Curmudgeon's Corner
cur-mud-geon: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner
New Software Is Exciting
I have been AWOL as a Blogger for the past few days. I have been working to get a new laptop set up and to be able to operate within the server system I maintain for my employment at an offsite location.
Election Season
Election season always brings out the worst in some candidates, and, once in a while, the best in a few. The ‘worst’ is not always a matter of someone lying about another candidate. It often is simply that one candidate takes something out of context and then runs with it as if it were said or written as that candidate would have us believe. The reality is usually not at all like the purported rendition in the campaign’s commercials and press releases.
Welcome to Obama Care
Considering there were to be no changes for Medicare recipients under Obama Care, the release of the information that follows was quite a surprise:
The "Political Class"...
The “Political Class” and the rest of us seem to be at odds more than ever before. In his editorial in today’s Examiner, Mark Tapscott explored the widening division between those who rule and those who obey.
Interesting Times...
Federal employees earn twice as much, on average, as do private sector employees. That revelation came a day or two ago and encompasses both dollars paid in salary as well as dollars spent on benefits for the employees. That is bad enough, but the rate of federal employee salary increases has been 33% greater than the rate of inflation for the past decade. And, their ranks have grown by a quarter-million in just three years.
Political Jabs Will Continue...
There has been much ‘to do’ over the recent changes made (GAB 1.28) by the Government Accountability Board (GAB) so far as elections and the requirement that groups or individuals might be subject to campaign finance registration.
A White Stair Step...
The State of Wisconsin’s Secretary of Health Services, Karen Timberlake, issued a report recently titled The Burden of Falls in Wisconsin that studied statewide data from 2008. The first take-away is this: falls are the leading injury-related cause of death in the state.
Throw The Bums Out?
Members of the military from Wisconsin who are serving overseas will get short shrift again this election season. A new federal law required that states send the ballots out at least 45 days prior to the election. Yet Wisconsin has filed for permission to delay that and, in fact, will send the ballots out just 34 days prior to the election.
Presidential Visit: Follow-On
As follow-on to this morning’s post, I wrote to Chief Pete Hoell about the costs for the Germantown Police Department in time and money for the Presidential detail (involving President Obama’s visit to the ZBB organization in Menomonee Falls) and his response is below:
The Cost Of Lifestyle Decisions
Health care costs continue to climb in at least single-digit annual increases, and often in double-digit annual increases. The American Cancer Society recently published a chart showing their estimates of the costs, including the economic loss, from various diseases.
Try Him Again Or Let It Rest?
Blago has been found guilty on one count, lying, and the jury was hung on the balance of the charges.
The Heavy Hand of a Lame Duck Governor
The lame-duck government in Wisconsin has used its increasingly heavy-handed tactics to let Oconomowoc know that it can’t ask questions if it wants a railroad station in the new “high speed” system between Milwaukee and Madison.
Who Are They Trying To Kid?
Is our economy really on the rebound? On the one hand, I hear about all the jobs saved, and the robustness of our economy. But on the other, I learn that 118 banks have been closed so far this year. I learn that 500,000 people claimed unemployment benefits last week. I learned that the government’s mortgage relief program has failed miserably with some 630,000 homeowners who tried to keep their homes failing so those foreclosed homes will add to the glut already present. And, I learned that government, federal and state government, is the growth industry today.
Where Did It Go?
Where is it going? Where is the daylight going? It seems just a short while ago that I could get up at 5:00AM and see clearly out my windows. It seems that I laid down to sleep one night and awakened to darker mornings.
Where Are We Headed?
I had the opportunity (I think it was an opportunity) to talk briefly with a gentleman who handles foreclosed housing for a major bank with offices in our area. He was walking around a house in our neighborhood that has just been taken back by the mortgage-holder after a period of many months during which it was unoccupied after the former renting family moved and during which the battle of foreclosure was being waged.
Village Buzz - August 31st
The August 28th edition of the Express News contains an article by Thomas J. McKillen, the Managing Editor, titled “Germantown officials wary of county dispatch offer”. It discusses the topic of the Village Buzz piece I wrote last week. It rightfully indicates that Germantown officials are generally pleased with the current Police Department dispatch operation. Yet, that subject is scheduled for further discussion on September 20th.
