Here’s the Friday open comments post.

Today’s suggested topic is no single topic at all — just a forum for your comments or questions. I’ll try to answer questions as quickly as I can.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings are, of course, fine.

Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Monday afternoon.

Here’s the Friday open comments post.

Today’s suggested topic is a list of “10 Favorite Reads of All Time (including books, graphic novels, comic books, magazines, etc.)?”

Here’s my list, in no particular order:

Paine, Common Sense. Concise, powerful, timeless.

Lincoln, Collected Works, Vol. 1 & 2 (Library of America). Simple, elegant, and powerful writing. Unmatched in American politics.

Commentary Magazine, 1979-80. Commentary when it was truly a neo-conservative magazine. Wonderful to read at the time, for their rigorous critique of Carter’s inept foreign policy.

William Gibson, Pattern Recognition. I think it’s his best work, even better than his highly-regarded Neuromancer.

Hayek, Road to Serfdom. The truth, published when it was an unfashionable truth.

Wells, War of the Worlds:

No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.

With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary enterprise. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us….

Learning the World, Ken Macleod. Humanity discovers an inhabited world, far from earth, with creatures just beginning their own industrial age. Macleod’s description of the small, intelligent mammals is memorable.

Melville, Moby-Dick. We presumptuously treat books like this as something from school, to be put behind us as we grow older. We’re foolish to do so. There’s wonder on these pages, if only we would read see it with fresh and open eyes.

Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. As with Moby-Dick, a book that’s new — and revolutionary — each time one reads it.

Wired. A guilty pleasure. It’s an uncertain grab bag of articles each month — one sometimes finds a real gem.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings are, of course, fine.

Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon. Enjoy.

Here’s the Friday open comments post.

Today’s suggested topic is a list of “10 all-time favorite films.”

Today’s topic — top ten favorite films, has been a happy challenge. It’s a challenge to pick just ten, but a happy challenge.

Here’s my list, in no particular order:

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Inspired.

High Noon (1952). A fine western, and rightly celebrated. Marshal Will Kane stands his ground, in a tribute to individualism. Over fifty years later, it still holds up.

Exorcist (1973). Parodied many times, but a great film from William Friedkin. Some the the scenes have a real tension, in those moments of conversation.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Great Harper Lee book, and a solid, serious performance from Gregory Peck in the film.

North by Northwest (1959). My favorite Hitchcock film.

Henry V (1989). Better even than Olivier’s version, Kenneth Branagh conveys Henry’s transition from supposedly callow ruler to wartime leader.

King Kong (2005). Beautiful and moving. Astonishing. My favorite of all time.

Dark City (1998). A science fiction gem: “…a lifetime of knowledge in a single syringe.”

Bringing Up Baby (1938). Always funny.

His Girl Friday (1940). Some of the funniest lines on screen, in a comedy about a big city paper.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings are, of course, fine.

Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon. Enjoy.

Here’s the Friday open comments post.

It’s a wide open open forum today — comment freely.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings are, of course, fine.

Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

Here’s the Friday open comments post.

Today’s suggested topic is a list of “10 all-time favorite TV events, any category (series, special, sporting event, whatever.)”

Longtime reader of FREE WHITEWATER, The Phantom Stranger, emailed his list (thanks!), based on his suggested topic from last week, and here it is, to kick off the forum:

Here we go, in no particular order…

10) “Batman,” 1966, First 13 episodes, 1966, and Second Season, 1966-’67, while the show still literally had the Pop! Biff!! Zap!!! of cleverness, and tongue-in-cheek. Wish Warners Bros./20th Century Fox would get over their legal ownership wrangling and free The Dynamic Duo to Blu Ray DVD!!!!

I’ll use the comments to add my own list.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings are, of course, fine.

Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon. Enjoy.

Here’s the Friday open comments post.

Today’s suggested topic is about the show Mad Men. What do you like about the show, now ready to begin its 4th season on AMC this Sunday?

Here’s a preview trailer from the show’s website:

Link:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid101546270001?bclid=82069251001&bctid=104611124001

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

Here’s the Friday open comments post.

Today’s suggested topic is ‘liberty-themed music.’ What favorite songs of yours have liberty-oriented themes. For readers looking for a refresher of possible choices, the Libertarian Music Archive might be a good resource.

Last week, I asked if it might be a good idea to allow endangered species to be farmed privately and eaten, to boost their overall numbers. (The topic came from something I read about a restaurant that served lion burgers.)

I’ll start off a music choice with something lion-themed and liberty-themed this week: Born Free, from the 1966 film of that same name. It’s not my preferred music by style, but it is liberty-oriented, and follows last week’s lion theme nicely.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZHaQ3C3xQo

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

Here’s the Friday open comments post.

Today’s suggested topic is ‘private ownership to protect endangered species.’ That might include private purchases of land, ‘adoption’ of animals, our even reductions in restrictions on owning and eating otherwise endangered animals.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

Here’s the Friday open comments post. Today’s suggested topic is ‘favorite scenes from film or television that illustrate and American right or principle.’ Speech, religion, association, mere liberty — any scenes that describe or illustrate fundamental American rights.

One site that I visit often for movie information, with information and quotations from films, is the popular Internet Movie Database.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

Here’s my clip — from Amistad (1997).

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJwD5km_VrQ

Internet Movie Database Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118607/

Here’s the Friday open comments post, following reader responses to a recent poll.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

Today’s suggested topic — opinions on free speech issues. A quick starting point might be the Institute for Justice’s new free speech blog, Congress Shall Make No Law.

Have at it — I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

Here’s the Friday open comments post, following reader responses to a recent poll.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

For this week, a suggestion for a topic: Did Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner overreact by supporting the abolition of Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission?

Here’s the Friday open comments post, following reader responses to a recent poll.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

For this week, a suggestion for a topic: Should Raw Milk Sales be Legal in Wisconsin?

Here’s the Friday open comments post, following reader responses to a recent poll.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

For this week, a suggestion for a topic: Can a Private Business Fire a Woman for Being “Too Hot?”

Here’s the Friday open comments post, following reader responses to a recent poll.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Monday afternoon.

For this week, suggestions for topics — residential overlays to preserve local character, and “buying local.” Local surely means a lot to Whitewater. Does local mean more to Whitewater than other places? If it does, is that a good thing?

Have at it.

Here’s the Friday open comments post, following reader responses to a recent poll.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon.

For this week, some suggestions for topics — Whitewater’s possible residential overlay, and a newer, larger Walmart. I’ll post on both topics throughout the weekend.

Quick summaries of my views:

Walmart — fine, and a competitive benefit to the city, so long as neither unusual concessions nor unusual burdens on them. So far, so good.

Overlay for the Starin Park neighborhood — I’m opposed.

Here’s an open comments post, following reader responses to a recent poll.

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine.

Although the template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

I’ll keep the post open through Sunday afternoon. A test last night showed that my replies may not appear in the precise order of all comments. No matter for now – comments and replies will post. I’ll sort out the issue before next week.

Binge drinking, planning, questions about libertarian ideas, whatever. I will try to moderate and move comments along as quickly as possible.

Last week, I mentioned adding comments in response to results from a reader poll. I’ve always been available through adams@freewhitewater.com, but I’m happy to give readers a crack at offering comments in a different way. The leading suggestion, from over half of respondents, was to have an open comments post, as a kind of open comments forum.

I’ll run one on Friday, posted at 8 a.m.

Naturally, use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings will be fine. The template I have has a space for an email address, but those who want to write ‘unlisted’ can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it. I will try to moderate and move comments along as quickly as possible.

I’ve no idea whether I’ll get any comments, and if I had to guess, I wouldn’t expect more than a few.

I’ll offer a few starter topics, but the comments need not be confined to my selections. Note: I’ll have a post tomorrow at 7 a.m. about Whitewater’s new ban on drink specials.

Finally, if something doesn’t work quite right tomorrow, I’ll head back to the drawing board for next Friday. I’ll not be daunted by an initial glitch. There are no ‘moments,’ in my way of thinking — just an ongoing, consistent commitment of writing and contending.