Search Results for: BID

Dividends of an assassination: Stocks surge for weapons makers after drone strike on Iranian General

Almost immediately after the United States assassinated Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike on January 2, major American weapons manufacturers and defense contractors, from Northrop Grumman to Lockheed Martin to Raytheon, saw their stocks surge as investors sensed the growing likelihood of another costly and deadly war in the Middle East. The surge in defense stocks was readily highlighted on corporate television programs like Fox Business and in publications like Investor’s Business Daily, which noted that “Northrop Grumman (NOC) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) were big winners in Friday’s stock market trading, along with Raytheon stock.” “Northrop Grumman...

Read More

Music, technology, and Christmas cheer combine at Cathedral Square Park to help end homelessness

Holiday visitors in Cathedral Square Park were treated to virtual Christmas carols from Sarah Fierek and Lex Allen, at the Singing Tree beginning on December 21. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Sarah Fierek, featuring Chris Crain, and “Without You Here” by Lex Allen were “dropped” by the geolocation-based music platform AudioDrops. The technology creates a convergence of the digital and physical worlds by adding a location layer on top of streaming services like Spotify and Soundcloud. It enables anyone to “drop” a piece of audio content at a specific spot, making it a special musical destination. New...

Read More

Michael Bloomberg visits Milwaukee to open campaign office as 2020 Democratic candidate for president

Opening his first political campaign office in Wisconsin, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg met with Milwaukee voters in the Third Ward and Walker’s Point on December 21 during his stop in Milwaukee as a Democratic Presidential candidate. Just under a month since announcing his bid for the presidency, Bloomberg said that he was working to restore Wisconsin as a blue state. After Philadelphia and Detroit, Milwaukee was the final city of his whistle-stop campaign of battleground states that Democrats lost to Trump in 2016. “Our campaign is going to make Wisconsin a top priority. Not starting in the...

Read More

Foxconn Trouble: An overview of what is at stake now in a disputed deal gone wrong from the start

For much of this year, Wisconsin officials have been trying to meet with Foxconn and renegotiate the contract that provides for large cash subsidies to be paid to the corporation if it meets certain job and spending targets. According to the Secretary of the Department of Administration, Joel Brennan, the unilateral choices made by Foxconn to build something much different and far smaller than originally promised mean that the state and Foxconn should “work together to ‘right size’ the contract through the amendment process.” It was actually Foxconn that first suggested that the contract should be renegotiated, but it...

Read More

Anti-immigration bill revived during holiday season to racially target and financially punish Milwaukee

Senate Bill 151, a legislation proposal that failed previously in 2011, 2016, and 2017, was rejected by former Republican Governor Scott Walker. It was recently resurrected yet again by several Republican State Senators. The measure seeks to forbid Wisconsin municipalities, with a targeted focus on Milwaukee, from becoming “sanctuary cities.” The result would compel local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration agents, without taxpayer compensation and with economic penalties. In effect, it would federalize local police with extrajudicial powers and no oversight. The State of Wisconsin’s Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform held a public hearing on December...

Read More

Community leaders reject SB 151 as State Senators promote it to embolden hatred against immigrants

Wisconsin’s largest grassroots immigrant rights organization Voces de la Frontera held a press conference with allies on December 17 at the State Capitol, prior to members giving testimony on the issue of Senate Bill 151. “This is a bill that was introduced in 2011, 2016, and 2017, and has been resoundingly rejected by Wisconsinites. The only driving agenda behind these national copycat bills is the private prison industry. It is shameful that as Christmas approaches, this is the kind of bill that would be introduced. This is a bill that separates families, and it promotes racial profiling. It goes...

Read More