In the video below, James & Deborah Fallows talk about how (comparatively) smaller cities in different parts of the country are thriving. It’s a brief video, but from it one might be led to a deeper, if different, assessment of how a community can succeed.
Of this point one may be certain: it never was, and it never will, be true that boosterism brings lasting success to a community.
I’m not convinced, absent more information, exactly why these towns are succeeding, but I’ve no doubt that America’s future is bright nationally, and can be bright locally, too.
The job market in the United States is constantly shifting—especially in small towns that were once totally reliant on large factories for jobs. While politicians focus on failing industries, things looks different from the local perspective. Atlantic national correspondent James Fallows and contributing writer Deborah Fallows travelled to Pennsylvania, California, and Kansas to understand what transformations were happening in various industries. “These perceived weaknesses are actually our strength,” says one young resident of Erie, Pennsylvania.
Tuesday in town will be cloudy with a high of fifty-four. Sunrise is 7:21 AM and sunset is 5:55 PM, for 10h 33m 34s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 23.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
Common Council meets this evening at 6:30 PM, and the Fire Department will hold a business meeting at 7 PM.
I want to say to you, Mr. Zorin, that I do not have your talent for obfuscation, for distortion, for confusing language, and for doubletalk. And I must confess to you that I am glad that I do not!
But if I understood what you said, you said that my position had changed, that today I was defensive because we did not have the evidence to prove our assertions, that your Government had installed long-range missiles in Cuba.
Well, let me say something to you, Mr. Ambassador—we do have the evidence. We have it, and it is clear and it is incontrovertible. And let me say something else—those weapons must be taken out of Cuba.
Next, let me say to you that, if I understood you, with a trespass on credibility that excels your best, you said that our position had changed since I spoke here the other day because of the pressures of world opinion and the majority of the United Nations. Well, let me say to you, sir, you are wrong again. We have had no pressure from anyone whatsoever. We came in here today to indicate our willingness to discuss Mr. U Thant’s proposals, and that is the only change that has taken place.
But let me also say to you, sir, that there has been a change. You—the Soviet Union has sent these weapons to Cuba. You—the Soviet Union has upset the balance of power in the world. You—the Soviet Union has created this new danger, not the United States.
And you ask with a fine show of indignation why the President did not tell Mr. Gromyko on last Thursday about our evidence, at the very time that Mr. Gromyko was blandly denying to the President that the U.S.S.R. was placing such weapons on sites in the new world.
Well, I will tell you why—because we were assembling the evidence, and perhaps it would be instructive to the world to see how a Soviet official—how far he would go in perfidy. Perhaps we wanted to know if this country faced another example of nuclear deceit like that one a year ago, when in stealth, the Soviet Union broke the nuclear test moratorium.
And while we are asking questions, let me ask you why your Government—your Foreign Minister—deliberately, cynically deceived us about the nuclear build-up in Cuba….
On this date a major boiler house explosion devastated three stories at Pabst Brewing Company early in the morning. The damage was estimated at about $250,000, one worker was killed and another was injured. Pabst Brewing Company filed a claim with its insurer, the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, to recover damages from the explosion. [Source: Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company]
This Tuesday, October 25th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Young Frankenstein @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building.
In Young Frankenstein, an “American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.”
The 1974 comedy classic, directed by Mel Brooks, stars Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, and Peter Boyle, with a run time of one hour, forty-six minutes. The film carries a PG rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.
[t]he American Psychological Association has released some preliminary data from its upcoming annual “Stress in America” report, on the nation’s level of anxiety specifically around this election.
Around half of people surveyed (52 percent) say the election “is a very or somewhat significant” source of stress in their lives. The breakdown by party is about even: 59 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats say this election is causing them stress.
There’s much at stake, but nationally, statewide, or locally there’s no reason for anxiety over November 8th’s results. We’re a resilient people, having been through conditions far more difficult than those we face today. We’ve come through a revolution, a civil war, two world wars, a cold war, a depression, a great recession, and significant periods of protest until legal reform. We’re more than able to manage the current elections, whatever their results.
Far from being a source of anxiety, our exercise of fundamental rights should be a source of confidence for us.
Think too much about today, and the sky might seem to be falling. Look back even briefly at our history, and one has cause for equanimity. more >>
Monday in town will be partly cloudy with a high of fifty-five. Sunrise is 7:20 AM and sunset is 5:56 PM, for 10h 36m 15s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 32.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission is scheduled to meet today at 4:30 PM.
On October 24, 1861, with the push of a button, California’s chief justice, Stephen J. Field, wired a message from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, congratulating him on the transcontinental telegraph’s completion that day. He added the wish that it would be a ‘means of strengthening the attachment which binds both the East and the West to the Union.’
A rudimentary version of the Internet — not much more advanced than two tin cans and a string — had been born. But it worked, and it grew.
Just a few years after the nation was wired, telegraph technology would be extended to the rest of North America, and soon cylindrical wires from Mexico to Canada would jangle with little bursts of electromagnetic juice, sending messages of every kind and redefining how communication can mean business.
1933 – Amelia Earhart Visits Janesville
On this date Amelia Earhart spoke to the Janesville Woman’s History Club as part of the group’s 57th anniversary celebration. Four years later, Earhart disappeared as she attempted to fly across the Pacific Ocean. [Source: Janesville Gazette 10/24/1933, p.2]
JigZone‘s puzzle for Monday is of a bronze statue:
Sunday in town will be sunny and mild with a high of sixty-seven. Sunrise is 7:19 AM and sunset 5:58 PM, for 10h 38m 57s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 42.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
The British victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign and ended the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields via North Africa. Second El Alamein revived the morale of the Allies, being the first big success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941. The battle coincided with the Allied invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch, which started on 8 November.
On this date the Green Bay Packers played their first NFL game. The Packers defeated the Minneapolis Marines 7-6, for a crowd of 6,000 fans and completed their inaugural season with 3 wins, 2 losses, and 2 ties. [Source: Packers.com]
Saturday in town will be cloudy in the morning, but sunnier in the afternoon, with a daytime high of sixty. Sunrise is 7:18 AM and sunset 5:59 PM, for 10h 41m 40s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 52.8% of its visible disk illuminated.
On October 22 at 7:00 pm EDT, President Kennedy delivered a nationwide televised address on all of the major networks announcing the discovery of the missiles.
It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.[58]
Kennedy described the administration’s plan:
To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba, from whatever nation or port, will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948.[58]
1843 – Stephen Moulton Babcock Born
On this date Stephen Moulton Babcock was born in Bridgewater, New York. From 1887 to 1913, he was a professor of agricultural chemistry at the University of Wisconsin and chief chemist for the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1890 Babcock developed the Babcock test for determining the butterfat content of milk. The test advanced the modern dairy industry as it permitted rapid and accurate grading of milk at markets, discouraged adulteration and thinning practices, and promoted the development of better dairy strains. Babcock worked for 43 years at the University of Wisconsin, where he established a laboratory to conduct pioneering research in nutrition and vitamin chemistry. Babcock died on July 2, 1931.
Friday brings partly cloudy skies and a high of fifty-two to town. Sunrise is 7:17 AM and sunset is 6:01 PM, for 10h 44m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 64.8% of its visible disk illuminated.
Constitution was retired from active service in 1881, and served as a receiving ship until designated a museum ship in 1907. In 1934, she completed a three-year, 90-port tour of the nation. Constitution sailed under her own power for her 200th birthday in 1997, and again in August 2012 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of her victory over Guerriere.On
On this date the Yerkes Observatory was dedicated. Founded by astronomer George Hale and located in Williams Bay, the Yerkes Observatory houses the world’s largest refracting optical telescope, with a lens of diameter 102 cm/40 inches. It was built through the largess of the tycoon Charles Tyson Yerkes, who rebuilt important parts of the Chicago transportation system after the fire. Situated in a 77-acre park on the shore of Lake Geneva, this observatory was the center for world astronomy in the early 20th century and invited a number of astronomers from around the world, including Japan, for scientific exchange. [Source: Yerkes Observatory Virtual Museum]
