Should We Hold Our Attacks Against Walker?
Before I begin this I should say that I am pretty clueless about politics and not good at chess. I am generally please to see Barrett in the race for Wisconsin Governor. I think the initial attacks against him will loose steam (he was dragged into the race). His resume is great and I don’t think there are any big scandals he is associated with. His heart is in the right place.I was initially concerned about a Walker Barrett race because for some reason there are many in Milwaukee County who actu

OnStar May I Help You?
I really am growing irritated by the OnStar ads I hear on the radio. They basically say that having the system will make you safer but I doubt it. If you are in an accident, they could call for help and maybe if you could not get your phone and no one is around to call for help, they may arrive sooner than w/o OnStar and maybe in a few cases the extra minutes could save a life. I would like them to show me any cases when having the system actually saved a life.The larger problem of course is that there are too many accidents. More than 40,000 people are killed each year in the US from car/ truck accidents. Selling the services as something that could help you be safer on the

Will Obamacare Help Small Businesses?
Good article from Time about why small business groups are opposing the health care reform proposals. This is a topic which puzzled me because small businesses are really hurt by the current system as they struggle to provide coverage for their employees. I think a system that helps them would really help our economy and it seems to me that the reforms being proposed would help small businesses. The article is fairly balanced I would say and it seems that it is not clear whether on the whole whether small businesses would be helped or hurt by these changes. This piece is an actual deeper more thoughtful piece for a change.

"Having a ham sandwich on the afternoon of Yom Kippur doesn't make you less Jewish"
Britain's Supreme Court will soon decide whether someone who's mother was not born Jewish and converted in a reform synagogue is Jewish (sort of). It is a good article and I wanted to hear about this topic but the title and focus of the NY Times article is somewhat misleading however. The title "Who is a Jew? Court Ruling in Britain Raises Question" and some of the article suggests that the court ruling will decide who is Jewish. The Rabbis of the various Jewish denominations (and Israeli government) get to decide who is Jewish, the British court is only ruling

We need safer streets now
I found this great organization and website today that brings attention to the huge number of people injured and killed by cars and trucks while walking. Check out Transportation for America's Dangerous by Design initiative webpage. Their introdution says is very well."Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (and Making Great Neighborhoods)In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More than 43,000 Americans – including 3,906 children under 16 – have been killed this decade alone. This is t