Daily Dose of BS Sept 18 to kneel or to stand

Another weekend another protest, there were a few over the weekend with the what started off as peaceful protests in St Louis ended up in violence and the continuation of protesting on the field has many professional foolball players taking a knee during the National Anthem.  Did Colin Kaepernick start something that will continue for the ages, I believe that he may have.  Do you think that NFL players or anyone for that matter have the right to sit out during the National Anthem?  I think that he absolutely does have the right to do so, but we also see that he isn’t playing this year either.  Reports say that he wants to play, I guess time will tell if he does. There are lots of other players who are choosing not to stand or acknowledge the singing of the National Anthem The NFL went more to the point: “Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the National Anthem.”  I saw something go around on Facebook yesterday encouraging fans to protest the games because of this, I wonder how many did.  I didn’t watch the game last night, not out of protest but because NBC wouldn’t come in. 

Daily Dose of BS Sept 15 alternate side parking

The one thing you hear people complain about most in La Crosse is parking either that we must pay for parking downtown or that we don’t have enough spots or that we have the stupid alternate side parking from November till April.  The city council changed all that yesterday with a shortened alternate side parking season we now will have from November 15 through March 15^th to move our cars back and forth across the street to avoid the annoying parking ticket.  I was thinking about this and wondering about how the city will make up for all the lost revenue from the parking tickets, but I figured that they have made so much more on speeding tickets on Losey Boulevard that they can give us a few extra free days of parking on the streets in front of our homes that our taxes pay for.  

Daily Dose of BS Sept 14 shootings

Reports of a high school shooting in Washington state from yesterday has one dead 3 injured and a school janitor a hero.  There is also a report of a 19-year-old that killed his mom because she wouldn’t let her son keep a puppy.  I don’t get the anger that goes with these kids.  I am not sure if the coping mechanism is different with today’s kids then it was when I was a kid but I tell you what when I was a kid I was disappointed many times.  I never shot and killed anyone I never pulled a gun on anyone, I never wanted to kill or maim anyone.  I was brought up with the mantra of sticks and stone can break my bones but words will never hurt me.  I have said that nursery rhyme many times while growing up.  Guess what it worked, I made it through my childhood.  But the one lie is that sometimes words do hurt, I think that we and by we I mean us all we do need to watch what we say but we also need to have thicker skin and not take everything to heart, I do realize that is easier said than done. 

Daily Dose of BS Sept 12 community

I think that it is important to be involved in your community, from writing a check to help, or getting involved in a civic organization or a church. One of the things my parents instilled in my brothers and I, was to give back either monetarily or with time. I chose to work in radio so I have more time than money. There are tons great organizations out there that are in need of your time, and your money. Find one and help when you can. Today is the United Way Kick of Breakfast, and I have the opportunity to talk with many of the people involved in the United Way, and many of the organizations that benefit from the United Way. With the world the way that it is, the best thing we can do is to help out as we can, either with your check book, or by rolling up your sleeves, and being a part of the solutions. The best thing about rolling up your sleeves is that if you are active in the group you are pretty much guaranteed to make some good lifelong friends, I am still friends with some of the guys I was in Boy Scouts with and my best friends are people that I was in the Jaycees with. My suggestion to you is be active within our community and let us all work to make our great community an even better place to live.

Daily Dose of BS Sept 11 emotions

This weekend was a weekend filled with emotions from the Steppin Out in Pink walk where 7000 people walked for breast cancer, Hurricane Irma reigned terror and destruction in Florida and is now headed to Georgia, and sixteen years ago today is a day that most in our generation will remember like the landing on the moon of the generation before, and the death of President Kennedy of the generation before that.  The patriotism that America felt, the American Pride that you had for the days, weeks and months after the tragic 9/11 attack at the World Trade Center.  I was working on the radio here in LaCrosse when a listener called and said a plane crashed into the World Trade Center and then a few minutes later another caller and then even more callers called with the news.  We reported the news and the feelings of the people who were living it, experiencing it, seeing it.  It was weird to have all air traffic cease after that day and when it finally resumed, remember how weird it felt and sounded?  I hope and pray that we never have to relive another 9/11 type attack on America.  God Bless America.

Daily Dose of BS Sept 8 equifax

I think that it is time for us to come up with a new system for identity, here is the reason why how many of our transactions have been hacked?  We had some big companywide hacks in the past few years of Home Depot and Target and today we hear of Equifax the company that basically handles our credit scores, saying that they had a security breach back and July and are only letting us know about it now.  The things taken in their breach were Names, Social Security Numbers, Birth Dates, Addresses and other information that could potentially leave consumers vulnerable to identity theft.  If the “big” guy is getting hacked with the loads of security that they have on their systems, how can we possibly keep out data out of the wrong hands?  I wonder if any of our stuff is safe anymore?  

Daily Dose of BS sept 7 what would you keep?

With this being hurricane season and us seeing the devastation of what was left in the path of these monsters, I have been thinking the last few days what if?  What if I lived in the line of the hurricane, would I leave my possessions behind, would I stay and weather the storm?  If did leave what would I take?  I came up with not a lot that I would take, I would want to make sure that my wife and kids were safe, and what else, I am not really sure, I have a lot of stuff, I think that we all do.  Besides the pictures that I have from my childhood, that I really never look at btw, most of the things that are memories are saved online somewhere.  Think of the pictures that you have taken over the past 2 decades, I bet now you take a whole bunch more because they are saved in the cloud, you have them, but you don’t have them, same as our money, we may have some savings but the records of all that stuff is in a computer somewhere.  When it comes to having to leave somewhere quick, I would grab my essentials, phone, meds, laptop, and then hope and pray that nothing happed to my home.  What would you grab?

Daily Dose of BS Sept 6 world end?

I have heard a few people say that the world is ending why else would there be these hurricanes, why would there be all this fighting, why would the drug epidemic be so bad.  So sorry to burst your bubble but people have been fighting all through the history of the world, there have been natural disasters, and people have been medicating and self-medicating for many, many years and will be sure to for all of times.  Why do you think that there is such a party when you are able to legally drink?  But let’s say that the world does end, let’s say that these are the “signs” of the end of times, what would you do any differently?  Me, I am not sure, I try to do the right thing each and every day and I also try to live my life to the fullest.  Any changes for you?  

Daily Dose of BS Aug 29 FU

What ever happened to respect? Not only of others around you but respect for yourself? My kids and I were out yesterday running errands and decided to drive down 5th Avenue in La Crosse. There was a group of people standing on the opposite side of the road when we approached in our car, they stopped talking and one of the kids walked slowly in front of my car, greeting me with a big FU. What the heck did I do? Drove down a side street, this is now something that you aren’t allowed to do? I should have known that it was a weird day when we started off on our adventure I didn’t pull away from the stoplight fast enough and the guy behind me didn’t lay on the horn but threw up his arms and mouthed WTF. Are we in that big of a hurry or is there that much anger in the world? I am not sure, but what ever happened to our nice small town?

Daily Dose of BS Aug 30 problems

There was a study done on what millennials find to be the most troubling things facing the world and surprisingly it has some well thought out issues.  On the list is lack of economic opportunity, safety issues, lack of education, food and water security, government accountability, religious conflicts, poverty, inequality, wars, and climate change.     I agree that many of these are problems, large problems.  But some of the biggest problems I feel we are dealing with are terrorism, dishonest politicians, lying media, people not being able to work together, addiction (all kinds from heroin, to alcohol, to technology) laziness and greed.  What do you feel are the biggest troubles facing the world today?

Daily Dose of BS Aug 28 hurricane

After seeing some of the pictures and videos of Hurricane Harvey and the torrential rains that hit Texas over the past couple of days, it brings me to 20 years ago when the banks of the Red River flooded and my wife’s family home in East Grand Forks Minnesota had 4 feet of water on the main floor of their family home.  One thing that I do know about people is that we are resilient and do overcome the obstacles that are thrown at us.  Every time that we hear of some community taken to the brink of obscurity we see the town and the surrounding people pull together and team up to fix what is the problem, look at what Hurricane Katrina did 12 years ago in New Orleans and how that community pulled together to rebuild.  I look at Grand Forks and how they rebuilt.  Even though there is devastation in Houston Texas, they too will overcome, rebuild and come together.  I have faith.  

Daily Dose of BS Aug 25 amazon

There is a new list of Kmart stores that are closing, and quite honestly, I am not surprised.  I was thinking about shopping and the future of shopping the other day.  I had purchased a hammock from Amazon during Amazon Prime day I got the set up for about half price.  It was a super comfortable hammock, in fact it was napped on many times.  In between uses I took the fabric part of the hammock in and put it in the garage.  Well mice had got into the garage and had chewed a hole in the fabric, I wasn’t happy but thought ok it on the foot side, what harm can come of that, I laid on my hammock and the thing ripped right in half, down to the ground I went with a thud, my son laughed but then helped me up, I contacted Amazon explained my story I got a new one about 24 hours after I spoke with the company.  No questions asked.  No hoops to jump though just good customer service.  Why can’t we see more of that with the brick and mortar stores?  If this keeps Amazon will rule the world.  

Daily Dose of BS Aug 24 didnt win the lottery

Imagine my surprise this morning when I didn’t win the lottery.  I am not much of a lottery player and I thought that the guys that never plays wins, sure- I throw in my two bucks every time that work has a buy, just so I am not left out when everyone else gets to quit.  But yesterday I did something that I have only done a handful of times in my life, I bought 6 lottery tickets.  The last time I bought tickets I dreamt that I won the lottery, I didn’t dream that last night.  In the past when my family and I talked about the lottery and if we won we talked of moving, I don’t think we would move out of the area, I love it here it is after all God’s Country.  A lot of people say that they wouldn’t quit their jobs, I am not sure I buy that one, but then I didn’t win and neither did you, so off to work.  

Daily Dose of BS Aug 22 Trumps Speech

A 16 year war will be an even longer war after last night.  President Donald Trump spoke to the country in prime time last night  saying “Our troops will fight to win. We will fight to win. From now on, victory will have a clear definition. — attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan, and stopping mass terror attacks against America before they emerge. We will ask our NATO allies and global partners to support our new strategy, with additional troop and funding increases in line with our own. We are confident they will,” “Ultimately, it is up to the people of Afghanistan to take ownership of their future, to govern their society, and to achieve an everlasting peace. We are a partner and a friend, but we will not dictate to the Afghan people how to live or how to govern their own complex society. We are not nation building again. We are killing terrorists,”  The US has about 8,400 forces in Afghanistan now.

Daily Dose of BS Aug 21 eclipse

Many millions of people will have their heads tilted away from their cell phones later this afternoon.  About 1:11 is when the eclipse will be at its peak in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  I remember when the eclipse of 1979 got us out of class and in the playground at Falcon Heights elementary school with our homemade solar projectors.  What a cool memory.  It really irritates me that there are scammers out there selling fake eclipse glasses.  But you can always go old school and poke a hole in a note card then grab another note card as the screen and line them up in order to see the eclipse.  In La Crosse, Wisconsin, we will get about an 85% covering and from what I have seen from the National Weather Service that we will have a 42% cloud cover.  The DOT also reminds us that motorists should also be prepared, and spend time focusing on the road, in fact some DOT dynamic message signs in Wisconsin are flashing this message: Don't Have an Eclipse in Judgment. Drive Safely.

Daily Dose of BS Aug 18 buy local

I have been noticing a disturbing trend with work being done around the city.  There are a lot of out of town and out of state work trucks working on local projects such as roads, water and parks.  The other day I was watching the work being done at the new ball field at Houska Park.  I didn’t even know there was a new field going in over there, it looks great, but I noticed that there was a Winona business doing the landscaping.  I am guessing that there are a lot of La Crosse based businesses that pay taxes right here in La Crosse that would have loved to do that job.  I get that some of the other work that is farmed out to other businesses from other communities and states because you have to be competitive but for a smaller business that is putting in trees, and doing beautifying an area, wouldn’t you think that even within a range that giving the job to a local person that will be spending money locally would make more sense?  I haven’t noticed for a while but a few years ago the police cars came from a dealership in Eau Clarie again, wouldn’t it be better to buy from a local dealership?  

Daily Dose of BS Aug 17 Burzinski

Roger Burzinski the man who was shot and killed by the La Crosse Police Department on Sunday evening wasn’t a stranger to breaking the law.  Burzinski was a career felon, with an extensive arrest record which includes convictions for possession of a firearm by a felon, second-degree sexual assault of a child, battery to police, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, fleeing police and armed robbery.  And if I recall correctly his brother also tried killing a La Crosse cop by swinging a knife at him.  It is too bad that Burzinski’s actions ended his life the way that they did, but it is also crappy that he put the child in danger that was in the car that he hijacked and the stress that he put on the parents of that 1 year old child and the stress that the shooting has now put on the 2 police officers that were involved in the shooting and also the stress to the families of all involved.  Was the right action taken?    

Daily Dose of BS August 16 statues

Racist? Villain? Hero? You cannot change history.  You can’t, I know many have tried with their own, but what we have done are things that we have done.  I don’t know my family’s history when it comes to slavery, I hope that we never had any slaves, I am not sure if my family has ever been involved in the creation of any positives in the world either.  I only know what I know.  If we were involved in any wrong doings that I haven’t been a part of there is really nothing I can do about it at this time.  Sure, I can say that I don’t agree with what they did but there is not a thing I can do to change it.  I get that there are statues up all over the country honoring the memory of this person or that person, but how many of the statues are really seen?  I just spent a week in Washington DC where there is a statue on just about every corner, and I really couldn’t tell you what statues I saw or where they are or who they honored. Maybe it is just me but if there is a statue that you don’t like or don’t agree with, isn’t it just as easy to ignore it or not search it out than to bring it down and try to change the past?  We can’t deny that it happened, we can only try to not let it happen again.    

Daily Dose of BS August 14 shootings in La Crosse

More gun violence in La Crosse, last week there was a home invader shot, yesterday there was an armed carjacker that was shot and killed by the police.  Whatever happened to La Crosse being a quiet community with everything swept under the carpet?  Isn’t that the way it used to be?  If there was a problem we looked the other way?  Now it seems that the world has different glasses on instead of looking the other way we are looking at another way to make everything a problem, I don’t feel that either of these ways of looking at things are the right way to look at the world.  I think that political bias and political correction has snuck into every aspect of our lives and that because of that we are not able to get things done.  Are things spiraling out of control because we offer too many breaks, a slap on the wrist instead of sentencing worthy of a crime?  

Daily Dose of BS Aug 3 shopping carts

I once heard someone say you never see a successful person leave a shopping cart in the parking lot.  Ever since I heard that I have tried to put my cart away.  Not that I didn’t put my cart away before but there have been times I am sure in the past where I have left it to do what it wants.  No more.  When you put away your cart it kind of makes you a servant leader, you see others first and the big picture, it also shows that you have discipline, you see it is the simple things that add up to the big things, if you put away your shopping cart you have a goal, when you finish that goal you have simple success, with that success you have a feeling of accomplishment, with that accomplishment, you have the feeling as though you can do the next big thing, you set another bigger goal and go through the same steps, the snowball effect is amazing.  And to think that it all starts with putting away your shopping cart.  If you are not a cart returner, I grant you a clean slate, move forward putting away carts, remember it is the simple things.