Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will see scattered thunderstorms and a high of seventy-four.  Sunrise is 5:19 AM and sunset 8:25 PM, for 15h 05m 42s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 16.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1860, the first street railway cars run in Milwaukee:

[T]wo cars were drawn over the line known as the “River & Lake Shore Street Railway” for the first time. The cars were drawn by four horses. The track for the cars was laid in early May from East Water Street, north to Division Street. Prominent among builders of this street railway were George H. Walker, Lemuel W. Weeks, Col. W.S. Johnson, and F.S. Blodgett. A company was organized to sell $50,000 in stock subscriptions to pay for the service.

Recommended for reading in full:

Rick Romell reports Foxconn awards contracts to ‘Wisconsin’ firms with headquarters in Connecticut and England:

Foxconn Technology Group on Wednesday announced the award of $13 million in contracts to three firms it described as “outstanding Wisconsin-based companies.”

One of the firms, however, has headquarters in Connecticut, while another is part of a 44,000-employee global company headquartered in the United Kingdom.

Benjamin Wittes asks Mueller Bows Out: What Does Congress Do Now?:

Less expected was Mueller’s announcement that he didn’t intend to make any further statements—not even before Congress in testimony that has been much anticipated. Mueller said he “hop[ed] and expect[ed]” he would not speak about the matter further and that “[t]he report is my testimony.” If called by Congress to testify, he said he “would not go beyond our report.”

In other words, that’s all folks. As far as Mueller is concerned, he has no further role to play here.

….

The absence of public hearings on the contents of the Mueller report can be blamed only in part on Don McGahn’s decision to honor the president’s claims of executive privilege and defy the judiciary committee’s subpoena. A big part of the story here is that key committees are just not pursuing a focused oversight agenda involving live testimony by the key witnesses in a fashion that is likely to prove effective. Congress has so far sought the testimony of relatively few people named in the report. It has not so far moved aggressively against anyone who has resisted.

This lack of focus on getting testimony from witnesses has combined with a deep commitment on the part of the Democratic leadership not to use the most substantial powers that it has—specifically the impeachment power. The congressional leadership seems not to know quite what it wants, but it sure knows what it doesn’t want. That’s not a good posture in which to confront a concerted presidential challenge to the very possibility of congressional investigation of executive conduct.

How U.S. Weapons Ended Up Hitting Hospitals in Yemen:

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with showers and a high of sixty-nine.  Sunrise is 5:20 AM and sunset 8:24 PM, for 15h 04m 20s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 23.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Police & Fire Commission meets at 9 AM, and her Parks & Rec Board at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the Everest summit.

Recommended for reading in full:

Lee Bergquist reports EPA scientists raised concerns over smog designation in southeastern Wisconsin. Now the agency is reviewing the decision:

Scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency objected to a decision by the department last year to exempt areas of southeastern Wisconsin from impacts of stricter federal ozone regulations, including Racine County, where Foxconn Technology Group is building its manufacturing plant.

Employees of the agency also complained their agency used misleading data in its decision making that would benefit companies in the exempted counties.

The decision on May 1, 2018, to sharply limit geographical areas that would fall under more restrictive limits to control smog is being challenged by environmental groups in federal court.

And now the EPA says in court documents that it wants more time to review its ozone decision.

Michael Hiltzik reports Rich farmers, not mom-and-pop farms, will collect most of Trump’s tariff bailout:

The lone valiant farmer struggling to eke an existence from his hardscrabble farm — that’s the image President Trump wants you to think about when contemplating the $28 billion in bailouts he’s spending to cover farm losses from his trade war.

Think again. The vast majority of the dollars flowing to the agriculture industry via the bailouts is likely to go to farms with annual revenues of several million dollars. Most of them are major beneficiaries of federal crop support programs that steer billions in subsidies and low-priced crop insurance — including insurance that already covers some of their losses in the trade war.

Consider one such recipient. He’s Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, whose family farm, run mostly by his son Robin and grandson Patrick, collected $1.6 million in government subsidies in 1995-2017, according to a database compiled by the Environmental Working Group. The farm grows corn and soybeans.

Tory Newmyer reports Trump promised an auto renaissance. The industry has hit a skid:

In yesterday’s newsletter, we took a closer look at how struggling rural communities, defying the national economic bounce, could complicate President Trump’s reelection bid.

But there’s another pillar of Trump’s base — the auto industry, which he promised to transform into the engine of a manufacturing revival — that is stalling at an inopportune moment for the president.

Layoffs in the industry this year are at their highest since the economic crisis a decade ago….

How Do Birds Stop From Falling Off Branches While They Sleep?:

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of sixty-five.  Sunrise is 5:20 AM and sunset 8:23 PM, for 15h 02m 55s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 33.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Finance Committee meets at 6 PM, and the Whitewater School Board meets in closed session at 6:30 PM, with open session beginning at 7 PM.

On this day in 1987, 19-year-old amateur pilot Mathias Rust lands his plane in Red Square:

Rust, a 19-year-old amateur pilot from West Germany, takes off from Helsinki, Finland, travels through more than 400 miles of Soviet airspace, and lands his small Cessna aircraft in Red Square by the Kremlin. The event proved to be an immense embarrassment to the Soviet government and military.

Recommended for reading in full:

Asawin Suebsaeng reports Trump Embraces Right-Wing One America News Network to Make Fox News Jealous:

For years, the channel has tried to supplant Fox  as a dominant force in conservative media. For the past two years, it has prolifically churned out glowing coverage of the Trump administration and its achievements. OAN’s top executives have beseeched the president on Twitter to forget about Fox and to signal-boost them instead. And in the first year of Trump’s presidency, the network produced a commercial mocking CNN’s “Facts First” apple-and-banana ad campaign, and declaring OAN the “Real News.”

….

The overt flattery seems to be paying off. Fox News is still the president’s favorite media behemoth. But OAN’s team has been catching his eye. This year, Trump has tuned in more often than ever to OAN, two sources close to him say.

Jennifer Rubin writes The press must do better:

The New York Times gives prominent placement on its home page to list all of President Trump’s juvenile nicknames for the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, including the racist Native American slur directed at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). This serves no purpose other than to highlight his name-calling and reinforce his abusive conduct.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders goes on “Meet the Press” to repeatedly accuse former FBI director James B. Comey of treason. She insists everyone knows about corruption at the top levels of the Justice Department. (“We already know that there was an outrageous amount of corruption that took place at the FBI.”) She claims “they” leaked information and lied. (Who? What information? When?) In an apparent reference to two investigators who were removed from the case (Peter Strzok and Lisa Page) after communicating about their private views, she insists “They were specifically working trying to take down the president, trying to hurt the president.” Sanders falsely insists the FBI was guilty of “unprecedented obstruction and corruption.”

Trump’s press secretary is not challenged on her exaggerations, distortions and outright lies, although she in essence concedes Trump has already made up his mind, issued his verdict and is expecting the attorney general to come back with evidence.

Why Does Google Kill So Many Products?:

Good morning.

Memorial Day in Whitewater will see occasional thundershowers with a high of sixty-four.  Sunrise is 5:21 AM and sunset 8:22 PM, for 15h 01m 26s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 42.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

Weather permitting, Whitewater’s Memorial Day parade will begin at 10:30 AM in the city’s downtown, with a ceremony thereafter at the American Legion on 292 S. Wisconsin Street beginning at 11 AM.

On this day in 1673, Marquette & Joliet Reach Green Bay:

“Embarking then in our canoes,” Marquette wrote in his journal, “we arrived shortly afterward at the bottom of the Bay des Puants, where our Fathers labor successfully for the conversion of these peoples, over two thousand of whom they have baptized while they have been there.”

Recommended for reading in full:

Pete Dougherty writes Legendary Packers quarterback Bart Starr dies at age 85:

The quarterback who guided the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships and was as popular as any figure in franchise history has died.

Bart Starr, who served as the extension of coach Vince Lombardi on the field during the Packers’ glory days of the 1960s, died Sunday, his family said in a statement. He was 85.

….

“We are saddened to note the passing of our husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Bart Starr,” the family statement said. “He battled with courage and determination to transcend the serious stroke he suffered in September 2014, but his most recent illness was too much to overcome.

“While he may always be best known for his success as the Packers quarterback for 16 years, his true legacy will always be the respectful manner in which he treated every person he met, his humble demeanor, and his generous spirit.

….

Starr’s place in Packers lore is cemented by his role in Lombardi’s 1960s Packers dynasty, which remains the most successful seven-year stretch in NFL history with five titles, including wins in the first two Super Bowls.

Neal Rothschild reports Trump’s tweets are losing their potency:

President Trump’s tweets don’t pack the punch they did at the outset of his presidency. His Twitter interaction rate — a measure of the impact given how much he tweets and how many people follow him — has tumbled precipitously, according to data from CrowdTangle.

Why it matters: It’s a sign that his strongest communication tool may be losing its effectiveness and that the novelty has worn off.

Trump’s interaction rate has fallen from 0.55% in the month he was elected to 0.32% in June 2017 — and down to 0.16% this month through May 25. (The metric measures retweets and likes per tweet divided by the size of his following.)

David Frum observes the demand-side for doctored videos smearing Trump’s opponents:

“Misinformation is a demand problem as well as supply. “I don’t think the people who repeat them are fooled. I think they enjoy the lie themselves. They are co-producers. The demand for false information may be an even bigger problem than the supply.”

Godzilla: The True Story:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of seventy-three.  Sunrise is 5:22 AM and sunset 8:21 PM, for 14h 59m 54s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 51.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1864, the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry participates in a skirmish at Lanes Prairie, Missouri.

Recommended for reading in full:

Sam Dean and Suhauna Hussain report A doctored video of Nancy Pelosi shows social media giants ill-prepared for 2020:

Facebook and others are still not well equipped to manage complex targeted manipulation campaigns,  [researcher at UC Irvine Kat] Lo said, citing Russian efforts to spread disinformation ahead of the 2016 election and the way that members of Myanmar’s military used Facebook as a tool to instigate genocide, spreading propaganda that vilified the country’s mostly Muslim Rohingya minority group.

UC Berkeley computer science professor and digital forensics expert Hany Farid, who studies methods for detecting “deep fakes” — more advanced false videos that use sophisticated software to create realistic clips fabricated from whole cloth — noted that social media’s broad reach aids the spread of disinformation, no matter the format.

“The threat of manipulated video of any form remains significant because of the declining level of discourse, particularly on social media, the public’s seemingly inability or lack of interest in distinguishing between real and fake news, and our willingness — in fact eagerness — to believe the worst in people that we disagree with,” Farid said in an email.

While it’s always a challenge to correct the record when false information is widely distributed, the task has only become more difficult when prominent figures use their position of “extraordinary power” to amplify false information, Farid added.

Pema Levy writes Trump Has a Big Head Start on Facebook Messaging, and Democrats Are Worried:

Democrats have watched with alarm as the Trump campaign puts millions of dollars into digital advertising campaigns. In the past year, the campaign has spent more than $12 million on Facebook ads alone, compared to $9.4 million for the 16 top-spending Democratic candidates combined. Many of those ads are directed at building the campaign’s direct voter contacts—asking users to sign birthday cards for the president or fill out a survey in order to get their email addresses and phone numbers. Other ads are targeted at firing up the campaign’s base with red meat about border security, although a growing number are aimed at swing voters. As of last month, nearly a third of the campaign’s Facebook spending was going to five 2020 battleground states: Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, and Ohio.

….

Democrats have taken note of the importance of digital ads since 2016, when the Trump campaign’s digital strategist, Brad Parscale—since elevated to 2020 campaign manager—attributed Trump’s win to his online operation, particularly on Facebook. Democratic digital experts say that narrative is likely overblown but that it was nonetheless a wake-up call that their party had lost its digital edge.

A Mad Inventor’s Surreal Fortress:

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of eighty-two.  Sunrise is 5:22 AM and sunset 8:20 PM, for 14h 58m 18s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 61.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1977, Star Wars opens in theaters.

Recommended for reading in full:

  Drew Harwell reports Facebook acknowledges Pelosi video is faked but declines to delete it:

When an edited video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) began spreading across the Web this week, researchers quickly identified it as a distortion, with sound and playback speed that had been manipulated to make her speech appear stilted and slurred.

….

YouTube offered a definitive response Thursday afternoon, saying the company had removed the videos because they violated “clear policies that outline what content is not acceptable to post.”

….

But Facebook, where the video appeared to gain much of its audience, declined Friday to remove the video, even after Facebook’s independent fact-checking groups, Lead Stories and PolitiFact, deemed the video “false.”

“We don’t have a policy that stipulates that the information you post on Facebook must be true,” Facebook said in a statement to The Washington Post.

(Trump is a dominant political advertiser on Facebook, with Facebook users who share fakes skew older and conservative, so one can expect more of Trump’s dishonesty and Facebook’s leniency.)

Conservative evangelical Michael Gerson observes These are the golden days of sleaze:

That President Trump and members of his circle are corrupt has been established beyond doubt. There is the financial corruption of using the presidency as a marketing tool for Trump businesses; of foreign governments seeking influence by spending at Trump properties; of close associates being paid for influence by foreign entities; of industry advocates and lobbyists being appointed as industry regulators; of the Trump Organization expanding overseas operations with the help of foreign governments; of possible money laundering through Trump properties. And all of this in the context of a president fighting tooth and nail to shield his financial records from public scrutiny.

There is a political corruption of inviting a foreign government to interfere in a presidential election; of seeking politically motivated investigations against opponents; of attempting to block and discredit legitimate investigations of Trump’s own questionable activities; of directing secret payments to women with potentially damaging information; of attempting to influence ongoing federal investigations.

….

If you are a sexual harasser who wants to escape consequences, or a businessperson who habitually plays close to ethical lines, your hour has come. If you dream of having a porn-star mistress, or hope to game the tax system for your benefit, you have found your man and your moment. For all that is bent and sleazy, for all that is dishonest and dodgy, these are the golden days.

Here’s a video showing the sixty satellites that SpaceX recently placed in orbit:

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will see thunderstorms with a high of sixty-eight.  Sunrise is 5:23 AM and sunset 8:20 PM, for 14h 56m 40s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 69.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opens:

Thousands of people attended the opening ceremony, and many ships were present in the East Bay for the occasion. President Chester A. Arthur and Mayor Franklin Edson crossed the bridge to celebratory cannon fire and were greeted by Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low when they reached the Brooklyn-side tower.

Recommended for reading in full:

Nick Miroff and Josh Dawsey report ‘He always brings them up’: Trump tries to steer border wall deal to North Dakota firm:

In phone calls, White House meetings and conversations aboard Air Force One during the past several months, Trump has aggressively pushed Dickinson, N.D.-based Fisher Industries to Department of Homeland Security leaders and Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the commanding general of the Army Corps, according to the administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal discussions. The push for a specific company has alarmed military commanders and DHS officials.

Semonite was summoned to the White House again Thursday, after the president’s aides told Pentagon officials — including Gen. Mark Milley, the Army’s chief of staff — that the president wanted to discuss the border barrier. According to an administration official with knowledge of the Oval Office meeting, Trump immediately brought up Fisher, a company that sued the U.S. government last month after the Army Corps did not accept its bid to install barriers along the southern border, a contract potentially worth billions of dollars.

Jack Shafer observes Trump’s Walkout Hits a Wall:

Emotional terror of the Trump variety works on underlings or his fellow Republican officeholders who fear they’ll lose their positions if they defy the angry king. It also works on the preternaturally polite, who will happily fold if by folding they can cool tempers. But the more Trump puts on the fright wig, the less scary he becomes. The sight of Trump baring his teeth like a wild macaquedoesn’t seem to faze Pelosi and Schumer. Decades in Congress have inured them to this kind of political gnarling.

Tantrums don’t work very well in government as opposed to business, because there are so many more moving parts—separation of powers, political parties, scores of agencies, 50 states and 245 million eligible voters—than in Manhattan real estate. Even when Trump’s party controlled both legislative houses, his tactics couldn’t achieve his complete agenda. What makes him think he can bulldoze the Democrats now that they’re in firm hold of the House, where they’re weakening him with the power of investigation?< Like his Niagara of lies, Trump’s hysterics are just another way of forcing people to live in his factually stunted, theatrical universe. As Pelosi and Schumer have shown, the spell is easily broken.

SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Satellites on Thrice-Flown Rocket, Sticks Landing: