FREE WHITEWATER

Author Archive for JOHN ADAMS

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.15.11

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Good morning.

The Whitewater forecast calls for a partly sunny day, with a high of eighty-five.

Over at Science News, there’s a story about how even lizards — previously considered not-so-smart — can learn new tricks. In Learnin’ Lizards, Susan Milius writes that

“These guys are smarter than people say,” reports behavioral ecologist Manuel Leal of Duke University in Durham, N.C. Cognitive scientists have studied birds’ and mammals’ powers to solve unexpected problems and learn new rules, but research on lizard cognition has been limited.

Yet several Anolis evermanni lizards collected from Puerto Rico and brought into the lab coped with devices not seen in nature that were modeled on tests of avian brain power, Leal and Brian Powell, also of Duke, report in an upcoming issue ofBiology Letters. In a series of tests, four out of six lizards figured out how to remove plastic lids firmly stuck on a food box and how to ignore lids with other colors introduced as possible distractors. Two lizards eventually were able to undo their previous training and choose the “wrong” color because researchers had reversed the rules.

Yet, despite the lizards’ prowess, there’s no reason for mammalian concern:

Alex Kacelnik of Oxford University in England, who studies cognition in New Caledonian crows, was not exactly wowed by the Anolis lizards, though. The ability to discriminate among options, and reverse that learning, is also known in fish, flies and bees, among other animals, he says. “It may well be that lizards do have the same flexibility shown by other taxa,” Kacelnik says, “but the results shown here are nowhere near what we know in birds and mammals.”

Rest easy.

Economy, Government Spending, Open Government

The Fed’s Secret Lending Program

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One doesn’t have to be a libertarian critic of the Federal Reserve (Ron Paul being the exemplar) to see that billions in secret loans to financiers represents another example of government over-reach and (as they were at the time secret loans) unaccountability.

Here, from Reason.tv, is a segment of Andrew Napolitano’s Freedom Watch, where guests debate the Fed’s all-too-obliging nature. It’s a lively discussion with more than one point of view.



Politics

Fortis: The Most Political Redistricting Map in More Than 50 Years

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Lou Fortis, Wisconsin publisher, comments on the GOP’s redistricting plan. For anyone still foolish enough to believe that the majority party represents ‘public service,’ ‘giving of oneself,’ or dedication to a ‘greater good,’ set aside those false notions now:

The new Republican redistricting map will pack Democrats into a limited number of safe Democratic seats, such as the inner-city districts. Those districts will become much more Democratic. Essentially the Republican map takes the state’s 99 Assembly districts and packs Democrats into about 41 or 42 safe Democratic Assembly seats, with huge Democratic majorities. This enables Republicans to easily win the other 57 or 58 Assembly districts – a very comfortable margin for the Republicans. The Senate maps are drawn in a similar way.

The map is so partisan that Republicans would maintain a permanent majority in both houses of the state Legislature for the next 10 years, at which point a new map could be drawn. This 10-year control of the state Legislature will be maintained even in elections in which Republicans win fewer votes than Democrats statewide.

This is utterly unlike the current legislative map, which allows voters to give both Democrats and Republicans the majority in the state Legislature, depending on voter turnout, political issues and the strengths and weaknesses of candidates.

Via Express Milwaukee.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.14.11

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Good morning.

Today looks to be a partly sunny day for Whitewater, with a high in the lower eighties.

There’s a school board meeting tonight, at 6 p.m. The meeting agenda is available online.

On this day in 1948, news of a step too far in the battle against irritating bugs:

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.]

Source: Wisconsin Historical Society.

City, Development, Government Spending

Meanwhile, at our business park…

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I regularly read the Weekly Report of Whitewater’s city manager. I feel that I’m being helpful by doing so; if I stopped, average readership would likely fall by a third.

In the July 8th edition, there’s mention of a new business, Simonswerk, that’s bringing a few jobs to our business park.

A few are better than none. (Winkhaus, a German maker of door and window parts, having departed with no fanfare at all, is a fading memory.)

No matter:

Willkommen, Simonswerk!

The city manager links to a story about Simonwerk’s arrival, and to that company’s press release.

Sensibly, he chose not to re-publish the press release in full. It’s just odd. The release has been reproduced elsewhere, but one cannot imagine why anyone would do so except to tease — it’s a combination of awkward English, grandiose declarations, and at least one typo.

(About that probable typo: the title of the release declares “SIMONSWERK – THE LEADING MANUFACTURER ANNOUNCES OPENING OF NEW FACILITY IN NORTH AMERICA.” One presumes that the company inadvertently omitted ‘OF ADJUSTABLE DOOR HINGES’ after ‘THE LEADING MANUFACTURER.’ Alternatively, the omission may be a consequence of overweening pride, or simply a declaration that door hinges are as important as cars, airplanes, etc. One learns something new every day.)

Millions — millions — in grants to Whitewater, with the express goal of creating a thousand new jobs to replace those lost to flooding, and decline of the auto industry, but instead it’s shuffling existing public employees from another town to our tech park, and putting a door-hinge concern in the business park.

I’m teasing about the release, but the real problem here is a problem of public policy: that for so much in grants, bond indebtedness, and taxes, this community has accumulated mostly press releases, headlines, and endless talk about accumulating still more headlines.

Here’s the text of the release:

SIMONSWERK – THE LEADING MANUFACTURER ANNOUNCES OPENING OF NEW FACILITY IN NORTH AMERICA

SIMONSWERK, a world-renowned manufacturer of adjustable door hinges, is continuing its international expansion by establishing a new subsidiary in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The German company is a leading European manufacturer of heavy duty, high performance and premium hinges and has produced hinge systems for 120 years. SIMONSWERK serves more than 60 international markets and has representation in 19 countries including their own subsidiaries in the UK, Russia, Poland and Germany. The SIMONSWERK Group globally generates with its 500 employees annual sales of approximately $100 million.

New Facility

SIMONSWERK’s new facility in Whitewater, Wisconsin, will be their North American headquarters and distribution center. Rudy Kessler, CEO of the Whitewater facility stated, “SIMONSWERK takes pride in their modern, high quality products, which made their success and this expansion possible. We are very excited about this move.” The North American subsidiary plans to be fully operational and provide customers with a complete line of inventory by July, 2011.

SIMONSWERK was the first company that offered adjustable hinges to the North American marketplace. During the course of the last three decades, SIMONSWERK has supplied adjustable hinges to patio door manufacturers, such as well-established manufacturers like Eagle, Jeld-Wen, Kolbe, Loewen, Marvin, and Weather Shield, just to name a few.

SIMONSWERK’s CEO, Rudy Kessler, anticipates a productive and cooperative business relationship with the Whitewater Technology Park, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and the Whitewater Chamber of Commerce. The City Manager Kevin Brunner and the Community Development Authority made SIMONSWERK feel welcome to locate their North American headquarters in Whitewater. Although the company creates in a first stage only a handful of new jobs in Whitewater, this might change depending on the success of the business and the recovery of the overall economy. The speed of the revival from the current recession and the health of the overall economy will determine further employment opportunities at the Whitewater distribution center.

The German company is also excited to have its door hardware products become a central component to the building and designing communities in the United States and Canada. The new subsidiary believes in partnering with designers and architects, window and door manufacturers and hardware distributors to create attractive, energy efficient products that will meet the building needs of businesses and companies across North America. SIMONSWERK’s high-end products are used in prominent buildings all over the world. One of the most well-known projects where their adjustable concealed hinge system, TECTUS(R), has been used was the Armani hotel in the Burj Khalifa, Dubai. Currently the tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa, which cost over $800 million to build and has received excellent feedback from architects worldwide.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.13.11

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Good morning.

It’s a sunny day, with mild temperatures in the seventies, waiting for Whitewater.

In the city today, there’s an 8 a.m. meeting of the Tech Park Board. The meeting agenda is available online.

Although a mild day may be ahead today, that’s not the prospect the Wisconsin Historical Society recalls our state faced on this day in 1936:

1936 – Hottest Temperature Recorded in Wisconsin

On this date the hottest temperature recorded to date was logged at the Wisconsin Dells in Columbia County. The mercury sizzled at 114 degrees. [Source: Oddball Wisconsin by Jerome Pohlen, p. 82]

Politics, Press

Recall Elections

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The Journal Sentinel recently ran an editorial (“The perpetual campaign”) decrying Wisconsin’s current recall elections. They’re on the wrong side of the issue: these recall elections are a legitimate response to wide-reaching legislation proposed only after the election, restricting freedom of association, on which Gov. Walker did not run, and for which he might have lost had he done so.

The JS editorial board states its case:

The Editorial Board will not recommend candidates in the recall elections. We believe policy arguments are best resolved on the floors of legislative bodies or at the ballot box during regular elections. Recalls should be used to punish gross malfeasance or corruption – something that cannot wait for the normal election cycle – not to overturn the results of an election or to dispute policy differences.

While the Board is right about the suitability of recalls to remove corrupt officials, they know well that the law does not limit recalls to those circumstances alone. On the contrary, neither the Journal Sentinel editorial board nor anyone else believes that these recalls are themselves unlawful (arguments about specific cases notwithstanding). The people of Wisconsin have the right under the law to recall state senators in the manner and for the reasons they are now offering (or for very different reasons entirely).

It’s false, too, to say these elections arose over a mere policy dispute. Not at all. There was no fair and reasonable opportunity before the election for voters to know that Gov. Walker might seek elimination of collective bargaining rights for public employees. One cannot dispute a position of which one has never heard. The GOP concealed these measures during the campaign, so that victory might be easier.

They are in no position, now, to contend that residents should be denied elections because of that concealment. To wait for a regular cycle would allow a candidate (now victorious) to dupe the voters, and profit by it by contending that those same duped voters should wait another year to seek their redress.

State senators were free to vote for these proposals; voters should now be free to remove (or retain) those who voted for them.

City, Development

Whitewater’s Downtown

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Walworthy County Today has a story online from Kevin Hoffman about downtown revitalization in small towns. Whitewater is part of that story. See, Communities work to revitalize downtown despite challenges.

Challenges there have been. The Great Recession took a toll everywhere in America, and 2007-2009 are among the worst years in American economic history. And yet — and yet — downtown Whitewater has done better in these times even than some might have hoped.

Not every problem can be blamed honestly on the recession. (The overwhelming majority of Wisconsin’s tax incremental districts, for example, have done better than Whitewater’s TID 4, excuse-making about the recession notwithstanding. TID 4’s situation, however, isn’t simply an example of private difficulties, but of political hubris, over-reach, and fumbling.)

Nevertheless, these have been difficult conditions in which to operate.

That’s true for merchants in every corner of our small town.

There was much fanfare when Whitewater became a ‘Main Street Community’ in 2006, but the hard work of day-to-day business survival since then — of the downtown’s merchants and their organization’s director — deserve the lion’s share of credit.

Customers aren’t a program, presentation, or ceremony: there are daily efforts — often unheralded — that have kept the downtown with a lower vacancy rate (13%) than it had several years ago. There’s much good sense in focusing on retention, as merchants beget merchants, and occupancy begets occupancy.

There’s more to Whitewater than her downtown, but had we slipped into a darker situation, and had the downtown become desolate, Whitewater’s overall condition would have been markedly worse.

We’re about two years past the technical end of the recession, but a powerful recovery is yet absent. Continuing sluggish growth may take a toll, as the worse prospect of a return to recession surely would. (Continuing sluggish growth seems the more likely of the two prospects.)

So here we are, not yet finished or assured, but still standing. That’s worth quite a bit, and all in all, it’s not a bad place to be.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.12.11

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Good morning.

It’s a day of temperatures in the lower eighties, with occasional thunderstorms, likely for Whitewater.

On this day in 1995, a

Deadly Heat Wave Begins

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]

Source: Wisconsin Historical Society.

Government Spending, Libertarians

Congress Gets Off Easy

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I’ll leave aside comment on the fairness of the verdicts and sentence in the Casey Anthony case. As for Congress, they deserve what a recent message from the LP dishes —

WASHINGTON – Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle released the following statement today:

“A lot of people feel like Casey Anthony got off easy. I feel the same way about our members of Congress.

“These folks violate their solemn oath to uphold the Constitution on a daily basis. Most of them deserve to be kicked out of office for life — but instead, they get praised by the media, by the special interests they cater to, and others. And of course, they get to enjoy cushy government jobs.

“The current so-called debate over the federal debt limit is a perfect example.

“The debate is all a charade. Democrats are pandering to their base by demanding tax increases on TV. Republicans are pandering to their base by pretending they want to cut spending on TV.

“But behind closed doors, they agree on almost everything.

“What have Republicans done to cut spending? Earlier this year, despite endless promises about “deep cuts,” Republicans worked out a budget compromise that actually increased 2011 spending by several billion dollars.

“And what have Democrats done to cut military spending? Nothing — the Pentagon keeps on growing. How about cutting War on Drugs spending? Again, nothing.

“Here’s what is going to happen: tiny inconsequential spending cuts, which will probably be called “deep cuts” by sensationalist media, plus various small disguised tax increases. The result? Trillions in debt, as far as the eye can see, piled on the backs of our children and grandchildren.

“And will Republicans and Democrats agree to raise the debt limit? You bet they will.

“I hope more voters will support the Libertarian Party and Libertarian candidates. It’s our only hope for getting out of this Democrapublican mess.”

….The LP is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.