPE) for poll workers

Nonpartisan voter education from cities and counties

A majority “yes” vote for Question 1 would create a constitutional amendment banning the use of funds donated from private sources for future elections. Generally speaking, conservative groups and those that promote “election integrity”—meaning the most restrictive reading of voting laws—favor a “yes” vote on Question 1. On the opposite side of the spectrum, groups that seek to maximize the opportunity and participation of all those who are eligible to vote in our elections favor a “no” vote on Question 1.

An excellent summary of Question 1 and the positions of various groups both supporting and opposing this constitutional amendment may be found here.

Question 2

The second question, which will appear on the April 2 ballot as Question 2, reads as follows:

Question 2: “Election officials. Shall section 7 (2) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums?”

Wisconsin’s statutes already provide extensive and rigorous requirements for “election officials,” a category that is more typically referred to as “poll workers” and includes chief election inspectors, election inspectors, greeters, tabulators, election registration officials, and special voting deputies. For example, among other requirements, election officials must be approved by the municipality from a list of nominees submitted by the two major political parties; must be able to read and write English; must be qualified voters in the county in which the polling place where they will serve is located; cannot be candidates on the ballot; and cannot be immediately related to any candidate on the ballot.

A majority “yes” vote for Question 2 would restrict the performance of tasks “in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums” only to election officials. Yet because Wisconsin Statutes currently provide that “only election officials appointed under” the two statutory provisions governing the appointment of election officials “may conduct an election,” it is unclear how the addition of this provision to the Wisconsin Constitution would enhance Wisconsin’s election laws. The Legislature has identified no specific need for this constitutional amendment, nor has it pointed to any shortcoming of the present statutory restrictions on who may serve as an election official. Consequently, it appears that the inclusion of this question on the ballot is an attempt to enshrine in the Constitution provisions that exist now only in statutes, which would make them much more difficult to change should political control of the legislature and the legislative process shift from its current state.

As with Question 1, conservative and “election integrity” groups favor a “yes” vote on Question 2, whereas groups that seek to expand access to and participation in voting (such as Common Cause Wisconsin) favor a “no” vote on Question 2. There is a concern among some pro-democracy groups that amending the Constitution to include the provision reflected in Question 2 might lead to efforts to stifle current practices that enhance voter participation. Further information regarding this constitutional amendment may be found here.

__________________________

With this excellent information, we hope you will better understand the constitutional amendment questions on the April 2nd ballot and will be able to make an informed decision as to whether or not Wisconsinites should amend the state constitution and add these provisions. We believe we should not do so.

On Wisconsin. Forward!

Jay Heck, Executive Director, on behalf of everyone at Common Cause Wisconsin
608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703

06/01/2024

. Don't forget, the new Facebook rule---new name (META) where they can use your photos. Don't forget the deadline is today!!! I do not give Facebook or any company affiliated with Facebook permission to use my past and future photos, information, messages or posts.
With this statement, I inform Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to publish, copy, distribute or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. The violation of privacy can be punished by law.
NOTICE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must publish such a note.
Whoever wants can copy and paste this version. Failure to post a statement at least once will be tacitly allowing the use of your photos, as well as information in profile and status posts.
Hold your finger anywhere in this message and copy will pop up. Click the copy button. Then go to your page, create a new message and put your finger anywhere in the blank field. "Paste" will appear and click Paste.
This will bypass the system....
He who does nothing agrees.
(Better to be safe and post this than be sorry later).
I GIVE NO ONE ANY PERMISSION TO USE MY PHOTOS OR INFORMATION.

10/07/2023

Still working on him. 😉

08/07/2023

TONIGHT—Idea Gallery opens another excellent art exhibit 😎