Inishturk, Ireland, has a population of 58 and its people—according to a widely circulated Internet rumor—have offered refuge to any Americans who want to flee from a Donald Trump presidency. This charming documentary by MEL Films, Make Inishturk Great Again, takes us to the sparsely inhabited island to get the locals’ perspectives on America, the…
Politics
Blogging, Politics
Lyrics from Hamilton
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
If you’ve not heard the cast recording from Hamilton, you’re missing out – it’s memorable from first to last. Although I’m not big on standalone quotes, here’s one, from that musical’s Washington on Your Side, that’s both memorable and, I think, often figuratively true: If there’s a fire you’re trying to douse, You can’t put it out from…
Politics
An Ideological Conservative on the GOP
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Over at the Journal Sentinel, while lamenting his party’s current politics, conservative Christian Schneider quotes from a Courtney Barnett song: “I must confess I’ve made a mess of what should be a small success.” Now I’m a libertarian, but well aware of how many ideological conservatives feel out of place in Trump’s GOP. Schneider is…
Libertarians, Politics, Presidential race 2016
Johnson-Weld 2016
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Occasionally, someone will ask me how I’ll be voting this fall. I’m a libertarian, from an old libertarian family, and it’s an easy choice for me: Johnson-Weld 2016. Here’s a video in which Gov. Johnson and Gov. Weld introduce themselves. They offer America a principled alternative, and would assure us a government, among other things,…
Elections, Politics, School District
About a Survey
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
I promised last week that I would write about a recent survey that seemed to rely on a skewed, unrepresentative sample. The survey and some printed accounts of it have been available, but the recording of the 6.6.16 meeting at which the results were initially presented does not seem to be available online for readers. …
City, Economy, Politics
The Other Problem with Bad Data
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Surveys, polls, and studies by their nature typically rely on the measurement of something. (They’re not poetry; they’re not song.) The accuracy of that measurement should matter, both to those collecting it and those receiving it. It should matter in-and-of itself, and for its consequences. Many communities, including Whitewater, have had a data problem: a…
Humor, Politics
A Generic Presidential Campaign Ad
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Do you remember when Gen. MacArthur called for dedication to ‘Duty, Honor, Country, and Local Government’?
by JOHN ADAMS • • 6 Comments
Do you remember when Gen. MacArthur called for dedication to ‘Duty, Honor, Country, and Local Government’? Neither do I. He called, of course, for dedication to Duty, Honor, Country. It wouldn’t have occured to him to exhort a commitment to municipal government. America speaks – when she speaks most movingly – in the language of…
City, Politics
The Search for a Majority in Whitewater (Identity Politics Won’t Get You There)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
I posted yesterday about the search for a majority in Whitewater. A political majority, whether temporary or permanent, requires three satisfied conditions: (1) a means of communications, (2) an understanding of the demographics of one’s audience, and (3) an issue around which a majority will form. More means of communication are better than fewer, but we have ample…
Business, City, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Politics
The Growth That Uplifts
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In a recent interview, Ana Revenga, senior director of the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Group, talks about ending extreme poverty. See, Ending Extreme Poverty: World Bank Economist Ana Revenga @ The Christian Century. (The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1.90 per person per day, and the article describes how…
City, Culture, Politics, Puzzles/Tricks
The Colors of a Rubik’s Cube
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Imagine that one sees a Rubik’s Cube for the first time, on a table nearby. Three sides of that six-sided object are visible, displaying small squares of red, blue, and white. Consider this initial puzzle: What colors are the other three sides? How would one determine, with confidence, the colors on those sides obscured from…
City, Culture, Economy, Politics, School District, University
The City Never Sleeps
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
In the broadest, figurative sense, Whitewater never sleeps. Like any other place, she’s constantly changing, either to her benefit or detriment, but changing nonetheless. (It’s only the parochial myth that she’s already achieved a level of perfection that obscures the obvious truth of constant flux.) Glance away, for one day or forty, and when one…
Elections, Politics, Walworth County
On Wisconsin’s 2.16.16 Primary
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Results are in from yesterday’s February primary, and there are a few clues about the April 5th election, with one big uncertainty. First, the obvious uncertainty. The Republican and Democratic presidential races have offered surprises, and will likely offer more. One or both major-party contests may still be raging by 4.5.16. Ongoing interest in either, or…
Elections, Elkhorn, Politics, Walworth County
The Walworth County Circuit Court Race (Preliminaries)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
One may say two things, preliminarily, about the Walworth County Circuit Court race: It’s a race between generally conservative candidates; there are no left-right differences of significance. Incumbent District Attorney Dan Necci, after only briefly serving in that role, is running with almost no local, official support for his candidacy from among those with whom…