Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with isolated thunderstorms and a high of sixty-three. Sunrise is 6:03 AM and sunset 7:43 PM, for 13h 40m 34s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 39.6% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred sixty-third day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
On this day in 1861, Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army. On this day in 1836, an act of Congress creates the Territory of Wisconsin.
Recommended for reading in full —
James B. Nelson reports that Milwaukee makes Conde Nast list of ‘6 U.S. Cities to Watch’: “Milwaukee made the Conde Nast Traveler list of “6 U.S. Cities to Watch in 2017,” thanks to its vibrant restaurant scene and “endless party” during the summer. The magazine compares Milwaukee favorably to Chicago, Minneapolis and Madison and says “Milwaukee has many, if not all, of the same qualities that make these sister cities buzz — and then some.” Conde Nast said the city is a “hotbed of locavore cuisine, and a spate of award-winning restaurants have helped the city shed its beer-and-cheese reputation.” The magazine cited Ardent, Wolf Peach, Odd Duck and Vanguard as examples — all on the Journal Sentinel’s Carol Deptolla’s Top 30 or Top Eats restaurant lists. Also cited are new hotels, including the Kimpton in the Historic Third Ward and the Westin coming later this spring downtown.”
Michelle Ye Hee Lee fact-checks Trump’s claim that Korea ‘actually used to be a part of China’: “He then went into the history of China and Korea. Not North Korea, Korea. And you know, you’re talking about thousands of years . . . and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China. And after listening for 10 minutes, I realized that it’s not so easy.” — President Trump, interview with the Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2017….If Trump was actually referring to the tributary system between Korea and China, then he left out a significant amount of context that distorted the relationship between them. Korea and China have long been intertwined, geopolitically and culturally. But Korea, or even Goguryeo, was not a spinoff of China, as he made it seem. Korea has its own unique roots and history. It would be worthwhile for the president to get his history lesson from Korean experts, perhaps at the State Department, rather than potentially self-serving accounts from foreign leaders.”
Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti, and Adam Goldman report that Trump Adviser’s Visit to Moscow Got the F.B.I.’s Attention: “WASHINGTON — Ever since F.B.I. investigators discovered in 2013 that a Russian spy was trying to recruit an American businessman named Carter Page, the bureau maintained an occasional interest in Mr. Page. So when he became a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign last year and gave a Russia-friendly speech at a prestigious Moscow institute, it soon caught the bureau’s attention. That trip last July was a catalyst for the F.B.I. investigation into connections between Russia and President Trump’s campaign, according to current and former law enforcement and intelligence officials. It is unclear exactly what about Mr. Page’s visit drew the F.B.I.’s interest: meetings he had during his three days in Moscow, intercepted communications of Russian officials speaking about him, or something else. After Mr. Page, 45 — a Navy veteran and businessman who had lived in Moscow for three years — stepped down from the Trump campaign in September, the F.B.I. obtained a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing the authorities to monitor his communications on the suspicion that he was a Russian agent.”
Casey Michel describes how Putin Woos the American Fringe: “Where the American far-right and hard-left carry distinct, disparate views on any range of subjects, there appears one area where they align: Russia’s apparent victimhood at the hands of a malignant West, and the righteousness of Moscow’s complaints about American encroachment. These talking points – of Russia’s putative “encirclement,” or of the West’s supposed degeneracy in the face of Moscow’s moral rectitude – are close echoes of Russian state news channels, especially Sputnik and RT (formerly Russia Today). These channels are notable for mixing slanted reportage and misdirection with more creditworthy reporting, an effective propaganda technique designed to sow doubt and confusion. These same figures of the American fringe — whether Green Party activists, white nationalists, or California secessionists — often subsequently show up on these channels. At times, this creates scenes of startling irony, such as when the state news channel from one of the least environmentally friendly countries in the world hosted the Green Party’s 2016 presidential debate. Green Party candidate Jill Stein, a trusty font of Russia-friendly talking points, even appeared next to both Putin and (now-disgraced) Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn at the Dec. 2015 gala honoring RT.”
Tech Insider describes how the 300-year-old Silms river in Canada vanished in 4 days: