FREE WHITEWATER

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 8-31-10

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Good morning,

Whitewater’s forecast for today calls for a partly sunny day with a high temperature of eighty-nine degrees.

Whitewater’s Common Council will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. for a budget planning session. The agenda is available online.

At the Huffington Post, there’s a story best read in the morning, rather than at night: “U.S. Grappling With Bedbugs, Misusing Dangerous Pesticides.”

Of all things, America now faces a bed bug plague. It’s a return of a bed bug plague, really, and more intractable than before, as this generation of insects is resistant to many ordinary pesticides. One often associates bed bugs with the Great Depression, and by coincidence, we face them now while in the grip of a great and lingering recession.

Here’s one of the species we confront:



Cimex lectularius

Free Markets, Planning

Associated Press: Cuba embraces 2 surprising free-market reforms

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Best reform would be a true free market….

Cuba has issued a pair of surprising free-market decrees, allowing foreign investors to lease government land for up to 99 years — potentially touching off a golf-course building boom — and loosening state controls on commerce to let islanders grow and sell their own fruit and vegetables.

“These are part of the opening that the government wants to make given the country’s situation,” said Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a state-trained economist who is now an anti-communist dissident.”

See, The Associated Press: Cuba embraces 2 surprising free-market reforms.

Free Markets, Government Spending

Pres. Obama’s Mission Accomplished Moment at GM – Forbes.com

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….[the] administration’s wanton disregard for both taxpayers and the company shows just how desperate it is getting to deliver some sliver of economic good news to angry voters ahead of the November elections. But its actions only bespeak of the dangers of government bailouts. GM has a long way to go before it is truly back on its feet.

It might make it–eventually–just as Iraq seems to have stabilized seven years after President Bush first declared victory. But as in Iraq, it will remain an open question as to whether the bailout was worth the risk and cost to taxpayers.

See, Obamas Mission Accomplished Moment at GM – Forbes.com.

Law, Liberty, Police

Instapundit – A Prosecutor on the War Against Photography

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The principal attribute of a campaign against photography, or the encroachment on private property rights (see, “Is a Man’s Home Still His Castle? – Washington Examiner“) is that officials aim to take from American citizens rights that Americans now have, and have historically had. This is the dark – and reactionary — side of contemporary bureaucracy. In the name of security, or public health, or simply from officials’ feelings of entitlement, comes the demand that private citizens give up rights of property, association, speech, etc.

The political and legal backlash against this official over-reaching has only begun. I’d guess it will be a years-long effort, so long that it will come to be seen as a distinctive political era. Much of the over-reach one sees now, that has spread its tentacles into America over the last dozen or so years, will wither away. Those who have slavishly and servilely defended officials’ encroachments will find that the next generation holds them only as objects of ridicule. Americans’ natural taste for liberty, coupled with use of social media that are naturally open, will prove irresistible.

There are many benefits of a more open society, one of which Professor Reynolds of Instapundit.com highlights in an email from a reader:

….nearly all of our officers and their chiefs strongly support audio and visual recording of officers while on duty. Most jurisdictions here have voice-activated microphones and video cameras mounted in their patrol cars and remote microphones clipped to their officers’ collars. Many of these devices automatically download video and audio feeds directly to remote servers to prevent tampering with the raw footage.

But the cameras cannot capture everything that happens around an officer and the microphones have a limited range, so bystanders’ portable video can be a potent source of evidence documenting that an officer acted properly – which they do in the vast majority of instances.

See, Instapundit – A PROSECUTOR ON THE WAR AGAINST PHOTOGRAPHY.

Libertarians, Politics

Murkowski As Libertarian Polls 34% | Independent Political Report

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Update:

The right decision – Libertarians: No Ballot Switch. (This was a unanimous decision.)

In Alaska, there’s a United States Senate primary, with a close vote yet to be decided between incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski and challenger Jeff Miller. If Murkowski should lose the primary, there’s speculation that she might run on the Libertarian ticket in the fall. The Independent Political Report cites polling that shows Murkowski would do fairly well. (I’ve quoted the IPR story below.)

Murkowski’s not a Libertarian (or libertarian), has not espoused libertarian views, and would only be running on the LP line to have a chance at staying in office. On principle — and the LP refers to itself as the ‘party of principle’ — it’s a cynical idea.

If big-government, status quo incumbent Murkowski gets on the LP ticket, she’s likely to lose. Even now, Republican Jeff Miller polls ahead of her in a three-way race with Murkowski, Miller, and Democrat Scott McAdams. I’d guess (like Charlie Crist in Florida) that Murkowski would only fall father behind the Republican, after people considered her switch, and concluded she was just another incumbent eager to stay in office forever. (Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is another variation on this doomed, party-switching scheme.)

Murkowski may win her primary, and run as a Republican. If not, the LP should avoid her, and reject any overtures she might make.

The Libertarian Party is better off without an needy incumbent who considers herself deserving of a Senate seat, perpetually, policy and philosophy notwithstanding.

Here’s an excerpt from that Independent Political Report story —

This poll does not mean that Murkowski will run as a Libertarian. Wes Benedict, the national party?s Executive Director, has come out against such a move. However, Alaska LP State Chair Scott Kohlhaas is at least open to the idea for the press it could give the party. (This may not be surprising; Kohlhaas is running a serious campaign for the state legislature and is likely hoping for a down-ballot effect).

See, Murkowski As Libertarian Polls 34% | Independent Political Report.

Economy, Weird Tales

For Sale: T. Rex, Good Condition, Wooly Mammoth, Needs Repair – WSJ.com

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This lingering recession has affected many businesses, great and small. Among those small businesses are any number of unusual and eccentric tourist spots. Many were vulnerable even before the recession, and a good number will likely be lost during these difficult times.

Prairie Dog Town, near Oakley, Kan., is for sale, with an asking price of $450,000, says its owner, Larry Farmer, who also wants to retire. It comes with 37 billboards advertising the attraction, 400 prairie dogs and – for anyone not sufficiently excited by burrowing rodents – a live, six-legged cow. Deer Forest in Coloma, Mich., is also on the market. The owner, John S. Modica, says he would throw in the llamas and pot-bellied pigs. Dinosaur World, near Beaver Lake in Arkansas, closed five years ago.

“Some of the classic tourist stops have disappeared,”says Doug Kirby, publisher of roadsideamerica.com. Snake farms are in a rut, and mermaid springs are evaporating. When owners decide to retire, there often is no one willing to take over. Even so, Mr. Kirby’s website still lists more than 9,000 attractions and & oddities including the world’s largest hairball in Garden City, Kan., and the Cockroach Hall of Fame in Plano, Texas.

Via For Sale: T. Rex, Good Condition, Wooly Mammoth, Needs Repair – WSJ.com

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 8-30-10

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Good morning,

Today’s Whitewater forecast calls for a slight chance of thunderstorms and a high temperature of eighty-six degrees.

At Wired‘s science column, there’s just the story for a Monday morning: Dancing Parrot Boogies Better With a Partner.

Snowball the dancing parrot doesn’t just bob to the beat. The YouTube sensation, who proved last year that humans aren’t the only species that got rhythm, gets his groove on better with a dance partner.

“It’s not just an automatic response to sound,” said neurobiologist Aniruddh Patel of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. “It’s concerned with bonding.” Patel presented new research about the boogieing bird Aug. 24 at the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition in Seattle, Washington.

For the famous sulfur-crested cockatoo, it’s about bonding with his human caretaker, Irena Schultz. Snowball became an online celebrity in 2007 after Schultz, who runs the Bird Lovers Only Rescue Service in Indiana, put a video of him dancing to “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys up on YouTube.

Two papers in Current Biology in May 2009 showed that Snowball — plus a total of 14 species of parrots and one species of elephant — move rhythmically to music in a way that other animals don’t, demonstrating that dancing is not uniquely human. The ability to dance could come from a connection between the auditory centers and the motor centers in avian and human brains, which allows for speech and lays the foundation for synchronizing our bodies to music.

Here’s Snowball in action:



Link:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid90402333001?bclid=90190339001&bctid=594239584001 more >>

Law, Liberty

Is a man’s home still his castle? | Washington Examiner

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But to arrest someone who is unmistakably on their own property, and doing nothing remotely illegal, is an abuse of power pure and simple. Even if it were true that Gibson was endangering herself by witnessing the traffic stop from the confines of her front porch, how could that possibly be construed as “resisting arrest” or “obstructing the police” without eviscerating everything that the concept of private property (not to mention plain old individual rights) stands for? Taking such a risk is not illegal. Doing it while occupying one’s homestead should be recognized as unassailably within one’s rights.

Since it appears that neither the police nor the district attorney’s office can be shamed into refraining from such power abuses, perhaps it will take a fat lawsuit for violations of Gibson’s (et al.) constitutional rights to get their attention. 

The castle walls may be crumbling and decayed, but they invaders can be fought back and the walls rebuilt.

Via Is a man’s home still his castle? | Washington Examiner.

Ample justification for an appeal and lawsuit…

Economy

Carmen Reinhart Warns That Economic Recovery Could Be Slow – NYTimes.com

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At the recent meeting of federal bankers in Wyoming, there was sobering news:

Ms. Reinhart’s paper drew upon research she conducted with the Harvard economist Kenneth S. Rogoff for their book “This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly,” published last year by Princeton University Press. Her husband, Vincent R. Reinhart, a former director of monetary affairs at the Fed, was the co-author of the paper.

The Reinharts examined 15 severe financial crises since World War II as well as the worldwide economic contractions that followed the 1929 stock market crash, the 1973 oil shock and the 2007 implosion of the subprime mortgage market.

In the decade following the crises, growth rates were significantly lower and unemployment rates were significantly higher. Housing prices took years to recover, and it took about seven years on average for households and companies to reduce their debts and restore their balance sheets. In general, the crises were preceded by decade-long expansions of credit and borrowing, and were followed by lengthy periods of retrenchment that lasted nearly as long.

Via Carmen Reinhart Warns That Economic Recovery Could Be Slow – NYTimes.com.

Press Release

Tickets Available at the Door: Jungle Jack Hanna Brings Live Animal Pals to Whitewater August 29, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.

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Here’s a post that I’ve bumped up (appearing previously) as a reminder — and now with an update —

Tickets for this show are available at the door.

Here’s a list that I’ve received of animals that may appear at the show —

Cheetah, Lynx, Flamingo, Fennec Fox, Wallaby, Armadillo, Palm Civet, Python, Clouded Leopard, Gray Fox, Lemur, Red Tail Hawk, Coatimundi, Alligator, and a Macaw. These animals may change slightly, but it’s an impressive list.

Here’s what a fennec fox looks like:




Photo from Tom Thai

Adorable, isn’t he? Any of the animals appearing at the show are sure to be even more remarkable as they’ll be live and up close.

I received the following press release that I am happy to post. Tickets are now on sale and are available at GMA printing, Quiet Hut Sports, The SweetSpot Coffee Shoppe, K-9 Hair Care, Commercial Bank, and First Citizens State Bank.

Click for larger image

Government Spending, Planning

Chris Rickert: What problem would commuter rail solve?

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…. when I look around the Madison metropolitan area, I wonder, what problems would trains solve?

Relatively speaking, commutes to Madison are short and parking is not only plentiful but cheap. Plus, local officials seem more than willing to look kindly on the kind of dense, urban development trains inspire — even without any actual trains.

I’m left to deduce there is no mass tipping point in favor of mass train transportation, and, for now at least, the train argument seems confined to the politicos — and their competing versions of freedom.

Via Chris Rickert: What problem would commuter rail solve?

Charity, Press Release

Hundreds to Gather in Lake Geneva for the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk® on Saturday, September 18th in Lake Geneva

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I received the following press release that I am happy to post —



Hundreds to Gather in Lake Geneva for the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk®

Join hundreds of community members for the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk® scheduled for Saturday, September 18, 2010 at Library Park, 900 West Main Street in Lake Geneva. Over 600 people from Walworth and surrounding counties are expected to participate in this year’s event, which will feature both a three-mile scenic walk along the lakeshore path and a one-mile historic walk in the Maple Park neighborhood. In 2009, over $70,000 was raised to help individuals and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease, including the Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline, support groups, research, education and training.

Pre-walk registration and entertainment begins at 9:30 a.m., with the walk starting promptly at 11:00 a.m. Dr. Britt Kolar, MD, a specialist in Geriatric Medicine at Aurora Senior Health and Wellness Clinic is the Honorary Chairperson. Post walk festivities will include music by the Petty Thieves, along with a hot-dog lunch, compliments of Stinebrink’s Piggly Wiggly and the Lake Geneva Jaycees.

ABOUT MEMORY WALK

The Alzheimer’s Association’s Memory Walk is the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer care, support and research programs. Held annually in hundreds of communities across the country, this inspiring event calls on volunteers of all ages to become Champions in the fight against Alzheimer’s. Champions include those living with the disease, families, caregivers, corporate and local leaders, who actively support Memory Walk in the community.

HOW TO REGISTER

Participants can register and get information online at www.alz.org/sewi. For a brochure, please call 414.479.8800. Registration is also available the day of the walk, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The walk begins promptly at 11:00 a.m.

SPONSORS

Key sponsors of this event include Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital, the Cordon Family Foundation, The Mueller Family, Brookdale Senior Living and PyraMax Bank. The event is being presented by FOX6 News, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Newsradio AM620 WTMJ, 89.7 WUWM, and local radio station 96.1 WLKG “The Lake”.

LEADERSHIP

The event is being co-chaired by Andy Kerwin, principal and owner of Geneva Lakes Crossing, and Wendy Betley, Family Care Manager, Alzheimer’s Association. This event is supported by a committee of community leaders along with staff from the Alzheimer’s Association.

ABOUT THE ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION

The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in www.alz.org/sewiAlzheimer care, support and research. Our 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. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease and local services visit or call the Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline at 800-272-3900.