Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of twenty-three. Sunrise is 6:58 AM and sunset 5:19 PM, for 10h 21m 29s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 97.2% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}ninety-third day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1950, Sen. Joseph McCarthy contends, without ever producing evidence, that the U.S. Department of State is riddled with communists. On this day in 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution authorizing a National Weather Service.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Joe Pompeo reports that Wall Street Journal editor to face critics: “Amid growing newsroom discontent over his perceived resistance to critical coverage of Donald Trump, Wall Street Journal editor in chief Gerry Baker will host a town hall meeting next week where he is expected to address the paper’s reporting on the new administration and answer questions from his staff. The meeting, announced in a company email on Wednesday and scheduled for Monday, February 13, is billed as a wide-ranging session on the state of the Journal, but Trump coverage is expected to be high on the list of discussion topics….While other major news outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, have covered Trump aggressively throughout the campaign, the transition and the early days of the 45th presidency, repeatedly stoking the ire of Trump and his aides, the Journal has taken an arguably more circumspect, if not softer approach. Baker has been hesitant to allow Journal reporters to characterize Trump’s false assertions as lies and has suggested that media “elites” are out to get Trump. During the campaign, reporters say, some of his editorial decisions tended to downplay Trump’s transgressions while he urged his staff to be tougher on Hillary Clinton.”

Josh Feldman reports on a critic of House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz in Toobin: Chaffetz Won’t Investigate Trump Because He Only Cares About Investigating Democrats: “Do you think there were enough investigations of Benghazi by the Republican House?… Jason Chaffetz is only interested in investigating Democrats. Period. That’s the reason why Jason Chaffetz is in Congress, which is to investigate Democrats. He has no interest in making trouble for Donald Trump and he’s not going to make trouble for Donald Trump.”

Anna Nemtsova writes that America’s ‘Resistance’ Has a Lot to Learn From Russia’s Opposition: ““Whoever tries to understand Russia should know that this country is changing, every little town has volunteer movements, human-rights defenders and street journalists investigating the true story, “ Zygar, the author of the international best seller All the Kremlin’s Men, told The Daily Beast. But the opposition leaders still believe that only persistent street protests can change the power and politics in Russia. “We plan to revive the Solidarity movements that were originally founded by Nemtsov and hit the streets again this spring, one year before presidential elections—a good time to start,” Yashin told The Daily Beast.”

Jennifer Rubin observes that Trump’s lies all make America look worse: “President Trump does not tell lies randomly. Watch him long enough and you will see a pattern: America is rotten, and the press is lying to cover it up. During the campaign, one might have written this off as an effort to discredit the results of the Obama presidency, for which Hillary Clinton was effectively seeking a third term. Most every candidate, regardless of power, will argue that the incumbent party has failed in any number of regards because there still is plenty of (fill in the blank: poverty/homelessness/unemployment/terrorism). Now that Trump is president, however, his efforts to denigrate the country seem strange, not to mention false.”

It was only a matter of time – and this is that time – before someone combined a tiny house with a van:

Good morning.

Midweek in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of twenty-four. Sunrise is 6:59 AM and sunset 5:18 PM, for 10h 18m 52s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 92% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}ninety-second day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1922, Pres. Harding has a radio installed at the White House. On this day in 1858, Wisconsin Congressman John Potter brawls with southerners on the House floor.

Recommended for reading in full —

Lee Bergquist reports that the EPA OKs slower roll-out of water rules for Wisconsin: “The EPA notified Department of Natural Resources on Monday that it will allow the state to phase in tougher regulations to limit the discharge of phosphorus from point sources such as sewage treatment plants and factories. Phosphorus is a major ingredient that feeds algae that clogs many Wisconsin lakes. In its latest assessment, the DNR in 2016 concluded that 41% of more than 7,700 waters in the state violated water standards for phosphorus.  The action has been in the works by the EPA for months and is not seen as influenced by the administration of President Donald Trump, who has promised to cut back on environmental regulations. “Our sense is that it has been working its way through the system for a while,” said Scott Laeser, water quality specialist with Clean Wisconsin, a Madison-based environmental group.”

David Sanger and Eric Schmitt report that Yemen Forbids U.S. Ground Missions After Flawed Raid: “WASHINGTON — Angry at the civilian casualties incurred last month in the first commando raid authorized by President Trump, Yemen has withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups in the country, according to American officials. Grisly photographs of children apparently killed in the crossfire of a 50-minute firefight during the raid caused outrage in Yemen. A member of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, Chief Petty Officer William Owens, was also killed in the operation. While the White House continues to insist that the attack was a “success” — a characterization it repeated on Tuesday — the suspension of commando operations is a setback for Mr. Trump, who has made it clear he plans to take a far more aggressive approach against Islamic militants.”

Avi Selk reports on the families of a murder victim: ‘My daughter’s death will not be used’: Parents furious over Trump’s false terrorism claims: “On Tuesday, both families saw their children’s murders on a White House list of terrorist attacks that hadn’t gotten enough attention, and Ayliffe said she felt she needed to set down words again. “My daughter’s death will not be used to further this insane persecution of innocent people,” she wrote in an open letter to President Trump. Her words were joined by the parents of the attack’s second victim, Jackson, who expressed their disbelief in an email to the White House and elsewhere. “I’m pretty sure he and his advisors know full well — or could very easily verify — that Tom and Mia died not as the result of an act of terror but rather through the actions of a disturbed individual,” Les Jackson wrote on Facebook. “Of course, that doesn’t suit his agenda.”

Kori Hill describes Nice views: Tallest building in each state: “Wisconsin – The U.S. Bank Center in Milwaukee is the tallest building in Wisconsin at 42 stories and 601 feet tall. It opened in 1973 and is famous for nesting Peregrine falcons outside the 41st floor. Since the program launched, 67 falcons have been successfully fledged by the building.”

Name Explain tackles Why Slovakia & Slovenia Have Such Similar Names:

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will bring thunderstorms and a high of thirty-eight. Sunrise is 7 AM and sunset 5:17 PM, for 10h 16m 17s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 85.3% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}ninety-first day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

Whitewater’s Common Council meets this evening at 6:30 PM.

Charles Dickens is born this day in 1812. Laura Ingalls Wilder is born this day in 1867, in a village near Pepin, Wisconsin.

Recommended for reading in full —

Former Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, argues that We can’t let Trump go down Putin’s path: “In retrospect, Russians who lament the consolidation of Putin’s autocracy all say they reacted too slowly at the beginning. They didn’t believe things could get so bad. They didn’t believe Putin would ever go as far as he did. Back in 2000, Putin had few allies within the state, and lukewarm support in society. He won his first election because of government support and weak opponents, not because of wild enthusiasm among voters for him or his ideas. Back then, important actors in Russia’s business class remained autonomous from the state, regional leaders also acted a check on Moscow’s power, independent media still existed and parliament still enjoyed some real power. Had these forces pushed back immediately against creeping authoritarianism, Russia’s political trajectory might have been different. Sounds familiar? Trump also had never run for office before last year. He presented himself emphatically as a law-and-order candidate. He has promised to cut taxes, thus ensuring support from the business community. Like Putin in 2000, he has pledged “to make America great again.” Just as Putin ordered the Russian army into Chechnya, Trump has already threatened to send federal forces into Chicago. Just like Putin, Trump and his team have labeled as enemies protesters, journalists and members of allegedly “terrorist” nations. Trump’s recent Twitter screed against those opposing him — “Professional anarchists, thugs and paid protesters” — sounds eerily similar to Putin’s reaction to crowds mobilized against him in 2011-2012.”

Conor Friedersdorf explains Why Donald Trump Bears Blame for Making America Less Safe: “First, Trump’s executive order shows an economic illiterate’s disregard for opportunity cost. At the stroke of a pen, he ensured that the parts of the U.S. government that vet immigrants, whether at foreign consulates or U.S. ports of entry, would spend months of additional time and effort on tens of thousands of people who’ve already been through years of vetting. It would be as if TSA forced a bunch of people who’d already gone through security to line up again for screening without realizing that less time and attention would be paid to folks who’ve not been screened. What’s more, are new hurdles for, say, Iranian grandparents or Libyan children who aren’t even old enough to have been alive on 9/11, possibly the best use of scarce resources? How many additional smugglers from unaffected countries slipped through customs last week while agents were busy handcuffing Green Card holders? If you were a “bad guy” from an unaffected country like Saudi Arabia, what better time to try slipping into the United States than the chaos of last week? And who focuses on countries that pose terror risks without listing Pakistan?”

David Frum offers advice on How to Beat Trump: “The more conservative you are [in style, manner], the more radical you are. You want to scare Trump? Be orderly, polite, and visibly patriotic. Trump wants to identify all opposition to him with the black-masked crowbar thugs who smashed windows and burned a limo on his inauguration day. Remember Trump’s tweet about stripping citizenship from flag burners? It’s beyond audacious that a candidate who publicly requested help from Russian espionage services against his opponent would claim the flag as his own. But Trump is trying. Don’t let him get away with it. Carry the flag. Open with the Pledge of Allegiance. Close by singing the Star Spangled Banner––like these protesters at LAX, in video posted by The Atlantic’s own Conor Friedersdorf. Trump’s presidency is itself one long flag-burning, an attack on the principles and institutions of the American republic. That republic’s symbols are your symbols. You should cherish them and brandish them. Don’t get sucked into the futile squabbling cul-de-sac of intersectionality and grievance politics.”

Kurt Eichenwald asks, Can Trump Tell the Difference Between Truth and His Lies?: “Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower and probably every politician ever has used spin or told some whoppers to achieve a specific goal. But the benefit from the stories Trump has spun recently was not only zero, it harmed him. No rational person could possibly have cared how many people attended Trump’s inauguration; anyone could see the same photographs and read the same data about television viewership and Washington’s mass transit usage as everyone else. None could have reasonably believed that the most incredible voter fraud campaign in American history had just taken place, with millions of illegal votes cast for Democrats, particularly when Republicans won most of the key Senate races in that election and maintained control of the House. He could have said nothing about those two topics and no one would have thought the worse of him. But if he knows he is lying, he not only accomplishes nothing, he harms himself by showing he will lie over irrelevant trivialities. And that raises the question of whether he knows when he is lying. “Although deception is in almost everyone’s social repertoire, it is generally employed as a tactical or strategic option of last resort,’’ said Dr. Timothy R. Levine, a communications professor at Michigan State University who co-authored a 2010 report on experiments about lying. ”Absent psychopathology, people do not deceive when the truth works just fine.” (Emphasis mine.)

Why there are small bumps on the ‘F’ and ‘J’ keys of every keyboard? Here’s why —

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of forty-five. Sunrise is 7:02 AM and sunset 5:15 PM, for 10h 13m 43s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 75.7% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}ninetieth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

Babe Ruth is born on this day in 1895. On this day in 1967, activist Stokely Carmichael speaks at UW-Whitewater.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Jon Finer describes Trump Is Attacking Any Institution That Challenges Him: “From the many disturbing aspects of Donald Trump’s controversial and dizzying first two weeks as President, a theme is emerging that, in the long run, may prove more dangerous than any individual policy: his unprecedented assault on institutions that could delay or derail his radical agenda. As I wrote previously, this approach began, not by accident, with an assault on the press and intelligence community, two entities in American society that traditional provide the verified facts that are the basis for policy decisions. Trump set the stage for these fights by disparaging both institutions throughout the presidential campaign and transition, punctuated by his trademark pungent insults (the press as “the most dishonest humans,” the intelligence community as employing Nazi tactics) aimed less at their work product than at their very legitimacy. In a democracy, it is normal––sometimes even desirable––for institutions to advance different agendas, the collision of which produces policy. But what isn’t normal is for arguably the most powerful institution to seek not to win arguments against the others, but rather to vanquish them.”

Elizabeth Dwoskin reports that Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and 94 other tech companies call travel ban ‘unlawful’ in rare coordinated legal action: “Silicon Valley is stepping up its confrontation with the Trump administration. On Sunday night, technology giants Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Twitter, Uber and many others filed a legal brief opposing the administration’s contentious entry ban, according to people familiar with the matter. The move represents a rare coordinated action across a broad swath of the industry — 97 companies in total— and demonstrates the depth of animosity toward the Trump ban. The amicus brief was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which is expected to rule within a few days on an appeal by the administration after a federal judge in Seattle issued late Friday a temporary restraining order putting the entry ban on hold. The brief comes at the end of a week of nationwide protests against the plan — as well as a flurry of activity in Silicon Valley, a region that sees immigration as central to its identity as an innovation hub.”

Link to Amicus Brief by Tech Companies.

Lee Bergquist writes that a Study says Wisconsin DNR underreports gray wolf poaching: “A University of Wisconsin-Madison study shows the human toll on wolves is higher than previously estimated and that state officials have underreported wolf deaths in past analyses. For years, wolves have been shot illegally, struck by cars and trucks or legally killed by authorities acting on reports that wolves were killing and threatening livestock and pets. But in a study published Monday in the Journal of Mammalogy, UW researcher Adrian Treves and a group of scientists found higher levels of illegal killing of wolves in Wisconsin than reported by the Department of Natural Resources. As part of the study, the researchers reinvestigated fatalities of a subset of wolves and found “abundant evidence” of gunshot wounds and injuries from trapping that may have been overlooked as a factor in their deaths, the authors said.”

Katie Zernicke reports that Trump Protesters Borrow From Tea Party to Put Pressure on Lawmakers: “MORRISTOWN, N.J. — For weeks, a swelling group has been showing up every Friday here at the local office of Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen to demand that he hold a town-hall meeting to answer its concerns about his fellow Republicans’ plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. After weeks without an answer, the congressman’s staff replied that he would be too busy, that such gatherings took considerable planning and that just finding a meeting place could be tough. So the group, NJ 11th for Change, secured venues in all four counties that Mr. Frelinghuysen represents for times during the congressional recess this month — and constituents plan to show up even if he does not. With congressional phone lines overloaded and district offices mobbed across the country, it’s beginning to look a lot like 2009.”

Here’s the full 84 Lumber Super Bowl Commercial – The Entire Journey (only a portion appeared during the game):

Good morning.

Sunday in this small town will be partly cloudy with a high of thirty-two. Sunrise 7:03 AM and sunset 5:14 PM, for 10h 11m 10s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 65.4% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}eighty-ninth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1937, Pres. Roosevelt proposed the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937^[1] (frequently called the “court-packing plan”)^[2] was a legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Roosevelt’s purpose was to obtain favorable rulings regarding New Deal legislation that the court had ruled unconstitutional.^[3]” The legislation met its demise at the hands of a fellow Democrat, “Senate Judiciary Committee committee chair Henry F. Ashurst, who delayed hearings in the Judiciary Committee, saying “No haste, no hurry, no waste, no worry—that is the motto of this committee.”^[12] As a result of his delaying efforts, the bill was held in committee for 165 days, and opponents of the bill credited Ashurst as instrumental in its defeat.^[5]” On this day in 1849, the University of Wisconsin opens “with 20 students led by Professor John W. Sterling.”

Recommended for reading (or watching) in full —

Dave Itzkoff reports that ‘S.N.L.’ Goes After Trump Again, With Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer: “the night belonged to Ms. McCarthy, the star of “Bridesmaids” and “Ghostbusters,” who came out in thinning blond hair and an ill-fitting suit to play an aggressive, gum-chugging version of Mr. Spicer as he led a daily White House press briefing. “I know that myself and the press have gotten off to a rocky start,” she said, starting off the session. “When I say rocky start, I mean it in the sense of ‘Rocky,’ the movie, because I came out here to punch you in the face. And also I don’t talk so good.”

Alana Semuels describes America’s Great Divergence (A growing earnings gap between those with a college education and those without is creating economic and cultural rifts throughout the country): “Half a century ago, economic opportunity and upward mobility were available to many white Americans, regardless of where they lived and what kind of education they had. They could graduate from high school and find a job at a local factory and make a good wage, or graduate from college and sit behind a desk and make a slightly better wage. About 90 percent of kids born in the 1940s earned more than their parents did, according to work by Stanford economist Raj Chetty. But beginning in the 1980s, the returns on a college education started growing, and more of the benefits of economic growth started accruing to only those with an education, as those without an education saw their opportunities shrink. People with a college degree or more now earn 50 percent of aggregate U.S. household income, up from 37 percent in 1991, while people with less than a high school degree now earn 5 percent, down from 12 percent in 1991, according to Census data. (1991 is the earliest year for which there is comparable data.)”

Paul Gowder describes The Trump Threat to the Rule of Law and the Constitution: “The election of Donald Trump raises serious worries about the future of the rule of law in the United States. Many an authoritarian has taken power from a democratic state under the banner of populist nationalism, and Trump’s association with illiberal and antidemocratic individuals and groups (from Vladimir Putin to Steve Bannon and the “alt-right”) has raised the worry that Trump does not respect the basic norms of our Constitutional order….Specifically, a political leader has to undermine two key sites of opposition. First, a leader has to undermine the capacity of the population at large to collectively resist his illegal acts, by reducing the capacity of the public to engage in mass coordinated action (which can range from voting, to economic resistance and protest, to outright rebellion) against him. Second, a leader has to undermine the capacity or incentive of mid-level officials and elites, the sorts of people who control things like tax revenue and the transmission of orders to military units, to oppose him, primarily by declining to carry out his wishes. (The reader is advised here to consult the brilliant work of economist Avner Greif on administrative power.)”

The AP reports that About 600 Donald Trump protesters rally near Paul Ryan’s Janesville home: “JANESVILLE – Hundreds of demonstrators rallied Saturday in Janesville to protest President Donald Trump’s now-blocked executive order temporarily limiting immigration. The Janesville Gazette reported about 600 protesters gathered Saturday in a city park a few blocks from House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Janesville home.”

Hannu Huhtamo proudly observes that ‘Darkness Is My Canvas, Light Is My Brush’:

‘Darkness Is My Canvas, Light Is My Brush’ from Great Big Story on Vimeo.

Good morning.

Saturday in this small town will be cloudy with a high of thirty-one. Sunrise is 7:04 AM and sunset 5:13 PM, for 10h 08m 39s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 54.2% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}eighty-eighth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

American civil rights activist Rosa Parks (née McCauley) is born this day in 1913. On this day in 1871, the Wisconsin Central Railroad is organized.

Recommended for reading in full —

Susan Craig and Eric Lipton report that despite his promises, Trust Records Show Trump Is Still Closely Tied to His Empire: “Just days before his inauguration, President-elect Donald J. Trump stood beside his tax lawyer at a Midtown Manhattan news conference as she announced that he planned to place his vast business holdings in a trust, a move she said would allay fears that he might exploit the Oval Office for personal gain. However, a number of questions were left unanswered — including who would ultimately benefit from the trust — raising concerns about just how meaningful the move was. Now, records have emerged that show just how closely tied Mr. Trump remains to the empire he built. While the president says he has walked away from the day-to-day operations of his business, two people close to him are the named trustees and have broad legal authority over his assets: his eldest son, Donald Jr., and Allen H. Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer. Mr. Trump, who will receive reports on any profit, or loss, on his company as a whole, can revoke their authority at any time. What’s more, the purpose of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust is to hold assets for the “exclusive benefit” of the president. This trust remains under Mr. Trump’s Social Security number, at least as far as federal taxes are concerned.”

Steven Verburg reports that State water woes drive ‘unpolished’ effort to sway lawmakers: Representatives of two dozen groups from around the state plan to tell lawmakers how their lives have been affected by things such as hazardous bacteria in drinking water, toxic algae that has killed pets and closed swimming beaches, and receding lakes that have left docks high and dry, [Criste] Greening said. While not aimed at any particular legislative proposal, the effort is intended as an initial warning shot across the bow of a state government that has rolled back water protections for the better part of a decade, Greening said. A few groups that formed mostly to seek stronger regulation of nearby animal feedlots are at the core of the effort, said Greening, a Wisconsin Rapids schoolteacher. Greening said it’s been heartbreaking to take her children to lakeside campsites she loved as a child and find signs banning swimming because of blue-green algae or E. coli bacteria. She said her neighbors’ concerns heightened last summer as public health officials received reports of people getting sick and pets dying after contact with algae blooms that were worse than usual in central Wisconsin.”

Daniel Dale’s keeping a list, and as of this date it’s The complete list of all 33 false things Donald Trump has said as president so far: “The [Toronto] Star’s running tally of the bald-faced lies, exaggerations and deceptions the president of the United States of America has said, so far….”

Scott Shane, Eric Lipton, and Matthew Rosenberg decribe how Trump Pushes Dark View of Islam to Center of U.S. Policy-Making: “This worldview borrows from the “clash of civilizations” thesis of the political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, and combines straightforward warnings about extremist violence with broad-brush critiques of Islam. It sometimes conflates terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State with largely nonviolent groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots and, at times, with the 1.7 billion Muslims around the world. In its more extreme forms, this view promotes conspiracies about government infiltration and the danger that Shariah, the legal code of Islam, may take over in the United States….Rejected by most serious scholars of religion and shunned by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, this dark view of Islam has nonetheless flourished on the fringes of the American right since before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. With Mr. Trump’s election, it has now moved to the center of American decision-making on security and law, alarming many Muslims.”

A Former Google Employee [Explains] How Your Phone Is Designed to Control Your Life:

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of twenty-four. Sunrise is 7:05 AM and sunset 5:11 PM, for 10h 06m 09s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 42.2% iof its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}eighty-seventh day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1917, the United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany over that nation’s policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. On this day in 1865, the 25th and 32nd Wisconsin Infantry regiments fight in the Battle of River’s Bridge in South Carolina.

Recommended for reading in full —

Doug Schneider reports that Despite claim to contrary, WI as tested only 9 backlogged rape kits: “GREEN BAY – Two days after the state’s top prosecutor said “a few hundred” of Wisconsin’s 6,000 backlogged rape kits had been tested, his office acknowledged that the number is a fraction of that. The state has completed testing of nine kits, said Rebecca Ballweg, a spokeswoman in the office of Attorney General Brad Schimel. Another 200 are being tested. The news angered leaders who have been pressing the state to move faster with testing. Schimel’s office received $4 million in grants from the federal government and New York prosecutors to address the issue 16 months ago, and is seeking additional grant money.

Matt O’Brien thinks Wall Street believes a myth about Donald Trump’s presidency. It will face a rude awakening: “It’s not just that Trump has backed up his tough talk about trade and immigration like Wall Street hoped he wouldn’t. It’s that he might have a tough time cutting taxes and boosting spending like they hoped he would. Take corporate tax reform. It might seem like a sure thing that a Republican White House, Senate and House of Representatives would be able to agree on this, but it’s a lot less so when their plan might actually increase taxes for retailers like Walmart….It’s the same story with infrastructure. Trump’s ideological consigliere Steve Bannon wants a trillion-dollar infrastructure package that would be “as exciting as the 1930s,” but the rest of the Republican Party isn’t too enthused about this. They’d rather focus on the things they’ve been waiting years to do, like repealing Obamacare and slashing the safety net and coming to terms on some tax cut for the rich. The Democrats, for their part, want to rebuild our roads and bridges, but they don’t want to do it the way Bannon does. They’d rather have the government spend the money directly on what it thinks the most important projects are than give private companies tax breaks to do what it thinks the most profitable ones are. In other words, all the stimulus the market thought would help the economy in the short-term might not materialize, but all the isolationism that would hurt it in the long-term is already starting to.”

Jonathon Chait contends that America’s Leading Authoritarian Intellectual Is Working for Trump: “Race is integral to [Michael] Anton’s sense of his own persecution. He sees the enthusiasm for Trump among avowed white supremacists as more reason to support Trump: “The Left was calling us Nazis long before any pro-Trumpers tweeted Holocaust denial memes,” he argues. “And how does one deal with a Nazi — that is, with an enemy one is convinced intends your destruction? You don’t compromise with him or leave him alone. You crush him.” It is a fascinating line of reasoning: There are Nazis supporting his chosen candidate, therefore the left will crush conservatives like Nazis, therefore his chosen candidate’s triumph is all the more necessary.”

Carl Zimmer writes about The Purpose of Sleep? To Forget, Scientists Say: “A pair of papers published on Thursday in the journal Science offer evidence for another notion: We sleep to forget some of the things we learn each day. In order to learn, we have to grow connections, or synapses, between the neurons in our brains. These connections enable neurons to send signals to one another quickly and efficiently. We store new memories in these networks. In 2003, Giulio Tononi and Chiara Cirelli, biologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, proposed that synapses grew so exuberantly during the day that our brain circuits got “noisy.” When we sleep, the scientists argued, our brains pare back the connections to lift the signal over the noise.

Cold temperatures mean that thousands of people can walk over largest lake in central Europe: