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Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 4.6.12

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s week ends with sunny skies and a high temperature of fifty-six.

On this day in 1909, explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson became the first men to reach the North Pole. The claim was later confirmed by the Navigation Foundation in 1989.

The Wisconsin Historical Society records today as a day in 1831 when Wisconsin lost some of her original residents:

1831 – Sauk Indians Leave Illinois & Wisconsin

On this date, in the spring of 1831, the Sauk Indians led by Chief Keokuk left their ancestral home near the mouth of the Rock River and moved across the Mississippi River to Iowa to fulfill the terms of a treaty signed in 1804. Many of the tribe, however, believed the treaty to be invalid and the following spring, when the U.S. government failed to provide them with promised supplies, this dissatisfied faction led by Black Hawk returned to their homeland on the Rock River, precipitating the Black Hawk War. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]

Google’s daily puzzle asks about an animal, its senses, and the Eiffel tower during wartime: “A particular type of animal served as a lookout atop the Eiffel Tower during World War I. Which of the animal’s five senses made it the logical choice for the duty?”

Libertarians

Does Koch-supporter Kevin Gentry think everyone else in America is gullible?

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At CNN, a Charles Koch-backed Cato Institute board member insists that the Kochs have always supported libertarianism, and that they want an independent Cato.

Kevin Gentry must think that libertarians, and lots of other people, are particularly gullible. We’re not.

If Gentry thinks the Kochs have always been true to libertarianism, he might want to explain why the Kochs have poured so much money into Americans for Prosperity. An AFP event is likely to be a showcase for anti-libertarian politicians like Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, or Herman Cain.

Those are favored candidates for GOP activists, but they’re not libertarians. The Kochs may spend their money as they want, but when they spend for those who are against libertarianism, we may reasonably doubt the claim that the Kochs remain faithful libertarians.

As for the second claim, that the Kochs want an independent Cato Institute by making it a dependent part of their family-controlled financial empire, one may ask: What do they and Gentry think it means to be independent?

They should know that real independence means something more than what the Kochs insist it means. Independence is an actual quality, not an industrialist’s talking point.

One can see from Gentry’s editorial that the Kochs are surprised that their lawsuit to control Cato has met with such strong libertarian criticism. They’re surprised out of confusion: they’re no longer what they still claim to be, and we’re still committed to what we have always been.

Via ‘Koch believes in an independent Cato’ at CNN.

Posted originally on 4.5.12 at Daily Adams.

Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty, Wisconsin

The Place of Peace and Honesty

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Is there a place where hundreds of thousands have protested, packed their Capitol building, nearly a million later signing election petitions, without violence, at limited public costs, and without fraud?

What spot of peace and honesty, integrity and democracy, is like that? Could there even be such a place, in all the world?

There is.

It’s called Wisconsin.

Over the last year, multitudes — ordinary Wisconsinites — have protested, camped, occupied, and signed documents peacefully and honestly. They’ve sought redress of their grievances, and still others have protested in opposition to those claims. Despite naysayers insisting that these efforts would lead to violence, widespread riots, and rampant fraud, the opposite has been true: virtually everything that has happened has been peaceful and honest.

Hundreds of thousands cumulatively protested at the Capitol in Madison, over several weeks, without injury to others or themselves. These were not — as some absurdly claimed — riots, but intead the exercise of the nonviolent right to free assembly. One was as safe walking among those crowds as one would be anywhere, at anytime.

Do you wonder if vast numbers of people can peaceably assemble and speak, day after day, week after week? Wisconsin proves that they can.

Some occupied their state’s Capitol building, for which they were ridiculed as dirty and destructive. Fantastic claims of supposed damage to the building – without justification beyond guesswork — labeled these residents as vandals. In fact, costs for cleanup were only a small fraction of the millions speciously alleged.

Can people nonviolently and temporarily occupy public buildings without permanent damage or debilitating costs? Wisconsin proves that they can.

Later, many of these same residents, and hundreds of thousands more, collected petitions through the coldest months of the year to recall their governor. One heard that it could not be done, or that it could only be done by fraud. These residents exceeded even the high standard their constitition set for the number of signatures required. Despite wild assertions that signatures would be fabricated, of over nine-hundred thousand signatures, only four were found to be false. Four – the tiny number between three and five.

Is there a place where people could collect so much, so quickly, so honestly? Wisconsin proves that there is.

We’ve controversies ahead, to be sure. Yet for it all, we have reason to be optimistic, for our future and America’s. Our best days await us.

Wisconsin, whose many residents are peaceful and honest, proves this to be true.

Posted originally on 4.5.12 at Daily Adams.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 4.5.12

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s Thursday looks to be a mostly sunny day with a high temperature of fifty-four.

Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that on this day in 1860,

Wisconsin Congressman Challenged to Duel

On this date, with the threat of civil war hanging in the air, John F. Potter, a Wisconsin representative in Congress, was challenged to a duel by Virgina representative Roger Pryor. Potter, a Northern Republican, had become a target of Southerners during heated debates over slavery. After one exchange, Pryor challenged Potter to a duel and Potter, as the one challenged, specified that bowie knives be used at a distance of four feet. Pryor refused and Potter became famous in the anti-slavery movement. Two years later, when Republicans convened in Chicago, Potter was given a seven foot blade as a tribute; the knife hung with pride during all the sessions of the convention.  Before his death, Potter remembered the duel and proclaimed, “I felt it was a national matter – not any private quarrel – and I was willing to make sacrifices.” [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners, by Fred L. Holmes]

Our present politics in Madison and Washington, however contentious, are nowhere near so acrimonious.

It’s a day before Friday Catblogging, but I wanted to catch up today with a story about a cat who survived a nineteen-floor fall in Boston.

video platform
video management
video solutions
video player

Impressive.

From Google’s daily puzzle, something of China and tunnels: “China recently completed a tunnel that goes beneath the Pearl River. How many minutes would it take you to go through it by train?”

Politics, Walworth County

Election Transparency: How Jefferson and Rock Counties Still Top Walworth County

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On April 5, 2011, I wrote about the more transparent and informative election websites in the area: Election Transparency: How Jefferson and Rock Counties Top Walworth County.

It’s a year later, and Walworth County still lags behind Jefferson and Rock Counties. The Walworth County website doesn’t list results by precinct, leaving residents in the dark about which areas are in. (That’s the kind of omission that raised concerns about Waukesha County’s 2011 election reporting.)

Walworth County’s site simply lags behind the standard a Wisconsin county should meet, and that both Jefferson and Rock Counties do meet.

Walworth County:

Rock County:

Jefferson County:

City, Elections, Uncategorized

Political Recap: The Whitewater Council Races

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The spring primary for Whitewater’s Common Council ended about as one might have thought. The at-large seat broke for Kidd, Abbott won comfortably in her district, and the Binnie-Hartmann District 4 race was very close (probably closer than one would have guessed).

One would expect an incumbent or establishment candidate to prevail in Whitewater, and that happened in the two races now decided (with District 4 being within the margin of outstanding votes).

In any event one seat was sure to change hands, one was unlikely to change, and one still needs counting.

City, Politics, School District

Political Recap: The Whitewater Schools’ Referendum

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Sometimes one sees something impressive. Last night was one of those times. After all but a few votes have been counted, the Whitewater Schools’ referendum has likely passed. I wrote about the referendum on January 18th, and made two principal points:

(1) the referendum faced long odds (“I’d guess that a referendum in the spring has only about a one-in-three chance of success, perhaps less, based on the likely composition of the electorate”) and

(2) the referendum might still pass, with skillful political work (“So is a referendum doomed? No, it’s not. The odds may be against a referendum, but it’s possible to change those odds”).

For the full post, see Local Politics of a Whitewater Schools Referendum.

Regardless of one’s views, it’s hard to over-estimate the political accomplishment. While other nearby districts saw referendums fail (Watertown, Parkview, it seems), Whitewater’s succeeded. I ended that post by writing that “the way to win, and even the way to get a good-enough result, is to play to win.”

[4.4.12 update: Watertown vote likely passed.]

Play to win they did, in what may have been Whitewater’s most effective local campaign in years. On its own, this race deserves notice, regardless of one’s opinion of additional spending. A spring primary is the hardest time for a spending referendum, and this spring electorate (in a GOP presidential primary) made the referendum question an uphill fight. (Candidly, even if the referendum had been narrowly defeated, it would have been a political, if not practical, accomplishment to keep the race close.)

It’s unavailaling [typo corrected to] unavailing to emphasize the distribution of the vote between townships and the city: this was a district-wide vote, up or down. The referendum won where it needed to, and kept the race close enough where it trailed.

The only way to win was a direct approach, and that the Whitewater Schools certainly took: through its website, the district administrator’s many personal appearances, and a supporters’ campaign, proponents of the referendum were visible and communicative. (Embedded below is a screenshot of the district website’s informational links.) People can’t say they weren’t told about it — there was ample information on the issue. Some of this grassroots advocacy came not just from postcards, but from new media like Facebook (and probably lots of emails and text messages among supporters, etc).

A combination of presentations from District Administrator Eric Runez and grassroots advocacy from supporters made this possible. I’d guess that if either had been missing the referendum would have failed. People admire those who go out and about on behalf of a cause.

Other local campaigns should look to the referendum supporters’ efforts as a model for future races.

All in all, very well played.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 4.4.12

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s Wednesday will be a sunny day, with a high of fifty-nine. Not a bad Wednesday, at all.

I’ll have a political recap later today of Whitewater’s elections, for Common Council, for the Whitewater Schools referendum, and a post about county election websites from across the area. However you voted, don’t you feel better today, for having voted? I know I do. The day after an election should, fundamentally, always feel better.

In the city today, there will be a meeting of the Landmarks Commission at 5 PM.

Why did the dodo become extinct? Perhaps their demise was more the result of nature than human predation:

An extended drought that struck Mauritius about 4200 years ago turned one of the island’s few sources of fresh water into a muddy death trap for dodos, giant tortoises, and other wildlife, a new study suggests. The excavations have yielded the fossils of small creatures–including insects, bats, and snails–as well as the pollen and seeds of plants that lived in the area, giving scientists a much more comprehensive look at the dodo’s ecosystem.

Mauritius, an island nation in the southwest Indian Ocean about 870 kilometers east of Madagascar, is famed as the home of the dodo, a flightless, turkey-sized relative of pigeons and doves whose name has become synonymous with extinction. Even though dodos died out in the late 1600s, about 80 years after Europeans first colonized the islands, only a few descriptions of the bird exist, and those accounts are often contradictory, says Hanneke Meijer, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. From the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, several excavations on the island recovered large amounts of dodo remains, but at the time it wasn’t routine to collect information that could provide ecological context.

See, Sid Perkins’s Death by Dry Spell.

Google’s daily puzzle tests knowledge of biology: “If one monozygotic twin has an innie, is it guaranteed that the other will as well?”

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 4.3.12

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Good morning.

It’s a partly sunny election day for Whitewater, with a slight chance of afternoon showers, and a high of sixty-six.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls today as an important election day  in our history:

1866 – African-Americans Vote in Wisconsin
On this date African-Americans voted for the first time in Wisconsin, after Ezekiel Gillespie successfully sued for the right to vote, an important point in  the mid-19th century struggle of Milwaukee black citizens for suffrage.   [Source: History of Wisconsin, Vol. II, pg. 571]

At ScienceNews.org,  Susan Gaidos writes about recent studies that suggest even animals benefit from having friends:

Scientists have long known that animals form bonds. Primates and horses that spend more time in close proximity will generally be friendlier and less aggressive with each other. Chimps and elephants share food, comfort the injured and appear to grieve at the deaths of peers.

Still, for decades the prevailing view was that most interactions occur between closely related individuals. Bonds formed between unrelated animals were supposedly only transient, designed to gain some immediate benefit. Scientists now know that isn’t true. Studies of dolphins, horses, lions and chimpanzees show that even unrelated animals often form stable bonds lasting for years. And evidence indicates that one animal may do something costly to help a nonrelative, while receiving a benefit later.

Animals’ lives are more intricate than we might have thought, it seems.

Google’s daily puzzle mixes geography and demographics: “Which continent has the most French speakers in the world?”

Elections

Whitewater League of Women Voters’ Candidates Forum

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Here’s a recording — still timely — of the Whitewater League of Women Voters’ Candidates Forum from March — originally posted here on March 19th at noon.

 

League of Women Voters: Candidates Debate 3/10/2012 from Whitewater Community TV on Vimeo.

 

Embedded above is a recording of the March 10th candidate forum among candidates for Whitewater’s Common Council. Had there not been this forum, the city would not have had the chance to see these candidates, in person, on television, or from Vimeo.

A few published answers, often carefully edited, cannot describe as much as the candidates themselves, answering questions at a public forum.

Readers may decide what they think of this year’s candidates. This, however, is the risk (to my way of thinking) in any year: that incumbency becomes its own ideology, and that office bends men and women to a common approach that’s less than our city needs.

The progressive and conservative alike become, in local politics, similar-sounding moderates. Although some see this as beneficial, I think they’re wrong. There’s a place for ideology at the local level, and our lack of it has done us harm.

We would be a healthier city with direct, clear, principled, ideological declarations. I’m neither progressive nor conservative, but I very much believe that the city would be better off with ideological representatives, of either view, than with officeholders of situational convictions.

City

Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters April 2012 Newsletter

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The Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ April 2012 Newsletter is out, featuring both articles and a calendar of upcoming LWV events.

This latest edition is available as a link on my blogroll, and is embedded below.

Upcoming events:

Date: April 3 (Tuesday)
Event: Municipal Elections and Presidential Primary

Date: April 19 (Thursday)
Event: Health Issues, Energy Sources and the Clean Air Act,” Speaker: Kate Walter, Clean Wisconsin
Where: 7PM City Hall Council Chambers

Date: May 19 (Saturday)
Event: Annual Meeting
Where: 10 AM Fairhaven Fellowship Hall

Whitewater League Website

www.lwvwhitewater.org

Beautiful Whitewater, Books, City, Press Release

Young Auditorium receives grant to host 4th Community Big Read

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Young Auditorium receives grant to host 4th Community Big Read

 For the fourth year in a row, the National Endowment for the Arts has awarded a local partnership to bring the national Big Read initiative to Rock, Walworth, Jefferson and adjacent counties.  Mark Twain in the Rock River Basin will be the focus of this year’s Big Read in southeastern Wisconsin.  Led by the Irvin L. Young Library in Whitewater, the Arrowhead Library System in Rock County, and UW-Whitewater’s Young Auditorium, the Big Read will provide a host of activities and in-school outreach.  Twenty-three area library partners, from Beloit, to Watertown and beyond will be hosting events in April.

For 2012 the theme of Twain in the Rock River Basin will link our community’s physical location, as part of the greater Mississippi River Basin and our connection as a nearby hub on the Underground Railroad.  Investigating Twain’s seminal novel will take place in our community’s Big Read through the written word, the spoken word, visual images and cultural engagement bringing together diverse groups for fellowship.

Big Read 2012 Highlights:

Big Read Mural: Noted children’s book illustrator Joel Tanis will discuss the 2011 Big Read Mural and his own artistic methods.  In 2011, Joel worked with students from four area schools to create a culminating artistic response to Edgar Allan Poe’s writing.  The students created four large 4’x6’ panels that depict scenes from the works of Poe.  Joel will once again be working with four area schools for the 2012 Big Read.  Students will delve into specific works by Twain to create visual art that captures the mood and emotions of the author’s work.  2012 participating schools include:  St. Joseph’s School in Fort Atkinson; Eastview Elementary in Lake Geneva;  Jefferson Elementary in Janesville;  and East Troy High School in East Troy.  The 2012 mural will be unveiled at the Big Read Kick Off at the historic Horticultural Hall in Lake Geneva, Thursday, March 29th at 6:00 pm.

Big Read Kick Off at the historic Horticultural Hall in Lake Geneva, Thursday, March 29th at 6:00 pm. The community is invited to join the Kick Off of our region’s fourth Big Read.  Please join us for free refreshments and prizes.  Big Read Mural Unveiling with Joel Schoon Tanis.  Free.  Noted children’s book illustrator Joel Tanis will unveil the 2012 Big Read Mural.  Joel worked with students from four area schools to create a culminating artistic response to Mark Twain’s writing.  Participating schools include:  St. Joseph’s School in Fort Atkinson: Eastview Elementary in Lake Geneva, Jefferson Elementary in Janesville, East Troy High School, East Troy.  Posters of the mural will be available for signing by Joel and the student artists.

Hal Holbrook presents Mark Twain Tonight!  On April 21, 2012, 7:30.  Legendary actor Hal Holbrook presents his historic portrayal of Mark Twain.  Hal Holbrook has been awarded an Emmy and Tony Award for his indelible personification of Mark Twain, a role that he has been performing since 1954.

And Glory Shone by The Rose Ensemble.  April 10, 2012, 7:30. This award winning ensemble from St. Paul, MN, will perform a special selection of early American hymns, ballads and spiritual songs that will evoke Tom Sawyer’s America.

No Foolin’ A Free Book.  4/1/12 or 4/2/12. All public library partners will kick-off the Big Read by offering give-away of books, student designed t-shirts and tickets to the performance of The Rose Ensemble.

Mark Twain’s Racial Relevance.  Free lecture and discussion by Dr. Alan Gribben on Monday April 9, 2012, 7:00 PM.  Part of the College of Letters and Sciences Contemporary Lecture Series. Dr. Allan Gribben is a nationally recognized Mark Twain scholar who sparked considerable controversy when he published versions of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in 2011 that removed a racial pejorative as an attempt to reverse the trend of school districts removing both books from their reading lists.

Moments with Mark Twain. Geneva Lake Art Association 2012 Spring Exhibit. February 3-29, 2012. 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.  Opening reception February 3, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm.  GLAA Gallery.  This show highlights GLAA Member works recall images of the 19th Century time period, Twain’s stories, the grandeur of the Mississippi, or other images that are inspired by this literary icon.  The Geneva Lake Art Association gallery and art school are located inside the North Shore Pavilion Mall at 647 E. Main Street, Lake Geneva.

Big Read Finale and Big Read Mural.  Friday, May 4th 5:00—7:00 PM. Milton House Museum, 18 South Janesville, St., Milton, WI.  www.miltonhouse.org. Free.  Join us for refreshments and an exhibit of the Big Read.  Learn about the success of the program and plans for 2013.

Through the Eyes of Jim.  A new production by Uprooted Theatre. Milwaukee’s Uprooted Theatre Company, whose mission is to engage the community through the performing arts for the exploration and expression of African-American voices and cultural experiences, will present a performance as part of the Young Auditorium’s Horizon Matinee Series.  The performance will give a unique point of view of Twain’s work as interpreted through the slave Jim’s perspective.  A community performance will take place at the Milton House Museum, as part of the Big Read finale, Friday, May 4th at 7:00 pm. Tickets available by calling the Milton House at 608-868-7772.  The Milton House Museum is Wisconsin’s only authenticated stop on the Underground Railroad.

Check your local library for their participation and event calendar.  Updates will be available at the Big Read Blog:  http://youngauditorium.wordpress.com/

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has selected 76 not-for-profit organizations have been recommended for grants totaling $1,000,050 to host a Big Read project between September 2011 and June 2012. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

The Big Read provides communities nationwide with the opportunity to read, discuss, and celebrate one of 31 selections from U.S. and world literature.. Among the organizations receiving a Big Read grant are libraries, humanities councils, museums, theater companies, literary centers and presses, public broadcasting stations, universities, YMCAs, and boys & girls clubs. The selected organizations will receive Big Read grants ranging from $2,500 to $17,000 to promote and carry out community-based programs.

NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman said, “Since 2006, nearly three million Americans have attended a Big Read event, more than 39,000 volunteers have participated locally, and nearly 27,000 community partner organizations have been involved. The Big Read’s success depends on these commitments of time, energy, and enthusiasm and I look forward to seeing these 76 communities come together in celebration of a great work of literature.”

Participating communities also receive high-quality, free-of-charge educational materials to supplement each title, which also are available for download on neabigread.org. Reader’s Guides include author biographies, historical context for the book, and discussion questions. Teacher’s Guides are developed with the National Council of Teachers of English and State Language Arts standards in mind and include lesson plans, essay topics, and classroom handouts. The Big Read Audio Guides feature readings from the novel along with commentary from renowned artists, educators, and public figures.

Each community’s Big Read includes a kick-off event to launch the program; activities devoted specifically to its Big Read book or poet (e.g., panel discussions, lectures, public readings); events using the selection as a point of departure (e.g., film screenings, theatrical readings, exhibits); and book discussions in diverse locations aimed at a wide range of audiences.

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The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at www.arts.gov.

Arts Midwest promotes creativity, nurtures cultural leadership, and engages people in meaningful arts experiences, bringing vitality to Midwest communities and enriching people’s lives. Based in Minneapolis, Arts Midwest connects the arts to audiences throughout the nine-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. One of six non-profit regional arts organizations in the United States, Arts Midwest’s history spans more than 25 years. For more information, please visit www.artsmidwest.org.

For more information please contact Young Auditorium at 262-472-4444 or check us out on the web at www.uww.edu/youngauditorium.