Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 75. Sunrise is 6:18 AM and sunset 7:33 PM for 13h 14m 28s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 70.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Aquatic Fitness Center Subcommittee meets at 6 PM.
The pandemic will soon end (as a national emergency declaration), but agitation and dyspepsia remain as strong as ever. For Whitewater and other places across America, too much is overwrought and under-thought. Far from overcoming the tensions of the pandemic, we’ve an edgy few approaching immediate concerns with pandemic-level stress, frustration, and suspicion.
It’s as though they’ve become addicted to (misplaced) intensity. Along the way, these few are exaggerating short-term problems but offering few long-range solutions.
Whitewater has always been a beautiful but rough-and-tumble place, yet many of these latest kerfuffles are notably needless and unproductive to the city’s future.
I asked an AI chatbot to write a haiku on lingering post-pandemic tensions, and here’s what it crafted:
Monday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 69. Sunrise is 6:20 AM and sunset 7:31 PM for 13h 11m 39s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 80.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
The canvass of the recent Whitewater Unified School District election takes place at 1 PM, and Whitewater’s Planning & Architectural Board meets at 6 PM.
Matt Taibbi became involved in a project of Elon Musk’s to discredit Twitter’s prior management as biased. Musk called this project the Twitter Files to give it a dramatic flair. As it turned out, the Twitter Files project was more bad dinner theater than high drama.
Watch below, to see what happens when Mehdi Hasan, skilled in argumentation, questions Taibbi about the Twitter Files. (Taibbi has since had a falling out with Musk over recent Twitter policies, but Musk could not have been impressed watching Taibbi stumble again and again in defense of Musk’s supposedly grand project.)
This is what happens when someone skillful (Hasan) debates someone who’s not (Taibbi).
Easter in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 66. Sunrise is 6:21 AM and sunset 7:30 PM for 13h 08m 49s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 88.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1959, NASA announces the selection of the United States’ first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the “Mercury Seven.“
Saturday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 60. Sunrise is 6:23 AM and sunset 7:29 PM for 13h 06m 00s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 94.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1820, the Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.
The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words is not actually as old as you might think. It was coined in 1921 by advertising executive Fred R. Barnard to promote his agency’s work.
But more than 100 years on, artist James Cook has turned this idea on its head, using thousands of words to make his typewritten drawings.
The 26-year-old from Essex, England creates shading, texture, perspective, and occasionally even splashes of color, in all his intricate illustrations. But not once does his hand hold a pencil or clasp a paintbrush. Instead, his fingers tap the keys of one of his 63 vintage typewriters.
The first typewriter was patented in 1868 and the World’s last remaining factory, in Mumbai, closed its doors in 2011. So part of James’ trade is seeking out parts, replacements and the all important typewriter ribbons. Luckily, members of the public regularly donate preloved machines to his growing collection.
Good Friday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 52. Sunrise is 6:25 AM and sunset 7:28 PM for 13h 03m 09s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 98.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1921, AT&T engineer Herbert Ives transmits the first long-distance public television broadcast (from Washington, D.C., to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).
Employers churned out 236,000 jobs in March, shoring up the economy through a period of increasing financial instability and inflation, as a resilient labor market continues to prop up the economy against all odds.
….
American workers, and their spending prowess, have driven the U.S. economy through incredible obstacles: a banking crisis that took down three institutions and threatened broader financial instability; higher interest rates that have chilled the housing market and parts of the financial industry; sweeping tech industry layoffs, with major employers cutting more than 160,000 jobs in three months; and persistent inflation that’s made groceries and rent much more expensive, particularly for the nation’s most vulnerable.
“The labor market remains the pillar of strength in the economy,” said Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor. “Americans are employed, they’re getting paychecks, which of course keeps consumer spending healthy and keeps the rest of the economy running.”
Despite the economic head winds, employers — many of whom have struggled to fill openings — are continuing to hire or at least keep the workers they do have, even as business slows.
Tuesday, April 11th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of The Whale @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:
Drama
Rated R (language); 1 hour, 57 minutes (2022)
A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher (Brendan Fraser) suffering from congestive heart failure, attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Hong Chau). Oscar nominations included Best Actor and Supporting Actress.
Thursday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 50. Sunrise is 6:26 AM and sunset 7:27 PM for 13h 00m 18s of daytime. The moon is full with 99.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM, and the Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.
In yesterday’s post on Wisconsin & Whitewater Election Results, I promised a post with an analysis of the results. This is that post. I’ve written about the election over the last month, with an emphasis on the school district: (1 3.11.23 Candidates’ Forum), (2 Referendums), (3 Dual Language & Teaching on Race), (4 Surveys), (5 Gender & Orientation), (6 Standardized Scores), (7 Managerial Issues).
Remarks below:
Preliminaries. We’ve no polling for Whitewater, and no professionally-selected focus groups. As it turns out, we don’t have our own daily newspaper, either. Our professional journalism comes from the next town over. That may one day change; today is not that day. (A supposed local election analysis that talks about how many women are on the board, or that cannot even count accurately the candidates’ vote distribution within the city, isn’t a serious analysis for Whitewater.)
Cultural Issues. We can dispense with one concern quickly and thankfully. The one candidate who advanced these concerns found himself finishing last. Some portion of the school board race was regrettably and wrongly hijacked to address with concerns over LGTBQ+ youth activities. For my response to that sad effort see On LGBTQ+ Movie Night at Whitewater’s Library. Five of the six candidates in the school board race avoided falsely scapegoating inclusion efforts for the serious and widespread challenges our students face. Remember now: Extreme Populism Presents as Trolling. It’s easier to hit the like button than to create a likable, let alone sound, policy.
Referendums and Language Instruction. Referendums and language instruction were not controversial at the candidate forum, and it’s improbable they were significant motivators for voters. In any event, Lisa Huempfner, for whom language instruction is a profession, carried the city and won a seat on the board. Her own views as expressed at the candidate forum were balanced; she spoke practically and sensibly.
Whitewater’s situation is difficult, with some students experiencing challenges that money can’t solve. Their situation is like being part of a pyramid of eggs: one wrong move can lead to many shattered lives.
State of District. What do residents think is the state of this district? I’d guess they and the candidates mostly agree: We are a socio-economically challenged community with poor academic performance. What would have been an insult once is now a widely understood description. Boosterism and toxic positivity are dead in this district. There would not have been this many candidates and this much discussion if the community felt satisfied.
The Managerial Concern. Again, and again, even if during the campaign spoken sotto voce or in euphemisms, candidates and residents expressed concern about the management of the district. Why it so hard to say plainly? After all, I just did.
There’s no animosity in this; it’s a plain statement.
Note well, I do not know how all this will end, but it is clear to me — and others thinking clearly — that this vote reflects a need for direct superintendent and community discussions in large, open forums. There have been some listening sessions only recently, but they have come late and it is insufficient to have board members at those sessions speaking for the superintendent.
In the last post of the FREE WHITEWATER schools series, I addressed this topic:
This might have been an election, also, about the managerial approach of this superintendent and her administrators. There have been oblique references from some of the candidates to these concerns, but nothing so direct as someone who favors candid conversation would have wanted. Last year at FREE WHITEWATER, I wrote that the community needed direct, blunt discussions on managerial policy. See from 8.1.22 Two Postures, Two Approaches and my comments under that post. Everyone would have benefitted from that approach, however uncomfortable at first. It was a road not then taken.
A discussion of a managerial approach, like one of educational fundamentals, would have been all to the good. Fair, calmly addressed, dispassionately considered.
The vote, it seems plain, is a vote for more of this.
Big changes require big discussions. Those aren’t discussions with a board, or the district leadership team, they’re discussions with the community. Those aren’t discussions through a board, administrator, or principal, they are discussions from the superintendent directly with the community in large settings.
If there had been no large changes, this would not be necessary. There have been large changes, so it is necessary.
This libertarian blogger lamented less of this before the election. It’s now clear that the administration will not be able to carry on successfully without a dialogue and reconciliation with community groups. There’s been some talk about the role of the superintendent and the board, but that’s secondary as a practical matter.
It’s the relationship of the superintendent to the community that this electorate expects to be addressed.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 65. Sunrise is 6:28 AM and sunset 7:26 PM for 12h 57m 26s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 99.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1621, the Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to England.
Results below for Wisconsin statewide and Whitewater. Results only for today, with an assessment on Thursday. Unofficial results are from Jefferson, Rock, and Walworth counties.
Wisconsin Supreme Court: Statewide, Whitewater, and in the Whitewater Unified School District.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 60. Sunrise is 6:30 AM and sunset 7:24 PM for 12h 54m 34s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 97% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1964, The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
How the national press is covering the Wisconsin Supreme Court race:
New York Times: Wisconsin’s High-Stakes Supreme Court Race: What to Watch (‘The election for a swing seat on the court is likely to determine whether abortion remains illegal in Wisconsin, as well as the future of the state’s heavily gerrymandered political maps’).
Monday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 57. Sunrise is 6:32 AM and sunset 7:23 PM for 12h 51m 41s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 92.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Equal Opportunities Commission meets at 5 PM.
On this day in 1865, a day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, President Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.
Sunday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 55. Sunrise is 6:33 AM and sunset 7:22 PM for 12h 48m 48s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 87.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1865, defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia.
The artist Willard Wigan has been making sculptures for six decades, and yet his entire body of work could fit in the palm of your hand. His record-breaking micro-sculptures, which take months to complete, are made from fragments of pottery, flecks of gold and grains of sand. And if you think the statues are small, imagine the tools used to make them.
Willard has to craft them all himself, from hypodermic needles, shards of diamond and human eyelashes. Measured in micrometers, and almost invisible to the human eye, Willard has built worlds inside the eye of a needle – Mount Rushmore, the Last Supper, the Moon Landing to name just a few.
He also holds the world record for the smallest sculpture ever made which is the size of a single human blood cell. It’s a sculpture of a fetus carved from Kevlar, and placed within the hollowed hole of a single hair. Truly mind boggling.
When he was 50, Willard was diagnosed with autism, which he credits as his “super power” allowing him to see the world differently. He says he hopes his astonishing pieces will change other people’s understanding of the world too.