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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has let us know that it is offical:

As of today, Miller Brewing Co. no longer exists — other than in the hearts and minds of those who worked there, and those who drank its beer.

The company once known as Miller Brewing is now MillerCoors LLC, a joint venture of Miller Brewing and Coors Brewing Co. The new company officially begins business today, following Monday’s signing of the closing documents by executives from SABMiller Plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co., corporate parents of Miller Brewing and Coors Brewing.

I'm not sure how the rest of Wisconsin feels, but I was saddened to hear this news. Maybe I am overreacting and need to understand that buyouts and consolidations are a part of the modern global world. Maybe I am naive to think that Miller and Wisconsin are somehow synonymous and, therefore, immune to outside influence--its kind of like the Packers, no?

Check out the new MillerCoors website--if you really want. :(

Scott Walker's newest TV commercial appears to be a testimonial from a perfect cross-section of the population who all support him.

They're young and old, black and white, male and female -- and they all deliver their lines very, very well.

Click here to watch it.

They're so good it makes you wonder if some or all of them might be paid, professional actors.

Greg Borowski's first post on the Journal Sentinel political blog said:

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has unveiled a new, upbeat TV ad, one that features a montage of (we presume) voters, all expressing their belief in Milwaukee and in, well Scott Walker.

Borowski, pressed by a "longtime political observer," asked whether actors were used.

Meanwhile, in response to a query about the people used in the Walker ad, Tim Russell of the Walker campaign says all are actual voters. Not actors.

"They're all real people," Russell said.

Heckuva job, Scottie.

That must be what Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker told himself, before rewarding himself with a $50,000 a year pay raise.

Call it what you will, but Walker's announcement that if he is reelected on April 1 he will accept $50,000 more in salary than he currently does is a pay raise, pure and simple.

Does he deserve credit for giving back $60,000 a year in the past? Sure -- but he made that grand gesture purely for political gain back when he was running to succeed Tom Ament. Four years ago, he wasn't confident enough to change it. But he obviously thinks he's going to win another term in two weeks, so now's the time to grab the gold.

Is the county executive overpaid at his full salary of $129,000 a year? No, not if he/she is doing his/her job. It's a big job with a lot of responsibility.

The thing is, Walker hasn't been doing the job. He's been mismanaging county government, running it into the ground, all in the name of fiscal responsibility. In fact, it's fiscal irresponsibility, but he's hoping to get out of the courthouse before the chickens come home to roost.

After Walker, expect the deluge.

Sen. Russ Feingold brings his traveling town meeting to Milwaukee. He'll be at Centennial Hall at the Milwaukee Central Lilbrary, on James Lovell (7th Street) side of the library, just north of Wisconsin Avenue. It's a big hall, but come early and bring your questions.

Location(s)

I am not making this up: Fuel Cafe going non-smoking. 

That's like hearing that the old National Liquor Bar was going alcohol-free.

Club Paradise will feature family entertainment.

Usinger's will sell only vegan products.

And Harley Davidson will quit making engines and switch to producing mountain bikes.

At first blush, it sounds like a tough, independent imnvestigation of Milwaukee County's pension problems -- or scandal, if you prefer. The JS reports:

The wide-ranging investigation into Milwaukee County pension practices will be headed by two former federal prosecutors from Chicago and will look back several decades, county pension officials said today.

Well and good. Let the chips fall where they may.

However:

In action Wednesday, the Pension Board created a five-member committee to oversee and provide direction to the special counsel investigation, as well as manage the probe's undetermined cost.

The members include Pension Board Chairman Roepke, County Executive Scott Walker, County Board Chairman Lee Holloway and two community members to be selected by the Pension Board chairman.

It makes you wonder whether any chips will be allowed to fall on the current county executive or county board, since they will "provide direction"  for the investigation.

State Rep. Pedro Colon says he will challenge Milwaukee City Atty. Grant Langley in the spring elections.

His announcement contained an interesting criticism of Langley, the long-time incumbent:

The City Attorney has the potential to be a partner to the District Attorney in the fight against crime. That starts with leadership. It means upholding the highest possible standards for integrity. Instead, the current City Attorney has been AWOL from the fight to stop paying police officers who are convicted of felonies.

There's very little the city attorney could do about this, aside from writing a letter to legislators or appearing at a legislative hearing.

You see, the law requiring the city to pay those fired cops is a state law. To get rid of it, the state legislature has to repeal it.

Pedro Colon is part of the Democratic leadership in the state Assembly, which, last we knew, was one house of the legislature.

Is Colon saying he's failed to get that law repealed because he didn't have a letter from Grant Langley?  Is he saying that if he's city attorney he can do more about that legislative issue than he can as a legislator?  Hard to swallow.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who said a concealed weapons law would "jeapordize ths safety of my deputies and the citizens they represent," today said people of Milwaukee should be able to carry concealed handguns.

Clarke's complete reversal came, as his pronouncements frequently do, in a hysterical email to rabid rightwing radio talker Charlie Sykes, a major Clarke sycophant and publicist.

At the end of a long rant against Gov. Jim Doyle, Mayor Tom Barrett, and Milwaukee aldermen, Clarke says:

If the police are no longer able to guarantee the personal safety of citizens, then reconsider your opposition to allowing law-abiding people the means with which to protect themselves. Yes, Governor, that means carrying concealed handguns.

Here's a Journal Sentinel story from Nov. 4, 2003:

Clarke calls for veto of concealed weapons bill

Sheriff tells Doyle in letter that change would put deputies in danger

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. on Monday called on Gov. Jim Doyle to veto a bill that would make it easier for Wisconsin residents to carry concealed weapons.

In a letter to Doyle, Clarke says the change called for in the bill would jeopardize the "safety of my deputies and the citizens they represent" and says "there are better ways to fight crime than to flood the streets of Milwaukee with dangerous weapons."

Today, Clarke says the best way to fight crime is to flood the streets of Milwaukee with dangerous weapons.

Scott Walker's poll numbers in the toilet?

Well, not exactly, but certainly circling the drain, as Dan Bice and others have reported. Brew City Brawler offers some analysis and amusing observation: Scott Walker is a dumb, antidemocratic failure and nobody likes him.

It's not true that nobody likes him. Wife Tonette does, at last report, and so does Tom Nardelli -- whom everybody really disliked when he ran for county exec -- because Nardelli is now on the county payroll.

Walker is in real trouble, no doubt about it. He is vulnerable. But it will take a credible challenger with enough resources who runs a near-perfect campaign.

The Walker camp, of course, has a billion reasons that Walker's numbers might have been "temporarily" low at the time of the recent survey.

Hogwash. A survey this week would show the same thing; he's worn out his welcome with a lot of people, who have figured out he's just another promise-breaking phony who poses as a "reformer."

They've given him five years, and he's still doing nothing but pointing fingers at Tom Ament and others who are long gone.

Charlie Sykes gets a plug from Michelle Malkin:

THANKS, MICHELLE

Michelle Malkin gets an advance peak at "The 50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School" and has some kind words.

"Charles J. Sykes has long been one of my favorite chroniclers of our dumbed-down education and the corrupting effects of the self-esteem movement. I just received his new book, set for release on August 21, titled “50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education.” Witty, acerbic, reality-grounded. It’s a great purchase for college-bound friends/family or parents with school-age kids. "

The book will be officially released in about two weeks.... watch this space for updates and announcements.

An advance peak?

This from the guy who wrote "Dumbing Down Our Schools?"

A rule Sykes forgot: Sometimes, Spell Check ain't enough.  Ya hafta spell your own self.

UPDATE: The spelling's been corrected.