The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round

And Milwaukee is apparently now a hub.

Apparently someone in the city government had the bright idea to apply to the United Nations for Milwaukee to become one of the "Global Compact Cities" - a distinction that, from what I can see, comes with no financial incentives, but increased pressure to use local resources to develop projects that will boost our international image and reputation .

What? Are we not content with being the former beer capital of the world, or the home of the Fonz and Laverne & Shirley?

We sit next to one of the biggest fresh water systems in the world, in a climate where rainfall is plentiful (a bit too much so, given the localized flooding we are experiencing after the last three four days' worth of near-continuous rain). Since we have such an abundant source to work with, it makes sense that we work on water technology and management.

Still, how much good will our research on aquaculture, algae reduction and road salt desalinization do in landlocked, drought stricken countries?

Eh. I've not much use for the U.N. to begin with - all bark, no bite and more squabbling amongst themselves than a bunch of starving dogs thrown a single bone. I'm willing to bet all this designation will net us is increased headaches.