Lee Enterprises is in trouble.  It is based in Davenport, IA.  It publishes newspapers.  Its stock sold at $14 per share a year ago and closed recently at $0.41 per share.  It may not be able to continue its operations. 

So what.

We hear about the newspaper industry over and over it seems.  And virtually none of the news is good.  We are shifting our news gathering efforts and the results are that the news gets worse instead of better for newspapers, in general.  Now we learn about a relatively obscure company, to many at least, that is in the same fix in which many newspaper publishing companies find themselves.

So what.

Lee Enterprises has a big footprint in Wisconsin.  It owns half of Madison Newspapers Inc. and that means it impacts the Capital Times and The Wisconsin State Journal, the Daily Citizen in Beaver Dam, the Baraboo News Republic, and the Portage Daily Register.  It owns the La Crosse Tribune.  It owns the The Chippewa Herald in Chippewa Falls and The Journal Times in Racine.  It owns the Dunn County News in Menomonie, the Coulee News in West Salem, the Houston County News in neighboring La Crescent, MN and the Winona Daily News in neighboring Winona, MN.  It owns the Jackson County Chronicle in Black River Falls, The Chronicle in Melrose, the Onalaska/Holmen Courier-Life News, the Tomah Journal and Monitor Herald, the Vernon County Broadcaster in my old hometown of Viroqua, and the Westby Times.  It owns the Juneau County Star-Times in Mauston, and the Reedsburg Times-Press, and the Sauk Prairie Eagle in Sauk City.  It prints and distributes over 1,200,000 copies of various weekly and monthly publications featuring local advertising, homes for sale, vehicles for sale, and on and on.

This company in Davenport, IA has a tremendous footprint in our state and neighboring areas, and it could be on its way out of existence.

I know many people who value their weekly newspapers, and their 'shoppers' for they have received these pieces week in and week out for longer than they can remember, or they have plucked them off the 'free' stands at the supermarket or in the gas station.  Our family still subscribes to the Vernon County Broadcaster since we still have friends and relatives in that area and can stay somewhat in touch with their worlds in that manner.

We read the stories of failing newsprint-based organizations and don't think much about the impact their failure could have beyond the loss that would represent to employees and families and stockholders.  That loss is not to be diminished but it doesn't necessarily have a face.

This potential loss of a publishing company has a face, at least for me, and I know for hundreds of thousands of people where I grew up.  We are witness to a dramatic change in our country and the world from which some will never recover because they're not sufficiently tech savvy.

That's so what.

Obama Smoking 'Issue'...

I continue to see little references to the fact that President-Elect Barack Obama has the occasional cigarette, and musings about whether or not he will or even should quit that nasty habit.  (I can say that because I did smoke cigarettes... a lot...and quit many years ago.)

I am amused that these musings probably come from people who were and are adamantly opposed to smoking but who are now being 'forced' to make excuses for the person they favored in the recent election.  Some of the musings have been nothing short of farcical including the comments that he might well make better decisions if he can smoke a cigarette while pondering the weighty issues of the office he occupies come January 20th.

Will this slow the inexorable tide to rid our nation of any and all cigarettes and all other tobacco products, to close any business that has the audacity to think it is a private entity entitled to make decisions as to the customers it will serve, to outlaw all public use of a lawful agricultural product?  I suspect not.

Does anyone detect any hypocrisy?  Does it matter to anyone?  Is this the sound of one hand clapping? 

~~~

More Scientists Join Global Warming Dissenters...

Dr. Will Happer, award winning Princeton University Physicist says, "I am convinced that the current alarm over carbon dioxide is mistaken."  Happer, who was fired by former Vice President Al Gore in 1993, said of that incident, "I was told that science was not going to intrude on policy."

Additional dissenting scientists include:

• Dr. W.M. Schaffer, Ph.D. who is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona - Tucson.
• CNN Meteorologist Chad Meyers, a meteorologist for 22 years and certified by the American Meteorological Society.
• Engineer and Physicist J.K. "Jim" August, formerly of the U.S.Navy nuclear power program and former chair of professional standard committees in both the American Nuclear Society and the American Society of Mechanical Engineering.
• Biologist and Neuropharmacologist Dr. Doug Pettibone who has authored 120 scientific publications and holds ten patents and is a past member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• Meteorologist Tom Wysmuller, former weather forecaster at Amsterdam's Royal Dutch Weather Bureau.
• MIT Scientist Dr. Robert Rose, a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT with approximately fifty years of teaching experience.
• Climate researcher Dr. Craig Loehle with the National Council for Air and Stream Improvements and who has published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers.
• German Meteorologist Dr. Gerd-Rainer Weber, a Consulting Meteorologist.
• Atmospheric Scientist Robert L. Scotto, who has more than 30 years air quality consulting experience and a past member of the American Meteorological Society.
• Atmospheric Scientist Timothy R. Minnich who has more than thirty years experience in the design and management of a wide range of air quality investigations for industry and government.

The story line of a "consensus agreement" is simply not true as we have come to understand with the more than 650 dissenters who have now made themselves and their views known.  Those who are pushing for rapid adoption of the so-called "consensus" are doing so for fear they are being disproved more with every passing day.  They cannot afford to answer the criticisms since they're hypothesis is riddled with error.

Is there any real need to rush to judgment?  Or is this more a contrived need with those pushing the global warming issue recognizing that once unleashed, the movement will go on and on and on regardless of the validity of the movement.  These things take on a life of their own as we have seen in any number of previous government-backed programs, without regard for facts.

This debate is far too important and far too costly for us to make an incorrect judgment.  We will literally ruin the economy of the United States if this is permitted to take root, and we're already sliding down a very slippery slope created by other government meddling where well enough should've been left to be.

The use of the term "debate" is really a reach since there has been only a one-sided diatribe to date; there has been no true debate. 

The State of Wisconsin and Milwaukee County have been dueling over programs to aid the poor.  This involves the county call center over which the County Board and the County Exec have fought for some time, and it involves the awarding of a $2.4 million job training grant.

The players are Lee Holloway, County Board Chairman, and Michael Morgan, a top aide to Governor Doyle, and Karen Timberlake, head of the Department of Health and Human Services.  Morgan and Timberlake are appointees of Governor Doyle.

Another player is, obviously, County Exec Scott Walker, who has run against Governor Doyle before and seems poised to do so again.

Swirling through the mist is the effort to privatize the call center handling inquiries from people in the county who need assistance in one form or another.  Walker has pushed that at least twice and has been rebuffed by the board in both instances.  The state is threatening to penalize the county for transgressions, imagined or real, and it appears this will happen as it now stands.

The question that comes to mind is this:

Is this really about the people of Milwaukee County or is it about Doyle trying to set the stage to show people just how bad it would be if they voted to elect Walker as the next governor?

I suspect that it is the latter, and that, if the case, simply proves out the old saw that politics is always hardball.  I'm reminded of the title to the Clinton-era book called "Blood Sport".

Frankly, this brouhaha isn't just confined to state-level politics.  It can be found in varying degrees where ever elections are held to pick people for offices.  Too many of our elected officials view themselves as the 'anointed' and come to believe that any tactic is permissible so long as it isn't illegal (and some don't stop for that little inconvenience, either).

Those who suffer in all this back and forth are the people whose welfare was to be paramount.  Elected officials, and their appointees, too often are consumed with re-election.  They seem to believe that it is so important that they stay in office that doing whatever that requires is 'job number one'; people be damned if that becomes necessary.  Once on that slippery slope, the next such decision becomes easier and each subsequent such decision is more easily taken yet.

None of us can sell his or her soul just once.  Once sold, it becomes a commodity with which to barter for more power, more prestige and more money.  Our recent economic tumble can be viewed through this prism, as well.  How many of the 535 elected to go to Washington, D.C. have not yet been infected by this siren's song?  Simple answer:  Not enough!

Those who do not succumb to this 'disease' can be seen along the way; they too often represent the 'road kill' of politics.

Maybe this speaks to term limits.  Maybe this speaks to more aggressive prosecution.  Maybe this speaks to laws that are far more clearly laid out so as to eliminate the decision-making process for the honest.  Maybe we actually vote in our own image; but, I hope that we're simply more uninformed, and maybe overly trusting than we are corrupt when we cast ballots for some of our politicians.

Caring state or hardball politics?

Politicians, of every stripe, tend to make lots of promises in order to get our votes.  Once they are in office, or even as they prepare to assume the office, we begin to see and hear the back-tracking.  That has gotten into full swing already on the national level and is beginning on the state level.

We are being reminded now that the economic downturn may not end in the next year even though we may've been led to believe that while viewing campaign commercials and listening to speeches.  I recall hearing that this could very well be changing by June, 2009, for example.

Rep. Dave Obey (D-WI), who is among the most powerful members of the House of Representatives since he heads the House Appropriations Committee, is now advising us that "the downward momentum appears too strong to end the recession anytime soon."  I don't mean to pick on Mr. Obey but this is a classic example of the back-tracking he and others are now engaged in to protect the image of the Democrats.

While we elect presidents every four years and senators every six years, we elect members of congress every two years.  That means that we have a two-year election cycle, and explains why we seem to have perpetual campaigning going on and why it costs so much to run for an office.  We see a somewhat similar situation in Wisconsin since our members of the Assembly stand for election every two years.

Candidates are probably reminding themselves that they need be careful for what they wish, since there comes the time when pipers must be paid.

The mood of the people can change several times between now and the next national election in just under two years, but the politicians who find themselves in control cannot forget that they need to tamp down the expectations they raised during the campaign season.

This time it is the Democrats who are experiencing this, and that is true on both the state and national levels.  The Republicans have something behind which they can hide during this cycle; they have no control.  They lost control because the mood of the voters had changed markedly...and it will again.

I do not intend to take any sides in this piece, but to simply state the facts as I see them.  If you feel that I stray, please express your thoughts in a comment.

~~~~~~~~~~

We are about to inaugurate the 44th President of the United States.  He, in this case, has much on his platter and has already taken quite a few steps in a relatively short period of time.  All this would indicate that his will be a well-organized administration and that things we see transmitted by picks, statements, leaks and so on are things of which we should take note.  I doubt that there will be a lot of 'wasted motion' from the Obama administration.  That does not appear to be President-Elect Obama's style nor does it appear to be the style of Rahm Emanuel who will be the back-seat driver, and the outspoken commenter when occasions require.

Among his early challenges is that of our economy.  I am reminded daily of just how intertwined our economy is with that of the world at large.  I am reminded daily that there is no such thing as an invincible company or institution.  The most revered names of my time, such as GM and GE and FedEx and Ford are being pummeled in the marketplace.  For example, $1,000 invested in GM at the end of 2007 is now worth $184 according to the Wall Street Journal this morning.  Similarly, $1,000 put into 3M is now worth $690.  That same $1,000 put into GE is worth $460 today.  A similar investment in Alcoa is now worth $273.  All these are the big industrial entities with which I grew up. 

There have been some indications that the Obama administration may well take the view that more government control is the desirable course at this point in our country's existence.  That suggests that our industrial model may see more governmental control over the products that are manufactured, the services that are offered, and the relationships of one with the other.  The buzz word has been "socialism".  That may well be too strong a term, and it was obviously designed to give people pause for thought when introduced by those on the right side of the aisle.

It is valid, I think, that we recognize there will be winners and losers as the new administration assumes its position and begins to guide the country.  There have essentially been two classes of appointees announced so far.  There have been the more conservative announcements such as that concerning defense, and there have been some liberal announcements such as that concerning the EPA.  This suggests that we'll likely be on a dual track from January 20th forward, at least for the foreseeable future.

If I knew who/what would be winners, I'd try to align myself as much as possible; similarly, if I knew the losers, I'd try to take the proper defensive measures.  But, I know neither with certainty.  I can only speculate.  And my speculations lead me to expect some of the following:

• Health care will not be as severely remade as had earlier been indicated since there are many impediments to wholesale change, with the economy and the country's finances being the chief reasons I see.  We just don't have the money to do wholesale change.
• Organized labor will be a beneficiary given the solid support received from those quarters by the incoming administration.  The labor department pick appears as though it could've been hand-selected by labor, for example.
• Our country will be driven to be 'greener' whether or not that is indicated by thoughtful consideration.  The Browner selection virtually assures this direction.
• Education will continue to be driven from the top down rather than from the bottom up.  Choice and charter will not be in much favor so far as I can determine.
• Stimulus packages will be aimed at infrastructure projects thus being of significant benefit to the trades and unions, and with much longer payback periods for the rest of us.  Those projects will be as 'green' as possible given the Browner appointment.
• Foreign policy will be a bit softer around the edges than during the past eight years, I suspect.  We'll be more concerned with what others think of us and that will drive changes.

We're in for an interesting ride into the future, and there will be some new winners and some new losers.

Above all this, my one hope is that you and me will be winners as the citizens of this 'changed' America, and not just those who wield the power.

Time will tell.

The global warming 'debate' seems to be rather slanted judging from reports in the mainstream media.  We seldom hear from those who question the premise, and those few references tend, from my perspective, to be used in an effort to 'debunk' the debunkers.  (The references to UN IPCC that follow, by the way, are for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.)

The full report of the U.S. Senate Minority includes the dissent of more than 650 scientists, some of whom are former supporters of the premise, as contrasted with the 52 scientists who wrote the Majority report.  Snippets from the Minority report as shown on that website include:

• "I am a skeptic...Global warming has become a new religion." - Nobel Prize Winner for Physics, Ivar Giaever.
• "Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding, I can speak quite frankly...As a scientist I remain skeptical." - Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and formerly of NASA who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called "among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years."
• "Warming fears are the 'worst scientific scandal in the history'...When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists." - UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.
• "The IPCC has actually become a closed circuit; it doesn't listen to others.  It doesn't have open minds...I am really amazed that the Nobel Peace Prize has been given on scientifically incorrect conclusions by people who are not geologists." - Indian geologist Dr. Arun D. Ahluwalia at Punjab University and a board member of if UN-supported International Year of the Planet.
• "The models and forecasts of the UN IPCC 'are incorrect because they are only based on mathematical models and presented results at scenarios that do not include, for example, solar activity." - Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
• "It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don't buy into anthropogenic global warming." - U.S. Government Atmospheric Scientist Stanley B. Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA.
• "Even doubling or tripling the amount of carbon dioxide will virtually have little impact, as water vapour and water condensed on particles as clouds dominate the worldwide scene and always will." - Geoffrey G. Duffy, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of the University of Auckland, NZ.
• "After reading [UN IPCC chairman] Pachauri's asinine comment [comparing skeptics to] Flat Earthers, it's hard to remain quiet." - Climate statistician Dr. William M. Briggs, who specializes in the statistics of forecast evaluation, serves on the American Meteorological Society's Probability and Statistics Committee and as an Associate Editor of Monthly Weather Review.
• "For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming?  For how many years must cooling go on?" Geologist Dr. David Gee the chairman of the science committee of the 2008 International Geological Congress who has authored 130 plus peer reviewed papers, and is currently at Uppsala University in Sweden.
• "Gore prompted me to start delving into the science again and I quickly found myself solidly in the skeptic camp...Climate models can at best be useful for explaining climate changes after the fact." - Meteorologist Hajo Smit of Holland, who reversed his belief in man-made warming to become a skeptic, is a former member of the Dutch UN IPCC committee.
• "Many [scientists] are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears), without having their professional careers ruined." - Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden, formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh.
• "Creating an ideology pegged to carbon dioxide is a dangerous nonsense...The present alarm on climate change is an instrument of social control, a pretext for major business and political battle.  It became an ideology, which is concerning." - Environmental Scientist Professor Delagado Domingos of Portugal, the founder of the Numerical Weather Forecast group, has more than 150 published articles.
• "CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or another...Every scientist knows this, but it doesn't pay to say so...Global warming, as a political vehicle, keeps Europeans in the driver's seat and developing nations walking barefoot." - Dr. Takeda Kunihiko, vice-chancellor of the Institute of Science and Technology Research at Chubu University in Japan.
• "The [global warming] scaremongering has its justification in the fact that it is something that generates funds." - Award-winning Paleontologist Dr. Eduardo Tonni, of the Committee for Scientific Research in Buenos Aires and head of the Paleontology Department at the University of La Plata.

These are not crackpots; these are well-educated, thinking people who are calling out their peers.  These are people who are very concerned with what the Global Warming movement may succeed in causing to be wrought on the planet.

Could it really hurt to slow this rush to judgment even though Al Gore is fully invested, both psychically and financially, in the 'movement'?

How is it that a world that takes centuries to embrace religions has adopted this "religion" in a decade or less?

I was on the road this morning during Jay Weber's talk show and heard a discussion between a caller and Jay.  She had recently written a paper for a degree program in which she is/was enrolled and offered some of the things she had uncovered in her research.

The general discussion had to do with people abusing the various safety nets that have been created by government to assist people who have fallen on hard times.  It had begun with a discussion of obesity, spun off to people using food support programs who made poor choices in food purchased, and hit on school meal programs and the waste that occurs.

The caller talked about generational issues [her term] and episodic issues [my term because I can't recall her term] in the area of welfare and social service programs.  She mentioned that whole families have been on welfare programs to the point that many adults have never known anything but welfare.  This was contrasted with those people who have episodes over which they have little or no control and who, as the result, need the helping hand to get back on their feet and regain their status as productive members of society.

She spoke about the two things that a society needs in order to remain stable and viable:  those things were shame and pride.

I thought back to my youth when it was a most shameful thing for a young lady to become pregnant outside wedlock.  That stigma has essentially been gone for nearly so long as I can remember, and we have seen the resulting fatherless homes with the attendant issues that seem coincident in too many cases.

I thought back to my youth and recalled the social stigma that was attached to anyone who needed to "go on the dole" as it was described, even though they had fallen on hard times, and may have had no other choice.  There was even the propensity in that era for people to give back some of what they had received once they'd gotten reestablished in their lives simply because that helped them to restore their own pride in self..  This was in contrast to the abuses of the social safety nets that were being discussed on air this morning.

I wondered just when this all began and I wondered if we would ever see a return to those times of more innocence.  I believe this downward spiral had its genesis in the time when we saw two working parents become the norm thus meaning that many kids didn't get the kind of supervision that was present several decades ago.  This occurred after we lost the sense of neighborhood where I and my friends recognized that any adult in our neighborhood could and would discipline us if we were doing something we shouldn't have been doing and that our parents would learn all about it before supper time.  This occurred when we began to see 'racy' things on television and then watched as each network tried to win the race to the bottom of the barrel with their programming knowing that they'd win the ratings game if they were a little bit more risqué.

These were the precursors that led us to begin our long slide down the slippery slope.  This is when we began to relax our social mores.  This began when we lost sight of our need to be 'good' because that didn't carry any bad results as it had at one time.  This began when the occasional 'beer party' of my era gave way to the use of recreational drugs stronger than the beers.  It began when recreational drug use gave way to the harder stuff because the 'high' was better.  It became all about us and our base needs in way too many instances.

We pay the price for those degradations in our society.  We have role models today that wouldn't have dared expose themselves as those of today do for fear they'd have been severely reprimanded.

The good old days were really the good old days.  People had pride in self and they felt shame to a degree that simply is seldom present in too many of our citizens today.

When will all this change?  Not until we restore those values that we have lost over time.  Not until we recognize that the 'golden rule' was really the right way to conduct ourselves.  Not until our political role models give us something to which we can say, "I'd like to be more like that."  Not until we restore the importance of the two-parent family where ever that is possible.  Not until we somehow break the generational issues that don't even seem to raise many eyebrows today.

I fear that will be a good long time to come, and I am saddened for I remember a better time...a simpler time, but a better time.  For all our getting, we seem to have gotten further away from those things that should be guiding us in our daily lives, and we seem too often to have thrown our lot in with the "I want everything and I want it now" group.

I almost wish I hadn't listened to that program this morning...but I did and I'll be thinking about all the ramifications for some time to come.

Then...I thought about people I know and how they are working to raise their children with real senses of values that are basic to our society's needs.  I thought about the younger generation that is more devoted to helping others than I recall my generation being at any time.  I thought about the great people of Germantown who volunteer their time with no thought of getting anything in return.  I thought about what I think is a resurgence of faith-based initiatives.

I feel much better now that I've thought about those who have demonstrated their value systems throughout their adult lives.  There really is hope after all.  Maybe tomorrow will be that return to 'the good old days'!  I guess it is up to you and to me if it is to happen.

I was struck as I read the morning Wall Street Journal with two items appearing on page A2:

California adopted the nation's toughest, most far-reaching greenhouse gas emissions policy yesterday.  It likely will further exacerbate the economic plight in that state by placing new burdens costing untold dollars on the state's businesses while also creating the vaunted cap-and-trade program that is to become effective by 2012.  That will create the market for businesses to sell their capacities for creation of greenhouse gases to others who need more capacity to do the same.  Greenhouse gases are thought to trap heat rising up from the earth, thus adding to the "global warming" that is so far an unproved theory.

At the same time, Louisiana saw an 8" snowfall in Amite and had an inch of snow on the ground in New Orleans, adding to the apparent invalidity of the movement.

All this became even more frightening to me as I noted that Carol Browner has been designated to be the new "energy czar" for President-Elect Obama's cabinet.  She established herself as head of the EPA in President Clinton's cabinet and left havoc in her wake.

We are in for a real thrilling ride of environmentalism over the next four or eight years.  The excesses will be mind boggling.

I don't think I'm going to like the idea of a "czar" running a range of agencies that she believes have enough legal standing already to be able to mandate anything she decides ought be implemented.  The "change" could be devastating to an already frail economy.

There is debate over whether or not the "trickle-down" theory of economics functions as advertised.  I have a friend whom we'll refer to as John Jones for the purposes of this Blog since he prefers to remain anonymous.  He feels that he can attest to the fact that "trickle-down" is alive and well.

John Jones is a small business owner.  He is a professional and sells his services to clients.  That process often finds him traveling and sometimes traveling for several weeks at a time.  This creates, as you can imagine, some pretty hefty travel bills by the time flights, hotels and meals are all totaled up.

John has been a user of his American Express card in good standing for many years, and has had no need for a second card.  The typical AMEX card, as you may know, is not really a credit card in that it requires full payment by the due date that shows on each and every billing statement.  American Express is known to not be very understanding when one misses that due date, so John Jones has been quite meticulous about being sure his payment has been made on a timely basis.  John's card was set at a maximum amount of $10,000 and that had worked well for John over the many years he has been using it.

John tried to use his AMEX card a few weeks ago and was shocked to learn that his card was declined.  Fortunately, this usage occurred at a gas station and he had sufficient cash to pay for the gasoline.  When he called the American Express customer service group, he indicated that his card was well within the limits set by AMEX and that he was within the time period (set by them) for his payment to have been made.

He was even more shocked to learn that his $10,000 card limit had been arbitrarily lowered to $2,000.  He hadn't been notified of this and told them so.  They said that their company policy recently (apparently for about a year) has been to review all accounts and to re-establish credit limits based on the analysis of patterns of use.  Since his card had typically not been at the amount he was carrying at the time, they had decided he didn't need the $10,000 limit, so they thought they'd lower it.  In effect, AMEX was trying to protect itself since it's customers have been getting slower at paying as the economy sours, and AMEX was simply cutting future losses by limiting card exposure one customer at a time.

As stated earlier, John Jones is a small business person and isn't made of money.  He is accustomed to paying his bills and most of his clients are accustomed to paying their bills.  But, they take the full 30 days and sometimes a little more.  As the economy tightens, they are likely to take 45 days or maybe even 60 days.  Some may falter and have to go through the process of bankruptcy.

So, John is now faced with having to make some decisions.  He may need more capital put into his company.  He may need to tighten his credit terms.  He may need to insist on prepayment of some engagements if those are going to be extensive and sure to cost much more than the $2,000 limit, etc. 

John's clients may tell him that they'll find another professional with similar credentials to handle their business.  They may simply use his services much less than today.  This is representative of the "trickle-down" theory of economics, and it really has an impact on each of us whether or not we recognize that. 

We're not crying huge tears for John.  He's a big boy and he knows how the world works.  But, I thought it very interesting to hypothesize about what I would've felt in a similar situation.  What would happen if you or I were traveling on an extended trip only to learn that we can't get a hotel room in New York or Los Angeles or where ever?  Remember that hotels reserve a portion of your credit line for the costs they expect you might run up when you check in or even when you make your reservation, if in the near-term.  What would have happened if a large meal for several members of the client firm had been consumed and then you learned you couldn't cover the cost?  How embarrassing!  And, would that client have remained a client?

I'll be sure to review my credit limit on each monthly AMEX bill since I'm also a user.  I'll try to be sure I have some other alternative 'plastic' just in case.  And I'll continue to try to pay my bills on a timely basis even as the economy softens.

And, I'll continue to be a firm believer in "trickle-down" economics...at least on the ill effects of "trickle-down" economics.

Two different classroom experiences in the past two days have convinced me that I am too naive for my own good.

~~~~~~~~~~

I've shared that I am involved in this year's class of the Germantown Citizen Police Academy.  Our session on Wednesday evening concerned drugs, and I came away from that class shocked at what I had seen.  I do not want to be alarmist, but we have a problem here in the Germantown area as do virtually all communities across Wisconsin.  The class presented was a very shortened version of one that is delivered by Cpl. Dan Delmore to officers in our department as well as in departments requesting his services.

We saw graphic evidence of what people use, how they use it, and what the consequences of that use are for those people.  There are, obviously, consequences for citizens, in general, since these habits have to be supported...and that results in crimes.  I was very surprised at the things that are common in grocery stores and gas stations and other retail outlets that can and are being used in an abusive manner by students as well as adults.  As I said, I was too naive for my own good.

I have raised my children long ago, and I am happy that this was the case.  It was much less threatening then than it is today.  If I were raising children today, I would, knowing what I now know, be very active in my supervision of their activities while trying to not be too controlling, of course.  That is a difficult line to walk, and I'm sure it is fraught with hurt feelings and anger as our children make their ways into adulthood.  But, it is something that needs be monitored.  It is something that needs be discussed with the children so that there is an awareness.

The D.A.R.E program that Officer Ray Borden is involved with is a big step in the right direction.  The School Officer program is a big step in the right direction.  But those, in and of themselves, are insufficient.  Us parents have to be involved, and that has to be happening on a 24/7/365 basis.

~~~~~~~~~~

The second class experience was yesterday during a continuing education course that is required for me for a state license I hold.  We listened to an Investigator and an Assistant District Attorney from the Waukesha DA's office discuss the issue of identity theft.  They shed light on a murky area that I knew existed but about which I was ill-informed.

According to their information, over 700,000 people are affected by identity theft every year in the United States.  The five common types of identity theft include:

• Driver's License
• Social Security Number
• Medical Information
• Character and/or Criminal
• Financial

Identity theft is a felony in Wisconsin and is vigorously prosecuted whenever possible.  We heard of people who have had second mortgages made on their own dwelling and who were unaware of that until they were hit with legal action because the bad guy was no longer paying the monthly amounts due.  This case involved something beyond $20,000.

Others have been the subject of arrest warrants for things done by people using their identities.  Others have seen their credit ratings destroyed by multiple credit card accounts that were opened and then never paid after large amounts were run up by the bad guys.

One of the things that hit me was the fact that there are people who do nothing but cruise neighborhoods every day filching mail from mailboxes looking for paper checks being mailed to the resident, or gathering all the 'pre-approved' credit card applications, or watching for the red flag to be raised indicating that there might be a bill payment sitting there with all the bank and checking account information.

Phishing scams are designed to gather private information to be used illegally.  Those are most often tied to the Internet, but some can be done by telephone, too.  Credit card numbers are available to employees in retail establishments or may be part of the junk tossed into a dumpster.  Dumpster diving is often employed by identity thieves.

Some of their suggestions were:

• never give your credit card to the waiter or waitress and instead take the bill to the cashier.
• never use the mailbox outside your house to mail outbound items.
• maintain a credit card with a minimal credit limit for use in Internet transactions.
• check your credit card balances and transactions several times monthly over the Internet to catch irregular items as quickly as possible.
• always cover or conceal items being left in your vehicle and lock the vehicle.

The one thing that hit me between the eyes was the fact that they see more identity theft being perpetrated by a relative of the victim than any other single cause.  I wondered if some of those thefts were as the result of the relative having a drug habit needing to be supported?

~~~~~~~~~~

As you can see, I was plainly too naive for my own good.  I hope you aren't.

And, we're going to get 'change' if the Democrats have their way...and that seems likely.

Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) retained his seat in the senate yesterday so the Democrats will not have the magic number necessary to absolutely control the senate.  The outcome in Minnesota is still somewhat in question, but, at the rate that new votes for the Democrat candidate are being 'found', I suspect that he'll prevail.

The problem with Republicans in the senate has always been the number who have worked hard to earn the right to be called by that ugly name, "RINO"; "Republicans In Name Only".  Those people are still there and they are still beyond the ability of the Republican leadership to 'control'.  Even though the Democrats will technically be unable to override filibuster attempts, the RINOs will often tip the scales by bolting from the 'party line'.  Those three or four people tend to be more liberal in their thinking than conservative.

So, we are going to see the 'change' we voted for in November.  The only questions remaining, in my mind, are just what that 'change' will be, how quickly it will occur, and how much it will cost.

The magic "first 100 days" comes into play so far as answering the question of how quickly change will occur.

The Democrat leaders are busy shaping what they'll propose, developing the time lines for each, and determining whether or not they'll go for a few all-encompassing bills or take smaller bills up, pass those and bask in the victories during the course of those first 100 days.

The likely items include the vaunted "economic stimulus plan", a bill requiring electric utilities to be using renewable sources for at least 15% of their power by 2020, a big push on funding and hurdle-clearing for embryonic stem cell programs and increases in the funding and reach of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

After the meeting between governors and the president-elect yesterday, I presume we'll also see some kind of state-directed stimulus programs proposed, possibly as part of the overall stimulus package.

Change is around the corner.  The Democrats understand that they will be gaged by what they accomplish in the coming two-year period, so far as the elections that hit two years down the road for the entire house of representatives and for one-third of the senate seats in Congress.

As always, these are interesting times in which we live.

We are regularly reminded that we are part of a world that has significant threats.  Regardless of who backed this group of terrorists, we need to admit...on both sides of our political aisle...that terrorism is very real, that it is and will remain persistent, and that we must go wherever required to thwart it.

The bodies are still being removed from the ten or twelve places that were attacked, but we know that hundreds were slaughtered.  Apparently some were slaughtered because they were Americans, some because they were British and some because they were Jews.

Terrorism is terrorism no matter who supports it and no matter what its motivations.  We cannot permit it to continue to exist in this world that we call civilized.  Those committing acts of terror may be deprived of much, but that gives them no right, divine or secular, to take other lives simply to make a point...and to strike more fear in the hearts of people around the world.

It is time for the world to rise up and stop this needless bloodshed.  I recognize that there exists much need and deprivation across the globe, but I refuse to accept terrorism as the legitimate method for protest...no matter the feelings of the aggrieved.

Our political system creates winners and it creates losers.  It has done that since there was a political system.  It does that no matter the party in power.  We are watching the reshuffling of the seats of power in Washington now, and that is a great thing to watch since it did not involve a military coup or the forceful overthrow of one regime in favor of another.

The winners and losers are being resorted as the result of the most recent election.  It is interesting to me that I see many of the same faces that I recall seeing over the course of time.  They seem to ebb and flow almost like the tides.  They may be "out of favor" for awhile and then they're back "in favor".  In their cases, there is relatively little difference between the two except that there may be more prestige when they're "in favor".  Money always seems to flow in their direction although it can be diminished when they are "in favor" if that means they hold an office in the government of our country.

We shouldn't anguish over their plight for too long since they seem to make up for any financial duress suffered when they 'retire' from the government position.

Government employees are adept at remaining winners.  Some in Milwaukee County walk away with a million dollars in their pocket at retirement.  Few are ever laid off even though that threat hovers every once in awhile.  All have solid benefit programs.  Few seem to be overworked.  It seems almost impossible to "privatize" any of these positions as we see from the trials and tribulations of Scott Walker as Milwaukee County Executive

Some winners seem adept at remaining winners almost without regard to the party in control.

Some losers seem adept at remaining losers, too.

The perennial losers of whom I am thinking are us...the taxpayers.  It seems we are always coming out on the 'short end of the stick', doesn't it?

Just over the course of three days in November, we learned why we are in the column called "losers".

MATC was given the seemingly perpetual right to tax us to the tune of at least $5.7 million every year since we are blessed to be part of that taxing district.  Us taxpayers took another one in the shorts!

Governor Doyle was quoted as saying "the pain must be shared" in speaking of the current $5.4 billion expected shortfall in the next biennial budget.  We know to whom he was speaking...us taxpayers!

Then to add insult to injury, three gentlemen wrote an article called "How to raise money for our state" that was published on JSOline on November 22nd.  I tote up the great ideas they espoused:

• the Doyle proposal to increase taxes on oil companies and hospitals to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars
• a sales tax increase of 1% that would raise something on the order of $800 million per year
• the extension of the sales tax to non-medical professional services like tax preparation and accounting services that would raise some $300 million per year
• the extension of the sales tax to business services that would raise $230 million
• closing business tax "loopholes" for companies doing business in and out of Wisconsin (so-called "combined reporting") that would generate an estimated "several hundred" million dollars a year.
• elimination of something that is called the "domestic production deduction" that would 'only' impact companies with over $100 million in assets and that would yield "at least $40 million"
• changing the taxing of businesses from that of taxing profits to a system where business receipts would be taxed instead (so that a business not making a profit would still pay taxes) which would generate some $400 million
• increasing the top rate on personal income tax from 6.75% to 7.75% ( a nearly 15% increase) which would raise another $180 million
• taxing all capital gains thus adding some $280 million to the treasury
• restoring the tax on the first 50% of social security earnings to get another $100 million
• elimination of a thing called the "itemized deduction credit" that would 'only' hit people earning more than $100,000 per year thus generating $320 million
• bringing back the tax on inheritances that would generate another $95 million
• and, last but certainly not least, restoring the annual inflation indexing of our already highest in the nation tax on gasoline that would bring in another $32 million for every penny of gas tax (that would mean something in the range $1 billion annually if the gas tax is now $0.30 per gallon)

I certainly appreciate their attempt to be helpful but I doubt that our governor and the senate and the assembly majorities need any help to raise taxes.

What is forgotten, ALWAYS, is that it is us losers...us taxpayers...who pay every penny of every tax levied in the state in one form or another.

Taxes always find their way to the lowest rung on the economic ladder, and that is us, the consumer and the taxpayer.

There certainly are winners and losers.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could experience being a winner once in awhile?

And...isn't it amazing that we never learn how much could be saved if some of the jobs would be eliminated, and if some of the benefits would be reduced, and if some of the massive 'give-away' programs were curtailed?

Yup.  I'm hallucinating, all right!

Hedged promises...

Promises are made in every election campaign, and especially in presidential election campaigns.  We're told that one candidate will do this for us and the other will do that for us.  We are made promise after promise, almost on the order of a 'can you top this' game.

Today, as the president-elect makes his preparations for the assumption of office, there is a decided 'tamping down' of his promises.  Those promises are said to have totaled some $135 billion per year.  Those are the promises that can be specifically identified.  There are another 'passel of promises' that we'll never be able to price because they were implied to special interest groups and/or made in somewhat more private settings as deals were cut.

Already, we see and hear that some are "shocked" that their pet things are being relegated to the back of the line so far as promises to be kept.  There is a very simple thing that all should remember, and that is this:  If you vote for a person on the basis of promises made that will favor you or your special interest group, you need to step back and reassess just how you'll make voting decisions in the future.  After the campaigning is done and reality begins to reestablish itself, we realize that not every promise will be kept, that some will but they won't resemble what you expected and that some will result in nothing like what you expected they would.

Today, there simply isn't $135 billion available for the grandiose promises made on the trail to the White House.  And, even the money that may be available will be allocated according to lobbying and the back-room deals in Congress.  Your needs and my needs be damned; there are more important things that have to be accomplished...such as the payoffs to those who got the next president to this point.  And that is the case no matter which ticket won the popular vote.

Character would be a much better barometer with which to gage decisions than promises which were probably only intended to gather a few more votes.  I hope all of us voted on that basis...but I am skeptical.

Bail-out expectations...

It is amazing to me, although it shouldn't be at my age, to see the length of the lines of those special interests seeking a government bail-out.  The Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae sub-prime mortgage debacle (Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, and Charles Schumer continue to try to hide from their special culpability in all this) pointed out just how shaky the economy was.  That proved to be more than the economy could swallow without massive corrections.

And, it showed the truly global nature of the economy...every country was in a very tenuous position economically and all are now in the tank...except maybe for China and maybe for India.  Even the oil sheiks are pinching pennies or whatever it is they pinch.

Enter stage-left...

The likely actors were lined up before we knew the magnitude of the debacle to come.  The investment banks, the insurance companies, the commercial banking industry, the Wall Street stock barons, the hedge fund managers; all were waiting for their piece of the bail-out.  So some $700 billion was thrown into a thing called TARP and the Treasury Secretary, Paulson, was given the go ahead to steer us through.  Of course, Congress began almost immediately to try to seize the tiller and steer where it thought it could garner the greatest political gains.

Detroit has been in shambles, and that happened long before the most recent economic decline; and that is in no small part courtesy of both federal and state politics and excessive payroll costs, both labor and executive.  The auto makers were 'given' $25 billion for "green" manufacturing change-overs.  That money has yet to be dispensed, by the way, as is so often the case when Congress does something like this.

The Democrats are now working their behinds off to force the Bush administration to move ahead on the next major phase of the 'bail-out' by trying to get a new hand-out through in the coming "lame duck" session starting tomorrow.  The obvious reason behind this is simple, they can then point to one more "failure" on the part of 'Bush 43' when this all goes down the toilet...which is most likely where it'll go.

The Republicans, of course, are trying to sit this one out by saying that the $25 billion of "green" money ought be the bridge that Detroit is seeking, to force the Democrats to finally have to show some political courage of their own come January 20th.  It would make the Republicans happier if they were able to paint the Dems with the brush that had been reserved for President Bush and the Republicans.

Underlying all this action on the 'stage', to which I referred earlier, is the problem you and me are facing as members of the audience for this multiple act thriller/dark comedy.  Yet again, we see that politics trumps everything in Washington, D.C. 

Our representative democracy is the greatest form of government ever seen on this earth, but it sure has its seamy and vulgar sides...and we seem to be witnessing most of it today.

And you and me are the only people who can make that less a problem as we cast our future votes.  We must demand better...and we must punish those who disobey our demands by sending them home!

A Journal Sentinel editorial this morning implored us to take this time to read or re-read the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to our Constitution.  That seemed a very good idea during this time of political transition and on a day honoring veterans who have served to defend our constitutional rights.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of the certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

I find myself in a contemplative mood following the election last Tuesday.  I was not a Barack Obama fan but he is our president-elect and will guide us, in conjunction with the Congress, over at least the next four years.  He is my president-elect and, as he said during his press conference yesterday, "We have only one president at a time."  I really want him to be successful!

There were three articles on the Opinion pages of the week-end Wall Street Journal this morning that I found particularly appropriate in these days of transition.  Maybe you'll find them such as well.

The first, was Jim Towey's piece titled Why I'll Miss President Bush.

The second was Jason Riley's The Weekend Interview with Rahm Emanuel, the newly selected Chief of Staff for President-Elect Barack Obama.

And, finally, an editorial concerning my favorite rising star, Rep. Paul Ryan.

I hope you enjoy these items.

Now that the dust of the election returns has begun to settle, the talk of the governance approach of our new president has taken flight.  I have read several pieces that discuss this subject and heard several discussions on the same subject.  The Wall Street Journal had an excellent editorial today titled Obama's Real Opposition.

The subject of that piece was the old line liberals who will be pushing and pulling President Obama as they wish, to make him decide as they wish him to decide.

There are many who believe that President Obama will actually move to the center left as he takes office and begins to face the daily decisions required of him.  There are also many who remind us of his very liberal voting record and suggest, therefore, that he'll govern from the left or far left.

We are reminded of those with whom President Obama will interact:

• David Obey from our own state who wants to slash the defense budget to get money for his social entitlements.
• Barney Frank who recently said that he thought defense could be reduced by 25%.
• Chuck Schumer who continues to push banks to lend more money even after being heavily involved in causing the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae problems due to similar tactics.
• George Miller who heads the House Education and Labor Committee who is talking about 'nationalizing' 401K and other private pension plans to free up all that money for other purposes.
• Jim McDermott who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee and who seems to like Mr. Miller's ideas.
• John Conyers who loves the idea of the Europeans indicting President Bush and Bush officials for 'war crimes'.
• Henry Waxman who wants to grab the Chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from Rep. John Dingell so that he can really push the global warming agenda.
• Pete Stark who believes that a Canadian-style single payer health care system is exactly right for us.
• Rep. Pelosi whom we presume will retain her leadership post will continue down the very liberal path she has trod to now.
• Sen. Reid whom we presume will continue in his leadership role, although he could find that a difficult task given his miscues so far.

These men are well-seasoned congressional combat veterans who know the inner workings much better than does the new President Obama.  They will stop short of nothing to take advantage of what they see as a 'significant mandate' from the United States electorate.  They are running short of time in which to make the country over into the image they believe is best for us all; they will not be anxious to slow their pace simply because a new president wants that to happen.

President-Elect Obama has seemed to recognize this in his appointment of Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D from Chicago) as his new Chief of Staff.  This is the single most powerful position in any White House.  The person in this role manages the President; he determines who the President will see and what he will hear; he selects those on the staff who will be granted limited access to the President; he will play a very large part in determining the programs the new president will pursue and the order in which various initiatives will occur.  Everything goes through the Chief of Staff.  Everything.

Emanuel is a rough and tumble Chicago-style politician.  He is liberal.  He is going to be a tough Chief of Staff.  The battles between him and those in Congress who believe they deserve the President's ear will be legend before this tour of duty is finished.

I suspect that our new president will be pushed to the left of center very quickly whether or not he wishes to be in that position.  The question in my mind is just how far left of center he'll end up after the first hundred days that seem to be so magical.

He will have inherited a terrible economy and a country with so much debt that it will be able to do only limited things in the way of new programs.  Against that backdrop stand the legions such as described above who simply don't care about this, that or the other.  They are intent on getting their way, on making their imprint seen.

This Congress has it within its power to limit this new president to a single term, as was the case with President Carter, if it forces the new president too far to the left and pushes too hard for what it thinks is now being demanded by a country they believe to be left-leaning like themselves.

I am overloaded with politics!  This election for president has been going on seemingly forever.  Obviously, it has been going on for nearly two full years.  The two final candidates have spent nearly $1 billion between the two of them.  They have filled the airwaves with television and radio advertisements and they have filled the newspapers and mailboxes with written advertisements.

In addition to the presidential campaigns, we have been inundated with congressional campaigning and local senate and assembly campaigning.  Telephones have been ringing with 'get out the vote' campaigns and with 'robo calls'.  Lawn signs have seemed to grow for the past three or four months.  Early voting has been going on for a month or better.

I have watched the 'talking heads' tell me what I should be thinking until I want to throw something through my television screen.  I have seen the Saturday Night Live videos over and over again.  I have seen the late night show clips over and over again.

I have listened to the 'pollsters' explain this and that trying to convince us as to their method's accuracy.  The plethora of polls has produced varying numbers for months on end.  If there are six polls released in a day, there six different sets of numbers.  Exit polls were even wrong last time around.  Why should I put money on pre-election polls?

The candidates seem unable to even agree with themselves.  One tax plan has three or four different versions in as many weeks.  Amazingly, each political party is to blame for everything bad that has happened according to the other party.  Washington insiders dress up to appear on the Sunday morning talk shows and spew the day's 'talking points' as if they are gospel.

We are given the treatment befitting idiots by both parties.  If we are so dumb as to fall for their lines, why in the world are we given a vote?  We would obviously not even be able to find a polling place if we were susceptible to their diatribes.

Political activist organizations are falling all over themselves to sign up new voters.  Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck get registered and we are to feel assured that every vote cast is a legitimate vote from a legitimate voter.

Senators running for re-election are convicted of accepting bribes.  Congressmen who took money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac like it was going out of style are now sitting in Washington meeting rooms with the look of the pious telling us why it was someone else's fault that our economy took a nose dive.

Re-election to office is so nearly automatic that we citizens ought to be examined carefully to assure full mental faculties before we permitted to get close to a ballot box.

I am tired and it isn't even election day yet.  I am disgusted with what we have permitted to happen in our country.  I am disgusted that so many of my fellow citizens seem to fall for the largest promise of good things if we'll simply elect the right people from the right party.  Elect me and I'll give you this; no, elect me and I'll give even more than he will!

Have we lost our senses completely?  Do we really think that government creates anything?  Is it possible that we can all get a tax cut, especially when tax reductions from one administration will be ended?  Is it really possible for 95% of Americans to receive a tax cut?  How is it that we can reduce taxes when we have the national debt that we have?  How is it that we permit ourselves to be hoodwinked on a regular two year and four year cycle?  Should we really end our foreign trade deals?  Will we be able to have what we want when others don't get what they want?  How will we keep our economy moving when we refuse to recognize that we can't possible get to the level of greenhouse gas emissions the various players are telling us they'll get us to in the time span allotted by their plans?  Where do we think the money for such programs is coming from?

Are we nuts?

I have political overload, and I fear it isn't going to end on the evening of November 4th

The Journal Sentinel released its report for the latest period and the news was a continuation of the trend that has been apparent for many newspapers nationwide.

The Sunday edition dropped 3.8% and the weekday edition dropped 3.9%.  My family has become one of those that dropped the weekday edition at our renewal a week or so ago.  I now find my daily news using JSOnline during the day and settle in with a lap full of newspaper on Sundays.  I have had the tactile sensation of a newspaper in my hands for nearly so long as I can remember, and I confess that I miss that experience.  As stated in a much earlier Blog, I delivered the La Crosse Tribune for several years while growing up near that city so I'm accustomed to having smudged fingertips from the newsprint.

I was frankly surprised during a recent meeting of Bloggers when I asked the group nearest me about their subscriptions.  I was in the minority since most had already dropped their print editions.

The newest iteration of JSOnline is improved and more easily navigable from my perspective.  I suspect that more and more people will make the decision to discontinue their daily print edition.  The users of JSOnline continue to increase and the new version should assist that migration...if that is desired by the Journal Sentinel organization.  They find themselves in a bit of a fix.  On the one hand, they want to be in a leadership position as the shift continues.  On the other hand, they need to find ways to boost their revenue stream to offset the loss of subscription money and advertising dollars, and the advertising doesn't seem to have kept pace with the shift from print to electronic media.  Part of that is obviously about the economy, but to what effect may be hard to measure.  If GM and Ford and Chrysler continue to become shadows of themselves, and if their major dealers either go out of business or downsize, advertising dollars will get more and more scarce.

I believe that much of this movement has been driven by the rising prices caused in large part by the price of oil and all things related.  Newsprint is among the real cost increase issues for publishers.&n