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Monthly Archives: July 2014

City, Law, Local Government

A Game It’s Not

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There’s a story in the Gazette about a Janesville resident who’s looking for a litigation fund to support lawsuits against the City of Janesville.  See, subscription req’d, Citizens group wants to mount legal offensive against City Hall.

The story’s too funny – it’s part overwrought idea, and (I would guess) part effort of the Gazette to troll readers over a bogus, straw-man threat to local government (to which that paper’s editorial board routinely grovels). 

Litigation against a city – or anyone, really – isn’t a game or sport.  It’s a serious undertaking that requires huge amounts of behind-the-scenes work for each pleading, each moment of speaking in court, or each moment advancing one’s position with the public. 

There’s no sudden victory in something like this – there’s no point in counting on the supposed shock of a lawsuit, alone.  Looking for a reaction is an immature, and likely ineffectual, approach.

(That’s why one should advance along a deliberate set of steps, and why it’s bad form to sue a city without that deliberate approach.)

One doesn’t sue a city or government agency to get a rise out of someone, for goodness’ sake.

One sues to protect one’s rights of liberty and safety, to redress injustices, or for broad policy reasons like a defense of one’s environment, for example.   

Everything one does should be supportive of accomplishing that objective, with a practical, favorable, concrete outcome.   Before one begins, one should say: I’ll commit fully and completely to this task, prepared not for today’s headlines, but years of effort ahead, each day, so much as might be needed. 

Respite and momentary relent along the way would serve principally to bolster and refresh one’s energy for even more ahead.   

An outlook like that is worthy of the seriousness of the effort, and has another advantage, too: a person who sees things this way is the sort of man or woman who will litigate with poise and sangfroid. 

Only in this way, by approaching an effort seriously beforehand, can one be, as FDR once described Gov. Al Smith of New York, a ‘happy warrior.’  The best and most enjoyable expedition – with engaging, spirited moments for a good cause – comes with preparation and commitment. 

Happy warriors, so to speak, begin as thoughtful ones. 

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.31.14

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Good morning, Whitewater.

Our month ends with a mostly sunny day, a high of eighty, and just a thirty-percent chance of late afternoon thunderstorms.

Marquis_de_Lafayette_2

On this day in 1777, the Marquis de Lafayette commits to America:

…a 19-year-old French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, accepts a commission as a major-general in the Continental Army—without pay.

During his service as the Continental Congress’ secret envoy to France, Silas Deane had, on December 7, 1776, struck an agreement with French military expert, Baron Johann DeKalb, and his protege, the Marquis de Lafayette, to offer their military knowledge and experience to the American cause. However, Deane was replaced with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were unenthused by the proposal. Meanwhile, King Louis XVI feared angering Britain and prohibited Lafayette’s departure. The British ambassador to the French court at Versailles demanded the seizure of Lafayette’s ship, which resulted in Lafayette’s arrest. Lafayette, though, managed to escape, set sail and elude two British ships dispatched to recapture him. Following his safe arrival in South Carolina, Lafayette traveled to Philadelphia, expecting to be made General George Washington’s second-in-command. Although Lafayette’s youth made Congress reluctant to promote him over more experienced colonial officers, the young Frenchman’s willingness to volunteer his services without pay won their respect and Lafayette was commissioned as a major-general.

Lafayette served at Brandywine in 1777, as well as Barren Hill, Monmouth and Rhode Island in 1778. Following the formal treaty of alliance with Lafayette’s native France in February 1778 and Britain’s subsequent declaration of war, Lafayette asked to return to Paris and consult the king as to his future service. Washington was willing to spare Lafayette, who departed in January 1779. By March, Franklin reported from Paris that Lafayette had become an excellent advocate for the American cause at the French court. Following his six-month respite in France, Lafayette returned to aid the American war effort in Virginia, where he participated in the successful siege of Yorktown in 1781, before returning to France and the further service of his own country.

Google-a-Day asks a question about Germany’s economy:

What was Germany’s term for its amazing economic rebound in the 1950’s?

Art

The Power of Simple Drawings

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Perhaps not so simple at all:

Long dismissed as a waste of time, doodling is getting new respect.

Recent research in neuroscience, psychology and design shows that doodling can help people stay focused, grasp new concepts and retain information. A blank page also can serve as an extended playing field for the brain, allowing people to revise and improve on creative thoughts and ideas.

Doodles are spontaneous marks that can take many forms, from abstract patterns or designs to images of objects, landscapes, people or faces. Some people doodle by retracing words or letters, but doodling doesnt include note-taking.

“Its a thinking tool,” says Sunni Brown, an Austin, Texas, author of a new book, “The Doodle Revolution.” It can affect how we process information and solve problems, she says….

Via The Power of the Doodle: Improve Your Focus and Memory @ Wall Street Journal.

City, Local Government, School District

The Bigger the Project, the Greater the Need for Substantive Justifications

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It seems – to most people, I’d guess – that to say ‘the bigger the project, the greater the need for substantive justifications’ is simply reasonable and practical. 

In almost all public efforts, municipalities, school districts, and other public bodies should Lead Substantively, and Support Fiscally. 

The best way to win big is usually a detailed, well-expounded defense of big ideas.

There’s value in thinking tactically (and it’s interesting to ponder tactics), but big efforts either fail initially (or in hindsight they look absurd) if their adoption depends on mere tactics. 

(Because ‘The Future Writes the History of the Present’, projects like expanded tax incremental districts, the Innovation Center, WEDC, etc., although started, are doomed to obloquy.  It’s not enough to win today; one has to secure a long-term success on a principled foundation.  Everything else is just a “Nixon’s the One” Pyrrhic victory.)

Funny, though, that most local proponents concentrate on tactical wins, only to find thereafter that they’re stuck with bad deals that taint everyone connected to them.  They want to win, but they’ve no idea what to do after an initial success, so they end up losing far more than they’ve gained. 

It’s not the money & effort, but the money & effort based on the quality of the case for it, that matters. For the big and novel, it’s fair to ask of government, Show Your Work.    

We likely have big requests ahead, including in the school district; they will require more than tactical moves and ill-defined justifications. 

It’s fair that a request should begin with a detailed, thorough explanation.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.30.14

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Good morning, Whitewater.

Midweek in Whitewater will be mostly sunny, with a high of seventy-seven, and a one-third chance of showers in the late afternoon. In the city today, sunrise is 5:44 AM and sunset 8:18 PM. The moon is a waxing crescent with twelve percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Sometimes you get the elephant, and sometimes the elephant gets you:

On this day in 1857, a noted theorist is born in Wisconsin:

1857 – Thorstein Veblen Born
On this date economist and social commentator Thorstein Bunde Veblen was born in Cato, although some sources place his birth in Valders. He is best known for his book The Theory of The Leisure Class (1899), a classic of social theory that introduced the concept of “conspicuous consumption.” [Source: The Radical Academy]

Google-a-Day asks a question of art:

While lead architect of the new St. Peter’s project, what was Michelangelo’s design contribution to the project?

Government Spending, Local Government, Press, Taxes/Taxation

What Steve Jobs Understood About People That Local ‘Movers and Shakers’ Don’t

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It’s an easy – and false – pose to assume that people can’t understand a supposedly complicated project.  There was some of this thinking in an editorial about which I commented yesterday, in the Gazette‘s contention that that “SWAG’s [Southern Wisconsin Agricultural Group’s] complex, though intriguing, always seemed grand and hard for average residents to picture.”

Steve Jobs knew better – he understood that ‘average’ customers could understand a plan if only it were set forth properly.  Walter Isaacson relates, in Chapter 29 of his biography of Jobs, that for retail store design, Jobs felt that “it was important that customers intuitively grasped the layout of a store as soon as they entered.” 

People are more than capable; they see something easily if it’s explained properly. Communications failures are, most often, leadership failures, where leaders write and reason weakly. 

Forget categorizing people as average; there’s very little that’s average about the average person – most people are very clever. 

Social and policymaking gains come from holding proud (but mostly dull, dim, and lazy) elites to a higher standard. 

P.S. ‘Movers and shakers’ is an editorialist’s haughty term.  I use it as a joke, because it’s so obviously absurd and unjustifiably proud. 

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.29.14

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Good morning, Whitewater.

We’ve a four-in-ten chance of afternoon thunderstorms today, but otherwise a partly sunny day awaits with a high of seventy-eight.

On this day in 1958, NASA is born:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency that is responsible for the civilian space program as well as for aeronautics and aerospace research.

PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958[5] with a distinctly civilian (rather than military) orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29, 1958, disestablishing NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency became operational on October 1, 1958.[6][7]

Since that time, most U.S. space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollomoon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the Space Launch System and Commercial Crew vehicles. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program (LSP) which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches.

NASA science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System,[8] advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate’s Heliophysics Research Program,[9] exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic missions such as New Horizons,[10] and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the Great Observatories and associated programs.[11] NASA shares data with various national and international organizations such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite.

In just under a year, as part of that agency’s commitment to exploration, a NASA probe will reach Pluto:

Google-a-Day asks a history question:

What war was ended by the treaty that was ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 6, 1899?

Government Spending, Local Government, Press

In Policymaking, Passion’s a Weak Justification

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Alternative title: Passion’s Just Another Word for Nothing Substantive to Say.

Only recently, small-town Evansville rejected a $5.5 million tax-incremental funding demand from the Southern Wisconsin Agricultural Group to locate in that community.  See, Demanding Millions from Small-town Evansville. 

To accede to SWAG’s demands, Evansville would have had to abandon street repair, water-system upgrades, etc., for lack of funds. 

Following Evansville’s practical decision, the Gazette‘s editorialist took this as a chance to declare that All should hope agriculture complex takes root elsewhere in Rock County.

That’s all, as in all should hope for world peace, or all should be kind to puppies.

Evansville strayed from the bigger-government, crony-capitalist conservatism of the Gazette, you see, in a profane and heretical departure from what a few grasping insiders want (a few that insists ‘all’ should likewise want).   

The Gazette, piqued, now declares (subscription req’d):

SWAG’s complex, though intriguing, always seemed grand and hard for average residents to picture. Could it generate enough visitors and revenue year-round to stay financially viable? Donors likely would want assurances.

Still, SWAG’s leaders deserve credit for their passion and persistence.

That’s too funny, twice over. 

First, this condescending to residents is laughable – ‘average’ residents just couldn’t ‘picture’ the project. 

There’s nothing wrong with residents’ abilities or comprehension; the failure of a project like this is evidence of a mediocre leadership that asks too much and explains too little.  It’s the curse of lazy, entitled elites. 

Second, in the Gazette‘s way of thinking, the Southern Wisconsin Agricultural Group’s passion and persistence are creditable.

They’re not.  In this case, SWAG’s energy is no worthier than a pickpocket’s enthusiasm and serial stealing would be.

Good policy is more than desire.  Lots of interest groups want – really, really want – taxpayers’ money. 

There’s nothing special about wanting to take millions from a small town’s residents.

In the same way, there’s nothing special or compelling about an editorial that contends that a brimming desire for millions is somehow to proponents’ credit.