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City, Common Council, Coronavirus, Local Government, Open Government, Public Health

About That Proposed, Temporary Mask Ordinance for Whitewater, Wisconsin

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So, there’s a proposed, temporary mask ordinance before the Whitewater Common Council tonight. Needless to say, there’s been a lot of talk about the measure (and so a lot of emails sent my way – thanks much for these messages). Readers have asked what I think of the proposal. I’ve offered a simple answer: I’d…

Conspiracy Theories, Coronavirus, Culture, Disinformation, Education, Free Markets, Public Health

The Price of Ignorance is Widely Paid

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As nationwide chains take sensible measures to require masks, ordinary workers at those chains find themselves the underserving recipients of abuse. Kelli Weill reports Walmart Workers Are Terrified of Enforcing Mask Rules: Even in a time of record unemployment, some of Dan’s colleagues at an Indiana Walmart have walked off the job. They aren’t quitting over…

City, Coronavirus, Public Health, Public Meetings, School District

Whitewater Schools’ Community Focus Group, 7.8.20

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The Whitewater Unified School District held a community focus group on 7.8.20 via Zoom about public schools opening in the fall. A video of the recorded meeting is embedded above. There have also been other, in-person meetings over the last ten days. A few remarks:  Translated. The focus group had, sensibly, a Spanish language translator.…

America, Coronavirus, History, Public Health, Trump

America Behind the World

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Paul Waldman looks at covid-19 cases from Monday, 7.13.20: Let’s begin with the situation in other countries. Here are new case totals from Monday for a few of our peer countries: France: 580 UK: 564 Spain: 546 Germany: 365 Canada: 299 Japan: 259 Italy: 200 Australia: 158 South Korea: 52 And the United States? 55,300.…

City, Coronavirus, Local Government, Public Health, Radio, University

Radio Interview on UW-Whitewater’s Plans for the Fall

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Yesterday, UW-Whitewater’s Chancellor, Dr. Dwight Watson, and Communications Director, Jeff Angileri, gave a radio interview with WCLO about their plans for a fall semester during a pandemic. The interview is available online as an audio file. A few remarks: A College Town. There’s a difference between a town with a college and a college town,…

Coronavirus, Covidiocy, Culture, Libertarians, Liberty, Public Health

Individual Responsibility in Conditions of Pandemic

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Economist Robert Samuelson, writing Americans are historically unhappy. But there’s a lesson to learn here, observes that The connecting threads of these pessimistic surveys are the novel coronavirus and its devastating impact on the economy. Nearly everyone is affected in one way or another. There’s a clash between America’s individualistic culture (“You can’t make me wear…

Coronavirus, Covidiocy, Public Health

Brazilian Pres. Bolsonaro defied health guidelines before testing positive for the coronavirus

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For months, even as the coronavirus pandemic grew into a debilitating national crisis, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro did everything he could to downplay it. He called on people to return to normal. He waded into crowds of supporters. He repeatedly described it as nothing more than a little flu. Now Brazil is experiencing the world’s…