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"[Jay] Kraemer completed the equivalent of walking around the world on March 2nd, tackling the 24,901 miles by traversing the Madison area..."

Published: March 25, 2023 | 08:49
"... or going on hikes while visiting his son in Utah.... The 72-year-old tracked his walks meticulously via his FitBit, saying the journey took nearly 50 million steps to complete.... After eight years, and 10 months, Kraemer made it around the world while listening to 148 books, burning through an average of two pairs of shoes each year."

This post is intended as a palate cleanser after that last post on luxury gyms in L.A. and NYC, where only "cool" people can join. Kraemer epitomizes uncoolness — walking outside in a midsize city in the Midwest, paying only for a Fitbit, shoes, and (maybe) audiobooks — but coolness is always a matter of interpretation, and I was never willing to accept that the luxury gyms are cool. Your mileage may vary, and as you journey on your way through the world, it's up to you to decide what counts as cool and what constitutes walking around the world.

Makes me think of this song, which will always be cool to me.

Source: althouse.blogspot.com
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"Madison, Wis., led the way for U.S. cities, with 35 per 100,000."

Published: March 23, 2023 | 08:34
From "Why Are Public Restrooms Still So Rare?/Cities in the U.S. and elsewhere have made strides, but challenges remain" (NYT). 

Interesting factoid: "The temperance movement to limit alcohol consumption led cities to build public restrooms in the late 1800s and early 1900s: The thinking went that men wouldn’t need to enter a bar to use the bathroom."

But these days, we don't think of public bathrooms as bulwarks against vice. Quite the opposite: We're picturing sex and drugs. 

Perhaps there would be more public bathrooms if the issue were framed in terms of sex discrimination. Women need real bathrooms. Men can and do make makeshift bathrooms out of doorways and stairwells and trees and rocks. That's why the French came up with the pissoir to contain the chaos. The NYT article talks about pissoirs, but instead of seeing the problem of sex discrimination, it follows the new constraint of declining to talk about human beings in terms of their genitalia. Here's the text, which blunts any outrage on behalf of women, the largest oppressed group in the history of mankind:
[L]ike the classic pissoir, [urinals] are typically only usable by people without disabilities and those who can easily use the bathroom while standing.

You can't say "women." You have to say people who cannot easily use the bathroom while standing. Women — once a strong interest group — are merged with everyone who is disabled at peeing standing up.

Source: althouse.blogspot.com
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"A candidate for the Madison School Board... said schools are the product of 'white supremacy' and accused her opponent of favoring competition in the classroom..."

Published: March 22, 2023 | 09:18
"... a characterization her opponent embraced. 'Our schools are products of white supremacy,' said Blair Mosner Feltham.... 'They reinforce white supremacy and if we want to talk about how we make sure all students are thriving in our schools, we need to fundamentally change both the structure of our schools and the purposes of them,' she said. Badri Lankella, though, said 'we need to have competitive students. Yes, I am for competitive schools.... if you’re not competing in school, eventually we’ll be competing outside in the world.'"

Source: althouse.blogspot.com
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Madison, Wisconsin ranks #4 in this list of "minimalism-oriented cities."

Published: February 10, 2023 | 13:52
I'm reading "The Midwest and South Are Home to Clusters of Minimalism-Oriented Cities but Salt Lake City Is the Nation’s Minimalist Heaven" (RentCafe).

 

Madison, Wisconsin ranks #4 in this list of  
Among the categories considered for each locale were the share of smaller homes and the use of public transportation, biking and walking as alternatives to driving a car; commute time; and the share of residents working from home. Nature was valued in the rankings with points for air quality, days of sunshine, milder temperatures, public parks and low energy use. Population density and the preponderance of minimalism-related Google searches were also taken into account. Finally, for minimalists who can’t quite give everything up, the availability and price of self-storage was considered....
Source: althouse.blogspot.com
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"Even a holiday which celebrates debauchery, irreverence, and immature or dark humor should have no place for words or actions of hate."

Published: October 31, 2022 | 11:01

"This deranged individual was looking to create fear and anxiety. We don't believe that he is a student, rather an outside provocateur."

Said Rabbi Mendel Matusof said, quoted in "UW-Madison releases statement after Adolf Hitler costume seen on State Street" (WKOW).

Here's a Reddit discussion — replete with a photograph of the person wearing a Hilter costume on State Street. I found that via this other Reddit discussion, where somebody says, "If it's any consolation, I was told by a bartender on State Street that the dude got his ass kicked."

UPDATE: Channel 3000 quotes the police report, which makes 3 important points:

1. Wearing a Hitler costume is protected speech, so no crime has been reported. 

2. Even though "no reports received by MPD rise to the level of a prosecutable crime," it nevertheless identified the person and interviewed him. 

3. It turns out that this person "has a cognitive impairment due to a past traumatic brain injury."

ALSO: Who called the police on a guy in a bad costume? Did anyone call the police on the person who beat up this mentally impaired person?

Source: althouse.blogspot.com
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AllHalloweenMadisonUniversity of Wisconsindisabilityfree speechhitlerlawpolice
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"[Jay] Kraemer completed the equivalent of walking around the world on March 2nd, tackling the 24,901 miles by traversing the Madison area..."Madison, Wisconsin ranks #4 in this list of "minimalism-oriented cities."I'm only noticing now — and only because "Madison" is trending on Twitter — that Joe Biden flew into Madison yesterday."MPD: Witnesses report motorcyclists going 140+ mph in downtown Madison."

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