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Author Archive for JOHN ADAMS

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 2.16.11

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Good morning

It’s a cloudy day ahead for Whitewater, with a high temperature of forty-three.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls the commitment of Mildred Harnack, Wisconsin native, against tyranny and genocide:

1943 – Mildred Harnack Guillotined in Berlin

On this date Mildred Harnack was guillotined in Berlin, Germany. Harnack was born in Milwaukee and studied and lectured at the University of Wisconsin. She and her husband, Arvid Harnack, were key members of a German resistance group which assisted German Jews and political dissidents, circulated illegal literature, met secretly with prisoners of war, and worked to document Nazi atrocities in Europe. Known by the Nazis as the “Red Orchestra,” Harnack’s companions were arrested, tortured, and tried for their activities. Mildred Harnack was guillotined in Berlin on the personal orders of Adolf Hitler. [Source: UW – Madison Archives and Records Management Services]

More on her life is available at the website of the German Mission to the United States.

Sports

Reason.tv: The NFL 2011 Lockout Labor Mess

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Wisconsin’s not the only place with labor strife.



Here’s the description accompanying the video:

Now that the Super Bowl is over, it’s time for the really big game: the labor battle between National Football League owners and players.

The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, which governs how much players can make, what teams can spend on payrolls, and much more, is set to expire in March. Despite sweetheart deals with publicly financed stadiums and hefty national television contracts, owners say they are being bled dry by runaway salaries and tight economic times. They’re looking to extend the regular season to 18 games and for players to forego $7 billion in potential pay increases over the next seven seasons. The players, represented by the federally certified NFL Players Association, want to see the owners’ books, more pay for extra games, and other concessions.

Given the amount of money in play, Vegas oddsmakers are betting heavy that the owners will lock out players for the first time since 1987, when a work stoppage shortened the season by a game. In 1982, similar problems led to just nine regular-season games being played.

But don’t mistake this for a classic showdown between management and labor hashing out differences on an even playing field. Given the amount of public money in play through stadium deals and the fact that individual players must negotiate collectively through the government-certified NFLPA, federal regulations have almost guaranteed a nasty, sudden-death battle.

How things will shake out is far from certain, but this much is a lock: If the 2011 NFL season is scrapped in part or in whole, the real goat will be government meddling in what should be a purely private negotiation among millionaires and billionaires.

Approximately 3 minutes.

Produced by Austin Bragg. more >>

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 2-15-11

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Good morning,

Whitewater’s forecast calls for a an increasingly cloudy election day, with a high temperature of thirty-six.

At Lincoln School, proud home of the Leopards, there’s a Learning Fair tonight at 6 p.m.

Today is the birthday, in 1820, of women’s rights advocate Susan B. Anthony.

Libertarians

Catholicism and Libertarianism | Cato @ Liberty

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I’ve met Catholics who’ve expressed interest in libertarianism, but have been concerned that libertarian positions might be inimical to Catholic teaching.

They need not be worried, as Cato’s Michael F. Cannon explains:

Michael Gerson’s claim that “Catholic social teaching is simply not libertarian” [“A Catholic Test for Politics,” Feb. 8], reveals that Gerson either does not understand Catholicism, or libertarianism, or both. Immediately thereafter, he cites many libertarian aspects of Catholic social teaching: “the necessity of limited government,” subsidiarity, respecting the human rights of “even illegal immigrants,” etc. When he claims that repealing ObamaCare or government funding for AIDS and malaria conflicts with Catholic social teaching, he ignores that government coercion is inherent in those policies. Is Gerson claiming that Catholic social teaching condones using violence or the threat of violence to heal the sick? Catholics who reject those policies do so because they want to heal the sick through peaceful, non-coercive means. They cast their lots with Christ – not Caesar, as Gerson recommends. Gerson should spend some time learning about libertarianism, from actual libertarians. I would be happy to arrange it.

Libertarianism is a political view — a belief in limited, responsible government, individual liberty, and peaceful international relations.  It’s not — and by definition does not claim to be — a comprehensive truth.  Libertarianism is just one part, although an important one — of broader set of fundamental beliefs.

The libertarian view is compatible with many religious teachings, and people who contend otherwise are either ignorant or deceptive.

Via Catholicism and Libertarianism | Cato @ Liberty.

Libertarians, Politics

Crybaby Whiner Upset About Libertarian Popularity

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Over at FoxNews.com, Kevin McCullough disparages libertarians, and whines that libertarians somehow ‘hijacked’ the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll, a survey in which libertarian Ron Paul took first place.

McCullough sees libertarians as both disrespectful and dangerous. Oh, please; he should reflect on his own faction’s many shortcomings rather than cast aspersions on the conduct of a political movement far more popular than his own.

If McCullough wants to be taken seriously, he should first find a way to get one of his favored candidates to the top of the CPAC straw poll.

Libertarians are popular, by the way, because their ideas advance liberty, dignity, and prosperity.

See, Disrespectful Libertarians Hijack CPAC Poll — And Its Mission – FoxNews.com.

Press

The Beat Sweetener

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I first learned the term ‘beat sweetener’ from libertarian press critic Jack Shafer. It’s a reporter’s technique for ingratiating himself with one official or another. Here’s a definition, from the Urban Dictionary:

(JOURNALISM) using flattery to gain access to sources. The phrase is usually used in the context of White House or Congressional press corps, who use fulsome praise of high-ranking officials whose favor they need. Usually, officials like to be publicly represented as magnificent, selfless, tireless public servants; in exchange for such blurbs, they may invite specific reporters to exclusive events, thereby boosting the reporter’s status.

It’s irritating when occasionally used, but imagine a world where it’s simply the conventional posture of the press. That would be a world where newspapers printed, exclusively, All the News That’s Fit to Bolster and Re-elect. Such a fasle, closed world would have harmonious relations between press and politician, but would produce foolish, third-tier policies that would ignore genuine problems in favor of officials’ self-promotion.

A community, such as a small town of 14,454, would slowly waste away on a diet like that.



Holiday, Music

Monday Music: Sophie Milman’s So Long, You Fool

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I hope you’re having a Happy Valentine’s Day, as I am. But if not, it’s worth considering whether the person over whom you might be pining is, after all, worth pining over. Think carefully, and you may find that the answer’s no, not at all.

In that spirit of realism (and liberation from someone you’re likely better off without), I offer Sophie Milman’s So Long, You Fool.

Enjoy.



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Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 2-14-11

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Good morning,

Whitewater’s Valentine’s Day forecast calls for a mostly sunny day, with highs in the mid-thirties.

In the City of Whitewater today, there will be a meeting of the Planning Commission at 6 p.m.  The agenda for that meeting is available online.   At 6:30 p.m., there will be a meeting of the Library Board.  That agenda is also online.

I’m overdue on posts about the mess that is tax incremental district 4.  I’ve not forgotten; it’s a work in progress (that is, the posts, not the district).

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that today is a memorable day in Wisconsin, American, and world history:

1819 – Typewriter Inventor Born

On this date the inventor of the modern typewriter, C. Latham Sholes, was born. Sholes moved to Wisconsin as a child and lived in Green Bay, Kenosha, and Milwaukee. In 1867, in Milwaukee, he presented his first model for the modern typewriter and patents for the device were taken out in 1868. Sholes took the advice of many mechanical experts, including Thomas Edison, and so claims that he was the sole inventor of the typewriter have often been disputed. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Homes, pg 316-328]



City, Politics

Our New Jeffersonian Era?

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Salena Zito offers a forecast:

Today we are in the midst of a cultural U-turn away from a Hamiltonian meritocratic-elitist, centralized-power society to a more Jeffersonian Main Street focus, with state and local governments as the primary powerbrokers.

I don’t believe that local government is less elitist; it’s just that the quality of municipal managers and bureaucrats (and their apologists) is so low that they don’t seem so elite.

Yet, if it should be true that even local government becomes more Jeffersonian, then so many of the middle aged (and older) bureaucrats and hangers-on who’ve made a such a mess will remain just long enough to see the rejection of their shabby policies and careers.

Via Our new Jeffersonian era – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  (Hat tip to Instapundit for the link, and following his view that ‘elite’ isn’t really that elite.)

Free Markets, Liberty

Executive Q&A: ‘I believe in the American dream’

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Yes — no better opportunities in all the world:

“I believe in the American dream,” said [accountant Julia] Arata-Fratta. “This is a country of opportunity. If you work hard, you are rewarded.”That meant learning the language and renewing her tax accounting skills to re-enter the work force. Now, she’s dedicated to making it easier for Latinos to grow their own businesses.

Via Executive Q&A: ‘I believe in the American dream’.

Uncategorized

On Wisconsin: In Fort Atkinson, an old library is made new again

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Done with mostly private funds:

This city of 12,190 along the Rock River in southern Jefferson County is accustomed to doing things on its own. And the impressive library project was no exception.

The city paid for $2.5 million of the work but the remaining $3 million came from the private sector, including $1.5 million from the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, which challenged the community to come up with the balance.

See, On Wisconsin: In Fort Atkinson, an old library is made new again.

Via DAILY WISCONSIN » On Wisconsin: In Fort Atkinson, an old library is made new again.