Education, School District
Whitewater’s ACT Participation Rate Near the Bottom of Area Schools
by JOHN ADAMS •
The latest ACT scores for area schools are out, and when one looks at the data with care, one sees that Whitewater yet again lags area schools in the proportion of students taking that test.
Relying only on the scores, without thought to the participation level, would be a superficial gloss on a result that deserves genuine consideration. I’ll not follow a shallow lead – there’s already more than one place where one can find the superficial.
No doubt, a waning group will cry that one should only accentuate the positive.
They don’t know the half of it – although these participation numbers should be disappointing and embarrassing to any well-read person, there are genuine opportunities even now.
Tomorrow, I’ll consider in greater detail (1) what’s wrong, (2) why it’s likely this way, (3) how to present bad results competently and effectively, and (4) how Whitewater can make strides to catch up with other communities and the state average (regardless of state participation requirements in the future).
Anderson, Cartoons & Comics
Sit back and relax
by JOHN ADAMS •
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 9.2.15
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning, Whitewater.
Midweek in town will be partly cloudy with a high of eighty-eight. Sunrise is 6:21 and sunset 7:27, for 13h 06m 01s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 80.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
Aboard The U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Sunday, Sept. 2–Japan surrendered formally and unconditionally to the Allies today in a twenty-minute ceremony which ended just as the sun burst through low-hanging clouds as a shining symbol to a ravaged world now done with war.
[A United Press dispatch said the leading Japanese delegate signed the articles at 9:03 A.M. Sunday, Tokyo time, and that General MacArthur signed them at 9:07 A.M.]Twelve signatures, requiring only a few minutes to inscribe on the articles of surrender, ended the bloody Pacific conflict.
On behalf of Emperor Hirohito, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Government and Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu for the Imperial General Staff.
MacArthur Voices Peace Hope
Gen. Douglas MacArthur then accepted in behalf of the United Nations, declaring:
“It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past.”
These generations later, Japan is a valued ally, to the great advantage of that country and ours.
On 9.2.1862, a panic grips Wisconsin:
On this evening, Manitowoc settlers were awakened to the cry of “Indians are coming.” Messengers on horseback arrived from the Rapids, Branch, Kellnersville, and other nearby communities, announcing that Indians were burning everything in their path, starting what was known as the “Indian Scare of 1862.”Fire and church bells gave warning to frightened residents. Over the next few days, people from the surrounding areas fled to Manitowoc and other city centers. Ox carts were loaded with women and children carrying their most valuable belongings. Men arrived with guns, axes, and pitchforks, anything with which to defend themselves and their community. A company of recruits from the Wisconsin 26th Regiment formed themselves into two scouting units, both of which returned to report that there was no threat of an Indian attack. Even after the excitement had subsided, many frightened farm families could not be persuaded to return home. [Source: Manitowoc County, Wisconsin Genealogy]
Here’s the Wednesday game in Puzzability‘s Sound Bites series:
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This Week’s Game — August 31-September 4
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Sound Bites
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We’ve gone to pieces over this one. For each day this week, we started with two rhyming one-syllable words. The day’s clue gives, for each of those words, a shorter word that appears as a chunk within it. Please note that for the two words to rhyme, every sound from the first vowel sound onward must be identical, as the “-ime” sound in the example below.
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Example:
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LIMB, THY
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Answer:
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Climb, thyme
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What to Submit:
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Submit both words, in the same order as the clue (as “Climb, thyme” in the example) for your answer.
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Wednesday, September 2
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Animals, Nature
The Mysterious Circling Sharks of England
by JOHN ADAMS •
Assault Awareness & Prevention
Consent
by JOHN ADAMS •
Fundamental to a civilized society –
See, also, the It’s On Us Campaign and Not Alone, a site with resources of support for those who have experienced sexual assault.
China, Economics, Economy, Foreign Affairs
The Limits of China Under Communism
by JOHN ADAMS •
A single paragraph from Jacob Soll puts China in perspective:
There is no historical example of a closed imperial economy facing large capital-driven, open states and sustainably competing over a long term. That is not to say that China isn’t an economic powerhouse and a remarkable site of energy and potential. It is certainly both. But we also know Chinese debt — as secret as the state likes to keep it — is enormous, and that its financial system is like any other bubble. It is predicated on inflated earnings reports and expectations.
The great “Beijing Consensus,” China’s absolute commitment to showing 8% growth every year, is unsustainable, at least through legitimate means. And without it, China is beginning to look like an enormous totalitarian ponzi scheme — a phenomenon common enough in world history, but extremely dangerous to be near in the long run.
Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Immigration, Labor, Restaurant
Film: From Dishwasher to Award-Winning Restaurateur
by JOHN ADAMS •
I suppose that if I wanted to curry favor with others, I’d talk about the need for immigration restrictions, or at the least I’d avoid taking a contrary view (a restrictive position being so popular these days). That would seem to me a timid way to face the world, unfit for robust Americans. One should be direct in one’s views.
So, I’ll say what I do believe — in the ethical and practical value of free markets in capital, goods, and labor.
A major party that once embraced these views has turned away from them. We who are libertarian will not do the same. We are confident that an economic philosophy of free markets was right yesterday, is right today, and will be right tomorrow.
Hugo Ortega crossed over the Mexican border and arrived in Houston, Texas, without documents and without knowing any English. Over the next few years, he would become a citizen through President Reagan’s amnesty program and go from washing dishes to owning multiple restaurants. Now, he and his wife, Tracy Vaught—whom he met while working as a dishwasher in her restaurant in the 80’s—are the “reigning powerhouse couple of Houston’s competitive restaurant scene.”
In this documentary produced by Katherine Wells for The Atlantic‘s American Dreams series, Ortega reflects on his journey within the industry. “I have a great responsibility to represent the Mexican cuisine in a proper way,” he says. “It’s a magnificent cuisine.”
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 9.1.15
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning, Whitewater.
Tuesday will be warm, with partly cloudy skies and a high of eighty-nine. Sunrise is 6:20 and sunset 7:29, for 13h 08m 48s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 89.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM.
German defense forces will carry on the battle for the honor of the living rights of the re-awakened German people with firm determination.
I expect every German soldier, in view of the great tradition of eternal German soldiery, to do his duty until the end.
Remember always in all situations you are the representatives of National Socialist Greater Germany!
Long live our people and our Reich!
Berlin, Sept. 1, 1939.
Adolf Hitler
In fewer than six years, although at the cost of tens of millions of lives, the thousand-year Reich would surrender unconditionally.
It’s the birthday of famed author Edgar Rice Burroughs:
1875 – Edgar Rice Burroughs Born
On this date the author of the Tarzan book series was born in Chicago, Ill. Burroughs was educated all around the Midwest. His mid-west ties are seen often in his books. In chapter 27 of “Tarzan of the Apes”, Burroughs depicts Tarzan saving Jane from a forest fire in Wisconsin. [Source: Literature.org]
Here’s the Tuesday game from Puzzability:
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This Week’s Game — August 31-September 4
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Sound Bites
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We’ve gone to pieces over this one. For each day this week, we started with two rhyming one-syllable words. The day’s clue gives, for each of those words, a shorter word that appears as a chunk within it. Please note that for the two words to rhyme, every sound from the first vowel sound onward must be identical, as the “-ime” sound in the example below.
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Example:
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LIMB, THY
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Answer:
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Climb, thyme
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What to Submit:
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Submit both words, in the same order as the clue (as “Climb, thyme” in the example) for your answer.
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Tuesday, September 1
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City, Film
Film: Wednesday, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Mr. Turner
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Wednesday at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Mr. Turner @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building.
Mr. Turner depicts the mature years of British painter J.M.W. Turner.
The 2014 film received four Academy Award nominations, among nearly fifty major film nominations, and won at Cannes for Best Actor (Timothy Spall).
Embedded above is the trailer for the film.
Enjoy.
WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
A Technical Project
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 28 in a series. When Green Turns Brown is an examination of a small town’s digester-energy project, in which Whitewater, Wisconsin would import other cities’ waste, claiming that the result would be both profitable and green.
In the clip above, Whitewater’s city manager mentions briefly the process through which Whitewater selected the engineering firm now advising on both wastewater upgrades and a waste-importation program.
The clip illustrates both the strength and weakness of local government’s position: reliance on an established firm, but a narrow, technocratic reliance.
There’s power is an assessment of what can be built (that is, literally, what can be constructed). Alone, it’s a power without context or sound foundation: it’s not remotely enough to say that waste-importation, for example, can be engineered.
It probably can – distant communities and haulers will want to truck their unwanted, high-strength industrial waste to Whitewater.
In the same way, one could build a pipeline or a dam but those projects are more than technical projects; they’re plans with fiscal, economic, environmental, health, and business-culture implications.
Ticking off a list of for-profit firms that will receive compensation when a project goes forward isn’t vetting the project; it’s vetting those who want to sell a project. (Just as Councilmember Ken Kidd’s consistent boosterism doesn’t rest on anything like a truly independent study.)
I’d guess that City Manager Clapper, educated and intelligent, has a narrow focus, and is relying mostly or exclusively on what may be technically possible. (This reliance is even more evident with Wastewater Superintendent Reel, albeit without evidence of Clapper’s other attributes.)
Hayek described a similar, singular focus on design planning as a fatal conceit; he even wrote a book about it.
I’d guess that, in his remarks, City Manager Clapper means to reassure; considering his words carefully, however, is to see how narrowly-considered this project truly is.
The full video from the City of Whitewater is available at https://vimeo.com/131892711.
WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN: Mondays @ 10 AM, here on FREE WHITEWATER.
Music
Monday Music: Holst, The Planets, Op. 32: IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
by JOHN ADAMS •
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 8.31.15
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning, Whitewater.
Monday in town will be partly cloudy with a high of eighty-five. Sunrise is 6:19 and sunset 7:30, for 13h 11m 36s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 95.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
Google has a doodle on its main search page to mark the beginning of the U.S. Open. The doodle shows an intense match between o and g:
…at the Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, General William T. Sherman launches the attack that finally secures Atlanta, Georgia, for the Union, and seals the fate of Confederate General John Bell Hood’s army, which is forced to evacuate the area.
The Battle of Jonesboro was the culmination of a four-month campaign by Sherman to capture Atlanta. He had spent the summer driving his army down the 100-mile corridor from Chattanooga, Tennessee, against a Confederate force led by General Joseph Johnston. General Hood, who replaced Johnston in July on the outskirts of Atlanta, proceeded to attack Sherman in an attempt to drive him northward. However, these attacks failed, and by August 1 the armies had settled into a siege.
In late August, Sherman swung his army south of Atlanta to cut the main rail line supplying the Rebel army. Confederate General William Hardee’s corps moved to block Sherman at Jonesboro, and attacked the Union troops on August 31, but the Rebels were thrown back with staggering losses. The entrenched Yankees lost just 178 men, while the Confederates lost nearly 2,000.
On September 1, Sherman attacked Hardee. Though the Confederates held, Sherman successfully cut the rail line and effectively trapped the Rebels. Hardee had to abandon his position, and Hood had no choice but to withdraw from Atlanta. The fall of Atlanta was instrumental in securing the reelection of Abraham Lincoln in the fall.
Puzzability has a new series this week, entitled Sound Bites. Here’s Monday’s game:
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This Week’s Game — August 31-September 4
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Sound Bites
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We’ve gone to pieces over this one. For each day this week, we started with two rhyming one-syllable words. The day’s clue gives, for each of those words, a shorter word that appears as a chunk within it. Please note that for the two words to rhyme, every sound from the first vowel sound onward must be identical, as the “-ime” sound in the example below.
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Example:
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LIMB, THY
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Answer:
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Climb, thyme
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What to Submit:
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Submit both words, in the same order as the clue (as “Climb, thyme” in the example) for your answer.
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Monday, August 31
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CDA, Economics, Economy, Gluttony, Gov. Walker, Government Spending, WEDC
The WEDC Taints Walker (and local officials even more)
by JOHN ADAMS •
The WEDC is a state and national story that has local implications.
Some of the toughest political battles are intra-party ones: Republicans or Democrats fighting against fellow party members for their respective primary nominations. For rival Republicans, Gov. Walker’s creation of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation will offer a legitimate and compelling line of attack against his candidacy. (The former Wisconsin Department of Commerce was no great shakes; the WEDC is worse. )
Republicans like Gov. Walker, but there’s more than one national GOP candidate who is well-liked within the party. In fact, they’ve a large field of candidates who, regardless of relative standing in the polls, are well-regarded among the party faithful. That’s Gov. Walker’s self-created problem with the WEDC: it’s a bad idea that other Republicans will legitimately use as a point against his candidacy.
Peter Suderman (himself a libertarian, not a Republican) makes the argument that, if necessary, others will make along the way to the GOP national convention next year:
Walker’s jobs agency is better understood as a model of what not to do. The persistent struggles of his perpetually mismanaged, publicly funded business development facilitator highlight just how inept government-designed agencies can be at spending taxpayer money to create jobs, and the perils of a politically driven, get-something-done approach to economic growth. And, in combination with his flawed arguments for the stadium deal, they offer a stark reminder of the sort of dismal results that can occur when politically connected corporate interests team up with politicians under the banner of happy economic boosterism: Businesses benefit, and so do politicians—but only at taxpayers’ expense. Despite Walker’s campaign-trail claims to be a champion for the little guy, what he’s inadvertently shown in Wisconsin is how the special interests win.
The WEDC is also a local story, as so many political officials, moribund print publications, and the self-described ‘Greater Whitewater Committee,’ a 501(c)(6) business lobby entwined with the CDA, erroneously believe that WEDC-like projects and spending will uplift the community and advance the reputations of those involved.
It’s hard to believe that these few local men could have been so ignorant and foolish, but they have been. They’ve committed to a selfish and sham policy that has not the slightest chance of genuine local gains. This banana-republic economics has nothing behind it.
Gov. Walker is far more capable that any local official in the city; our town squires have no chance whatever of achieving what he has (and indeed, could) not.
The full measure of cheerleading from Whitewater’s reflexive flacks, and their dutiful friends in the press or online, is useless to rehabilitate, let alone justify, years of economic error.
On neither Left nor Right, from among the many fine American economists designated Nobel laureates, for example, there’s not one – not one – who would defend the white-collar cronyism of the Whitewater CDA, Tech Park Board, city manager, or like-minded print & online publications.
By contrast, the most insightful thinkers (among them, Hayek, Friedman, Coase, Buchanan, Krugman, Stiglitz) – of whatever ideological position – would be united in rejecting anything like these local efforts.
A critic of cronyism has centuries of learning in support of his or her criticism; a defender, however crafty or insatiable in self-promotion, has not a single, worthy argument on which to rely.
That’s why efforts in support of these development schemes are destined only to rust, rot, and ruin.
The case against this cronyism, by contrast, is incomparably stronger and imperishable.