Erik Paulson

But also this post was really good!

Gotcha, thanks. (On my backlog of fun projects to eventually do is making a 1-year granularity pyramid population graph for Madison, to be able to pin down to the exact class year of whats happening, births are going to be a pretty important input to try to sort that out from census data)

Where is the 2025 WISH data? The query page here only has 2024 data - www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/wish/birth/f... and the downloadable data page only has up to 2023.

Congratulations! What’s next?

Good luck, stay sane!

Am I allowed to talk interesting AI stuff here yet?

Sources: Big Ten execs pressing to make $2.4 billion investment deal — without Michigan and USC if needed The Big Ten has signaled to those at Michigan and USC that it is moving forward with the deal, even delivering to each program an ultimatum with a deadline.

Is this McIntosh's secret plan, @jasonjoyce.bsky.social? sports.yahoo.com/college-foot...

New York post the red apple

Madison’s red mayor

Who did it better? Mamdani or Soglin?

You’d be a good brand ambassador for it

@dwillis.bsky.social given your amusement with this in the past, I thought you’d be interested in ActBlue’s new guidelines on “matching” funds in donations: help.actblue.com/hc/en-us/art...

I tried Baja Blast because of you (and really liked it) so thank you for your service!

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated' The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

My god.

“Watson said she saw agents dragging residents, including kids, out of the building without any clothes on and into U-Haul vans. Kids were separated from their mothers…’It was heartbreaking to watch…seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.’”

Did y’all ever get these records?

It's been 16 years. It's time to raise Madison Metro fares. A raise from $2 to $2.50 would help Madison find the money to staff the Imagination Center and the new homeless shelter

After 16 years, it's time for Madison to raise Metro fares, from $2 to $2.50. Metro fares don't count against the state expenditure restraint limits, and the extra room could help solve our 'how to staff the new homeless shelter and new library' problem.

posts.unit1127.com/p/its-been-1...

The Wisconsin Expenditure Restraint Program is the 2nd-dumbest municipal funding program and everyone involved should feel bad What is the State of Wisconsin’s Expenditure Restraint Program and why is it stupid?

I wrote a blog post about how the WI Expenditure Restraint Program for funding cities is an obsolete program and how dumb it is. The Dems should have scrapped it in 2009 when they had the chance, but the GOP made it way worse in 2011 with Act 10.

posts.unit1127.com/p/the-wiscon...

We've missed you!

The sweet spot, which Trump identified, is slapping the press around while giving it lots of access.

The Dem approach of being respectful to the press but not giving access was pretty lousy.

A picture of me with a First Year Honoree banner. The rest of the text says IB Power 100, Luke Diaz, Mayor, City of Verona.

Cool to make this list with a lot of other influential people. I'm super proud of all the great things the City of Verona is accomplishing. www.ibmadison.com/galleries/we...

Madison’s independent police monitor ignores records requests, city attorney intervention The Office of the Independent Monitor, created to be a check on the Madison Police Department, has failed to fulfill records requests from Isthmus and ghosted the City Attorney’s Office as well.

NEW: Madison’s police oversight agency has failed to fulfill records requests submitted by @isthmusmadison.bsky.social and ignored attempts by the city attorney’s office and Madison Police Department to intervene.

isthmus.com/news/news/ma...

The Onion will be available in almost every Barnes & Noble in the country starting this month! “RFK Jr. Fires Piss Czar” will be a visible headline sitting directly next to Bon Appetit and Guns & Ammo.

Maple Bluff?

Why These Updates Matter The digital fundraising landscape has evolved dramatically, and with it, we've seen practices emerge that undermine donor trust and hurt all of us. When donors encounter misleading solicitations, impersonation, or excessive spam, they lose confidence—not just in bad actors, but in our entire movement. These policy updates are designed to protect the ecosystem we've all worked hard to build. By establishing clear standards for responsible fundraising, we're helping ensure that: Donors feel confident their contributions are being used effectively Legitimate organizations can build sustainable, long-term fundraising programs Bad actors can't undermine the trust you've earned with your supporters

3. Donor Relations We've all seen how excessive solicitations and aggressive fundraising tactics can drive donors away from our movement. When supporters feel bombarded or misled, they don't just unsubscribe from one organization—they often stop giving altogether. That's why we're establishing clearer standards for respectful donor engagement. If an entity becomes the subject of repeated donor complaints about excessive or aggressive solicitations, we'll investigate and work with them on corrective action. This isn't about policing every email, it's about addressing patterns of behavior that damage donor relationships across our ecosystem. All entities using our platform are expected to maintain respectful and transparent fundraising practices. By holding each other to these standards, we protect the donor relationships that sustain our collective work.

2. Responsible Stewardship & Transparency To help ensure donor contributions are being used effectively and as promised, we've introduced new provisions that allow us to request documentation when needed. These aren't blanket requirements - they're tools we can use to verify that funds are being stewarded responsibly and that fundraising claims are accurate in response to donor complaints. Impact documentation: We may request statements showing how contributions have been used to advance your stated mission Matching program verification: If you advertise matching programs, you must be able to provide documentation verifying your matching program upon request

Key Changes That May Impact Your Operations: 1. Solicitation Standards We have strengthened our policies around impersonation, barring outside groups from using the name or likeness of any candidate, elected official, or organization in a way that falsely implies endorsement, affiliation, or authorization without documented written permission. Entities must not misleadingly suggest that donations will directly benefit specific individuals or entities without proper authorization, or misrepresent the destination or intended use of donor funds. We're also explicitly prohibiting false claims in solicitations, including references to fake voting records, non-existent memberships, or unverified matching programs. These changes ensure donors are making informed choices about their giving.

These are promising policy changes from the @actblueorg.bsky.social team that show they're taking the spam PACs and aggressive fundraising practices seriously. There are other levers we need to pull as a party to stop treating supporters like shit but this is a start.

It has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy. It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.

Curtis Yarvin tweets: "Here’s how the libs got the USG to spend $2T a year on libbery. They greased the road with their OWN MONEY FIRST. That’s where this NGO empire came from. Before WW2 it was all private. Do you know what it took to raise a mil or so for Doug Mackey? I wasn’t involved. But I saw it" Then a second tweet from him: "No. We have only one problem. The problem is: our billionaires are n—ers. They may be rich. But they’re n—er rich. The nature and function of their wealth is profoundly negrous. You can probably name exceptions. I can too. But in every way, the exceptions prove the rule"

Some utter nonsense, really just drivel, the conclusion of which is edgy racism - this is the essence of Curtis Yarvin, the purest distillation of who he is as a person.

An electrified train from Chicago to Milwaukee should be called the Hiawatta

Helsinki (pop 657,000) has not had a single traffic death during the last twelve months.

poliisi.fi/-/helsingin-...

Madison to Ashland is a thing of beauty! But fuck it, we have to fight fire with fire.

Here's a first draft of a 5-1-2 map, showing Sen 2022 partisanship. Barnes lost the 8th here by 5. Evers won the district by 0.4.

This also keeps the Black part of Milwaukee together and ensure Black representation