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Monthly Archives: February 2016

Business, City, Development

A Man, His Bad Monkey, and the Rest of Us

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 A man walks through town with a small monkey on his shoulder. (A white-headed capuchin, Cebus capucinus, let’s say.) He walks with it about town, into meetings, focus groups, and visits with various officials of the local government. On many occasions, the monkey scratches, bites, or throws its feces at someone. This happens quite a few times.

Thereafter, at a public meeting, someone asks the man about his association with the monkey, and the man replies to that question –

Q: “How are you associated with the monkey?”

A: “I’m not associated with the monkey. That’s a mistake.”

Everyone familiar with the man’s travels about town knows he’s lying, and lying in the way that only the brazen or stupid tell lies: a complete denial in the face of evidence to the contrary.

That means, of course, that’s there’s something profoundly objectionable or unsuitable about the man as a business partner. He might be stupid, but he’s more likely brazen. His complete denial operates as a dare: Can I say anything to you, and have you move on without follow up?

Of course, others in the room know that the man has lied. He has been walking about town with a vile and filthy primate, and that nasty animal has been scratching, biting, and throwing feces on many occasions.

In one way, the single question and the answer it elicited has been successful: the man’s lied at the meeting, and others in the room now know it.

In another way, however, the single question lets the man go on too easily – it’s not enough that insiders know the man is a liar – his denial should be shown there and then for what it is, to all the community, as a blatant, bald-faced lie. A few quick follow ups will serve that purpose, including pictures showing the man with the monkey.

That’s more confrontational, to be sure, but it’s the man who has sparked confrontation by lying about his association with the ornery monkey. The follow up, even if heated, merely enforces an accountability to the truth that underlies a well-ordered society.

In the episode of the man and the monkey, follow up questions that some would describe as ‘grilling’ would be, in fact, a principled, admirable determination to assure lies do not go unremarked.

The more of that we have, the better: when we have more of it, then we’ll have less future need of it, as we’ll not be a mark for liars and charlatans.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 2.21.16

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Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of thirty-nine. Sunrise is 6:42 and sunset 5:34, for 10h 52m 05s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW poll asked if readers thought that there should be a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, and a vote on that nominee, this year. Slightly over fifty-five percent thought that there should be (55.56%), and about forty-four percent (44.44%) thought that there shouldn’t be.

Here’s schedule of posts for the week ahead, with other posts possible (if there are changes to these scheduled posts I’ll explain why):

  • Today: DB, a post about asking questions, evening post
  • Monday: DB, weekly music post, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN post, evening post
  • Tuesday: DB, weekly education post, evening post
  • Wednesday: DB, weekly film post, evening post
  • Thursday: DB, a restaurant review, evening post
  • Friday: DB, weekly poll, weekly catblogging
  • Saturday: DB, weekly Animation post, evening post

Zither Filmography has a video online of he sun hitting Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall:

Shoot yesterday 2/15/2016. One of the most stunning moments in Yosemite National Park. We hiked about an hour from Southside Dr to a high plateau where you have full view of the tunnel from Village perspective.The setting sun hits Horsetail Fall at just the right angle to illuminate the upper reaches of the waterfall. And when conditions are perfect, Horsetail Fall glows from white to gold, red in the peak, then fade out quickly in 20 minutes.

On this day in 1972, Nixon arrives in China:

Occurring from February 21 to 28, 1972, the visit allowed the American public to view images of China for the first time in over two decades. Throughout the week the President and his most senior advisers engaged in substantive discussions with the PRC, including a meeting with ChairmanMao Zedong, while First Lady Pat Nixon toured schools, factories and hospitals in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou with the large American press corps in tow. Nixon dubbed the visit “the week that changed the world.”

The repercussions of the Nixon visit were vast, and included a significant shift in the Cold War balance, pitting the PRC with the U.S. against the Soviet Union. “Nixon going to China” has since become a metaphor for an unexpected or uncharacteristic action by a politician.

On this day in 1918, the Wisconsin Assembly declines to denounce Fighting Bob:

1918 – Denunciation of LaFollette rejected by Assembly

On this day, a move to denounce Sen. Robert LaFollette and the nine Wisconsin congressmen who refused to support World War I failed in the State Assembly, by a vote of 76-15. Calling LaFollette “disloyal,” the amendment’s originator, Democrat John F. Donnelly, insisted that LaFollette’s position did not reflect “the sentiment of the people of Wisconsin. We should not lack the courage to condemn his actions.” Reflecting the majority opinion, Assemblyman Charles F. Hart retorted that “The Wisconsin State Legislature went on record by passing a resolution telling the President that the people of this state did not want war. Now we are condemning them for doing that which we asked them to do.” [Source: Capital Times 2/21/1918, p.1]

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 2.20.16

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Good morning, Whitewater.

We’ll have a mild and mostly sunny Saturday in Whitewater, with a high of forty-eight. Sunrise is 6:43 and sunset 5:33, for 10h 49m 17s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 95.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1962, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth:

Glenn boarded the Friendship 7 spacecraft at 11:03 UTC on February 20, 1962 following an hour-and-a-half delay to replace a faulty component in the Atlas’s guidance system. The hatch was bolted in place at 12:10 UTC. Most of the 70 hatch bolts had been secured, when one was discovered to be broken. This caused a 42-minute delay while all the bolts were removed, the defective bolt was replaced and the hatch was re-bolted in place. The count was resumed at 11:25 UTC. The gantry was rolled back at 13:20 UTC. At 13:58 UTC the count was held for 25 minutes while liquid oxygen propellant valve was repaired.[7]

At 14:47 UTC, after two hours and 17 minutes of holds and three hours and 44 minutes after Glenn entered Friendship 7, engineer T. J. O’Malley pressed the button in the blockhouse launching the spacecraft.[8] At liftoff Glenn’s pulse rate climbed to 110 beats per minute (bpm).

30 seconds after liftoff the General Electric-Burroughs designed guidance system locked onto a radio transponder in the booster to guide the vehicle to orbit. As the Atlas and Friendship 7 passed through Max Q Glenn reported, “It’s a little bumpy about here.” After Max Q the flight smoothed out. At two minutes and 14 seconds after launch, the booster engines cut off and dropped away. Then at two minutes and twenty-four seconds, the escape tower was jettisoned, right on schedule.

After the tower was jettisoned, the Atlas and spacecraft pitched over still further, giving Glenn his first view of the horizon. He described the view as “a beautiful sight, looking eastward across the Atlantic.” Vibration increased as the last of the fuel supply was used up. Booster performance had been nearly flawless through the entire powered flight. At sustainer engine cut-off it was found that the Atlas had accelerated the capsule to a speed only 7 ft/s (2 m/s) below nominal. At 14:52 UTC, Friendship 7 was in orbit.

On this day in 1950, Sen. McCarthy accuses:

1950 – McCarthy Delivers Allegations to Senate

On this date, in a six-hour speech delivered before the U.S. Senate, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed he had the names of 81 U.S. government officials actively engaged in Communist activities, including “one of our foreign ministers.” [Source: Internet Archives]

Animals

Rum-Drinking, Knife-Wielding Ape in Brazil

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Alternative Title: Mendacious Out-Of Town Developers Present a Roundabout Proposal.

“It was a bar staff oversight that ended with the monkey drinking some rum and taking the knife,” Lt. Col Saul Laurentino of the local fire department told the aRede news website.

He said the monkey had apparently been tamed, perhaps after many visits to the pub. Or rather, the monkey WAS tame… until it was armed.

“After the knife he wanted no man around,” he said.

UPI reports that firefighters managed to disarm the monkey and release him into the woods, but he quickly went to another home and began acting aggressively and had to be captured again.

Local officials are deciding if he can be released into the wild again or sent into captivity.

Via Huffington Post.

Culture, University, UW System

12 Points on the Claims of Racial Incidents at UW-Whitewater

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I posted yesterday about a statement from UW-Whitewater’s Chancellor Kopper about allegations of racial incidents on our campus.  Kopper later walked back one of her concerns, about two students appearing in blackface in a photo (they claim they were just showing the results of a mud-pack facial).  See, The Claims of Ongoing Incidents on Campus (Updates).

A few remarks:

  1.  I think Chancellor Kopper wanted to do right by students who came to her with multiple grievances, not merely concerns about one photograph.
  2. I’ve embedded a clip from TMJ4.  Kopper was right to go on television; the story is a mixed outcome, but out front is better than out back.
  3.  Kopper must see that pulling back on her claim about the photo will be used – of course – to undermine concerns of many students over multiple incidents.
  4. On cue, Sen. Nass and Chief of Staff Mikalsen have seized on Kopper’s retraction of claims about the photo as evidence of her poor judgment.  By mid-afternoon yesterday, they had already contacted every media friend they have with a press release ridiculing an “over-reaction of Chancellor Beverly Kopper and other UW-Whitewater administrators without first checking the facts of the situation is a stark example of how political correctness has warped the mindset of highly educated university administrators. Frankly, these are the people responsible for educating our sons and daughters, but they seem incapable of applying reason or common sense.”  Sen. Nass and Mr. Mikalsen were born for press releases like this.
  5. Did Kopper over-react?  I don’t think so.  Her statement was about more than one episode.
  6. What process did Kopper use to determine the credibility of those in the photograph?
  7. Did Chancellor Kopper receive communications either from System officials or anyone on their behalf asking her to retract her claim about the photograph?
  8. Does anyone think that the UW System as now constituted would allow a chancellor to speak on these incidents independent of the veto of System VP Jim Villa (or those to whom he is attentive)?  If he wanted a particular determination, who doubts that he would get his way?
  9.  Sen. Nass thinks that Kopper used poor judgment when she saw the photo as racist, but somehow he accepts her judgment later that it wasn’t.  What, if anything, does Sen. Nass know about how she made her determination initially and subsequently?  Other than her statements, on what does Sen. Nass rely when assessing – himself, directly – the photograph?  Did he talk to anyone involved?
  10. The UW System is more centralized than ever.  Kopper cannot rely on local notables, or the staff her predecessor put together, to manage easily in that environment.  I’ve been critical of Sara Kuhl, and here’s another reason why: unless one intends to achieve nothing, Ms. Kuhl can’t get Chancellor Kopper through.  Beverly Kopper’s initial statement was sincere, but it doesn’t say much to say that it should – and could – have been crafted skillfully to inoculate against any individual error, while preserving the comprehensive meaning.  Look how easily Sen. Nass latched onto it, and once having latched onto a part, was able to push out a press release of his own.
  11. Unlike a politician or a blogger, UW-Whitewater’s chancellor is more constrained in commentary.  Others can go round after round, but an organizational hierarchy makes that more difficult for a local campus official.
  12. Chancellor Kopper’s success is not – needless to say – this blogger’s responsibility.  If she does what her predecessor did, after all, the school will go on.  If she follows that path, however, she will preside over a campus in comparative decline.  Say nothing except what’s already been said (no problems, all is well, etc.) and nothing will be achieved.  (Telfer left UW-Whitewater with huge liabilities that will grow more evident in the next year or two.)  That’s bad for Whitewater (and so of concern to the many of us who care about Whitewater).  The System, however, has other schools, and less need to worry over the fate of the one in our town.

Business, CDA, City, Development

About that Development Deal Near the Roundabout in Whitewater…

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These last few months, I’ve watched the efforts of out-of-town developers to build a multi-use facility (by their account, a hotel, sports complex, and senior housing) near Whitewater’s east side roundabout.

Two quick, easy points.

First, this proposal was, in virtually every aspect, suspect and disreputable. Review of notes, recordings, and research into the developers’ plans and backgrounds over these last few months only confirms how odd – and substandard – every aspect of this was. Those in office who expressed doubts about this project, including at the Community Development Authority, represented Whitewater’s interests well.

I’ve not written about the project until now because it seemed certain that a majority was sure to see this for what it was. (It is worrisome that a few took longer than others to see these problems, and any discussions after mid December with these unconventional developers – and this is nothing like a conventional deal – would be evidence of poor judgment.)

In this way, as a deal it’s not so interesting; as an example of how some officials show greater insight than others it’s interesting.

Second, if one wanted to see how newspapers fail their readers, one need look no farther than a story in the Gazette: Whitewater City Council rejects proposed development, 2.19.16, http://www.gazettextra.com/20160219/whitewater_city_council_rejects_proposed_development. The reporter treats this as a conventional deal, with conventional developers, and the story even includes a helpful graphic about where this supposed complex was to be located.  A review of the actual documents, presentations, and claims (made over several months) from these developers shows that this proposal was close – much too close – to B-movie science fiction.

Those who expressed doubts, especially those who had doubts early on, were right about this.

Poll

Friday Poll: A 2016 Supreme Court Nominee?

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Today’s poll is a simple one – should Pres. Obama nominate, and should the U.S. Senate vote this year, on a nominee to replace the late Justice Scalia?  (The nominee might not win confirmation; this question is simply whether there should be a nominee and a vote in 2016.)

The poll’s above, and comments are available below.  On this website, commenters remarks are their own, and do not reflect the opinions of this site or its publisher.  I would ask Republicans and Democrats, however, to refrain from too much major-party invective.  (There’s a cure for that, fortunately, and it can be found online.)

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 2.19.16

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Good morning, Whitewater.

Friday in town will be windy and mild with a high of fifty-three degrees. Sunrise is 6:45 and sunset 5:31, for 10h 46m 30s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 90.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

By this day in 1847, rescuers reach the Donner Party:

The Donner Party (sometimes called the Donner-Reed Party) was a group of American pioneers led by George Donner and James F. Reed who set out for California in a wagon train in May 1846. Delayed by a series of mishaps and mistakes, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. Some of the pioneers resorted to cannibalism to survive.

The journey west usually took between four and six months, but the Donner Party was slowed by following a new route called Hastings Cutoff, which crossed Utah‘sWasatch Mountains and Great Salt Lake Desert. The rugged terrain, and difficulties encountered while traveling along the Humboldt River in present-day Nevada, resulted in the loss of many cattle and wagons, and splits within the group.

By the beginning of November 1846 the settlers had reached the Sierra Nevada, where they became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall near Truckee (nowDonner) Lake, high in the mountains. Their food supplies ran extremely low, and in mid-December some of the group set out on foot to obtain help. Rescuers from California attempted to reach the settlers, but the first relief party did not arrive until the middle of February 1847, almost four months after the wagon train became trapped. Of the 87 members of the party, 48 survived to reach California, many of them having eaten the dead for survival.

Historians have described the episode as one of the most bizarre and spectacular tragedies in Californian history and western-US migration.[2]

On this day in 1942, Pres. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066:

Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidentialexecutive order signed and issued during World War II by the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones, clearing the way for the deportation of Japanese Americans to internment camps.

JigZone‘s end-of-the-week puzzle is of a goat:

City, Culture, Misconduct, University

The Claims of Ongoing Incidents on Campus (Updates)

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Update, Thursday afternoon, 2:30 PM.  UW-Whitewater officials are now contending that a photo with students in blackface had a benign meaning.  See, Image spurs concerns about race at UW-Whitewater @ Channel 3000.  From that story: “Kopper later said the students said they just had a facial and took a picture. She said the students did not mean for it to be harmful and did not know the implications.”

There have been campus complaints about the racial environment over more than this picture. See, WSG Discusses Campus Climate, 2.3.16, http://royalpurplenews.com/wsg-discusses-campus-climate/.

No one is likely to be satisfied with this: some will say that Kopper reacted too quickly initially, others will contend there are issues that trouble many students apart from an explanation of single photo (and the explanation, itself, is likely to surprise some).

I’ll contend that there is a need for an ongoing review of the campus culture.  It’s clear that grievances, of whatever merit, do not stem from one incident.

In these matters (and with sexual assault cases), I have advocated airing and reviewing claims, rather than ignoring them.  That way alone acknowledges the rights (and dignity) of individuals as claimants or in their own defense.  The obligation of society is to design a full and fair process to the very height of our abilities.  America is an advanced society – we are more than capable of the task.

Update, Thursday afternoon, 1:30 PM.  Below you will find a copy of the UW-Whitewater announcement from this morning.  One can guess that there will be a discussion about this, and perhaps a modification of the original statement.  If a modification appears, I’ll add it to this post.

Earlier today, UW-Whitewater’s Chancellor, Beverly Kopper, made an announcement about recent, serious concerns from students of racial incidents on campus, excerpted below:

“Dear Campus Community,

Last night a disturbing racist post that was made to social media was brought to my attention. This post was hurtful and destructive to our campus community. While social media can certainly bring about positive change, it can also be a place that deeply hurts and harms others.

Tuesday night I held the first of what I promise will be more Pizzas with the Chancellor. Approximately 80 students attended the gathering and, frankly, they shared with me some truly upsetting stories about their experiences on campus including the use of racial slurs and microaggressions. It took courage and strength for our students to share these painful stories in public and I am deeply grateful for their bravery. Some of our multicultural and nontraditional students feel the environment on campus is not welcoming to all. Over and over, the students in attendance expressed their need to be heard and for campus to do more than just talk.

These are serious issues that must be addressed. I will have another Pizza with the Chancellor with students at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, in the Hamilton Room of the University Center and will focus on our campus culture.

On Tuesday night, we also talked about how each of us has the responsibility to make sure every student, faculty and staff member is respected, heard and appreciated for their life experiences and their differences. We are a stronger campus, a more vibrant campus because of our diversity….

Online morning of Thursday, 2.18.16, Message from Chancellor Kopper, http://www.uww.edu/news/2016-02-chancellor-message .  Original preserved in full as a screenshot.

Now I’ve been writing for a while, and I’ve seen committees and initiatives come and go, so you’ll excuse me if I mention that the only change that matters – that assures and endures – is fundamental change.

(Needless to say, this subject replaces the weekly feature normally appearing on Thursdays, a feature that will resume next week.)

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 2.18.16

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Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in town will be cloudy and mild, with a high of forty. Sunrise is 6:49 and sunset 5:30, for 10h 43m 44s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 82.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Common Council meets at 6:30 PM tonight.

On this day in 1885, Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published in the United States:

Huckleberry_Finn_bookTwain initially conceived of the work as a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that would follow Huckleberry Finn through adulthood. Beginning with a few pages he had removed from the earlier novel, Twain began work on a manuscript he originally titled Huckleberry Finn’s Autobiography. Twain worked on the manuscript off and on for the next several years, ultimately abandoning his original plan of following Huck’s development into adulthood. He appeared to have lost interest in the manuscript while it was in progress, and set it aside for several years. After making a trip down the Hudson River, Twain returned to his work on the novel. Upon completion, the novel’s title closely paralleled its predecessor’s: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade).[13]

As it relates to the actual body of text during the time of publication, Mark Twain composed the story in pen on notepaper between 1876 and 1883. Paul Needham, who supervised the authentication of the manuscript for Sotheby’s books and manuscripts department in New York in 1991, stated, “What you see is [Clemens’] attempt to move away from pure literary writing to dialect writing”. For example, Twain revised the opening line of Huck Finn three times. He initially wrote, “You will not know about me”, which he changed to, “You do not know about me”, before settling on the final version, “You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’; but that ain’t no matter.”[14] The revisions also show how Twain reworked his material to strengthen the characters of Huck and Jim, as well as his sensitivity to the then-current debate over literacy and voting.[15][16]

A later version was the first typewritten manuscript delivered to a printer.[17]

Demand for the book spread outside of the United States. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was eventually published on December 10, 1884, in Canada and the United Kingdom, and on February 18, 1885, in the United States.[18]

JigZone‘s Thursday puzzle is of a car: