By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 7:39 PM

How do you feel about Obama's choice of Sen. Joe Biden as a running mate?

(published 1-Sep-2008, Appleton Post-Crescent)

How do I feel?  Lets see, now ... I feel ... I feel ... I feel a feeling of ... something akin to ... on the order of ... a close approximation of ... not unrelated to ... more or less ... with a tendency towards ... can't really nail it down ... completely, that is ... kinda, sorta ... mmmmm ... getting sleepy ... what was I saying? ... oh, yeah ... let me sit up straight, here ... OK ... Obama ... who did he pick for vice-whatchamacallit? ... Hillary, wasn't it? ... No, wait! ... Biden, yeah ... Congresscritter from Vermont ... hmmm ... what? ... oh, Delaware, right ... if I could just keep my eyes open ... um ... feel ... I feel ... where was I? ... ZZZzzzzz ...

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, August 21, 2008 6:20 PM

http://www.swerbach.com/Speech/Neenah_Council_Speech_Ord1374_0820.wma

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, August 21, 2008 6:17 PM

This speech was delivered at the August 20th Neenah City Council meeting.  I had intended to speak at the Public Services and Safety Committee meeting on August 9th, but that meeting was canceled:

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In the rush to throw myself in front of the bus of the August 6th Council vote on Ordinance 1374, I didn't fact check adequately...meaning: I was wrong.  Two facts would have been apparent if, given time, I'd questioned the proper people:

1) The permit mentioned in Ordinance 1374 would NOT be subject to approval by the Council.  To acquire a permit for a newspaper vending machine the vendor would go through a process similar to acquiring a building permit.  That's according to Community Development Director Buckingham.

2) The manufacturer of newspaper vending machines mentioned in the ordinance is not intended to be the sole provider.  ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Sunday, August 17, 2008 7:26 PM

I went to the Neenah City Council web site to view the video of the August 6th Council meeting.  I'm there all right, all 13-1/2 minutes...but it's a puppet show, a pantomime.  The video engineer didn't have the public microphone patched into his board, and all the mikes on the Council members were noise-canceling.

Be that as it may, here's the audio of my presentation that evening caputred on an Olympus DS-30 right at the podium:

http://www.swerbach.com/speech/NeenahCouncil_6_Aug_2008.wma

Windows Media format.

 

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 9:56 PM

My name is Steve Erbach and I live at 1017 Babcock St.

I'd like to begin by expressing thanks to the crews that repaved Cecil Street. There was very little disruption or re-routing - just a couple of days of driving over the ground-down pavement before it was re-surfaced. But when those guys were ready to pour the asphalt they did it in one day…and it's beautiful. Thank you.

The thing I'd really like to talk about though, is proposed city ordinance number 1374. I'm here to speak in opposition to it.

First, in the interests of FULL DISCLOSURE: My only association with newspapers is as a regular correspondent for the Appleton Post-Crescent. I am not paid for my submissions. I do not own any of the publications that place vending machines. I am not employed by any of them either. I don't even have subscriptions to any of them, though I think The Scene is a dandy alternative paper... ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, August 01, 2008 10:49 AM

How big of a role do you think Wisconsin will play in the presidential election?

(published 4-Aug-2008, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Very little, I'm afraid.  I'm sure Senator Obama can count on Wisconsin to go "blue" and deliver its 10 electoral votes.  Not that I'm thrilled about that; I'm not thrilled about either major party candidate, to tell you the truth.  I haven't had a cable TV subscription since '99; so I've been spared the endless, fawning coverage of the Messiah and the faux sincerity and doomsday predictions of the McCain political ads with their ploddingly emotional music cues and content-free blather.  Of course, I can't escape the political badinage on the GoreNet.  Today I see where Angelina Jolie's father, Jon Voigt, has written an op-ed ... Read More »