? This Tuesday, November 13th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Last Flag Flying @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: Last Flag Flying (Drama/Comedy/War) Tuesday, November 13 12:30 pm Rated R (violence, profanity) 2 hours, 5 minutes (2017) Shown in observance of Veterans Day Thirty years after they served…
City
Blogging, City
Assorted Items on a Big Day
by JOHN ADAMS •
A few assorted items on a big day: Elections. I’ve no firm idea how any of the major contests nationally, statewide, or locally will go. It does seem clear that many contests have, in fact, been nationalized. How this will affect the final vote in our area (both in the city and townships immediately nearby)…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Crony Capitalism, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Mendacity, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
Foxconn: Failure & Fraud
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are two national publications with recent updates on the Foxconn project, and each report highlights fundamental problems with the billions in public subsidies for that foreign corporation. Here’s a roundup of the latest on this dodgy corporate welfare: Bruce Murphy (writing online for national tech site The Verge) reports Wisconsin’s $4.1 Billion Foxconn Boondoggle (“Gov.…
City, School District
The Whitewater Schools’ Operational Referendum
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater Schools have an operational referendum on the ballot this November. The referendum figures, for a conventional four-year term, will allow the district to continue regular programming and services without interruption. Nothing in this operational request involves more capital (construction) or expansion of services – the amounts authorized will simply allow Whitewater’s schools to…
City, Holiday
Boo! Scariest Things in Whitewater, 2018
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the twelfth annual FREE WHITEWATER list of the scariest things in Whitewater. (The 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 editions are available for comparison.) The list runs in reverse order, from mildly scary to truly frightening. 10. Illuminated Signs. There’s a nice-looking new sign in front of our high…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Culture, Misconduct, Nepotism, Public Relations, Sexual Harassment, That Which Paved the Way, University, UW System
0, 448, 476, 84
by JOHN ADAMS •
0 Number of published words from Chancellor Beverly Kopper in support of five complainants alleging sexual assault or harassment from her publicly appointed assistant-to-the-chancellor spouse. 448 Number of published words from Chancellor Beverly Kopper in reply to one remark from a single sportscaster during a single Packers preseason game. (It’s not that one shouldn’t reply…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, October 30th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, A Quiet Place
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, October 30th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of A Quiet Place @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: A Quiet Place (Drama/Horror) Tuesday, October 30 12:30 pm Rated PG-13. 1 hour, 30 min. (2018) In a Post-Apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in total silence while…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Crony Capitalism, Development, Economy, Employment, Foxconn, Government Spending, Poverty, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC
In Whitewater and Elsewhere, Employment’s Only Part of the Story
by JOHN ADAMS •
In times of high unemployment, of course it makes sense to get people back to work. Jobs, jobs, jobs isn’t a bad mantra when people don’t have work. (Work isn’t simply about an income, but a place in society.) Today is not, however, the Great Depression. Listen to ‘development professionals’ go on about job-creation at…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Crony Capitalism, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
Foxconn’s Predatory Reliance on Eminent Domain
by JOHN ADAMS •
Taiwanese-owned Foxconn is relying on eminent domain to seize Wisconsinites’ private homes for the sake of that foreign company’s project. Principles of eminent domain, sadly, have been vastly increased since a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision expanded government’s power to take from ordinary homeowners, among others. Those expanded governmental powers mean that residents who lose their…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Culture, Misconduct, Nepotism, Sexual Harassment, That Which Paved the Way, University, UW System
A Defense That’s Worse Than Nothing
by JOHN ADAMS •
Retired UW-Whitewater professor Brian Kevin Beck contends that Kopper shouldn’t leave [the] Chancellor post. (Candidly, there’s a chance that his defense is so bad that it’s an intentional parody of a defense. It’s hard to believe anyone who served on a worthy faculty could reason so poorly.) Beck argues that (1) misconduct involving Kopper’s public…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, October 23rd, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, The Rider
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, October 23rd at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Rider @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: The Rider (Drama/Western) Tuesday, October 23 12:30 pm Rated R (language). 1 hour, 44 min. (2017) After suffering a near-fatal head injury, a young cowboy/rodeo rider undertakes a search for a…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Crony Capitalism, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Free Market, Government Spending, Local Government, Mendacity, Open Government, Politics, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Tony Evers, WEDC, Wisconsin
The Walker Cabinet Officers’ Open Letter
by JOHN ADAMS •
Four cabinet secretaries of the Walker Administration have come forward to criticize the governor, and three of them have co-written an open letter against Walker’s relentless emphasis on political gain over sound policies. One of the signatories of the letter is Paul Jadin, who was Walker’s first Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation leader. It says all…
City, Elections, Never Trump, Politics, Trump
Hyper-Local Politics is Finished (It’s Just That Not Everyone Sees it Yet)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Hyper-localism in politics has affected – and harmed – Whitewater and countless other small towns. The idea that there were better local standards on economics, open government, and politics than the best American standards was always a truly risible conceit. The best standards on these matters were always broad and wide. (See How Many Rights for…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Culture, Ethics, Misconduct, Nepotism, That Which Paved the Way, University, UW System
Another ‘Advisory Council’ Isn’t What Whitewater Needs
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater has a same-ten-people problem, derived from a few people living behind (metaphorically) a narrow and high perimeter fence, with those few often producing mediocre work, while the city’s economy stagnates. And yet, and yet – one reads that even during the third investigation for sexual harassment & assault concerning the relative she appointed, supervised,…