The Forum

I mentioned in a previous post that Shorewood shows a slight but distinct political pattern in terms of the relative likelihood to vote for conservative or liberal candidates.  I checked a few of the recent election results which are shown below.  Although the pattern is not perfect, there is generally about a 10-15% difference between the most liberal wards (7-8), and the most conservative (11-12).  The chart below shows the % of the vote that each candidate received in the Feb and April 2008 election cycles. 

Ward Number	BUTLER	TAYLOR	OBAMA
Wards 7-8	78%	68%	63%
Wards 3-4	72%	59%	61%
Wards 5-6	73%	57%	61%
Wards 9-10	69%	57%	57%
Wards 1-2	71%	56%	55%
Wards 11-12	68%	53%	54%

As a side note, the wards on the bottom of the list are West of Oakland Ave.  (View Ward Map)

I apologize for being a bit slow on the blogging as of late.  

I thought this headline and picture from 620 WTMJ's website would make you laugh.  What seems out of place to you?

Source: http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local 

A few highlights from Tuesday's election.

1. Overall turnout was 34%, significantly lower than the 53% who turned out for the February presidential primary.
2. The highest turnout wards were 5 and 6, located along the lake, at 40% of registered voters, . 
3. The lowest turnout areas were wards 1 and 2, the southwest corner near SIS, at 27% of registered voters.
4. There is an interesting bit of political geography going on here in Shorewood, which I will cover in a future post.  Generally speaking, those who live west of Oakland voted more conservatively in this election cycle than those who live east of Oakland.  More on that later.
5. In other elections, not already covered on ShorewoodNOW, Shorewood residents voted as follows:

CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE BRANCH 40

REBECCA DALLET	82.52%
JEFFREY NORMAN	17.48%

COUNTY EXECUTIVE

SCOTT WALKER	41.68%
LENA C TAYLOR	58.32%

STATE PARTIAL VETO REFERENDUM

YES	68.98%
NO	31.02%

I attended a presentation today on Carbon Offset for vacation travel.  Expedia offers TerraPass carbon offsets already, as do several of the major rental car companies (view full list). 

In case you are scratching your head wondering in the world a Carbon Offset is...

What is a Carbon Offset?  (From TerraPass)

A carbon offset is a certificate representing the reduction of one metric ton (2,205 lbs) of carbon dioxide emissions, the principal cause of global warming.

I am interested if any of you have purchased carbon offsets as a part of one of your vacations.  If so, what drove you to purchase them?  Generally speaking, what do you think of this idea?