Mar 30, 2010
Mar 28, 2010
Mar 27, 2010
Slowly, silently, now the moon; Walks the night in her silver shoon/Walter de la Mare
I saw a ring around the moon like this one March 23 from my home in Madison. When my video of it didn't turn out, I found this wonderful photo at the website of KTKA 49 ABC which shows how ice crystals create the ring. The picture was submitted by Pete Haack.
Mar 26, 2010
Gotika the Hindu dog fetches the ball in Lake Wingra in Madison, WI
I spied Gotika the Hindu dog on a walk last summer.
WKOW vs. DATCP: The backstory
The Daily Page
TV station clashes with consumer agency over unflattering reports
Mar 25, 2010
Mar 23, 2010
Mar 20, 2010
Mar 19, 2010
Consumer Reports Cars Blog: Personal Picks
Consumer Reports
After clicking into the report and reading about sports cars scroll down past the next article on GPS devices and you will find advice on more practical car picks.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Brando, Gershwin...
More classic photographs from the Library of Congress--the Carl Van Vechten collection. Carl was an Iowa boy who grew up to work for the Chicago American and the New York Times. His circle of friends included writers, actors, and other famous people he recorded with a 35 mm Leica.
Mar 16, 2010
Lombard Subway accused of serving bacteria-tainted sandwich
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
I was hospitalized with Shigella five years ago and health officials suspected a food handler who traveled back and forth to Mexico. In the U.S., it is estimated that about 700 persons die yearly from shigellosis. Young children and the elderly are at greatest risk of death from a Shigella infection. At least fifty-two people got sick during a Madison outbreak in 2008. Approximately 300 to 400 cases are reported in Wisconsin each year.
It is my opinion that when we allow easy access to illegal aliens we risk coming down with the unchecked illnesses of their countries.
Here is an informative article on Shigella prevention.
Mar 15, 2010
Mar 12, 2010
Mar 11, 2010
Mar 10, 2010
Mar 9, 2010
Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun
NYTimes.com
When I was a TV consumer reporter in the early 1980s in Northeast Wisconsin, I did story after story about questionable companies selling passive solar energy panels and wind turbines to homeowners. Many of the products I saw didn't work very well or broke down. Government was giving tax breaks to promote alternative energy.
I also won a major Texas journalism award exposing the city of Dallas' inept administration of a program to help poor people hire minority contractors to do home weatherization. These things sound great but they often don't work out for consumers.
Mar 8, 2010
Mar 7, 2010
Mar 6, 2010
The latest WI No Call list has 2,061,395 numbers--45% are cell phones
Sign-up details below in left column.
Mar 4, 2010
Tenant awarded money in Janesville landslide lawsuit
Janesville Gazette
Remember the video I did with the Archibald Consumer Law Office in Madison which represents consumers for free? This is one of its cases.
2009 WI consumer complaints to Federal Trade Commission total 17,528
2,777 Identity Theft Complaints
Other top compaints
1 Credit Card Fraud 511 18%
2 Phone or Utilities Fraud 401 14%
3 Government Documents or Benefits Fraud 369 13%
4 Employment-Related Fraud 310 11%
5 Bank Fraud 255 9%
6 Loan Fraud 107 4%