2007-07 Vital Source Mag – July 2007
All the king’s horses
When local business leader and big-time philanthropist Sheldon Lubar received the Headliner Award from the Milwaukee Press Club this past spring, he made some scathing observations about the challenges facing Milwaukee to a room full of 300 of the region’s leading journalists. It’s a topic on which he is well-qualified to speak. The founder of Lubar Investments and namesake of UWM’s Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, Lubar has spent much of the last year serving as co-chair of two committees charged with studying Milwaukee County finances, one set up by Governor Doyle and the other a standing committee of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, both of which have published their reports in the last several months to disappointingly little fanfare in the press. Lubar has spent much of the last year serving as co-chair of two committees charged with studying Milwaukee County finances, one set up by Governor Doyle and the other a standing committee of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, both of which have published their reports in the last several months to disappointingly little fanfare in the press. “I would expect that you are all familiar with what we found: generous under-funded pensions, generous and under-funded health care, outdated management systems, elected officials that barely communicate with one another, duplication of services and, perhaps most serious, multiple non-elected boards and commissions with taxing authority,” he said in his acceptance speech. Lubar also noted that many public schools are not adequately educating our young people and that, despite the shift from agriculture and manufacturing to “knowledge industries,” Wisconsin has been scaling back its support for the University of Wisconsin. In addition, Lubar called attention to the fact that, despite having relatively high taxes, our city, county and state are unable to balance their budgets, asserting that our government has “some very big time systemic problems that need to be addressed. “Sadly, I can tell you that the well-intentioned leaders I worked with [on the reports] are as frustrated as you and I, but feel powerless to change the system,” said Lubar bluntly. Not a pretty picture, to be sure, and one that we’ve been hearing about fairly regularly recently. But Lubar’s candid description of the failure of our leaders to respond to these challenges was refreshing and his proposed solution was so radical in nature that it snapped me to attention. Lubar believes nothing short of a dramatic restructuring of the way our public institutions are organized and operate is necessary to address what he called, during a telephone interview, the region’s “dysfunctional governance.” According to both reports (and some would say the naked eye), the duplication of services and lack of accountability between Milwaukee County and City and 17 other municipalities, as well as MPS, MMSC, MATC, the Wisconsin Center District and other semi-autonomous, quasi-governmental entities leads to a daunting amount of waste and inefficiency. The final report of the Greater Milwaukee Committee’s Task Force on Milwaukee County, issued last fall, point to a number of examples: To find […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Ted Bobrow
Alienation’s for the rich
As we collectively dive headlong into the month of July, it’s useful to reflect on the many striking similarities between Milwaukee summers and director Richard Donner’s 1987 cop-buddy masterpiece Lethal Weapon. For starters, they’re both somewhat overrated and feature a lot of shit blowing up. Digging a bit deeper (and putting aside the fact that Lethal Weapon was actually nominated for an Oscar), we also discover that they’re both hopelessly stuck in the ‘80s, feature a couple of lousy sex scenes and are both over in about 90 minutes. True, Lethal Weapon contains a few more booby-trapped toilets than a typical Milwaukee summer (or was that Lethal Weapon 2?), but you get the picture. The zany cinematic misadventures of Murtaugh and Riggs also have a personal relevance for me, in that I’m currently about as popular and well regarded as a post-Passion of the Christ, post-Sugar Tits Mel Gibson. Through actions both careless and downright idiotic, I’ve recently fulfilled a long-standing summer tradition of alienating myself from friends, colleagues and the occasional skittish border collie alike. (While Lethal Weapon may be a hard R, this column remains a somewhat family-friendly PG-13; the actions in question, therefore, must be left up to your own sick imagination.) Calls have gone unreturned, rumors have been disseminated, ill will and downright disgust have spread through the streets like Athlete’s Foot. So if you, too, are someone who currently hates my guts, here are a few suggestions for enjoying this – and future – SubVersions columns: 1. If you’ve recently suffered the loss of a small pet, you could use this page to cover their quickly decomposing, yet still adorable carcass. In three days time, you may even be lucky enough to find a ghostly image of your former friend burnt indelibly onto the paper, a la the Shroud of Turin. 2. If you happen to be an actress-turned-Olympic-level-archer with a political persuasion that leans precariously to the left (think Geena Davis crossed with Studs Terkel), you could use the line drawing of my face as target practice. 3. If you simply can’t stand the thought of me, you could just skip ahead and get to the goddamned Sudoku already. Due to this recent downturn in public opinion, I’ve been less willing to subject myself to the many ridiculous shindigs this town has to offer, thus unable to produce another wonderfully acerbic and cynical column assailing said shindigs. For example, on a recent evening that offered up at least four completely cringe-worthy events – a Pirate festival, a zombie pub-crawl, a “dark, sexy indie-carnival” and, um, RiverSplash – I instead elected to stay at home and watch a recently purchased VHS copy of Bob Uecker’s Wacky World of Sports. To put it another way (and to quote the great Danny Glover): I’m getting too old for this shit. Nonetheless, I’ve decided to put together a short list of suggestions – should you ever find yourself cut off and ostracized from your loved ones – that […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Matt Wild
Crowded House
Fourteen years since their last album, 11 since their last show and yet it feels almost effortless the way Crowded House pick up where they left off. Admittedly, Time on Earth represents an incomplete reunion – original drummer Mark Hester died in 2005, and keyboardist Mark Hart wasn’t part of the initial lineup – but lead singer and songwriter Tim Finn papers the cracks. It’s not too remarkable that Finn remains a lively creative presence; after Crowded House broke up, he continued to write with his brother Neil, carried on a solo career and collaborated with artists like the Dixie Chicks. (That specific collaboration, “Silent House,” was on their album Taking the Long Way and shows up here as well.) You could say Time on Earth puts Finn back where he belongs, or at least where he’s most comfortable. From the opening track, the lucent and lovely “Nobody Wants To,” Finn and Crowded House don’t seem to have been away. In their absence, no one else really emerged to make mid-tempo pop-rock seem so simultaneously effortless and brilliant. And, at times, a little facile. With his smooth voice and acute ear for accessible melodies and smart lyrics, Finn is like a cousin to Paul McCartney, all prettiness and no edge. But the descending melancholy of “Pour Le Monde,” the sleek romantic hope of “Don’t Stop Now,” and the hushed glimmering of “A Sigh” cannot be denied. Time on Earth spends its own minutes well. VS
Jul 1st, 2007 by Jon Gilbertson
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
There is an old joke that starts, “A man comes home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.” It goes on to elaborate on the mess inside the house as well: dishes in the sink, broken glass and sand on the floor, toothpaste on the bathroom mirror and toys everywhere. When he finally finds his wife, she is curled up in bed reading a novel. He says, “What happened here today?” To which she replies, “You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I did today? Well, today I didn’t do it.” As much as I hate to admit it, this joke accurately represents the view many people still hold about stay-at-home parents of both genders. When Mom stays home with the kids, she is bombarded with questions about how she could possibly fill her day if she doesn’t have to work outside of the home, plus the more modern “concern” about whether she is lacking necessary “career fulfillment.” When Dad stays home, he has to answer the same questions while fighting societal stereotypes that cast him as less masculine than his male peers. The truth about being a stay-at-home parent is that it is some of the hardest work a person will ever do. The day starts as soon as the first child wakes in the morning and doesn’t end until the parent climbs back into bed at night. Even then, it is the stay-at-home parent who typically manages any nighttime needs because first consideration is given to the working parent, the one who has to leave the house to earn a living. I know it might sound like hyperbole to say that a parent’s work is never done, but let’s look at a typical day in the life of my friend, Jesi, mother of a 3- and a 1-year-old. A day in the life The 1-year-old wakes up at 6:30 a.m. to nurse with his mama before the hectic day starts. After he dozes off again, Jesi checks her email and attends to the administrative details of the household and the La Leche League chapter for which she volunteers. If there’s time, she grabs a bath. Because her bathroom is next to the bedroom, at least one of the kids wakes up while she’s in there and joins her in the tub. Then everyone needs breakfast. Jesi makes some food for 3-year-old Nora while nursing 1-year-old Max in the sling. While the kids eat, she gets dressed as quickly as possible while making a phone call to another friend to finalize details for a play outing. Once plans are firm, it’s time to pull out clothes for Nora and Max and pack a bag for the day with extra clothes, diapers, board books, snacks, water, sand toys and sun block. She hangs last night’s laundry on the […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Lucky Tomaszek
Get ‘em while they’re interesting
The 2008 presidential election marks the first time in 80 years that there has been neither an incumbent presidential nor vice-presidential candidate. We at VITAL Source are celebrating Independence Day and the kick-off of the official campaign season with a collection of quotes from the Democratic and Republican candidates. We’ve spent days pouring over campaign speeches, reading debate transcripts and closely examining candidates’ websites to cull out a few small nuggets that articulate each candidate’s feelings about the current state of our country. Exactly what these nuggets are made of is up to you to decide… Senator Joseph Biden Look, freedom is an overwhelming American notion. The idea that we want to see the world, the peoples of the world, free is something that all of us subscribe to. Here at home, when Americans were standing in long lines to give blood after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we squandered an obvious opportunity to make service a noble cause again, and rekindle an American spirit of community. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton I’m sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you’re not patriotic. We need to stand up and say we’re Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration. The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not. Senator Christopher Dodd Entrenched bureaucracies are always opposed to fundamental changes. Every American deserves to live in freedom, to have his or her privacy respected and a chance to go as far as their ability and effort will take them – regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or economic circumstances. Former Senator John Edwards This is America, where everything is still possible. I have grown up in the bright light of America. Former Senator Mike Gravel We have become a nation ruled by fear. Since the end of the Second World War, various political leaders have fostered fear in the American people—fear of Communism, fear of terrorism, fear of immigrants, fear of people based on race and religion, fear of Gays and Lesbians in love who just want to get married, and fear of people who are somehow different. It is fear that allows political leaders to manipulate us all and distort our national priorities. It’s like going into the Senate. You know, the first time you get there, you’re all excited, “My God, how did I ever get here?” Then, about six months later, you say, “How the hell did the rest of them get here?” Representative Dennis Kucinich We have weapons of mass destruction we have to address here at home. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction. This is a struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party, which in too many cases has become so corporate and identified with corporate interests that you can’t tell the difference between Democrats […]
Jul 1st, 2007 by Lucky Tomaszek
