Business, CDA, City, Development, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, WEDC
Business Dependency in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
For residents facing poverty, one would hope for, and understand, a combination of private and public relief. Churches and other private organizations do much in this effort; government expenditures for the genuinely needy amount to a small portion of all government spending. Support of this kind is a worthy effort.
Whitewater also has two large public educational institutions, both of which by their nature as public entities receive significant taxpayer support. Neither the Whitewater Unified School District nor UW-Whitewater could go on without public funding, and as they’re public institutions, that’s hardly surprising.
Look beyond that, though, and one finds a city that talks ceaseless about private development, but in saying so really seeks nothing so much as public money. What’s an economic development specialist for city government? It’s a publicly-paid man looking to use public money to manipulate the local economy in ways suited to other public officials.
What’s the Community Development Authority save mostly a collection of present or former public officials, using public money taxed from private citizens, to direct business development in ways those public men find suitable? (Some of those same men simultaneously hold positions as leaders of a local 501(c)(6) business lobby, looking to influence legislation and public affairs in ways suitable to their organization.)
Even the small downtown merchants’ organization, having been in operation for years, relies on city funding and state guidance (from WEDC, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation) to carry on. Both practically and ethically, it would be better to take nothing than to take anything from WEDC. They’ve wasted this state’s money, and disgraced Wisconsin before all America, in the embrace of cronyism and sham economics.
We’d be better off on our own, however hard that might initially seem.
The finest song from a WEDC official is as discordant as an ape’s screeching. Worse, really: the ape vocalizes in a way natural to it; the WEDC man stoops below ordinary human understanding, producing something beneath our society’s capabilities.
Whitewater is lousy with public officials who talk about business growth but use public funds, derived from private taxpayers less well off than the officials, so that those few can play the role of financiers and developers on the public’s tab.
That model has failed us, and will continue to do so. That model has never been broadly believed, and is less persuasive with each successive year.
In this, at least, there’s progress: these public men are almost out of ideas, having greatly depleted their inventory of shoddy proposals.
Anderson, Cartoons & Comics
Less Concerned
by JOHN ADAMS •
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 7.8.15
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning, Whitewater.
Wednesday in town will be mostly cloudy and mild, with a high of seventy-two. Sunrise is 5:25 and sunset 8:35, for 15h 10m 02s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 54.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1853, Commodore Perry pays a visit to Japan, in an audacious (if successful) attempt to persuade Japan to establish diplomatic relations with the United States:
Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, representing the U.S. government, sails into Tokyo Bay, Japan, with a squadron of four vessels. For a time, Japanese officials refused to speak with Perry, but under threat of attack by the superior American ships they accepted letters from President Millard Fillmore, making the United States the first Western nation to establish relations with Japan since it had been declared closed to foreigners two centuries before. Only the Dutch and the Chinese were allowed to continue trade with Japan after 1639, but this trade was restricted and confined to the island of Dejima at Nagasaki.
After giving Japan time to consider the establishment of external relations, Commodore Perry returned to Tokyo with nine ships in March 1854. On March 31, he signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade and permitting the establishment of a U.S. consulate in Japan. In April 1860, the first Japanese diplomats to visit a foreign power in over 200 years reached Washington, D.C., and remained in the U.S. capital for several weeks, discussing expansion of trade with the United States. Treaties with other Western powers followed soon after, contributing to the collapse of the shogunate and ultimately the modernization of Japan.
On this day in 1850, an estranged Mormon with a Walworth County residence declares himself a king:
1850 – James Jesse Strang Crowned King
On this date James Jesse Strang, leader of the estranged Mormon faction, the Strangites, was crowned king; the only man to achieve such a title in America. When founder Joseph Smith was assassinated, Strang forged a letter from Smith dictating he was to be the heir. The Mormon movement split into followers of Strang and followers of Brigham Young. As he gained more followers (but never nearly as many as Brigham Young), Strang became comparable to a Saint, and in 1850 was crowned King James in a ceremony in which he wore a discarded red robe of a Shakespearean actor, and a metal crown studded with a cluster of stars as his followers sang him hosannas. Soon after his crowning, he announced that Mormonism embraced and supported polygamy. (Young’s faction was known to have practiced polygamy, but had not at this time announced it publicly.) A number of followers lived in Walworth County, including Strang at a home in Burlington. In 1856 Strang was himself assassinated, leaving five wives. Without Strang’s leadership, his movement disintegrated. [Source: Wisconsin Saints and Sinners, by Fred L. Holmes, p. 106-121]
A Google a Day asks a science question:
What Swedish taxonomist created binomial nomenclature?
Science/Nature, Space
Drawing Closer to Pluto
by JOHN ADAMS •
As the New Horizons spacecraft approaches Pluto, more about that world is evident, including its actual color —
Crime
The BB Gun Shootings in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s an account from WISC of injuries an adult BB gun shooter inflicted on others in Whitewater on July 4th. I’ve embedded it below. It’s a thorough recounting, and the report offers some of those who suffered personal injury or property damage the opportunity to speak directly.
Personal injury, in particular, can be a hard thing, but there’s nothing hard about forming an opinion on a crime like this: there’s no justification worthy of the term for any part of the alleged accused’s conduct. It’s wholly wrong.
That residents and emergency workers responded quickly is all to the good, and deserves commendation.
Film
Film: The Trailer for Steve Jobs
by JOHN ADAMS •
Steve Jobs is scheduled for release on 10.9.15 —
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 7.7.15
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning, Whitewater.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be party cloudy, with a high of seventy. Sunrise is 5:24 and sunset 8:25, for 15h 11m 08s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 65.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM.
The lights dim. Cameras start to roll. A film crew silently watches. Suddenly! From behind a hand-built skyline, a towering beast appears! Shaking off a layer of dust, the massive foam-and-rubber monster leans back to act out an amazing roar (the sound effect will be added in later). Then, stomping towards the camera, the giant moves closer, and closer, until…”Cut!”
Seen this film before? This live action genre, known as “Tokusatsu” (??) in Japanese, is unmistakable in its style, and still evident in many modern beast-based thrillers. In today’s Doodle, we spotlight one of Tokusatsu’s kings, Eiji Tsuburaya, the quiet pioneer who created Ultraman, co-created Godzilla, and brought Tokusatsu to the global cinematic mainstream….
On this day in 1832, Gen. Atkinson’s militia, including Abraham Lincoln, encamp at Palmyra during the Black Hawk War:
1832 – Black Hawk War Encampment in Palmyra
On this date during the Black Hawk War, General Atkinson led his entire militia, which included future President’s Abraham Lincoln and Zachary Taylor, to a camp just south of Palmyra. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]
A Google a Day asks a question about philosophy:
Which virtue do Socrates and Thrasymachus try to define in Book I of The Republic?
City, Film
Film Foreign Film Series: Leviathan, Wednesday, July 8th @ 12:30 PM
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Seniors in the Park Foreign Foreign Film Series will have a showing of Leviathan this Wednesday, July 8th @ 12:30 PM.
Leviathan is the 2015 Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign Language film, and tells of the conflict between Kolya and his town’s corrupt mayor.
The film will be shown in the Starin Park Community Building in Whitewater.
Embedded below is the trailer for the film.
WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
The Once and Present Vendor
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 18 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.
One might, as in the picture above, see only the rich colors of a forest; looking more closely, though, one sees that vegetation shares the canvas with something else.
From the beginning, in a closed meeting, Whitewater’s city officials met with three design and engineering firms, and one large-scale waste hauler, about waste importation into the city.
Before the first public presentation, long before ‘feasibility studies’ and ‘technical memoranda,’ Whitewater’s city manager and wastewater superintendent held discussions with a waste hauler to import other cities’ unwanted filth into Whitewater.
At those discussions were the Trane, Black & Veatch, and Donohue firms. In these last weeks, I’ve written about Trane’s proposals to Whitewater, for a digester-energy project and for an energy-savings contract. Trane’s role is a story about Trane, but also about the judgment of those who relied on Trane.
Along the way toward this digester project, Trane slipped from view, so to speak, and the Donohue engineering firm became the outside-vendor face of the project. They were present at earlier closed-door meetings, and emerged later as the advocates of both a wastewater plant upgrade and a digester-energy project.
About Donohue’s work toward a digester-energy project, it’s worth offering two principal questions:
(1) what have they considered, and (2) what have they left unconsidered?
In the language of economics, this would be something like what is seen and what is not seen.
What they have considered and what they haven’t is both a matter of their own work and the limitations city officials have placed on it, by defining the scope of the project.
There is no omniscience in Donohue’s analysis or assessments; theirs is human work, and it is susceptible of limitation as all human work is.
In these weeks ahead, I’ll consider Donohue’s published work, written or recorded, in support of a digester-energy project. I’ll do my best to find both what is seen, and that which has been otherwise left unseen.
WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN: Mondays @ 10 AM, here on FREE WHITEWATER.
Music
Monday Music: Kim Wilson, Gumbo Blues
by JOHN ADAMS •
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 7.6.15
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning, Whitewater.
Monday in our city will be warm, with afternoon thunderstorms and a high of eighty-seven. Sunrise is 5:23 and sunset 8:35, for 15h 12m 11s of daytime.
To keep up with cost-conscious shippers, BubbleWrap is modifying its product. It just won’t sound the same:
Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, at the age of 32, in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the subject of the fictional historical play Richard III by William Shakespeare.
When his brother King Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward’s son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. As the young king travelled to London from Ludlow, Richard met and escorted him to lodgings in the Tower of London, where Edward V’s own brother Richard of Shrewsbury joined him shortly afterwards. Arrangements were made for Edward’s coronation on 22 June 1483; but, before the young king could be crowned, his father’s marriage to his mother Elizabeth Woodville was declared invalid, making their children illegitimate and ineligible for the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of Lords and commoners endorsed the claims. The following day, Richard III began his reign, and he was crowned on 6 July 1483. The young princes were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that the boys had been murdered on Richard’s orders, giving rise to the legend of the Princes in the Tower.
Of the two major rebellions against Richard, the first, in October 1483, was led by staunch allies of Edward IV[1] and Richard’s former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham;[2] but the revolt collapsed. In August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, led a second rebellion against Richard. Henry Tudor landed in southern Wales with a small contingent of French troops and marched through his birthplace, Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry’s force engaged Richard’s army and defeated it at the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire. Richard was struck down in the conflict, making him the last English king to die in battle on home soil and the first since Harold II was killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
After the battle Richard’s corpse was taken to Leicester and buried without pomp.[3] His original tomb is believed to have been destroyed during the Reformation, and his remains were lost for more than five centuries.[4] In 2012, an archaeological excavation was conducted on a city council car park on the site once occupied by Greyfriars Priory Church. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of Richard III’s eldest sister, Anne of York.[5][6][7] Richard’s remains were reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.[8]
A Google a Day asks a history question:
Who is generally regarded as one of the very first Americans to die in the struggle for liberty from British Rule?
Animation
Sunday Animation: Starry Night
by JOHN ADAMS •
A try to visualize the flow of the famous painting "Starry Night" of Vincent Van Gogh.
The user can interact with the animation. Also, the sound responds to the flow.
Made with openframeworks.
Available on the app-store: itunes.apple.com/us/app/starry-night-interactive-animation/id511943282
Available on google-play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.artof01.starrynight
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 7.5.15
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning, Whitewater.
Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of eighty-five. Sunrise is 5:22 and sunset 8:36, for 15h 13m 11s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 85% of its visible disk illuminated.
Our Independence Holiday events conclude today along Cravath, opening at Noon and closing at 5 PM.
It’s today that the FIFA Women’s World Cup match between America and Japan takes place, at 6 PM central time. (Yesterday saw an exciting, extra-time game for third place between England and Germany, and an English win over Germany, 1-0.)
The Solar Impulse 2 plane completed a trans-Pacific flight from Japan to Hawaii on July 3rd. It’s another step in use of genuinely green and clean technology:
On this day in 1832, Gen. Atkinson enters the trembling lands:
On this date, General Atkinson and his troops entered the area known by the Native Americans as “trembling lands” in their pursuit of Black Hawk. The area was some 10 square miles and contained a large bog. Although the land appeared safe, it would undulate or tremble for yards when pressure was applied. Many of the militiamen were on horses, which plunged to their bellies in the swamp. The “trembling lands” forced Atkinson to retrace his steps back toward the Rock River, in the process losing days in his pursuit of Black Hawk. [Source: Along the Black Hawk Trail by William G. Stark]