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Daily Bread

Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 12-10-10

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Good morning,

Whitewater’s forecast calls for a partly sunny day with a high temperature of around thirty-one.

There’s a holiday concert today at Lakeview School at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that on this day in 1967

Otis Redding Dies

On this date a twin-engine Beechcraft carrying Otis Redding crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, killing Redding and four members of his touring band, the Bar-Kays. Otis Redding was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. [Source: OtisRedding.com]



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Taxes/Taxation

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Tax Deal | Cato @ Liberty

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Daniel Mitchell’s assessment seems right to me —

Compared to ideal policy, the deal announced last night between congressional Republicans and President Obama is terrible.

Compared to what I expected to happen, the deal announced last night is pretty good.

In other words, grading this package depends on your benchmark. This is why reaction has been all over the map, featuring dour assessments from people like Pejman Yousefzadeh and cheerful analysis from folks such as Jennifer Rubin.

With apologies to Clint Eastwood, let’s review the good, the bad, and the ugly….

Via The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Tax Deal | Cato @ Liberty.

Politics

Noemie Emery: Obama, Palin met fame before they could grow | Washington Examiner

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Perhaps, but one cannot be certain of ‘what might have been.’

Obama and Palin needed the six years or so of semi-obscurity they were about to embark on before ambition — and John McCain — intervened. Instead, their growth was checked at a critical moment, and, as it seems now, won’t be resumed quickly — not in the presidency as Obama is learning, or in a media frenzy, as Palin has found

They are famous for life; they will always have money; what they can never have back are the years washed out by destructive celebrity. “She’s been microwaved, she needs now to marinate,” somebody once said of Palin. But the time for slow-cooking is gone.

Via Noemie Emery: Obama, Palin met fame before they could grow | Washington Examiner.

Liberty, Press, Press Release

U.S. to Host World Press Freedom Day in 2011

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As we should, as a free press is a fundamental part of our heritage —


Press Statement
Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
December 7, 2010

The United States is pleased to announce that it will host UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day event in 2011, from May 1 – May 3 in Washington, D.C. UNESCO is the only UN agency with the mandate to promote freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the press.

The theme for next year’s commemoration will be 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals’ right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age.

Highlighting the many events surrounding the celebration will be the awarding of the UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize at the National Press Club on May 3rd. This prize, determined by an independent jury of international journalists, honors a person, organization or institution that has notably contributed to the defense and/or promotion of press freedom, especially where risks have been undertaken.

The Newseum will host the first two days of events, which will engage a broad array of media professionals, students, and citizen reporters on themes that address the status of new media and internet freedom, and challenges and opportunities faced by media in our rapidly changing world.

The State Department looks forward to working with UNESCO and the U.S. executive committee spearheaded by the Center for International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy, IREX, and the United Nations Foundation and the many civil society organizations they have brought together in support of the organization of events unfolding in Washington.

For further information regarding World Press Freedom Day Events for program content, please visit the World Press Freedom Facebook page http://www.connect.connect.facebook.com/WPFD2011.

Via U.S. to Host World Press Freedom Day in 2011.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 12-9-10

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Good morning,

Today forecast for Whitewater calls for a light amount of snow, with a high temperature of twenty-six degrees.

In Whitewater, there’s a public meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to discuss reconstruction of the Milwaukee Street and Newcomb Street intersection.

It’s market day pickup at Lincoln School’s upper gym.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that on this day in 1844

On this date Milwaukee’s first daily newspaper, The Daily Sentinel, was published. David M. Keeler served and manager and C.L. MacArthur was the editor. [Source: History of Milwaukee, Vol. II, p.49]

Americans are a creative, sometimes eccentric people, as this trailer for JediJunkies.com shows —



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Science/Nature

Debunked? Arsenic-Based Microbes Challenge Chemistry of Life

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Last week, I posted on a widely-reported NASA contention that agency scientists had caused microbes to accept a diet of arsenic, rather than phosphorus, thereby expanding the possible bases of life. (The contention was published in the journal Science and reported widely.)

Over the weekend, scientists in America and abroad began to challenge the findings, as not merely wrong, but wrong through a shoddy methodology. Rosie Redfield, a professor of microbiology at the University of British Columbia (among many others) contends that the study’s methodology is fatally compromised.

The scientists behind the study are now reluctant to engage in public debate about it:

“Any discourse will have to be peer-reviewed in the same manner as our paper was, and go through a vetting process so that all discussion is properly moderated,” wrote Felisa Wolfe-Simon of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. “The items you [questions from author and Slate scince writer Carl Zimmer] are presenting do not represent the proper way to engage in a scientific discourse and we will not respond in this manner.”

Zimmer, reporting on the challenges to the study, writes that

While Redfield considers Wolfe-Simon’s research “flim-flam,” she think it’s fine for the NASA scientists to hold off responding to their critics. She is working on a formal letter to Science detailing her objections. But Jonathan Eisen of UC-Davis doesn’t let the scientists off so easily. “If they say they will not address the responses except in journals, that is absurd,” he said. “They carried out science by press release and press conference. Whether they were right or not in their claims, they are now hypocritical if they say that the only response should be in the scientific literature.”

There will be many errors and mistakes among scientists, and not every theory (few actually) will prove sound. Yet, it says nothing good about NASA-affiliated scientists that they’re quick to hold a press conference to advance their findings, but reluctant to entertain critical replies in the same manner.

See, “This Paper Should Not Have Been Published” — Scientists see fatal flaws in the NASA study of arsenic-based life.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 12-8-10

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Good morning,

It’s a partly sunny and cold day for Whitewater, with a high temperature of twenty degrees.

There are three public meetings scheduled for the City of Whitewater today.

At 9 a.m., the Tech Park Board meets, with the agenda available online. The agenda includes, among others, these items:

  • the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Whitewater and UW-W
  • the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Whitewater and UW-W
  • Closed session review under Wisconsin law of the Innovation Center manager hiring process

At 5 p.m. today, there will be a meeting of the Landmarks Committee, with an available online agenda.

At 7 p.m., there will be a public meeting on a restoration plan for the Whitewater Effigy Mounds Preserve.

Neighbors and interested community members are invited to attend a community meeting on Wednesday, December 8th at 7:00 PM, held at the Whitewater Municipal Building in the 1st floor community room. The meeting will be an opportunity to learn about restoration efforts at the Whitewater Effigy Mounds Preserve (formerly Indian Mounds Park). A plan is being prepared to guide the city in the restoration and preservation of this archeologically significant site in Whitewater. The City has contracted with Jennings & Associates, a planning firm that has significant background in both land restoration and planning, as well as archeological preservation.

Lincoln School’s book fair continues today.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that on this day in 1917,

On this date the inventor of the twine-binder, John F. Appleby died. Appleby was raised on a wheat farm in Wisconsin and searched for an easier way to harvest and bundle grains. His invention gathered severed spears into bundles and bound the sheaves with hempen twine. His invention, which was pulled by horses, was a great success. In 1878 William Deering, a farm machinery manufacturer secured the right to use Appleby’s patent and sold 3,000 twine harvesters in a single year. In 1882 the McCormicks (of the McCormick reapers) paid $35,000 for the privilege to manufacture Appleby’s invention. Appleby spent the rest of his life in his shop trying to create additional successful machinery. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Holmes]

Books, Free Markets

‘Birds of America’ by John James Audubon Sets Book-Sale Record – WSJ.com

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Maybe print’s not dead after all.

In a four-minute bidding battle in London that set Sotheby’s astir, an original edition of John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” on Tuesday set what the company called a record for the sale of printed books at auction.

Michael Tollemache, a London fine art dealer and bird enthusiast, bought the four-volume illustrated work for $11.5 million.



Via ‘Birds of America’ by John James Audubon Sets Book-Sale Record – WSJ.com. more >>