Blogage

Community Meeting on Buildings and Grounds Oct. 13th

2008-10-11T18:11:25Z

I received this from School Board member Faith Vanderhorst.

Parents and Falls Residents,

This Monday, October 13, 2008, the Facilities Committee ( made up of community members, board members, teachers, principals and local business members) will present its recommendations for the Reconfiguration of the elementary schools in Menomonee Falls. This committee worked diligently, researching available space, educational needs (best practices) and demographics of the community.

The presentation will come forth as a recommendation to the School Board. The Board will announce public hearing dates so the community can weigh in before the final decision is made.

Please join us , this Monday, October 13, 2008, at 7 pm at the Community Center.

Regards

Faith VanderHorst

The Klavier Lounge

2008-10-09T01:30:57Z

There is a neat, new, funky place to hang out. The Klavier Lounge is a Piano Bar run by some Menomonee Falls residents and is near Sendick's on Mequon Road.

http://theklavierlounge.com/index.html

The lounge features live music, which is always good to hear when you are out on the town to have a good time. The Klavier is decorated in a mod Euror fashion like a club I use to frequent in Frankfurt, or the Korova Milk Bar in A Clockwork Orange (minus the maniquins). The sound system is very clear and not overpowreing allowing for conversation to take place without shouting.

The speciality of the house is mixed high ent drinks like Martinis, Cosmos, and the like. Snacks are also served.

The crowd was friendly and ranged from a guy about 24, with a gernade tatooed on his neck to a 60 year old couple visiting from Michigan on their way to the Badger game. The Klavier Lounge had a pretty good crowd considering they have only been open for less than a month. I hope they stay open for a very long time.

Saint Zilber’s Gift

2008-10-01T00:35:00Z

What can be done regarding the "Central City" these days?

Children are killed, reading on their porch, from errant gunfire directed at rival gang members. Dropout rates are close to a shocking 50% leaving few kids with a hope of elevating themselves beyond street urchin. Teen and unwed pregnancy rates are the highest in the nation ensuring the cycle will continue for another generation.

What government program would break this downward spiral? If we spent billions of dollars in a square mile area would it make the dropout rate decline to an acceptable level? In my opinion-no. If we walled up one square mile and put it under a military/police state would it reduce the teen pregnancy rate? No.

So, what can be done that will bring positive results? Mr. Joseph Zilber may have the only answer and provide the only hope of a better life in the central city.

Mr. Zilber made millions of dollars as a real estate developer. He was, and is, one of the best. He made money the right way, by working hard, taking risks, applying his intelligence, playing hardball yet treating people fairly. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=749374

These days he is investing his money on a very risky development by giving $50 million to improve the quality of life for those in need. He is going to do it his way. That means there is a higher probability of success. He will not invent the wheel or give it to a government entity that will inevitably reinvent failure and have the money fall into the hands of barnacles. He will fund organizations that are succeeding, with very little resources, and grow that success model.

Mr. Zilber can fund what he wants and decline to fund those who do not meet his standards. He has no quota or mandate from Federal, State or Local governments. He does not have to be politically or religiously correct. In other words, he is the supreme ruler and leader of this initiative. We put statues in our parks of leaders-not committees, because leaders win wars, form great countries, inspire us to greatness and get things done.

Let us pray that Mr. Zilber's efforts are successful. If he is, others will follow his lead and that $50 million could grow to 3 times that. Theoretically, if he improved the life of 1,000 men, women or children, that number would triple. That would be a lot of people we would not have to feed, reeducate, incarcerate, or take care of their children.

It may be too early, but let's start looking for a park to place the statue.

Thank You Jenny Jennings

2008-09-22T23:34:02Z

The Big Pig Gig has come and gone for 2008. Thanks are in order for the organizer Jenny Jennings. Whether the event was a financial success remains to be seen, but the buzz it generated for Menomonee Falls around SE Wisconsin was tremendous.

Many people helped make this event possible but (as I am fond of saying, because it is true) leadership makes things happen, not committees. Leaders take risks.

Thank you Jenny for taking the initiative and taking the risk to get this started in our community. Local service groups, like the Optimists and Rotary, received money for providing volunteers. This benefits our community as well as the many dollars that came in from other communities.

I like the fact there were local vendors who got to sell their wares to visitors. Live music events are great to have in our community.

No doubt, she had her share of ankle biters, but, fortunately, more people were supportive in making this happen than lying in the road to stop it. Thanks to you as well.

Bravo Jenny!

Feds Bail Out Teddy MAC

2008-09-13T19:32:00Z

In a move with way too much precedent, the Federal Government came to the rescue of Teddy Mac, or “T-Mac” as he is known to his creditors, to help him make his Lamborghini, Italian sports car payments.

Sadly, Teddy Mac is a victim, as is a growing number of people, who bought massive or expensive vehicles and are getting caught by high gas prices and other realities that existed long before he actually bought the car.

"Well it is about time someone got around to helping me out,” T-Mac said while dining at a steak house called “Eddie Martinis” and munching on the seafood appetizer. “I was just about ready to move into a FEMA trailer.” Asked if he was worried about the impact on taxpayers, he dismissed the idea as foolish, because he didn’t pay much in taxes anyway.

“I had to have that car for work,” T-Mac said. “In my line of work, (which he declined to describe) you have to look good, and the Lamborghini did the trick.” Now what am I supposed to do? Ride the bus? Buy a Mazda? That will hurt my image and business.” T-Mac knows there are lots of people out there he can sue. The car salesman should have told him that insurance, gas prices, and other expenses are all part of buying a car. When asked about maintenance costs, T-Mac bemoaned, “nobody told me how much it would cost to fix a clutch!” This is a $300,000 Italian sports car, so what could possibly go wrong on the mechanical end? For that price it shouldn’t need a tune up or oil change for at least 10 years.

Preditory insurance companies are adding to his pain. “My premiums were over $18,000 a year, before the cops hasseled me for going 122 MPH on Good Hope Road, and didn’t give me a warning. Now I have another unexpected premium increase.” Still, he notes, with glee, that he had lots of pedal left and wasn’t even up to 4^th gear. He will probably drop the insurance anyway because he feels he is a very safe driver and goes to church every Christmas.

T-Mac has saved most of his bitterness for the exploitative Bank, who forced the loan on him, and is now expecting him to pay 6 months in delinquent payments. “They should have verified my income better. Now that I can’t pay, it is their problem.” T-Mac added, They made the loan, and they have to live with it. Whatever happened to personal responsibility!”

Children's Tumor Foundation-Please Support

2008-09-10T12:50:40Z

This came to me from some friends and great people

Children’s Tumor FoundationNature Walk to Find the Cure When: 10 am on September 13, 2008 Where: Havenwoods State Forest 6141 N. Hopkins St. Milwaukee

www.googlemaps.com

$20(Checks payable to the Children’s Tumor Foundation) 10:00 a.m. (On-site registration and shirt pick-up) Or Preregister with Julie Czudec (Mail checks and T-shirt sizes to:Julie CzudecW170N7766 Overlook Ct.Menomonee Falls, WI 53051) Questions: czudec (at) sbcglobal.net

Pledges Welcome

To my dear family and friends, I am writing to you about something that I need to become very involved with. This is not easy for me for two reasons. First, I have to face the realization that my son, Brett has a genetic disorder called Neurofibromatosis (NF). Second, I am about to ask for your help which is difficult for me, but necessary. Neurofibromatosis is the term for a genetic disorder in which tumors grow on the nerve pathways. NF Type 1, which is what Brett has, affects 1 in every 3000. Each person is affected differently and there is no prognosis. Some of the problems that can occur include: learning disabilities, bone abnormalities, disfigurement to the brain, and spinal tumors.

Brett is a very bright, adorable, sweet eight year-old. He loves to ride his bike, play baseball, hit golf balls, and assemble things like legos, race car and train tracks and play with friends. He does however; suffer with ADHD and loose joints. The ADHD gets in the way of his learning and peer relationships. The loose joints make it difficult for him to hold his pencil and have legible penmanship. It took our family, the school district, and his physicians all of last school year to come up with the correct medications and learning plan for him. Thankfully it appears that we are making great progress. Often times, prepubescence marks a time in which the tumors can start causing problems. Since Brett is not in this age group yet, all we can do is continue to pray that he will be one of the lucky ones.

Little did I know that when I went back into nursing five years ago and chose to work as a spinal cord injury nurse, that I would be caring for NF patients. The wake up call came for me when I took care of “Steve”. Steve is a 32 year-old who suffers with progressive functional decline from NF. He now spends a great deal of time in his power wheelchair. His family is no longer able to care for him and our team just recently helped him to find a group home in which he can receive 24 hour care if needed.

It is time for me to help raise money for the Children’s Tumor Foundation. The local chapter is sponsoring a Nature Walk to Find the Cure (see below). The money raised will go to the foundation to provide support and education for anyone affected with NF. It also helps to raise awareness and provide education not only to the general public but also to the schools and medical community. It also provides funding for research to find a cure.

Please join me and my family.

Thank you so much, Julie Czudec p.s. This is more than just a walk. You will be exploring the outdoors with many exciting things to do, like learning about camping, fly fishing and more. Plus scavenger hunt.

Breaking News! State Rep Race

2008-09-08T21:33:18Z

I have received several e-mails regarding candidate Dan Knodl. His literature has several people listed as endorsements that clearly are not endorsing Knodl.

My name is on that list. There are many more, including two sitting members of the MF School Board.

Mr. Knodl called me to explain and apologize before I had an opportunity to call him. I believe his explanation and accept his apology.

If your name appeared on this list and would like it corrected please contact me via this blog. I will edit out your name and phone number but need it to verify your identity.

Here is a statement from Dan. I have edited out the verbiage that would give his campaign an unfair advantage under these circumstances.

Hi this is Dan Knodl, Before I ask you to come out and vote for your next state assembly person, I would like to mention that due to an error in our marketing firms proofing process some names were inadvertently added to an insert that was distributed on Saturday. These were names of citizens that it was my intention to call and talk with before including them on my supporters list.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Thank you for your time.

Please vote September 9^th for your next State Assembly person. From: Dan Knodl

OBITUARY: Feminism

2008-09-06T18:40:57Z

"To be hoist with Ms. own petard" Shakespear – from Hamlet*

Feminism died this week. It committed suicide.

It wasn’t the first attempt. It pushed Hillary Clinton, under a bus to be with a man, named Obama. Though feminists, and their media Eunuchs, dutifully followed her and laid down palms on her path to the White House, they dumped her, like last year’s football team captain, for the mysterious and trendy stranger that captured their heart. Perhaps it was because men were just beginning to admire her for her fighting spirit and inability to quit.

As if these symptoms were not enough to check into the intensive care unit, a ~~feminist~~ (female) icon, named Palin, emerged from the North. She was not from money, connections, or a political family like Kennedy, Bush or even Clinton, yet she rose to be nominated for Vice President of the United States based solely on her character as a person. A feminist dream, or so we were led to believe, before Palin arrived.

Feminists, trapped in their own lie, began to knaw on Palin like a wild animal knawing on its own leg to get out of a sprung trap. They asked questions about her so enlightened as to make the King of Siam (The King and I) look profound. When that failed to beat down the upstart, they did the only noble thing they could do next, slime her 17-year-old pregnant daughter in order to stay as classy as they have been from the start. Plans for the down syndrome baby have yet to be revealed since their first attempt failed on the blogesphere.

Prepare to be sickened: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/17933/7330/417/579267

Stereotypes raised their ugly head again when chauvinist pigs and subservient housewives, disguised as decent people, attacked, and beat back, the gang rapists and their cheering bystanders. Shocked by the reaction they caused, the perps went into street punk mode and said, “she asked for it” and “we were just doing our job as journalists.”

Experts agreed that it was probably better for everyone that the mob of decent people got to the punks before Palin. Palin emerged from the assault; well, like a trooper, proving finally, that family beats sisterhood by an exponent of 50.

Other feminists who never registered a pulse when Islamic extremists were stoning, to death, young girls for impure thoughts in Pakistan, or female genital mutilation in Afghanistan, were flat lining on brain wave activity when they asked how she could possibly raise a family while holding down the VP position.

Gloria Steinem, sperm donor of the feminist movement, and widely known to lead a very fulfilling and happy family life, issued a do not resituate order by stating: “Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton.” “Palin is not the right person for the job.” It was not exactly known out of which, of her two faces, she issued that statement.

Funeral services will not be held due to a lack of interest.

In unrelated news, feminist Marlo Thomas left Phil Donahue, egg donor of the feminist movement, for Whitney Houston’s ex husband Bobby Brown.

*The word remains in modern usage in the phrase to be hoist by one's own petard (or to be hoist with one's own petard), which means "to be harmed by one's own plan to harm someone else" or "to fall in one's own trap", literally implying that one could be lifted up (hoisted, or blown upward) by one's own bomb. Shakespeare used the now proverbial phrase in Hamlet. From Wikipedia www.wikipedia.org

Sociale’ No More?

2008-09-03T01:57:00Z

I wanted to write a post about a neat new way to have gourmet meals at home at a very reasonable price but I am not sure they are open anymore. They are located at Good Hope and Appleton Ave. in the beautiful new retail and condo development called Woodlands Market Place.

The business is called Sociale’ and they are a make it take it food provider. My wife, Rene’ was invited to a party there where she and several neighborhood friends sampled food and prepared 5 meals for 6 people.

One of the great benefits is no clean up from a cooking perspective. You can heat and eat a great meal and throw away the aluminum containers in which they were prepared.

You can make calzones and load them with pepperoni, or have chicken sautéed in peach sauce (it did not sound great to me, but it tasted great). There are plenty of side dishes that are delicious as well.

I could go on, but I called and the number was disconnected and when I drove past the store there is nobody home. If anyone knows what happened here please let me know. I want to reorder!

24th Assembly Seat-Vote For______

2008-08-23T21:58:00Z

On Thursday, Aug. 21^st, I attended the candidate forum for the 24^th Assembly Seat. It was sponsored by Dennis Farrell and was taped and produced by Harry Stoetzel of Falls Cable Access Corporation that will play it in regular rotation on Cable Channel 14. A similar forum took place two nights earlier and I hope to see that on Cable Access as well.

All of the candidates were well spoken and well prepared. The questions were direct and brought out the candidate’s positions.

While I am never too shy to share my opinion, I will not make any endorsement in this race. Why? Because there isn’t one weak candidate in the pack and they all deserve your attention to this race and win, based on the merits of their positions.

The Democrats have two good choices (Torrey Lauer and Charlene Brady) along with a very strong Republican line up: Dan Knodl (Pronounce the K), Randy Melchert, Jason LaSage and Michael Moscicke: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Moscicke/17371349634
.

I walked away with a clear favorite. People should tend to go with the candidate who conveys a sense of urgency. Candidates like that tend to make more of an impact than those who know the problems facing the Wisconsin and our District but are way too patient, or analytical, to solve them-today.

One candidate got the Journal Sentinel’s endorsement (which, in Menomonee Falls, is a kiss of death) but he also has been the only “No” vote on a school board which demonstrates courage and independent thinking. One of the candidates has a plan to lower gas prices in Wisconsin. That is good, and the plan is pragmatic, but the problem in Wisconsin is out of control spending. Nobody can cut or restrain taxation without limiting spending.

Sue Jeskewitz leaves a legacy of identifying worthless Information Technology (IT) projects that cost hundreds of millions of dollars and delivered no benefit to the citizens of Wisconsin. This would be a great place for her successor to begin.

Our job, as citizens in a democracy, is to make informed choices. Fellow blogger, Mr. Weaver, has candidate information on his site here: http://blogs.menomoneefallsnow.com/hunting_season/archive/2008/08/18/the-24th-assembly-district-candidates-in-their-own-words.aspx

Candidates: Please use Blogage to further inform the voters in this race. My only restriction is that I must verify comments are authorized by you, or your campaign, to ensure accuracy and protect you.

Voters: This is a great race with high quality candidates. Do your homework and then vote on September 9^th!

Bye-Bye, by Buy American

2008-08-15T03:29:00Z

The Presidential candidates are trying to impress voters as to who loves Harley Davidson more.

McCain would rather hear the roar of Harleys than having cheering fans in Berlin. Obama thinks McCain stabbed Harley in the back for not supporting a “Buy American” bill that would mandate government entities to buy products produced in the U.S.

“Buy American” sounds wonderful, and hey, who wouldn’t want to buy our own products if they best meet our needs and budget? The problem is this: If you mandate what, or how, to buy, it takes control away from the entity buying what they want or need. Governments have a hard enough time making good buying decisions and/or saving money without the help of those in Congress who never ran a business.

During the peak of the 1980s auto crisis, every Detroit motorcycle cop was riding a Honda. Buy American? Yea, right. Thanks a lot Detroit. The fact of the matter was Harley Davidson was not producing a quality product back then, according to their dealers. (By the way, neither was Detroit.) They would tell me of all the innovative ways they would keep new Harleys from leaking oil onto their showroom floor. Not drips but “Exxon Valdez” type leaks where customers were slipping and hurting themselves.

H-D nearly became extinct. Instead of writing their own epitaph, they remade themselves. They became fanatical on quality and cost cutting. They invested heavily in their brand. They made a market for their product and then they sold all they produced. They got a government bailout but it was really more of a commuted death sentence and a swift kick in their behind.

When bidding for the High School renovation, we wanted to give our local businesses every opportunity to bid, work, or supply the project without compromising cost savings or quality. We could not have restricted non Menomonee Falls’ companies even if we wanted to because competing for the business is always in the taxpayers’ best interest. If we restricted non Menomonee Falls’ companies, Menomonee Falls’ companies could rightly be restricted from working on projects around the state.

When governments mandate buying their own products it is called protectionism. Protectionism starts trade wars that affect all sorts of businesses, violates trade treaties, and fuels a global trade rift. For example, if we mandated that all U.S. airlines bought from Boeing, Airbus would demand the same from the EU. With pure capitalism the buyer is the winner, along with the company with the superior product at the best price.

The only way to get people, world wide, to “Buy American” is to make a superior product at the right price.

The most effective way to ship jobs overseas is to not understand basic capitalism and vote for laws that will deteriorate the market.

5TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CANDIDATE FORUM

2008-08-10T22:06:40Z

Please note the time and date of this important forum. These are all the details I have at the moment. Keep posted for more.

5TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CANDIDATE FORUM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2008 7:00 - 8:00 PM
GERMANTOWN VILLAGE HALL

Hat Tip: Bootsandsabers.com

Olympic Spectacle

2008-08-07T21:23:00Z

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies, scheduled for this Friday, should be fantastic. It may take a lot for you to watch TV on a beautiful Friday evening but this should be will worth it.

The people of China have been waiting for the chance to show the world the beautiful side of their country as well as the subtle warmth of the people for over 20 years. I do not think they will fall short on this opportunity.

For the sake of all of our athletes, I hope it is a great experience for them as well.

We have several locals we can celebrate. Best wishes to Garrett Weber-Gale a swimmer and one of the 5 fastest in the world.

Wanted: "Weekend" Warriors- Musicians

2008-08-03T18:59:03Z

Greetings: I am looking for any musicians who may want to play/practice one night a week.

I have a complete band set up in my basement that includes “Sunn” amps, full PA-with mixer, drums, keyboard and about 15 various guitars. Nobody would have to pack up or move anything.

Right now we have a reliable drummer but he has had an interest in playing guitar so that spot can change weekly.

We could play just about anything (except Styxx) including Jazz, Latin, Rock, Country and Folk.

Anyone with an interest can contact me via: ted (at) thatsbrilliant (dot) com for more information.

Musicians at any level are welcome as long as they are fun to be with.

Starbucks and Boeing

2008-07-31T03:15:26Z

I just returned from Seattle, Washington and when I landed, the city was abuzz with the news that the United Arab Emirates had just ordered 200 planes from Boeing. When I left, the news was about Starbucks loosing about 1,000 executive positions. When a city has such diverse corporations, it is easy to see how bad news in one industry can be tempered by great news in another. Love Starbucks or hate them, it would be great to have a company like them headquartered in Milwaukee. There are still lots of good jobs at their headquarters and their building is beautiful site to see in a not so great part of Seattle.

Pay Elected Officials More Money

2008-07-23T02:26:20Z

That’s right, your eyes are not deceiving you. Future elected officials should be paid more-much more.

As a former elected official who did not run for office for the money, I will provide some very good reasons to support my claim. FYI, I never voted myself a raise or asked for more money for auto mileage. In fact, I never submitted an expense report in my 3 years of service. This is very typical of most elected officials in the Falls and Germantown.

Fact: An average board member will save your community or school district hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a good one will save millions in the long term.

Fact: A bad board member will cost taxpayers millions and continue to cost you even when they move on (example: Milwaukee County Pension Scandal). They don’t care if they raise your taxes, or about the decline of performance, as much as they are liked. Everyone, good, bad, or mediocre, is paid the same wage, about $4,500 a year. Would you trust your personal finances to someone who only made that much in a year?

Let’s look at the perceived problems: “Elected officials don’t run government or school districts like a business.” “They don’t care about raising taxes.” “They don’t care about delivering a quality product/service.” “Nobody who could do a better job runs for election.” (I don’t believe any of this to be entirely true, but examples of this can be seen everywhere you go.)

Now let’s pretend you are the owner of an enterprise where all, or some, of the above examples were true of management. What would you do?

When a company is in trouble, owners usually seek a proven top-gun(s) to come in and turn things around. Higher pay is always necessary, and expectations, time-lines, and results go with it. With taxpayers, it is the opposite.

When serving on a board, I will admit, I was more interested in getting results than what someone was paid. However, I was more prone to fire someone, or freeze the pay of anyone who was not performing. That ensures results, or consequences. Results mean more savings, better performance, lower taxes, and better value for taxpayers. Consequences bring faster management changes if results and goals are not met.

Let the free market, capitalism, and competition apply to elections. Higher pay will bring out more quality candidates, or at least, a larger selection of candidates. Some of our best school board members were/are stay at home moms. Many moms have told me they were interested in running but would be better off finding a higher paying part time job that would not conflict with family time. We could tap into that market with higher pay.

How many employers are happy to have their employees spend less time on the job to attend committee meetings? None, and few who would admit it. How many professionals could bill more hours or make more sales that are commissionable if they were not spending 4, 9, or more hours a week serving the public? The answer: the very few who are generous enough to stick their neck out for their community or those who could not make $4,500 on the open job market.

Paying more will not eliminate opportunists, quite the opposite, but it should inspire more candidates and interest in elections because people should expect more for their money. If the electorate chooses poorly, paying someone more, or less, would not change that result anyway. Vigilance is a price we pay for Democracy and it can pay dividends.

Being in office can be good for business, but the reverse is also true. If you make the hard decisions, as you are supposed to do, few will like you, many won’t care, and some will hunt you down like Inspector Javert in Les Miserables. When someone or a bogus group makes accusations about you, or your business, it can be detrimental even if they are complete fabrications. What person would run for office under those conditions? Someone very committed or someone who should be committed. Higher pay would narrow that spectrum.

I suggest raising the minimum salary of board members to $12,000. The pay increase would take place when the newly elected person taking an incumbent’s position is sworn in. That way nobody votes for his or her own pay increase and the field of candidates opens up immediately.

If you like your elected representative, support them and reelect them. If not, let’s fill the ballot with some fresh candidates.

Yes, yes, public service should be selfless, but most elected officials, who don’t run for the money, also put in time at church, Rotary, schools, community service, etc. so let’s not try and put a guilt trip on them for not being noble. Many miss their kid’s baseball games, wife’s birthdays, etc. to make meetings or keep their full time jobs. Serving is already a personal sacrifice; it should not be a financial one too.

It's Only Jews...

2008-07-19T21:08:28Z

It’s only Jews…

My favorite college professor, who later became a friend taught valuable lessons that I hope to pass on to my children.

Larry Rudner was fascinated by the Holocaust. He lost 3 grandparents and numerous aunts and uncles in Treblinka, an extermination camp in Poland.

I was fortunate enough to take his Holocaust course. The first day was very memorable. The first question Professor Rudner asked was how could something like a Holocaust happen? After many different answers he asked, “could this happen again?” Before he would let the class answer he admonished one of the students in the class who was dressed very shabbily. He began to pick on the student by pointing out that nobody should attend class dressed like that and engaged the class to comment.

When it became apparent the class was also piling on this student, I spoke up and defended the student. I was promptly instructed to shut up or I would be the next victim of his critique. For a while, I sat there in stunned silence until reengaging the professor who continued to whip up on my classmate.

It was then he stopped. He looked sad and then he spoke. “The student and I had planned this event in advance. He purposely dressed poorly to help me make my point. Holocausts are started by the power hungry; beating up on those that cannot or will not defend themselves. Holocausts grow when those who know better, are stronger, sit by, and let it happen or are willing participants. Silence is willing participation. So far, only one person will pass this class. Now get out of my sight.” That was day one…

Those who did not stand up against Kristallnacht (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krystalnacht) found it harder and harder to maintain their personal freedoms (especially and ironically religious freedom) in their own country or stop a movement that would haunt many untill the end of their lives. Those who justify their silence by thinking, “It’s only Jews, members of our community, someone else’s kid, or that quiet neighbor” are often unaware of who is next in line.

Note: Larry Rudner wrote several novels on the Holocaust. His last novel was published shortly after he died of brain cancer. Shalom my friend.

Stupidity Disguised as Compassion Makes Taxes High

2008-07-08T22:38:44Z

The dreaded “Mortgage Crisis” is in full bloom and the woe lemmings are dutifully following the doomsayers over the cliff of common sense.

What caused this crisis?

Stupid borrowers who really knew they could not afford to buy a house that was not in their league, No, there was no socioeconomic bias happening here. CEOs loosing million dollar homes were in this equation too and just as stupid as anyone else who wanted to live well beyond their means.

Stupid greedy lenders who thought they could pass these bad loans on to the secondary market, often took credit applications written on cocktail napkins, never seriously checked reported/claimed salary, and checked credit scores by seeing how many blue stars someone had on Ebay.

What is the government solution to this problem? A $250 Billion bail out to Dumb AND to Dumber.

We the people are rewarding those who made idiotic financial decisions even though 97% of Americans are paying their mortgages on a regular basis and on time. We are letting the lending entities who made these stupid loans live to loan another day instead of letting them die a rightful death so they won’t corrupt the market in the future.

Let the borrowers go back to renting since they have no equity in their “home” anyway. Let the lenders go bankrupt or go to jail since they are bad business people. This is a solution that costs taxpayers nothing and will correct the market within months.

The Forty-Yard Rule

2008-06-21T21:30:14Z

Now that the weather is finally getting warm, it is time to prepare for the seasonal unpleasant site of men over 40 walking around places like State Fair, Summerfest, Falls Fest, and yes, even the Smithsonian Sculpture Gardens in D.C. without a shirt. Many of these guys are in their 60s with tattoos as faded as the south side of my house.

Do they ever get lucky? I don’t know, or care, but they scare my kids, and me too, a little bit. Anyone with that much poor judgment is likely to do worse things.

We +40 men all consider ourselves buff beyond belief, but some of us have a little voice inside our heads whispering that the women and young girls looking at us are actually comparing us to Jabba the Hut instead of plotting how to get us to drive their Lamborghini back to their penthouse. Another clue, the gagging sound they are making between fits of laughter.

For those of you who are King of your castle here is a simple rule for men who want to do the right thing. The 40-Yard Rule: “No man over 40 will cross the border of his property without a shirt. Simple and effective. If you want to mow your lawn, sit on your porch, work on your car, go for it. Otherwise, do not cross that border except to help your neighbor. Then return promptly to your own property. Exceptions: If you go to a pool, beach or other swimming area.

Waukesha Co. State Test Scores 2007

2008-06-02T13:32:00Z

This Waukesha County State Test Scores Graph shows the results of last years test scores for the State Test taken last year. It takes at least 6 months to get the results back.

http://www.jsonline.com/multimedia/graphic.asp?graphic=http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/may08/scores4_053008_big.jpg

This Waukesha County State Test Scores Article gives some objective observations on the results.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=756607

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