Earlier this spring, the public editor of the New York Times, Margaret Sullivan, wrote a post on how the printed newspaper would continue to be important to the Times. In reply, Professor Clay Shirky of NYU wrote with what he called a “darker narrative’ of print’s prospects. (See, at Sullivan’s blog, A ‘Darker Narrative’ of…
Business
Business, City, Development, Economics, Economy, Health, Local Government, Planning, Politics, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Meetings & Motivations
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 11 in a series. This is series about a proposed digester energy project for Whitewater, one that would rely on importing other cities’ unwanted waste into Whitewater for processing. A series like this is only indirectly about general wastewater upgrades, at whatever price. It’s about waste importation, and officials’ claims that importation would be clean…
Business, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Economy, Free Markets, Gluttony, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park
Conservatives Against WEDC
by JOHN ADAMS •
Only a generation ago (not long, really), most conservatives would have rejected something like the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s ineffectual, wasteful attempts to manipulate the economy for the benefit of a few insiders’ friends. Today, communities across our state are beset with any number of unctuous men hawking a kind of big-government conservatism, with false…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Gluttony, Government Spending
SHINE Fades
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Gazette, there’s a story that, ever so tentatively, lets readers know that the public-money-sucking SHINE project (to produce the molybdenum-99 isotope for nuclear medicine) isn’t faring so well in the marketplace. SHINE is, after all, the centerpiece of big-government conservatism in Rock County, having received millions in public money to fund a…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, State Government, WEDC
12 Points on the WEDC’s $500,000 Loan for Campaign Contributor’s Failing (and Lying) Company
by JOHN ADAMS •
Seemingly, all Wisconsin is discussing a $500,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation loan to a failing company of a Walker political contributor. Here’s a summary of what’s known so far. 1. The loan was to Building Committee Inc. (BCI), a business owned by William Minahan, a Walker political contributor (and Minahan made contributions to other campaigns,…
Business, City, Government Spending, Health, Local Government, Marketing, Planning, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
First Vendor Presentation of 1.21.14 to Whitewater’s Common Council
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 8 in a series. First Vendor Presentation of 1.21.14 to Whitewater Common Council from John Adams on Vimeo. In this post, I’ll look at the first vendor presentation on the digester proposal to Whitewater’s Common Council. (Every question in this series has a unique number, assigned chronologically based on when it was asked. All…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Gluttony, Government Spending, Marketing, WEDC
WEDC Slowly Crumbles
by JOHN ADAMS •
WEDC ‘CEO’ Reed Hall Looks Downcast. You Would, Too, If You’d Disgraced All Wisconsin Yet Again. AP Photo. On a Friday afternoon, there’s breaking news across Wisconsin. Having rejected free markets in capital, labor, and goods for cronyism and ineffectual manipulation of the economy, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation now slowly crumbles: Scott Walker calls…
Business, City, Government Spending, Health, Local Government, Waste Digesters, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Fifteen Months Later, at the School Board
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 7 in a series. 3.16.15 Wastewater & Waste Importation Presentation to Whitewater Unified School District from John Adams on Vimeo. Jump ahead almost fifteen months, from 12.3.13 to 3.16.15, and City Manager Clapper and Wastewater Superintendent Reel are at the Whitewater Unified School District. Months later, and millions in spending requests, but still lots…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, WEDC
WEDC Develops Its Own Foreign Aid Program
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that a big-business recipient of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s taxpayer-funded largesse is moving a plant and jobs…to Mexico: WATERTOWN (WKOW) — A global power systems management corporation that has received nearly $370,000 in tax incentives from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) since 2012 is shipping jobs from Wisconsin to Mexico for…
Business, Science/Nature, Technology
Test Flight of Blue Origin Spaceship
by JOHN ADAMS •
Blue Origin, a private spaceflight company, tested its New Shepard spaceship yesterday. The capsule tested properly, but the engineers were unable to recover the rocket booster (as they had hoped they would be able to do). Still, the launch alone demonstrates progress, and certainly impresses. See, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Launches Private Spaceship Test Flight…
Business, Film, Poll
Friday Poll: Godzilla as Tourism Ambassador?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Godzilla as Japanese Tourism Ambassador View image | gettyimages.com One reads that the [f]ire-breathing, building-stomping Godzilla was welcomed to Tokyo on Thursday, but as a sign of prosperity rather than destruction. The violent radioactive monster was appointed special resident and tourism ambassador for Shinjuku ward, known for its bars and noodle restaurants. A Godzilla-size head…
Business, City, Cycling, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, Health, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government, Planning
The Common Council Session for 1.20.15: Complete Streets
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted briefly yesterday on Tuesday’s Common Council meeting, and in that post mentioned that I would look a bit more at some of the remarks for, or against, the Complete Streets ordinance that passed Tuesday night. (I supported the ordinance.) Council discussed this issue previously, on December 16th. See, Common Council 12/16/2014. I’ve included…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, State Government
WEDC: Those Who Can’t Do, Lobby
by JOHN ADAMS •
One of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s many incompetent leaders, Ryan Murray, is leaving behind his controversial, failed role at the WEDC to become a lobbyist. Jobs agency official becomes lobbyist @ JS All Politics Blog reports on Murray’s shabby move: The No. 2 official at the state’s jobs agency has left the agency to…
Agriculture, Business, Food, Law, Press
Gazette Thinks Janesvillians Are Too Stupid to Buy Milk of Their Own Choice
by JOHN ADAMS •
Among the items in its ‘Monday Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down’ editorial, the Gazette argues against allowing Wisconsinites to drink organic milk (subscription req’d). It’s not merely that the paper’s editorial board thinks that drinking raw imprudent (pointing to illness from a recent incident), it’s that the board thinks sales should remain illegal. Without a law, the…