Director Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 is set for release on August 14th.  I think it’s likely to be a surprise hit.  The South African director’s science fiction film recounts the arrival and confinement, to the title’s residential district in Johannesburg, of a group of peaceful extraterrestrials who land nearby.  They languish in District 9 for…

I’ve received the following press release that I am happy to post — OLD FASHIONED ICE CREAM SOCIAL The Walworth County Genealogical Society will meet Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 7:00 PM, for the Annual Ice Cream Social at the Community Centre, 826 E. Geneva Street, Delavan. Members will bring a variety of toppings for and…

  Shocked?    I’ve heard people espouse all sorts of rules of conduct, of propriety.  One will hear that people should not chew gum, talk about religion or politics at table, etc.  It’s always a lecture about what’s appropriate, proper, civilized.  Often, it’s about what’s not appropriate, from a scold’s point-of-view — there’s often someone to…

There’s story, entitled “Cats ‘exploit’ humans by purring” on the BBC website.  The study to which the BBC refers, one conducted at the University of Sussex, contends that  Researchers at the University of Sussex have discovered that cats use a “soliciting purr” to overpower their owners and garner attention and food. Unlike regular purring, this…

The federal stimulus – countless billions for almost everything – is supposed to stimulate something, after all. It’s not only slow in arriving, but reaches less needy communities, and is often used as a budget fill-in rather than a true catalyst. The Government Accounting Office audit is available at

Good morning, Whitewater In Wisconsin history on this date, the first, but perhaps not last, time someone in Wisconsin considered himself a king: 1850 – James Jesse Strang Crowned King On this date James Jesse Strang, leader of the estranged Mormon faction, the Strangites, was crowned king; the only man to achieve such a title…

I posted yesterday on Governor Doyle’s failure to comply with state travel expense policies. The State Journal correctly observes that “Everyone else has to carefully document their business travel expenses. So should Wisconsin’s governor.” Until then, he’s free to try Whitewater’s failed political culture of double standards, excuse-making, and blame-shifting. Guv’s Sloppy Records Don’t Fly

I received the following press release that I am happy to post:  Understand the Activity Needs of Persons with Dementia  Program for professionals to offer guidance and insight Milwaukee, WI – June 25, 2009 – The Racine / Kenosha Professionals Dementia Care Network, a program of the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Racine County Aging and…

In our small town, with the added needs of customers at cafés during the summer, there is no reason leaders of our police department could not patrol regularly in the summer. If we are short-staffed, then those who lead might regularly walk through our downtown. To whom much is given, much is expected. Not the…

It’s odd and funny sometimes how a merchant will hear, from some on Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Common Council, how his or her business desires are not legitimate, not the right desires. Not from everyone in office, but from some. This took two forms at the June 16th Common Council meeting. First, one heard from our oldest…

Our last Common Council meeting is available online.  (See, Whitewater Common Council, 6/16/09.)   Over half an hour into the meeting, there was discussion of sidewalk cafés for some establishments near the Cravath lakefront.  The Council had a first reading of an amendment to the local ordinance application to these cafés.  There were two proposed changes…

I’ve some catching up to do on our last Common Council meeting.  The last Police and Fire Commission meeting had a posted agenda so short that it was easy to tease about it.  The agenda crammed item after item, including two police officer interviews, into a proposed 20 minute window.  (See, Whitewater’s Latest Police and Fire Commission…

I’ve contended previously that, whatever the trouble with the State of Wisconsin’s budget, municipal and school district declarations that cuts made were forced as a consequence of declining state aid masks the responsibility and accountability for choosing one cut over another.  (See, Inbox: Reader Mail — Budget Cuts, General and Specific,  Inbox: Reader Mail —…