From enduring opinion, one often hears that small towns are places of folksy and humble people. Small-town America is meant to be unpretentious. We should be clear with ourselves: America is meant to be unpretentious, a rejection of the tyranny of status and title so much a part of the Old World. And yet, and…

Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ January 2010 Newsletter is now available, and the latest issue includes a calendar of upcoming LWV events. A copy of the newsletter [2/6/10– latest issue] is available as a link on my blogroll, and through a document service called Scribd. Scribd offers its own link to the document, with the…

I’ve offered predictions for 2010, but here’s something different: a list of topics for this website in the year ahead. It’s sure to change, but here are a few broad topics that interest me. 1. The Press. Nothing would improve our local politics more than a strong local press. Not blogs, but a local press…

Here’s my local, amateur version of (the now late) William Safire’s tradition of offering annual predictions, when he was at the New York Times. The list for 2010: 1. In 2010, the University will win the following number of national sports championships: A. None B. One C. Two D. More than two 2. A new…

Here is my early January 2009 post with predictions for the year. How did I do? Results below the post…. Here’s my local, amateur version, in honor of former columnist [the late] William Safire’s long-standing tradition, of offering annual predictions. The list for 2009: 1. In 2009, the University will win the following number of…

By early January, Wisconsin law requires citizens declare their candidacies for local office, as challengers, incumbents seeking re-election, or incumbents who will not seek re-election, having tormented their communities enough during their current terms. In Whitewater, there will be some incumbents seeking another term, on our common council or school board. It’s sure to be…

There’s a second part of Whitewater’s budget that deserves special mention – the purchase of additional insurance in the event of municipal sewer backups. I wrote at length, months ago, of the unfortunate situation of a homeowner who experienced an expensive sewer backup while serving in Afghanistan. There was a meeting of the Whitewater common…

We are a city of fourteen thousand, with a public school district, and a college campus, and so have grown used to the idea that almost everything costs a million dollars or more. People in the know say that these large sums are just the cost of doing business, as though government were really in…

Two hundred-thirty six years ago, a group of patriots dumped tea into Boston Harbor as a protest against British taxation, and really, British rule, generally. America was born as an independent nation, spread across a continent, and built the most prosperous society in the world in the years since. While we have grown in so…