The Town Crank

Author:	Steve Erbach	Created:	Thursday, November 13, 2003 8:30 AM
Just shut yer yap, leave me alone, and stop raising my blankety-blank taxes!

Unique job opportunity

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 12:46 PM

While conducting business in my own software development company, I've been applying for positions in Information Technology all over the state. Today, my wife alerted me to a non-confuser-oriented moonlighting possibility that immediately appealed to me: become an "Examiner" for Examiner.com.

The San Francisco (?) Examiner has come up with a way to survive on-line where so many newspapers have had trouble. Examiner.com has branches in cities all over the U.S., five of them in Wisconsin. Each branch has dozens of "Examiners"; local correspondents who write about specific areas of interest...the same ones you'd find in a newspaper, just written by regular folks.

Well, I'm a regular folk-type person and the Job Description for the Examiner appealed to me:

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Now that it's official, it can be revealed...

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 10:25 AM

...that agostics and atheists know more about religion than anybody!

At noon Eastern time today, the Pew Research Center released the results of its "U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey". From the Preface:

In his 2007 book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – And Doesn’t, Boston University professor Stephen Prothero wrote that “Americans are both deeply religious and profoundly ignorant about religion.”

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Forgot to mention this

By Steve Erbach on Monday, September 27, 2010 7:40 AM

I've started listening to NPR's "Morning Edition" again after I drop off my wife at work. I used to listen every single day, weekdays and Saturdays. Weekdays in particular since Bob Edwards was the anchor for the program. When he was pushed out I stopped listening.

But I got used to listening again and I've got to say it's a pretty good show. I have to say something about the newscast on Friday, though, because it gave me the best laugh of the week...in a good way.

Steve Inskeep, I believe, was giving the 8:00 newscast. I'd already read about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad giving an address at the United Nations and about how the U.S. delegation walked out. Inskeep said something about Ahmadinejad devoting his speech to conspiracy theories and that the U.S. government planned and executed the 9/11 attacks t ... Read More »

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Recent commentary: what the heck do we do about distracted driving?

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, September 23, 2010 12:04 PM

What can be done to prevent distracted driving?

(published 27-Sep-2010, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Pour molten lead into the CD and radio controls and all the cup holders. Mandate detectors for french fry, nacho, and kung pao chicken molecules. A sprinkler system is triggered when those odors are present. Something like the bucking strap they use on bulls in a rodeo so that if the driver reaches for anything other than the climate controls or the glove compartment, the strap cinches up tight around a very sensitive personal area. An electronic cell phone jammer. A roof reservoir for coffee or soda so that the driver can sip from a straw without moving his head. Built in ... Read More »

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A really good analysis of the Tea Party

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 8:34 AM

Heard on NPR this morning, an excellent interview with Jonathan Rauch of the Brookings Institution and the National Journal. Rauch gave an extremely fair and balanced analysis of the Tea Party. I was very favorably impressed.

Here are the high points of the interview (from the online transcript):

They're trying to build a decentralized, headless, but national organization with no hierarchy at all. And they just do things. It's like a hive or a network. They call it open source structure. So if you hear people say that Tea Partiers are troglodytes, think again.
Tea Partiers don't want anyone else speaking for them. Their view is that every Tea Partier is his or her own spokesperson.
If you're actually trying to influence the passa ... Read More »

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The cure for all of those heartwarming email stories

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 3:10 PM

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Incredible story

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being tram ... Read More »

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Don't be forgettin', me hearties!

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, September 09, 2010 1:07 PM

International Talk Like a Pirate Day be but 10 days out from makin' Port Royal where there be wenches and rum aplenty! Arrrrh! Click on the picture below, ye swab!, to be learnin' all there is to know about talkin' like Blackbeard himself, by the powers!

If ye be a mort afeared that ye don't have what it takes to fill a pirate's shoes proper-like, take a gander at this educational video, and you'll be slingin' the piratical lingo with aplomb, rack, rend, and curse me for a sea slug, else!

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"Beats the heck out of me"

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, September 09, 2010 10:55 AM

It's refreshing when a public official actually makes a pronouncement that reflects reality. The title of this blog entry is a quote by Oakland County, Michigan, prosecutor Jessica Cooper. It comes in the middle of an article about the disconnect between laws legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes and the arrest of people that run marijuana dispensaries because it's illegal to do so:

Thursday, September 09, 2010

The buying and selling of legal marijuana

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Recent commentary: how to get business to move here

By Steve Erbach on Friday, September 03, 2010 10:13 AM

What should the Fox Cities do to attract more business?

(published 6-Sep-2010, Appleton Post-Crescent)

TIF (Tax Increment Financing) is still the way to go. Businesses may amortize infrastructure investment (love them big financial words) by piggy-backing on a city's ability to get better borrowing rates with revenue bonds. But there's still that emotional component of the sale; that is, what can Neenah or Appleton offer that sways a business to move here instead of Arizona? It's tough to sell intangibles like quality of life, sturdiness of the work force, bountifulness of the harvest, or the willingness of crappies and bluegills to jump out of the water into the fishing boat. Cities brag about cost of living, school choices, and cultural diversions. The PAC wasn't built specifically to attract businesses, but it sure doesn't hurt App ... Read More »

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"...and they tell us we should ride bikes?"

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, September 02, 2010 2:39 PM

I normally don't have too much truck with China, other than the fact that a lot of what I buy comes from there. The one child policy; the dominance of the still-Communist, one-party government; its historic belligerence towards America...all of these things make me want to keep China at arm's length.

That being said, I was struck quite favorably by reading an excerpt of a speech given by Yu Qingtai, China's lead climate negotiator through the Copenhagen conference last year (the New York Times called it the "tumultuous" Copenhagen conference). He gave the speech at the Beijing University School of International Studies. The speech covered climate, diplomacy, and balancing national and international interests.

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This was humbling and ironically humorous

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, September 02, 2010 9:02 AM

While I have been able to earn some money from moonlighting work over the past 18 months since I was downsized from my last job, I have collected unemployment compensation the whole time. I've applied for about 160 jobs; I've had a couple dozen telephone screenings by HR departments; and I've had a relative handful -- 7 or 8 -- in-person interviews. I'm still looking. I'm also looking in places other than the confuser field...my wife even says that I should consider getting back into radio.

Just today I was checking the Wisconsin unemployment web site. I noted that the office and the phone lines will be shut down tomorrow as a furlough day and, of course, on Labor Day.

Then I saw this and I had to smile ruefully:

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You'll like this one

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 11:19 AM

On Monday I introduced Eleanor to "How Can You Be In Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All?"...the seminal recording by Firesign Theater featuring Nick Danger, Third Eye:

I had long ago memorized just about the entire thing...but I had no idea that Miss E would be so taken with it. After listening to all the YouTube episodes she asked if there were a transcript. So, we found one on-line and printed it out. She's read it multiple times...and last night ... Read More »

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$500 million?!?!?!

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 10:19 AM

So a rich real estate developer in Florida loses the Democratic primary for Senate. Does he concede graciously? Does he bow out with his head held high? No sirree! He's going to sue, by gum!

Jeff Greene to Sue Newspapers for Costing Him Senate Bid

Posted by Brian Montopoli

Jeff Greene, the wealthy Florida real estate developer who came up short in his Democratic Senate primary race against Rep. Kendrick Meek, is planning to sue two Florida newspapers for libel, the New York Times reports.

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Something non-political for a change

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 8:46 AM

An old friend of my wife's posted a list of the 15 albums "you've heard that will always stick with you." So I sat for about 15 minutes and came up with this list:

The Beatles: The White Album
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
Cream: Goodbye
Chick Corea and Return to Forever: Romantic Warrior
Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles: Live

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Recent commentary: food safety

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 4:55 AM

This is a comment I made on the Appleton Post-Crescent web site to the question: "How concerned are you about food safety?" The Mr. Van Boxtel I refer to below is one of the people that made a published reply to that question:

Mr. Van Boxtel had it right: "I guess that we have just come to expect too much from our government." I'm just as distressed as anyone when a food-borne disease breaks out. However, we've become so conditioned to the idea that the government will "protect" us that we don't seem to see that it's impossible for it to do so.

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Made me ill, it did

By Steve Erbach on Sunday, August 29, 2010 8:48 AM

Today's editorial in the New York Times was pretty sick-making. Such an accumulation of head-spinning assumptions, sycophantic fawning, head-in-the-clouds (or some darker place) pollyanna-ism...made me dizzy, it did.

For example:

The fiscal stimulus of 2009, coupled with low interest rates and other Federal Reserve interventions, kept the recession from being much worse. But it has not been enough to revive hiring, without which a real recovery is impossible. In the meantime and even more ominously, economic policy making has all but ground to a halt.

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Go Governor Brewer!

By Steve Erbach on Friday, August 27, 2010 6:17 PM

I visited Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's Facebook page today and found that she'd written a stinging rebuke of the "Universal Periodic Review", a "snapshot" of the human rights situation in the U.S. The letter is addressed to our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

The rebuke comes because the report includes a reference to Arizona's new law, S.B. 1070, that has been the center of controversy in the illegal immigration debate. The law has been partially implemented while parts were put on hold last month just before the law's effective date by Federal Judge Bolton.

Governor Brewer's ire is directed at the fact that the Review is to be submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council; and that Arizona's law is, essentially, being submitted for review ... Read More »

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Remember when I said...

By Steve Erbach on Friday, August 27, 2010 2:07 PM

But this "competition" turns government into the largest reality show producer in the world...you know, kind of like "Fear Factor" or "Extreme Makeover: Education Edition".

I said that while commenting on California's failure to win the Race to the Top.

Well, today's news brings this story:

NJ schools chief fired after Race to the Top gaffe

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Showing my roots

By Steve Erbach on Friday, August 27, 2010 12:47 PM

Now, before you get all agitated and excited about the title of the book I'm going to recommend, let me say that it was written before Barack Obama became President, all right?

The book is called The Cult of the Presidency by Gene Healy. It's published by the Cato Institute. If that gives you the willies, well, so be it. You can skip this one.

The book is available free for a limited time for download as a PDF (1.7 MB). It's 402 pages and it's very interesting so far as I've delved into it. It's also availabe for the Kindle.

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Now this is the solution!

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 3:48 PM

You've heard about the enormous traffic jam outside of Beijing, China, that 's supposed to last until mid-September?

vehicles were inching along little more than a third of a mile a day. Zhang Minghai, director of Zhangjiakou city's Traffic Management Bureau general office, said in a telephone interview he didn't expect the situation to return to normal until around Sept. 17 when road construction is scheduled to be finished and traffic lanes will open up.

The traffic jam has spawned micro-capitalism. All right!

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Not exactly schadenfreude...

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 4:13 PM

This article in the San Francisco Chronicle caught my eye:

California schools lose out in 'Race to Top'

Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 24, 2010

12:35 PDT SACRAMENTO -- California education officials expressed disappointment today after learning that the state had lost its bid to garner hundreds of millions of dollars through the Race to the Top competition, a $4.35 billion federal grant program aimed at school reforms.

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Is this how sustainability should be portrayed?

By Steve Erbach on Monday, August 23, 2010 9:20 AM

On August 4th, I was sworn-in as a member of the Sustainable Neenah Committee (SNC). There are those that thought me nuts. Others looked askance at my bona fides; i.e., how is it that a municipal committee charged with furthering the goals of sustainability would find a seat for me at the table.

Well, they did. I've been attending SNC meetings regularly since last summer. I've had things to contribute and questions to ask. The chairman of the SNC, Neenah Alderman John Ahles, considered that the discussions the committee has will only benefit from additional -- perhaps alternative, even contrary -- points of view.

I was charged by the Mayor himself to remember that I'm not on the committe to debate whether Neenah should pursue sustainability or not; but to &q ... Read More »

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What does TV mean to me?

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, August 19, 2010 9:02 AM

I was impelled to write down some thoughts about TV when I read a column by my old radio compadre, Tim "The Colonel" Morrissey. The subject of his column was the way TV "programming" has changed with the advent of devices to record the shows for later viewing. Each viewer is his own program director.

The next-to-last TV I owned (somebody gave it to me) needed about 15 minutes to warm up. As it got closer to getting up to speed I could see short blips of a show appear. Those blips would get closer and closer together until I could see a show continuously, as God intended.

It gave my future step-sons a charge when I told them that my TV was controlled by aliens.

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How old does this make you feel?

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 6:15 AM

It's the annual Beloit College Mindset List, a list that "provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall."

Here are the first 25 items on the list (total of 75!):

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For those expecting to see water up to the Statue of Liberty's nose...

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, August 07, 2010 2:37 PM

... I hate to disappoint you ... I mean it's my duty to inform you ... what I mean to say is this: PLLTHTHBPPBTHTHPPBTHTHLPLPBLPBL!!!

I'm talking about the LiveScience.com story about a huge chunk breaking off of a Greenland glacier at around 80° north lattitude:

Ice Chunk Larger Than Manhattan Breaks Off Greenland Glacier

OurAmazingPlanet Staff

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Recent commentary: taking away the birthright

By Steve Erbach on Friday, August 06, 2010 10:13 AM

Should the U.S. revoke birthright citizenship?

(published 9-Aug-2010, Appleton Post-Crescent)

No. To negate the first sentence of the 14th Amendment ("All persons born...in the United States...are citizens") is more than unwise. It's understandable but, in my humble yet deadly accurate opinion, despicable. Yes, many of those born in our country are children of illegal immigrants; but to make them criminals too? That isn't what we stand for. Instead the Feds should get out of the way of states that want to do something about their illegal immigrant problems. Immigration bills have been on the legislative dockets of every single state in the Union. That's a measure of the importance of this issue. Then to have the spectacle of the federal government suing the state of Arizona was particularly gall ... Read More »

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...away from the fog of controversy

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, August 04, 2010 9:37 AM

The title refers to Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi's famous remark when the fight over the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) drew to a close with its passage. In March at the Legislative Conference for the National Association of Counties, Speaker Pelosi said that the health care bill struggle was "very exciting", and then told the elected county representatives from all over the country that Congress

[has] to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it, away from the fog of controversy.

Well, I think that Representative Kevin Brady has given us a superb tool for seeing just what's in that bill. It's a PDF vector drawing (so you can blow it up to 6400% of full size) of a flo ... Read More »

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Grasping government

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, July 31, 2010 4:19 AM

Yesterday, the Cato Institute concluded its "Confronting Grasping Government" conference in San Diego. It's the sort of conference I wish that I'd been able to attend but, alas!

This is the conference logo. It's something to remind us that we've saddled ourselves with a government that continually grows, intrudes, and engulfs. I'm not one of those who think that the government enfolds, soothes, and protects us from owies.

The Cato Institute's Grasping Government graphic

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The National Popular Vote craze

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, July 29, 2010 9:54 AM

A couple of days ago, Massachusetts became the fifth state to pass a law through both of its legislative houses that would, in essence, bypass the Electoral College. The measure awaits the signature of Governor Deval Patrick:

Lawmakers OK winner-take-all bill

The Massachusetts Legislature has approved a law intended to bypass the Electoral College system and ensure that the winner of the presidential election is determined by the national

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If England is backing away, should we plunge ahead?

By Steve Erbach on Sunday, July 25, 2010 4:34 PM

With health insurance/health care reform, that is? This story from the UK Telegraph suggests that the inevitable position of a universal health care system is morbidly shaky:

Axe falls on NHS services

NHS bosses have drawn up secret plans for sweeping cuts to services, with restrictions on the most basic treatments for the sick and injured.

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What I'm For and Against

What can be done to prevent distracted driving?

What should the Fox Cities do to attract more business?

Ice Chunk Larger Than Manhattan Breaks Off Greenland Glacier

Should the U.S. revoke birthright citizenship?

Axe falls on NHS services

Miscellany

News & Commentary

What I'm For
and Against