Common Ground

I believe there is a wave of paranoia sweeping the country. Zero tolerance this, can't say that and so forth. I don't think it is any big secret that Mayor Nelson, if not a registered democrat, certainly has leanings that way.

I understand that upon advice of our city attorney, the mayor removed a post from his blog on the city's website. What I know of the post, it seems ok to me.  I don't like censorship. I'd rather know as much as possible about our elected people's thought processes. This is also why I don't like anonymity. If there's no name associated with statements, take them with a grain of sand. We're about out of salt.

I also see that our new city administrator was seated along side the mayor at a Barack Obama rally.  The administrator was just doing her job, so a memo from her says. If so, fine. But, I'd like an explanation of why she wasn't doing her job at any republican rally? After all, she was on the clock.

There is one explanation that I'd buy as to the attendance at the Obama rally. Asking Obama to promise more money for the city for road salt and pot hole patch.

It is probably too late because the science experts called congressmen have already destined tungsten incandescent light bulbs to extinction in a few years.

To set the record straight, I have compact flourescent bulbs in my house.  I counted eleven. I also have several tube type flourescent fixtures.  All long before it became the "green" thing to do.  I did it because I like to save money and Wisconsin Focus on Energy had a big sale on them some years ago. That's market forces at work rather than dictation.

If you have been following the news, you'll know that compact flourescent bulbs have mercury in them. You may also know that there is a movement for dentists to collect the mercury in amalgams (tooth fillings) before they get into the sewage system and then the water systems. I never did understand how these fillings could be healthy.

I know a bit about mercury. Being in the heating business, we have used blobs of mercury in thermostats for decades. They are now obsolete but we collect old thermostats so the mercury can be salvaged. It probably ends up in our light bulbs now!

I also dabble in gold prospecting. Much of the mercury found in streams was from it being used to attach to gold dust and make it easier to "pan out".  This mercury coated gold would then be heated, the mercury turned to a vapor and the gas would go through a condenser coil and out would come clean fresh blobs of mercury. It was the vapor that was the real killer, but the liquid isn't much better.

So you can see, while we have made efforts to contain mercury from thermostats and tooth fillings, we've created a new way to reintroduce it into our landfills and work it's way into our groundwater. While these bulbs last a long time, I've had a couple fail way short of their touted five year life expectancy. We need to come up with a recycling plan for these bulbs now. Something voluntary would be nice, but I believe the best way is to charge a deposit, perhaps $1.00 each, so incentive to recycle them is made rather than disposing into the garbage.

Is this a bright idea or what?

Jim Stingl, in today's Metro section, writes of a happy ending regarding a missing dog.  You can read it here. Visitors to Minooka County Park's dog exersize area have seen posters taped to a bench by the dog park entrance regarding the situation.

As I understood it, Luke and his owner were at the Milwaukee dog park on a very foggy day.  It is a large area with a rise in the middle so even on a clear day you can lose sight of your dog if it decides to explore.  I found it puzzling that someone would take a dog from within the dog park, thinking that it was abandoned. Now the facts come out.

Luke's owner had removed his dog collar. So, it is reasonable that anyone seeing a dog without a collar and tags would consider that the dog is either lost or abandoned.

From time to time I will see dogs at the dog park without collars. I don't know why someone would remove the collar. While it isn't in the park rules that a collar must be on, I believe that most municipal ordinances require the license to be worn by the dog along with vaccination tags. There is also a rule that dog owners must have a leash with them at all times. Can't use a leash without a collar, right? However, anyone picking up a stray should contact the nearest Humane Society and leave it there with the option to have first refusal should it become available for adoption.

So here's one example where not following the rules creates problems, in this case heartbreak for the owner and the children thinking that they have a new family member.

Fortunately the existing rules at our dog park cover most everything if common sense is used. 

The title sums it up. If you're pressed for time, it says it all and you can move along. But here is my reasoning.

In the two businesses that I'm involved in, I've seen an economic slowdown. So, I'm in favor of injecting some money into the economy.  That is the key and it should be done wisely. Should and when that money come to us, it should be spent, not banked.  A service should be purchased or something material should be bought.

An example of a service would be maintenance, repair or improving your heating and air conditioning system, plumbing, electrical or other home improvement.  Most of that money stays locally. But buy products that are made in the USA. As most electronics are made overseas and sold by big box stores that funnel much of the profit out of the area, avoid such purchases unless you are in need of the product. I don't think any of us NEED a wall sized high definition home theater system! Have a pet in the house? There are lots of offerings for them.  Try to purchase your pet items from a pet store rather than a department store and try to find one that is owned locally.

How about your transportation? It can be hard to buy American but doing some needed repairs on your car, motorcycle, boat or snowmobile helps the local economy. If you use the money for a down payment, do it on an American brand but make sure that it is build in the USA. Remember that Chrysler has an engine plant in Kenosha, GM makes trucks and SUV's in Janesville and Johnson Control in Milwaukee makes batteries and other car parts. I don't know much about Ford in Wisconsin but do know that some components are made in Sheboygan.

Finally, who should get the checks to begin with.  Here I get controversial. Some say that if you pay taxes, you should get a check. If you don't pay taxes, you don't get a check. If this is to be an injection of money into the economy, it should be given to those that will spend it.  In my opinion, that means it should start from the bottom of the economic scale. How much one pays in taxes, if any, should not be the determining factor. Above a certain income level, you continue to buy what you want and when you want it with or without the stimulus money.  Why not help those that can use a financial boost the most? 

Too bad most shoes and clothes are no longer made in the USA.