FREE WHITEWATER

Uncategorized

Blog Happy and Happily

by  • 

I’ve mentioned before that I consider blogging part of a Once and Future American Tradition. Americans were pamphleteers once, and some are bloggers now. There are hundreds of blogs in Wisconsin covering local affairs in their respective towns. More than half are written pseudonymously, the way many pamphlets were early in our tradition.

If I could offer any advice about blogging, it would be (1) blog for issues and (2) to blog happy and happily. The first leads to the second. When I write on issues, I am always relaxed. It doesn’t matter whether I’m writing about baseball or something acerbic or polemical. If I am writing about an issue or topic of some sort, I’m writing happily. The commentary may be critical – although far less critical than some contend – but I am relaxed at my computer while writing.

Bloggers will enjoy – and readers appreciate – a post that comes from a relaxed author, writing about an issue of his or her interest.

There’s no need to look for posts – your key issues of interest will present lots of opportunities about which it will be fun to write.

Libertarians

Bob Barr Update, 4/29

by  • 

Bob Barr is the former Georgia congressman considering a presidential run under the Libertarian Party (LP) banner. (I don’t yet have a preferred presidential candidate in the race. The LP is fascinating because it could always take an odd turn…)

Barr’s exploratory committee website lists the amount that he has raised as about 46,000 dollars. It’s a lot of money, surely, but not for politics. There are middle class families that purchase boats or recreational vehicles for that amount. I am not sure what to make of the slow fundraising.

(Ron Paul — not the libertarian for me — raised huge amounts of money; one of his toughest administrative challenges was probably finding a way to count it all.)

Barr’s website is also touting a poll from often-controversial pollster Zobgy that shows that he, Barr, would do better than Ralph Nader (Green Party) in the general election.

That’s Ralph Nader, famous consumer advocate who has long since worn out his welcome with as a presidential candidate. If Barr as LP candidate cannot do better than Nader…

The poll is odd, in any event. In a general election matchup with McCain and Obama, the two top contenders are close (42 and 45 percent, respectively), with Barr at 3% and Nader at 1%.

In a general election matchup between McCain and Clinton, though, the two top contenders are far apart (44 and 34 percent respectively), with Barr at 4% and Nader at 3%. Say what you want about Sen. Clinton, but she’ll do better than ten points behind McCain.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 29, 2008

by  • 

Good Morning, Whitewater

On this day in 1959, according to Wisconsin Historical Society, the Railroad Historical Society of Milwaukee was incorporated. The automobile had by that time relegated trains to commemoration through a historical society. Nothing has really supplanted the automobile in the decades since — airlines haven’t taken that path at the expense of automobiles.

Even now, though, in Whitewater and elsewhere, we still look fondly on this history of railroads and trains, in a way we do not, for example, about carriages, wagons, and barges.

There are no public meetings scheduled in Whitewater today.

The National Weather Service predicts it will be 50 degrees and mostly sunny. The Farmers’ Almanac assures “clearing skies and pleasant temperatures.” Close enough. Today will have about 14 hours of sunlight, and about 15 hours of daylight (the extra hour being from the half hour of indirect civil twilight in morning and evening.)

Press

Reasonable Standards for Whitewater News Sources

by  • 

Before I post again on the Register, I’d like to set out a few standards that seem reasonable for any newspaper or site.

I am not a journalist, and I have never aspired to be one. FREE WHITEWATER is a website of independent commentary and essays.

Look, though, at the weekly newspaper in town, and you’ll find that the Register is hardly a work of journalism, either. The difference is that they should be, following on a century and a half legacy.

For papers and websites that contend they are newspapers, or news sites, a few standards would be helpful.

Here goes:

1. Provide attributions for what you publish. If you publish only your own copy, so be it. If you’re re-printing the written work of others, then say so. Often, media in Whitewater will publish something without identifying who wrote originally it.

I write all of my own copy, or attribute the author clearly. Everything published here is from one blogger, using the pen name John Adams, or is clearly attributed otherwise (selected inbox email, statements of others, etc.)

There are no recycled, unattributed press releases from for-profit concerns, including corporations whipping up a few paragraphs to get their names in the news.

2. Recognize interests and motivations. This is the point about listing a byline, and attributing stories and posts accurately. There’s a gullible notion that because a public official said something, the comments are not merely public ones, but objectively true ones, too.

There may be a wide difference between public remarks and truthful ones.

Officials’ comments can be as biased as any other; they’re not free from self-interest or error. It’s an overly-trusting, childlike notion that because a mayor, representative, etc., said something, then it must be true. When someone clips a section of a weekly report, and publishes it without attribution, it creates the impression that the words published are objectively true.

Works in the public domain are not unquestionably true; sometimes they’re not true at all.

The self-interest of human nature doesn’t release its grip when a man takes an oath of office.

3. Acknowledge political roles and conflicts. I hold no office in the city; you may have noticed that I prefer private life to public office. I prefer this generally.

A reporter, editor, or publisher of a newspaper (and not a blog of brief opinion posts like this one), should make especially clear any office-holding. It would be seen, correctly, as a possible conflict of interest if someone in office published news stories, each week.

If a reporter or editor at the Chicago Sun Times is also an alderman, that’s something his readers should know. That’s especially true if the reporter or editor is covering his own office, or his own election race. (It’s just an example; I know of no conflicts at the Sun Times.)

What applies in the Chicago example should apply here, too.

If an office-holder wants to post about his own office, so be it – just be clear about it, so that each and every reader will see the possible conflict in each published story. Only then can readers decide: is this conflict immaterial, or am I seeing an article or story that’s a valentine to the status quo, however subtly?

The officeholder or candidate with his own newspaper has a source of campaign advertising, about himself, or about other accomplishments that might advance support for his candidacy. There are very few incumbents who would publish account after account of all that they have neglected, failed to do, etc. For an incumbent, it’s either all roses or…silence.

When an ordinary citizen tries to distribute a few leaflets about an issue, he sometimes finds himself running afoul of campaign finance restrictions. Civil libertarians dislike these campaign restrictions, as they inhibit free speech and debate.

Worse still is when the ordinary citizen finds himself the subject of legal scrutiny for a few flyers, but existing officeholders get a free pass for their own daily or weekly publications.

Civil libertarians are opposed to campaign speech restrictions, but no less opposed to the inequitable enforcement of speech restrictions.

Press

New Whitewater Blog: Conservative Thoughts from Whitewater

by  • 

There’s a new blog in Whitewater, over at www.whitewaterconservatives.blogspot, called Conservative Thoughts from Whitewater.

I learned about it last week, and am happy to post about it today. It has some great advantages: a clear focus, and the joint effort of several people. Group blogs often explore topics more fully, and from slightly different angles, having more than one person to offer a perspective.

I am not just a blogger — I am a supporter of blogging in, and about, our town. I am not affiliated with this new effort, but happily welcome these bloggers. I have added the blog to my blogroll, on the side of my main page.

Please stop by and say hello to the team at the site: Brandon, Mati, Captain Conservative, the Great Republican, and Gregory.

Best wishes to all.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 28, 2008

by  • 

Good morning, Whitewater

The National Weather Service predicts a high of 45 degrees, with a chance of rain or snow. The Farmers’ Almanac predicts, over the period from April 28-30, “clearing skies and pleasant temperatures.”

I’ve mentioned how the way the NWS reports weather is, despite being a government agency, more flexible than the planning-oriented method at the privately-published Farmers’ Almanac. (See, Planning and Weather Forecasting.)

On the cover of the Farmers’ Almanac, there’s a designation after each author: “Philom.” I had no idea what it meant. Apparently, it’s the abbreviation for philomath, a lover of knowledge (as against wisdom), or more particularly, a seeker of facts.

The seeking of facts matters more if it leads to accurate predictions.

There are two public meetings in the City of Whitewater today. The CDA meets at 4:30 p.m., and the Planning Board meets at 7 p.m.

In our school district, there will be a 7:00 p.m. school board meeting at the district’s central office.

The Brewers are now 14-11, and 7-7 in their division. (It’s the division that counts.) I’ll catch up with a season-to-date Ballpark post soon.)

In Wisconsin history, on this date in 1958 nearly fifty members of Janesville’s police auxiliary began their training. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, they “helped direct traffic, assisted at accidents, took notes on investigations done by official cops and were on the lookout for stolen vehicles.” The large number involved, and a mention of each auxiliary officer wearing “Civil Defense armbands,” suggests that this auxiliary force was likely part of a bigger program, of which Janesville took part.

Police

Accreditation

by  • 

I’ve received questions about my view on the re-accreditation effort of the Whitewater Police Department under Jim Coan. What should matter most to a person (or an organization) is actual conduct and statements, not the assignment of certification, accreditation, or external honors. The latter cannot supplant or erase the former.

Accreditation should be the effortless outcome of doing so many things right. It should not be – must not be – an effort in itself. It’s not meant to be a like a political campaign or marketing effort, where leaders devote considerable time to making sure that they received the outcome that they want. Effort should go into the day-to-day, and accreditation should simply be a consequence of that day-to-day work.

When an organization has leaders striving to win an honor, rather than committing to the daily work that leads to honor, there one finds only error and poor leadership.

The temptation – the wish, really – to receive external praise and say all is well is strong. It is especially strong when leaders’ words trumpeting accomplishments take the place of real accomplishments.

I am reminded of something that I first read decades ago, about Mark Twain’s view of St. Walter Scott, author of Ivanhoe. Scott’s work was full of drama about medieval honor, chivalry, and outward, seemingly noble conduct. Twain argued – only partly in jest – that the popularity of Scott’s writing contributed to the South’s popular embrace of a bellicose code of honor in the years before the Civil War.

The inner virtue matters more than the often vain appearance of honor. In this, Twain was right — we should set aside an outer code of honor for an inner disposition to virtue.

There are some indisputable, unavoidable points worth mentioning. They are unpleasant and unwelcome, but intractable only to those who would set aside accountability for accolades, policy for praise. You may consult them as you wish:

High Fives?
Jim Coan and Larry Meyer’s Shameful Legacy
The Identity Theft Excuse
Against Confidentiality in Municipal Litigation
Police and Fire Commission: Introduction

For Chief Coan’s months-long action regarding lawful speech , please click this link:

Witch-Hunting a Blogger in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

This includes Coan’s apparent use of the TIME system to run a license plate search on someone no other than a blogger — a violation of federal guidelines. (He had the wrong person, in any event.)

We are not without hope — a different leadership would give us a better result:

The Force We Need

In the meantime, accreditation matters little, and would mean nothing at all, compared with all that has actually happened here.

We had these challenges under prior accreditation — we’ll have them still until there’s true reform.

Policy is not public relations. more >>

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 25, 2008

by  • 

Good morning, Whitewater

On this day in 1996, then Gov. Thompson signed Wisconsin Works, W-2, into law. Wisconsin’s law was an example for federal and state welfare reform.

The National Weather Service predicts showers and thunderstorms throughout the day. The Farmers’ Almanac says stormy conditions, so there’s some agreement between the two.

There are no public meetings listed for the City of Whitewater today.

News of Dr. Steinhaus’s unsuccessful candidacy at the Holmen School District has begun to circulate. Although this is not a news site, but one of commentary, FREE WHITEWATER posted this news two days before it appeared elsewhere.

(I’ll also note that Dr. Steinhaus subsequently sent a letter to District staff confirming her unsuccessful candidacy in the Holmen District. Accounts appearing two days after the one at FREE WHITEWATER miss this intervening development.)

I’ll post a double Register Watch™ — one on the Register’s police series, and one on the rest of the paper. It will appear tonight and Saturday.

Libertarians

The Declaration of Independence and Anonymity

by  • 

I received an email from someone from Stoughton who wrote contending that, because the Declaration of Independence was a signed document, one could infer that America’s founders disliked anonymous speech.

Here’s a portion of the email:

And when it came time to drop the biggest, loudest, revolutionary document of them all, The Declaration of Independence, there was nothing anonymous about it. The 56 signers, with the poster-size John Hancock boldly front and center, signed their names. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Franklin again, among the most enduring names in American history. It took courage. Courage of conviction, we call it. Many of them suffered for it.

So while American law protects anonymous speech, the American tradition tells us the only opinion that counts is the one with a name attached to it.

I have not responded previously. I find this argument against anonymous speech unpersuasive. First, it is the settled law in America today, drawing on our tradition, that anonymous speech is protected. Our constitutional law supports this right. It has supported this right long after the Declaration. That legal protection is part of the American tradition, not a right apart from it. (See the 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission.)

One may weigh preferences as one wishes, but those preferences don’t determine the law. One might say, for example, what one “appreciates” about anonymity, but that merely appreciation doesn’t set the limits of other citizens’ rights.

Second, the Declaration is a political document, not a private writing. It was, after all, a public declaration of the Second Continental Congress, and the signatures on it are akin to a public listing of those voting in favor. Contemporary Congressional votes to day are just the same –those in favor are listed. Even if our law were not settled in favor of legal protection for anonymous speech – and it is – I would not be persuaded against anonymous speech on the basis of the Declaration. The Declaration is easily distinguished from ordinary private writings.

Third, even after the Declaration, those many of who supported independence continued to write anonymously. (The Federalist papers, of Madison, Jay, and Hamilton are the most notable example.) That anonymous speech persisted among those who supported independence should stand as a refutation that the Declaration somehow overturned the American tradition of anonymous speech.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 24, 2008

by  • 

Good morning, Whitewater

The National Weather Service predicts a thirty percent chance of rain, with a high of 75 degrees. The Farmers’ Almanac says that “stormy conditions will spread from the west.”

Conditions in Wisconsin can be stormy this time of year, and the Wisconsin State Journal has a story entitled, “The Storm’s the Thing for Weather Spotters” about those especially interested in stormy conditions.

In our school district, it’s Market Day pickup at Lincoln School.

In Wisconsin history, this is the anniversary of the day in 1977 when the Morris Pratt Institute — a center for so-called Spiritualism — moved to Waukesha.

We have enough with which to contend without trying to conjure spirits, thank you.

We’ll carry on just fine without the Institute.

City, Development, Free Markets, University

The Campaign Against Cars Campus

by  • 

We’re a university town. There are a few who want desperately for us to be something else, but those wants scarcely matter. The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is a vital part of Whitewater. Our campus – yes, our campus – improves life for all of us.

Thousand of students receive an education that’s part of the American Dream. Others, not students or faculty, receive cultural and economic benefits from the campus.

The economic benefits are important, as much as the cultural ones. Economic well-being isn’t selfish – it’s the hoped for foundation of a good life that makes good works possible. Prosperity is a good.

We’d collapse economically without the campus. Even if the education of a new generation doesn’t matter to some, one would think that self-interest would impose restraint against anti-student agitation.

It hasn’t. There are men in Whitewater who speak about students the way other men speak about rats. When did being young, and looking for an education, become such a source of contempt and consternation? It should be a source of pride for our community that we have our own campus.

Ticketing residents based on how many cars are at a house, or taking pictures of supposed code violations near the university, is self-destructive. No one doubts that America’s economy has slowed. Even in better times, Whitewater has had a higher poverty rate than surrounding communities. The effort of attracting retail to our downtown, or anywhere else in our small city, will be especially vulnerable to recession. Keeping existing businesses going will be difficult.

This is hardly the time to exacerbate our reputation as an enforcement-loving, restriction-favoring town.

When developers and homeowners provide housing for students, they’re responding to a market need. They didn’t create this need; they shouldn’t be badgered for offering housing solutions that neither the city nor state has provided.

Some are concerned about the supposed power of a few local developers. I am not similarly worried. In any event, if the market were more open, with fewer restrictions, then we might be able to attract more developers to dilute the influence of those now building here. If anti-market groups fret over the power of developers here, then they should look to their own actions. Having made Whitewater inhospitable to growth, they now unfairly criticize those who are willing to build and take risks here.

Best options: End enforcement of regulations like the one involving the number of cars in a driveway, and thereafter loosen zoning restrictions to permit optimal use of properties in each neighborhood. (I’d eliminate many of our zoning restrictions, but few are ready for that.)

I’m not looking to curry favor with the college community. I’ve mentioned before that I am not affiliated with the campus. Although my readership has grown month-after-month, I don’t think that I have that many campus readers. I know, too, that many students will take political or social views that aren’t libertarian.

I’m unconcerned; they don’t have to agree with me to deserve a better shake than our (dependent) town gives them.

Inbox Reader Mail

Inbox Reader Mail: Too Many Cars!

by  • 

Reader George Washington writes about a City of Whitewater notice concerning the number of cars that municipal regulations permit to be parked at a single-family home at any given time. Washington’s remarks in black, my reply in blue.

Washington writes:

A few landlords have recently received letter stating (due to complaints) that an old ordinance will soon be enforced once again. The ordinance states that no more than 2 vehicles can be parked in any driveway at any time at a home zoned single family. The letter stated that any vehicles beyond the 2 would be ticketed by the city. This only affects about 90% of student housing which is zoned single family!!!! I was informed of this by my landlord today.

Adams replies:

Well, we may be sure that Dr. Roy Nosek — who advocated this approach as far back as August 2007 during a slideshow presentation to the Common Council, will be pleased. One might think that a violation of this type would be ‘fairly innocuous,’ but City Manger Kevin Brunner reserves that term for other matters, it seems.

It’s embarrassing, and injurious to the reputation of the city, to enforce an asinine ordinance like this. We are a college town, seemingly at war with college students, all the while pretending that enforcement is only about aesthetics, beauty, and impartiality.

Our fussy administration is ever-worried about the reputation of the city, but has not the slightest idea that how to secure a good reputation. We could easily find better use of time and effort than this.

You know, the only thing more ridiculous would be a war on dumpsters.

Sadly, we’ve waged that silly campaign, too.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: April 23, 2008

by  • 

Good Morning, Whitewater

The National Weather Service forecast is for a high of 71 degrees, and patchy fog. The Farmers’ Almanac predicts blustery showers.

Once again, there are no public meetings listed for the City of Whitewater today. Civil society rolls along, unaffected.

In our school district, it’s spring picture day at Lincoln School, home of the Lincoln Leopards. I’ve also been following Dr. Leslie Steinhaus’s applications for positions outside Whitewater. I posted an update from the Holmen School District website yesterday morning. Dr. Steinhaus is no longer a candidate for these positions, and will remain at Whitewater for the coming year.

It’s also a great day in Wisconsin history. On this day in 1954, Hank Aaron hit his first major league home run. He went on to hit 754 more, and his total of 755 is an astonishing accomplishment.

This is also the anniversary of the day in 1940 when Herman Anthony patented a leak-proof battery. Anthony was an engineer at Wisconsin’s Rayovac. There an interesting story about the innovation over at Wired entitled, “April 23, 1940: Batteries Included, and they Don’t Leak.”