A sensible person would never have listened to a Walker Administration operative in Whitewater tout Foxconn without laughing or looking about for a nearby tomato. No sensible person would have made that operative a guest speaker at an annual dinner or written about the event without criticism. (See, about that Greater Whitewater Committee dinner and that…
City
City, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, That Which Paved the Way
The 2019 Municipal Budget
by JOHN ADAMS •
The City of Whitewater will hold a public hearing this evening on its 2019 municipal budget. It’s the budget for the city, at a time when a budget for the municipal government will have little chance of positively affecting the city’s economy, let alone that of even small rural townships ringing Whitewater. The broader economic…
City, Economy
Low Growth as Decline
by JOHN ADAMS •
Forecasters are understandably interested in when America will experience another recession, but in Trump and the slowing economy, Jared Bernstein observes that a declining rate of growth can feel like a recession to those who experience the decline: If I told you the real GDP growth rate was going to fall from 3.5 to 1.5 percent, you might…
Babbittry, City, Culture, Local Government, Politics, School District, University
The Beauty & Opportunity of Ordinary Time
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the calendar of the Church, Ordinary Time is that part of the year between the seasons of Advent, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. Perhaps it seems less momentous to some, but Ordinary Time is no less important, offering as it does “time for growth and maturation.” Far from being a lesser time, I find it beautiful…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, November 27th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Ocean’s Eight
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, November 27th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Ocean’s Eight @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building: Ocean’s Eight (Action/Comedy/Crime) Tuesday, November 27 @ 12:30 pm Rated PG-13. 1 hour, 50 minutes (2018) Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) gathers an all-female crew to pull off an impossible heist at…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Mendacity, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
Foxconn Roundup: Desperately Ill Edition
by JOHN ADAMS •
Before and after the recent election, solid assessments on Foxconn came to press, and they confirm how irrational and wasteful is that project. Earlier this year, the local business lobby (the Greater Whitewater Committee) invited the state capitalist stooge official overseeing the project to a dinner in Whitewater. I’ve no idea whether Matt Moroney will show…
City, School District
School Board Meeting of 11.19.18
by JOHN ADAMS •
The City of Whitewater’s Vimeo page now has a copy of the school board meeting of last night. (For more about the cable access programming that took the place of the live meeting Monday night, see After the Referendum.) The meeting had a significant agenda, and the session is likely worth watching more than once.…
Bad Ideas, Bigotry, City, History
Confederate Iconography is White Failure (Moral and Economic)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Frances Stead Sellers writes of Confederate pride and prejudice (“Some white Northerners see a flag rooted in racism as a symbol of patriotism”): Ashort walk from where President-elect Abraham Lincoln made the last train stop in his home state before leaving for Washington on the verge of the Civil War, a Confederate battle flag flies…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, November 13th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Last Flag Flying
by JOHN ADAMS •
? 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…
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, Corporate Welfare, 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…