FREE WHITEWATER

Authoritarian Populism, Daily Bread, Gerrymandering, Legislature, Never Trump, Speaker Vos, Wisconsin, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 9.29.26: Robin Vos Leaves Office Weak and Confused

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 75. Sunrise is 6:50 and sunset is 6:39 for 11 hours 49 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waning gibbous with 89.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1918, Germany’s Supreme Army Command tells Kaiser Wilhelm II to open negotiations for an armistice to end the war.

For nearly fourteen years, on the foundation of an extreme gerrymander, Robin Vos has been speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly. He’s retiring this year. In remarks to the New York Times, Vos shows — even now — how little he understands about our politics, and reveals how diffident he is when discussing what little he does understand:

Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the State Assembly whose power was once immense and who now plans to retire at year’s end, said 2026 always loomed as a challenging midterm election. President Trump is “a drag,” Mr. Vos said, adding that “some of the ways that he operates, not the policies per se, turn people off.”

See David Chen, With a Gerrymander Vanquished, Wisconsin Democrats Aim for Control (‘The swing state of Wisconsin had one of the most undemocratic State Assembly maps in the country. Now Democrats have a chance to take control of the legislature’), New York Times, September 7, 2026.

It’s not certain that Democrats will take the Legislature; it’s indubitable that Vos can’t bring himself to describe our politics clearly.

Of Trump, for those who see him clearly in support or opposition, “the ways he operates” are enmeshed in the “policies per se.” (‘Per se’: Vos threw in a bit of Latin where English, a beautiful and expressive language, would have done just fine.) Vos wants to make a distinction — using my way of describing Trump — between that man’s many vulgarities and his many vices.

Vos’s distinction doesn’t impress: an ignorant nativist with a fondness for cheap trinkets is still essentially an ignorant nativist. Trump’s tariffs and his wars would be wrong even if, against all likelihood, Trump somehow learned to knot a tie, otherwise dress himself properly, or listen to others without interrupting. Politesse is not Trump’s true failing. Authoritarian populism is Trump’s indelible and ineradicable sin.

This is why Representative Derrick Van Orden’s complete embrace of Trump has the advantage over Speaker Vos’s unavailing distinctions: Van Orden acknowledges openly and candidly that he, Van Orden, espouses what everyone can see he espouses.

Vos has made himself tall only on gerrymandered stilts. And yet, and yet, there’s probably someone in Whitewater who looks up to Vos. We are a town of sixteen thousand — there must, sadly, be among us one or two jackasses. Those one or two might even have spoken to Vos now and again: “Oh, look, happy day, it’s a call from Robin!” Admiration for Vos is evidence that one doesn’t understand the proper objects of admiration.

(I cannot, truly, imagine why any normal person would look forward to a call from Robin Vos. A call from Robin Wright, most assuredly; a call from Vos, not at all.)

Vos leaves office weak and confused, unable or unwilling to admit his destructive embrace of extreme populism in our politics.

Now bears want food from farmers’ markets:

A hungry bear caused a stir at an Aspen, Colorado, farmers’ market on September 26, after wandering through the stalls to snack on baked goods. Captured on video by bystander Staci Egloff, the animal bypassed the crowd to feast on breads and pastries before climbing a nearby tree, where it eventually fell asleep.

Daily Bread, Education, School District

Daily Bread for 9.28.26: The Whitewater Schools’ Referendum Presentations

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 72. Sunrise is 6:49 and sunset is 6:41 for 11 hours 52 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waning gibbous with 95.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School Board meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1781, American and French forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown.

The Whitewater School District has an operational referendum on the November ballot. They’ve a list of answers to presumed questions, but this description from the district website summarizes the referendum request:

On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, voters in our community will decide whether to approve a proposed four-year, non-recurring operational referendum to support our educational programs, services, staff, and other day-to-day operating expenses.

If approved, the referendum would allow WUSD to exceed its state-imposed revenue limit by $5.5 million annually for four years, beginning in the 2027-28 school year and ending after the 2030-31 school year.

The funding would replace the district’s current four-year, non-recurring operational referendum, which voters approved in 2022 and that’s scheduled to expire at the end of the 2026-27 school year. The proposed referendum would be $1.1 million over the current amount.

(Emphasis in original.)

The district will hold a series of information sessions on the referendum at the Whitewater Public Library:

We invite our community to take part in an informational meeting, where you can learn more about the district’s needs and proposed solution. You can also ask questions and provide feedback.

All sessions will be held at the Whitewater Public Library (431 W Center St, Whitewater). See below for dates, times, and locations:

Thursday, October 1 at 6:30 p.m. | Meeting Room 2
Thursday, October 8 at 1:00 p.m. | Meeting Room 2
Friday, October 9 at 9:30 a.m. | Meeting Room 2
Friday, October 9 at 1:00 p.m. | Meeting Room 2
Monday, October 12 at 9:30 a.m. | Meeting Room 1
Tuesday, October 13 at 6:30 p.m. | Meeting Room 2

These sessions extend over nearly two weeks’ time. The reasonable course is to watch them unfold without comment beforehand. It is enough for now — more than enough, truly — to watch the interaction between residents and district representatives.

Nor’easter uncovers century-old shipwreck in Massachusetts:

Nor’easter uncovers century-old shipwreck in Massachusetts.

Congress, Daily Bread, Never Trump, Trump, Trumpism, Wisconsin, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 9.27.26: The One Position GOP Congressman Derrick Van Orden Gets Right

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 69. Sunrise is 6:47 and sunset is 6:43 for 11 hours 56 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waning gibbous with 98.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1940, representatives of Germany, Japan, and Italy sign the Tripartite Pact in Berlin.

Over in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Derrick Van Orden finds himself in a competitive race against challenger Rebecca Cooke. Cooke is, by any measure, the better candidate. Van Orden has backed Trumpism dutifully, indeed servilely, during his time in Congress. Extreme populism isn’t Van Orden’s brand (whatever that overused term might mean), it’s his very nature.

The one position that Van Orden gets right is to be true to that nature:

RAJU: Only 33% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling his job. Is he a drag in your district? VAN ORDEN: I am fully supportive of President Trump. And if that's not popular, that's just the way it is

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) September 27, 2026 at 7:52 AM

Van Orden at last finds one truth to which he can cling: that he was, is, and always will be an adherent of this objectionable man and that man’s objectionable ideology.

In this, and this alone, a Never Trump libertarian can come close to respecting Van Orden. No point in pretending that a leopard changes its spots; no point in even pretending to pretend.

Mortgage Rates Hit 7%. What’s Next for the Housing Market?:

WSJ’s Nicholas Miller explains in three charts whether 7 percent mortgage rates will become the new normal in the housing market.

Artificial Intelligence, Business, Daily Bread, Economy, Technology

Daily Bread for 9.26.26: No One Should Be Too Big to Fail

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 69. Sunrise is 6:46 and sunset is 6:44 for 11 hours 58 minutes of daylight. The moon will be full today with all of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1960, in Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

This libertarian blogger will not suggest all the possible dangers of using large language models for artificial intelligence, as I do not know all those possible dangers. Nor will I suggest all the possible benefits, as I do not know all those possible benefits.

Instead, there is a sound proposition on which this advocate of markets will confidently stand: no business and no industry should be too big to fail. Bethany McLean, writing in the New York Times, sensibly advances this position:

It was about a year ago that Sarah Friar, the chief financial officer of OpenAI, said one way the company might sustain its current financial high-wire act was with a “backstop” or “guarantee” — as in, a government guarantee — “that allows the financing to happen.” Almost at the same time, Sam Altman, the company’s chief executive, said, “Given the magnitude of what I expect A.I.’s economic impact to look like,” the government should serve the role of “insurer of last resort.” They qualified those comments, but still, the gist seemed to be that the industry The Wall Street Journal calls “the biggest economic bet in U.S. history” is so important to the nation that if it needs more funding, taxpayers should be on the hook.

Another way to put it is that the government should regard artificial intelligence the same way it regarded the banks in the 2008 financial crisis: too big to fail.

[…]

The A.I. boom is far larger than the boom in subprime mortgages that set off the 2008 crisis. A.I.-related spending accounts for about half the growth in the U.S. gross domestic product, by some estimates. The vast majority of the $33 trillion in market value the S&P 500 has gained since late 2022 has come from spending linked to A.I. companies.

[…]

This technology may be critical to the future of the United States, but preserving it doesn’t mean we have to bail out the private entities that are leading the field at this particular moment, nor does it mean we have to protect the fortunes of their investors and executives. The solution to the whole ever-expanding A.I. terror starts with remembering the lessons of the 2008 crisis: No company should be too big to fail.

See Bethany McLean, What Happens if the A.I. Bubble Bursts, New York Times, September 26, 2026.

There’s discussion that the A.I. boom may unfold as did the railroad boom of the nineteenth century: an important industry in which some investors went bust, to their detriment and temporarily for the economy. See John Cassidy, Lessons from the Original Tech Bubble, New Yorker, June 15, 2026 and Adrian Wooldridge, AI’s Future May Be Written in Railroads’ Past, Bloomberg, December 5, 2025.

It would be better if no one went bust, but worse if large investors were bailed out for their improvident choices. Giving large investors the confidence that they’ll be supported at public expense regardless of their poor choices only encourages them to make poor choices with fewer personal consequences. Presumed protection creates the moral hazard of encouraging investors into riskier ventures with less risk to themselves.

I’m not sure what will happen with major investments in artificial intelligence; I’m quite certain what shouldn’t happen.

See also Is the AI boom anything like the 19th-century railway boom?:

What are the potential benefits of ‘bubbles’ to society? Every now and then a new technology comes along that changes everything – electricity, computers, potentially AI. In mid-19th-century America, that technology was the steam locomotive. While it drove the nation’s industrialization during the Gilded Age, it also caused one of the biggest financial crises in American history. FT Alphaville editor Robin Wigglesworth tells his co-host, FT columnist Gillian Tett, the story of the great railway bubble that ended in the Panic of 1873 and the lessons for the investors gambling on today’s AI boom.

Note: In the video above, Financial Times editor Robin Wigglesworth questions whether society needs large data centers to create ‘fake videos of cats.’ He’s right — we do not need large data centers to create fake videos of cats. We could, however, stand to have a more modest infrastructure that provided a steady stream of genuine videos of cats.

Like this:

Daily Bread, Gubernatorial Race 2026, Newspapers, Press, Tom Tiffany, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 9.25.26: Tom Tiffany’s Misguided Press Ban

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 70. Sunrise is 6:45 and sunset is 6:46 for 12 hours 1 minute of daylight. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1956, TAT-1, the first submarine transatlantic telephone cable system, is inaugurated. (“The developments that made TAT-1 possible were coaxial cable, polyethylene insulation (replacing gutta-percha), very reliable vacuum tubes for the submerged repeaters, and a general improvement in carrier equipment. Transistors were not used, being a recent invention of unknown longevity.”)

Earlier this week, WISGOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany barred two Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters from a campaign event:

The campaign’s decision to prevent reporters Mary Spicuzza and David Clarey from covering the event comes just days after Tiffany said at a news conference that he would allow reporters, even those from “slanted” outlets such as the Journal-Sentinel, access to his campaign. Tiffany was asked about press access in the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke White House press badges for reporters from CNN, MS Now and Politico. 

“As you can see, I did not deter anyone here from joining us today and I don’t plan on doing that — even you [Journal-Sentinel reporter] Laura [Schulte], I’m going to continue to allow you here,” Tiffany said at the Wisconsin Counties Association conference on Tuesday. “I believe in open, free press, that they be able to ask us questions. The principle that I live with, is I just expect all of you to be fair, and as long as you’re fair in your writing, I always welcome the press here. It’s when the press is slanted, that’s what’s frustrating.” 

At the event, Tiffany told reporters that he’ll “have to talk to his communications team” about Spicuzza’s access. 

[…]

In a post on social media after the event, Tiffany’s campaign said it had notified Spicuzza that she wouldn’t be allowed into the event because of her alleged political views, but that other staff members from the outlet would be allowed. 

“Liberal activist [Spicuzza] was notified yesterday that she would not be permitted to attend,” the Tiffany campaign wrote on X. “[The Journal-Sentinel] has a photographer at the event, and we welcome all balanced journalists across Wisconsin, including [Journal-Sentinel reporter Jessie Opoien]. That’s why WISN, CBS 58, and other outlets are in attendance.”

See Henry Redman, Tiffany campaign blocks Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporters from event, Wisconsin Examiner, September 24, 2026.

I’ll offer a few remarks.

1. When Gov. Evers barred the MacIver Institute from attending an event in 2019, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Evers’s decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court let that decision stand (as it declined to take an appeal of the Seventh Circuit decision). I’ll not speculate on how courts might rule now, should a legal challenge against Tiffany’s actions be filed.

2. However this race between Crowley and Tiffany turns out, it will not turn on Tiffany’s actions here. That’s the key practical point. Anyone who was going to support Tiffany was going to do so regardless of his actions against Spicuzza and Clarey; anyone who was going to oppose Tiffany was going to do so anyway. The campaign’s actions against these reporters offer no practical gain for Tiffany.

3. A campaign that’s not focused on practicality is either desperate or dimwitted. Either the Tiffany campaign doesn’t know what to think or doesn’t know how to think.

4. Perhaps it’s a combination of both:

When pressed on why his campaign staff had blocked Spicuzza, he said he’ll “have to go back and talk to my communications team.”

Tiffany also accused his Democratic challenger, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, of “being managed” by his campaign’s communication staff.

“I think you should follow up with Mr. Crowley and ask him if he’s going to be as open and transparent as I am,” said Tiffany.

See Rich Kremer, Tom Tiffany’s campaign blocks reporter from Milwaukee event, Wisconsin Public Radio, September 24, 2026.

Honest to goodness. Every accusation is a confession.

5. I’ve never met Mary Spicuzza, but I’ve followed her reporting for many years. She’s sharp and thorough, and, from this newspaper-reading blogger’s view, easily within the standards of traditional American journalism. One benefits far more from a sharp reporter than a dull candidate.

The answer to smart, thorough reporting is a reply, not a ban. How unfortunate that Tiffany doesn’t have the presence of mind to see as much.

Here’s someone from the Midwest who’s not afraid of press coverage:

Leo spoke to reporters Friday on his way to France for a four-day visit. Asked by a CNN reporter about the Trump administration’s attempt to bar CNN and other reporters from the White House grounds, Leo said the media was welcome on his plane.

City, Daily Bread, Economy, Planning

Daily Bread for 9.24.26: The Draft Whitewater Forward Comprehensive Plan

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 69. Sunrise is 6:44 and sunset is 6:48 for 12 hours 4 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 94.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Common Council and Plan and Architectural Review Commission meet jointly at 6 PM.

On this day in 1906, President Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation’s first National Monument.

By James St. John – https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/55038836017/, CC BY 4.0, Link.

Following a planning group’s work and a presentation at an open house last night, the Whitewater Common Council and Plan and Architectural Review Commission now jointly consider a draft update to the Whitewater Forward Comprehensive Plan.

Many meetings, with many discussions, over many hours brought us here. For it all, no planners numbering close to sixteen can ensure on their own a vision for this city of sixteen thousand residents. (If that were true, then Old Whitewater’s men would still control over development and this city’s principal public institutions. They no longer do; occasional encomiums will not revivify.)

In the months ahead, if this draft is to have lasting meaning, it will need to be seen, discussed, and critiqued among residents to shape its recommendations and projections along lines of residents’ actions and aspirations.

In any event, tonight could be no more than a beginning only, and this beginning depends on the lengthy draft being presented in full, in as many places as possible. (No one sees an invisible painting; no one hears an inaudible song.)

For today, here are the introductory memorandum and full draft, without further comment:

View Fullscreen
Skip to PDF content

NASA visualizes pulsar’s bizarre dance with a giant star:

The BP Crucis system features a pulsar plunging through a dense stream of plasma flowing from a blue hypergiant star 40 times the mass of our Sun, causing its X-ray brightness to flare during each four-day passage. As the pulsar moves through the plasma, its accretion disk breaks apart, reforms, and eventually spins in the opposite direction. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Laboratory.

Daily Bread, Economics, Economy, Energy, Federal Government, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 9.23.26: A Possible Ban on Diesel Exports Reveals the Failure of Federal Policy

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 67. Sunrise is 6:43 and sunset is 6:50 for 12 hours 7 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 89.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Comprehensive Plan Work Group meets at 4 PM and there is a Whitewater Forward Comprehensive Plan Final Open House from 6 PM to 7:30 PM.

On this day in 1846, astronomers Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams, and Johann Gottfried Galle collaborate on the discovery of Neptune.

This libertarian blogger has heard, as have so many others across the planet, that Donald J. Trump is a dealmaker. (So much so that someone ghostwrote a book for him on dealmaking.) It seems improbable, however, that a true master dealmaker who claimed he would restrict imports and boost exports might now be looking to ban the export of diesel. Our energy policy is such a fiasco that, in desperation over high diesel costs, the federal government ponders whether to ban diesel exports:

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he backed the idea of a diesel export ban as a way to lower prices that have hit record highs due to a global supply shortage. But analysts and market watchers warn that such a measure would do little to ease high energy prices, and could worsen supply and economic disruptions around the globe.

Trump’s comments come as average US diesel prices have jumped to a record $6.510 a gallon, according to AAA. Diesel is critical to the global economy because it powers transportation, farm equipment and the machinery used to make and move goods.

A ban, however, will make matters worse:

A ban on diesel exports would push up prices of diesel globally, while pushing down prices in the United States and hurting US refining margins, analysts warned.

“Initially, a diesel ban would send global prices skyrocketing… A ban could raise world prices by as much as 100%, given the fuel’s low price elasticity of demand,” said energy economist Philip Verleger.

Any ban would likely push refineries to cut the amount of crude they process. If US refineries cut runs, it would also lower the amount of gasoline and other products produced and push up prices for those fuels, analysts and traders said.

“Banning exports of diesel would drive refiners to cut runs because the physical market they can access would be cut, and no market participant in any market sells product at a loss. While an export ban might have a very short-term impact that lowers price, it would not be long-lived…,” said Kenneth Medlock III, a fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute for Public Policy.

See Arathy Somasekhar and Liz Hampton, Ban on US diesel exports would hurt, not help fuel markets, analysts say, Reuters, September 22, 2026. See also FREE WHITEWATER, Wisconsin’s Economy Depends on Diesel (and Now Diesel Costs Much More), September 18, 2026.

It was a mistake to mistake a man who said he was a real estate dealmaker for someone who had read and understood even simple market principles. (The local version of this in Whitewater is believing that a few landlords or a lobbyist somehow knew more than others. Paraphrasing a line from a film: The greatest trick that Whitewater’s special-interest men ever pulled was convincing anyone, even themselves, that they had credible economic insights to offer.)

And so, and so, here we are.

Rural voters frustrated by economy under Trump, AP-KFF poll finds:

About half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off now than when President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new survey of the key demographic that has largely backed Republicans in recent elections.

Daily Bread, Fall

Daily Bread for 9.22.26: Autumn Has Been Waiting

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Good morning.

Fall in Whitewater begins with morning showers on a mostly cloudy day with a high of 60. Sunrise is 6:42 and sunset is 6:52 for 12 hours 10 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 83.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Finance Committee meets at 5 PM.

On this day in 1953, the Four Level Interchange, the first stack interchange in the world, opens in Los Angeles.

Four Level Interchange of Arroyo Seco Parkway, Harbor Freeway, Santa Ana Freeway, and Hollywood Freeway, looking northeast in January 1999.

Now, again, fall at last begins. The most intense and demanding of our seasons awaits us. No one is called to an easy task. There is much to do, much to accomplish, between now and December. For today, however, it’s enough to be grateful for the very opportunity.

Below, the simplest of fall’s offerings, the changing of leaves, charted on the Travel Wisconsin 2026 Fall Color Map:

Blue Jays Demolish Peanuts On FeederWatch Cam:

Watch highlights as several blue jays empty an entire feeder of peanuts in exactly two hours. Why do blue jays take so many peanuts? They are extraordinary at “caching” items, hiding food like acorns, nuts, and peanuts in the ground or under leaves to eat later. Because of this, blue jays help with seed dispersal and can actually help build forests! The birds in this video are most likely caching many of the peanuts to eat during the winter. This FeederWatch cam is located in the Treman Bird Feeding Garden at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York. Perched on the edge of both Sapsucker Woods and its 10-acre pond, these feeders attract both forest species like chickadees and woodpeckers as well as some species that prefer open environments near water like red-winged blackbirds.

America, Daily Bread, War

Daily Bread for 9.21.26: Just Another International Day of Peace

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 62. Sunrise is 6:41 and sunset is 6:53 for 12 hours 12 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 74.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Library Board meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice.

Today is, on the United Nations’ calendar, the International Day of Peace (often simply called World Peace Day). Here in America, in his second inaugural address, the president of the United States pledged that his “proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier.”

If there is a celebration at the United Nations today, then it’s safe to say the celebrants are approaching the holiday aspirationally:

Why Trump Is on the Warpath in Somalia, BBC News, February 7, 2025.

Trump launches large-scale strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, at least 31 killed, Reuters, March 15, 2025.

US inserts itself into Israel’s war with Iran, striking 3 Iranian nuclear sites, Associated Press, June 22, 2025.

White House defends US attack on boat from Venezuela as lawful, Reuters, December 2, 2025.

Venezuela says 24 security officers were killed in US operation to capture Maduro, Associated Press, January 6, 2026. (Rights abuses persist in Venezuela despite Maduro’s removal, UN experts say, Reuters, September 16, 2026.)

New strikes hit Tehran – as it happened, The Guardian, February 28, 2026.

Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks, New York Times, updated September 21, 2026.

An individual or a people has a right to defend itself. That right does not extend to vaingloriously plunging a community — or the world — into chaos.

U.S. and Iran trade threats as fears of return to all-out war mount:

U.S. and Iran trade threats as fears of return to all-out war mount. The IRGC warned it has prepared for a “long-term war” with unused strategic weapons, while Trump told Fox News he was weighing options “if and when do I blow the entire nation up.”

15th Senate District, Agriculture, Daily Bread, Economy, Tariffs, War, Wisconsin, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 9.20.26: Wisconsin Farm Bankruptcies on the Rise

by  • 

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 65. Sunrise is 6:40 and sunset is 6:55 for 12 hours 15 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 66.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1982, NFL players begin a 57-day strike (reducing the 1982 season to 9 regular games).

I read recently that the WISGOP state Senate candidate for Senate District 15, of which Whitewater is part, promises that he “will fight for policies that support farm viability, cut unnecessary regulations, and ensure agriculture remains the backbone of our rural economy.” There’s much dissonance in that, isn’t there? The current GOP positions from Washington Palm Beach, Florida, have only made Wisconsin’s farmers worse off:

Seven farms across Wisconsin filed for bankruptcy in the first eight months of 2026. Filings have come in at a slower pace than 2025 but are still on an overall upward trend since the COVID-19 pandemic ended.

By this same time in 2025, 14 Wisconsin farms had filed for bankruptcy with 16 total farm bankruptcies statewide at the end of the year.

[…]

“The conflict in Iran has put additional strain on our farm due to the concomitant increases in the price of fertilizer inputs for crops to feed our cattle and diesel fuel to power our farm equipment,” the owner of a Walworth County dairy farm wrote in bankruptcy court documents filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

That Walworth County dairy farm is the latest to file for Chapter 12 bankruptcy in Wisconsin’s Eastern District. The farm had been in operation for more than a century, starting in 1901, court documents say.

[…]

But for some family farms, Chapter 7 liquidation is not a desirable option as younger generations of farmers try to take on their family’s operation.

The dairy farm in Walworth County was scheduled for foreclosure July 14. The court documents say the farmers’ son completed a dairy science degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with the intention of taking over the farm someday.

“Due to the application of [his] dairy science knowledge, and help from a new nutritionist, the dairy herd’s production is climbing, but [we’re] still unable to secure refinancing,” the farm owner wrote in the bankruptcy filing.

See Caden Perry, Wisconsin farm bankruptcies rise again after post-pandemic lull, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 15, 2026. See also FREE WHITEWATER, Rail Fuel Surcharges Squeeze Farmers During Harvest Season, Tariffs Leave Farmers Paying More, and Worsening Market Conditions for Wisconsin Farmers.

But at Mar-a-Lago, they’ve not had their minds on agriculture —

An entertainer performs at Mar-a-Lago’s ‘Great Gatsby’-themed Halloween party on 10.31.25. Screenshot from an attendee video, as reported in The Daily Beast.

_____

Forthcoming topics (in no particular order): A New Ethics Ordinance, Development in Downtown Whitewater (follow-up), and Steps for a Public Interest Campaign.

Is Iran Shaping Up to Be a ‘Forever War’?:

Our White House and national security correspondent, David Sanger, compares past “forever wars” that President Trump campaigned against with the war in Iran that has no clear endgame.

Books, Climate, Daily Bread, Environment, Rain, Weather, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 9.19.26: Rain

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 71. Sunrise is 6:39 and sunset is 6:57 for 12 hours 18 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 57.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1796, George Washington’s Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public.

It’s rainy today. There is life and beauty in the rain. Here in agricultural Wisconsin, we likely understand that as well as anyone anywhere in America.

Cynthia Barnett’s Rain: A Natural and Cultural History describes the importance of rain in ecology, in meteorology, and in history and culture. And yet, and yet, she’s not sentimental about rain’s potential for destruction through flooding (sometimes unavoidable, sometimes the result of poor human planning).

It’s a fine book, well-written and memorable. Highly recommended, especially on days like these.

_____

Forthcoming topics (in no particular order): A New Ethics Ordinance, Development in Downtown Whitewater (follow-up), and Steps for a Public Interest Campaign.

See also Rain: A history for stormy times | Cynthia Barnett | TEDxJacksonville:

Cynthia Barnett is an award-winning environmental journalist who has reported on water and climate change around the world. Her latest book is Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, longlisted for the National Book Award and a finalist for the 2016 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.