I’m a proud member of the fauxletariat.

Try that word on, see how it fits.

Blog list: Milwaukee Moments

Milwaukee Moments is written by a Milwaukee native who has returned to town after some 20 years of living away. She describes experiencing “a dream like quality to suddenly coming across something familiar, yet all the changes make this feel like an exciting new urban adventure.” I agree!

Transit NOW and South Suburban Chamber present speaker Jan. 30

Building Wealth – Creating and Capturing the Benefits of Investing in Transit in Southeastern Wisconsin

The historic transit decisions being made in Southeastern Wisconsin in the coming months will shape our ability to create wealth in our communities. Mr. Bernstein will share his expertise and shed light on our opportunities and potential pit falls.

Nationally recognized transit expert, Scott Bernstein, Founder and President of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Chicago, will illustrate how certain transit investment strategies spur sustainable development and economic vitality, and builds thriving neighborhoods and lasting value. He will share his expertise on setting priorities for transportation investing that can reduce the cost of living, reduce the risk of foreclosures, improve local tax bases, and create new jobs and wealth. For example he will show how transportation investments could give people have 10-20 percent more available income, and help real estate hold its value better in the recession than in the market in general.
Ken Yunker, Director, Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, will also give brief overview of the status and the next steps of current transit proposals.

Who:       Scott BernsteinFounder and President of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Chicago
When: Friday, January 30, 2009 7:30-9:00 A.M. (program begins at 7:45)
Where:   MATC South at 6665 S. Howell Avenue, Milwaukee: Auditorium, south entrance, parking lot C
Visuals: Selected visuals from Mr. Bernstein’s PowerPoint program will be available, large color map of the potential local and regional transit network in Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha including existing local transit systems, and proposed KRM Commuter Rail and the Milwaukee Connector (22″ x 36″).

Buffet breakfast will be served at 7:30 A.M.

This event is being hosted by the Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Co-sponsors include The Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors, the Associated General Contractors of Greater Milwaukee, The NML Foundation, and SC Johnson.

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h/t Bay View Compass.

Put Xoff on TMJ! Now!

As Kinky Friedman said, “Why the hell not?”

h/t Whallah!

Paul Soglin: Waxing America: “Ugly Details Emerge at Masel Civil Rights Trial”

My friend Ben Masel was very brutally assaulted by police while gathering signatures at a hip-hop concert on the UW-Madison Memorial Union Terrace. Ben runs against Sen. Kohl in the Democratic primary, as is his right. Officer Michael Mansavage, who was one of the two officers that forced Ben to the ground and assaulted him with pepper spray, was not at all in the right. Ben, on the other hand, is absolutely right to sue the UW-Madison police, which he did, and the trial has already begun. Professor of Telecommunications Barry Orton wrote about Ben’s testimony in today’s trial, and what we saw from that via the blog appears pretty damaging.

Now, I don’t know how every police/law enforcement officer doesn’t know this, but, he’s made a lot of money from suing the authorities for their infringements upon his civil rights (read: brutality). And rightfully so! How do they not know that they’re going to cost us, the taxpayers, a lot of money? Or maybe they do? It’s a puzzle.

Props to Folkbum’s JS column

Long-time Cheddarsphere resident and unwitting match maker Jay Bullock had an op-ed in this past Sunday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Apologies for not getting it posted about until today, when some may consider it to be Old News. But it’s worth looking at. IMO, Jay has said what needs to be said: To fix MPS, we nede to fix the city’s problems.

After I told a friend of mine this the other day, he said, “How do you fix Milwaukee?”

In short, be active, and be a part of it. Really, there’s no short answer. There’s not a short-term solution. But it’s a great thing to be a part of.

New Steve Kilbey record, “Painkiller,” is out.

Life is good. Abstract, but good.

Steve Kilbey is the bass player and lead singer of The Church, which is my Favorite Band In The World. His music is “vast and immediete, lyrically intoxicating, musically loose and rocking or spacious and trippy. Painkiller swings from delicate, psychedelic pop songs to radiotronic, space-rock monsters.” That’s what his label says, anyway. If you like an or all of those, check it out. It’s not available on iTunes yet, nor is it available through Amazon yet; I got it by mail order from Australia. For Kilbey geeks like me, it’s worth it.

Feingold To Introduce Constitutional Amendment To End Senate Appointments

Sen. Feingold’s press release:

FEINGOLD TO INTRODUCE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ENDING GUBERNATORIAL APPOINTMENTS TO SENATE VACANCIES

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, issued the following statement today on plans to introduce an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to end appointments to the Senate by state governors and require special elections in the event of a Senate seat vacancy.

“The controversies surrounding some of the recent gubernatorial appointments to vacant Senate seats make it painfully clear that such appointments are an anachronism that must end. In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution gave the citizens of this country the power to finally elect their senators.  They should have the same power in the case of unexpected mid term vacancies, so that the Senate is as responsive as possible to the will of the people.  I plan to introduce a constitutional amendment this week to require special elections when a Senate seat is vacant, as the Constitution mandates for the House, and as my own state of Wisconsin already requires by statute.  As the Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee, I will hold a hearing on this important topic soon.”

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(h/t TPM.)

Hmm. I may have more on this later, when I’ve had a chance to think about it. Right now it’s time to get to class.

Jones family farm delivers great chickens, eggs

As covered in Journal Sentinel’s increasingly good food section, the Jones family farm down in Racine delivers great eggs and chicken to the doorstep of people on Milwaukee’s southeast side, between Racine and Bay View, west to 27th Street. We’ve had them deliver to our house for several months now, and quite simply, we love it. Their eggs are far better than anything I’ve bought at even the most organic or natural food oriented store, and their chicken is just to die for.

The chickens arrive feathered, but you do have the whole headless remainder of the bird to deal with. About all we dispose of is the neck — everything else gets used up, from the meat to the bones. You could get a book from the library to find out how to use the bones to make stock. And then enjoy the flavor of what you can more readily eat. I’ll never go back to store-bought chicken again so long as I can help it!

Happy 25th birthday, Macintosh!

O Macintosh, though I may have once developed a foreign operating system to run on your hardware (the PowerPC, not 680×0 or x86), you have done me right since we were first introduced in 1987. I know, that makes me a newbie, but hey, we all gotta start somewhere.

Yeah, happy birthday!

(Yes gads, that means the Mac is older than some of my 7.5 readers…)