FREE WHITEWATER

Author Archive for JOHN ADAMS

Daily Bread, Law, Litigation, Madison, Voting Rights, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.22.26: City of Madison Argues Wrongly on Absentee Ballots

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 22. Sunrise is 7:18 and sunset is 4:55 for 9 hours 37 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 15 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1968, Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar Module into space.

By NASA – Public Domain, Link.

It’s sometimes the case, too often, regrettably, that in defending against accusations or litigation, a public institution will advance an argument that protects the institution but harms the public. That’s the situation with the City of Madison’s argument that absentee ballots are a privilege, not a right:

Gov. Tony Evers is pushing back against arguments Madison city officials made in a recent lawsuit contending they can’t be sued for failing to count nearly 200 mail-in ballots in 2024 because absentee voting is not a right but a privilege.

A group of Madison voters represented by the liberal law firm Law Forward sued city and county election officials in March over the city’s failure to count 193 absentee ballots cast during the 2024 presidential election.

The voters are accusing the former Madison clerk of disenfranchising their right to vote in a class-action lawsuit.

[…]

A Dane County Circuit judge overseeing the lawsuit granted a motion from Evers earlier this month to file a brief that the governor’s attorney said would argue the Madison officials’ position “ignores longstanding state constitutional protections” and a state Supreme Court interpretation of the state law at issue that argues otherwise. Evers’ brief is due Jan. 23. 

In recent filings, Witzel-Behl and Madison officials argue the voters’ constitutional protections were removed when they decided to vote absentee.

“The Complaint’s prefatory allegations in (the complaint) describe the right to vote as ‘fundamental’ and ‘sacred,’ and cite a century-old precedent that the right to vote ‘may not under our Constitution be destroyed or even unreasonably restricted.’ … These points are undoubtedly true. However, the manner in which Plaintiffs exercised their right to vote – by absentee ballot – took the process out of its core constitutional protection,” the officials argue. “When the absentee process unfortunately results in a vote not being counted, it is not a violation of a constitutional right.””

See Molly Beck, Evers pushes back against Madison argument in absentee ballot lawsuit, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 22, 2026.

Here we are: the City of Madison, to defend itself against litigation, argues for the effective disenfranchisement of 193 of its own voters.

Attorney Haas argues that the defense in the City of Madison’s legal brief is merely about the amount of damages (a monetary amount) that need to be paid in this case. Perhaps he thinks this is clever representation, but it’s closer to the British insult that sometimes one is ‘too clever by half.’ The affected voters will not see this defense as supportive of their voting rights and the majority of Madison residents will not see this defense as supportive of their voting rights. Only the opponents of absentee voting will find this defense supportive of their interests.

Note well: This is an occasion when a lawyer, representing a public client, undermines the rights of those that the public client is, itself, obligated to represent. Always a mistake, always a serious mistake, and always a mistake requiring a genuine remedy.

An immediate remedy would be for the City of Madison to withdraw its line of defense. A later remedy would be for a court to reject that defense if it is not withdrawn.

In other cases, a genuine remedy may require a public client to seek new in-house or outside counsel, and to remove officials who supported an egregious line of defense.

James Webb Space Telescope delivers ‘clearest infrared look’ of Helix Nebula:

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured an amazing closeup of the Helix Nebula. “Blistering winds of hot gas from the dying star are crashing into colder shells of dust and gas that were shed earlier in its life, sculpting the nebula’s remarkable structure,” according to the European Space Agency.

Business, Daily Bread, Legislation, Legislature, Regulations, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.21.26: Assembly Passes Limited Data Center Regulations

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 24. Sunrise is 7:19 and sunset is 4:53 for 9 hours 34 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 7.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Parks and Recreation Board meets at 5:30 PM, and the Library Board meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1793, after being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.

A data center boom has swept the nation, and Wisconsin is no exception. Posts at FREE WHITEWATER on 1.13.26 concerned Wisconsin gubernatorial candidates’ views on data centers, and on 1.14.26 Microsoft’s view of Wisconsin data centers. There’s now more news about possible data center regulations and Microsoft’s plans for data center expansion.

Proposed state regulations for data centers are thankfully light (thus allowing the industry to grow as the marketplace makes possible):

Lawmakers in the state Assembly voted Jan. 20 to advance a bill proponents say would balance the economic benefits of Wisconsin’s booming data center industry with environmental and cost concerns.

Detractors called it a “completely unserious attempt” to address the issue.

The Republican proposal’s trajectory since it was introduced Jan. 9 has highlighted both the contentious nature of the issue and the pressure on public officials to keep pace with the rapid rate of development. It passed 53-44 largely on party lines, with Rep. Lindee Brill, R-Sheboygan Falls, joining Democrats in voting no and Reps. Steve Doyle, D-Onalaska, and Jodi Emerson, D-Eau Claire, joining Republicans in support.

[…]

Under the bill passed Jan. 20, the state Public Service Commission would be tasked with ensuring no other ratepayers would absorb the costs of the construction or extension of electric infrastructure that primarily serves a data center. Any renewable energy facility that primarily serves a data center would be required to be located on-site.

The PSC has not taken a position on the bill, but director of policy and legislative affairs Tanner Blair wrote in testimony last week that while the agency supports efforts to shield ratepayers from costs raised by data centers, the language of the legislation “would be challenging to implement.”

The bill would also require any water used by data centers for cooling purposes to be used in a closed-loop system, or any other system that uses an equal or lesser amount of water. Each year, the operator of a data center would be required to report its annual water usage to the state Department of Natural Resources.

The bill would enact requirements for land restoration at the discretion of local government officials, including requiring data center operators to file a bond in advance with the DNR large enough to cover those efforts.

Developers would be required “to the extent possible” to “encourage” the hiring of Wisconsin workers for construction.

See Jessie Opoien, Republican bill setting data center rules passes but faces opposition, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 20, 2026.

Meanwhile, and not coincidentally, Microsoft plans 15 more data centers in Mount Pleasant.

I’ve argued that Microsoft would not find any proposed regulations as a barrier to Microsoft’s plans, and that seems a sound assessment. Whether any given data center is a good idea requires a particular review of each center and each campus on which that center would be located. That review — and community debate — yet awaits. Some centers may succeed, others fail. Some corporations will prosper, others fall short. That’s simply the condition of a competitive marketplace. There’s no reason to stymie those private efforts.

Competitive marketplaces lead to competitive societies. That’s all to the good.

A coyote swam over a mile to reach Alcatraz Island:

See also Amanda Bartlett, San Francisco coyote swims to Alcatraz for first time ever, SF Gate, January 18, 2026.

When coyotes find a way to swim away from (former) prison islands, that’s when one needs to be concerned. For now, they’re heading in the wrong direction.

City, Conflicts of Interest, Daily Bread, Local Government, Open Government

Daily Bread for 1.20.26: How to Think About Proper Government

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Good morning.


Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 13. Sunrise is 7:20 and sunset is 4:51 for 9 hours 31 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 0.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Alcohol Licensing Committee meets at 5 PM and the Whitewater Common Council meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1937, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner are sworn in for their second terms as President and Vice President; it is the first time a presidential inauguration takes place on January 20 since the 20th Amendment changed the dates of presidential terms.

Now: if there are Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal, and if a blogger assesses What Ails, What Heals, and if one chooses between a posture to Support, Oppose, or Refrain, then is there any other fundamental to add?

There is at least one more: the public and private, political and private institutions, are of fundamentally different natures. The public is, and in a well-ordered society must be, open and available to all. In Whitewater, that means open and available to all to 15,000 residents. (To apply a welcome expression from the Whitewater Unified School District’s superintendent, “all means all.”)

And yet, and yet, we see in our small city of fifteen thousand a mere fifteen or so who would bend the public institutions to their will, for their ends. For them, public institutions are to be captured and directed to their private ends. They see local government as another object to be acquired. Government is simply another purchase for them.

(Perhaps they were told years ago that the city was more theirs than others, that it was their birthright. I don’t know; it doesn’t matter. You’ll excuse me if I do not set aside centuries of political teaching for the selfish delusions of a few small-town men. Those who would prefer that a small and beautiful American city were possessed by only a few should work on a time machine to take them back to a vulgar medieval village. It would be, I think, where they would be happiest.)

Whitewater’s government belongs to all and yet to no one person. This is the fundamental limitation on its conduct — it cannot be possessed by a few, it must be open to all, and none can act within it in conflict with these precepts.

How should we imagine a sound government’s nature and limitations? Well-ordered government is like a fish that, however beautiful, can live only in water. For fish, gills allow the extraction of oxygen from water. Some can live for a short time outside the water, but not for long. Without water, no respiration, without respiration, no life. A fish’s body might yet remain after death, but the fish’s nature is wholly different.

To think of sound government this way — as a fish that can live only in water, only under definite conditions — reminds us that sound government cannot be anything that any one person wants for himself or herself. A ‘fish out of water’ is more than an animal out of place; it’s a dead animal.

There are a few private men in this town who are quite sure that local government can be, indeed must be, whatever they want.

No and no again.

City, Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 1.19.26: Support, Oppose, Refrain

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Good morning.


Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 5. Sunrise is 7:20 and sunset is 4:51 for 9 hours 31 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 0.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1937, Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in seven hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.

So, if there are Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal, and if a blogger assesses What Ails, What Heals, then writing requires an approach of supporting or opposing, doesn’t it? Almost.

There are three possible postures: supporting, opposing, and yet a third, refraining.

A supportive approach is easy to understand: the relevant policy or proposal is sound and beneficial. A response is required.

An opposing approach is also as easy to understand: the relevant policy or proposal is unsound and harmful. A response is required.

And yet, and yet, there is a third possible approach: when a policy or proposal, whether sound or unsound, is likely to fail and so have no consequence either beneficial or harmful. In that situation, it is often enough to refrain from comment.

If the proposal (even a well-meaning one) has no chance of any success, influence, or lasting effect, then there are reasons simply to let that proposal wither without comment. This is true even in cases where the proposal has a beneficial goal. Sometimes, even the most positive goal is beyond reach.1

And so, and so, it’s not support or oppose. It’s support, oppose, or refrain.

_____

  1. People choose freely, sometimes well, sometimes poorly. Some choices, some actions, cause irreparable damage to an effort. Afterward, however regrettable, there’s nothing anyone else can do. ↩︎

Industrial crane collapses in Russia’s Tatarstan region:

An industrial crane collapsed at a factory in Russia’s Tatarstan republic on Sunday. Authorities said a woman who was in the crane cabin at the time suffered injuries in the accident.

Music

Monday Music: Minuet in G Major Variation

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Provided to YouTube by Sony Classical/Sony Music Minuet in G Major Variation (After Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, BWV Anh.116, No. 7: Menuet in G Major) [Arr. for Violin, String Quintet & Piano by Jan-Peter Klöpfel] · Eldbjørg Hemsing · Norwegian String Quintet · Tim Allhoff · Johann Sebastian Bach Colors of Bach.

Daily Bread, Education, Politics, State Government, University, UW System, Wisconsin, Writing

Daily Bread for 1.18.26: Wisconsin Legislative Committee Releases Additional Funds for UW System

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Good morning.


Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 16. Sunrise is 7:21 and sunset is 4:50 for 9 hours 29 minutes of daytime. The moon is new.

On this day in 1977, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announce they have identified a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires’ disease.

There is a difference between criticism of a university administration and criticism of university education itself. I have been a critic — rightly so — of now-former administrators at UW-Whitewater, but there has never been a time when I have been a critic of universities. On the contrary, I have always found university life both enriching and enjoyable. I’m quite comfortable when visiting a campus, whether my own schools as an alumnus or others’ schools. Always an exploration; always something new to learn.

(The Whitewater Unified School District is like this for me, too. There’s an absurd accusation that if this libertarian blogger critiques a person or policy within the district, he must dislike education. Not at all.)

Of university life in Wisconsin, it’s reassuring to read that the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee has now voted unanimously to release additional funds for UW schools:

The Joint Finance Committee unanimously approved the release of $53 million for the University of Wisconsin system to support campuses struggling with declining enrollment. 

The UW system will have $26.5 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year and $26.5 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year that can be used for grants to campuses. The funds were initially set aside for the system in the recent state budget. 

In each year, $15.25 million will be distributed to campuses with declining enrollment over the last two years and $11.25 million will be distributed through a formula dependent on the number of credit hours undergraduates complete.

In 2025, enrollment across the system’s 13 campuses remained stable with about 700 more students enrolled in the fall when compared to 2024. The slight increase represents the third consecutive year of increased enrollment. 

UW President Jay Rothman thanked lawmakers and Evers in a social media post and said the release of the funds “affirms our shared commitment to student success and Wisconsin’s workforce.” 

“Together, we’ll keep more talented graduates in Wisconsin and ensure our universities are delivering the education students deserve and parents expect,” Rothman said.

See Baylor Spears, Joint Finance Committee votes to release $53 million for UW system, Wisconsin Examiner, January 15, 2026.

This vote should have happened sooner; still, it’s to Wisconsin’s benefit that the funds have now been released.

Honestly, I didn’t know this was a thing — World Euchre Championship draws players to New Glarus:

Each spring, New Glarus hosts the World Euchre Championship and becomes the center of the euchre universe. Strategizing their way through round after elimination round, players young and old compete in the staple Wisconsin card game. But the real victory isn’t winning a hand — it’s the community built across the table.

Daily Bread, Federal Government, Freedom of Speech, Liberty, Local Government, New Media, Open Government, Politics, State Government, Writing

Daily Bread for 1.17.26: Revisiting ‘Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal’

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Good morning.


Saturday in Whitewater will see morning snow showers with a high of 19. Sunrise is 7:21 and sunset is 4:48 for 9 hours 27 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 1.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1991, Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning as aircraft strike positions across Iraq.

Twelve years ago, this libertarian blogger listed his Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal. I think it describes today (as it did then) the method at FREE WHITEWATER. That post from 1.21.14 appears in full below:

For bloggers who cover politics, policymaking, etc., just as would have been true of essayists and pamphleteers in an earlier time, it helps to have a method to one’s writing.  In the paragraphs below, I’ll list steps one should take when approaching a topic.

The steps are in a rough order, but in any method, one sometimes returns to an earlier step, or jumps ahead if necessary.

1. Read.  Often long before writing, there’s reading (and listening).  One reads the documents in a proposal, including contracts, studies, and other supporting materials, and listens to presentations on the proposal.

Reading and listening are more than a study of a particular proposal; they are a reliance on what one has read before, on the topic but also on other topics, perhaps seemingly unrelated at first blush.  In the end, what one reads – if it’s any good – is a review of others’ recounted experiences and analyses.

Rely on the sound foundation of the works of respected authors and researchers.

2.  Walk around.  If writing about a place, try to visit it if possible. Maps may produce a poor understanding of distance, line-of-sight, and the influence of weather. Similarly, if writing about devices, try to find one, to hold it in one’s hand, to learn how it looks and feels.

3.  Write initially.  After reading and listening and walking about or examining a device, start writing.

Sometimes, all that one has read or experienced will offer a definite opinion.

Other times, one may begin merely with a series of questions.  It’s rare that a significant topic inspires just one question.  Questions are both a search for information and an expression of prior, informed understanding.

Publish your questions.

It’s not an exercise of due diligence to ask one weak question, to ignore the need for a responsive answer, or to fail to act after the vague answers one receives (or does not even receive).  Asking a question and doing nothing after getting no answer or a poor answer isn’t an exercise in accountability, but instead an abdication of it.

Politics is littered with those who think that one tepid question is enough, and that the mere asking somehow fulfills one’s duty.  America did not become a great and advanced republic through timid political and scientific inquiry.

4.  Informal requests to officials.  If you’ve a few questions you’d like to ask directly, do so with an announcement of those same questions to your readers.

It’s a mistake to think that private conversations with officials will advance blogging on public issues.  (See, as an example, mention in FREE WHITEWATER from 11.6.13 letting readers know that I would be asking Whitewater’s city manager about particular documents.)

Private discussions always run the risk of being manipulated to officials’ advantage.  If one would like to be a tool or toady of government, then one can always join a fish-wrap community newspaper, where every day is an exercise in sycophancy.

5.  Formal requests.  If an inquiry demands a public records request under state or federal law, go ahead and submit one.  As with an informal request to officials, publish the full request online after you’ve submitted it.  Let readers see what you’re seeking from government, verbatim.

In the same way, publish what you receive in reply to your request.  I’ve come to see that it’s a mistake to leave a government’s reply unpublished. Readers should see the full reply.

Be prepared to follow up.  A reply will likely raise other questions.  Let your readers know those questions, including any subsequent, formal records request.

6.  Litigation.  Never threaten what one is not prepared to do; don’t publish threats (of litigation) in any event.

(There was an odd situation like this a year ago between two Wisconsin bloggers, where one of them taunted the other with the risk of a lawsuit.  It was a sorry affair.  The law is not a threat; it’s a defense.)

When writing about a major topic, think – as best as one can – about where it might lead. Most topics, needless to say and thankfully so, will never be the subject of lawsuits.  For a very few, that might be a possibility.

Consult with a lawyer if you have significant questions, about whether to obtain documents, assure open meetings access, protect a right, or advance a vital public policy.  Conversations on any of these topics will be between the lawyer and the blogger-client, and afterward addressed methodically with sangfroid, that cold calm that’s useful for success.

I’m sure I’ve missed much, but here’s the general method, some steps to be repeated, others never to be reached: (1) read & listen (2) visit places & study objects if possible, (3) write, asking questions where necessary, (4) submit informal requests to government if seemingly fruitful, (5) submit formal requests under the law, (6) consult an attorney for advice on rights under the law or limitations on government action.

Having a method for blogging on policy makes writing better for both blogger and readers. It’s as simple as that.

Match this approach with a current list of issues (expressed most recently at FREE WHITEWATER on 10.2.25) and one finds an ordered (and thus orderly) statement of method and concerns.

Budget, Daily Bread, State Government, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.16.26: Wisconsin’s Projected Budget Surplus Grows

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 35. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset is 4:47 for 9 hours 25 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 5.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1945, with the Third Reich retreating on all fronts, Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.

Wisconsin’s projected state budget surplus looks to be much bigger than previously forecast:

Wisconsin state government may have a lot more money than previously expected after new revenue projections show the state’s budget picture improving by $1.5 billion.

The estimates from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau would leave the state with a $2.5 billion balance at the end of the two-year budget on June 30, 2027. The state was previously expecting a balance of closer to a $1 billion.

While the numbers are still just projections, they’re based in part on trends in actual tax collection and represent a significant uptick in revenue, particularly from the corporate and income taxes.

See Wisconsin’s projected budget surplus jumps to $2.5B, Wisconsin Public Radio, January 15, 2026.

Whether to hold or spend the surplus is sure to be a campaign issue this year, in an environment dominated by discussions of federal budget policy. The bigger the estimated surplus, the more likely the discussion becomes. Campaigns will have a chance to argue for disposition of these billions (save, fund programs, cut taxes, etc.) as either a supplement or an antidote to federal budgetary policy.

Buddhist monks and their dog captivate Americans while on a peace walk:

People react to Buddhist monks participating in the “Walk For Peace,” during a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. The monks and their dog are walking 2,300 miles from Texas to Washington D.C.

Cats, Science/Nature

Friday Catblogging: A Discovery of Naturally Mummified Cheetahs

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Just as some animals have been naturally fossilized, it’s possible for some animals to be naturally mummified. Thousands of years ago, that’s what happened to some cheetahs on the Arabian Peninsula:

In 2022 and 2023, Ahmed Al-Boug — a wildlife biologist at the National Center for Wildlife in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — and his colleagues conducted a wildlife survey in a network of 134 underground caves in northern Saudi Arabia. In five of those caves, the researchers found preserved cheetah remains: 54 skeletons, but also seven mummies, set and desiccated by the desert’s extreme aridity. Long ago, the cheetahs may have fallen into the caves and were unable to escape.

[…]

The findings give researchers and conservation managers a second gene pool to seed any reintroduction effort in the region, including ongoing efforts by the National Center for Wildlife to breed cheetahs and reintroduce them to Saudi Arabia. When bringing back species to habitats where they’ve been extinguished, it’s ideal to use populations that might have adaptations to local conditions, says Kierepka. The northwest African cheetahs might be adequately related to the ancient Arabian cats to have some of those crucial adaptations. 

See Jake Buehler, How cheetah mummies could help bring the species back to Arabia, Science News, January 15, 2026.

See a naturally mummified cheetah up close:

Researchers found dozens of cheetah skeletons and some mummies (one shown) in underground caves in northern Saudi Arabia. The animals likely fell into the caves and became trapped, leading to their demise. The last cheetahs on the Arabian Peninsula disappeared in the 1970s, but genetic information from these preserved remains may help conservationists pick cheetahs best suited for reintroduction in the region.




Authoritarian Populism, Daily Bread, Hunger, State Government, Trumpism, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.15.26: Wisconsin Moves to Support Program for Local Food Banks After Federal Funding Cuts

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 23. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset is 4:46 for 9 hours 24 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 10.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1967, the Packers defeat the Chiefs, 35–10, in the first Super Bowl.

In March 2025, the Trump Administration cut about $400 million nationwide from the Local Foods Purchase Assistance Program. The Evers Administration has now acted to fund the program:

New state funding will help Wisconsin hunger relief groups purchase from local farmers. It continues an effort that was disrupted last year after the abrupt end of federal support.

The Food Security and Wisconsin Products Grant Program will receive $10 million over the state’s 2025-27 biennial budget. Half of the funding was distributed last week to Feeding Wisconsin and Hunger Task Force, and will go toward purchasing foods that are at least 51 percent produced or processed in Wisconsin.

Jackie Anderson, executive director of Feeding Wisconsin, said it’s the first time Wisconsin is investing state dollars into this type of hunger-relief effort. And it comes at a critical time.

“We know, as a sector, that donations (of food and money) are decreasing,” Anderson said. “On the flip side, the need is increasing. Across our Feeding America food banks, we’re seeing about a 30 to 45 percent increase in the number of neighbors who are needing to visit pantries.”

See Hope Kirwan, After federal cuts, Wisconsin will fund effort to get local food into food banks (‘Hunger relief groups will receive $10M over the next 2 years to buy food from Wisconsin producers, processors’), January 15, 2026.

There are thousands of federal programs that merit reduction or cancellation before food bank assistance. And yet, there’s an atavistic element to extreme populism: it seeks the reduction of programs it believes (accurately or inaccurately) go toward populism’s ethnic and cultural adversaries (as the populists, and they populists alone, define their adversaries).

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 splashes down and exits capsule in time-lapse – Medical evacuation complete:

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 splashed down on Jan. 15 at 3:41 a.m. EST, off the coast of California, in the Pacific Ocean. Full Story: https://www.space.com/space-explorati… The Crew-11 mission launched to the ISS on Aug. 1, 2025, carrying NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The quartet wasn’t scheduled to depart until the astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-12 launched to take their place, but concerns about a medical situation escalated to NASA’s decision of returning the crew early.

Business, Daily Bread, Gubernatorial Race 2026, Regulations, Wisconsin, WisDems, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 1.14.26: Microsoft’s View on Wisconsin Data Centers

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 23. Sunrise is 7:23 and sunset is 4:45 for 9 hours 22 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 15.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1911, Roald Amundsen‘s South Pole expedition makes landfall on the eastern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.

Yesterday’s post concerned Wisconsin gubernatorial candidates’ views on data centers. There’s reporting today on Microsoft’s view of Wisconsin data centers:

One of Microsoft’s top executives said he would support a new state law to regulate and set standards for data center developments across Wisconsin. 

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and vice chair, also said he supports a proposal from We Energies for a “Very Large Customer” rate for data centers in the state.

“We want to pay a higher price so that our data center does not increase the price of electricity for consumers,” Smith said in an interview with WPR. “That’s the right thing to do for the state and for our business.” 

See Evan Casey, Microsoft president says he would support a Wisconsin law to regulate data centers (‘Microsoft released a new ‘Community-First AI Infrastructure’ plan Tuesday’), January 14, 2026.

While this libertarian blogger argued yesterday for “as little state regulation as possible, leaving counties and cities with the choice of whether they’d prefer a data center in their community,” Microsoft, the vast corporation, seems to be more amenable to regulation than one libertarian resident would be.

Why? A few reasons come to mind. First, there are different possible regulations. Some regulations might involve rates for electricity (the ‘very large customer rate’) and some regulations might address the very presence of a data center in a community (regardless of the electricity rate it might pay).

Second, Microsoft might calculate it would be able to bear state regulations more easily than competing data centers (from smaller companies that were less well-financed). In this way, Microsoft would benefit from regulations that, in effect, inhibit data-center competition from smaller companies.

Third, the statement from Microsoft’s president and vice chair is only an opening offer, not a final one, from that corporation.

Fourth, of course, Microsoft might simply believe in regulation for the hell of it. That fourth possibility, however, would sit alongside the belief that small flying creatures live on the moon.1

Regulation of data centers in Wisconsin is an evolving discussion; more twists and turns lie ahead.

_____

  1. They don’t. ↩︎

Dog rescued from ice-covered Danube in Budapest:

Hungarian firefighters braved freezing conditions to save a dog that fell into frigid water and broken ice, as extreme winter weather swept across the country.

Business, Daily Bread, Gubernatorial Race 2026, Regulations, Wisconsin, WisDems, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 1.13.26: Gubernatorial Candidates’ Views on Data Centers

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 50. Sunrise is 7:23 and sunset is 4:44 for 9 hours 21 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 24 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Public Works Committee meets at 5:15 PM.

On this day in 1953, an article appears in Pravda accusing some of the most prestigious and prominent doctors, mostly Jews, in the Soviet Union of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership.

Data centers have become a concern for many Wisconsinites. Henry Redman reports on this year’s gubernatorial candidates’ views on data centers:

Here in Wisconsin, communities are grappling with how to make agreements with the big tech companies hoping to build the data centers, how to avoid the broken promises at the top of mind of many Wisconsinites after the Foxconn development in Mount Pleasant failed to live up to its lofty initial projections and how to manage the often huge demands the data centers make on local water supplies and energy. 

Despite those challenges, the construction of a data center can offer benefits to local governments — mostly by boosting property tax revenue from a development that won’t consume many local government services. 

Unlike many other issues, the question of data center development has not become politically polarized, with a range of positions among candidates of both parties. 

“Data centers are a new issue that has not taken on a partisan edge in the public mind,” Barry Burden, a political science professor at UW-Madison, said. “This is likely to change because among politicians Democrats are more skeptical about data centers and Republicans are more enthusiastic about them. If this partisan divide continues or even becomes sharper, the public is likely to begin mimicking the positions taken by party leaders. But at least for a while the issue is likely to cut across party lines.”

In Wisconsin’s crowded open race for governor, most of the candidates told the Wisconsin Examiner they were supportive of some level of statewide regulation on data centers. 

See Henry Redman, What do Wisconsin gubernatorial candidates think about data center development?, Wisconsin Examiner, January 13, 2026.

I’d argue for as little state regulation as possible, leaving counties and cities with the choice of whether they’d prefer a data center in their community. The rush to build data centers may not last, and the centers may take markedly different shapes from one proposal to another.

It’s early in the game to decide more than a minimal set of regulations on their development.

Wildfires in Argentine Patagonia rip through nearly 12,000 hectares of forest:

Raging wildfires in the Argentine Patagonia have blazed through over 12,000 hectares (nearly 30,000 acres) of scrubland and planted and native forests, threatening local communities, according to firefighting authorities.

Daily Bread, Health, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.12.26: Stocking Vending Machines with Flu Tests Is a Sensible Policy

by  • 

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 43. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:42 for 9 hours 18 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 32 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1969, the New York Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history (Jets 16, Colts 7).

Some Wisconsin counties have begun to stock harm-reduction vending machines with flu tests:

In the midst of an intense flu season, some Wisconsin counties are stocking “public health vending machines” with free flu tests. 

Kenosha County Public Health began stocking vending machines with COVID-19 and flu tests this month. 

Harm reduction vending machines have been popping up across Wisconsin in recent years. They are typically filled with Narcan — a lifesaving drug that reverses opioid overdoses — and fentanyl test strips. Some counties are broadening its public health impact by adding flu testing kits and winter supplies.

[…]

Julie Dabrowski is the communication support coordinator for Crawford County Health and Human Services. She said the program gives residents affordable and accessible health care.

“We do have vending machines on all corners of our county,” Dabrowski said. “So even in some of the most rural areas, they can have access to these products that they wouldn’t be able to unless they went into the city.”

Flu tests in vending machines also allow residents to figure out what treatment to seek while protecting the health of others.

“We thought that would be a great idea, since people need to know whether or not they have COVID, flu A or flu B,” Dabrowski said.

See Steph Conquest-Ware, Some Wisconsin counties are filling ‘harm reduction vending machines’ with flu tests (‘It comes at a time when flu cases are surging nationwide’), Wisconsin Public Radio, January 12, 2026.

Adding flu kits is a good decision: (1) the machines have the capacity to stock different items at the same time, (2) they have become known in their communities, and (3) adjusting the variety of kits to account for shifting community health risks is a rational approach.

Supplies within the machines should be adjusted as needed.

Shapeshifting material changes color and texture:

Researchers have developed a material which can change colour and texture on command, inspired by the shape-shifting camouflage abilities of some cephalapods. The team use a beam of electrons to draw designs onto a polymer which is then exposed to water. When wet, the polymer swells and reveals the textures patterned into it with the electron beam. The researchers say that this tunable photonic skin could be used in wearable devices or soft robots.
Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158…