Greater Milwaukee Men

The month of November is (one of the) Men's Health Month(s), popularized by the Movember movement. (June is another recognized annual event but since it is November now, November it is.) It's a great foundation, it has been successful and is highly rated for its impact. But, one thing I see with the movement is that while they speak about men's health to the participants, I feel the participants themselves promote it outwardly rather than inward, at them. I personally fell victim to that selfsame issue, but no longer. As of this November, I am taking care of myself.

Cities are often classified one of two ways: a great place to live but not visit, or a great place to visit but not live. Of course they could be considered good for both or bad for both, but that's pretty rare. Milwaukee has increasingly been recognized for culture and other features that make it desirable to visit, but it gets blasted (rightly so) for socio-economics especially racial disparity. But as much as people, especially native Milwaukeeans, like to dwell on the negatives, the hope by some like myself is that eventually the good things will spread and make things better for all its citizens. Recent news points to Milwaukee continuing to raise its reputation including National Geographic naming it a Top 25 Place to visit, and more news on growth downtown. The Brewtown Rumble motorcycle show at Deer District

Part of what we do here is celebrate when Milwaukee is recognized for excelling at something. Recently, Milwaukee was voted as having the 4th in the 10 Best Arts Districts in the Third Ward neighborhood by readers of USA Today. USA Today made this note: "Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward is home to a staggering number of galleries, studios, museums, performing arts spaces and art organizations, including the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Galleries, Milwaukee Potters Guild, ArtWorks for Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network." What makes this even better to me is that it's a Reader's selection, vs. the media. It's one thing for a reporter to travel around and visit and select their opinion, but to be in Reader's Choice means that people have actually been here and enjoyed it.  We beat out the likes of Denver and Chicago just in the top ten, not to mention all the ones that didn't even make it that high. Photo cr. Visit Milwaukee

July 4th, American Independence Day, has passed - but one of its primary activities has not, at least here in Wisconsin. Storms yesterday and today have postponed many community's shows. But maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't have them at all. Maybe we should replace them all with something else, like laser light shows. Some communities, like Salt Lake City, are already doing it because of a few of the many reasons I will argue everyone should. Fireworks are... I'm looking for an appropriate word here... problematic. Personally I have stronger feelings against them than that, but I understand that many people enjoy the spectacle. But most people don't understand the negative effects. I'll start with the first and most obvious one and after the break I'll get into more. As a dog companion, specifically a dog with noise anxiety among others, fireworks are entirely unenjoyable. The times when official fireworks are set, and usually for days before and after at random

Boy Scouts from Appleton, WI jumped into action when the Amtrak passenger train they were on derailed in Missouri and acted as First Responders.  2 different troops consisting of a total of sixteen youth and 8 adults were on the train when it derailed. WBAY reports that the students "played a major role in the rescue -- breaking windows, helping people off the train, and attempting to save the life of the dump truck driver who died." BSA , The Boy Scouts of America, has had its issues, mainly due to sexual abuse allegations against adult leadership, and has taken a deservedly black eye to its reputation. But they are trying to build it back. Their values and standards can still give youth moral and ethical standards to grow on and provides not only leadership and teamwork experience that can help later in life, but also practical skill like first aid that were used in this situation. The organization changed its name to Scouts BSA when they started to  allow girls to join a

There is another similar saying, one I believe, but when those three words are uttered, they shut down conversation. So instead, I am going with this new phrase: Guns Destroy Lives. These words are probably more provocative, but also probably more definitive and demonstrative, because they do more than just being used to kill people. photo cr. ABC News Before I start, as I always do when I broach the subject, I must state the usual disclaimer. I am not anti-gun. I am for gun control. Now that you know I am not out to take away your 'rights', let's get into this, once again, in the aftermath of the Uvalde, TX school shooting that as of this writing took 18 children's and one teacher's lives.