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City, Coronavirus, Economy

What Changes After the Pandemic?

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 Megan McArdle, writing at the Washington Post, speculates about What changes after covid-19? I’m betting on everything.  She’s thinking about the other side of the pandemic, when the worst has subsided, and we are no longer here but instead there. Her forecast focuses on technological changes likely in the wake of the COVID-19: But on closer…

Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Conflicts of Interest, Culture, Ethics, Local Government, Never Trump, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, Trumpism

Before Man & Movement, That Which Paved the Way

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Trump did not spring from the ground; he did not fall from the stars. Neither horticulture nor astrophysics played any role in his rise. Before Trump and Trumpism, there were towns and cities into which he and his movement found receptive audiences. Patients already ill are often susceptible of worse maladies. So it has been…

America, City, Culture, Ethics, Never Trump, Politics, School District, Trump

They’ve Become What They Once Despised

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The greatest tragedies are injuries inflicted on the innocent. There are, however, other sad moments of our time, among them the collapse of responsibile conservatism into Trumpian irresponsibility & dishonesty. So many conservatives have become what they once despised. A local example would be proud conservatives who now insist, nationally or locally, that government is…

City, Holiday

Boo! Scariest Things in Whitewater, 2020

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Here’s the fourteenth annual FREE WHITEWATER list of the scariest things in Whitewater. (The 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 editions are available for comparison.) The list runs in reverse order, from mildly scary to truly frightening. 10. Radicals and Rhinoceroses. So there’s an idea, having bubbled up over…

Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Culture

Boosterism’s Cousin, Toxic Positivity

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In political life, boosterism is the overzealous promotion of officials or programs while ignoring actual conditions (particularly conditions of the disadvantaged). It’s wrong and repulsive. (An acknowledgement worth making: I have never criticized boosterism because of a personal concern. My life is comfortable; objections to political boosterism are deep-seated in me as a matter of learning.) Civilizations…

CDA, City, Development, Government Spending, Local Government, Poverty, WEDC

Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 10.20.20: Basics and Buildings

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The Whitewater Common Council met briefly last night, 10.20.20. The agenda for the meeting is available, and a recording of the session appears above. Two different topics are worth noting (for different reasons): autumn leaf collection and a building rehabilitation project. A few remarks —  1. Leaf collection. The city has many homes & apartments, the homes…

Budget, CDA, City, Government Spending, Local Government, Open Government

Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 10.6.20: 9 Points

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The Whitewater Common Council last met on 10.6.20. The agenda for the meeting is available, and a recording of the early October session appears above. (As always, the best record is a recording.) Council discussed, among other items, Trick or Treating during the pandemic, a preliminary city budget, whether to return to in-person council meetings,…

City, Film

Film: Tuesday, October 13th, 10 AM or 1 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Irresistible

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This Tuesday, October 13th at 10 AM or 1 PM,  there will be a showing of Irresistible @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: (Comedy/Drama) Rated R (Language) 1 hour, 41 minutes (2020) In a small northern Wisconsin town, retired Marine Colonel/farmer Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper) becomes a national star when a YouTube video of his protest…

City, Coronavirus, Local Government, Public Health, School District, University

September Arrives: Consequences Will Settle Claims

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Posted originally on 9.1.20 —  A reminder that, for a thousand discussions, predictions, warnings, or assurances — “what has been predicted about the pandemic & economy will prove true or false as against daily events and their consequences.” Original post follows —  September arrives. Small-town Whitewater, like all America, wrestles with a pandemic and a…