By Steve Erbach on Friday, March 13, 2009 4:16 AM

If you could change careers today, would you?

(published 16-Mar-2009, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Exactly four weeks ago I was "involuntarily terminated due to downsizing", so I've had a fair chance to consider that question.  I'm in the same boat with a lot of people in my profession -- information technology and web development -- so the pie might not get any higher, to paraphrase former President Bush.  I did apply for a position in an entirely different field right away, as executive director of a national association.  It was an interesting exercise and I had decent qualifications for the position.  I didn't get it, but it was worth the ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, February 28, 2009 7:53 AM

My absolute favorite quote from this Guardian article is "People just don't understand that softness equals ecological destruction."

You can't make this stuff up.

American taste for soft toilet roll 'worse than driving Hummers'

Extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply toilet roll made from virgin forest causes more damage than gas-guzzlers, fast food or McMansions, say campaigners

Thursday 26 February 2009 18.29 GMT

The tenderness of the delicate American buttock is cau ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, February 20, 2009 1:35 PM

A school board in Florida -- actually, the county where they had so much trouble with the "butterfly" Presidential ballots in 2000 -- has voted to limit students' homework to 10 minutes per grade. So a 4th grader would have 40 minutes of homework. Imagine that!

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, February 12, 2009 6:00 PM

How has the economic downturn hurt you?

(published 16-Feb-2009, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Our oldest son works at a popular restaurant.  He works fewer hours and gets fewer tips. One Sunday three customers left no tips; one had a $70 tab.  My wife actually works more hours than before, so she's doing fine. I don't have "layoff survivor syndrome" yet, mainly because there haven't been any layoffs where I work.  But hourly workers there now work seven hour shifts, not eight.  Gas prices are good, as low as they were four years ago. I really don't think that we're heading into a depression. The early 80's had higher unemployment, interest, and inflation rates than today, and there wasn't any talk of an economic "stimulus".  Comparing the Reagan administration to the Obama administration will be very instructive.  Spending our way to prosperity is a phantom, a trap.  Don't listen to Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, February 12, 2009 5:23 AM

From The PatriotPost:

THE FOUNDATION

"Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it." --John Adams

INSIGHT

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." --French economist, statesman and author Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)

Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 5:20 PM

Very symbolic, you know. Don't you feel better that PETA wants to avoid the creation of a "master race" of dogs?

Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 5:19 AM

From DownsizeDC.org, this appeal to the lesson from recent history provided by the Japanese in their attempts to turn their economy around through the use of government "stimulus" efforts:

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

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Quote of the Day: "Are we turning Japanese? I really think so." -- The Vapors

Subject: What we are failing to learn from Japan's example

"The Vapors" were a band whose only big hit, "Turning Japanese," could be the theme song for the so-called stimulus package. Congress too is a one-hit wonder whose one solutio Read More »

Comments (0)

By Steve Erbach on Monday, February 09, 2009 12:26 PM

You can't make this stuff up:

Climate change takes a mental toll

By Emily Anthes, Globe Correspondent  |  February 9, 2009 Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Monday, February 09, 2009 5:03 AM

I don't know what you think of Fred Thompson, but I thought this "explanation" was refreshingly sardonic and satirical.  Recorded before Christmas.

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, February 07, 2009 7:42 AM

I've written with some amusement about hyperinflation before on my old blog. That examination took in the decline of the Yugoslavian currency in the early 90s when Yugoslavia was breaking apart. The Yugoslavian dinar printed before 1990 was worth 1.3 octillion (that's 1,300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) of the 1994 dinars!

From the Voice of Africa comes this story about the currency devaluation in Zimbabwe:

 

Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, February 05, 2009 2:14 AM

[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5b3cf80a-f2ac-11dd-abe6-0000779fd2ac.html]

Story from the Financial Times about Russia's interesting mish-mash of policies:

• huge budget cuts in an attempt to limit its fiscal deficit
• authorities are not giving in to public demands for a quick-fix response
• deliberately choosing to allow gross domestic product growth to fall to zero or below in 2009 to stabilise the economy and maintain foreign exchange reserves

Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Monday, February 02, 2009 3:10 AM

...why do I get the feeling that it's simply another example of government control over our lives and the destruction of freedom?  Let me illustrate.

This article is from the Life & Style section of the London Times, believe it or not, and the article was written by the "Health editor" of the Times:

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 3:55 AM

Last week Thursday I was part of a small panel of current and former city, county, and state-level officials.  We were the featured speakers at the transmogrified Ron Paul Meetup group's January 8th meeting at the Appleton Public Library. (The APL has excellent meeting facilities, by the way.  Top notch.)

Here is a link to the Windows Media audio of the event.

This was a very fun event; I hope as much for the people attending as it was for the presenters.

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 8:23 PM

It's been 2½ weeks since the performance of the Girl Choir.  I thought I'd collect everything I'd written about the performance, except for my letter to the editor I published earlier.

I also have links below to the raw recording I made of the concert and a playlist in case you'd like to jump to a particular song.  I hope that in the next week or so to have the concert broken into individual songs.

Here is the text of an e-mail sent to a friend a day or two after the concert:

I have to mention a bit more about the Girl Choir.  I was very pleased that Eleanor wanted to join the choir, though her interest was fairly ... how shall I put it? ... blasé.

Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Sunday, December 28, 2008 7:03 AM

2008 was the year man-made global warming was disproved

Looking back over my columns of the past 12 months, one of their major themes was neatly encapsulated by two recent items from The Daily Telegraph.
 
By Christopher Booker
Last Updated: 10:59AM GMT 28 Dec 2008


Polar bears will be fine after all. (AP)

The first, on May 21, headed "Clima ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, December 27, 2008 8:58 PM

The UK Independent has a fine article skewering the beautiful people that haven't a clue about science:

Scientific illiteracy all the rage among the glitterati

By Steve Connor, Science editor
Saturday, 27 December 2008

When it comes to science, Barack Obama is no better than many of us. Today he joins the list of shame of those in public life who made scientifically unsupportable statements in 2008.

Closer to home, Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith faltered on the science of food, while Kate Moss, Oprah Winfrey and Demi Moore all get roastings for scientific illiteracy.

The Celebrities and Science Review 2008, prepared by t ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, December 27, 2008 8:18 AM

By Steve Erbach on Friday, December 19, 2008 6:41 AM

 

(published 22-Dec-2008, Appleton Post-Crescent)

We once lived in an old Victorian house that featured pocket doors in the living room. We'd opened our presents and were settling down to play with our new stuff when I announced that there was one more to go.  Warning everyone to stay put, I closed the pocket doors.  I had done all the "tab A into slot B" stuff on this surprise gift for my wife ahead of time and I'd tied a bow to the top; now I had to haul it from its hiding place without too much clanking.  I dragged it into the hallway outside the living room next to the doors and nipped back into the li ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, December 02, 2008 7:04 PM

This comes from a DownsizeDC.org email

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D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

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Quote of the Day: " was socialistic in every way. It  rewarded market failures. It ripped off average families for the sake of billionaires. It was the worst form of Keynesian planning. It was an open conflict of interest, as the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs funneled vast sums to Goldman Sachs. It had exactly zero chance of helping the economy. In fact, by draining productive private resources necessary for economic recovery, it makes a bad situation worse." -- Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. 

Subject: What is a troubled asset? Read More »

Comments (2)

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, November 20, 2008 9:10 PM

Should the minimum wage be raised?

(published 24-Nov-2008, Appleton Post-Crescent)

What we see is that some workers' wages go up by government decree.  What we DON'T see is the higher prices we pay on everything to subsidize those wages.  Either that or fewer minimum wage workers get to keep their jobs.  You either pay more for a Big Mac or the junior bun toaster is out on his ear.  That is, government puts people out of work by raising the minimum wage.  But you know what might really help minimum wage earners?  Cancel FICA and Medicare taxes.  They're the most regressive taxes of all.  Let minimum wage workers keep every penny.  But really what I wanna know is this:  Why do our Congresscritters ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, October 24, 2008 6:13 AM

By Steve Erbach on Monday, October 13, 2008 4:14 AM

By Steve Erbach on Friday, October 03, 2008 6:03 AM

The proposed ordinance to regulate newspaper vending machines (NVM) in Neenah was passed last night on a 6-3 vote.  The separate ordinance establishing a permit fee for NVM's also passed on a 6-3 vote.  On the way to those votes, however, there were five motions to amend or delay adoption of one or the other of the ordinances.  There was also some assistance in our glorious cause from an unexpected quarter on the Council.  The whole debate lasted for over half an hour. Combined with the 18 minutes for presentations during the  Public Forum, the NVM ordinances took up 50 of the 90 minutes of the Council meeting.

There were three Public Forum presentations.  The first was made by the owner of The Scene magazine, Jim Moran of Neenah (http://scenenewspaper.com/home.html).  I'd never met the man, but he sat a few seats away from my wife and me.&a ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, October 03, 2008 5:59 AM

In a separate posting I'll give a report of what happened with the newspaper vending machine ordinance.  Here's the text of my speech:

I'd like to clear the air about things that were said at last week's Public Services and Safety Committee meeting.  Both Mayor Scherck and Council President Stevenson were absolutely right:

• That the people responsible for the newspaper vending machines in downtown Neenah have in large part fallen down on the job. They're not properly maintaining their boxes, especially in the winter.
• That the city has a responsibility to maintain the public right-of-way.
• That store owners are entitled to expect a clear path to their doors from that public right-of-way.
• And that the city has the right and the responsibility to step in -- even with a new ordinance -- when people don't pay attention to THEIR responsibilities.
... Read More »
Comments (0)

By Steve Erbach on Monday, September 29, 2008 6:45 PM

The story that started it all:

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Appleton Post-Crescent - August 5, 2008

Neenah seeks to regulate newspaper vending machines

Rule would add $25 permit, limit location and size

By Duke Behnke
Post-Crescent staff writer

NEENAH — City planners have introduced an ordinance to restrict the placement, style, size and color of newspaper vending machines along Neenah ... Read More »

Comments (0)

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 8:39 AM

I've been "invested" -- to use Council President Todd Stevenson's term -- in the fight against the proposed newspaper vending machine ordinance since August 5th when I first found out about it. (The text of my speech to the Common Council on August 6th can be found here and the audio here.)

I'm only going to post the speech I made last night, September 23rd, at the Public Services and Safety Committee meeting, as well as the rebuttals by Mayor George Scherck and Stevenson. Commentary will come later after I've slept off the cold I have right now.

First, my speech. This was given before the PS&SC. In the audience were three members of the Neenah Business Improvement District who all were "invested" in the outcome, too:

... Read More »

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.