Updated 8.13.19 afternoon with video. Whitewater’s school board met in special session on Monday night, with two main agenda items: hiring a new middle school principal, and considering among several expenditures from five-hundred thousand dollars available to the district. A few points to consider: 1. The school board unanimously selected Chris Fountain, most recently of…
City
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, August 13th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Poms
by JOHN ADAMS •
? This Tuesday, August 13th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Poms @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: Tuesday, August 13th; 12:30 PM (Comedy/Drama) PG-13; 1 hour, 31 minutes (2019) A delightful comedy about a group of women who form a cheerleading squad at their retirement community, proving that…
City, Local Government
Common Council, 8.6.19: 5 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
? Whitewater’s common council met in regular session on Tuesday, 8.6.19, and at that meeting the council selected an applicant to fill a vacant council seat. See Common Council, 8.6.19: The Context of an Appointment. Today, a few other points to consider: 1. Government is not the community; it’s a slice only. While it’s practical…
City, Common Council, Local Government
Common Council, 8.6.19: The Context of an Appointment
by JOHN ADAMS •
? The Whitewater Common Council met in regular session on Tuesday night. A portion of that meeting (video, 2:35-16:58) involved the appointment of a council member to a vacant seat through April 2020. Two students from UW-Whitewater, Zachary Klotz and Matthew Schulgit, applied to fill that vacancy. After remarks from each applicant, and a few…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, July 30th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Vice
by JOHN ADAMS •
? This Tuesday, July 30th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Vice @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: Tuesday, July 30; 12:30 PM (Biography/Drama/Comedy) Rated R (Language; violence); 2 hours, 12 minutes (2018). The story of Dick Cheney, who wielded immense power as Vice President under POTUS 43,…
America, Authoritarianism, City, Culture, Federal Government, Libertarians, Liberty, Local Government, Politics, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Trump-Russia
The Biggest Story of Our Time
by JOHN ADAMS •
In life – at least life in a well-ordered, free society – the highest matters are not political. They are familial, cultural, social – involving greater pursuits than contending over the role of the state. Under this view, one contends over politics (as libertarians do) not because it is too important but because it must…
City, Education, School District
School Board, 7.22.19: 13 Points
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater School Board met on Monday, 7.22.19, and from the agenda there was a brief discussion about the learning that is fundamental to any educational program (about which I wrote yesterday). See School Board, 7.22.19: One Worthy Question. Today, a few other points to consider: 1. It’s a mature board: most members have been…
City, Culture, Economy, Education, Health, Poverty, School District
School Board, 7.22.19: One Worthy Question
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s school board met in regular session on Monday night, with an agenda of 16 items, of varying importance. In a two-hour, open-session discussion of over a dozen items, with topics great and small (and at least one board member as interested in wheedling or badgering himself into future meetings as any deeper question), there…
Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Culture, Philosophy, Religion
That’s Been Done for Generations
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Atlantic has a story, from Faith Hill (not the singer, obviously), about how gatherings of atheists in Secular Churches Rethink Their Sales Pitch (‘They Tried to Start a Church Without God. For a While, It Worked). These groups are learning – like all civic groups – that it’s hard to sustain membership. There’s nothing…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, July 23rd, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Shazam!
by JOHN ADAMS •
? This Tuesday, July 23rd at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Shazam! @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: Tuesday, July 23; 12:30 PM (Action/Adventure/Comedy) Rated PG-13; 2 hours, 12 minutes (2019). As a kid, who didn’t dream of being invincible and able to leap tall buildings in a…
America, City, Film, History, Science/Nature, Space
Apollo 11: NASA and Civilians Remember the Moon Landing
by JOHN ADAMS •
“It was a feeling that went throughout the world, almost like an electric bolt,” one woman remembers of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The lunar landing, which celebrates its 50th anniversary on July 20, is collectively remembered in the film by a handful of the 530 million people who watched the event live on national…
America, City, Cruelty, Culture, Immigration, Liberty, Migrants, Trump
National Ennobles Local
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Film
Film: Wednesday, July 17th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, The Long Gray Line
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Wednesday, July 17th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Long Gray Line @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building: “The Long Gray Line” (Biography/Drama/Sports) Wednesday, July 17, 12:30 pm Rated G; 2 hours, 18 minutes; Technicolor (1955). In 1898, a salt-of-the-earth Irish immigrant, Martin Maher (Tyrone Power), is…
City, Education, School District
Changes at Whitewater Middle School
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that Whitewater Middle School principal Tanya Wojciechowicz has resigned, after a few months in which her departure seemed probable. For those months, one version or another of this post awaited publishing. The best one can now confidently say is that Whitewater Middle School will for months remain a work in progress. It…