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edited by: Chris Liebenthal, Wisconsin Editor

Across the Board

  • Be careful out there

    In Wisconsin, you’d think it’d be obvious. But it’s amazing how some people have no clue how to drive in snowy conditions. There are the perennial tailgaters, the SUV drivers whizzing past who think they are invincible (till they end up in that ditch), the distracted cell-phone gabbers and those [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 12:44pm EST

  • On handing out condoms

    So Milwaukee Public Schools is now going to give out male condoms to students. I guess it's a day whose time has come. Two things I found interesting about the article. First, the use of the word "male" struck me as odd. Are you telling me that women will not [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 12:40pm EST

  • Thin bench for Democrats

    As they say in sports, the bench is thin, really thin. I’m referring to the pipeline of future state Democratic leadership. What would the party have done if Mayor Tom Barrett had refused to run for governor? As we sat scratching our navels, the only names that seemed plausible were [...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2009, 11:21am EST

  • Nice decorations, but don't dawdle in the intersection

    Fair warning: This is not one of the major issues of the day. But Milwaukee has done a great job with the downtown holiday decorations — in the parks such as Cathedral Square, Zeidler Park and Pere Marquette Park and along the streets. Thanks to the donors. And unlike some [...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2009, 11:10am EST

  • Too many suicides - and who is noticing?

    If a young man takes his own life and nobody reports it, does his passing resound? Through the grapevine, I learned of a young man who committed suicide during school hours inside a local public high school. Now, that’s newsworthy, I thought, and I waited for more news. There wasn’t [...]
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    Posted: December 08, 2009, 9:32am EST

  • Don't make them celebrities, charge them

    People like Tareq and Michaele Salahi, who enter other people’s homes uninvited should be arrested and charged accordingly. They should not become TV celebrities and should not be making demands regarding appearance fees. Instead, they should be contacting their attorneys and deciding whether they should be entering guilty pleas to [...]
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    Posted: December 08, 2009, 9:29am EST

  • Educated parents

    Kudos to Lennise Crampton and others like her — parents who have become very involved in their kids’ education by volunteering, working or just being present during the school day. The benefits are obvious: Children blossom when they know a parent cares, and a parent can learn to better monitor [...]
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    Posted: December 08, 2009, 9:25am EST

  • Get the job done

    I agree. Cap and trade is the best way to address this nation’s spewing of CO2 into the atmosphere. But let’s look at why it’s the “best.” It attacks a company’s profit — if it wants to pollute, it must pay. Quitting, not because it diminishes global warming and diminishes [...]
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    Posted: December 08, 2009, 9:21am EST

  • Here's an idea: Let's do both!

    The good news: Fewer Americans are smoking. The bad news: More Americans are obese. Is it too much to ask to have both negatives trend in the right direction? Think about this: If every American stopped smoking and slimmed down by 2020, life expectancy would increase four years. I know [...]
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    Posted: December 08, 2009, 9:17am EST

  • Sex education is important too

    If children are given condoms in public schools they should also be given information about abstaining from sex. They should be required to sign a card that indicates that they understand the risks of sexual intercourse to both parties and acknowledge that abstaining is the only way to prevent sexually [...]
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    Posted: December 04, 2009, 11:24am EST

  • Runs in the family?

    So I am to feel sorry that Obama’s aunt, who has been here illegally for years, does not get to sit down to dinner at the White House with her family? Forgive me, if I just don’t find it in myself to feel anything for this case. I like the [...]
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    Posted: December 04, 2009, 10:43am EST

  • You can't have it both ways

    Many of these complaints that President Obama is not moving fast enough or keeping campaign promises have merit. For instance, citing national security to prevent embarrassment in court cases; don’t ask, don’t tell. But have you noticed that some of the folks criticizing are those doing their best to thwart [...]
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    Posted: December 03, 2009, 10:44am EST

  • Remember Silly Putty and Etch-A-Sketch?

    Kids today are incredibly tech savvy. Preschoolers can navigate the Web, tweens can text with one hand at warp speed and teens can conquer complex video games. But I wonder if all the gadgets and gizmos have diminished their attention spans and creativity. Remember when you could amuse yourself for [...]
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    Posted: December 02, 2009, 2:20pm EST

  • These party crashers love their 15 minutes of fame

    Have you ever wanted to crash a high-class party? Chances are we all thought about it but eventually thought better of such a decision. Michaele and Tareq Salahi, a.k.a. “The White House Party Crashers,” insist that they were invited to President Barack Obama’s first state dinner and say they have [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 4:34pm EST

  • Gore's gaffes don't help his cause

    Someone needs to rein in Al Gore, or at least get him a fact-checker for Christmas. On Conan O’Brien’s show, Gore — extolling the virtues of geothermal energy — said the temperature in the interior of the Earth is “several million degrees.” Actually, if that were the temperature, the Earth [...]
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    Posted: November 25, 2009, 2:17pm EST

  • Believing in Facebook

    This is not good news. A team of researchers says that kids who view other kids boasting about drinking on Facebook take the boasts as truth. “Most kids told us what they saw was what they believed. Teens said that if (they) see someone on Facebook talking about drinking alcohol, [...]
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    Posted: November 24, 2009, 2:23pm EST

  • Why worry about toys?

    Every year, we hear about the hot toy of the holiday season and the extremes that people will go to get it. Should that even be an issue this year? How much does it mean to the average American this year as to whether or not he or she can [...]
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    Posted: November 24, 2009, 9:58am EST

  • Fitness course should be offered to all

    Historically black colleges do things differently. Take Lincoln University in Philadelphia, Pa. To graduate, obese students must to take a fitness course to receive their degrees. I applaud the school’s intent, but I don’t like its execution. Being obese is hard enough without being singled out. We also know that [...]
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    Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:55pm EST

  • What about clean dishes?

    All I want for Christmas is Cascade. I understand the state's decision to effectively ban phosphorus in detergents beginning in July. It’s not that I am a fan of the stinky algae that it apparently causes. It’s just that I like having clean, sparkly dishes and, according to Consumer Reports, [...]
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    Posted: November 20, 2009, 10:50am EST

  • Should we live with this kind of tragedy?

    So, if, as it appears, Maj. Nidal Hasan legally bought the gun he is suspected of using to kill 13 and wound others, will this cause any more introspection on gun ownership? I’ve asked the question before with other shootings. Yes, the background check should have triggered yet another red [...]
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    Posted: November 20, 2009, 10:44am EST

  • The California of the Midwest

    A Pew Center Report on the States finds that Wisconsin is one of 10 states in “financial peril." Years of shirking fiduciary responsibility by increasing state outlays without simple budgetary controls has made us the California of the Midwest. According to The Tax Foundation, we also make the top 10 [...]
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    Posted: November 19, 2009, 11:06am EST

  • The forgotten children

    We focus a lot on those imaginary children in day cares (those our tax dollars pay for but dont exist). Then there are those children who suffer at the hands of co-sleeping parents. But what about the children who are otherwise falling through the cracks? The other day, a mother [...]
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    Posted: November 19, 2009, 10:50am EST

  • One holiday at a time

    No, it’s not one of the earth-shaking issues of our times, but a couple of local radio stations started playing Christmas music this past weekend. Actually, I was fairly impressed that they waited this long, less than two weeks before Thanksgiving. I prefer my holidays one at a time, so [...]
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    Posted: November 19, 2009, 10:34am EST

  • If he's abusive, kick him out

    The tragic murder of 14-year-old Cody Reetz allegedly by his stepfather should again shout out to all women living with a man who is not the father of her children. According to a 2002 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, children living with unrelated male adults were eight times [...]
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    Posted: November 18, 2009, 11:11am EST

  • Get to the truth on Hasan

    It seems that some people are so afraid to acknowledge even the mere possibility that the alleged Fort Hood shooter was motivated by Islamic extremism that they’d rather point to everything but that. But even if it turns out that Army Maj. Nidal Hasan’s actions were terrorism, not the random [...]
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    Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:28am EST

  • Governor makes good move

    Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday he has withdrawn funding for a $100,000 consultant at the Madison-based University of Wisconsin System, who was hired to create investment and jobs across the state in water technology. Good move. Creation of the position had angered Milwaukee-area business leaders and legislators, who accused UW [...]
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    Posted: November 17, 2009, 2:59pm EST

  • Bow to emperor shouldn't have surprised anyone

    I was waiting to see how long it would be before there was news from President Barack Obama’s trip to Japan, and now we have it. Should anyone be surprised that the president bowed to the emperor of Japan? No more than we should have been surprised when the Obamas [...]
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    Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:58am EST

  • No surprise that state is fiscally challenged

    It shouldn’t take a Pew Center on the States report to realize that Wisconsin is fiscally challenged. Years of irresponsible budgeting — of repeatedly kicking the can down the road with accounting gimmicks — helped land the state in the soup. The state’s politicians have long suffered from chronic lack [...]
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    Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:49am EST

  • Take DNA at time of arrest

    DNA testing of anyone arrested should be mandatory standard procedure utilized by any law enforcement agency. It is not an invasion of privacy to collect those samples, it is a way for law enforcement to verify the identity of the individual. It is also a way to better determine if [...]
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    Posted: November 12, 2009, 11:05am EST

  • Taxpayer money down the drain

    Even as state government struggles financially — resulting in mass furloughs and layoffs of state employees — money keeps flowing down the drain. The Department of Tourism recently sidelined its new “Live like you mean it” slogan — after spending $57,000 on it. And a few months back, the University [...]
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    Posted: November 12, 2009, 10:59am EST

  • Medical ethics

    The explosive conflicts of interest in the medical profession, disclosed in an ongoing investigation by the Journal Sentinel, are sufficient, in my opinion, to largely destroy the field. The tentacles of this corruption are embedded in everyday medical practice, university medical teaching, the pharmaceutical industry and professional medical journals. Everyone [...]
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    Posted: November 11, 2009, 11:49am EST

  • Thank a veteran

    Be sure on this Veterans Day to take a moment to thank a vet for the service he or she has rendered to protect our freedoms. And spare a moment, too, to all those Americans who have served their country since its birth at Lexington and Concord. As we have [...]
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    Posted: November 11, 2009, 11:37am EST

  • Remembering the victims of communist tyranny

    One of the most moving memorials I ever saw stood next to the Spree River in Berlin. In my memory, it was a simple thing, commemorating those East German citizens who had been murdered trying to cross the Berlin Wall in a desperate bid to escape communist tyranny. I saw [...]
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    Posted: November 11, 2009, 11:15am EST

  • The value of primary care doctors

    Ever heard of RBRVS — Resource-Based Relative Value Scale? It’s what’s used to determine the value of physician labor. Keep it in mind when you hear folks decrying the scarcity of primary care doctors. One reason could be that their labor is deemed less valuable than that of specialists. An [...]
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    Posted: November 11, 2009, 10:59am EST

  • Playing to win

    The price tag for keeping Mercury Marine in Wisconsin was high: $70 million in public assistance. But the cost of losing 2,700 jobs in Fond du Lac County would have been higher over the long term. I hate bidding wars, but recessions force managers to cut costs. One thing is [...]
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    Posted: November 10, 2009, 1:49pm EST

  • Call co-sleeping deaths what they are

    There are cries for justice in the city that go unanswered for a variety of reasons, most of which are brushed aside because the criminal is allowed to cry victim. Finally, authorities have wised up, and decided to charge one of those individuals. Rose Prescott, who has lost two children [...]
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    Posted: November 06, 2009, 11:15am EST

  • Giving money helped

    Times are hard, even for beggars. But one beggar got me good. Instead of asking for “bus fare” or $1 for food, this man, who approached me in The Outpost parking lot, asked me if I were a Christian. When I told him yes, he asked if I was sure. [...]
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    Posted: November 06, 2009, 10:28am EST

  • Awards show that it's still a great park system

    And the hits keep on coming: Last month, the Milwaukee County Parks System won the National Gold Medal for Excellence at a conference in Salt Lake City by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation and Park Association. Milwaukee County’s parks were chosen among four [...]
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    Posted: November 05, 2009, 4:35pm EST

  • Live operators provide a real service for transit system

    On Monday, when the full Milwaukee County Board wrestles with the 2010 budget, among the difficult decisions county supervisors will have to make will be whether to eliminate live telephone operators at the Milwaukee County Transit System. The county will save about $900,000 by eliminating the office and its seven [...]
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    Posted: November 05, 2009, 3:09pm EST

  • What recovery?

    If you go to the local malls or eat out at a restaurant and you see lots of people, you might be thinking that the economy is well on the way to recovery. However, I would ask you to consider the following. I ran an ad in a newspaper on [...]
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    Posted: November 05, 2009, 10:29am EST

  • It's OK for the president to spend time with the guys

    Is it OK for President Barack Obama to spend his recreational time — playing basketball and golf — with whomever he chooses, even if it’s only men? Of course. Occasional guy time and gal time in one’s private life has to be fine even in this overly PC era. And [...]
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    Posted: November 05, 2009, 10:08am EST

  • Unite to get action

    It’s interesting to hear those people outraged by the recent local budget proposals, and they should be. There isn’t anyone who will be spared a cut in services and an increase in fees of some sort. Everyone has his or her pet projects, whether its public pools or aid to [...]
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    Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:22am EST

  • Why should U.S. support Hamid Karzai's government?

    How do you ask U.S. soldiers to risk their lives or perhaps die for Hamid Karzai’s government? Yes, they’re there to keep the Taliban from power and al-Qaida at bay. But this presumes an adequate alternative. Karzai, who now promises reform but whose opium-corrupt regime stole the recent election, isn’t [...]
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    Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:14am EST

  • What matters is adding jobs

    The economic news reads like this: “Economy grew at 3.5% rate in the third quarter;" “Economy finds its footing”, and “Stocks soar on upbeat economic report." The bottom line is that until employers start adding jobs, consumers will continue to keep their wallets closed. We all know someone who is [...]
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    Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:08am EST

  • Let's get back to real issues

    So Brett Favre came back to Green Bay and walked over the team and the city that once considered him one of them. So what? It’s over now; time to get back to the issues at hand. There is a chance that taxes in Milwaukee will be increased to pick [...]
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    Posted: November 02, 2009, 2:21pm EST

  • Turn off that TV

    The Nielsen Co. recently announced that children ages 2 to 5 watch television 32 hours a week, and that children ages 6 to 11 watch 28 hours a week. Where do they watch that much television? At home, of course. And who allows that to happen? Not the schools, not [...]
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    Posted: November 02, 2009, 2:14pm EST

  • Brett up 2-0

    Brett Favre is up 2-0 on Packer’s GM Ted Thompson. Unfortunately, fans, players and coaches got caught in the gunslinger’s crossfire. At 40, Favre never looked better. He’s avoiding the bonehead mistakes that made us cringe. Now we cringe every time Aaron Rodgers is hit by the opposing team — [...]
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    Posted: November 02, 2009, 1:33pm EST

  • Don't trivialize Nazis, Holocaust

    Comparisons to the Nazis and the Holocaust are being bandied about much too easily by partisans on both sides of the issues. Ask anyone who experienced or survived the brutality of the Nazi regime: Decisions about public policy on health care or government financing, no matter how difficult, are not [...]
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    Posted: November 02, 2009, 11:46am EST

  • This, too, is child abuse

    A word in defense of Falcon Heene, the 6-year-old “balloon boy.” His truth-telling led to the conclusion that his celebrity-starved parents concocted the tale. If the hoax charges stand up, Falcon no doubt will go through immense feelings of guilt in the years ahead. But the guilt belongs to parents [...]
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    Posted: October 30, 2009, 10:51am EDT

  • Obama can't win

    The peculiar high-wire act President Barack Obama must perform as our first African-American president continues. This time, the back-biters are questioning whether first daughters Sasha and Malia received preferential treatment when they received their H1N1 shots. Nobel Peace Prize notwithstanding, Mr. Obama cannot win. On one hand, he would have [...]
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    Posted: October 30, 2009, 10:47am EDT

  • Who is 'un-American'?

    It’s unbelievable! Think of it: apartments with smoke alarms, door locks, flushable toilets, unbroken windows – the whole schmear! If a proposed city ordinance passes, a renter might actually have heat this winter, if you are “lucky” enough to live in one of two city areas renowned for apartment code [...]
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    Posted: October 30, 2009, 10:42am EDT

  • Don't like government programs? Opt out of Medicare

    Here’s an idea to pay for health care reform: the people who claim that there’s no way the government could run a health insurance program can opt out of Medicare. That should be enough savings to insure those who are uninsured. One man famously declared at a town hall meeting, [...]
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    Posted: October 29, 2009, 11:13am EDT

  • Controlling the message

    What the Obama administration apparently fails to realize is that its feud with Fox News benefits only one side: Fox News. Making war on the media is rarely a good idea, or does the name Richard Nixon mean nothing? No other media organization is going to take the administration’s side, [...]
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    Posted: October 29, 2009, 11:00am EDT

  • Focus on protecting kids, not on their costumes

    Halloween is around the corner. Thoughts turn to costumes and candy and whether there will be snow when you trick-or-treat. In this day and age, there also have to be warnings about where to go and what to do before eating candy, and how to mark your costume so it [...]
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    Posted: October 28, 2009, 11:55am EDT

  • 70 million reasons

    White House communications director Anita Dunn has a right to her positive view of Mao Zedong. And I have my view. As the offspring of two of the millions who fled China to escape Mao’s, um, “philosophy,” it’s difficult to see any good in the Chairman. Why? There are 70 [...]
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    Posted: October 28, 2009, 10:34am EDT

  • Playing 'Gotcha!'

    ESPN college football broadcaster Bob Griese has been suspended for one week for responding (when asked where was Juan Pablo Montoya in the current NASCAR Championship points race), “(maybe) he was out having a taco.” I heard the comment live and I winced, not because I thought the comment was [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2009, 1:12pm EDT

  • The micromanaging president

    First, President Barack Obama declares an H1N1 state of emergency, then he decides that Mayor Tom Barrett should run for governor of Wisconsin. Is it really the president’s place to decide who should or shouldn’t be in a position of power in the state? Shouldn’t the president be more worried [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2009, 10:55am EDT

  • Too poor to serve on jury duty?

    Citizens are balking at jury duty because, they say, they can’t afford to serve. I served on a jury earlier this year. Free soda, cookies and movies presented aside, I know serving can impose a financial burden — one reason to pay jurors more. But think about the sacrifice — [...]
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    Posted: October 26, 2009, 12:58pm EDT

  • A Milwaukee-Milwaukee race for governor?

    Does this mean a Milwaukee-Milwaukee race for governor next year; will Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett take their arguments to the state level in a gubernatorial campaign? With Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton's announcement Monday that she's puilling out of the race, that's the way things [...]
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    Posted: October 26, 2009, 12:28pm EDT

  • Parents and caregivers need to step up, and MPS must change

    Every year when the nation’s report card for school achievement comes out, we lament the achievement gap between black and white kids in Milwaukee. Every year, the state superintendent says, “We must do more” and editorialists call for change. 1) This starts in the home, so parents and caregivers need [...]
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    Posted: October 26, 2009, 12:13pm EDT

  • Who's to blame?

    We'll have more to say about this in an editorial tomorrow but it does appear that someone has dropped the ball on the vaccine for the H1N1 virus. Federal officials have been saying all along that they will have sufficient supplies of the vaccine, and that no one will be' [...]
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    Posted: October 23, 2009, 12:36pm EDT

  • Can government be held accountable?

    While everyone else was distracted by zip codes and texting, two state bills passed Tuesday are interesting, to say the very least. Apparently, the state will hold foster care workers accountable for their actions and the state will also go after those child care agencies who defrauded the state to [...]
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    Posted: October 23, 2009, 10:38am EDT

  • This costume goes too far

    Halloween is the time when many of us dress up as superheroes, sexy maids, politicians and ghouls. But the “illegal alien” costume goes too far. The costume depicts a space creature in orange prison garb bearing the words “illegal alien” and with a green card. One could interpret this as [...]
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    Posted: October 22, 2009, 3:30pm EDT

  • Signs can't fix school violence

    Violence Free Zones? Shouldnt schools already be violence free schools without the benefit of a sign and an ordinance? What will putting up a sign do to control violence in schools? We have speed limit signs and yet people still speed. We have no loitering and littering signs and yet [...]
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    Posted: October 22, 2009, 10:34am EDT

  • What about those jobs?

    Woo hoo! Wall Street broke the Dow Jones 10,000 mark. OK, maybe just woo, minus the exclamation mark. That’s because, in contrast, the best we can say about the latest jobs figures is that they are better than a sharp stick in the eye. Yes, the markets will improve before [...]
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    Posted: October 22, 2009, 10:27am EDT

  • The parochialism of the Obama administration

    President Barack Obama (from Chicago) sends Education Secretary Arne Duncan (from Chicago) and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to Chicago to combat a Chicago-centric issue of youth violence in Chicago. Not based on normative data – there are cities perhaps more worthy of a visit – but rather the result [...]
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    Posted: October 21, 2009, 11:30am EDT

  • It's a great street

    E. Newberry Blvd., a 12-block stretch that connects Riverside Park and Lake Park and showcases historic homes of architectural significance, has been named one of America’s “Great Streets” by the American Planning Association. I’ve spent some time driving it over the past few years, and I couldn’t agree more. It’s [...]
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    Posted: October 21, 2009, 11:11am EDT

  • Why use ZIP codes?

    For years, I lived in a lovely Milwaukee neighborhood. Though my car was never stolen or breached, I was penalized with higher auto insurance premiums because I lived in a “bad” ZIP code. When I moved to a “good” ZIP code, my rates dropped, even though my commute doubled and [...]
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    Posted: October 20, 2009, 4:55pm EDT

  • Ban texting while driving

    The state Senate today approved, 27-5, a ban on texting while driving. The measure now moves to the Assembly, where it deserves the same kind of support. The bill should be approved quickly as it is and then signed by the governor. There was some discussion that the ban should apply [...]
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    Posted: October 20, 2009, 3:57pm EDT

  • Prevent ODS

    The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, in the midst of the H1N1 epidemic, must turn its attention to the prevention of ODS. I am speaking, of course, of Obama Derangement Syndrome. There was a nasty outbreak of ODS at the B. Bernice Young elementary school in Burlington Township, N.J. [...]
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    Posted: October 19, 2009, 1:50pm EDT

  • Taking the sex out of texting

    This story sounds like a broken record. After telling teens repeatedly not to send nude pictures of themselves to their friends, some continue to do so. We all would like to think that our kids would not do such a thing, but kids are still doing it and we can’t [...]
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    Posted: October 16, 2009, 2:56pm EDT

  • There's so much more to kids' learning

    I didn’t attend kindergarten, which becomes mandatory in Wisconsin in 2011. I didn’t go to school year-round, nor did I spend nine hours a day in class. Still, I managed to learn. There’s so much more to kids’ learning than time and dollars expended. What matters most? The high expectations [...]
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    Posted: October 15, 2009, 11:20am EDT

  • Don't put your kids in trashy Halloween outfits

    Every Halloween party you go to you’ll find women in the “dirty French maid” or the “hot little devil” costumes. The costumes leave little to the imagination because they are usually skin-tight and chest-baring. But these are grown women who can make their own decisions. But have you seen the [...]
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    Posted: October 13, 2009, 12:53pm EDT

  • Shame on you Obey

    Shame on you U.S. Rep. David Obey. For a guy whose name has been synonymous with good government in the U.S. House of Representatives, your opposition to stricter air pollution controls for ships on the Great Lakes is an embarrassment to your record. It appears that you have caved to [...]
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    Posted: October 13, 2009, 12:06pm EDT

  • Nobel Committee had a Twitter moment

    The Nobel Committee had a Twitter moment — my explanation for its rush to deliver a Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama. The committee just couldn’t wait, so it posted. Obama is a politician with great promise, poise and polish but few accomplishments so far. Wars rage, our enemies [...]
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    Posted: October 12, 2009, 2:06pm EDT

  • What has President Barack Obama done to merit Nobel Peace Prize?

    When I stumbled out of bed this morning, I heard that the Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to President Barack Obama. This prize once meant something, was once a symbol of efforts to bring actual peace and unity to an area or areas of the world. Apparently, it is [...]
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    Posted: October 09, 2009, 1:27pm EDT

  • A moment in Oslo

    Let me set the scene: Oslo City Hall, Oslo, Norway, December 2009. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Barack Obama, resplendent in his black tux, white tie and vest, steps up to the podium to accept his award. As he basks in the audience applause, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele lurches [...]
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    Posted: October 09, 2009, 1:24pm EDT

  • Freedom From Religion Foundation is wrong - again

    I was raised a Baptist, and so I grew up firmly believing that government should stay out of religion and religion should stay out of government. But that doesn’t mean I’m on board when the Freedom From Religion Foundation does things such as criticize the placement of a public memorial [...]
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    Posted: October 08, 2009, 2:22pm EDT

  • Holloway's intentions clear

    Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway says he wasn’t accusing County Executive Scott Walker of racism on Monday when he compared him to a former Ku Klux Klan leader. I, for one, take Holloway’s explanation at face value. After all, how could Walker possibly think the chairman of the board [...]
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    Posted: October 08, 2009, 12:01pm EDT

  • Paying for others

    I find it interesting that there is talk of raising the tax on alcohol to pay for a bill to combat drunken drivers. So, essentially, you are making those who happen to purchase alcohol and do not go out and put their own or others’ lives at risk, to pay [...]
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    Posted: October 08, 2009, 11:57am EDT

  • Time for solutions at MPS

    There has been enormous debate these last couple months regarding mayoral control over Milwaukee Public Schools. Milwaukee leaders have weighed in, the public has weighed in, educational institutions have weighed in and the issue has created discussion with other local organizations. Although there has been much controversy about the pros [...]
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    Posted: October 08, 2009, 11:48am EDT

  • Justice is preferred

    Unlike Scotland, the United States allowed a murderer to die in prison. Manson disciple Susan Atkins, who admitted to stabbing pregnant actress Sharon Tate 16 times while she begged for her life in 1969, had terminal cancer and was denied a compassionate release on Sept. 2; she died Sept. 24. [...]
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    Posted: October 07, 2009, 4:05pm EDT

  • Starvation is starvation

    Dale and Leilani Neumann murdered their 11-year-old daughter. Madeline died slowly in excruciating pain of diabetic starvation. Her parents relied on the curative power of faith over medicine, yet were sentenced to only one month in jail per year for six years. Meanwhile, parents starve their kids to death while [...]
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    Posted: October 07, 2009, 12:27pm EDT

  • Sky isn''t falling

    There is quite a bit of intramural silliness surrounding the election of President Barack Obama. His critics, faced with the apparently insoluble problem of his contradictory achievement, hold rallies, act up at town hall meetings and call names. They can actually achieve something there. Does anybody remember when all the [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2009, 11:32am EDT

  • Time to overhaul police screening tests

    I’m sure you’re as thrilled as I am at the possibility of receiving a bill from the City of Milwaukee to pay a $3 million settlement to Curtis Harris for the alleged beating he received at the hands of a City of Milwaukee police officer. There is a predictable package [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2009, 11:26am EDT

  • Mattell still in fantasyland

    Mattel will add a new line of black Barbie dolls for its “So In Style” line. The dolls are supposed to have fuller lips, a wider nose, distinct cheekbones and curlier hair. I believe it’s a step in the right direction with a huge BUT: The dolls’ black features don’t [...]
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    Posted: October 05, 2009, 11:27am EDT

  • We can still work together, even without the Olympics

    It's too bad that the Olympic Games won't be coming to Chicago (although, admittedly, Rio is a lovely setting and it's about time South America hosted the games), but that shouldn't slow efforts to work together more closely with our neighbor to the immediate south. Economic development partnerships and efforts [...]
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    Posted: October 02, 2009, 12:15pm EDT

  • Can you hear me now?

    At Tuesday's public hearing on We Energies' proposed rate increases, citizens who showed up to voice their displeasures ran into a case of "can you hear me now?" The Public Service Commission phone link between Madison and Milwaukee disconnected twice while citizens were trying to be heard. Why couldn't a [...]
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    Posted: October 01, 2009, 11:34am EDT

  • Good things do happen to good people

    I woke up this morning to great news. Former Supreme Court Justice Louis B. Butler has been nominated for a federal judgeship by President Barack Obama. Good things do happen to good people. This is a just reward for a good man who refused to stoop to the level of [...]
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    Posted: October 01, 2009, 11:27am EDT

  • I wouldn't do it again

    I like to hunt and own several firearms, one of them a Winchester shotgun purchased in 2004 from the predecessor company to Badger Guns. I regret that purchase today. The store’s management is being hard-headed — and hard-hearted — in refusing to do more to combat straw buyers. Hundreds of [...]
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    Posted: October 01, 2009, 11:05am EDT

  • Bread and circuses in Wisconsin

    Bread and circuses. That’s what governments offer in times of economic famine. Our current circus is the Day-care Provider Scandal. State Rep. Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin) has co-authored a bill that would make it a crime for government workers to rubber-stamp suspicious child-care payments. Can you imagine Gundrum’s disgust at [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2009, 10:50am EDT

  • Does the president respect the office?

    Respect the office of the president of the United States. As a child growing up during the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations, we heard that counsel often. You may not respect the man or his policies, but respect the office. But how does one apply that lesson today when the [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2009, 10:32am EDT

  • Asian carp getting closer; why didn't anyone see this coming?

    Seriously? Didn't anyone see this coming? After all the discussion and arguing over the electric barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal aimed at keeping the jumping Asian carp out of Lake Michigan, it turns out the barrier may not matter. According to a new report by the Journal Sentinel's [...]
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    Posted: September 29, 2009, 4:13pm EDT

  • Where does Milwaukee rank on other lists?

    So a new statistic is out that MIlwaukee is the 11th poorest city in the nation, and this benefits us how exactly? I wonder how the city of Milwaukee ranks in allowing money to be wrongly paid to child care providers? Where does Milwaukee fall on the list of state [...]
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    Posted: September 29, 2009, 10:38am EDT

  • Crack down on employers

    It's time to crack down on employers who are breaking the law by hiring undocumented workers. Stop ignoring the employer's part in the immigration problem. Why blame the illegals when unscrupulous employers lure such workers, and state and federal laws requiring legal worker status are not enforced? I don't have' [...]
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    Posted: September 29, 2009, 10:26am EDT

  • Quid pro quo

    The common argument: Campaign contributions are not about "I give you money, I expect favorable votes on bills I like." So, what to make of the timing of contributions by the payday loan industry to state legislators? Lenders “contributed” $140,000 last year — far more than in the past decade [...]
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    Posted: September 29, 2009, 10:08am EDT

  • Obama grasping at straws

    Jobless recovery. Two words I would have expected from the Obama administration. The president is grasping at straws and will take anything that looks like it is good news, something that will be the proverbial feather in his cap. The problem is that while he is trying to tout anything [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2009, 11:14am EDT

  • Why not appoint other elected officials?

    Alan J. Borsuk seems to suggest that because so few people turn out to vote for School Board members, elections no longer need to be held. In that same low-turnout election, people elected a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, a circuit judge and several mayors. Perhaps we should do away with [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2009, 11:11am EDT

  • Race and Obama's critics

    A black or Latino clerk is gabbing with co-workers. Service is slow. Reactions: 1) Resignation; you’ve come to expect this from clerks. 2) You’re peeved; period. 3) For a reason you can’t quite pin down, you’re more peeved than you should be and are queasy about it. 4) You’re peeved [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2009, 11:08am EDT

  • About time

    So state officials have finally taken some action and removed an official at the Department of Children and Families after the state made a $25,000 payment to child-care provider Latasha Jackson, whose billing practices are under review. Action is good. What's unclear is whether this is a case of an underling [...]
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    Posted: September 25, 2009, 3:56pm EDT
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