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Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 1.26.20

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy, with a high of thirty-three.  Sunrise is 7:14 AM and sunset 5:00 PM, for 9h 45m 42s of daytime.  The moon is new with 2.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1925, fire destroys the Whitewater Hospital. 

Recommended for reading in full —

Patrick Marley reports How Gov. Tony Evers’ redistricting plan could give him an advantage in court:

States have to draw new maps every 10 years to account for changes in population. In 2011, Republicans controlled all of state government and were able to put in place maps that gave them big advantages at the polls.

When new maps are drawn next year, Republicans will likely hold the Legislature, but they won’t have the governor’s office. If Evers and Republicans can’t agree on new maps, it will be up to the courts to decide what the new maps will be.

And that’s where Evers’ process can get him an upside.

Republicans drew the 2011 maps in secret, in a secure room in the offices of law firm  Michael Best & Friedrich. The drafters used specialized software to fine-tune the maps to maximize their electoral edge. Republican lawmakers had to sign secrecy agreements to get a peek at what their own districts would look like.

A panel of federal judges found their methods disgusting.

“What could have — indeed should have — been accomplished publicly instead took place in private, in an all but shameful attempt to hide the redistricting process from public scrutiny,” the judges wrote in a 2012 decision.

Those judges – J.P. Stadtmueller, Diane Wood and Robert Dow Jr. — at one point became so frustrated with Republican attempts to block information about how they drew the maps that they ordered lawmakers’ attorneys to pay $17,500 in fines.

Evers is proposing a polar opposite process from the one Republicans used. Under his plan, the commission would hear from people in all eight of the state’s congressional districts. He says the commission would use that information to draw maps that reflect what communities look like and don’t account for partisan advantage.

That could push Republicans to hold a more open map-drawing process than they did last time. If they don’t, they could have a tougher time in court because judges will be considering one set of maps drawn publicly and one behind closed doors.

Anne Gearan reports Trump should apologize for minimizing troops’ injuries, VFW says:

A major veterans group has called for President Trump to apologize for “misguided” remarks minimizing the severity of traumatic brain injuries suffered by U.S. forces in an Iranian air attack earlier this month.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, the oldest major U.S. veterans group, appears to be the first large veterans organization to publicly chastise the president for dismissing the injuries as “headaches” and “not very serious.”

Trump “minimized these troops’ injuries,” VFW National Commander-in-Chief William “Doc” Schmitz said in a statement Friday, after a Pentagon announcement that the number of injured troops had risen to 34.

“The VFW expects an apology from the president to our servicemen and women for his misguided remarks,” Schmitz said, adding that the White House should join with the organization to educate Americans about a serious injury that can cause depression, memory loss and other debilitating conditions.

Visiting a French Winery Run by Veterans:

Impeachment Trial, Law, Trump

Selected Remarks of Rep. Adam Schiff before the United States Senate, 1.24.20

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Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., noted at the impeachment trial for President Donald Trump on Jan. 24 how consuming the impeachment proceedings have been. “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. I’m exhausted, but I’m also deeply grateful” for the senators’ consideration of the Democrats’ point of view, Schiff said at the top of his concluding statement. Laying out the Democratic case against Trump a final time, Schiff added: “[Trump] has ignored and injured the interests of the nation. That has been proved.” Schiff said he also anticipated Republicans would attack not only him and his fellow Democratic colleagues when they present their case next, but also people central to the facts, like the anonymous whistleblower. “I would encourage you to read that whistleblower complaint again,” he said. “You will see just how remarkably accurate it is. It’s astonishingly accurate.” After spending two days laying out the case for the first article of impeachment — abuse of power — House Democrats spent the better part of Friday making the case for the second article of impeachment — obstruction of Congress.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 1.25.20

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy, with morning snow showers, and a high of thirty-five.  Sunrise is 7:17 AM and sunset 4:59 PM, for 9h 43m 32s of daytime.  The moon is new with 0.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1932, Janesville, WI continues to prohibit public dancing on Sundays, as on 1.25.1932 that city’s local government deadlocked 3-3 on a motion to allow Sunday dancing.  

Recommended for reading in full —

The Lincoln Project reminds Susan Collins, Do Your Job:

Ilya Marritz and Justin Elliott report Donald and Ivanka Trump Were Involved in Inauguration’s Inflated Payments to Family Business, New Suit Says:

Then-President-elect Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka were warned in 2016 that the family business was overcharging the nonprofit presidential inaugural committee — and let it happen anyway, according to a suit filed Wednesday by the Washington, D.C., attorney general.

In the civil complaint, Attorney General Karl Racine charged the Trump inaugural committee and the Trump Organization with using around $1 million of charitable funds to improperly enrich the Trump family.

An experienced event planner who was working for the inaugural, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, raised concerns directly with Donald and Ivanka Trump that the Trump International Hotel in Washington was trying to overcharge the inaugural committee.

“Winston Wolkoff met with President-elect Trump and Ivanka Trump and discussed these concerns with both individuals,” the suit says. “The President-elect acknowledged these concerns and directed that Ivanka Trump would handle this issue.”

The complaint accuses three entities — the Trump Organization, the inaugural committee and the Trump hotel — of subverting the public purpose of a charity for the Trump family’s private benefit.

Jason Wilson reports that the leader of an American neo-Nazi terror group operates from Russia:

The Guardian has learned the true identity of the leader and founder of the US-based neo-Nazi terror network the Base, which was recently the target of raids by the FBI after an investigation into domestic terrorism uncovered their plans to start a race war.

Members of the group stand accused of federal hate crimes, murder plots and firearms offenses, and have harbored international fugitives in recent months.

The Base’s leader previously operated under the aliases “Norman Spear” and “Roman Wolf”. Members of the network do not know his true identity due to the group’s culture of internal secrecy.

But the Guardian can reveal that “Norman Spear” is in fact US-born Rinaldo Nazzaro, 46, who has a long history of advertising his services as an intelligence, military and security contractor. He has claimed, under his alias, to have served in Russia and Afghanistan.

The revelation of his identity comes after a months-long investigation by the Guardian into Nazzaro and the activities of the Base.

While Nazzaro’s most recently used address is in New Jersey, there is evidence supporting his claims of being based in Russia, where he lives with his Russian wife.

The Base – which is an approximate English translation of “al-Qaida” – began recruiting in late 2018. The white supremacy group, which has regional and international cells, extols the virtues of an all-out race war while specifically targeting African Americans and Jewish people.

(Emphasis added.)

Information on the Wuhan coronavirus:

University, UW System

On the Announcement of Budget Cuts at UW-Whitewater

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One reads from UW-Whitewater’s chancellor, Dr. Dwight Watson, information about possible budget cuts at UW-Whitewater. (The full announcement appears at the bottom of this post.)

A few remarks:

Announced cuts aren’t always the same as final cuts; there may be fiscal changes yet ahead as the Wisconsin Legislature may act to mitigate this situation (and that of other UW System schools).

These proposed cuts were a matter of discussion for some time, both at Hyer Hall and (more significantly) in Madison. It may be news to Whitewater, but there have been many weeks of discussions beforehand. (An open question was the size of the proposed reductions, and so it seemed best to wait to write about these fiscal challenges.)

It was always a misunderstanding for this chancellor to feel he had the luxury of time to evaluate conditions at UW-Whitewater. ‘Listen, learn, and lead’ should better have been spent on a Rooseveltian 100 days’ effort of urgent change (fiscal being only one of this campus’s serious concerns).

Finally, about former chancellor Beverly Kopper, who has now retired: she was never coming back, for goodness’ sake. (In a disastrous interview in August 2019 with a local paper, Dr. Watson – who spoke as though she would be returning – welcomed that return.) It’s hard to overlook the combination of poor judgment and poor information his remarks represented.

All in all, there are sure to be twists and turns ahead.

Announcement screenshot follows (click image for full size):

Impeachment Trial, Law, Trump

Selected Remarks of Rep. Adam Schiff before the United States Senate, 1.23.20

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Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the lead House impeachment manager, laid out the Democrats’ abuse of power case against President Donald Trump during the second day of oral arguments in the Senate impeachment trial.

Schiff starts by mentioning the president’s tweet urging people to “read the transcript” on the July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which has been a focus of the impeachment inquiry. Schiff then reads portions of the call notes released by the White House, highlighting important takeaways for senators.

Schiff said Trump violated the Constitution, and one of the reasons why he ought to be removed? “Trump chose Rudy Giuliani over his intelligence agencies,” he said. “That makes him dangerous.” The White House will give its defense after the House managers have been allowed 24 hours over the course of three days to present their case. The House of Representatives impeached the president in December on two articles — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The trial will determine whether Trump is convicted of those charges and removed from office, or acquitted.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 1.24.20

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy, with snow, and a high of thirty-seven.  Sunrise is 7:16 AM and sunset 4:57 PM, for 9h 41m 24s of daytime.  The moon is new with 0.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1984, the Macintosh personal computer goes on sale. 

Recommended for reading in full —

Riley Vetterkind reports Josh Kaul blasts Republican lawmaker for delaying hearing on sexual assault kit bill:

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul on Thursday blamed a Republican lawmaker for holding up a bipartisan bill Kaul has championed that aims to prevent a future backlog of sexual assault kits awaiting testing.

Kaul blasted Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Health, for putting politics before public safety in failing to hold a public hearing on the legislation that has already been passed by the Republican-controlled state Senate.

The bill, authored by a bipartisan coalition and unveiled in April, would create the first statutory guidelines in Wisconsin for how to process sexual assault kits, which can contain evidence that is crucial to finding sexual predators or freeing the wrongly convicted.

Under the proposed bill, health care professionals, law enforcement agencies and state crime laboratories, all of which are involved in the collection and processing of sexual assault kits, would be subject to new requirements.

The bill was meant to address backlogs with the processing of sexual assault kits dating back to at least 2014.

“This is about making sure that we don’t have a backlog of untested sexual assault kits in Wisconsin ever again and making sure that justice isn’t delayed for survivors of sexual assault,” Kaul told reporters. “If this doesn’t move forward soon, we’re going to run out of time in the legislative session.”

Guy Boulton reports GE Healthcare to move as many as 250 jobs from Wisconsin:

GE Healthcare plans to move as many as 250 jobs from Wisconsin to regional sales offices in other parts of the country or to its headquarters in Chicago over the next nine months.

Most of the people who will be affected are in sales and marketing and will be transferred to other regional sales offices. Wauwatosa will remain one of the company’s five U.S. regional sales offices. The balance of those affected are in support positions and will be moved to Chicago.

In a statement, the company said some of the affected employees may be able to transfer to other positions in Wisconsin.

GE Healthcare’s business units for magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI; computerized tomography, or CT; ultrasound; and other products will remain in Wauwatosa and Waukesha.

Its operations in Wisconsin also include bedside monitors and incubators for neonatal intensive care units.

Hype Check: 2020 @ NowThis Nerd:

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 1.23.20

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy, with morning snow, and a high of thirty-four.  Sunrise is 7:17 AM and sunset 4:56 PM, for 9h 39m 18s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 2% of its visible disk illuminated.

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

On this day in 1941, Charles Lindbergh testifies before Congress and recommends a neutrality pact between the United Staes and Nazi Germany. One reads: “President Franklin Roosevelt publicly decried Lindbergh’s views as those of a “defeatist and appeaser,” comparing him to U.S. Rep. Clement L. Vallandigham, who had led the “Copperhead” movement that had opposed the American Civil War. Lindbergh promptly resigned his commission as a colonel in the U.S. Army Air Corps, writing that he saw “no honorable alternative” given that Roosevelt had publicly questioned his loyalty.” (Roosevelt was right.)

Recommended for reading in full —

Laurel White reports Governor Uses State Of The State Speech To Call Special Legislative Session On Wisconsin’s Dairy Crisis:

Gov. Tony Evers used his second State of the State address Wednesday evening to call lawmakers into a special session to address Wisconsin’s dairy crisis.

Wisconsin lost 10 percent of its dairy farms in 2019, breaking the previous year’s record high.

“We’ve heard people who’ve said there’s no place for small farms anymore, they ought to go big or bust. Well, they’re wrong,” Evers said, referencing comments made by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue during a visit to Wisconsin in October. “They don’t know Wisconsin.”

Evers said he’s calling in lawmakers next week to take up “legislation to invest in our farmers, agricultural industries and our rural communities.”

The governor has previously called a special session on gun laws in Wisconsin, which GOP lawmakers gaveled in and adjourned without taking action.

See also How Walker, Trump Hurt Dairy Industry (‘Their policies helped fuel a dairy crisis’).

David Abel reports Trump’s EPA is said to cut scientists out of new water policy that threatens New England wetlands:

With the Trump administration poised to roll back key protections for much of the nation’s wetlands, scientists at the US Environmental Protection Agency are accusing the agency’s political appointees of ignoring their advice and barring them from shaping sweeping new guidelines, violating the agency’s longstanding policies.

One scientistwas so distraught that the agency veteran started to cry while explaining how EPA administrators have cut specialists out of the process of crafting rules that prevent development and pollution near streams, tidal waters, and ponds.

“This has been a very painful time to work for the agency,” the scientist said in a recent interview, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal. “We’re being asked to do things that most of us feel is the antithesis of what we’ve been trying to do, and, in some cases, undo things that we’ve worked very hard to accomplish.”

(‘Fear of reprisal’: when one considers how this federal administration acts, it’s a reasonable concern for these scientists.)

Why Big Tech Wants You To Ditch Your Password:

Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Boosterism, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Development, Economics, Economy, Local Government, Trump, WEDC

‘But Not in Conditions of Their Own Choosing’

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It’s a truism to say that all people make history, but not in conditions of their own choosing:

Admittedly and sadly, the local boosterism of the pre-Trump years is now in retrospect worse than one might have initially believed: across America boosters who peddled false descriptions & junk solutions during the economic hardship of the Great Recession contributed, knowingly or unknowingly, to the erosion of reason and honesty. They were at first forgettable for their absurdities, later annoying for them, and how having contributed to our present degradation they are politically unforgivable.

CDA, City, Culture, Local Government

More Predictable Than an Atomic Clock

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If one read beforehand the agenda for last night’s common council meeting (1.21.20), one would have seen the applicants for various boards (particularly the Whitewater Community Development Authority). Seeing them, and knowing what the last ten years on the CDA have been like, one could have confidently predicted which candidate would be recommended for appointment. Indeed, an atomic clock, so very accurate in its timekeeping, would not have been more predictable. Whitewater’s Community Development Authority – a public body meant to serve all the community – has been a failure in meaningful metrics but a great success in finding members mostly preferred by a few local landlords and bankers. (Obvious point – I’m sure all the applicants are fine people, but a change of pace is needed at the Whitewater CDA, of backgrounds that stretch the horizons of that public body.)

Appointments don’t have to follow along yesterday’s lines.

Yet they have been this way, and it’s a measure of Whitewater’s policymaking failure that she frets over the ‘same ten people’ serving on public boards in the city, while local government picks from among the preferences of those same ten people, and so she doesn’t expand the reach of local government much beyond those same ten people.

Embedded below is the relevant portion of the meeting. The full video is also available online.

Someone asked me a bit ago why I posted earlier today on Perspectives Narrow or Wide, mentioning in that post a letter to the editor from 2017. Here’s why: because the perspective in that letter from 2017 still holds noticeable sway in Whitewater, very much to the community’s disadvantage. A conventional and narrow perspective, fawning to one family or another, is unsuited to a robust and confident people (as Americans are and should always be).

These aren’t easy topics. We would do much better in a world of easier times and easier issues. We’ve not seen that world in many years (although other parts of America have).

It’s been a difficult decade for Whitewater (and many other rural communities); after so much time, it’s hard to see how promises now about doing better in the future are to anyone’s credit.

However much one may disagree with the solutions of the New Dealers (as I do), I find it impossible not to admire their sense of urgency and commitment to others. They broke from the past. See On the Upcoming 2011 Whitewater, Wisconsin Municipal Budget (“I’m not a progressive, but at least the New Dealers knew how to depict conditions honestly, so that they might spur their fellow citizens to action. Dorothea Lange’s pictures were haunting, yet useful”).

There’s no structural impediment that has prevented an attitudinal change in Whitewater. The fault is within us, that we have not embraced the urgency these times demand, exhibiting along the way an excessive deference.

It’s a great tragedy in many of these small rural places that next time should have happened long ago.

Addendum: When voting on recommendations for applicants to different boards or commissions, there should be a vote on each recommendation for each board. As it is, the Whitewater Common Council votes on all of these recommendations in one vote to approve. Now, councilmembers don’t have to declare for or against any given recommendation (and instead less controversial recommendations are – collectively – leveraged against more controversial ones).