Perhaps sensing that conventional food-eating contests (involving hot dogs or other picnic foods) are losing popular support, contest organizers in Buffalo have decided to have a kale-eating contest, billing it as the “world’s healthiest eating championship,” with the slogan, “Kale Yeah!”
Good morning, Whitewater.
Friday in town will be mostly sunny with a high of eighty-four. Sunrise is 5:25 AM and sunset 8:34 PM, for 15h 09m 09s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 17.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1776, John Nixon makes a public address:
On July 8, 1776, he made the first public proclamation of the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Pennsylvania State House. The same year, Nixon was promoted colonel and later served under George Washington at the Battle of Princeton. In 1776, he became a member of the Navy Board, and two years later was with Washington again at Valley Forge.
On this day in 1850, a man declares himself a king:
1850 – James Jesse Strang Crowned King
On this date James Jesse Strang, leader of the estranged Mormon faction, the Strangites, was crowned king; the only man to achieve such a title in America. When founder Joseph Smith was assassinated, Strang forged a letter from Smith dictating he was to be the heir. The Mormon movement split into followers of Strang and followers of Brigham Young. As he gained more followers (but never nearly as many as Brigham Young), Strang became comparable to a Saint, and in 1850 was crowned King James in a ceremony in which he wore a discarded red robe of a Shakespearean actor, and a metal crown studded with a cluster of stars as his followers sang him hosannas.
Soon after his crowning, he announced that Mormonism embraced and supported polygamy. (Young’s faction was known to have practiced polygamy, but had not at this time announced it publicly.)
A number of followers lived in Walworth County, including Strang at a home in Burlington. In 1856 Strang was himself assassinated, leaving five wives. Without Strang’s leadership, his movement disintegrated. [Source: Wisconsin Saints and Sinners, by Fred L. Holmes, p. 106-121]
A 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?”
Surveys, polls, and studies by their nature typically rely on the measurement of something. (They’re not poetry; they’re not song.) The accuracy of that measurement should matter, both to those collecting it and those receiving it.
It should matter in-and-of itself, and for its consequences.
Many communities, including Whitewater, have had a data problem: a problem with the accurate measurement of the matter under consideration. This problem expresses itself in more than one way: unintentional but inaccurate measurement and presentation, or intentional, selective, inaccurate measurement and presentation. Many communities face these problems, to one level or another.
There’s another consequence of data problems, however, that develops over time: consistent, over-optimistic measurement and presentation raises expectations unrealistically, unjustifiably.
The consequence of this is that when something goes obviously and undeniably wrong, it leads not to equanimity, but to surprise, confusion, and frustration for an urgent (sometimes impossibly urgent) resolution.
Years of describing and seeing the community in shades of pink only makes dark colors, when finally noticed, look darker than they truly are.
Good morning, Whitewater.
Thursday in town will be cloudy, with a daytime high of eighty-seven, and an even chance of afternoon thundershowers. Sunrise is 5:24 AM and sunset 8:35 PM, for 15h 10m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 10.7% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission is scheduled to meet at 6 PM, and there is a Whitewater Fire Department Meeting at 6 PM.
On this day in 1930, construction of the Hoover Dam begins:
Over the next five years, a total of 21,000 men would work ceaselessly to produce what would be the largest dam of its time, as well as one of the largest manmade structures in the world.
Although the dam would take only five years to build, its construction was nearly 30 years in the making. Arthur Powell Davis, an engineer from the Bureau of Reclamation, originally had his vision for the Hoover Dam back in 1902, and his engineering report on the topic became the guiding document when plans were finally made to begin the dam in 1922….
Even with Hoover’s exuberant backing and a regional consensus around the need to build the dam, Congressional approval and individual state cooperation were slow in coming. For many years, water rights had been a source of contention among the western states that had claims on the Colorado River. To address this issue, Hoover negotiated the Colorado River Compact, which broke the river basin into two regions with the water divided between them. Hoover then had to introduce and re-introduce the bill to build the dam several times over the next few years before the House and Senate finally approved the bill in 1928.
In 1929, Hoover, now president, signed the Colorado River Compact into law, claiming it was “the most extensive action ever taken by a group of states under the provisions of the Constitution permitting compacts between states.”
Once preparations were made, the Hoover Dam’s construction sprinted forward: The contractors finished their work two years ahead of schedule and millions of dollars under budget. Today, the Hoover Dam is the second highest dam in the country and the 18th highest in the world. It generates enough energy each year to serve over a million people…
On this day in 1832, future presidents make camp near Palmyra:
On this date during the Black Hawk War, General Atkinson led his entire militia, which included future presidents Abraham Lincoln and Zachary Taylor, to a camp just south of Palmyra. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]
A Google a Day asks a business question: “Because the company increased shareholder dividends for 25 years in a row, what S&P designation was granted the world’s largest distributor of toys?”
We’ve had Act 10 for several years now, and during that time in no sector has that law been more discussed or felt than in K12 public education. Whitewater has avoided some of the Act 10 strife that has gripped other parts of the state, and that’s been to our advantage, whatever one thinks of the provision.
(I am opposed to Act 10 on traditional libertarian grounds: any person in any occupation should be free to associate with others and bargain against, and in opposition to, the government. Those who hold office locally or statewide have too much authority as it is; they don’t need more tools, but rather deserve fewer.)
Yet whatever one thinks of the direct consequences of Act 10, it’s had a second, masking effect: all the attention to decisions involving resources has almost certainly obscured the sound of other decisions unrelated to fiscal policy.
(I’m not describing choices not made for lack of money, but choices made yet not heard for all the attention Act 10 has received.)
As we drift farther from Act 10’s beginning, and that law is either attenuated or people become inured to discussion of it, attention is likely to shift to policies over these last several years of which we’ve heard less. Act 10 has masked the sound of these other policies, but it’s a masking effect that will not endure: other subjects will come to residents’ hearing, no matter how loud Act 10 has been.
What does an art gallery do for an artist? What fuels the global expansion of galleries like Gagosian and White Cube? And how has the internet affected the way galleries do business? In the second installment of “The Art Market Series (in Four Parts),” we look at the complex ecosystem of commercial galleries to probe these questions—and get to the root of how galleries effectively steward artists’ careers, promote their work, and protect their markets. Gallerists, artists, and art-world influencers like Amalia Dayan, Daniella Luxembourg, Dominique Lévy, Michele Maccarone, Elmgreen & Dragset, Josh Baer, Stefan Simchowitz, and Sarah Thornton provide their insights.
Galleries is the second installment of a four-part documentary series, preceded by Auctions and followed by Patrons and Art Fairs. Together, the four segments tell a comprehensive story about the art market’s history and cultural influence, providing an approachable yet nuanced introduction to a extraordinary subject. Visit Artsy.net/art-market-series to watch all the films.
The series is produced in collaboration with UBS and directed by Oscar Boyson.
See also, previously, The Art Market (in Four Parts): Auctions.
Good morning, Whitewater.
Midweek in town will bring partly cloudy skies, isolated thunderstorms, and a high of ninety. Sunrise is 5:24 AM and sunset 6:35 PM, for 15h 11m 23s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 5.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Parks & Recreation Board meets at 6:30 PM this evening.
On 7.6.1775, Congress issues a declaration, almost a year before another, more decisive one:
On this day in 1775, one day after restating their fidelity to King George III and wishing him “a long and prosperous reign” in the Olive Branch Petition, Congress sets “forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms” against British authority in the American colonies. The declaration also proclaimed their preference “to die free men rather than live as slaves.”
As in the Olive Branch Petition, Congress never impugned the motives of the British king. Instead, they protested, “The large strides of late taken by the legislature of Great Britain toward establishing over these colonies their absolute rule…” Congress provided a history of colonial relations in which the king served as the sole governmental connection between the mother country and colonies, until, in their eyes, the victory against France in the Seven Years’ War caused Britain’s “new ministry finding all the foes of Britain subdued” to fall upon “the unfortunate idea of subduing her friends also.” According to the declaration, the king’s role remained constant, but “parliament then for the first time assumed a power of unbounded legislation over the colonies of America,” which resulted in the bloodletting at Lexington and Concord in April 1775.
At this point, Congress assumed that if the king could merely be made to understand what Parliament and his ministers had done, he would rectify the situation and return the colonists to their rightful place as fully equal members of the British empire. When the king sided with Parliament, however, Congress moved beyond a Declaration of Arms to a Declaration of Independence.
On this day in 1934, violence strikes a malted milk plant:
Seven injured in riot at Horlick plant
On this day three policemen and five office employees of the Horlick Malted Milk Corp. were injured when a crowd of strike sympathizers stormed a motorcade of employees entering the plant’s main gate. Emerging from a crowd of 500 striking employees, the rioters overpowered police escorts, shattered windshields and windows, and pelted officers with rocks. Police blamed Communist influence for the incident, and former Communist congressional candidate John Sekat was arrested in the incident. Employees of the plant were demanding wage increases and recognition of the Racine County Workers Committee as their collective bargaining agent. [Source: Capital Times 7/6/1934, p. 1]
A Google a Day asks a winding search question about history: “What was the highest political office held by the third husband of the woman who was later married to the first husband of Patti Sacks?”
During the early morning hours of July 4, 2016, one of our crew aboard our boat heard a yelping sound and at first it sounded like birds overhead. Several hours later we finally found the source of the cry — a young raccoon treading water on the side of the boat. Not wanting to pick it up out of the water, we threw it a life preserver to climb upon and then towed it to land.
Via DeltaBlues3.
Do you remember when Gen. MacArthur called for dedication to ‘Duty, Honor, Country, and Local Government’?
Neither do I.
He called, of course, for dedication to Duty, Honor, Country.
It wouldn’t have occured to him to exhort a commitment to municipal government. America speaks – when she speaks most movingly – in the language of broad, often universal concepts.
Therein lies the insurmountable problem of local government’s recent call to reach a supposed ‘silent majority’ (to “benefit the silent majority instead of the vocal few.”): (1) Whitewater doesn’t have a stable, silent majority, (2) the kind of majorities that might form would not look like most people in government (proving disappointing to those who wrongly seek demographic homogeneity), and (3) majorities that form will do so around big issues, and won’t involve blanket support for local government.
See, along these lines, The Search for a Majority in Whitewater and The Search for a Majority in Whitewater (Identity Politics Won’t Get You There).
This recent call is telling, however, as an honest admission that local government does not have such a majority, and that even now (after decades of insistence that Whitewater was something like One City, One Culture, One View™) local government and its cultural champions still seek the means even to discern a true majority.
(I’ve said before that it would be a bad bargain to trade an independent position for an alignment with most local insiders and their media boosters. Honest to goodness, this becomes more true each day. Far from helping each other, the poor work of a few is simply pulling the others down.)
Majorities will form around deep convictions, but tens of millions for waste treatment upgrades, waste importation, or pricey street projects instead of simple repairs just won’t inspire (let alone uplift) this community.
There’s the important point, however, to be made: the search for a majority will prove in vain if one does not present a worthy view, well and compellingly reasoned.
If one has such a view, then no number in initial opposition will prove insurmountable; if one lacks such a view, then no number in initial support will prove retainable.
Good morning, Whitewater.
Tuesday in town will begin with clouds, give way to sunshine, with a high temperature of eighty-seven. Sunrise is 5:23 AM and sunset 8:35 PM, for 15h 12m 26s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 1.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
After a five-year journey, NASA’s Juno probe has arrived and entered orbit around Jupiter:
PASADENA, California — For the second time ever, a spacecraft has slipped into orbit around huge and mysterious Jupiter.
NASA’s robotic Juno probe began circling the solar system’s largest planet tonight (July 4), ending a nearly five-year journey through deep space and becoming the first spacecraft to enter Jupiter orbit since NASA’s Galileo mission did so in 1995.
The milestone came late tonight, as Juno fired its main engine in a crucial 35-minute burn that slowed the probe down enough to be captured by Jupiter’s powerful gravity. That burn started at 11:18 p.m. EDT (0318 GMT Tuesday) and ended on schedule at 11:53 p.m. [Photos: NASA’s Juno Mission to Jupiter]
On this day in 1832, Gen. Atkinson enters the Trembling Lands:
On this date, General Atkinson and his troops entered the area known by the Native Americans as “trembling lands” in their pursuit of Black Hawk. The area was some 10 square miles and contained a large bog.
Although the land appeared safe, it would undulate or tremble for yards when pressure was applied. Many of the militiamen were on horses, which plunged to their bellies in the swamp. The “trembling lands” forced Atkinson to retrace his steps back toward the Rock River, in the process losing days in his pursuit of Black Hawk. [Source: Along the Black Hawk Trail by William G. Stark]
A Google a Day asks a history question: “Who was the former municipal judge that became the source of criminal allegations against the 42nd U.S. President?”
A reading from NPR of the Declaration of Independence –
