Good morning, Whitewater
There are no public municipal meetings listed for the City of Whitewater today. The month nears end favorably.
Here’s today’s almanac:
| Almanac | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, July 29, 2009 | Sunrise | Sunset |
| Official Time | 05:42 AM | 08:19 PM |
| Civil Twilight | 05:10 AM | 08:51 PM |
| Tomorrow | 05:43 AM | 08:18 PM |
| Tomorrow will be: | 2 minutes shorter | |
| Amount of sunlight: | 14h 37m | |
| Amount of daylight: | 15h 41m | |
| Moon phase: | First quarter | |
Good morning, Whitewater
There are no public municipal meetings listed for the City of Whitewater today.
Here’s today’s almanac:
| Almanac | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, July 28, 2009 | Sunrise | Sunset |
| Official Time | 05:41 AM | 08:20 PM |
| Civil Twilight | 05:09 AM | 08:52 PM |
| Tomorrow | 05:42 AM | 08:19 PM |
| Tomorrow will be: | 2 minutes shorter | |
| Amount of sunlight: | 14h 39m | |
| Amount of daylight: | 15h 43m | |
| Moon phase: | Waxing crescent | |
If a business overcharges a customer, beyond the listed price of an item, the customer expects a refund, and should one not be forthcoming, a local consumer protection agency’s liable to spring into action. That’s as it should be — the customer may seek recourse if she wishes (and a business’s greatest punishment comes from a bad reputation in the market).
What happens when a community, say, Dodgeville, Wisconsin, over-assesses the taxable value of a business like Lands’ End?
Local officials whine that Lands’ End is not being fair! The Sunday edition of the Wisconsin State Journal recounts a Dodgeville bureaucrat’s greed and sense of entitlement, in a story entitled, “Dodgeville Braces for Major Cuts to Pay Back Lands’ End“:
A Richland County Circuit Court judge ruled in May that the city over-assessed the apparel retailer’s 202-acre corporate headquarters.
That means the governmental units that receive tax money from the company will likely be forced to make cuts in order to refund the excess amount.
Lands’ End has asked for a refund of $524,000 from its 2005 payment and $734,000 from 2006. It also wants interest on the money and is challenging the assessments from 2007 and 2008.
“It comes as a blow,” said Diane Messer, superintendent of the Dodgeville School District. “It’s disconcerting but we have to keep in mind that Lands’ End as we knew it is not Lands’ End any longer. The Sears culture has had its impact.”
What’s Superintendent Messer’s implication? That if Lands’ End were still locally owned, then they’d not complain about being over-assessed!
Why should any business, locally owned or otherwise, be over-assessed to satisfy a politician’s or bureaucrat’s hunger for more tax money?
Messer implies that a local business would not complain, and in her implication one finds the shameless greed and sense of entitlement of municipalities, so desperate to tax and take from productive, private enterprises that they offer not apologies for over-assessments, but irritation that they might be compelled to offer a refund!
The State Journal story notes that “Lands’ End is a major supporter in the Iowa County community of just over 4,000 people. It provides thousands of jobs, has a farmers’ market at its corporate campus and sponsored the recent blues festival in downtown Dodgeville. Its annual five-day warehouse sale, this year scheduled for Aug. 5-9, draws thousands of people to Harris Park.”
Neither businesses nor ordinary homeowners should over-pay to fund the unrealistic ambitions of bureaucrats.
Not even those of oh-so-entitled bureaucrats in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.
I’ll begin a new feature, with posts of libertarian-themed songs, each Monday.
Here are the BoDeans, with Closer to Free. Lyrics appear below — enjoy!
Everybody wants respect
Just a little bit
And everybody needs a chance
Once in a while
Everybody wants to be
Closer to Free
Everybody one
Everybody two
Everybody free
Everybody needs to touch
You know now and then
And everybody wants a good good friend
Everybody wants to be
Closer to Free
Everybody wants to live
How they want to live
And everybody wants to love
Who they want to love
And everybody wants to be
Closer to Free more >>
I received the following press release that I am happy to post —
The Alzheimer’s Association is introducing a new Brain Fitness Club, open to anyone that would like to keep their brain “sharp”, has concerns about losing memory or has experienced some minor memory loss. Topics presented during the club meetings will include nutrition, stress relieving techniques, physical exercise and brain exercises. This is an excellent opportunity to socialize with others and have fun. The Brain Fitness Club meets the last Thursday of each month from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Wesley House, 2931 Main Street in East Troy.
For information, please contact Wendy Betley, Regional Services Coordinator, Alzheimer’s Association at 262-210-5288 or via email at wendy.betley@alz.org.
The Alzheimer’s Association is a national non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to enhance care and support for all affected and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. The Alzheimer’s Association, Southeastern Wisconsin chapter provides information, education, and support to people with Alzheimer’s and other related dementias, their families, and healthcare professionals throughout an 11-county region. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease and local services visit www.alz.org/sewi or call the toll-free, 24-hour Helpline at 800-272-3900.
Good morning, Whitewater
There’s a Community Development Authority meeting scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today at the municipal building. The agenda is available online.
In Wisconsin history on this day, three disparate but significant events, over a century apart, as the Wisconsin Historical Society recounts them:
1832 – Sauk Pursued North of the Wisconsin River
On this date American troops resumed their pursuit of Sauk Indians in the Black Hawk War following the battle of Wisconsin Heights. After constructing rafts, the troops led by General Atkinson, now numbering roughly 1,300 men, a third the number of soldiers which began the campaign, crossed the Wisconsin, near Spring Green, and began again the search for the Sauk. The date of the crossing is somewhat contentious, some placing it as early as July 26th and as late as July 28th. [Source: Along the Black Hawk Trail by William F. Stark, p. 130-131]
1894 – Forest Fire Destroys Phillips
On the afternoon of this day, a forest fire swept over the Price Co. town of Phillips from the west, destroying nearly all the buildings and forcing 2,000 people to flee for their lives. When the sun came up the next morning, 13 people had been killed, the entire downtown was in ashes, and exhausted survivors were wandering through the ruins in a daze. The fire ultimately consumed more than 100,000 acres in Price County. Much of the town was rebuilt within a year.
1953 – Korean War Ends
On this date the Korean War ended. 801 Wisconsinites were killed in action, 4,286 wounded, 111 captured and 84 remain listed as missing in action. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers edited by Sarah Davis McBride, p.]
Here’s today’s almanac —
| Almanac | ||
|---|---|---|
| Monday, July 27, 2009 | Sunrise | Sunset |
| Official Time | 05:40 AM | 08:21 PM |
| Civil Twilight | 05:08 AM | 08:54 PM |
| Tomorrow | 05:41 AM | 08:20 PM |
| Tomorrow will be: | 2 minutes shorter | |
| Amount of sunlight: | 14h 41m | |
| Amount of daylight: | 15h 46m | |
| Moon phase: | Waxing crescent | |
The Alzheimer’s Association will be presenting a three-part “Dementia Basics” workshop on August 14th, August 21st and August 28th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Racine. The workshop will be held at the Racine County Human Services Department, Community Meeting Room, 1717 Taylor Avenue.
This three-session workshop is ideal for those with a loved one who has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Topics will include an overview of dementia, communication strategies, assessing behavior changes, safety issues, community resources and care for the family caregiver.
The workshop will be presented by Paulette Kissee, Regional Services Manager, Alzheimer’s Association. This program is free and open to the public; however registration is required. For information or to register please contact Paulette Kissee at 262-595-2387 or via email at paulette.kissee@alz.org.
The Alzheimer’s Association is a national non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to enhance care and support for all affected and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. The Alzheimer’s Association, Southeastern Wisconsin chapter provides information, education, and support to people with Alzheimer’s and other related dementias, their families, and healthcare professionals throughout an 11-county region. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease and local services visit www.alz.org/sewi or call the toll-free, 24-hour Helpline at 800-272-3900.
The Alzheimer’s Association will be presenting a three-part “Dementia Basics” workshop on August 14th, August 21st and August 28th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Racine. The workshop will be held at the Racine County Human Services Department, Community Meeting Room, 1717 Taylor Avenue.
This three-session workshop is ideal for those with a loved one who has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Topics will include an overview of dementia, communication strategies, assessing behavior changes, safety issues, community resources and care for the family caregiver.
The workshop will be presented by Paulette Kissee, Regional Services Manager, Alzheimer’s Association. This program is free and open to the public; however registration is required. For information or to register please contact Paulette Kissee at 262-595-2387 or via email at paulette.kissee@alz.org.
The Alzheimer’s Association is a national non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to enhance care and support for all affected and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. The Alzheimer’s Association, Southeastern Wisconsin chapter provides information, education, and support to people with Alzheimer’s and other related dementias, their families, and healthcare professionals throughout an 11-county region. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease and local services visit www.alz.org/sewi or call the toll-free, 24-hour Helpline at 800-272-3900.
The Alzheimer’s Association will be presenting a three-part “Dementia Basics” workshop on August 14th, August 21st and August 28th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Racine. The workshop will be held at the Racine County Human Services Department, Community Meeting Room, 1717 Taylor Avenue.
This three-session workshop is ideal for those with a loved one who has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Topics will include an overview of dementia, communication strategies, assessing behavior changes, safety issues, community resources and care for the family caregiver.
The workshop will be presented by Paulette Kissee, Regional Services Manager, Alzheimer’s Association. This program is free and open to the public; however registration is required. For information or to register please contact Paulette Kissee at 262-595-2387 or via email at paulette.kissee@alz.org.
The Alzheimer’s Association is a national non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to enhance care and support for all affected and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. The Alzheimer’s Association, Southeastern Wisconsin chapter provides information, education, and support to people with Alzheimer’s and other related dementias, their families, and healthcare professionals throughout an 11-county region. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease and local services visit www.alz.org/sewi or call the toll-free, 24-hour Helpline at 800-272-3900.
Good morning, Whitewater
There’s one municipal meeting scheduled for the City of Whitewater today, at 2 p.m. — the Broadband Communication Consortium meets at 2 p.m.
Wired reports that in science history on this date, in 1950, ” America Gets a Spaceport.”
Cape Canaveral, a name that would become synonymous with the U.S. space program by the late ’50s, was just an obscure spit of land jutting into the Atlantic Ocean along Florida’s eastern shore when, in 1948, an Air Force committee recommended its procurement for a missile testing range….
Actually, the Cape was only the committee’s second choice. But the original site in California was rejected after the Mexican government refused to let rockets traverse the air space over Baja California. (A near miss in Juarez, Mexico, where a wayward rocket from White Sands, New Mexico, crashed into a cemetery, probably influenced that decision.)
The British colonial governors of the Bahamas were not as squeamish, so Cape Canaveral got the nod. President Harry Truman inked the legislation in 1949 establishing the Joint Long Range Proving Ground at Cape Canaveral.
Aside from the clear air space, the Cape suited the needs of the military in other ways, too. Its remote location (Florida was a lot different then than it is now) and the fact that the downrange trajectory of a rocket launched eastward would be over the ocean were desirable. Also, the Cape is closer than California is to the Equator. That made it easier to launch rockets to the east, following the Earth’s rotation. Sites with similar attributes, such as Hawaii and Puerto Rico, were rejected for logistical reasons.
The first rocket to lift off from Cape Canaveral was a Bumper V-2, modified from the World War II-era German V-2s that pounded London. The two-stage rocket — using a V-2 booster topped by a WAC-Corporal second stage — was used mainly to conduct atmospheric tests….
Photo: Bumper V-2 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral on July 24, 1950.
Courtesy NASA.
Here’s today’s almanac —
| Almanac | ||
|---|---|---|
| Friday, July 24, 2009 | Sunrise | Sunset |
| Official Time | 05:37 AM | 08:24 PM |
| Civil Twilight | 05:04 AM | 08:57 PM |
| Tomorrow | 05:38 AM | 08:23 PM |
| Tomorrow will be: | 2 minutes shorter | |
| Amount of sunlight: | 14h 47m | |
| Amount of daylight: | 15h 53m | |
| Moon phase: | Waxing crescent | |
Here’s a video in which Reason.tv demonstrates that it’s not always easy to know what’s American — and that what’s American includes product designs and ingenuity brought to life elsewhere.
(Quick notes: I would hope people in Whitewater patronize local merchants. I’m opposed only to local politicians talking local but acting differently, themselves. I also think that the best help for local merchants is a significant and permanent reduction in the size of local government, with the costs saved leading to meaningful reductions in taxes and fees.
The longer I cover politics here, the more firmly I believe that our municipal government should be much smaller, to the benefit of merchants and residents.
Local businesses will better compete with local government no longer a significant taxing influence, literally and metaphorically.)
Here are excerpts of the description that accompanies the nine-minute film:
Is your iPod unpatriotic?
Its 451 parts are made in dozens of nations, and creating the little doodads employs thousands of foreigners. Final assembly is done in China—a country that right-wingers and left-wingers alike fear is an economic threat to the U.S.
As the recession worsens, maybe patriotic Americans should be smashing foreign-made iPods in protest. Or at least hiring bikini-clad American women to do the job, which is exactly what Reason.tv did. Our patriotic, sledgehammer-wielding bikini bandits headed to California’s Venice Beach to smash some foreign-made iPods to make a political statement about saving American jobs.
Maybe the United Steelworkers Union (USW), one of the biggest “Buy American” backers would like to hire these patriotic ladies for their next rally.
“Every other nation during this economic downturn is directing their stimulus money inward,” thunders USW’s Billy Thompson at a rally in West Virginia. “Now if they can do it, why in the hell can’t we?”
Actually, we are. President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package came equipped with a “Buy American” provision, and more than 500 state and local governments have signed “buy American” resolutions. And that may be just the beginning of the protectionist push.
Reason.tv went to a Washington, D.C. event where business owners and activists learned how to lobby for more protectionist laws. “If you want to sell it here, build it here,” says one participant who refers to those who ignore the “buy American” imperative as “uneducated, ignorant people.”
And shouldn’t we be patriotic purchasers? That’s what car ads, draped with Old Glory and heartland visuals, suggest. What could be more patriotic than buying a Jeep Patriot? With American automakers hurting so badly, that’s got to help America.
“That’s nonsense,” says George Mason University economist—and Cafe Hayek blogger—Donald Boudreaux.
“The Jeep Patriot, despite its name is actually less American than some Toyota products. It’s literally impossible—at least in any practical sense—to ‘buy American.’”
Boudreaux argues that Americans should buy whatever products they choose; neither guilt nor laws should push them to buy American. “The thing that is most distinctively American is freedom. To insist that Americans should not be free to buy good from foreigners that’s very anti-American.”
And what about your iPod?
Even though plenty of foreigners have jobs thanks to it, so do 14,000 Americans whose duties include designing and marketing the little buggers. So the iPod is a product of America and the world, and these days that describes nearly all the items we buy.
Welcome to the iPod economy, where just about everything is made everywhere….
I received the following press release that I am happy to post —
The Alzheimer’s Association will be presenting a three-part “Dementia Basics” workshop on August 14th, August 21st and August 28th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Racine. The workshop will be held at the Racine County Human Services Department, Community Meeting Room, 1717 Taylor Avenue.
This three-session workshop is ideal for those with a loved one who has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Topics will include an overview of dementia, communication strategies, assessing behavior changes, safety issues, community resources and care for the family caregiver.
The workshop will be presented by Paulette Kissee, Regional Services Manager, Alzheimer’s Association. This program is free and open to the public; however registration is required. For information or to register please contact Paulette Kissee at 262-595-2387 or via email at paulette.kissee@alz.org.
The Alzheimer’s Association is a national non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to enhance care and support for all affected and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. The Alzheimer’s Association, Southeastern Wisconsin chapter provides information, education, and support to people with Alzheimer’s and other related dementias, their families, and healthcare professionals throughout an 11-county region. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease and local services visit www.alz.org/sewi or call the toll-free, 24-hour Helpline at 800-272-3900.
Good morning, Whitewater
There are no public, municipal meetings scheduled for the City of Whitewater today.
Here’s today’s almanac —
| Almanac | ||
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, July 23, 2009 | Sunrise | Sunset |
| Official Time | 05:36 AM | 08:25 PM |
| Civil Twilight | 05:03 AM | 08:58 PM |
| Tomorrow | 05:37 AM | 08:24 PM |
| Tomorrow will be: | 2 minutes shorter | |
| Amount of sunlight: | 14h 49m | |
| Amount of daylight: | 15h 55m | |
| Moon phase: | New Moon | |
UPDATE, 8:44 PM — Link’s now fixed — Sorry about that!
Here’s a link to the Sam Adams Alliance, an organization “leading a new revolution for liberty by training, inspiring, and empowering people to utilize new media tools (blogging, twitter, wikis) to advance economic freedom and individual liberty.
By linking liberty-minded citizens throughout the country to create a more transparent and accountable government, the Sam Adams Alliance is growing communities and building relationships, so the ideals of our Founding Fathers flourish for future generations.”
Visitors to the Sam Adams Alliance website will also find valuable information on freedom of information, and assuring good, open government through the Sunshine Review.
