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Author Archive for JOHN ADAMS

City, Local Government, Politics

About those four (or five) Common Council applicants

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Tomorrow night, Whitewater will choose between four (or perhaps five) qualifying applicants for an appointment to an open council seat for Aldermanic District 1.

There are two quick points worth making.

First, there were five applicants, but only four written submissions received by the clearly-stated deadline. (The fifth application helpfully advised, in the would-be politician’s handwritten words, “I’m sorry I didn’t get this to you sooner, I was out of town on vacation.”) Oh, brother. Best to choose, truly, from among the four applicants who filed on time.

Second, about these candidates: what do you think matters most? Setting aside the minimum requirements of age, residency, etc., is it not what they believe – what they profess to do — that matters most?

It’s a loss to this city that publication of their candidacies on the Web and (even worse) in a local newspaper is simply a plain recitation of names, addresses, employers, past service, and membership in clubs and local organizations. (It says much about local newspaper coverage that reporting amounts to no more than listing the same information available on an application form, with not a single question about what an applicant’s ambitions might be.)

There’s some value to that plain list, but there’s more value still in asking what a would-be council member wants to do, what he or she would like to accomplish.

It’s the answer to that relevant and material question that matters most, and that should guide Council’s selection on Tuesday night.

Food

‘The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever’

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130624071206-new-twinkies-box-620xa

Americans may love a winner, but that definition also includes, I think, those who bounce back from adversity.

Twinkies are back, in stores across the country, at a list price of $2.98 for a box of ten.

(If they seem smaller, and have an even longer shelf life, the new owners insist it’s the result of changes the pastry’s former owners made just before entering bankruptcy in 2012.)

What are they like? Having tried two – it would be unsound to sample just one — I can assure readers that they taste just how you remember them to have tasted, however that may have been.

Posted also @ Daily Adams.

Music

Monday Music: Klezmer Magic

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How about some happy Monday music? I don’t know much about klezmer, except that it’s mostly celebratory music, with both jazz and pre-jazz strains. In any event, it’s easy to enjoy.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.15.13

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s Monday will be hot, with a high of eighty-eight, and a slight chance of thunderstorms.

It’s Rembrandt’s birthday, and Google has a doodle to commemorate the painter’s 407th birthday:

rembrandt_van_rijns_407th_birthday-1993005.3-hp

On this day in 1980, a storm in Wisconsin caused millions in damage:

1980 – Western Wisconsin Derecho
The Western Wisconsin Derecho was a severe weather system that moved through several western counties on July 15, 1980. It cut a 20-mile-wide swath through St Croix, Pierce, Dunn, Eau Claire, Chippewa, and Clark counties. Although much of the storm’s damage was caused by straight-line winds in excess of 100 mph, several tornadoes were also reported. The storm caused nearly $160M in damage (1980 dollars) and killed three people.

Puzzability‘s started a new series, Switch Hitters, for the week of July 15-19.

Switch Hitters
There are some changes in this week’s lineup. For each day, change a letter in each of the two words given and move the space to get the name of a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Example:
TOSS WAVER

Answer:
Tom Seaver

Here’s Monday’s puzzle:

DOG IBERIA

Twitter

Recent Tweets, 7.7 to 7.13

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Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.14.13

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater: Sunny, eighty-four, with calm winds. Sunrise was 5:29 a.m., and sunset will be 8:32 p.m. The moon is a waxing crescent with 35% of the its visible disk illuminated.

Mariner_3_and_4

On this day in 1965, Mariner 4 flies past Mars, taking pictures of that planet. The New York Times reported on the flyby:

Pasadena, Calif., July 14 — Mariner 4 completed its rendezvous with Mars this evening and sailed on into space carrying it is hoped, a series of tape-recorded pictures of that mysterious planet.

Instruments aboard the spacecraft indicated that Mars has no significant magnetic field and no appreciable radiation belts. Its lack of a magnetic umbrella has a direct bearing on its habitability.

Life on earth is protected by the shield of this planet’s magnetism, which diverts incoming radiation from the sun and exploding stars–radiation that might otherwise be lethal….

M04_12

Mosaics from the Mariner 4 mission to Mars (frame 1&2). On the overlapping areas of adjacent frames color was computed, as the images were obtained using a Red/Green – Green/Red filter sequence.

In Wisconsin history on this day in 1948, Janesville turns to DDT:

1948 – Janesville Sprays for Bugs
On this date, intending to create a bug-free environment, Janesville tested a DDT fogging machine that quickly emitted a “smokescreen of insect-killing fog.” City officials hoped to persuade the county to buy the machine for use by all municipalities or to buy it jointly with Beloit. [Source: Janesville Gazette]

Press Release, Sports

Become a Youth Triathelete on Saturday, July 27th in Fort Atkinson

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I’ve never been in a triathlon (a goal yet ahead), but those far younger than I am will have that chance on Saturday, July 27th:

The sixth annual Fort Youth Triathlon will once again be swimming, riding, and running through Fort Atkinson’s Aquatic Center in Rock River Park on Saturday, July 27. Anyone ages 7-14 can participate in this event. Registration costs $35 per participant between now and July 26, and then $40 on July 27 the day of the event. Registration includes race packet, t-shirt, entry into door prizes and a finishers medal.

Best spots to view the event are on Montclair Street (see the biking portion), or at the finish line, near the Aquatic Center’s parking lot. First race starts at 8:00 and the medals ceremony will start around 11:00 am.

Anyone interested in volunteering, please contact the Parks & Rec department at (920) 563-7781.

Pick up registration forms at the Fort Aquatic Center, or Fort Atkinson Parks & Recreation Department or online at www.fortparksandrec.com (on page 7 of our summer brochure). Register your child at the Parks and Rec office at 30 N. Water St. W. Office hours are 8-Noon & 12:30-4:30.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.13.13

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Good morning.

It’s a lovely day in store for Whitewater, with sunny skies and a high of eighty-seven.

Someone sent me a video of a small dog eating a watermelon, and I’ve embedded the video below. At least, I think it’s a dog: it’s small, extremely fluffy, and looks much (perhaps, too much) like a plush toy, from my way of thinking. Still, I’ll concede that he is moderately cute, and undeniably happy while enjoying his snack.

On this day in 1787, Congress establishes the Northwest Territory:

Northwest-territory-usa-1787

1787 – Northwest Territory Established
On this date the Northwest Ordinance was passed by the Continental Congress. The ordinance provided for the administration of the territories and set rules for admission as a state. The Northwest territory included land west of Pennsylvania and Northwest of the Ohio River, which encompassed present day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, parts of Minnesota and of course Wisconsin. [Source: Indiana Historical Bureau]

Poll

Friday Poll: Bring Back the Passenger Pigeon?

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Martha_last_passenger_pigeon_1914

Martha, the last passenger pigeon, 1914

Scientists just might be able to bring back the now-extinct Passenger Pigeon. As though a story about Jurassic Park (but with harmless bids instead of carnivorous dinosaurs), Sarah Pruitt writes about the possibility of reviving that now-extinct species:

The last known passenger pigeon, named for Martha Washington, died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914….

Now, nearly a century after Martha’s death, scientists believe they can bring her species back to life, using techniques worthy of the 1990s science-fiction/action blockbuster “Jurassic Park.” With funding from Revive and Restore, a group dedicated to the de-extinction of recently lost species, the young biologist Ben J. Novak is spearheading efforts to use DNA taken from passenger pigeon specimens in museums and fill it in with fragments from a living species, the band-tailed pigeon. The reconstituted genome would then be inserted into a band-tailed pigeon stem cell, creating a germ cell (an egg-and-sperm precursor). When the germ cell is injected into young band-tailed pigeons and these pigeons reproduce, their offspring would come as close as possible to expressing the passenger pigeon genes. The “de-extinction” process is different from cloning, in that it uses a variety of DNA from different passenger pigeons, meaning that the offspring produced would be as unique as any bird from an original passenger pigeon flock.

Let’s assume it could be done, and assume also that it could be done with private funds alone (no tax dollars needed): would you support the project?

I’ll say yes, even if we’ll surely never be able to repopulate the species to its former numbers in North America.

What do you think?


Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.12.13

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s Friday will be sunny with calm winds and a high of eighty-two. Sunrise was 5:28 a.m., and sunset will be 8:33 p.m. The moon is a waxing crescent with 17% of the its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1990, Boris Yeltsin resigns from the Society Communist Party:

Just two days after Mikhail Gorbachev was re-elected head of the Soviet Communist Party, Boris Yeltsin, president of the Republic of Russia, announces his resignation from the Party. Yeltsin’s action was a serious blow to Gorbachev’s efforts to keep the struggling Soviet Union together….

During the next year and a half, Gorbachev’s power gradually waned, while Yeltsin’s star rose. In December 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union officially dissolved. Yeltsin, however, retained his position of power as president of Russia. In their own particular ways, both men had overseen the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

Yeltsin remained president of Russia until December 31, 1999, when he resigned. Despite his attempts at economic reform, his tenure in office saw the country’s economy falter badly, including a near-complete collapse of its currency. His administration was also marked by rampant corruption, an invasion of Chechnya and a series of bizarre incidents involving Yeltsin that were reputedly a result of his alcoholism. Yeltsin’s opponents twice tried to impeach him. With his resignation, Prime Minsiter Vladimir Putin became acting president until new elections could be held. On March 26, 2000, Putin became Russia’s new president.

On this day in 1995, a deadly heatwave afflicts Wisconsin:

From July 12-15, 1995, the Midwest was subjected to a deadly outbreak of hot and humid weather responsible for 141 deaths in Wisconsin. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, this was the “greatest single event of weather-related deaths in Wisconsin history.” Most of the fatalities happened in the urban southeast counties of the state, and at one point several Milwaukee-area hospitals were unable to admit more patients.

Milwaukee Temperatures (from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel): July 12: Hi=91, Lo=65 July 13: Hi=103*, Lo=78 July 14: Hi=102, Lo=84 July 15: Hi=92, Lo=69 July 16: Hi=88, Lo=68 *Some communities reported highs as high as 108. Heat Index values were 120-130 degrees.

NOAA’s Natural Disaster Survey Report on the outbreak is available at http://www.weather.gov/os/assessments/pdfs/heat95.pdf [Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Puzzability‘s Fruit Salad series concludes today:

Fruit Salad
For a refreshing summer dessert this week, just mix and serve. For each day, we’ve taken the name of a kind of fruit, added a letter, and scrambled all the letters to get a new word. The answer phrase, described by each day’s clue, is the new word followed by the fruit name.

Example:
Citrus fruit turned to a lava-like liquid

Answer:
Molten lemon

Here’s the puzzle for Friday:

Treating a citrus fruit with worshipful respect fit for a saint