FREE WHITEWATER

Public Meetings

Alzheimer’s Association’s “Nourish Your Noggin” at Kenosha Public Library Southwest

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KENOSHA, WI – July 18, 2011 – The Alzheimer’s Association will present a community program called “Nourish Your Noggin” on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Kenosha Public Library – Southwest, 7979 38th Avenue in Kenosha.

This fun and interactive program is for anyone interested in brain health. Topics will include how memory works, age-related memory changes – what is normal, what is not – and how to live a brain-healthy lifestyle. The program is being presented at no charge by the Alzheimer’s Association and is open to all community members. Registration is required; to register, please call 262.564.6325.

The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research whose mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease and local services visit www.alz.org/sewi or call the Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline at 800-272-3900.

Libertarians

Why Libertarian?

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Mark Grannis explains how he came libertarianism, and it’s a story that may be similar to your own — or one that may yet become yours, too.



Music

Monday Music: Bob Dylan’s Hurricane

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Here’s a protest song, about boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter’s conviction (later overturned), but I’ve not posted it for a particular message. (The case is controversial, with conflicting opinions about his guilt; I don’t know.) Instead, it’s here because Dylan’s a powerful storyteller. I was listening to one of his albums recently, and the song reminded me of how much one can say in a song.

One doesn’t — one probably shouldn’t — measure a song solely by a political or social message: sometimes the creation is admirable, on its own, as effective storytelling.



Science/Nature

Daily Mail: How men and women really do look at things in a different light

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The old advertising adage that ‘sex sells’ may be recognised worldwide, but new research has revealed exactly how men and women are drawn into looking at a sexy ad:

A study of where men and women look on a ‘sexy’ advertisement gave a fascinating insight – with men found to be first interested in the attractive woman’s face rather than her toned physique.

Via Daily Mail Online.

Free Markets

Why is it cheaper to buy a high-calorie fast-food-chain burger meal than one that is more nutritious and with less fat, salt and calories?

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The hidden secret: government meddling in the free market…

Although the author of the story clearly dislikes the free market, it’s not a free market when government meddles — it’s a manipulated or regulated market. Politicians simply favor some businesses over others, subsidizing those concerns, thereby giving them an unfair advantage in the marketplace.

An unregulated, unsubsidized market would be both fairer and more healthful.

Via Sky Valley Chronicle Washington State News.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.18.11

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Today’s Whitewater forecast calls for a day of scattered, strong thunderstorms, with a high temperature of ninety-four.

To get viewers excited about an upcoming Shark Week, the Discovery Channel offers — until August 7th — a live stream of a shark tank.  See, Watch the World’s Largest Shark Tank on Live Webcam. Lisa Grossman describes the view:

The exhibit, which was designed to house whale sharks, holds 6.3 million gallons of seawater, enough to fill nine and a half Olympic swimming pools. It is home to seven different types of sharks, including enormous whale sharks, vicious-looking sand tiger sharks, and bottom-dwelling masters of disguise called spotted wobbegongs. It also holds several other species of fish and four manta rays, the only manta rays ever to live in a U.S. aquarium.

Simply beautiful —

 

  more >>

Comment Forum

Friday Comment Forum: What have you read this summer?

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So, what are you reading this summer?

I’m still finishing The Art of Racing in the Rain, having put it aside for a bit, for sundry other tasks. For newspapers, other than those in Wisconsin, I’m spending more time at the Washington Post website, to read about debt-ceiling negotiations. I read the Wall Street Journal regularly, but occasional visitors to that paper’s website will notice more and more of the content is locked behind a paywall.

Finally, I’ve been reading different American statements, some very old, of rights and liberties. George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights is among them. A few groups in Wisconsin (mostly on the left) have put out petitions and declarations about our current politics, but their texts are often littered with awkward, overly bureaucratic phrases. A modern-day updating of an older document might be a worthwhile endeavor. We’ll see.

In any event, there’s a more important focus for today: what are you reading?

The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings is, of course, fine. Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

The forum will be open until Sunday morning, and this post will stay at the top of the website during that time. Other posts may be up during that time; they’ll just appear below this one until Sunday.

City, Government Spending

If Wisconsin can do it, then so can Whitewater

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As part of the biennial budget, Wisconsin will now post to the web all state expenses over $100. It may take a while to gather data, but it’s a good idea (one of the few contained in a budget otherwise poorly crafted).

If Wisconsin can do this across so many state agencies, then surely Whitewater could post a page on the city website with similar information about our small city. Although there’s some information about spending in different spots now, a single page with easily-accessible data would be an expression of open government.

For the original story, see, Channel 3000.com.

Cats

Friday Catblogging: Jumping Cat

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Here’s an animated graphic of a jumping cat — I can’t see that it’s been edited to produce this effect, but if not, then this is one amazing cat.

Judge for yourselves: real jump or feline fraud?



Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.15.11

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Good morning.

The Whitewater forecast calls for a partly sunny day, with a high of eighty-five.

Over at Science News, there’s a story about how even lizards — previously considered not-so-smart — can learn new tricks. In Learnin’ Lizards, Susan Milius writes that

“These guys are smarter than people say,” reports behavioral ecologist Manuel Leal of Duke University in Durham, N.C. Cognitive scientists have studied birds’ and mammals’ powers to solve unexpected problems and learn new rules, but research on lizard cognition has been limited.

Yet several Anolis evermanni lizards collected from Puerto Rico and brought into the lab coped with devices not seen in nature that were modeled on tests of avian brain power, Leal and Brian Powell, also of Duke, report in an upcoming issue ofBiology Letters. In a series of tests, four out of six lizards figured out how to remove plastic lids firmly stuck on a food box and how to ignore lids with other colors introduced as possible distractors. Two lizards eventually were able to undo their previous training and choose the “wrong” color because researchers had reversed the rules.

Yet, despite the lizards’ prowess, there’s no reason for mammalian concern:

Alex Kacelnik of Oxford University in England, who studies cognition in New Caledonian crows, was not exactly wowed by the Anolis lizards, though. The ability to discriminate among options, and reverse that learning, is also known in fish, flies and bees, among other animals, he says. “It may well be that lizards do have the same flexibility shown by other taxa,” Kacelnik says, “but the results shown here are nowhere near what we know in birds and mammals.”

Rest easy.

Economy, Government Spending, Open Government

The Fed’s Secret Lending Program

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One doesn’t have to be a libertarian critic of the Federal Reserve (Ron Paul being the exemplar) to see that billions in secret loans to financiers represents another example of government over-reach and (as they were at the time secret loans) unaccountability.

Here, from Reason.tv, is a segment of Andrew Napolitano’s Freedom Watch, where guests debate the Fed’s all-too-obliging nature. It’s a lively discussion with more than one point of view.



Politics

Fortis: The Most Political Redistricting Map in More Than 50 Years

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Lou Fortis, Wisconsin publisher, comments on the GOP’s redistricting plan. For anyone still foolish enough to believe that the majority party represents ‘public service,’ ‘giving of oneself,’ or dedication to a ‘greater good,’ set aside those false notions now:

The new Republican redistricting map will pack Democrats into a limited number of safe Democratic seats, such as the inner-city districts. Those districts will become much more Democratic. Essentially the Republican map takes the state’s 99 Assembly districts and packs Democrats into about 41 or 42 safe Democratic Assembly seats, with huge Democratic majorities. This enables Republicans to easily win the other 57 or 58 Assembly districts – a very comfortable margin for the Republicans. The Senate maps are drawn in a similar way.

The map is so partisan that Republicans would maintain a permanent majority in both houses of the state Legislature for the next 10 years, at which point a new map could be drawn. This 10-year control of the state Legislature will be maintained even in elections in which Republicans win fewer votes than Democrats statewide.

This is utterly unlike the current legislative map, which allows voters to give both Democrats and Republicans the majority in the state Legislature, depending on voter turnout, political issues and the strengths and weaknesses of candidates.

Via Express Milwaukee.