Greater Milwaukee Men

Just yesterday a friend posted on social media denouncing the "All Lives Matter" response to Black Lives Matter. Some commented on it: "I am fine with the sentiment and statement around Black lives. What I do NOT support is the organization." After some discourse, , they ended with this: "Follow the money and do some digging into their founders and funding." and finally " I could go on but I will let you research for yourself." There are a few things going on here. I will delve into each, but the focus of this will be on the nature of 'non-profits' and start-up organizations. I can see how it is easy for manipulation to make it look questionable, but if you do what the person suggested and research for yourself, you will find no issues. I have direct experience with non-profits that have done exactly how Black Lives Matter operates as an organization and funding, so I can tell you it's on the up-and-up. What you will see here, unlike ...

Australia is definitely not lacking for culture that inspires me from music (a large number of '80's alternative bands) to film & TV (Mad Max, countless TV shows) to philanthropic endeavors (Movember, Distinguished Gentleman's Ride), and I just found out about another great thing to come from Down Under. The Polished Man  program seeks to raise awareness and funds to fight physical and sexual violence against children by having men paint one fingernail. Much as other awareness campaigns like Movember, or carious colored ribbons or bracelets, the goal is that the notice will be taken of sight and when asked about it the wearer can strike up conversation about the issue.

I was proud to wear pink to promote women's rights On Saturday, January 21, 2017 I walked with dozens, maybe a hundred, thousand women in the Madison, WI Women's March to support their rights, and the rights of all. I walked with my wife, with her (our) friends, and coworkers, and with women and men, girls and boys, people from all over the state, from all walks of life. Political views on some of the individual 'rights' in question aside, I just don't get  how anyone can think this type of showing of support for fellow human beings is not a noble, righteous, thing. (Such as a conversation I had with someone who claimed that women wouldn't need these rights if they just stayed home like they did in the past.) While organized by and for women, it was a walk for all, as their Mission/Vision states: "We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families - recognizing ...

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Bronson Koenig In recent weeks, two athletes of Wisconsin teams, one pro one college, have taken very different actions to show support for the rights of their people. Both of these stories are now 'old' as it concerns news cycles, a few weeks having passed, but they both remain relevant to the state of the nation. Packers Ha Ha Clinton-Dix decided to pursue a degree in Criminal Science to try to resolve the issues between police and the black community and Badgers basketball player Bronson Koenig went to North Dakota to join in on Native American protests of the Dakota Access oil pipeline .

Ali truly made his days count Athlete, advocate, activist, altruist, Ali. The Greatest. At a time when hyperbole is far too common, especially in written (social media) communication, we just lost one of the few who not only deserved, but demanded superlatives and nothing said about him was exaggerated. Muhammad Ali may have passed form this world last night at the age of 74, but his presence and impact will never be lost. Every generation has its sports heroes, and each argues over whether theirs is better than the ones before or after, but though Ali's days as an athlete may have been too early for me to consider to be of 'my' generation, his work after the ring continued to create inspiration and aspiration.

Unless you are a huge DC Comics fanboy, maybe even if you are, the first word to come to mind about a show on The CW Network probably would not be "good", nor would your thoughts on the capabilities of its main actor. But when it comes to the show Arrow and its namesake character and actor Stephen Amell, the word "good" goes beyond the quality of the show to what he does off-screen. An interview gaffe has turned into a new word used by Arrow's Amell, now in an awareness campaign I had no thoughts of ever watching the show, even with the first 2 seasons "free" on streaming services, until a friend told me it was good. Even then it took me a while to test the waters until one day my wife and I were looking for a new show to watch together. I expected the standard pretty-bad-boy fare like Vampire Diaries and other CW shows, but was pleasantly surprised that the show far surpassed what I though was a kiss-of-death combination of subject matter and ...

Each month there are different causes, awareness efforts, or celebrations that are named and promoted. Often there are a few that work well together, whether planned or not. That is the case with May which, among other promotions, is National Bike Month , National High Blood Pressure Awareness Month and National Clean Air Month. To me these go together so well because by the simple act of biking more you can address the two other issues of reducing your blood pressure and helping keep our air clean with less vehicle emissions. There are lots of resources I could quote or link to to support the many benefits of getting out on your bike whether as a casual ride, exercise, or even as your primary means of transportation. But, whether some want to admit it or not, they all are pretty obvious so I'll leave it to you to accept it. Instead, since this is a Milwaukee blog, I want to do my own list of why you should get out on your bike here.

Today is the date of Abraham Lincoln's birth which reminds me of perhaps my favorite quote by anyone, ever. Of all the wise people and wise things said, this to me sums up how I want to live my life: When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion. I couldn't agree more. Despite what they may all think of each other, most of the teachings and saying of all the world's religions come down to instructing us to try to be good. The problem is there is usually a caveat - we are to do good to get something now or later from the supreme being(s) rather than simply just because we should . That is why I agree with Lincoln that my  religion is simply to do good - for others but yes also for myself. But do we truly feel better when we are better - feel great when we are great? Simply, yes.

Here you can see MKE topping the national average While one of my goals is always to increase volunteering among men, it appears that the city of Milwaukee and our entire state are doing pretty well in a general sense. A new report by  The Corporation for National & Community Service , a federal agency that promotes public service, rates Milwaukee as number 3 of the 51 largest MSAs and Wisconsin overall in the top 10 of all states at number 8. I can't say how proud it makes me to live in a city that often takes heat from the rest of the state to take such high honors in this type of report.

Ok, so this is nowhere near new news, seeing as its the second 'season' of the project already and I am just getting around to it, but now is as good a time as any to give kudos to  itsAaron , the charitable project of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and local attorney David Gruber. This is not a guy just looking for some good pr. You've all seen the ads by now, teasers of Aaron Rodgers showing up at someone's door to surprise them with the message to visit itsAaron.com to see the rest. The ads are simple and don't convey much and to be honest til now I had never gone and visited the site and wondered how many had and thus how effective it was. Apparently they have been more effective than I thought since the campaign earned a regional Emmy award nomination from the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category of "Outstanding Achievement for Commercials – Campaign."

To most Wisconsinites and Packer fans he may play for the 'enemy', but Chicago Bears Defensive Back Charles Tillman is someone we can all look up to. In February he received  Fifth Third Bank’s 2011 Community Leadership Award & Namesake Scholarship as one of three people recognized for their leadership and efforts that have provided meaningful impact in communities  of color. Since 2005, his Charles Tillman Cornerstone Foundation has impacted the lives of countless children in the Chicago area through various programs.

Pro surfer James Pribram is a hero in every sense of the word, an athlete and man we can all look up to.  He has been receiving accolades for his environmental activism and recently saved a drowning woman. Per the OC Register : He was dubbed  The Eco Warrior  by a journalist while protesting a pulp mill contaminating a river in Chile. In 2007, he won the  John Kelly Environmental Award . He had filmed a segment for Fuel TV about pollution along the Great Lakes in Chicago. He was named  Laguna Beach's 2011 Athlete of the Year  for his work teaching school kids to care for their ocean. Then a series of events that changed the plans of both victim and hero put him at the right place and time to use his mastery of the waves to save a drowning woman. The full report is here .