Neighboring

If you get a chance to see the new Josie Heights housing development near 12th and Lloyd in Milwaukee, please take some time to do it.  It's a very small area, and very few homes have been built, but the stormwater management design is very impressive.  Driving over interlocking permeable pavers is pleasant experience.  It would be wonderful to have such design elements in our community.

You don't have to spend much time in Shorewood before you realize that it is a bastion for politically liberal Americans.  It seems that many residents find great joy and comfort in every "Impeach Bush," "War Is Not the Answer" sign they see.  Perhaps every block, and definitely every street has such signs.  And recently, "Hillary" and "Obama" signs have begun to appear.  Many in Shorewood will be shocked once the first "McCain for President" sign sprouts up, and then, that shock might actually turn to worry and then anxiety when there is one Republican sign for every three or four Democrat sign.  Alas, when election day comes and all of the Shorewoodians line up to vote, we soon realize that our worry was groundless.  Shorewood will remain 80% democratic.

(I have to admit I was very proud of my little village when it voted against the marriage amendment a little while back.  I was happy to live in a place where it was ok to be gay--very happy to have my children grow up in a community that accepted gay families.  But, this is probably a topic for another day!) 

So, what does this village need?  Yes, a Rosebud Draft House Cinema, and yes, a bowling alley.  But, what the village really needs in more Republicans.  We really do.  Aside from my family's holidays, my children do not get all that much exposure to Republicans.  We say we value diversity, but how can we claim to be diverse and be 80-90% Democratic?

The real reason to have more Republicans is the fact that they have more babies.  There families are bigger and that would be very good for our school enrollments.  So, how can we attract more Republicans?  I'll take any suggestions.

 I felt something very strange earlier this morning.  When I got up, I immediately checked to see if there had been any earthquakes in the midwest.  Indeed, there was one recorded right around the time I woke up feeling some strange vibration under my entire body and hearing the blinds vibrate in a subtle, but strange way.  You can get some more information about Shroewood's earthquake here:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/

You can even report that you felt it.  I was the first from the 53211 zip code to report it.  I hope there are a few more, otherwise I'll just feel like a crazy man.

Recently, I witnessed some people playing hockey in the tennis courts at Atwater elementary school.  So, these are the sports I've seen people--both kids and adults--play in this particular public space:

• baseball
• basketball
• softball
• tennis
• lacrosse
• soccer
• football
• cricket
  

It's great to see a public space being utilized by people with so many different interests.  Perhaps the best thing is that most of these games are just informal, unorganized pick-up games--no coaches, no refs, no fans, no scoreboards.  People just doing it for fun.  Sometimes I think people think kids don't play that way anymore.  They do, and it's refreshing to see.
 

There certainly are more people out now that the weather is warming up.  There have already been tennis players (even though there still are nets up!), basketball players and cricket players using the Atwater Elementary School grounds.  What a joy to see!

This evening out walking my dog, I was so pleased to encounter two drivers within a two minute period of time entering and exiting parking lots-- just moving at reasonable speeds, completely aware that pedestrians are around.  They both stopped to let me pass.  No rush, no fuss.

How human! 

I'm in my car more than two hours a day.  This rather ironic because I HATE cars and I was commuting by bike most days before I started working so far away.  Of course, my wife has reminded me how much she would love to have two hours a day to herself.  I'm lucky, I guess.  Another interesting aspect of this is the notion (American, but not exclusively so) that cars give you freedom.  I feel much more like a prisoner driving a car and I would definitely prefer sitting on a train with the freedom to read, do some work or maybe even take a nap

Anyway, I am challenged by trying to make this time as pleasant as possible.  In theory, I like radio.  However, the quality of Milwaukee radio hasn't improved much since I was a teenager.  Back then, it was absolutely horrible.  It was so bad that I remember writing a lovely extended metaphor in my English class when I was a sophomore or junior in high school.  I believe I said radio in Milwaukee was a bland subdivision with one house and street looking pretty much like the next, which is made much worse by the fact that the prototype of these streets and these homes were dull and uninspired to begin with.  Radio in Milwaukee was a perfect example of potential lost.  When I was a kid, I was, of course, mostly concerned about FM music stations.  As an adult, I have become a pretty devout WUWM listener.  I have wondered to other places, including AM, but the present low quality of radio in Milwaukee is remarkably similar to the low quality I experienced more than 20 years ago.  Besides WUWM, WMSE still provides stimulating and entertaining programming.  Indeed, this was the case more than 20 years ago as well.  I've claimed many times that WMSE was a life-affirming force for me as a teen.  It continues to serve a similar purpose these days.  The biggest problem with WMSE and my commute is the station's weak signal.  Often, bu the time I reach Port Washington, the station begins to fade.  Another bright spot is WYMS, Radio Milwaukee.  There are often some entertaining surprises being offered by this relatively new station. 

Anyway, what I really wanted to share was a fantastic online resource offered by the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium.  They offer downloadable audio books to borrow to many (all?) Wisconsin library card holders.  This has been an amazing resource for me.  There selection is somewhat limited, and many of their selections are often checked out, but I can always find something of interest.  The website is here:

    http://dbooks.wplc.info/69D287BA-5672-43C8-A512-E0509F2AC03C/10/278/en/Default.htm

There are some technical issues to consider.  I put the books on my Creative Zen mp3 player.  This was a relatively new acquisition for me, and it works pretty well for the purposes of listening to these books.  To my knowledge, the files on the website are not compatible with Ipods. 

So, listening to some books, some music and a little bit of public radio, the time given to me for my commute is beginning to fulfill its potential. 

I had a job interview yesterday.  The situation is a little strange.  I'm actually doing much of the job that I have applied for, but in academia, there is always a committee and a search and several interviews and all that.  Anyway, I'm just one among several candidates for the position.  The interview went ok.  It was a bit odd because I was talking to people with whom I have been working for about a year and a half.  I think the discussion started to go toward some interesting places, but it was an interview, so it was a bit controlled.

Anyway, one question that was asked was "Do you think you will move to Sheboygan if you are offered this position?"  Now, my history with my present employer is a little complicated.  I was actually offered a position there once, turned it down and then offered the position again about a year later.  At that time I accepted.  During the intervening year, however, I sold my house in Washington Heights and bought a house in Shorewood (I actually bought the house first and then sold they other house, which is significant because doing things in this order had some pretty serious financial consequences.).  Also, the real estate market began to tank right in the middle of these transactions.  Anyway, the question, of course, is reasonable.  It is a little crazy to drive 65 minutes one way to work when I could buy a much cheaper home and have a much shorter commute.  My answer to the question, though, was "No, I don't think I'll move to Sheboygan anytime soon" (or something like that).  There are financial reasons for this, of course.  I'm not so sure selling my house now would be so easy, and it definitely would not be as profitable as selling my last house was.  Also, my daughter is in school here.  She's got friends.  She's enjoying the Shorewood lifestyle--walking to school, walking to her friends' homes, walking to the library, walking to the store.  It really is a great place to be a teenager.  I'm really not ready to give this stuff up right now. 

Right now, Shorewood still seems to be a great place to live, and I'm really not ready to give it up.
 

Ever since I started blogging here, I've been thinking about what I would like Shorewood to be and what I would like Shorewood to have that it doesn't have.  My running list includes:

• A Pan-Asian Noodle Shop
• A Thai Restaurant
• A Mexican Restaurant
• A Vietnamese Restaurant
• An Indian Restaurant
  
• A Japanese (Sushi+) restaurant
• A unique, homemade-style ice cream shop
• A place like Leona's in Oak Park used to be--a decent sit-down restaurant on the first floor and a second floor kids' area, ball-pit and all
• A place like Beans and Barley 
• A public outdoor swimming pool, or at least a splashpad or even a playground with one seal that squirted water on children on the hottest days of the year
  

But, lately, I've been thinking that what this village really needs is a factory.  A constant reminder about how hard some people work.  A place where people put in day after day, week after week, year after year honest physical hard work.  A meat-packing plant might be good, too.  It's just that sometimes I'm feeling a different kind of isolation here, isolated from the full range of human experience in an attempt to eek out a life.


When I was living in Minneapolis and attending the University of Minnesota, I had a friend from Austin, Minnesota who was a musician.  He and his band enjoyed a high degree of popularity in the Twin Cities.  We met while we were both working in an office supply warehouse in an industrial area in St. Paul.  He was a few years older than me, but he was always kind and sincere.  At the heart of our connection, I think, was that fact that we were both from factory towns.  Austin is home to Hormel--yes, Spam.  And, of course, I grew up in Cudahy, home of Sweet Applewood Patrick Cudahy Bacon and the Ladish Company.  One song that my friend wrote was called "She's Happy."  It was about a working-class woman who loved wresting and Elvis.  Sure, there was some humor in the song, but I never thought of the song as poking fun at the woman.  It was just a song about a woman with a happy, and perhaps simple, life.  Her life was not so different from that of many people in Cudahy.  Occasionally, I would read or hear someone suggest the writer of that song was laughing at the people from  his hometown, but that wasn't his point at all.  During high school I was eager to leave Cudahy and after leaving I was rarely eager to return.  I still don't think I could ever live there, but I sure am beginning to appreciate growing up among families who work hard for a living.  Sometimes I think I work hard, and I know that other people in Shorewood will say they work hard.  But I don't think the work I do can compare with what some people need to endure day after day.  Many people around here, myself included seem to be living relatively luxurious lifestyles. 

I wonder, though, if people in Shorewood are happier than people in Cudahy or Austin.

My family and I haven't eaten out so much since we have moved to Shorewood.  It's very expensive for us to live here.  We usually think it's worth it, but we are definitely making some sacrifices to make it happen.  Other people in Shorewood, however, seem to be pretty comfortable financially.  Occasionally I'll hear or read a story about someone who suggests cutting down on that Starbucks habit in order to save money.  Or, maybe even consider taking a lunch to work rather than going out.  I heard a story a while back about someone who had come on some relatively lean times so he and his family ate out "Maybe once a week, but definitely no more."  How am I supposed to feel about people who say these things?  Buying coffee seems like an outrageous extravagance to me.  I assume people who eat out once or more a week have money coming out of their ears.  Just yesterday I overheard someone in Shorewood say "I don't know what all this talk is about people struggling financially.  I'm not struggling financially.  Do you know anyone struggling financially?  No one I talk to seems to be struggling financially."  I'm not sure how to understand statements like these.  This is the same guy who I have overheard many times talk about the restaurant he ate at last night or the theater production he enjoyed the night before. What kind of lives are these people living?

I am reminded daily about how rich I am. But sometimes living in the United States, and really, living in Shorewood reminds me about how unaware some of us are about the situation some people face.  I have a kind and generous sister who lives in the outer suburbs of Minneapolis.  The particular area she lives in includes a lot of very very wealthy people.  I see her as often as I can, but every time I enter her world, I'm struck by how wealth can change the way we view things.  The biggest difference I noticed the last time I was there was how wealth allows a person to take more risks and try new things.  To the financially stable person, these risks may seem minor, but to someone on a tighter budget, these risks are considerable.  Financially people can drive faster, for example.  They really can.  While I am not poor, I certainly can't even imagine driving so fast that I could get a speeding ticket.  There is no money in our budget to pay for a speeding ticket.  This is just one example, but there are other, even smaller examples.  There's even risk involved in trying a new restaurant.  For someone who has very little disposable income, this can be a considerable risk, which, if it doesn't work out, can be a real bummer.  Rich kids can also find more "acceptable" ways to explore their natural need to try risky things.  Snowboarding, water skiing, riding a jet ski.  All of these things can be quite thrilling, but they also require a fair amount of skill to do successfully.  That skill can only be developed through practice.  Practice costs money.  I assume young poor kids have the same urge to get these thrills, but they ways they might explore them may be less safe or even illegal.

I can't forget, though, that I am incredibly rich.  I interact with students from Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Myanmar and other countries on a daily basis.  And, even though many of these people I talk to are enjoying a relatively comfortable student lifestyle here in the United States, they know about real poverty firsthand.  Any financial struggles I or most of the Americans I know face cannot compare.  None of these students are independently wealthy.  They are relying on the generosity and trust of someone who believes in them enough to make an investment in them and their future.  Someone is taking a risk. 

I blogged a while back about my one day listening to WISN.  Indeed, it was insulting and painful.  In my original post, I was trying to describe the afternoon host's (a conservative) manner of speaking.  My choice of words was "somewhat whiny, yet gay."  I realize that this may have not been the best description, but I was trying to describe the general child-like complaining nature as well as the somewhat lively and excited style of of this particular individual's way of speaking.  Shortly after posting that blog, I was contacted by the editor of the MyCommunityNOW blogs and informed that my posting had been pulled because I wasn't supposed to call someone gay. I guess being gay is really bad.

I do like words and language, and I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect in my use of vocabulary and grammar.  But I understand the value of accurate language, and I try to do the best I can.  That said, in writing that post about the radio thespian, I did consult Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary for a definition of my chosen word (gay).  This is what I got:

I understand why the editor was a little concerned, but obviously, there is no way a conservative could possibly be upset by my use of the word.  Is there? After all, I did apply the word as it is described in the first definition.  Can't get more conservative than that.

The reason I think of this now is that I wonder why some actually legitimate use of words may be offensive, but other, much more questionable words are left alone.  Politics is always a popular topic on the blogs, especially with all of the attention of the recent Wisconsin primary.  And, if you read of the other MyCommunityNOW blogs, you know that there are a fair number of conservatives using this forum to share their views.  At their worst, they have demonstrated extreme xenophobic paranoia and at their best they have offered the same, tired "Taxes are too high" one-note refrain that never seems to get old to them.

I have to admit, I think it's a little crazy for a private citizen to go to a village trustee's home and take a picture of his or her sidewalk.  I'm glad someone was crazy enough to do it, though.  Thanks, Dave.  It is truly jaw-dropping to think community leaders would not take responsibility for their sidewalks in a community that prides itself on its walkability.  Truly an embarrassment.

I'd like to get a couple of other things straight.  A while back I squealed a bit on the village for clearing the snow from my neighbor's lot.  My neighbor is St. Robert Church and School.  I still think this service should not be provided for free.  However, I certainly do not want to give the impression that St. Robert's is a bad neighbor.  In fact, I would like to commend them on how well they have cleared their walks despite the major challenges of an particularly snow winter.  In addition, their teams of plowers and snow blowers have on occasion cleared a good part of my walk and driveway.  That's good neighboring.

My neighbor across the street, however--Atwater Elementary School is a complete and utter mess.  School and village officials should be ashamed of themselves to allow the sidewalks to be in the condition they have been in for the past week.  And, the truth is that the walks have been in terrible condition at other times during this winter as well.  Sure, the rainstorm and freeze we recently endured created conditions that are worse than usual, but I and other people have been able to make significant progress in clearing our walks.  In fact, the walks around the library are perfectly navigable.  I'm not sure where the problem lies regarding Atwater, but the conditions are utterly atrocious. A complete embarrassment.

This problem is related to two other issues I have written about before.  The first is the lack of recognition of our school grounds and our primary public spaces in the village.  The example I cited a while back was the willingness of the village to consider putting a parking lot in place of a highly utilized part of the Atwater School grounds.  The other issues is the village's questionable use of resources.  Now, I will be the first to admit that I am not in the position to make major decisions on on how labor should be divided and prioritized in the village, but it's Monday evening again and tomorrow a man in a truck will be coming by my home to pick up the single bag of garbage my family of four has generated over the past week.  I don't know. It just seems to me that we might want to consider being a little more flexible and creative in how we go about our business.

Every week I peek into my trash can before I wheel it out to the curb.  Every week it's about 1/4 full.  Do we really need weekly trash pick up?  What incentive do we have to recycle, compost and just use less packaging? 

OK, I missed another meeting (I've got a perfect record so far), and I will probably miss about every other village get together in the near future.  I still have very little idea what was discussed at the informational meeting on Thursday, but from Joe Mangiamele's recent blog, it seems like I wouldn't agree with some of the opinions expressed about the future of Capital Drive in Shorewood.

I've always thought it was very obvious that Capital drive from Oakland west is a relative disaster in the village.  And, I don't think it's a disaster because traffic moves too slowly through this area.  Quite to the contrary.  While other parts of Capital Drive and Oakland Avenue acknowledge and encourage human involvement and traffic, the area west of Oakland is an area of multiple offenses toward pedestrians and human aesthetics.  There are multiple features along that stretch Capital that run counter to many of the very best features of the village.

A few thoughts: 

Traffic moves much too quickly in that area, and I believe this is largely the result of the design of the boulevard.  The divided roadway gives the impression that this is primarily a space for cars and not humans.

The design of the street currently does not encourage safe and orderly crossing during the peak pedestrian traffic times before and after school.  There are children crossing the street at multiple locations, some of which are crosswalks and some of which are not.  Unlike other areas of the village, there is no signage or other design features that tell drivers that they must yield to pedestrians.

Personally, this has been an area where I have been the victim of multiple violations of my pedestrian rights.  While the design gives the impression of a thoroughfare for fast moving traffic east and west, there is also a significant amount of traffic turning on to and off of Capital Drive.  While the low regard drivers have for pedestrian rights is widespread throughout the village, relatively narrow streets, signage and bump-outs at corners are all design elements that remind drivers that streets are for people, not just cars.   

I suppose this is one of those times I wish I weren't such an outsider in the village because Joe's blog has really piqued my interest in what was discussed during Thursday's meeting.  Man, I wish I had more mover and shaker friends so I knew what the hell was going on. 

Many Americans' first language is not English.  Remarkably, I have heard people insist that these immigrants should speak English at home with their children.  This idea is acceptable to some because they think that speaking English is more American than speaking another language.  The idea that anyone has the right to dictate what language an individual should use in the privacy of his or her own home flies in the face of the First Amendment of the United States.

The Constitution of the United States makes me angry sometimes, too, but I in general, I rather like it and accept living with it. 

I am the grandson of a man who entered this country illegally.  My grandfather from Slovakia entered this country illegally via Canada in the early 20th century.  Also, I have been an English as a Second Language teacher for about 15 years.  Of course, there are a lot of people learning English all over the world and all over the country.  Some of the learners of English in the USA have entered this country illegally.  And, the English of all these learners is developing at different rates depending on their motivation, the time they dedicate to learning the language, their ages, and their innate ability to learn a foreign language. 

Many people have strong opinions about illegal immigration to the USA.  Most of these people will say they support legal immigration, but illegal immigration is one of the biggest problems now facing our country.  However, in the process of their rants, they quickly convolute the issue of English language learning with illegal immigration.  In a way, the real issue of undocumented immigrants somehow gives these people a right to air their hostilities toward all people in this country for whom English is not a first language.  The frustration these people experience seems to manifest when they encounter a non-native speaker of English, or when they have to "press 1" for English; or when they see a sign in a store that includes a Spanish word.  These feelings of anger, frustration and hostility perplex me.  I suppose my perspective is different when I say that I thoroughly enjoy being reminded that I am in a multilingual environment.  Characteristics of such an environment include accents, unusual linguistic constructions, and facial expressions to overcome linguistic misunderstanding.  Of course I value clear and direct communication, and I work very hard to help people communicate as clearly as possible.  But I also know that miscommunication often results from an unwillingness by both the speaker/writer listener/reader to want to understand.  I don't see these experiences that seem to anger some people as seriously interfering with communication. 

Do I think people in the United States should learn English?  Absolutely.  And, through my experience teaching English, working with immigrant parents of school-aged children, and working at businesses such as restaurants that employ a large number of immigrants, the vast majority of people who come to this country also believe that learning English is necessary in order to be successful in the United States.  And, of course, most of these people want to be successful.  Further evidence of this is the fact that for the two years that I taught ESL at the West Allis campus of the MATC, all of the ESL classes had waiting lists.  There were more people who wanted to learn English than the college could serve.  The students I encountered were the most earnest and dedicated (FAR FAR FAR more earnest and dedicated than most of the American students I have taught!!) students I have ever encountered.  They understood the value of English in their lives and in the lives of their children.  In fact, a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that the children of immigrants are learning English and using English as their primary language.  This is consistent with immigrant family experiences throughout the history of the United States. 

The funny thing is, I have no idea which of my students at MATC entered this country legally or illegally or which of them had the necessary documentation to stay in this country.   I taught whoever came to the class.  I'm pretty sure, though, that my classes at MATC included a mix of people--some of whom were here legally and some illegally.  I think many of these folks who love to rant about illegal immigrants would be surprised that it is not always easy to tell who is here legally and who is here illegally.  You certainly cannot tell by just looking or just listening.   In fact, some people who speak English with native-like proficiency may in fact be in the country illegally (I know because I've met them, and guess what?  No one looks at them suspiciously!).  Also, all of my students at MATC had different degrees of fluency in English, and I know that even though they were absolutely doing their best to improve their English, they still encountered people who thought that their less-than-perfect English skills were evidence that they thought learning English was not important.  Knowing this, I spent some class time preparing them for these "ignorant mean people."  Clearly, some people have difficulty speaking with people whose native language is not English, and this difficulty can be caused by irrational prejudice rather than actual lack of proficiency on the part of the non-native speaker. 

In addition to teaching English, I have also done a lot of work for community-based organizations who have volunteer tutoring programs to help people learn English.  Most of the volunteers in such programs are good people who want to help.  However, even among these well-intentioned sorts, there is often a high degree of anxiety when working with non-native speakers of English.  In addition, I am consistently shocked by how people's lack of sensitivity can lead to communication breakdown between native and non-native speakers of English.

Are there people who don't want to learn English?  Yes.  Should people learn how to use English as well as possible?  Absolutely!  But part of being American is adapting to change and understanding that many people who choose to call this country home are at different stages of identifying with the United States.  This does not mean a lack of regard for our country and culture.  It's just a normal process that almost all immigrants go through.  I fear that it is becoming increasingly more socially acceptable to ignore this process. 

A few final thoughts: 

English is not in danger.  On the contrary, it is the most widely spoken language in the world.  More people are learning English as a second or foreign language than speak it as a native language.

English is not the official language of the United States of America.

The United States has always been a multilingual country.

Immigrants are learning English and their children are also learning English at a rate comparable to previous waves of immigrants.

Most immigrants recognize the necessity to learn English well in order to succeed in the United States of America.

Learning English and any other language takes time, and just because someone speaks English as a second language imperfectly does not mean that he or she does not care about learning the language correctly.

While the United States has given many immigrants remarkable opportunities and has allowed immigrants to contribute to the economy, language, and culture of the country, prejudice against immigrant groups has been a constant challenge (My other grandfather came from Ireland, so he was among a group that experienced blatant unfair treatment.) for our nation.  We are a nation that embraces challenge and works toward a better future, a more perfect union.

C+.  This is the grade the Wisconsin schools earned according to "Quality Counts 2008."  The information published in Education Week.  You can find more information about the study here.  Don't you wish we were considered better than just a little bit above average?

Information specific to Wisconsin can be found here. 

This map shows each state's grade.

You can compare states here. 

I found this article and chart comparing teacher salaries to comparable professions to be quite interesting.   According to this, Wisconsin teachers earn almost 98% of those in comparable professions.

The state of Massachusetts earned the highest grade, a B.  They also have the 28th greatest tax burden in the country. 

Maybe we could be more like Massachusetts.  Seems like it would be a great compromise--not in the top half for highest taxes, but on top for the quality of education.  Couldn't we all be happy with that?  

The family of a child, especially a poor non-white child, in the city of Milwaukee has an incredible array of schools to choose from.  The education market in Milwaukee is more open than just about any other place in the country, and it has been for more than ten years.  If the forces of open markets are so great at making the production of products more efficient and the products themselves better in quality, why doesn't Milwaukee have the best-educated children in the country?  If it's the case that the market is still not open enough to allow these market forces to work to their fullest extent, shouldn't these forces have had a considerable degree of affect commensurate with the degree of openness of the market?

Can anyone point me to the answer to this question? 

I strongly recommend the reading of a study on state tax systems undertaken by the Pew Charitable Trusts' Center on the States.  The Economist magazine describes the Pew Charitable Trust as "impeccably non-partisan."  The focus of the article is on the various outdated tax codes and collection systems throughout every state in the nation. 

Guess what?  According to the article, low tax policies are not necessarily the main determiner of economic growth.  Believe it or not, things such as the quality of the workforce, infrastructure such as water supply and sewers, and the quality of services may be more valuable to a company than tax incentives a state provides to potential investors. 

If you are like me an tire of politicians and pundits who constantly return to the refrain of "No New Taxes" or "No Tax Increase Pledges," the information provided in this article offers a more informed and intelligent analysis of what works and what doesn't.  A system of imposing and collecting taxes is necessary to provide necessary services and it is necessary for the system to be transparent, fair and diverse, but few or no systems currently in place are.

The guardian to more llamas and miniature donkeys you have ever seen in one place, impeccable dresser and Wisconsin state senator Alan Lasee is quoted in the article offering the same old, ill-informed, but easy to understand lines:  "High Taxes are driving our businesses to move to other states for higher paying jobs and lower taxes."  [Apparently, the same effect Lasee refers to has caused Wyoming (low tax state) to experiences a tenfold population increase from 2000-2005.  ...Oh, you mean, the population increase in Wyoming (low tax state) was about the same as Wisconsin (high tax state) during that time?  Oh, maybe I should think about the stuff that comes out of my mouth ...].
 

 I'm not crazy about paying taxes, but once again, I wish folks would stop being ideological and just start being plain logical.

I deserve a medal.  I listened to WISN during my commute to and from work a couple of days ago.  Yes, the entire time.  I did not waver!  It was foggy and/or rainy for much of the time, so I had to drive slower than usual, making this painful experience last more than two hours.  In 1995 I had a similarly long commute between Columbia and Florence, South Carolina.  Conservative talk radio was becoming really big back then, and if it's possible, the radio choices in South Carolina were even worse than in Milwaukee.  So, talk radio was the most interesting thing around.  Those days I rather enjoyed listening to Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy.  It was great comedic radio theater.  And, quite frankly, Milwaukee's somewhat whiny, yet lively and exuberant radio thespian who performs during the afternoons on WISN is pretty funny.  All in all, though, I really don't understand the appeal of the radio station.  I've tried to listen to it before, but just about every other radio option out there is more interesting.  There's a lot of talk about sports and the weather.  There are A LOT of commercials--certainly a lot more commercials than straight, factual information. And, perhaps most remarkable, I even heard commercials for weather forecasters immediately before and after weather reports (this is definitely a sign that as a society we may have really lost our marbles!!).  There are many absurd things around us. And, many of these absurd things seem to make people money, but this radio station wins the profitable absurdity prize (along with those companies bottling tap water, perhaps?).   In fact, as soon as I get my medal, I will bring right over to the WISN studios and give it them.

I encountered a number of perplexing ideas during this agonizing 18 hours (oh, you mean it was only about 2!!?) of radio.  In one exchange, the somewhat whiny, yet lively and exuberant radio performer was discussing the merits of Bayshore Town Center with a caller.  The caller said that she liked Bayshore because it reminded her a bit of Europe.  As part of his response to this comment, the somewhat whiny, yet lively and exuberant radio performer said something like (I believe this to be a close paraphrase):

    When I think of Europe, I think of no toilet paper and Muslims walking around.  I'm not really impressed with     comparisons to Europe.

I just didn't understand what this meant.  It could just have been a slip of the tongue, a moment of incoherence, perhaps.  I think it was supposed to be funny, and in many ways this somewhat whiny, yet lively and exuberant performer is very funny (even when he means to be funny!), but this one I just didn't get.  And, obviously, context and timing are essential to understanding every utterance, but I'm just not sure what this means.  Then again, there are a lot of things around that confuse me.

If anyone might have some insight, please share. 

It'll be a 60 degree day in January before I vote for Mike Huckabee for president (ok, maybe 70), but there are couple things he has said that have intrigued me. A few days ago, Dan Pink (see my blogroll on the right) shared an interesting quotation from Huckabee on his views on education.  Pink's advocates for the development of our entire brain in his book A Whole New Mind.  His book is a rather informal argument suggesting that there is an national economic imperative to foster both right-brained and left-brained thinkers in our society.  It seems that Huckabee strongly agrees with this idea.  I also agree with this idea.  Here's a link to the article describing some of Huckabee's views on education.

On another matter, Huckabee is a strong proponent of eliminating all income and corporate taxes and imposing a federal sales tax (it's called FairTax, an unfortunately loaded term).  I know, I know, I know that there are all sorts of tax schemes floating around and in the end we will probably just tweak the incomprehensible and inefficient system we have in order to benefit all of those parties that, more or less, profit from some variation of the status quo.  Also, since all people share basic needs, this seems like it could be a really sweet deal for the wealthy.  Then again, since the tax would only apply to new products, my (I think environmentally responsible) habit of buying used cars, houses and anything else may really begin to pay off. 

But, I completely disagree with the guy when he claims that "Our current progressive tax system penalizes us for working harder and becoming more successful."  The belief that there is a direct correlation between success and income is offensive, and this statement also implies that people who make more money work harder than those people who make less money, which is completely false.

I spent a recent evening with some friends who could very well be hurt by village housing initiatives that encourage the conversion of duplexes into single family homes.  As Dave Tatarowicz has clearly shown in some of his blog posts, Shorewood is not affordable to many people.  And, incentivizing the conversion of duplexes does little to address two major issues in the village--affordable housing and the declining number of school-age children.  The more I think about that idea, the less sense it makes.  I would love to read or hear a rational argument for such an initiative.  So, if you have one, please share.  Anyway, these friends of mine were over, sharing their struggles with finding affordable homes to buy in the area.  They are happy with the schools; they enjoy what the village has to offer--a safe, walkable community with interesting residents.  Both families currently rent, but they are interested in purchasing a home in Shorewood.  However, there is little or nothing available in their price ranges.  The strategy one of the people has recently used is trying to find out which homes in the area seem to be vacant.  She has taken the initiative to find out who owns these properties and has attempted to contact them to see if they might be interested in selling.  She seems to have found a home using a variation of this method and if things go as planned, she should be moving into her own home soon.  The other friends were intrigued and left my home with a lead on another property that an owner might want to unload.

Maybe this is a little bit like the "We Buy Ugly Houses" people, but obviously there are some big differences.  I hope that the deal works out for the one friend and it would be great if my other friends are able to find something, but it's a little bit insane that it has to come to this.  That said, does anyone know of any vacant properties on your street I could tell my friends about?