This Tuesday, May 14th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Mule @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: “The Mule” (Crime/Drama/Thriller) Tuesday, May 14, 12:30 pm Rated R (Language; violence) 1 hour, 56 minutes (2018). Based on a true story: a 90-year-old retired horticulturist and Korean War veteran…
City
America, Babbittry, City, History, New Media, Newspapers, Press, Social Media, Writing
The Media’s ‘Post-Advertising’ Future
by JOHN ADAMS •
Nationally and locally, the media (whether profit or non-profit) continue their significant transformation: the decline of print, the rise of (interactive) digital media, and the collapse of a middle-of-the-road partnership of boosterism between mediocre newspapers and middling officials. Print’s doomed, and so is digital that merely repeats the same banal style of contemporary print. Traditional…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, April 30th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, If Beale Street Could Talk
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, April 30th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of If Beale Street Could Talk @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: If Beale Street Could Talk (Drama/Romance/Crime) Tuesday, April 30th, 12:30 pm Rated R (language, sexual content). 1 hour, 59 min. (2018) Based on the book by James…
Bad Ideas, Business, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economics, Economy, Environment, Foxconn, Government Spending, Local Government, Speaker Vos, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC, Wisconsin
Foxconn: The Closer One Gets, The Worse It Is
by JOHN ADAMS •
There is, about Foxconn in Wisconsin, a fair amount of ignorant insistence that there will be supply chain opportunities, etc. Public employees talking about the Foxconn project’s supposed benefit is the practical equivalent letting them recite limericks or play sheepshead: it’s not productive. For those near Foxconn, however, that project is more than wasteful talk:…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Culture, Nepotism, Public Relations, Sexual Harassment, That Which Paved the Way, University, UW System
Third Investigation: ‘Up to 10 students, faculty report being harassed by former UW-Whitewater chancellor’s husband’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Originally posted 4.19.19. One reads today, in a Good Friday records release from the UW System, that Up to 10 students, faculty report being harassed by former UW-Whitewater chancellor’s husband: An investigation into the husband of former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Chancellor Beverly Kopper found that at least seven and up to 10 students or staff…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, April 23rd, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, April 23rd at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Can You Ever Forgive Me? @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Biography/Comedy/Drama/Crime) Tuesday, April 23rd, 12:30 pm Rated R (Language); 1 hour, 46 min. (2018). When biographer/profiler Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy) no longer finds…
Bigotry, City, Economy, Herrenvolk, Immigration, Local Government, Mendacity, Trump
An Answer to Trump: Welcome All
by JOHN ADAMS •
So Trump claims – absurdly – that America is full, and that contrary to the law he might send asylum seekers and migrants to sanctuary cities. Oakland’s mayor, Libby Schaaf, gave Trump the reply he deserved (and a reply that a just and well-ordered society should expect): Trump: ….So interesting to see the Mayor of…
CDA, City, Conflicts of Interest, Federal Government, Local Government, Taxes/Taxation, Trump
Trump’s Tax Returns
by JOHN ADAMS •
If Trump wanted his tax returns to remain private, then he should not have run for public office. So many men want to be private figures and public officials at the same time, opportunistically claiming one role or another as it suits them. Small-town Whitewater has had a problem like this for years: tiny notables…
Charity, City, Education, Poverty, Press Release, School District
What Matters, What Doesn’t
by JOHN ADAMS •
Some contrasts are so clear that, on seeing them, one can tell immediately what matters and what does not: Number of homeless students in Whitewater School District reaches ‘crisis level’: The number of homeless students in [Dr. Lanora] Heim’s district last school year was more than double what it was three years ago—going from…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, April 9th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, The Favourite
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, April 9th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Favourite @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: The Favourite (Biography/Comedy/Drama/History) Tuesday, April 9th, 12:30 pm Rated R (Strong sexual content, nudity, language); 1 hour, 59 min. (2018) A brilliant, stunning, comedic, feminine tour-de-force historical costume drama. In…
CDA, City, Elections, Local Government, Wisconsin
Local Election Roundup 2019
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin’s spring general election is over, and a quick discussion follows. For unofficial results, see the pages for Walworth, Jefferson, and Rock counties. Wisconsin Supreme Court. This was a close election, but for supporters of Lisa Neubauer (as I am), it’s a disappointing result. Neubauer performed not as well overall as Rebecca Dallet last year,…
City, Development, Economy, Parodies, Poverty, That Which Paved the Way
Really, Really Urgent CDA Announcement!
by JOHN ADAMS •
Shortly after booting my computer this April 1st morning, I found staring back at me the following Really Really Urgent Message from the “Whitewater Community Development Authority.” Perhaps it has something to do with a recent excuse-making press release story at the Gazette. News Release: April 1, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (this means now!) Really…
City, Courts, Elections
Local Elections 2019: Municipal Court (Part 4 of 4)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater has a municipal court, and since a municipal court then a municipal judge presiding over that court. In the course of the campaign between Chad Buehler and Patrick Taylor, the candidates have discussed questions of experience, background, and perspective. They’ve both offered outlines of how they would serve, but they both face this same…
Bad Ideas, City, Elections, Government Spending, Local Government
Local Elections 2019: City Council (Part 3 of 4)
by JOHN ADAMS •
In 1926, Hugo Gernsback began publishing Amazing Stories, an American science fiction magazine of fantastic, but entertaining, tales. The magazine was benign: even if the stories described impossible or improbable events, they caused no practical harm. One cannot say the same about lingering fantasies of fiscal and economic policy in Whitewater, Wisconsin: they produce real…