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Foundations
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What I'm For
and Against
PRO
- Atomic power
- Space Exploration
- Free Trade
- Capitalism
- Home Schooling
- Liberty
- Amendments IX and X
- 10th Commandment
- Good Manners
ANTI
- War on Drugs
- "Universal" Health Care
- Religion-based government
- Big Government of any kind
- Compulsory government monopoly mass schooling
- Income Tax
- Windmills and other government-subsidized "alternative" energy boondoggles
- The idea that electing the "right" person will make everything better
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Clock
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This excellent clock comes from the Poodwaddle web site. Yes, that's what it's called!
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TC Archive
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DownsizeDC
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The Town Crank
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| Author: |
Steve Erbach |
Created: |
Thursday, November 13, 2003 8:30 AM |
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| Just shut yer yap, leave me alone, and stop raising my blankety-blank taxes! |
By Steve Erbach on
Sunday, July 24, 2011 11:55 AM
Just following up on the story about the UAE sheik who had his name carved into the desert. Above you'll see the Google Maps view of the name. Those fun folks at Google have actually traced out the letters of the name in one of their maps. Click "Read more..." to see the map itself.
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By Steve Erbach on
Thursday, July 14, 2011 10:14 AM
I finally broke down and purchased a no-contract smart phone at Radio Shack this week. It's an LG Optimus V from Virgin Mobile. The price had dropped 25% in recent weeks. My son, Alex, already has one from Sprint (for which he's paying a lot more per month) and he's actually happy with it, unlike the last couple of phones he's had.
The phone sports a 3.2 megapixel camera/videocam and I had my first opportunity to use it this morning. Of course it's a kitten video; what did you expect?
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By Steve Erbach on
Wednesday, July 06, 2011 2:25 PM
Is it too early to pay attention to the Presidential race?
(published 11-Jul-2011, Appleton Post-Crescent on-line)
I'd pay a lot more attention if a Democrat challenged Obama in a primary. THAT would be interesting. Kinda like when Reagan challenged Ford. But, no, it isn't too early...it actually can't come early enough for me. I determined quite a while ago that if asked about Obama I'd say, "The President's got a tough job. Lets see how he does." Well, we've seen. The guy is living in a fantasy world with respect to the economy. I liked a couple things that happened on his watch, though: The Navy SEAL raid on that Somali pirate lifeboat in April, 2009, that freed Captain Richard Phillips; and the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's Pakistani compound. And I won't be unhappy if some major troop withdrawals take place in Afghanistan and Iraq. But that is ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Wednesday, July 06, 2011 10:27 AM
...about the progressive mindset: the cloying yearning for expensive projects that have no chance of standing on their own.
I was a member of the board of directors for a small community theater group in Oshkosh, WI, in the early 80s. I was the Secretary and a close friend of mine was the Treasurer. Our group had done well with its productions so we decided to rent larger space in a strip mall owned by a fellow who had several businesses. He charged our group a very low rent.
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By Steve Erbach on
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 9:28 AM
From the comic strip, Family Tree. "I'll suggest that." Yes, do, please. Pretty please?
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By Steve Erbach on
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 4:20 PM
Will concealed carry permits make Wisconsin safer?
(published 20-Jun-2011, Appleton Post-Crescent)
OK, if you want to play that game, how about these: Will a War on Drugs decrease drug use? Will Supreme Court decisions granting the right to abortion help reduce overpopulation? Will compelling attendance at government monopoly mass schools improve education? Will girls wearing provocative clothing cause more rapes? Will requiring voter ID improve knowledge of the issues? Will treating people with AIDS differently from people with syphillis reduce the public health risk? The concealed carry question as stated presumes that the perception of "safety" is the only objection people have to the granting of concealed carry permits. It's a false dichotomy. It isn't an either/or issue. The question contains implied assumptions that would be ludicrous to stipulate ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Friday, June 10, 2011 8:21 AM
A reader gave me an excellent excuse to continue expounding on the grade inflation issue. Casey Eugene wrote a comment to my Improving the schools, III post:
At a recent awards assembly I saw a "Low" performing class of 5th graders receive 25 Honor roll awards of a class of 30. This class was given extra time to complete less work than the neighboring Class of Normal range students where the students were given the schools normal amount of work and only 10 students received Honor Roll awards. It was completely unfair awards assembly.
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By Steve Erbach on
Friday, June 03, 2011 11:07 AM
On Tuesday Salon.com posted a very interesting article about the non-imminent depletion of fossil fuels. Maybe because it's a leftie publication some credence will be lent to the idea...
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By Steve Erbach on
Wednesday, June 01, 2011 1:43 PM
Germany has decided to abandon nuclear power:
By JUERGEN BAETZ, Associated Press
Mon May 30, 3:15 pm ET
BERLIN – Europe's economic powerhouse, Germany, announced plans Monday to abandon nuclear energy over the next 11 years...
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By Steve Erbach on
Friday, May 27, 2011 10:54 AM
The inestimable Register (The Reg) out of jolly olde England has served up another tasty commentary on lifestyles of the rich and famous. This time it's a mini-profile of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, particularly his recently espoused declaration that he only eats meat that he has dispatched to the hereafter with his own hands.
The usual urbane snarkiness of The Reg is in ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 5:23 PM
I'm going to take a slight detour...or rather revisit something related to public education that I investigated some time ago.
This image is the cover of the book "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life" by Herrnstein and Murray.
This book started a firestorm of controversy. In essence, it pitted the folksy myth voiced by Garrison Keillor -- "Lake Wobegon: where all the children are above avera ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Monday, May 23, 2011 10:13 AM
I first want to highlight a comment posted by my old broadcast comrade, Tim Morrissey, on my "Improving the schools" post from last Tuesday:
Well worth the time to read! Some interesting and challenging ideas and thoughts and comments, particularly the grocery store - public school analogy. As to school choice and vouchers in Wisconsin, I'm of a mixed mind. The way it's playing out in Milwaukee, it's a huge imbalance. There are more "special needs" students attending Milwaukee Hamilton High School than there are in ALL the private schools combined. Pick any public Milwaukee high school; they're all comparable; just that Hamilton has the most. This is one of the many "burdens" of public education...
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By Steve Erbach on
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 3:22 PM
This will be a reprise of some comments I made during an email discussion about public education. I started off quoting from Pournelle's web site:
Interesting commentary by Pournelle on improving – as John Taylor Gatto calls it – compulsory government monopoly mass schooling:
They're rioting in Los Angeles. Well, not rioting, but a bunch of students have been whipped into a frenzy to "save their school." The school is about the worst in the district.
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By Steve Erbach on
Friday, May 06, 2011 10:29 AM
What's the next step in the War on Terror?
(published 9-May-2011, Appleton Post-Crescent)
Re-evaluate everything. Our relationship with Pakistan, for example. The news that Obama's compound was a long par five away from the Kakul (Pakistan Military Academy), coupled with Pakistan's years of denials that Obama could be there, bear thorough examination. Some claim that the U. S. could now exert a lot of leverage on Zardari. One thing to watch out for: how to allow Pakistan to save face. But far more importantly, Michael Moore is unhappy! O! The humanity! OBL should have gone on trial, he says. Maybe in Moore's fantasy world bin Laden could have gotten the Robert Blake jury and gotten off! Democratic supporters of President Obama are coming to grips with the fact that their guy has changed. As Dennis Miller so prescie ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 3:59 PM
I'm pretty comfortable with geography in general. After the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, for example, I could rattle off the 15 republics that formed. I think I can still do it: Russia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, and Moldova...I think that's it...Yep! Except for a bit of spelling...and Byelorussia is Belarus.
Anyway, I'm pretty OK with geography. Today on the Drudge Report I saw a headline about the revolt in Syria with a graphic of a guy's fist painted with the Syrian flag colors -- red, white, and black -- held in front of a shirt with the outline of a country on it:
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By Steve Erbach on
Monday, April 25, 2011 11:34 AM
Those are the five conductors of the Girl Choir taking a final bow at the end of the 7:00 performance on April 10th: Karen Bruno, Amber Evey-Schmidt, Karrie Been, Cheryl Meyer, and Patty Merrifield.
I've finished editing both concerts of the April 10th Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir. I think that the 2:00 concert was a bit better performance-wise, but the 7:00 concert was definitely more exciting. April 10th was the night of the 12 tornados across Wisconsin. The 7:00 concert was interrupted midway by Lawrence Academy of Music Director Karen Bruno announcing a tornado warning.
I was one of the brave (read: silly and besotted with bad weather) souls that stood out on the Lawrence Chapel front porc ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Thursday, April 14, 2011 10:34 AM
A friend posted this today to an email group I subscribe to. It's pretty interesting, but the guy misses a big point. Here's what I wrote in reply to my friend:
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By Steve Erbach on
Saturday, April 09, 2011 9:18 AM
There she is! Right there in the middle! Eleanor will be singing with 300+ other girls at the Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir concert tomorrow at 2:00 and 7:00 at the Lawrence Chapel in Appleton.
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By Steve Erbach on
Saturday, April 09, 2011 6:49 AM
While waiting for the Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir rehearsal to finish yesterday (Friday, April 8th), I picked up The Lawrentian from a table in the basement of the Lawrence Chapel. I enjoyed it very much. The paper looks good, is well-written, and it's sprightly.
As I am very interested in politics, I read your Op-Ed pages very closely. I was amused by Mr. Kranz's piece on Republican tactics because of its release of all restraint towards the end: "By repealing tax cuts on the hyper-rich, we could begin to e ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Thursday, March 24, 2011 9:29 AM
No, this isn't going to be a rant about how Social Security is unconstitutional, all right?
I've been reading a few commentaries on Social Security lately; notably from the excellent DownsizeDC.org site as well as a column in the Washington Post by Robert Samuelson. Something Samuelson said triggered a thought:
From 1950 to 1972, [Congress] increased [Social Security benefits] nine times, including a doubling in the early 1950s. In 1972, it indexed benefits to inflation.
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By Steve Erbach on
Friday, March 18, 2011 8:36 AM
Are the municipal elections important to you?
(published 21-Mar-2011, Appleton Post-Crescent)
No matter which town you live in, you can learn a lot by attending Council meetings. You might think you've got it all figured out; but it isn't until you see your city/town/village Council in action that all the incongruities and inconsistencies, machinations and maneuverings, earnestness and evasiveness of local politics are revealed. You learn who on the Council you can rely on and who you have to watch out for; which ones lead and which ones fill space; who shoots straight and who are the slippery characters. Then when you see that it's time for an alderman to go, you hope for a replacement you can trust. In District 1 in Neenah, I beli ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Monday, March 14, 2011 9:10 AM
Stealing shamelessly from the DownsizeDC.org web site, I wrote this letter to Senators Kohl and Johnson and 6th District Representative Petri about Social Security:
Please take steps to reduce Social Security's liabilities.
There is NO easy, painless way to fix the problem. All we can do – all I am relying on YOU to do – is to:
- Protect those who depend on Social Security
- Reduce the Social Security program's liabilities
- Give future generations a better deal
Read More »
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By Steve Erbach on
Wednesday, March 09, 2011 1:10 PM
With a hat tip to the fine editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica who gave us "The Annotated Dennis Miller" when he was a color commentator for Monday Night Football -- which is now archived on the ESPN web site -- herewith an explanation of the multifarious cultural references made by the aforementioned Mr. Miller during his rant yesterday (look just below Moore's picture on Miller's web site: there's a link with a speaker and a play icon) on his nationally syndicated radio program about the appearanc
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By Steve Erbach on
Sunday, March 06, 2011 10:17 AM
The Social Security Administration web site, of all places, has over a hundred years of data on the most popular baby names by year. So I asked for 100 years' worth of rankings for the name of my daughter, Eleanor. I took the data the web site gave me and turned it into an Excel spreadsheet with a graph showing the course of the name's popularity over time.
The graph shows that the heyday for "Eleanor" was the roaring 20s -- the 25th most popular girl's name in 1920. For some reason it became really un-popular in the 70s and 80s...but has come more back into favor.
What are the mos ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Sunday, March 06, 2011 7:58 AM
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By Steve Erbach on
Friday, March 04, 2011 5:43 PM
...I realize that the progressives have won. The Republicans (aka "The Stupid Party") always fumble the ball. Then the Democrats get back in power and move the ball further down field towards the progressive goal posts. Very soon, however, they overreach and they're booted out of office in favor of the (temporarily) lesser evil. There really isn't a retreat from the progressive agenda, though. It's sort of like entropy or gravity: it's irresistible. And, once again, the Republicans will blow it as they usually do...and on and on.
This is the progressive age. What's happening now in Madison is only temporary. Even if the Wisconsin 14 are recalled or defeated at the ballot box, they'll only have to wait a few years until the Republicans foul the nest.
I could wish that the politicians would reduce the size, scope, and reach of government permanently, ...
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By Steve Erbach on
Friday, February 11, 2011 9:13 PM
I subscribe to an email newsletter from the Barlow Planetarium at UW-Fox Valley in Menasha. Imagine my delight when I read the following. I think you'll get a kick out of it, too.
Green Bay Packers - Super Bowl XLV Champions - Asterism
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By Steve Erbach on
Friday, February 11, 2011 3:19 PM
...and now it's France's Sarkozy. They've all said that multiculturalism as a national policy or intent has failed:
Multiculturalism has failed, says French president
Thu Feb 10, 6:10 pm ET
PARIS (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Thursday that multiculturalism had failed, joining a growing number of world leaders or ex-leaders who have condemned it.
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By Steve Erbach on
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 11:37 AM
This morning on Facebook I posted a link to a blog entry at The Realignment Project. I also posted this:
Yesterday WTAQ's Jerry Bader asked why progressives are obsessed with high-speed rail (HSR). The answer (from the link): "HSR is a vision of economic development where the government is at the center of economic life, the 'investor of last resort' directing growth according to the public good, and where a collectively-consumed public service is the star of government policy." HSR is a blessing for government lovers.
My friend, Don Merkes, the Mayor of Menasha, asked the question:
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By Steve Erbach on
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 7:22 PM
Perhaps it's yet another example of screwy math in main-stream media reporting...but if it isn't, then there's a serious problem.
The story in The Daily Caller, has the headline:
That caught my attention. Britain and the rest of Europe are constantly put forward as shining examples of how good government-controlled health care/health insurance can be.
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Tea Partyer
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U.S. Congressman, Maxine Waters, says that the TEA Party "can go straight to hell." Well, after you, Maxine!
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Our Founder
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"Just shut yer yap, leave me alone, and stop raising my blankety blank taxes!"
You are free to add your two cents to any blog entry if you register; but if you want to send a deeply personal message to Our Founder, [click here].
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