Good morning, Whitewater. Saturday in town looks to be lovely, with sunny skies and a high of fifty-nine. Sunrise is 7:01 AM and sunset 6:22 PM, for 11h 20m 46s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 45.3% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire begins:…
Daily Adams
Daily Adams, Militarized Policing
Militarized Policing Primer
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
From the Cato Institute, links to articles and a podcast that describe the dangers of militarized policing: The clampdown in Ferguson highlights the dangers of our drift toward paramilitary policing, as well as the broader trend of law-enforcement lawlessness documented by Cato’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project. “Police Militarization in Ferguson — and Your Town,”…
Crime, Daily Adams, Local Government, Official Misconduct, Photography, Police, Technology
Local Policing and Point-of-View Cameras
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There’s a story about my town’s (Whitewater, Wisconsin’s) decision to equip its on-patrol officers with point-of-view cameras. A small video camera will record officer interactions with residents. Reportedly, all interactions will be recorded, and at the end of each shift, officers [will] download all videos into a general file that would get deleted automatically after…
Daily Adams, Presidential race 2012
The Debates & Predictive Markets
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I follow the presidential predictive markets from Intrade and the Iowa Electronic Markets from the University of Iowa. One can watch how shares are bought and sold, in response to debate performances or any other campaign-related developments. The aftermath of the first debate saw Gov. Romney’s share price rise; Pres. Obama’s shares are seeing a…
Daily Adams, Presidential race 2012, Wisconsin
Which Romney for Wisconsin?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In January, looking ahead to Wisconsin’s big political year, I thought that Gov. Walker would be recalled in June, and Gov. Romney would win both Wisconsin and the presidency in November. The first prediction was well off-the-mark. (Gov. Walker actually did better in 2012 than he did in 2010.) The November contest is yet ahead,…
Daily Adams, Libertarians
Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson as the antidote to Koch Bros. scheming
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Every four years, it’s sure to be a libertarian, and a Libertarian, year. It may sometimes be the former, but it has never been the latter. Hope rises yet again, this time in the candidacy of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, now seeking the LP 2012 nomination. If recent polls are right, he has…
Daily Adams, Libertarians
FreedomWorks sides with Cato against the Koch Brothers
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The Tea Party activists at FreedomWorks have now condemned Charles and David Koch’s war to control the Cato Institute. Though they value independence themselves, they’ve received Koch money, and funding like that softens resolve. To their credit, FreedomWorks stayed true to their oft-professed belief in independence: The work of the Cato Institute – producing top…
Daily Adams, Politics, Recall
The Wisconsin Democrats’ Recall Strategy
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Here in the land of recall primaries and recall general elections (5.8.12 and 6.5.12 respectively), the WisDems have a strategy that’s light on collective bargaining, but big on education, legislative issues perceived to be affecting women disproportionately, and Walker’s honesty & candor. Writing in Mother Jones, Andy Kroll describes the tack the Dems plan to…
Daily Adams, Elections, Recall
Are Kathleen Falk’s union backers the best thing that ever happened to rival Tom Barrett?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In the Wisconsin recall battle, could Tom Barrett have any better asset than the unions who favor Kathleen Falk over him? Nietzsche would say no: Any union criticism of theirs that doesn’t kill him actually makes him stronger. Falk trails the late-entering Barrett for the race to challenge Scott Walker, and she’s desperately willing to…
Daily Adams, Presidential race 2012
Argue Against Obama Seriously or Not at All
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Libertarians harm themselves when they criticize Pres. Obama in the simpleminded way that the Right does. The Kochs may be sure that more and more money into Americans for Prosperity will defeat Pres. Obama, but we have reason to doubt that it will work (the GOP candidates will have choppy sailing), and those GOP candidates…
Corruption Probe, Daily Adams, Gov. Walker, Law, Politics
Wisconsin’s Shoddy Partisan Analysis
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Wisconsin has a fuller political calendar than most states: we’ve not merely the traditional state and federal races, but recall elections likely for May and June. A libertarian will look at these issues with sharp interest, but without a partisan attachment. Perhaps all those contests, sure to be fought tooth and nail, have made some…
Daily Adams, Libertarians
Where are all the libertarians coming from?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In Britain, The Independent’s Anton Howes wonders where all the libertarians are coming from. He sees the trend: There’s a silent revolution happening on campuses across the world. Libertarian activism is on the rise. Political figures like Ron Paul have started to draw huge support from younger voters, but the trend seems to be much…