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Daily Bread, Economy

Daily Bread for 8.23.24: The Federal Reserve Signals Rate Cuts

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 79. Sunrise is 6:11, and sunset is 7:42, for 13h 31m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 79.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1775,  King George III delivers his Proclamation of Rebellion to the Court of St James’s stating that the American colonies have proceeded to a state of open and avowed rebellion.

Jeff Cox reports Fed Chair Powell indicates interest rate cuts ahead: ‘The time has come for policy to adjust’:

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell laid the groundwork Friday for interest rate cuts ahead, though he declined to provide exact indications on timing or extent.

“The time has come for policy to adjust,” the central bank leader said in his much-awaited keynote address at the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.”

Watch live: Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks from Jackson Hole conference

With markets awaiting direction on where monetary policy is headed, Powell focused as much on a look back at what caused the inflation that led to an aggressive series of 13 rate hikes from March 2022 through July 2023.

However, he did note the progress on inflation and said the Fed can now turn its focus equally to other side of its dual mandate, namely to make sure the economy stays around full employment.

“Inflation has declined significantly. The labor market is no longer overheated, and conditions are now less tight than those that prevailed before the pandemic,” Powell said. “Supply constraints have normalized. And the balance of the risks to our two mandates has changed.”

Good news, all around.

COVID-19 vaccines are updated and approved ahead of fall season:

City, Film

Film: Tuesday, August 27th, 1:00 PM @ Seniors in the Park, The Fall Guy

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Tuesday, August 27th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of The Fall Guy @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:

Comedy/Action/Romance

Rated PG-13

2 hours, 6 minutes (2024)

Stuntman Cole Seaver (Ryan Gosling) has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy, and try to win back his girlfriend (Emily Blunt) while still doing his “day job.”

One can find more information about The Fall Guy at the Internet Movie Database.


Daily Bread, Elections, Politics, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.22.24: More (and Less) Important Political Trends

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 76. Sunrise is 6:10, and sunset is 7:44, for 13h 34m 01s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 88.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Board of Zoning Appeals meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to make a public appearance in an automobile.

On this day in 1920, native Milwaukee runner Arlie Schardt won a gold medal in the 3,000-meter team race at the Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Schardt was part of a three-man team that included Hal Brown and Ivan Dresser.

There’s more than one political trend at play in Wisconsin: Craig Gilbert writes As DNC gathers, Democrats grapple with its fall among Wisconsin’s rural voters and Bruce Thompson writes WOW Counties Turning Less Republican (‘Ozaukee and Waukesha now less red while Washington County resists the trend’).

These stories aren’t equally useful, and it’s easy to see why. Gilbert wants to highlight continued decline of Democrats in rural counties, but the story head doesn’t match the story itself:

The Democratic Party’s geographic foothold has shrunk in Wisconsin, amid a plunge in support among rural voters in the central, western and northern counties.

The new election map has a lot less “blue” than the old one.

That hasn’t stopped Democrats from winning big elections, which it has done with regularity in the Trump era. Winning statewide races is not about winning the most counties or the greatest acreage, but the most votes.

(Emphasis added.)

Those areas where one finds the most votes are also where most people live, and where legislative districts are situated by population. The headline says trouble (Democrats have to ‘grapple’) but results in statewide race after statewide race say otherwise.

The decline among Democrats in low-population areas is offset by gains among Democrats in areas of high population. Bruce Thompson writes:

The Milwaukee area is following the national trend in which close-in suburbs become increasingly Democratic, while more rural areas become more Republican. Though there are many theories on what is driving this trend, it still remains something of a mystery. But clearly the trend is changing two of the three WOW counties.

The increasingly blue Milwaukee area has a greater population than the rural counties that Gilbert over-emphasizes.

Two analyses, Gilbert’s and Thompson’s, but only the latter presents the key trends perceptively all the way through from head to tail.

Tiger almost bites woman’s hand at New Jersey zoo (Alternative Title: Do Not Pet Zoo Tigers):

New Jersey authorities shared footage of a woman putting a hand through the fence in a tiger enclosure at the Cohanzick Zoo.

Architecture, Daily Bread, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.21.24: Wisconsin’s Capitol Building

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 74. Sunrise is 6:09, and sunset is 7:45, for 13h 36m 42s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 95 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Parks & Recreation Board meets at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1911, The Mona Lisa is stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee.

Always striking:

How Atoms Are Defying Gravity in NASA’s Cold Atom Lab:

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab studies the quantum nature of atoms, the building blocks of our universe, in a place that is out of this world – the International Space Station. This animated explainer explores what quantum science is and why NASA wants to do it in space. Quantum science has revolutionized our understanding of the physical world and led to new technologies including cellphones, computers, medical devices, and GPS. However, Earth’s gravity poses challenges for studying the quantum behaviors of atoms. To overcome those challenges, Cold Atom Lab operates in microgravity. Using lasers and magnetic fields, scientists run the lab remotely from Earth, cooling groups of atoms to temperatures colder than any naturally occurring matter in the universe. Cold atoms, nearly motionless, reveal their behaviors more clearly. The absence of Earth’s gravity allows for prolonged atom study, opening new avenues in quantum exploration.

City, Daily Bread, Good Ideas, University

Daily Bread for 8.20.24: The Young

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 6:08, and sunset is 7:47, for 13h 39m 22s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1794, American soldiers are victorious at the Battle of Fallen Timbers:

American troops under General “Mad” Anthony Wayne defeated a confederation of Indian forces led by Little Turtle of the Miamis and Blue Jacket of the Shawnees. Wayne’s soldiers, who included future Western explorer William Clark and future President William Henry Harrison, won the battle in less than an hour with the loss of some 30 men killed. (The number of Indian casualties is uncertain.)

The battle had several far-reaching consequences for the United States and what would later become the state of Wisconsin. The crushing defeat of the British-allied Indians convinced the British to finally evacuate their posts in the American west (an accession explicitly given in the Jay Treaty signed some three months later), eliminating forever the English presence in the early American northwest and clearing the way for American expansion.

The battle also resulted in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, in which the defeated Indians ceded to Wayne the right of Americans to settle in the Ohio Valley (although the northwestern area of that country was given to the Indians). Wayne’s victory opened the gates of widespread settlement of the Old Northwest, Wisconsin included.

I had heard, and now have read, that the Irvin Young Auditorium will rebrand itself as The Young.

The change is a clever, contemporary way to describe the venue. The Young is pithy and, in its way, more familiar than the longer formal name (as people in families have sometimes have diminuitives for their relatives’ names).

Well done.

Underwater video shows marine life flourishing in railcars:

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority deployed two decommissioned railcars into the Atlantic Ocean to create a new reef habitat.

City, Daily Bread, Good Ideas, Health

Daily Bread for 8.19.24: A Public Health Vending Machine in Jefferson, WI

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 75. Sunrise is 6:07, and sunset is 7:49, for 13h 42m 01s of daytime. The moon is full with 100 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School Board’s Policy Review Committee meets at 5:30 PM. The full board goes into closed session shortly after 6 PM, to return to open session at 7 PM. Whitewater’s Library Board meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1944, the Liberation of Paris begins as the city’s residents rise against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.

I don’t believe that Whitewater has a public health vending machine, but it would be a good idea to install one. Jefferson, Wisconsin has done so, as WKOW reports:

Rangers Band and Tag Northern Royal Albatross Chicks Across the Colony:

The Northern Royal Albatross chicks from the Top Flat and Top Flat Track nests received their steel leg bands and Geo Location Sensor (GLS) tags on August 9. Watch rangers and staff from the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) arrive to affix a stainless-steel band to the right leg of the Top Flat Track chick in this highlight.

Daily Bread, Elections, Politics, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.18.24: Prof. Anthony Chergosky on Wisconsin’s 2024 Partisan Primary Vote

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 78. Sunrise is 6:06, and sunset is 7:50, for 13h 44m 40s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1937, a lightning strike starts the Blackwater Fire of 1937 in Shoshone National Forest, killing 15 firefighters within three days and prompting the United States Forest Service to develop their smokejumper program.

Anthony Chergosky on Wisconsin’s 2024 partisan primary vote:

UW-La Crosse political science professor Anthony Chergosky considers the rejection of two proposed state constitutional amendments and outcomes of two congressional races in the 2024 partisan primary.

Ferris wheel catches fire at German music festival:

A Ferris wheel caught fire and injured a number of people at the Highfield music festival near Leipzig in eastern Germany.

Daily Bread, Sports

Daily Bread for 8.17.24: Jai Alai, The Sport That America Forgot About

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 78. Sunrise is 6:04, and sunset is 7:52, for 13h 47m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 93.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1936, the state of Wisconsin issued the first Unemployment Compensation Check in the United States for the amount of $15. The recipient was Neils N. Ruud who then sold it to Paul Raushenbush for $25 for its historical value. The check is now at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Wisconsin was the first state to establish an Unemployment Compensation program.

On this day in 1978,  Double Eagle II becomes the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.

Jai Alai: The Sport That America Forgot About:

For much of the 20th century, jai alai dominated the Miami sports scene, attracting crowds as large as 15,000. Today, the sport is barely hanging on in America. So what happened? Well, it’s a wild story, one involving gangs, organized crime and murder. We caught up with decorated jai alai athletes Benny Bueno and Leon Shepard to get the scoop on the meteoric rise and subsequent fall of America’s forgotten sport.

Progress cargo spacecraft docks with space station in time-lapse:

Daily Bread, Nature, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.16.24: Wisconsin State Parks Remain Popular After Pandemic

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 83. Sunrise is 6:03, and sunset is 7:53, for 13h 49m 55s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 87 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1930,  the first color sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, is released by Ub Iwerks.

Evan Casey reports Wisconsin state park use remains high since COVID-19 pandemic boom (‘Wisconsin Policy Forum report found state park sticker sales in 2023 were up nearly 50 percent from 2019’):

When businesses shuttered and schools went remote during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Wisconsin residents flocked to parks and nature trails across the state.

Now, a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum found that Wisconsinites are still using state parks at higher rates than before the start of the pandemic. The report found there were 518,848 state park sticker sales recorded in 2023, up from 346,491 in 2019 — a nearly 50 percent increase. 

Tyler Byrnes, the lead researcher on the report, said there were massive increases in outdoor recreation seen across the state in 2020.

See Wisconsin Policy Forum, Staying Engaged in Outdoor Pursuits:

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A small benefit following a large tragedy.

Snow leopard cubs begin exploring at Virginia zoo:

The Metro Richmond Zoo announced the birth of two female snow leopards, Sasha and Kira. They were born to parents Elsa and Nitro on April 28. At the beginning of August, they were old enough to begin exploring their outside habitat.
more >>

City, Film

Film: Wednesday, August 21st, 1:00 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Anatomy of a Fall

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Wednesday, August 21st at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Anatomy of a Fall @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:

Psychological Legal Drama

Rated R (language)

2 hours, 31 minutes (2024)

A woman is suspected of her husband‘s murder. Her young, half-blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness. Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Director, Actress (Sandra Huller); Winner: Best Original Screenplay. Dialogue: French & English; shown with English subtitles. 

One can find more information about Anatomy of a Fall at the Internet Movie Database.

Conspiracy Theories, Crackpots, Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.15.24: Wisconsin Conspiracy Theorists Take Losses

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 76. Sunrise is 6:02, and sunset is 7:55, for 13h 52m 30s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 78.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1944,  Operation Dragoon begins as Allied forces land in southern France.

Sarah Lehr reports Two of Wisconsin’s most vocal election deniers lost their bids for the state Legislature Tuesday, coming up short in Republican primaries:

In suburban Milwaukee, state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, lost to state Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, in a race for the recently redrawn 24th Assembly District.

And in eastern Wisconsin’s new 20th Senate District, former state Rep. Timothy Ramthun of Campbellsport was defeated by state Sen. Dan Feyen of Fond du Lac.

….

Brandtjen lost despite being endorsed by former President Donald Trump ahead of the primary. Brandtjen has promoted false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and has echoed calls for the results to be overturned in Trump’s favor.

These two defeats are not enough, but they are something. Some days one settles for something.

A Scottish origin for Stonehenge’s mysterious Altar Stone:

Stonehenge, the Neolithic stone circle on Salisbury Plain in southern England, has captivated archaeologists, antiquarians and sightseers for centuries. For decades researchers have tried to find the origins of the stones, with some being sourced to the surrounding landscape and some from the Preseli Hills in Wales. But new geochemical analysis of the Altar Stone, a partially buried slab of sandstone at the center of the stone circle, suggests that this stone originally came from the Orcadian Basin in Scotland, over 700 kilometers away.