FREE WHITEWATER

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 1-28-10

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Good morning,

It’s a chilly forecast for Whitewater, with a predicted high of ten degrees, and blustery skies.

There’s a story over at the tech blog Ars Technica about Pope Benedict XVI, entitled, “Pope: Priests Should Blog, Tweet the Gospel Too.” Naturally, the blogging to which he refers doesn’t concern politics, but rather faith, as the story explains —

The Pope’s speech was posted in advance of the World Day of Communications set to take place in May, and it’s clear that this year, the Pope’s message is all about being active online. He emphasized that it’s not enough to merely be present on the Web—”Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.”

Priests should also make sure they’re getting on board early, becoming familiar with these tools while still in seminary. The Pope noted that the Internet isn’t just an artifact of the past in digital form, but rather a present and engaging medium.

Today’s also a sad day in American history — on this day in 1986, the space shuttle challenger exploded shortly after takeoff, killing all on board:

Cape Canaveral, Fla. Jan. 28 — The space shuttle Challenger exploded in a ball of fire shortly after it left the launching pad today, and all seven astronauts on board were lost.

The worst accident in the history of the American space program, it was witnessed by thousands of spectators who watched in wonder, then horror, as the ship blew apart high in the air.

Flaming debris rained down on the Atlantic Ocean for an hour after the explosion, which occurred just after 11:39 A. M. It kept rescue teams from reaching the area where the craft would have fallen into the sea, about 18 miles offshore.

It seemed impossible that anyone could have lived through the terrific explosion 10 miles in the sky, and officials said this afternoon that there was no evidence to indicate that the five men and two women aboard had survived.

We recovered from that disaster, and another than followed, and we will recover from these listless years of uncertainty and official indifference to exploration. There are good ideas and private ambition, true innovations, and only the beginning of what’s possible, that will assure a future of space travel and exploration.

City, Press

For Whitewater, Wisconsin: No Reckless Pranks Needed

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Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, a group blog of law professors and academics, there’s a post about the unfortunate conduct of James O’Keefe, an activist.

In a post entitled, “One Sting Too Many,” Jonathon Adler writes about allegations against O’Keefe:

It’s one thing to pretend to be a pimp when interviewing ACORN employees. It’s quite another to pretend to be a telephone repairman to gain access to a U.S. Senate office and its telephone system. Apparently noted ACORN-sting film maker James O’Keefe and some compatriots did not see the difference, and are now facing federal charges and the possibility of significant jail time. Politico reports. here.

See, One Sting Too Many.

It’s odd about all this, because the best opportunities for reform – and the only acceptable ones – are lawful avenues of inquiry.

Wisconsin and America offer citizens rights of lawful inquiry seldom exercised in Whitewater. Our Open Meetings Law (WOML, Wis. Stat. ss. 19.81-19.98) and Public Records Law (WPRL Wis. Stat. ss. 19.31-19.39) provide fair and clear rights of information and access.

We have no need for misguided pranks and supposedly daring conduct.

There are problems receiving full and complete compliance under our laws, but there is recourse through the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office, and through supportive press inquiries. It’s not hard, either, to demonstrate officials’ third-rate efforts at obstruction and evasion. Hiding one thing typically reveals others.

Tenacity is required, but only lawful tenacity is necessary, permissible, and worthy of respect. more >>

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 1-27-10

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Good morning,

The forecast calls for a partly sunny day today, with a high of twenty-two degrees.

Over at the Janesville Gazette, there’s a story about a settlement in an case involving charges against Darien Village board members for violations of Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law, “Darien board settles in open meetings case.” (Wisconsin Open Meetings Law, Wis. Stat. § 19.81-19.98.)  

There likely aren’t enough cases like this in Wisconsin, as I’d guess violations are sadly common, and committed with near-impunity.

Helpful information on the Open Meetings Law is available from the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and the Wisconsin Attorney General’s  Office.

It’s a happy anniversary for exploration, discovery, and science: on this day in 1888, the national Geographic Society was founded.  Wired recounts the anniversary:

1888: Bound together by an enthusiasm for geography and travel, a small cadre of distinguished businessmen, explorers, scientists and scholars officially incorporates the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.

What began 122 years ago as a small, elite society for “the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge” is now one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational institutions. Today its mission has a broader theme: “to inspire people to care about the planet.”

….The society’s publication, National Geographic magazine, began printing just 10 months after that founding meeting. It was initially a drab-looking scholarly journal sent to 165 charter members. Now its hallmark photography and more mainstream writing reach the hands of more than 40 million people per month….

From 1899 to 1910, membership grew from 1,400 to 74,000, and in the following 10 years advanced to to 713,000, and then continued to skyrocket. As a result, the society has become one of the largest and most inclusive in the world.

The explosive growth in membership is largely attributed to Grosvenor’s shift in the editorial direction of the magazine at the turn of the 20th century. Inspired by travelogues such as Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle and Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast, he made the magazine more accessible by including first-person narratives and the use of more straightforward, simple prose.

Grosvenor’s other game-changing decision was to feature photography prominently in the magazine. Surprisingly, National Geographic’s hallmark photojournalism began as a desperate attempt to fill 11 pages of the January 1905 issue before it went to press.

There is no tyranny so absolute as a printer’s deadline, but I simply did not have a good manuscript available. A large and rather bulky envelope lay on my desk. Still brooding about the unfilled pages, I opened the package listlessly … then stared with mounting excitement at the enclosures that tumbled out. Before me lay some 50 beautiful photographs of the mysterious city of Lhasa in Tibet.

Grosvenor considered the images so extraordinary that he used them despite the belief that they might cost him his job. But membership response was so positive that it became the genesis of the magazine’s popular appeal.

Uncategorized

Double dip recession risk significant, Martin Feldstein warns – The Globe and Mail

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I have no idea of the likelihood of a double-dip recession, and even Martin Feldstein, a respected economist, won’t lay odds on a second recession.

Still, if the likelihood of another recession grows, the prospect of nothing beyond minimal growth, at best, grows, too.

No better time to reduce public spending, taxes, and regulations.

See, Double dip recession risk significant, Martin Feldstein warns.

City

Searching for Cows in the City of Whitewater

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I sometimes receive questions from faraway places, from readers for whom rural America is the stuff of movies and books, but not direct experience. Someone once asked me how many cows there were in Whitewater. The question’s funny to anyone who lives in the City of Whitewater, Wisconsin, but not to someone who knows that Wisconsin is a major dairy state. The calculation would run like this:

Dairy State + Rural Town = Cows All Over the Place.

That’s not what life here’s like, and I decided to offer out-of-town readers a tour, of sorts. One early morning in December, I decided to take a driving tour of Whitewater, with a voice recorder to store my remarks, and a camera to take a few pictures.

For a trip around town like this, I thought I’d take on a co-pilot. There’s no better company for an expedition than a faithful canine.

My dog agreed, setting only one condition for the trip — that he could have a pseudonym of his own. He thought about it for a moment, mulled different choices, and settled on Dog X. So it would be — Dog X and I would travel around Whitewater by car, looking for cows. It was our brief, around-town homage to Travels with Charley.

I recorded my observations, and have transcribed and reproduced them, in italics, below. I have not printed everything that I recorded, just a few remarks as Dog X and I searched for cows. Interspersed are some photos I took along the way.

….It’s about 9:26, Dog X and I are in the car, we’re going to let the car warm up a bit, and then we’re going to take a trip around Whitewater. We’ll see what we can see, we’ll get some food, and look
for cows around town….This is just a ride through town this morning….Our first stop will be Whitewater’s Municipal Building, the Locus of All Evil in the Modern World. Not as bad as Elkhorn, though.

That’s our county seat, and there we have the closest thing to a modern day Palace of Pandemonium….

I need to get some money from a cash machine, so I’m going to stop, in this case, at the crappiest bank in town. Unfortunately, that would be my bank. I think it’s actually listed that way in the Yellow Pages….

There aren’t a lot of people in town this morning, and it’s below freezing outside. We’ll grab some food before we start….Dog X and I are early-risers, but that’s pretty typical around this community. People get up early, and eat [dinner] early. The only people who don’t get up early are usually bureaucrats….

In Wisconsin, a lot of cash machines are called Tyme machines. I think the person who thought of that became governor, senator, something big, no doubt….

There’s a guy on a bicycle, riding past, but not likely for exercise. It’s awfully cold, but he’s riding for transportation, I think. We tease about other countries where people need to rely on bikes, but we have a lot of poor in Whitewater, and it may the only way for them to get around….

[stop for cash, back to car, off to municipal building]

I stopped at a local coffee shop, not far from a lake in town (Cravath Lake) and the Locus of Evil in the Municipality our Municipal Building. (Note: See how I’ve tempered my words from my narration, ‘locus of all evil’ — to ‘locus of evil in the municipality?’ It shows how delicate I can be.)

I stopped in the coffee shop, purchased a medium latte and a raspberry croissant. The total was only five dollars — far less than one might pay in Chicago or New York. There was local photographers’ work for sale on the walls of the shop, and I promised to l remind myself to stop back for something I liked.

The barista was pleasant and friendly; very typical of most shops in Whitewater. There’s a private charm to our town that political mistakes and excuses cannot obscure.

When I went back to my car, I gave Dog X a biscuit from my coat pocket.

….I’m going to go into the Cravath Lakefront Park now, and get a
picture of the area of the lakefront, and a train depot that’s nearby.

Here’s what they look like:

Lovely, aren’t they? No cows, though.

I’ll take a picture of the municipal building….There’s no one around, and that’s disappointing, really. I’d love to meet a municipal leader like the city manager or the chief of police today….It’s probably not a good idea that they’d be working at this hour, though. I’ll stick with the less-is-more view of governance. We don’t need more schemes in Whitewater, we need fewer.

I’ll stop and take a picture of this drab, dull, impersonal building. No charm, no style, it could be a junior high somewhere….

Here it is, an ugly building with a silly name (it should be ‘City Hall’):

[back to car]

The street that the municipal building is on is called Whitewater Street, and driving down it, there’s a lumber yard at the end of the street. There’s a holiday tool sale in progress. We’re coming up on Whitewater and Janesville, and I’ll turn left and head down to a notorious intersection….this is probably the closest thing that we have to a real traffic problem. There’s no way that anyone else from anywhere else would think of it that way, but it’s a problem to us.

There’s also a crossing by the campus, where students keep getting hit by cars, and I don’t think that anyone’s found a way to make that safe, either.

I’m driving down through an old part of town, past Whiton Street.

It’s very common here for people to take fallen leaves, bag them, and place them along the side of the house for insulation, around the foundation. It’s something one may not see in other parts of the
country, but it’s common here.

I can see a sign from an out-of-town realtor. I remember a time when pretty much all the realtors were local, but that’s not true anymore. There’s out-of-town competition now. There’s a farmer on the left, and he puts produce out in a cart for people to purchase.

You can pass some of these homes, and it’s December, and they still have pumpkins out, even though it’s way past Halloween. Anyone with a pumpkin out now needs to buy himself a calendar, because it’ll be Christmas soon. I’m surprised there isn’t a city ordinance making this a seasonal violation. That’s absurd, of course, but we regulate
colors of signs, and sizes of signs, and lots of other aesthetics. Next up, pumpkins…

I’m going to turn left now, into our high school parking lot. Even though we’re a small town, we have a big high school. It’s a nice building. It has hundreds of students, all in a very modern building.

Behind the high school is an aquatic center, that was originally local, became part of a nearby hospital’s properties, and is local again. It’s doing much better now under local management. It’s an indoor pool, with water park, and a fitness center….

One of the things that’s true about a lot of small communities is that the school district will have a bigger budget than the municipality. That’s true of us…this district covers more than one town, and has a bigger budget than the City of Whitewater. It may be about a third
again as big, I think….I’ll take a picture of the school….”

Here’s our high school:

It’s the Home of the Whippets, the school mascot. Not the cow, thankfully — the Whippet.

…There are some homes near the high school, but no cows.

There are houses with barn stars. A barn star’s a traditional decoration on the outside of someone’s home. Someone once asked me what a barn star on a home meant. Most barn stars don’t mean much at all. If someone has a barn star that’s dark or teal or copper, that’s
not a problem. If you find someone with a bright red barn star, that’s a real problem. Those homeowners are probably communists….that’s the signal they use to each other, to rise up against representative government and the free market, I think….There’s probably a city task force that’s working on the problem….

I’m going to head over to an elementary school in town, Lincoln School, Home of the Leopards. I’m not sure when they took that mascot, but it’s a good choice. A lot of people in town have American flags out, on the side of their homes, or long poles. It’s not a national holiday, but there’s a lot of simple, proud patriotism in a town like ours. I’m on Prince Street, and I’ll stop here in front of Lincoln School.

Here’s Lincoln School, Home of the Leopards:

[I get back in the car, and Dog X sees another dog, outside in a yard near the school.]

There’s a dog outside, and he’s looking at us from his yard. It’s cold outside, but animals here are used to cold weather. Even a small dog like this one seems happy to be outside. Maybe dogs fear the cold in other places, but not here….

There’s a pumpkin in the middle of the street, for goodness’ sake….with a squirrel eating from it….That’s what happens when people leave pumpkins around.

Nearby is our college campus, and I’ll take a picture….There’s a crossing nearby that’s been a problem for pedestrians. I’ll take a picture of our campus’s alumni center.

Here’s the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Alumni Center:

….Leopards, Whippets, Warhawks…no cows. Not one. Students
are probably getting ready for exams, and it’s quiet around here….I’ll drive to the west side of town, where we have some strip malls, a Wal-Mart, hardware store, and movie theater…We have a Walgreen’s, a bank, McDonald’s, a vacant storefront, vacant for a long time, that sued to be a Dairy Queen….

We have a few cash stores in town, and I’m not sure that’s a good sign. Some retail businesses will not locate to a strip mall with a cash store….if a merchant’s concerned about his brand’s image, he’s likely to stay away from a location with a cash store….

There’s a supermarket and a Wal-Mart on my right….and the famous Hawk Bowl Bowling Alley….there’s a Culver’s just beyond….

We have a Chrysler dealer, and that must be a challenging situation, since Fiat has a poor reputation in Europe….I have no idea what will happen to Chrysler, and Fiat probably doesn’t either.

There’s a movie theater and a Taco Bell at the edge of the west side of town…Every time I see Taco Bell, I think of Demolition Man, where all restaurants in the future are Taco Bells. I’m not sure why we
haven’t capitalized on that, with a slogan like….Whitewater: Fast Food of the Future….

[I drive back past the McDonald’s again, to the east part of town, near Milwaukee Street.]

….I’m passing the Birge Fountain, a water fountain in town, and a nursing home, through our downtown. There’s a Masonic Lodge in town, with the several blocks of our downtown. There’s a Whitewater Register sign, a sign for our local newspaper’s office. There’s a travel service, art studio, bars….a dry cleaner’s with taxidermy animals in the front window….post office….more bars….a Mexican restaurant that once had a mariachi band….and I’ll head over to the
east side….

….A Citgo, a Firestone, a liquor store, a beer store….there’s no place for a cow….

That’s not all of our town, surely, but there’s no room for a cow in any of this. There’s more cow artwork in big cities than we have cows in our town. And yet, we do have an ordinance against livestock in town:

Livestock ordinances:

9.06.010 Livestock.

No person shall raise, store or keep livestock within the city on land which is less than two acres in size. “Livestock” includes, but is not limited to, sheep, goats, horses, cattle, or pigs.

more >>

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 1-26-10

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Good morning,

The forecast for Whitewater calls for flurries and a high temperature of about nineteen.

Our school district will hold a public listening session this afternoon, on charter schools. Here’s the announcement in full:

Dear Members of the Whitewater Community:

As we continue exploring building a 21st century learning community, we are ready to look more closely at each of the variety of options that were addressed in our panel discussion on December 16. Included in that discussion were charter schools, curriculum foci in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), world languages, entrepreneurship, and post secondary educational opportunities. We will specifically be looking at charter schools at our next listening session as this option is the most time sensitive due to application deadlines.

We have invited back the two statewide experts, Mr. Barry Golden from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Mr. John Gee from the Wisconsin Charter Schools Association, to continue to share specifics related to charter schools.

Please consider attending on Tuesday, January 26 from 4:00-6:00 at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater University Center (UC) upstairs ballroom. Free parking is available in Lot 7.

We look forward to having you continue this exploration with us.

Sincerely,

Suzanne M. Zentner, Ph.D.   Mary Whitrock
District Administrator Curriculum/Staff Development Coordinator

City

Whitewater Community Development Authority Meeting

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The Community Development Authority meets this afternoon, at the municipal building, beginning at 4:30 PM.

The agenda for that meeting, and a list of upcoming meetings, is available online.

See, CDA agenda.

If there are groups in the city that deserve more scrutiny, the CDA, along with the Police and Fire Commission, would be at the top of any reasonable person’s list.

A small town should be a more open place, but the tendency to staff board after board with the same people, either dependable or compliant depending on one’s view, leaves a small town with less openness than many big cities.

And yet, in time, this too shall change.

Inbox Reader Mail

Inbox: Reader Questions, Comments, Etc.

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Here a sampling of some questions and comments from recent email messages, to which I have responded privately, but will summarize and answer here.

For those faraway who once asked me how many cows are in Whitewater

I’m tardy in answering that question, as you have reminded me. In fact, I took a cow-searching drive through Whitewater in December, and recorded remarks along the way for subsequent transcription and posting.

There’s a regulatory angle in it all, too.

I promise to put it up tomorrow.

Why have I posted about televised meetings, and why do I now have a film reel/video icon on the right side of my website?

Because televised meetings are a great benefit to the city, offering the most accurate account of what actually happens at one of our public meetings.

Unfortunately, our public access cable team cannot be everywhere at once. Fortunately, they don’t have to be: Wisconsin law allows ordinary citizens to record public meetings, and requires accommodation of ordinary citizen recording.

In 2010, beginning in a few months, I wouldn’t wonder, we will see the exercise of these rights in Whitewater. Just as important, our small town will see the defense of these rights at law.

Legal justifications for decisions in this town are often thin and flimsy. An American town deserves better, and we will only get something better if someone exercises his rights, and defends that exercise at law. One always prefers an easier route, but it is better to prepare for a harder one.

The days of poorly publicized meetings, with little more than a few vague lines as minutes, will end for this town. Some of our public meetings have never seen the light of a movie lens, so to speak. For everything I have ever written, there’s a dozen times as much to be done.

In all of it, there’s the great adventure of being an American citizen.

I’ll post much more about this as the time gets closer.

Why no Facebook page?

Facebook seems like too much to me; I like having my own website, set up the way I like, and a second Facebook page would be too fancy for FREE WHITEWATER.

This website does have a Twitter account, and I like the simple, succinct format of Twitter. I learn a lot from others’ tweets, and enjoy following them.

Here’s a question that just came in today, to which I quickly replied: I was wondering what is your opinion of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding campaign funding?

Here was my brief reply:

I think it’s a great victory for free speech. I will post on it this week, and I will write about how local – not federal – enforcement of campaign finance laws is often biased and used to penalize dissenters, to the benefit of incumbents.

The fewer restrictions on speech, the better.

Will catblogging be back, why did it go away, have I stopped liking cats, etc.?

I like cats a great deal. I won’t say I love them, because if I did, I know one particular reader who would quickly ask, “Well, if you love them, why don’t you marry one?”

It may seem surprising, but for some people, a line like that still seems new. There are a lot of surprises in correspondence; I enjoy the unexpected range of opinion very much.

I enjoy reading what others write more than writing, myself — much appreciated, and many thanks.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 1-25-10

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Good morning,

It’s likely to be a snowy day today, with little or no accumulation, and a high of about 32 degrees.

There’s no school today.

But there is dancing, probably, somewhere in the city: unplanned, unscheduled, unsupervised, and unregulated.

One could not say the same, on January 25th, 1932 in nearby Janesville, as the Wisconsin Historical Society recalls:

1932 – Janesville Prohibits Sunday Dancing

On this date the Janesville council deadlocked, 3-3, on an ordinance that would have permitted public dancing on Sundays. [Source: Janesville Gazette]

Here’s a video, from 2006, of dancers having fun at a jitterbug camp:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht5d8zSYbYA

They’re having a great time. The sky hasn’t fallen. On the contrary — we’re better for it. more >>

Libertarians

The Libertarian Vote

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Blogger and law professor Ilya Somin has a post up called ‘The Libertarian Vote,’ in which he describes recent findings on the number of libertarians in America:

David Kirby and David Boaz have published a new Cato Institute study estimating the size of the “libertarian vote.” They conclude that about 14% of American voters are libertarian in the sense of broadly opposing government regulation in both the economic and social realms. As a libertarian think tank, Cato obviously has a strong interest interest in coming up with a high estimate of the number of libertarian voters. However, Boaz and Kirby rely on polling questions from the National Election Study, a widely respected comprehensive survey of American political opinion developed by primarily liberal political scientists. They also note that other research by Gallup and Zogby comes up with higher estimates for the number of libertarian voters (20 to 25 percent). Other recent surveys show that the vast majority of Americans prefer smaller government with fewer services to larger government with more services (58 to 38 percent), and that trust in government is generally low.

Somin offers much more in the post, including whether actual membership in the LP is a good idea (he says no) and whether the Tea Party movement offers libertarians promise (he says it’s a good start).

Free Markets

NASA and the Free Market

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Not long ago, I wrote that it would be a good idea to turn human space exploration from NASA’s responsibility to the private sector.

Imagine how happy I was to see a blog post from Dallas entitled, NASA Believes in the Free Market.

The headline promised auspicious news – another efficiency from free exchange – the adoption of an idea that libertarians have long supported. We believe in exploration, and that human space exploration and travel will develop most robustly with private incentives.

I was disappointed when I read the post: NASA is trying to sell some of its aging space shuttles. That’s hardly the the privatization of space exploration; it’s more like government as flea market and yard sale.

Optimist that I am, I had hoped the headline meant more; optimist that I yet remain, I believe even this step is a step in the right direction.

Libertarians

NPR.org – For This Libertarian, Obama’s First Year Looks Grim

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David Boaz, executive vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, offers thoughtful remarks on where the Obama Administration has gone wrong, and what the president might do about it.

By pressing such a big-government program, Obama has energized a small-government element in the electorate that had been demoralized and pushed aside by a big-government Republican president. Right now, that movement looks likely to turn a lot of Democrats out of office this fall….

Some people point out that Ronald Reagan had low approval ratings after a year. But his policies then produced a strong recovery, and there’s no reason to expect that imposing more burdens on a struggling economy will have good results.

Obama has several models to choose from: He could reverse his tax-spend-and-regulate policies and hope for the same economic and political results that Reagan achieved. He could, like Bill Clinton, recognize the political obstacles to his sweeping ambitions and learn to work with Republicans on modest reforms. He may well end up like Lyndon Johnson, with an ambitious domestic agenda eventually bogged down by endless war. But I don’t think his wished-for FDR model – a transformative agenda that is both popular and long-lasting – is in the cards.

See, NPR.org – For This Libertarian, Obama’s First Year Looks Grim

Yes, despite my platform from my imaginary campaign for Congress, I’m willing to quote from NPR. It’s not that NPR is terrible, it’s that it shouldn’t be government-funded.

Until then, any port in a storm!