FREE WHITEWATER

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 9.2.12

by  • 

Good morning.

Whitewater’s Sunday will be partly sunny, with a high of eighty-four.

On this day in 1945, WWII ended as Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri.

On this day in 1969, the first ATM opened for business:

Longtime readers know that in March of this year, I decided to stop posting stories from Wired, after two to which I had linked turned out to be bogus. They were not the only bogus stories at Wired, one now learns: Prof. Charles Seife has published a review of plagiarist of Jonah Lehrer’s Journalistic Misdeeds at Wired.com. Wired has since fired him. (Lehrer earlier resigned from the New Yorker, and lost a book contract over other lies.)

Here’s Seife on Lehrer’s misconduct:

In short, I am convinced that Lehrer has a cavalier attitude about truth and falsehood. This shows not only in his attitude toward quotations but in some of the other details of his writing. And a journalist who repeatedly fails to correct errors when they’re pointed out is, in my opinion, exhibiting reckless disregard for the truth.

It is thus my opinion that Lehrer plagiarized others’ work, published inaccurate quotations, printed narrative details that were factually incorrect, and failed to address errors when they were pointed out.

Lehrer’s transgressions are inexcusable—but I can’t help but think that the industry he (and I) work for share a some of the blame for his failure. I’m 10 years older than Lehrer, and unlike him, my contemporaries and I had all of our work scrutinized by layers upon layers of editors, top editors, copy editors, fact checkers and even (heaven help us!) subeditors before a single word got published. When we screwed up, there was likely someone to catch it and save us (public) embarrassment. And if someone violated journalistic ethics, it was more likely to be caught early in his career—allowing him the chance either to reform and recover or to slink off to another career without being humiliated on the national stage. No such luck for Lehrer; he rose to the very top in a flash, and despite having his work published by major media companies, he was operating, most of the time, without a safety net. Nobody noticed that something was amiss until it was too late to save him.

This lack of scrutiny isn’t just a journalist’s problem. It’s been true of more than one local politician, across America, too: junk theories, dodgy data, unscrutinized in a servile local press, risibly allowed to pass for good reasoning and sound policy. Readers didn’t get what they deserved from Lehrer’s publications; many residents across America haven’t received what they deserve from their governments, either.

From Google’s daily puzzle, a bit of numbers and letters: “What is the numerical value (to five decimal places) of the constant represented by the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet?” more >>

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 9.1.12

by  • 

Good morning.

Whitewater’s Saturday will be mostly cloudy, seventy-eight degrees, with east winds around 10 miles per hour.

On this day in 1864, Atlanta fell to the Union Army:

On this day in 1875,

Edgar Rice Burroughs [Was] 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]

Google’s daily puzzle asks the name of someone with a really bad reputation: “I often get blamed for starting the “Dark Ages” because I deposed the last Western Roman emperor. What’s my name?”

Cats

Friday Catblogging: The Greatest Film Festival Ever

by  • 

Update, 9.1.12: The winner of the festival was Henri 2, Paw de Deux.

Kindly sent to my attention, news that cat videos got their moment on 8.30 at Minn. film festival:

Warning: This is a story about online cat videos. If you’re among the seemingly tiny minority of the general population not interested in watching a 1-minute clip of a cat in a T-shirt pounding on a keyboard, then move along.

For everyone else, a new measure of respectability is looming for an Internet pleasure that is both massively popular and, for some people, a bit embarrassing. The Walker Art Center, a well-regarded museum of modern art in Minneapolis, on Thursday is presenting its first “Internet Cat Video Film Festival” to showcase the best in filmed feline hijinks.

With about 70 videos over 60 minutes, the Walker is mounting a social experiment as much as a film festival. At issue is whether cat video lovers used to gorging on the clips in the privacy of their homes will do so in public — an online community of fellow aficionados interacting face to face for the first time.

more >>

Poll

Friday Poll: Wisconsin Wolf Hunt

by  • 

Update, 6:44 PM: A circuit court judge ruled today that the hunt could proceed, but prohibited the use of dogs. See, Update: DNR Says “Wolf Season Will Proceed” After Judge’s Ruling.

Wisconsin plans a fall wolf hunt, something that’s the subject (as of this post) of a pending lawsuit over using trained dogs as part of the hunt. (The hunt will permit the use of dogs and traps.)

Farmers want a hunt to reduce the wolf population; opponents fear that the hunt will reduce the wolf population excessively.

Apart from whether the DNR has the authority to regulate aspects of the hunt involving dogs, do you think the hunt’s a good idea? I’d say a hunt for a year, without dogs or traps, would have been a better initial step.

What do you think?


Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 8.31.12

by  • 

Good morning.

Whitewater’s week ends hot, with a high of ninety-three, and winds five to fifteen miles per hour.

On this day in 1980, the Soviet-backed Polish government acceded to a deal with striking Polish workers.

Also on this day, in 1997, Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash.

In 1929, Wisconsin saw the beginning of air service across Lake Michigan:

Kohler Line Air Service Begins Passenger Service

On this date the Kohler Line Air Service commenced air passenger service across Lake Michigan. The service based its winter operations at General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers edited by Sarah Davis McBride, p. 28]

Google’s daily puzzle asks about someone making demands: “I demanded gold, silver, silk robes and 3000 pounds of what exotic spice when I laid siege to Imperial Rome?” more >>

City, Open Government

Internal and External in Government Matters

by  • 

Every so often, there’ll be a discussion within city government about what’s an internal or external matter.

The more important question is whether internal means confidential. It seldom does.

Three quick observations:

Generally, public employees, engaged in public tasks, at public expense, are doing work that should be open to residents’ review. A government that sustains itself on the earnings of others has the slightest claim to separation, concealment, or secrecy from its own residents. For this reason, internal matters that are private matters are few and far between.
Second, there is almost never an internal matter that involves direct interaction between working public employees and residents — those are external matters. Whatever one may say about internal matters, it’s nearly impossible to have contacts between public employees (while working as public employees) and residents that are not, by definition, external. Government employees cannot directly engage in conversations, meetings, encounters, calls, etc. with residents or visitors and credibly claim those conversations as internal, let alone private.

I’m sure they’d sometimes like to do so; it’s just that liking’s not enough to make it so.

(The rare exception: closed or executive sessions of public meetings, as permitted under the law. That closed sessions of public meetings are narrowly-tailored under Wisconsin law confirms the view that most encounters aren’t closed and private.)

Third, even when conduct directly involves only public employees, and so is internal by definition, that’s nonetheless typically a public matter. A public official couldn’t, for example, be the subject of a sexual harassment claim from a subordinate and contend that the claim against him was private (although it would have been internal).

(Sheboygan’s former mayor, for example, was a defandant in a sexual harassment claim from the Sheboygan director of human resources – that wasn’t a private matter, although the misconduct alleged was ‘internal’ between them.)

‘Internal or external’ doesn’t change the fundamental principle that a public thing should be available for the public’s review.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 8.30.12

by  • 

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny, hot, and breezy, with a high of ninety-seven.

On this day in 1963, a hotline between Moscow and Washington went into service.

From the National Park Service, a video of stunning stargazing at Yosemite:

On this day in 1862, Wisconsin troops rested on the White House lawn:

1862 – (Civil War) Wisconsin troops rest at the White House lawn

The 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th Wisconsin Infantry regiments fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run. By the end of this third day, more than 18,000 soldiers had been killed or wounded and Union forces had been pushed back to Washington, D.C. When the Wisconsin regiments arrived in Washington, they rested on the White House lawn. According to historian Frank Klement, “President Lincoln came out with a pail of water in one hand and a dipper in the other. He moved among the men, offering water to the tired and thirsty. Some Wisconsin soldiers drank from the common dipper and thanked the President for his kindness.”

Google’s daily puzzle asks about a British prime minister: “I was the first Hanoverian king of Great Britain, but I didn’t speak English. So I left many administrative affairs to my prime minister. What was his name?” more >>

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 8.29.12

by  • 

Good morning.

The middle of Whitewater’s week will be mostly sunny with a high of eighty-seven.

On this day in 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans:

The Wisconsin Historical Society records that on this day in 1923, composer Lester Trimble was born:

On this date composer Lester Albert Trimble was born in Bangor, Wisconsin. Raised in Milwaukee, Trimble went on to study with the famed Russian-born composer Lopatnikoff at Carnegie-Mellon University. Trimble was named a Guggenheim Fellow for music composition in 1964. In 1971 he joined Juilliard School of Music as a critic and teacher. His compositions show concern with thematic unity (e.g. the Symphony No.2, 1968). In later years, he used newer techniques and wrote for the harpsichord (Concerto, 1978). He was also the first resident composer with the New York Philharmonic. Trimble died in New York on December 31, 1986. [Source:Music and Vision]

Google’s daily puzzle tests one’s geography: “On the continent with both Mawson and Davis time zones, you’ll find 70% of the world’s… what?” more >>