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Author Archive for JOHN ADAMS

Culture, Daily Bread, Kulturkampf, Libertarians, Local Government, Politics, Populists, Poverty, School District, University

Daily Bread for 3.21.23: Libertarians, Bleeding-Heart Libertarians, and All that Lies Beyond

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 6:54 AM and sunset 7:08 PM for 12h 13m 53s of daytime. The moon is new with 0.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

 The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM. 

 On this day in 1952, Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.

In the language of our time, a person’s stated past positions are his priors. All people have priors; a few fundamental are ones worth stating now and again.

Of Libertarianism. From A Sketch on Libertarianism:

Libertarians are those who believe that liberty is the critical political value: that from personal freedom for all will come a productive, diverse, and fair society. Liberty is not the only political value, but we think it’s decisive of a good society. Rather than the compulsion of the state (through mandates, taxes and tariffs, restrictions on association, and brute force) we seek a world of free and voluntary interactions (in the marketplace and in private life) of moral equals.

Here you are: individual liberty, free markets, limited & open government, and peace (though free trade with friendly nations). 

We are the inheritors and defenders of an old tradition, stretching back so many centuries, long before the term libertarian was coined (it’s a relatively recent invention). 

Voluntary transactions and associations are the natural, and often spontaneous, result of human sociability. Most people are sociable and friendly, and if it were otherwise society would have remained small and primitive. We believe people can organize well and best when they left to their own choices. The foundation of a productive (and so prosperous) society is private activity, not state action. Better still, free, voluntary interactions are fair in a way that state compulsion is not. 

Consent. As we believe in voluntary, mutual  interactions, we believe necessarily in consent in romance and relationships. Forced sexual encounters (including encounters with those who are by law too young to consent) are wrong and should be punished at law. Nonconsensual romance isn’t romance — it’s criminal assault.

Defense of Self and Others. While there are a few pacifist libertarians (there’s a Quaker Libertarian group), almost all libertarians believe in a right to defend themselves, others, and the country.  

Libertarianism is a political position, about the importance of liberty. It is a movement that began to take modern form during the Enlightenment, while looking further back into the political writings of the Ancients. In this way, libertarians are part of a teaching of centuries, from millennia (long before the term ‘libertarian’ was coined.) 

Liberty for the libertarian is an individual liberty, and it is free individuals who thereafter assemble and associate as they choose. 

This political philosophy does not encompass all fields and pursuits (by its very nature, it is limited). Religion, philosophy, art, science, literature — all are, or should be, beyond a particular political teaching. 

Bleeding-Heart Libertarians. There’s more than one kind of libertarianism. Those called bleeding-heart libertarians are committed to a specific intellectual and moral project: to unite free-market teachings with social justice principles. John Tomasi’s Free Market Fairness explains this undertaking nicely (by referring to it as ‘market democracy’):

Market democracy combines the four ideas I just mentioned: (1) capitalistic economic freedoms as vital aspects of liberty, (2) society as a spontaneous order, (3) just and legitimate political institutions as acceptable to all who make their lives among them, (4) social justice as the ultimate standard of political evaluation.

Here is a simple way to begin thinking about this view: market democracy affirms capitalistic economic liberties as first-order requirements of social justice. Market democracy takes a fundamentally deliberative approach to the problem of political justification. It sees society as a fair system of social cooperation. Within such a society, citizens are committed to supporting political and economic institutions that their fellow citizens can join them in supporting, regardless of their particular social or economic status. Being “democratic” in this sense, market democracy affirms a robustly substantive conception of equality as a requirement of liberal justice.

Market democracy approaches social justice in an unusual way: signally, by affirming a powerful set of private economic liberties as among the basic rights of liberal citizens. Market democracy does not assert the importance of private economic liberty merely on instrumental grounds (for example, because such liberties are expected to lead to economic efficiency) or even from the idea that a society based on such liberties might satisfy some hoped-for distributional ideal (for example, as in the empirical claim that capitalism benefits the poor). Instead, market democracy affirms the moral importance of private economic liberty primarily on deliberative grounds: market democracy sees the affirmation of private economic liberty as a requirement of democratic legitimacy itself.

John Tomasi, Free Market Fairness  (2012).

(When Tomasi writes of a liberal tradition, he’s describing classical liberalism, not contemporary American categories of left and right.) 

It’s no simple task, as this amounts to reconciling positions traditionally viewed as in opposition to each other. The project amounts to an understanding that these seemingly contrary perspectives can (and should be) reconciled.

There’s much ignorant trolling in America these days, in which those with a little reading but a great deal of hubris hurl insult after insult, often misusing terms and concepts along the way. That approach is meant to impress, intimidate, or somehow deter. A low approach doesn’t work on those who both by nature and nurture approach these topics with sangfroid. Part of this is simply one’s nature. A mongoose does not prevail against a cobra because it’s a ‘better’ animal; it prevails because of a natural agility, thick coat, and immunity to snake venom. (Practice on a few snakes may, however, improve the mongoose’s technique, as does practice among humans in their own pursuits.) 

Whitewater. As I hold to libertarianism, and to a bleeding-heart libertarian project, it’s unsurprising that I should see limits on what public institutions in Whitewater (city, school district, or university) can accomplish on their own. The federal government, or the state government, could by spending enough undeniably transform a small town. (A government-directed transformation would not be wise, but for a small town it would be possible.)

In Whitewater, however, it should be obvious to reasonable observers that no local government effort, no work of any public institution, would now be enough to heal this beautiful city. Perhaps once, but no longer. A focus only on the proper limits of government in the city is necessary but insufficient. 

Necessary: the basic public offices and public goods of the city must be distributed equally. There is more work to be done on this front — this city belongs to all and yet none, so to speak. The persistent efforts of a few to help themselves to more, and place themselves at the front of the line for offices and public opportunities, demands consideration.

Yet more is needed: Work beyond government, however, is now critical for Whitewater’s future. 

I’ve written this way for years. Whitewater’s boosters in the Aughts squandered the city’s opportunities, and we’ve now fallen into socio-economic conditions that local government action alone cannot heal. The populists who’ve come along through the elephant graveyard, insatiable for a culture war no one will win, will prove even worse for Whitewater. 

The way to community health requires more than politics, commentary, or reporting. See from FREE WHITEWATER, What Ails, What Heals, Waiting for Whitewater’s Dorothy Day, Something Transcendent, and in the Meantime, An Oasis Strategy, and The Community Space. 

One argues over politics, in contemporary Whitewater especially, to clear the path for something more curative. 

Daily Bread, Language, Politics, Populists, Trolls

Daily Bread for 3.20.23: On ‘Woke’

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 47. Sunrise is 6:56 AM and sunset 7:07 PM for 12h 10m 58s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 2.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

 Whitewater’s Alcohol & Licensing Committee meets at 4:45 PM and the Library Board meets at 6:30 PM. Whitewater’s School Board goes into closed session shortly after 6 PM, to resume in open session at 7 PM.

 On this day in 1815, after escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.

David French writes of three possible usages of ‘woke’:

It’s the third usage that one hears from vapid populists and trolls: they decry a term that they won’t or can’t define properly. They use woke and wokeism the way they use Marxist/Communist/Socialist/RadicalLeft/Whatever/Whatever: as one nebulous catchall term because through ignorance, indolence, or incompetency they cannot or will not define the term precisely. French, in a single tweet, did better than a thousand bad-faith, low-effort populists.

A proper high-school education should prepare students to define terms concretely.  

Cat and Owl Have Intense Stare Down Through Window:

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City, Daily Bread, Foul Creatures, Politics, Populists, Trolls

Daily Bread for 3.19.23: Extreme Populism Presents as Trolling

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 39. Sunrise is 6:58 AM and sunset 7:06 PM for 12h 08m 02s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 6.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

There will be a candidate forum for Whitewater’s municipal judgeship at 1 PM at City Hall.

 On this day in 1918, the US Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time.

There are times, and this is one, when one would rather be wrong than right. A careful and repeated discussion at FREE WHITEWATER of the excesses of populism must have seemed, to some, overwrought. When describing extremes from other places, residents in Whitewater could sincerely, if mistakenly, reply that those extremes would not — could not — appear in Whitewater.

For those who doubted: seeing is believing. A mere description of a hyena might seem exaggerated; to see that scavenger with one’s own eyes, however, is doubtless an unsettling sight to those who formerly doubted.  

At its most immoderate, populism presents as trolling, as writing and speech deliberately offensive or provocative. A few characteristics of these populist trolls appear below. 

Emotional. Tense, edgy, and thin-skinned, they’re vulnerable to slights real and imagined. How odd: all these supposedly big, bad, butch guys quickly screaming that they’ve been insulted. Our forefathers argued and debated acerbically as they built a civilization across a continent. These sorry populist types have conniptions after even mild criticism. 

The Most Talkative Are the Least Articulate. The ones who speak or write (as they have a right to do) are less skilled in their native language than those who sit behind the scenes. It’s the opposite of professional sports. Rather than the best among their number rising to the top, the worst of their ilk do so. 

Hypocritical and Projecting. They accuse others of what they habitually (and gleefully) do. 

Political Even When Avowedly Apolitical. Populism is a political movement, often with those of limited educational or moral formation. (If they knew more, they wouldn’t be populists, let alone trolls.) History, religion, law, economics are expressed, if at all, only though the populist’s feelings and desires. 

Unwilling to Accept Traditional Refutation (Even from Ideological Allies). If on the left, they’ll accept no criticism, even from others on the left. If on the right, they’ll accept no criticism even from others on the right. Populism is an emotional form of politics, and the extreme populist will not see to reason even from professionals (doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.) who are are otherwise ideologically similar. (Has someone done a study on how populists fare in long-term relationships? Supposition: they wind up in family court more frequently than non-populists,) 

(Added afternoon 3.19) An Inverted Burden of Proof.  While reasonable people respect the requirement that those who assert must prove, the populist turns this principle on its head by insisting that others must disprove his or her claims. The populist will insist that he or she represents a majority (usually a huge majority) while offering no proof of a majority position, or other numerical claims (biggest this, most that, everyone knows, etc.). This failure to adhere to a recognized burden of proof comes from ignorance (doesn’t know basic principles of evidence), indolence (too lazy to learn basic principles of evidence), or incompetency (rare cases evincing a lack of reasoning ability).   

Insatiable. Can’t stop, won’t stop. 

Feet or Throat. I’ve previously quoted Churchill’s use of an old expression to describe the disposition of the populists (especially the ones who descend into trolling):

Churchill, quoting a saying of others, once remarked to the U.S. Congress that

The proud German army has by its sudden collapse, sudden crumbling and breaking up, unexpected to all of us, the proud German army once again proves the truth of the saying “The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet.” 

So it is with populism: split in both outlook and in demeanor. 

Note well: When a hyena starts chewing on your throat, it does no good to offer that foul creature some ALPO® as a substitute. 

 Long overdue — International criminal court issues arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin:

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Daily Bread, Facebook, Language

Daily Bread for 3.18.23: Declaration, Persuasion, Narration

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will see scattered flurries with a high of 27. Sunrise is 7:00 AM and sunset 7:05 PM for 12h 05m 06s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 14.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

The Polar Plunge returns to Whitewater today at the Cravath Lakefront. 

 On this day in 1990, in the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $500 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

People speak and write for many reasons. A few broad reasons come to mind. Speech can be declarative, persuasive, or narrative. There is nothing special about a typology like this — there are many tried-and-true typologies. (Aristotle, for example, famously divided  persuasion alone into one of three kinds: logos, ethos, pathos.) 

In the first case, someone speaks to make a statement. The declaration may be well or poorly received, but at bottom the goal is to speak or write what one believes. Much speech is like this.

In the second type, one speaks to persuade. Persuasion may involve converting others to one’s position, or to prevent others from abandoning one’s current position. In either case, the speaker’s goal is to move someone to action (or prevent action the speaker considers undesirable).

The third type, narration, is the rarest of all. Here one simply recounts events. Biases are unavoidable, but someone sincerely narrating tries to be as unbiased as possible (that is, to succumb to as few biases as possible).

In an intense cultural conflict, of the kind that brings people out to protest, persuasion and narration wither, and only declaration remains.

Futile statements in a culture war are statements from one side telling the other side to stop, be quiet, go away, etc.. By the time it’s a culture war, one side is not about to listen to the other. A faction may relent from exhaustion, but neither side will relent solely from the arguments of opponents.

Facebookers digging into the other side on these topics may declare poorly, and they persuade never. Fair enough to speak one’s mind; delusional to think others will yield for having done so. When someone think he needs to win an argument now, he should be reminded that now will have passed away by the time that very word is spoken.

Honest to goodness, disputants should resonate some sense. There may be a possibility of persuading a few uncommitted people, but the other side on these questions will not be persuaded once the conflict has begun.

Those who are apoplectic over every single moment will decline into chronic apoplexy after dozens, scores, or hundreds of those moments.

The mystery of the disappearing lymphocytes:

Conspiracy Theories, Courts, Daily Bread, Elections

Daily Bread for 3.17.23: Offer and Acceptance (It’s Acceptance or Rejection that Matters)

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Good morning.

St. Patrick’s Day in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 34. Sunrise is 7:01 AM and sunset 7:04 PM for 12h 02m 11s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 22.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

 The City of Whitewater Common Council Whitewater Aquatic and Fitness Center Subcommittee meets at 10 AM. 

 On this day in 1776, the British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.

When candidates run for office, they attract supporters desirable and undesirable. A few undesirables are bound to show up. It matters afterward how the candidate reacts. For former justice Dan Kelly, now running to return to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, that reaction is an embrace:

A right-wing activist who planned several “stop the steal” protests and was on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack has spent the month of March in Wisconsin campaigning on behalf of conservative state Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly. 

Scott Presler, a Virginia native with a long history of right-wing extremism, called the Jan. 6 attack, “the largest civil rights protest in American history,” and has posted on social media about coming to Wisconsin to campaign with several local Republican groups. He’s appeared with the Republican Women of Waukesha County — a partisan group which drew attention in 2020 for giving a standing ovation to Kyle Rittenhouse’s mother at an event — and the Kenosha County Republican Party. 

“March is dedicated to Wisconsin,” Presler tweeted in late February. 

On March 15, a Kelly fundraising event in Brookfield listed Presler as the “special guest.” On March 12, the right-wing radio host Vicki McKenna posted a photo on Twitter of herself and conservative Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Braldey with Presler at an Ozaukee County Republican Party event. Kelly replied to the tweet, thanking the trio for their work helping his campaign. 

There was no steal. Biden carried Wisconsin and the nation.

For Kelly, the problem is not a supporter’s offer, it’s his own acceptance that tells the tale. 

Rejection of the offer would have absolved Kelly of blame; acceptance of the offer enmires him in a conspiracy theory. 

 Shark in the water: This robot can collect 21,000 plastic bottles in a day: 

Cats, Faraway Places, Science/Nature

Friday Catblogging: The Corsican ‘Cat-Fox’

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For years, scientists have wondered if striped cats on Corsica were a distinct species:

Turns out, they are:

The elusive striped “cat-fox” familiar mostly to Corsican shepherds and as a source of intrigue to scientists, is indeed its own species specific to the French Mediterranean island, the French office for Biodiversity (OFB) announced Thursday.

New genetic analysis has “revealed a unique genetic strain to the wild cats” found in the remote forest undergrowth of northern Corsica, it confirmed.

Genetic sampling clearly distinguishes the ring-tailed Corsican cat-foxes from mainland forest felines and domestic cats, said the OFB in a statement.

While resembling house cats in some ways, the cat-fox earned its name from its length—measuring 90 centimeters (35 inches) from head to tail—and its distinct black-tipped, ringed tail.

Other distinguishing features include the stripes on the front legs, “very dark” hind legs, and a russet stomach. The dense, silky coat is a natural repellent for fleas, ticks and lice.

….

But it has long been part of local folklore.

“The cat-fox is part of our shepherd mythology,” Carlu-Antone Cecchini, head of the forest cat mission at the National Hunting and Wildlife Office, now part of the OFB, told AFP in 2019.

City, Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 3.16.23: These Tense Times

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will see scattered showers with a high of 44. Sunrise is 7:03 AM and sunset 7:02 PM for 11h 59m 15s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 34.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

 The Whitewater Unified School District will go into closed session shortly after 5:15 PM, to reconvene thereafter into open session. Whitewater’s CDA meets at 5:30 PM, and there will be a Strategic Planning Session/Retreat for Councilmembers and City of Whitewater Management Staff at 6:30 PM. 

 On this day in 1935, Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.

These are tense times for Whitewater, exacerbated with an upcoming election. It would suit the community well to avoid coming apart at the seams.

Serious issues confront the city, of course, but a sound maxim as always: the hotter the temperature, the cooler the person.  

 See James Webb Space Telescope’s view of Wolf-Rayet star WR 124 in stunning 4K: 

Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.15.23: The Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Three Weeks Out

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 46. Sunrise is 7:05 AM and sunset 7:01 PM for 11h 56m 19s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 45.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

 Whitewater’s Parks & Rec Board meets at 5:30 PM.

 In 44 BC, the assassination of Julius Caesar takes place on the Ides of March.

 The Wisconsin Supreme Court race is a national topic. At the New York Times, Reid J. Epstein reports In Wisconsin, Liberals Barrage Conservative Court Candidate With Attack Ads. Epstein’s reports on the cost of the race and the state of play, three weeks out. 

Ad spending: 

In the last three weeks, the Protasiewicz campaign has spent $9.1 million on television advertising, and outside groups supporting her have spent $2.03 million, according to AdImpact, a media-tracking firm.

The imbalance on Wisconsin’s television airwaves is even greater than the spending figures suggest.

Because the Protasiewicz campaign is able to buy television advertising at about one-third the rate of independent expenditure groups, she alone has broadcast more than three times as many TV advertisements in Wisconsin as the pro-Kelly groups combined, according to AdImpact’s data.

….

The election is already the most expensive judicial race in American history, with at least $27 million spent so far on television alone. A 2004 contest for the Illinois Supreme Court previously had the most spending, at $15 million, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

(Emphasis added.) 

More ad spending on the way:

While Justice Kelly promised that the cavalry was on the way, it’s unclear whether it will be enough to turn the tide of the battle.

Only one national organization has spent anything on television to support the Kelly campaign: the super PAC Fair Courts America, which is backed by Richard Uihlein, the conservative billionaire. So far in the general election, Fair Courts America has spent $2.3 million on TV ads. This week, it began a further $450,000 in statewide radio advertising, but the group has not yet committed to investing more in the race, according to a person familiar with Mr. Uihlein’s decisions who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Private polling: 

Wisconsin’s municipal clerks began placing absentee ballots for the Supreme Court election in the mail this week, and in-person ballots can be cast starting next Tuesday. Private polling conducted by officials on both sides of the race shows Judge Protasiewicz with a lead over Justice Kelly in the mid-to-high single digits. Mr. Voelkel [spokesman for the Kelly campaign Ben Voelkel] disputed that Justice Kelly was trailing but declined to reveal the campaign’s figures.

Three weeks is a long time, and it’s possible to come from behind, as then-judge, now justice, Brian Hagedorn knows from his 2019 campaign.

See also Influence of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, On and Off Campus. 

Albino Deer in Washburn County, Wisconsin:  

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Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Local Government, School District

Daily Bread for 3.14.23: Influence of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, On and Off Campus

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 33. Sunrise is 7:07 AM and sunset 7:00 PM for 11h 53m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 56.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

Public Works Committee meets at 6 PM.

 On this day in 1794, Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.

Kelly Meyerhofer and Hunter Turpin report Will college voters turn out in Wisconsin Supreme Court race 2023?:

The Gordon Dining Center voting ward on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus usually draws about 50 voters in spring primary elections.

But this February, 515 voters cast their ballots there, according to turnout data from the city of Madison clerk’s office. Other campus-area voting wards reported similarly high voting rates. A dorm along Lake Mendota reported 39% turnout.

Those are the numbers Democrats are banking on for April 4, when liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz and conservative candidate Dan Kelly face off in a race that will determine control of the state Supreme Court.

The matchup is already the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history and carries enormous policy stakes. The race will likely determine the fate of abortion rights, voting rights and legislative maps that have kept Republicans in control of the Legislature for more than a decade.

One replies with an answer and a question: They will turn out, but will this affect down-ballot races? However the Supreme Court race goes, Judge Protasiewicz will carry System campuses decisively. No question there. 

The only question is whether that decisive college vote in her favor will influence local, contested races. To achieve a down-ballot result requires industriousness and effective communication. Those traits may be present in some campus communities, but they will not be present in all.

Chicago River Glows Green for St. Patrick’s Day:

Daily Bread, Food

Daily Bread for 3.13.23: You Must Be Kidding, Dinner Edition

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 29. Sunrise is 7:08 AM and sunset 6:59 PM for 11h 50m 28s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 67.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Planning Board meets at 6 PM. 

 On this day in 1930, news of the discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory.

Over at the Washington Post, there’s an account from a troubled civilization.  A reader writes to the Miss Manners etiquette column about a dinner invitation.

The account:

Dear Miss Manners: About once a month, we go out to dinner with another couple and always have a good time. We tend to order roughly the same things — one drink each, no desserts unless it’s a special occasion — so we just split the bill.

We were surprised, but fine with it, when they suggested that we should eat at their house next time instead of going out. We’ve all been doing a lot of creative cooking during the pandemic, and I offered to host the following time.

We had a nice meal — but then they told us what our share of the cost would be! I’m in shock that our friends would be so stingy as to charge us for eating at their own home. We thought they were close friends!

From the reply:

There is, indeed, a huge difference between a restaurant and a home. Or rather, there should be. But the habit of eating in commercial establishments has resulted in all but obliterating the meaning of private hospitality.

….

Your friends have carried this to a crude extreme. To anyone who remembers the ancient tradition of hospitality, this is sad. Planning and overseeing entertainment were a pleasure that people enjoyed taking turns doing. The claim that it put all the burden on the hosts was false because reciprocity evened it out.

Miss Manners might have been inclined to make this point by asking your friends whether the price they quoted included the service charge.

It’s a confused expression of friendship to ask private guests for a portion of a meal’s cost, but it is — truly — a great story to tell others. I’ve never had this happen, but it would be worth the experience to be able to say, “you’ll never guess what happened last week when we went to dinner…”

Metal fence stands no chance against fleeing gator in Florida:

Adventure, Daily Bread, Nature, Photography, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.12.23: These Towns Go Dark to See Starlight

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 35. Sunrise is 7:10 AM and sunset 6:58 PM for 11h 47m 33s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 76.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1933, Franklin Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This is also the first of his “fireside chats.”

These Towns Go Dark to See Starlight:

Here in Wisconsin, we’ve a dark sky park at Newport State Park in Ellison Bay, at the top of the Door peninsula. Our youngest and I were last out there in the fall, and we will be back again when the galactic center is visible for longer periods in the evening.  Devil’s Lake State Park is also a fine spot, and closer to Whitewater. 

While Whitewater is visibly brighter at night than Newport, there are opportunities here to stargaze and also to test one’s gear for trips farther afield. 

Bobcat strolls in, lounges on dog bed: 

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Adventure, Daily Bread, Technology

Daily Bread for 3.11.23: Surf, Skate, Snowboard, and Work All in One Day

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 36. Sunrise is 6:12 AM and sunset 5:56 PM for 11h 44m 44s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 84.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID-19 virus epidemic a pandemic.

Surf, Skate, Snowboard, and Work All in One Day:

Two Volcom executives face a day-long challenge: an attempt to surf, skateboard, and snowboard – all while working and collaborating with their global team. See how the Dell Latitude 9330 laptop, powered by Intel vPro®, keeps them connected and productive. Sponsored by Dell Technologies & Intel®

Beijing skies engulfed by sandstorm, pollution: