FREE WHITEWATER

Uncategorized

Town Mayor Seeks Unattractive Women for Community

by  • 

The town is not, you know, Whitewater, Wisconsin; we don’t have a mayor.

No, the mayor in the town of Mount Isa in Australia issued a call for unattractive women to move to his community. He reasoned that the town had a preponderance of men, so women of any kind would be welcome.

(The mayor refers to the kind of women he has in mind as ‘beauty-disadvantaged.’)

It’s foolish, of course: a call like this won’t produce any sensible takers, of whatever appearance.

The solution is to make the town more beautiful – deeply, truly, in its institutions and character – not to worry about superficial qualities inside or outside.

No call to the outside will be half so valuable as the reform of our institutions within. If a town changes, and embraces free markets and personal liberty, then it will be truly attractive to others.

Here’s the link a story on the Australian effort:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5icmTQMacKESYU

eft4rdEvOZ_kfZwD92KIFLO0

Uncategorized

The Washington Post on the Dour Bob Barr

by  • 

The Washington Post’s Libby Copeland offers a profile of a dour Bob Barr (reprinted at the CBS website).

Barr just doesn’t have much of a sense of humor.

Copeland includes an anecdote about Barr’s behavior at a charity event, when he licked whipped cream from two women in exchange for a charity donation. Needless to say, in Barr’s case there was nothing remotely shocking about the incident.

(The press would surely have a different reaction if the incident involved a more charismatic politician. Barr will never be so described.)

It may be part of the challenge with Barr’s candidacy – he’s rightly skeptical about government, but he has no expressed sense of irony to share with voters, no inside joke on which he might include others.

Here’s the link –

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/18/

politics/washingtonpost/main4357489.shtml

City

First-Time Home Buyer’s Workshop: September 20th, 2008

by  • 

I received an announcement from the Community Development Authority about a first-time homebuyers workshop, taking place on September 20th. The program will take place on 9/20 at the Cravath Lakefront Center. Early registration is encouraged, by calling 262-473-0500.

Topics at the workshop will include establishing good credit, developing a household budget, what to look for in a home, deciding how much house you can afford, identifying needed repairs, negotiating price, and the loan process, among others. Below is a slide with detail on the program.

(Clicking the image will open and expand the slide in a new window.)

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: August 18, 2008

by  • 

Good morning, Whitewater

Public Meetings

The City of Whitewater has two public meetings scheduled today. First, the Community Development Authority Business Park Marketing Committee meets at 4 p.m. in the municipal building.

The agenda for the CDA meeting includes the following items:

1. Call to order and roll call
2. Approval of the Agenda
3. Update and Discussion on Applied PhD Research Targeted Marketing Campaign for the Whitewater Business Park
4. WICITS Website Re-Design Progress Update and Discussion
5. Discussion on Valuation and TID 4 Investment in Whitewater Business Park
6. Update on Corporate Drive Construction
7. Future Agenda Items
8. Adjourn

Later, at 6 p.m., the Planning Commission will meet, also in the Municipal Building.

The agenda states amendments as of of 12:20 p.m., August 14, 2008, item # 4a: Discussion of the
role of the Plan Commission Chair; and the Hallmark Building requirements (Report from the City Attorney).

The agenda for the Planning Commission meeting includes the following items:

1. Call to order and roll call.
2. Hearing of Citizen Comments. No formal Plan Commission action will be taken during this meeting although issues raised may become a part of a future agenda. Items on the agenda may not be discussed at this time.
3. Approval of the minutes of the July 21, 2008 meeting.
4. Reports:
a. Report from CDA Representative.
b. Report from Tree Commission Representative.
c. Report from Park and Recreation Board Representative.
d. Report from City Council Representative.
e. Report from the Downtown Whitewater Inc. Board Representative.
f. Report from staff.
g. Report from chair.
4a. Discussion of the role of the Plan Commission Chair; and the Hallmark Building requirements (report from the City Attorney).
5. Review the proposed City purchase of the property (Lot 1 of certified survey map #3925) adjacent to the city park at 511 E. Clay Street for additional parkland.
6. Hold a public hearing for consideration of a conditional use permit application for the conversion of an existing retail space to a place of assembly (church) to be located at 545 S. Putnam Street.
7. Review proposed improvements to the façade of the building located at 182 W. Main Street for David Saalsaa.
8. Re-approve one lot Certified Survey Map on Caine Street for Springbrook Apartments LLC. (This is a technical housekeeping item to allow the recording of the document because it was not recorded within 60 days of the original approval.)
9. Information:
a. Possible future agenda items.
b. Next Plan Commission meeting.
10. Adjourn.

Yesterday in Wisconsin history, in 1936, Wisconsin issued its first unemployment check. The account is available at the website of the Wisconsin Historical Society. What’s inspiring about that moment is how the recipient turned a profit, so to speak, on the check:

On this date the state of Wisconsin issued the first Unemployment Compensation Check in the United States for the amount of $15. The recipient was Neils N. Ruud who then sold it to Paul Raushenbush for $25 for its historical value. The check is now at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Wisconsin was the first state to establish an Unemployment Compensation program.

The National Weather Service, predicts a high in of around 86 with sunny skies. The Farmers’ Almanac is in the middle of a multi-day series with the prediction of hot & dry, then turning wet.

Libertarians

Barr and Feingold Against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

by  • 

Here are two videos explaining why FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is a bad idea.

No American government should have the power to intercept phone calls of a citizen merely because he is calling someone — even family, friends, or colleagues — abroad, with no other basis or cause.

It’s an infringement of the liberty of American citizens, now shamefully supported by both major party candidates.

Bob Barr’s views —


Senator Feingold’s views —


more >>

Libertarians

The World’s Smallest Political Quiz

by  • 

Your friends, if you call them such, probably send you any number of chain emails each day with polls, quizzes, and personality tests.

I’ll offer you one, too, but at least I’ve not sent it to you.

Here’s a quiz called the World’s Smallest Political Quiz, from the Advocates for Self-Government website. The website is libertarian, but the quiz has gained respect from non-libertarians, too.

The website also has links to other libertarian topics.

How did I score?

Libertarian of course, with 100% on personal and economic questions. (It would have been 90% on economic issues, but I see no timeline on the switch from welfare to private charity, so I felt comfortable with my own interpretation of a transition to private charity, and the retreat of the undependable, intrusive state from these spheres over time. Some accomplishments now, some later, all finally. I’m an optimist.)

Free Markets

Free Market Parking

by  • 

Does your town have shortages of parking spaces for customers, residents, and visitors? Many towns have these challenges, and free parking (which isn’t ever free) is no answer compared with free market parking.

Over at the blog Pedshed.net, dedicated to “Walkable Urban Design and Sustainable Placemaking,” there’s a post on how Redwood City, California and other cities are trying a free-market approach:

“One solution is free-market parking. Set parking meter prices so that 85% of spaces are occupied and 15% are open at any given moment. This idea has been getting more attention lately, and Redwood City, CA is the locality that has put the most advanced implementation into action.”

This won’t be suited for every small town, but there is ample evidence in support of it. See, for example, an article that Douglas Kolozsvari and Donald Shoup wrote on the topic: Turning Small Change into Big Changes.

This way not work everywhere as well — a truly struggling area, not a congested one — would not be a target for this approach. If few show up, and traffic is low, your parking problem is really a lack-of-customers problem.

Libertarians

McClatchy Newspapers Assess Libertarian Barr’s Candidacy

by  • 

The McClatchy newspapers have an assessment of Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr’s impact so far. I think it’s half right — (1) Barr is having a great deal of trouble raising money, but it’s (2) not because he’s in Paul’s shadow (as quoted political scientist Steven Schier contends).

I think a commenter remarking on the McClatchy story has it right:

Ron Paul is not in Bob Barr’s way. Quite the opposite is the problem: Bob Barr continues to keep his distance from Ron Paul.

The bigger problem for Barr is that Paul has already set a higher standard for libertarianism, one to which Barr, as a former conservative, is not quite ready to commit to. Ron Paul inspires people with his integrity and commitment to that standard. Barr on the other hand turns people off with his mushy, kinda-sorta view of liberty.

Note, that I was not a Paul supporter, but I see the truth of the remarks — Barr just doesn’t seem like a libertarian to some libertarians.

Libertarians

Disproportionate Federal Sentence in a Medical Marijuana Case

by  • 

I don’t condone or support illegal drug use in any way. I would prefer, however, that each state had the option to change its laws so that medical use of marijuana was lawful, without federal interference.

In California, and about a dozen other states, medical marijuana is lawful.

Federal law does not recognize medical marijuana use.

(There is also a conservative, not merely libertarian, case for general reform of our drug laws: National Review‘s editors came out against the drug war years ago. At first that might seem surprising, but after reading that publication for a while, one would see that the editors at NR came to understand the futility of America’s current drug policy.)

There is much that could be said about how waging a drug war has made police departments more aggressive, heavily armed, more eager for federal and state anti-drug funding, and less restrained – more paramilitary than civilian. I’ll leave that topic for another time.

For now, it’s enough to note how aggressive federal prosecutors are in cases against medical use of marijuana as a palliative for gravely ill patients.

Charlie Lynch, recently convicted of offenses relating to dispensing medical marijuana, faces a maximum, and Draconian sentence of as much as 100 years in prison. (Sentencing is in October.) He’s not a crime lord, drug kingpin, or anything of the kind. He dispensed marijuana for medical purposes to patients.

Note the community response in support of medical marijuana use, as noted in commentary about the video I have embedded:

“California voters legalized medical marijuana and Morro Bay’s mayor and Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the dispensary, and its owner Charlie Lynch.” (Emphasis added.)

If our laws justify a federal sentence of nearly 100 years in a medical marijuana case, then what are we to say about countless more serious, violent offenses? We would run out of possibilities before we could establish proportional punishments.

Here’s Drew Carey, a libertarian, on medical marijuana use, from Reason.tv:


Hat tip, naturally, to Reason.

Here’s another video, from Steven Colbert, in which he parodies inflated rhetoric and responses contrary to California’s law:

more >>

School District

Schools Run as Markets

by  • 

Over at Cato.org, Andrew Coulson has a podcast from August 7th on Education Markets Versus Monopolies.

Coulson shows how even a small direct parental contribution in education, say 10-15% by cost, produces a significant increase in schools’ performance. (The irony is that parents and non-parents both pay a significant amount to public schools now, but without the kind of choice that should come with a significant contribution.)

Coupled with my earlier post on Coulson’s contention that public education was analogous to an expensive, old Chevy Impala, these will form the basis of three questions that I will use to consider education in our schools later this month:

(1) Are we performing better for what we spend and commit, across many years?
(2) How can markets or market-like free choices improve education?
(3) How can markets or market-like free choices improve education in our small school district?

I will revisit other topics that I have addressed for our schools, but these broad questions will guide my inquiry.

Uncategorized

The Greatest Municipal Award from a Survey, Ever

by  • 

Update, 8:39 PM — I’ve been told the title of the magazine is Marie Claire — sorry, I’m just not a subscriber. My apologizes to all the august readers of that fine publication. Don’t let my small mistake keep you from enjoying articles on “150 Hairstyles Even You Can Master,” “I Married a Terrorist,” or “I Kissed My Co-worker! What Now?”

I have corrected the spelling. By the way, on the cover of the latest issue is Maggie Gyllenhaal. She’s surely attractive, but she’s not a Milwaukee native — if the town’s so sizzling, why not pick a Milwaukee model for the cover? Because the Milwaukee’s not that sizzling, that’s why.

Here’s my original post, with the correction —

In my small town of Whitewater, Wisconsin (population 14,296) local officials were quick to claim credit for a misnamed dream town award that actually applied to a far larger location (101,000).

Glory, especially undeserved glory, is fleeting. It turns out that Milwaukee has won a far more prestigious, but no less empty, honor: Milwaukee, yes, Milwaukee, has been named the ‘Sexiest’ City by – ready? – Marie Claire magazine.

Now that’s the kind of headline-catching nonsense that officials in our small town should be flacking!

When flacking dubious awards, flack big! We’re just not playing in the big leagues, yet.

When we win an ill-deserved award of Milwaukee’s type, then we’ll truly have arrived.

Here’s a link to the story:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=783581

Uncategorized

What’s an Affinity Scam?

by  • 

An affinity scam is when a confidence man relies on a common religious, ethnic, or social background to lull unsuspecting marks into a false sense of security. Rather than scrutinize an otherwise dubious proposition, the victim trusts the confidence man on the basis of a common background.

Page C1 of the Wall Street Journal has a story about an alleged $250 million dollar affinity scheme that principally victimized Orthodox Jews. Hundreds of innocent, trusting people were ruined.

Government, though, sometimes offers its own version of an affinity scheme. Local officials in towns across America often ask voters and taxpayers to trust a scheme because it comes from local politicians – people who are the supposedly the salt of the earth, etc.

The only reason to support a proposal is the soundness of its method and effects.

That won’t stop politicians from tugging on heartstrings and supposed affinity, though.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: August 15, 2008

by  • 

Good morning, Whitewater

The City of Whitewater has scheduled no public meetings for today.

On this day in history, in 1877, Thomas Edison proposed the word “hello” as the greeting in a phone call. The word was around before that, but it was not common, and Edison’s advocacy surely made a difference.

The National Weather Service, predicts a high in of around 80 with patchy fog. The Farmers’ Almanac concludes a multi-day series with the prediction stormy, then fair.”

Press

A Local Blog about the Faraway Paralympic Games

by  • 

From Whitewater, Wisconsin comes a new blog about the 2008 Paralympics USA Wheelchair Basketball competition in Beijing.

The stylish blog is the work of Kelli Danielski, of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Chemistry Department.

Here’s the link to her blog about the upcoming competition:

www.wheelchairbeijing.wordpress.com

The UW-W wheelchair basketball team is world-renowned, and the 2008 Paralympic games will begin in about three weeks, from September 6th through September 17th.

A website with more information about the paralympic games is available here:

http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/index.shtml