FREE WHITEWATER

Monthly Archives: January 2025

City, Daily Bread, Immigration, Local Government, Nativism

Daily Bread for 1.21.25: The Executive Order on Realigning The United States Refugee Admissions Program

by  • 

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny and cold with a high of 0. Sunrise is 7:19 and sunset is 4:54, for 9 hours, 35 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 51.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1968, a B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.

Whitewater has received considerable attention, mostly lies and scapegoating, for the arrival of immigrants into this community. Yesterday, via executive order, Whitewater received yet more. Our city received mention in Section 1, first paragraph:

Section 1.  Purpose.  Over the last 4 years, the United States has been inundated with record levels of migration, including through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).  Cities and small towns alike, from Charleroi, Pennsylvania, and Springfield, Ohio, to Whitewater, Wisconsin, have seen significant influxes of migrants.  Even major urban centers such as New York City, Chicago, and Denver have sought Federal aid to manage the burden of new arrivals.  Some jurisdictions, like New York and Massachusetts, have even recently declared states of emergency because of increased migration.

There’s no surprise in this — I’ve an archive of hundreds of stories about Whitewater’s immigrants that I’ve collected methodically and patiently over these months. The archive is a partial one; it’s likely there have been thousands of stories, most of which repeated the same hysterical claim that this small town had somehow been invaded.

This national attention in a nativist media environment was predictable; Whitewater’s place in a 1.20.25 executive order, however ill-fitting, was predictable. The use of immigrants as a justification for staffing increases in Whitewater, when those staffing increases were justifiable regardless, was a fundamental failing. This libertarian blogger (and others) advised against this course, having denounced the so-called press conference that preceded it. We were ignored, not to our disadvantage, but the disadvantage of newcomers, and of the entire community.

One cannot be certain where this leads, although nativist scapegoating of Whitewater now set loose across an entire nation shows a momentum all its own.

Updated, afternoon of 1.21.25, see below memoranda from the City of Whitewater in English and Spanish in reply to the 1.20.25 federal executive order. So many years ago, FREE WHITEWATER expressly began after immigration controversies in this city. My own views on this matter have been clear since that beginning in 2007. They remain unchanged as they are by received tradition unchanging.

It’s likely an understatement that, given all possibilities, few today would want to be in our present, divided politics.

One acts in the present and on the margin. It is, in fairness to all, the best that anyone can do.

more >>

City, Daily Bread, Local Government

Daily Bread for 1.20.25: The State of the City (Whitewater) Presentation

by  • 

Good morning.

Dr. Martin Luther King Day in Whitewater will be sunny and cold with a high of 4. Sunrise is 7:19 and sunset is 4:52, for 9 hours, 33 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 61 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1783, the Kingdom of Great Britain signs preliminary articles of peace with the Kingdom of France, setting the stage for the official end of hostilities in the Revolutionary War later that year.

On 1.9.25, the Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters sponsored three presentations at Whitewater’s city hall, from City Manager John Weidl, Chancellor Corey King, and Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty. The first of these, from Whitewater’s city manager, is embedded above.

A few remarks:

This is a strong presentation. Neither of the last two city managers ever delivered remarks with this succinct clarity. A position of ideological skepticism of government (like mine) should strengthen, rather than weaken, one’s grasp of conditions and people. (Strengthen, rather than weaken, because it’s a sound position to hold.) And so, and so, one should be plain: there is a wide gap between this presentation and those of former city managers, or a few aged residents, who themselves have not spoken with such succinct clarity (and likely could not). Whitewater benefits by addresses like this.

Development has grown significantly in these last two years, both residential (homes and apartments) and commercial (stores big and small). Development (lit., ‘the process of converting land to a new purpose by constructing buildings or making use of its resources’) is a community gain.

We’ve also had new cultural events, e.g., a food truck fest and Christmas at Cravath. Along with thousands of residents, my family enjoyed both of these events. See A Food Truck Festival @ the Lakefront and Christmas at Cravath’s Festive Lights. These social events create social bonds.

Whitewater has sensibly moved to a professional fire and emergency services model. Response times are now markedly better. There should be no doubt that moving to a professional model meets the minimum expectation of any government: that it provides for public safety. (If all this could be done through volunteers, there would be an alternative worth considering; all this cannot be done through volunteers, and so that alternative is beyond consideration.) There is now before the city a policing referendum for additional officers. A referendum that staffs a neutral, non-ideological public safety department is in the community interest. (Every word in that last sentence matters: a partisan, ideological public safety department would not be in this community’s interest, at staffing of one person or a thousand.)

Finally, a few words about our lakes. It’s understandable that residents would be disappointed at the condition of the lakes. The last municipal administration, however, was not alone in leaving the lakes like this. There were many thousands of us living here, and all of us knew that there were lakes, and what they looked like1. We all knew it looked bad. Not enough of us did enough. Some did, but not enough of us. (This libertarian blogger is in the not enough of us group.) A comprehensive lakes management plan with outside institutional support, as is now underway, is the right direction.

There should be a discussion, and debate, about public directions. I’d guess this, however: most people in this city of fifteen thousand see progress (and far more progress than before). Most people (by a larger margin) likely prefer the current direction to the alternatives.

That preference is predictable and sensible.

__________

  1. Admittedly, the last city manager wasn’t aware for two days that oil from an asphalt project, for example, was running into the lake. ↩︎

How Bluesky Grew From A Twitter Side Project To An X Competitor:

Not many people had heard of Bluesky when the Twitter side project made its debut as a separate company in 2021. The decentralized social media platform initially flew under the radar, but user numbers skyrocketed after the U.S. election in November. This was largely because many of X’s users fled to Bluesky, as they were unhappy with some of the changes that Elon Musk made to Twitter after he acquired it in 2022 and later renamed it X. Bluesky now has over 27 million users, but whether it can continue its rapid growth and compete with the likes of Musk’s X and Meta and Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads remains to be seen.

City, Daily Bread, Reasoning

Daily Bread for 1.19.25: A Bit More on ‘Debunking Grifters and Crackpots on Social Media’

by  • 

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny and cold with a high of 7. Sunrise is 7:20 and sunset is 4:51, for 9 hours, 31 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 70.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 2007, the four-man Team N2i, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the Antarctic Pole of Inaccessibility research station for the first time since 1965 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.

On 1.13, FREE WHITEWATER posted on Debunking Grifters and Crackpots on Social Media (“On social media, principally TikTok or Instagram, there are thousands of accounts that that make wholly false claims that ordinary foods and products contain poisons: did you know that?, look what I’ve found, can you believe?“).

This libertarian blogger followed the next day with A Bit More on Expertise:

a responsible community, and responsible political leadership, should at the least allow those with a strong expertise or understanding to speak responsively to others’ claims (especially others’ tendentious claims). While any resident should be allowed to stand at the lectern and speak, afterward members of the government should be able to reply to unsupported claims or weak arguments. Residents should be able to speak; a responsible board or council should allow members of the government to reply after all residents have finished speaking.

I’m not writing here about general, non-agenda public comment, but about residents’ specific comments on points that are on the agenda.

I was not writing about myself here, plainly, as

this libertarian blogger has not described himself on this site as an expert in some particular field. FREE WHITEWATER is, by design, a website for all readers of ‘commentary on politics, policy, and popular culture, published from Whitewater, Wisconsin since 2007.’ I have a profession, but this website isn’t designed merely for that profession. (FREE WHITEWATER would look very different if were otherwise.) It’s meant to be as it is. And so, and so, I’m not referring to myself as an expert in anything that follows.

Debunking Grifters and Crackpots on Social Media highlighted the nutritionist (as nutritionist) Dr. Jessica Knurick refuting false claims about food. I’ve embedded another example below, where Dr. Idrees Mughal debunks a claim about protein:

Obviously, recent posts at FREE WHITEWATER highlighting these Instagram Reels are about more than nutrition. More than one application of the Reels’ method comes to mind.

They’ve a concise, skillful method of refutation, and satisfying.

Dog and owner saved after falling through frozen lake:

Cats, Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 1.18.25: A Powerful Crunch

by  • 

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 34. Sunrise is 7:21 and sunset is 4:50, for 9 hours, 29 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 78.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1977,  scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announce they have identified a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires’ disease.

For Caturday, a short yet powerful crunch:

Canadian Lynxes:

Daily Bread, Nature, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.17.25: Kickapoo Valley Reserve Battles Light Pollution

by  • 

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 45. Sunrise is 7:21 and sunset is 4:49, for 9 hours, 27 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 86 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1944,  Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties.

Wisconsin has a designated international dark sky park, Newport State Park. The Badger State could, however, have a second dark sky park if the Kickapoo Valley Reserve achieves that designation:

Angela visits the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, 8,600 acres between La Farge and Ontario, to learn about its bid to become the state’s second International Dark Sky Park. Executive director Jason Leis and electrical engineer Scott Lind demonstrate their efforts to maintain low light pollution through special fixtures and community outreach.

Directions from Whitewater to Newport State Park and Directions from Whitewater to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

Rocket science really is as hard as rocket science:

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad. The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights

Cats, Faraway Places, Weird Tales

Friday Catblogging: Black Leopards in Britain?

by  • 

Getty Images Stock Photo

Unexpected, yet possible — tests suggest that there are black leopards in Britain:

The suspected sightings are far and wide across the country. In Essex, a fisherman was hissed at by a black leopard (he noticed its rosettes) at 5am as he disturbed it cornering a muntjac deer. In Somerset, a dog walker watched a black leopard take down a roe deer in the adjacent field – she located the dragged and neatly eaten carcass three days later, when she felt safe to return. In Dorset, a woman watched a black leopard effortlessly descend a tree after targeting a squirrel’s drey 12m up.

….

So how did these cats spill into our landscapes? Quite simply, they were put here. They are likely the result of dumped pets and guard animals, released collections, discarded military mascots, illegally traded wildlife, and leakage from run-down, homespun zoos. While various big cats have always been collected, the mystique of the black leopard has an enduring appeal, making it a particularly popular choice to keep in captivity.

….

We must also look at the scientific evidence. Positive DNA results proving the presence of big cats in Britain are limited, yet do exist. There are six publicly known positive DNA results that match the leopard (Panthera pardus), two from recent years: from Gloucestershire in 2022, from a hair snagged on a barbed-wire fence in the vicinity of a sheep kill; and from Cumbria in 2023, when DNA was found on a carcass – again, of a sheep.

See Rick Minter, Black leopards are quietly thriving in the British countryside, BBC Wildlife via Apple News, February 2025.

See also How to Survive a Leopard Attack, WikiHow, Updated January 12, 2025.

Birds, Daily Bread, Nature, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.16.25: Great Lakes Gulls

by  • 

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 35. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset is 4:47, for 9 hours, 26 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 92.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1945, Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.

Whitewater has geese at Cravath, but not far away by the Great Lakes one can find large numbers and varieties of gulls.

See Joe Tarr, Why gulls of the Great Lakes are no ordinary birds, Wisconsin Public Radio, January 16, 2025.

Blue Origin launches massive New Glenn rocket on first test flight:

Blue Origin launched its massive new rocket on its first test flight Thursday, sending up a prototype satellite to orbit thousands of miles above Earth. [While the rocket reached orbit to launch a satellite, the first-stage booster missed its landing on a barge in the Atlantic. See Marcia Dunn, New Glenn rocket reaches orbit on first test flight, Associated Press, January 16, 2025.]

Daily Bread, Politics, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.15.25: Far Too Soon for 2026

by  • 

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 20. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset is 4:46, for 9 hours, 24 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 96 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1967,  the first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Packers defeat the Chiefs 35–10.

It is from our daughter-in-law in Seattle that we first learned the term The Big Dark for winter at that high latitude. These months, in the Pacific Northwest and Wisconsin, bring less daylight, more nighttime. The Big Dark.

The term has other uses. All of us, politically, are now in a big dark: while one can dimly see the terrain, there’s not enough light to be confident when placing each and every footstep. Predicting any given step, any given day, always has some uncertainty. It has greater uncertainty now, as unpredictability is among the characteristics of the populism that holds sway.

A story in the Journal Sentinel about prospective Wisconsin 2026 gubernatorial candidates might make sense in ordinary times, as statewide campaigns have to fundraise long in advance of election day. See Molly Beck and Lawrence Andrea, Republican challengers start to line up as Gov. Tony Evers considers 2026 run for 3rd term, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 14, 2025. In these times, the story is of limited use to anyone other than campaign teams.

Who’s running in 2026 matters far less than what happens, and who’s running, in 2025. It’s better to turn away from next year’s possibilities and list in this year one’s principles, all the better to meet challenges and threats far closer than next year’s candidates.

Overused but never more useful: first things first. Far too soon for 2026.

How one AP photographer covers the Dakar Rally:

The Dakar Rally, an annual rally raid organized by the Amaury Sport Organization, is currently happening in Saudi Arabia. AP photographer, Christophe Ena, offers a behind-the-scenes look into how he captures the off-road motorsport event, frame-by-frame.

City, Daily Bread, Local Government, Reasoning

Daily Bread for 1.14.25: A Bit More on Expertise

by  • 

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 15. Sunrise is 7:23 and sunset is 4:45, for 9 hours, 22 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Tech Park Innovation Center Advisory Board meets at 8:30 AM, the Public Works Committee meets at 5 PM, and the Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1784 it’s the first Ratification Day, as the Confederation Congress (under the Articles of Confederation) ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain:

By the United States in Congress assembled, a proclamation : Whereas definitive articles of peace and friendship, between the United States of America and His Britannic Majesty, were concluded and signed at Paris, on the 3rd day of September, 1783 … we have thought proper by these presents, to notify the premises to all the good citizens of these United States … Given under the seal of the United States, witness His Excellency Thomas Mifflin, our president, at Annapolis, this fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four …

Yesterday’s post, Debunking Grifters and Crackpots on Social Media, described the skill with which Dr. Jessica Knurick refuted false nutritional claims on social media. In this clash of ideas, Knurick applied her field’s expertise in reply others’ weak or mendacious claims. A few points about expertise appear below.

First, this libertarian blogger has not described himself on this site as an expert in some particular field. FREE WHITEWATER is, by design, a website for all readers of ‘commentary on politics, policy, and popular culture, published from Whitewater, Wisconsin since 2007.’ I have a profession, but this website isn’t designed merely for that profession. (FREE WHITEWATER would look very different if were otherwise.) It’s meant to be as it is. And so, and so, I’m not referring to myself as an expert in anything that follows.

Second, as someone wrote to me last night, nutrition expert Dr. Knurick takes a dim view of, in her words, capitalism1. (That’s true, she does, and anyone who followed her work, as I have, would know as much.) And yet, and yet, I did not tout her expertise in economics but rather her expertise in nutrition. She’s strong there: that was the full reach of my endorsement (although I’m sure she’s a fine person and an asset to her community).

Third, a responsible community, and responsible political leadership, should at the least allow those with a strong expertise or understanding to speak responsively to others’ claims (especially others’ tendentious claims). While any resident should be allowed to stand at the lectern and speak, afterward members of the government should be able to reply to unsupported claims or weak arguments. Residents should be able to speak; a responsible board or council should allow members of the government to reply after all residents have finished speaking.

I’m not writing here about general, non-agenda public comment, but about residents’ specific comments on points that are on the agenda.

Otherwise, at that meeting, one hears only one side of the issue. ‘We’ll get to the other side later’ impoverishes the discussion. Whitewater should expect of her government that it be capable of replying then and there. Holding back the government reply to placate a few residents only serves to create the false impression that a point from the lectern is more serious, and so needing of study, than it truly is2.

If there is a government employee who can answer a point after residents’ points have been made, based on that employee’s knowledge, he or she should be allowed — indeed, afforded the opportunity — to do so. More speech means more speech3.

Bluntly: keep the discussion going, as the strength of a claim is often revealed only after it meets a reply. If a reply is available readily, then it should be heard, not postponed.

How could one not admire Dr. Knurick’s argumentation, for example, on nutrition? It’s cultivated abilities like hers, of so many in so many fields, that have made America a global leader.4

Whitewater should not hold back members of an administration with equivalent abilities.

__________

  1. Private ownership of capital is merely one part of a productive, advanced economics. It’s much more than that, as myriad free, voluntary transactions: of capital, labor, goods, and services. All of it, all of those, where one chooses freely. ↩︎
  2. If there’s a ready answer, boards and commissions only undermine rigorous discussion to placate a few by contending that something needs to be looked into. ↩︎
  3. Not merely more speech for one’s friends at the lectern. ↩︎
  4. High octane is the best octane. ↩︎

Why Is US GDP Growth Outperforming the World?:

Despite a bumpy phase of inflation shocks and high interest rates, the US economy has continued to outpace the growth rates of other advanced economies. Since January 2020, growth in US real GDP has touched 10%, three times the G7 average.

Daily Bread, Food, Reasoning

Daily Bread for 1.13.25: Debunking Grifters and Crackpots on Social Media

by  • 

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 17. Sunrise is 7:23 and sunset is 4:44, for 9 hours, 21 minutes of daytime. The moon is full with 99.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Planning & Architectural Review Commission meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1953, an article appears in Pravda falsely accusing some of the most prestigious and prominent doctors, mostly Jews, in the Soviet Union of taking part in a vast plot (the so-called Doctors’ plot) to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership.

On social media, principally TikTok or Instagram, there are thousands of accounts that that make wholly false claims that ordinary foods and products contain poisons: did you know that?, look what I’ve found, can you believe?

On platforms with so many conspiracists, there’s an unfortunate need for a knowledgeable, reasonable, and intelligent person to refute hysterical lies. How fortunate for a marketplace of ideas that Dr. Jessica Knurick (PhD, RDN) offers concise and compelling refutations to so many distortions.

Below, I’ve embedded her latest critique of a false nutrition claim:

Well done. This libertarian blogger has argued, sensibly, that those who make claims should show their own work1. Showing one’s own work does not mean that there is no expertise, or that there are no experts. There are.

Dr. Knurick uses her evident expertise to refute fallacies, misunderstandings, and outright lies about nutrition. That’s not my field2, yet one can — or at least should — be able to see the difference between sound and unsound claims.

__________

  1. See Show Your Work (from 2014). ↩︎
  2. A quick example: Over the years, I can scarcely count the number of times that I’ve listened to non-lawyers in Whitewater and beyond try their hands at statutory interpretation and go wildly wrong. Admittedly, it should be easier to read our own laws; regrettably, it’s not. ↩︎

Young gorilla rescued from Turkish Airlines cargo hold:

A young gorilla rescued from a plane’s cargo hold is recovering at an Istanbul zoo, while wildlife officers consider returning him to his natural habitat.

Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Schimel, Sloth, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.12.25: Brad Schimel’s Work Ethic

by  • 

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy & windy with a high of 34. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:43, for 9 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 97.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1969, the New York Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history.

Sometimes, before a friendly group, a man will admit how slothful he truly is:

But [Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate] Schimel suggested there are other perks to being a judge than having your own potty.

“You set your own hours,” Schimel said. “I set the hours. Certainly, I’ve got to get my cases done, but I can decide — you know what? — if I want to do golf on Thursday afternoon, I can do that.”

The same, Schimel said, is not true for lawyers, who have to show up in court when told to do so. He said he doesn’t misuse that power. And, he said, there are times he’s had to work “all day and into the evening.”

But that appears to be the exception.

“I’m home for dinner most nights now,” he said. “I shoot in two sporting clays leagues. Or I was until I made this announcement (to run for the Supreme Court). I was shooting in two shooting clays leagues a week. I was doing all this, playing band rehearsals.”

See Daniel Bice, Brad Schimel boasts he gets a private bathroom and sets own hours as judge, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 10, 2025.

Wolves traveling through deep snow:

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 1.11.25: One of the World’s Most Dangerous Jobs

by  • 

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 30. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:42, for 9 hours, 18 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 93.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1964,  Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.

One of the World’s Most Dangerous Jobs:

This bomb disposal unit in Northeastern France is removing unexploded bombs still left behind from World War One. Watch the heroes saving civilians from injury, terror attacks, and even death.

Rare Georgia snow enjoyed by skiers and dogs: