Here’s the eighth installment of cat blogging.
The Cat Fanciers’ Association of America recognizes about forty breeds of domestic cats, but all cats, single or mixed-breed, are admirable.
Cats have an independent spirit that’s a fine reminder of the individualism which Americans — at their best — so abundantly possess.
Today, I’ve posted a video about BALINESE cats, a recognized CFA breed.
Good morning, Whitewater
For the third day, there are no scheduled municipal, public meetings for the City of Whitewater today. Less is more.
The History Channel reports that on this day in 1793, George Washington set the cornerstone to the United States Capitol building:
On this day in 1793, George Washington lays the cornerstone to the United States Capitol building, the home of the legislative branch of American government. The building would take nearly a century to complete, as architects came and went, the British set fire to it and it was called into use during the Civil War. Today, the Capitol building, with its famous cast-iron dome and important collection of American art, is part of the Capitol Complex, which includes six Congressional office buildings and three Library of Congress buildings, all developed in the 19th and 20th centuries.
As a young nation, the United States had no permanent capital, and Congress met in eight different cities, including Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia, before 1791. In 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which gave President Washington the power to select a permanent home for the federal government. The following year, he chose what would become the District of Columbia from land provided by Maryland. Washington picked three commissioners to oversee the capital city’s development and they in turn chose French engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant to come up with the design.
However, L’Enfant clashed with the commissioners and was fired in 1792. A design competition was then held, with a Scotsman named William Thornton submitting the winning entry for the Capitol building. In September 1793, Washington laid the Capitol’s cornerstone and the lengthy construction process, which would involve a line of project managers and architects, got under way.
In 1800, Congress moved into the Capitol’s north wing. In 1807, the House of Representatives moved into the building’s south wing, which was finished in 1811. During the War of 1812, the British invaded Washington, D.C., and set fire to the Capitol on August 24, 1814. A rainstorm saved the building from total destruction. Congress met in nearby temporary quarters from 1815 to 1819. In the early 1850s, work began to expand the Capitol to accommodate the growing number of Congressmen. In 1861, construction was temporarily halted while the Capitol was used by Union troops as a hospital and barracks. Following the war, expansions and modern upgrades to the building continued into the next century.
Today, the Capitol, which is visited by 3 million to 5 million people each year, has 540 rooms and covers a ground area of about four acres.
It’s picture make up day at Whitewater Middle School.
Here’s today’s almanac:
| Friday, September 18, 2009 | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Official Time | 06:37 AM | 06:59 PM |
| Civil Twilight | 06:09 AM | 07:28 PM |
| Tomorrow | 06:38 AM | 06:58 PM |
| Tomorrow will be: | 2 minutes shorter | |
| Amount of sunlight: | 12h 22 m | |
| Amount of daylight: | 13h 19 m | |
| Moon phase: | New Moon | |
Reason.tv observes the stark choice some Americans face, every day — health insurance or getting drunk? Following my earlier post, immediately below, with a video on the large number of uninsured who can afford insurance but choose other purchases instead, I’ve posted this brief video. The short video outlines the choices for some of those who can, in fact, afford insurance but just don’t make that purchase.
Here’s the description accompanying the video:
President Obama’s prime-time health insurance speech underscored an important point: No American should have to choose between health insurance and paying rent, between health insurance and getting groceries–or getting drunk, getting designer jeans, or protein powder.
We hear so much about hardworking Americans who need health insurance, but what about the rest of us? Millions of uninsured Americans could afford health insurance, but it would mean giving up some really cool stuff. Support President Obama’s plan to cover all Americans, because no American should have to choose between health insurance and protein powder.
Approximately 1.10 minutes. “Tough Choices” is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Director of Photography is Alex Manning.
No American Should have to Choose Between Health Insurance and Getting Drunk more >>
It’s video Thursday at FREE WHITEWATER, and here’s a provocative video from Reason, explaining how the number of uninsured in America could be reduced by half, without a single government program. It’s provocative because the popular notion that all of the uninsured are in the same predicament — they can’t afford coverage.
That’s not true. About half can afford insurance, but choose other expenditures over coverage. I know very well that there are some who’ll bristle even at the suggestion. That’s not kept libertarians from offering a candid assessment before, and it won’t stop us now. To borrow a product slogan, we’d rather be right than switch…
Here’s a description accompanying the video:
Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie isn’t making a run for the White House, but he knows how to get coverage to at least half of the 45 million Americans who need it.
And while Barack Obama and John McCain argue about who’s got the best health care plan, each ignores the simplest solution.
Call it the Gillespie Plan: If you want health insurance, get some. Of people currently classified as uninsured, a conservative estimate says about 45 percent of them would be able to get health insurance right now if they wanted it, says economist Glen Whitman. That estimate comes from a study headed by a Johns Hopkins University researcher, which separates those who could get insurance into one of two categories: Those who earn enough money to buy it, and those who qualify for existing government programs.
So how about some real straight talk for a change? If we separate those who can’t get coverage from those who can, we can focus more on helping the needy. So if you can get coverage, says Gillespie, don’t wait for Washington. Go on out and get some.
“Get Some” is written and produced by Ted Balaker. The director of photography is Alex Manning.
It’s video Thursday at FREE WHITEWATER, and here’s a video from Reason.tv’s Rough Cut blog, about the failure of government spending to improve conditions for West Virginia.
Here’s a description accompanying the video:
For decades, West Virginia has looked to the government to solve their economic problems, only to find themselves falling further behind. Today, West Virginia has the lowest economic freedom of any state in America. Regulations and expensive lawsuits have driven businesses out, leaving one last major industry: coal.
As WVU Professor of Economics Russ Sobel says in this video, coal is an industry that’s captive, it can’t “pick up and leave” the state.
What state bureaucrats haven’t done to force coal jobs out of the state, cap-and-trade will accomplish. As coal plants’ operating costs skyrocket, it will be more profitable to provide goods and services in another state or, more likely, overseas. When West Virginia’s last economic lifeline disappears, what will happen to the people who live there?
If cap-and-trade passes, it would be harmful for all of us, but it would be particularly devastating to West Virginia.
The Rough Cut link is available at http://www.reason.tv/roughcut/show/country-roads-to-serfdom more >>
Good morning, Whitewater
As with yesterday, there are no scheduled municipal, public meetings for the City of Whitewater today.
There’s something better, for all America — it’s Constitution Day, the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787.
The National Constitution Center, a non-profit, non-partisan organization, has a page dedicated to Constitution Day.
Here’s today’s almanac:
| Thursday, September 17, 2009 | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Official Time | 06:36 AM | 07:01 PM |
| Civil Twilight | 06:08 AM | 07:29 PM |
| Tomorrow | 06:37 AM | 06:59 PM |
| Tomorrow will be: | 3 minutes shorter | |
| Amount of sunlight: | 12h 25 m | |
| Amount of daylight: | 13h 21 m | |
| Moon phase: | Waning crescent | |
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) recently said what millions of others know, too: America is awash in wasted stimulus money. Dorgan rightly observes that his state of North Dakota does not need $128 million in stimulus funds for border checkpoints. Border security funds should be spent on areas with high border traffic.
Dorgan might have remained silent while his state received the money, but only at the price of condoning irresponsibility.
Many communities won’t be so principled; cities and states will grab whatever money they can get, even if they’re unprepared to use the money effectively.
John Stossel, a well-known libertarian reporter at ABC’s 20/20, will leave for his own program, with additional airtime, at the Fox Business Channel. (Fox has more than one channel: the business channel is separate from the older news channel.)
Stossel’s a fine reporter; his new program will be well-worth watching.
Over at the State Journal, there’s a story about UW-Whitewater’s offering of an undergraduate degree in entrepreneurship.
I’m not sure if there’s a specialization in coping with bureaucratic meddling, but the degree’s a good idea in any event.
See, UW-Whitewater Will Offer Undergrad Degree in Entrepreneurship. more >>
We have a fine public access cable channel in Whitewater. That station provides the only full and unedited coverage of our common council, planning, and school board meetings.
Without that programming, we’d have no way to check against ambiguous meeting minutes and cheery spin.
Let’s televise other public meetings: Police & Fire Commission, Community Development, assorted task forces, etc.
That’s a big job: if there are not resources enough to record every meeting, let someone set up a video camera and record it.
If someone in Whitewater complains that this can’t be done, ask him or her to show you, under Wisconsin law, why it can’t be done. Ask for an opinion letter from our municipal administration’s city attorney.
Our city deserves more than some nervous incumbent’s vague pronouncement about possible risks; instead, deliver a clear statement of law.
As policy, public bodies should be proud to have their proceedings recorded, for their fellow residents to see.
Go ahead, Whitewater – embrace this opportunity for open and accountable government.
I’m a libertarian, not a liberal. We’re the “individual liberty, free markets, and peace” group, to borrow the Cato Institute’s motto.
Let’s say, though, that you’re one of Whitewater’s progressive residents. I don’t doubt your sincerity.
I wonder, instead, about the local application of your principles. The left in Whitewater has turned around the mantra ‘Think globally, act locally’ into something different: ‘Vote nationally, compromise locally.’
That national commitment doesn’t translate to local, political change. Quite the contrary – Whitewater shows no signs of the political principles that progressives advocate nationally. Whitewater’s leading local party would best be described as Incumbents, not Democrats or Republicans.
Over at the online Capital Times, there’s a story about last weekend’s annual liberal gathering, the Fighting Bob Fest (named for ‘Fighting Bob’ La Follette).
FightingBob.com is the group’s blog. The group believes in more government than a libertarian could ever stomach. Far too much. Still, they’re an interesting bunch.
Both the Cap Times and FightingBob.com are web-based.
Many newspapers, struggling in print, may find their way on the web, along with political websites and blogs.
One shouldn’t expect longstanding incumbents and career bureaucrats to embrace new media as tools of openness. They won’t.
Yet, good newspapers (in print and online) and vigorous organizations (of contesting views) will have an auspicious future in America.
See, Capital Times: Rhetoric Fires Up Liberals at Fighting Bob Fest
Last night, Jefferson County voters rejected, by 57% to 42%, a referendum to increase the tax levy — the amount that a jurisdiction budgets to receive from property taxes. The tax levy amount is limited by law, and exceeding it required the referendum.
Here’s the text of the referendum on which Jefferson County residents voted:
Under state law, the increase in the levy of Jefferson County for the tax to be imposed for the next fiscal year, 2010, is limited to 8.41%, which results in a levy of $26,054,457. Shall the County of Jefferson be allowed to exceed this limit and increase the levy for the next four fiscal years, 2010 through 2013, by $1,958,724 per year (which for 2010 equals an additional 8.15% for a total increase of 16.56%) which results in a levy of $28,013,181 for 2010, which sum does not include exempt library services or other exemptions from the levy limit?
There was also an explanatory statement from the Jefferson County Board:
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT AND EFFECT OF VOTE:
The September 15, 2009, special election ballot asks the county electors to vote “yes” or “no” on the referendum question above.
A “yes” vote on the question allowing the County of Jefferson to exceed the levy limit under s. 66.0602, Wisconsin Statutes, by a total of $1,958,724 for the next four fiscal years, 2010-2013, (which for the allowable 2009 levy collected in 2010 equals 16.56% more than the 2008 levy collected in 2009 and results in a levy of $28,013,181 in 2010 not including exemptions from the levy cap) is a vote to authorize the County of Jefferson to exceed the levy limit by $1,958,724 to be used for operating Jefferson County’s Countryside Home, a skilled nursing facility.
In the event a majority of the electors vote “yes”, the county tax levy for 2010 will be 16.56% more than the 2009 county property tax, and will be an increase in the county portion of tax bills of $90.12 for a property with an equalized value of $150,000.
A “no” vote on the question allowing the County of Jefferson to exceed the levy limit under s. 66.0602, Wisconsin Statutes, by a total of $1,958,724 for the next four fiscal years, 2010-2013, (which would equal a 16.56% increase in the 2008 levy collected in 2009 and would result in a total levy of $28,013,181 not including exemptions from the levy cap) is a vote to deny authorization to the County of Jefferson to exceed the levy limit.
In the event a majority of the electors vote “no”, Countryside Home will be listed for sale as resolved by prior County Board action, and the County Board will only be allowed to raise taxes as limited by state law.
So the Board dared voters: a higher tax levy, or no Countryside nursing home. Voters overwhelmingly rejected the referendum; the referendum received a majority of votes in only three of thirty-two precincts. That’s not because Jefferson County voters are cold or unfeeling.
Still, that’s how the story will be reported in some places: voters close nursing home. See, Countryside Nursing Home Will Close After Referendum Fails.
There’s a different story in all this — Jefferson County budgeted poorly, and asked voters to give them more, beyond the existing state limit, lest a nursing home be closed. The county might have made other budget choices, but was unwilling to do so. In fact, it made a choice: Countryside was the least of the Board’s concern. If it had mattered more, something lese would have been placed at risk.
This referendum was a failed gamble from incumbents on a county board, daring voters to increase a county tax levy, to cover poor choices that board made previously, lest a nursing home be closed. It was a cynical ploy, and this referendum deserved defeat.
Good morning, Whitewater
There are no scheduled municipal, public meetings for the City of Whitewater today.
Here’s today’s almanac:
| Wednesday, September 16, 2009 | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Official Time | 06:35 AM | 07:03 PM |
| Civil Twilight | 06:07 AM | 07:31 PM |
| Tomorrow | 06:36 AM | 07:01 PM |
| Tomorrow will be: | 3 minutes shorter | |
| Amount of sunlight: | 12h 28 m | |
| Amount of daylight: | 13h 24 m | |
| Moon phase: | Waning crescent | |
