Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of forty-seven.  Sunrise is 7:20 AM and sunset 4:22 PM, for 9h 01m 52s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 79.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

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

On this day in 1863, the Milwaukee Sentinel urges better pay for soldiers:

“If any men deserve to be well paid it is the men who are enduring the hardships and running the risks of a war like this.” It also provided details of a senate bill to increase soldiers’ pay to $16 a month and pay African-American soldiers the same as white soldiers.

Recommended for reading in full:

Sheera Frenkel, Daisuke Wakabayashi, and Kate Conger write Facebook, Twitter and YouTube Withheld Russia Data, Reports Say:

SAN FRANCISCO — When lawmakers asked YouTube, a unit of Google, to provide information about Russian manipulation efforts, it did not disclose how many people watched the videos on its site that were created by Russian trolls.

Facebook did not release the comments that its users made when they viewed Russian-generated content. And Twitter gave only scattered details about the Russian-controlled accounts that spread propaganda there.

The tech companies’ foot-dragging was described in a pair of reports that the Senate Intelligence Committee published on Monday, in what were the most detailed accounts to date about how Russian agents have wielded social media against Americans in recent years.

In the reports, Google, Twitter and Facebook (which also owns Instagram) were described by researchers as having “evaded” and “misrepresented” themselves and the extent of Russian activity on their sites. The companies were also criticized for not turning over complete sets of data about Russian manipulation to the Senate.

Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, and Elizabeth Dwoskin report Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate:

The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram — which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal — claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with “radical Islamic groups.”

Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday.

  Margaret Sullivan observes It’s high time for media to enter the No Kellyanne Zone — and stay there:

When major news organizations publish tweets and news alerts that repeat falsehoods merely because the president uttered them, it’s the same kind of journalistic malpractice as offering a prime interview spot to Kellyanne Conway.

  It’s Tom Waits vs the World of Advertising:

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of thirty-six.  Sunrise is 7:20 AM and sunset 4:22 PM, for 9h 02m 05s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 70.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Library Board meets at 6:30 PM and the Whitewater School Board at 7 PM.

On this day in 1903, the Wright Brothers make the first powered airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Although initially doubtful of their accomplishment, European sentiment changed after the Wright Brothers demonstrated their plane in France:

The French public was thrilled by Wilbur’s feats and flocked to the field by the thousands, and the Wright brothers instantly became world-famous. Former doubters issued apologies and effusive praise. L’Aérophile editor Georges Besançon wrote that the flights “have completely dissipated all doubts. Not one of the former detractors of the Wrights dare question, today, the previous experiments of the men who were truly the first to fly …”^[104] Leading French aviation promoter Ernest Archdeacon wrote, “For a long time, the Wright brothers have been accused in Europe of bluff … They are today hallowed in France, and I feel an intense pleasure … to make amends.”^[105]

Recommended for reading in full:

 Craig Timberg and Tony Romm write New report on Russian disinformation, prepared for the Senate, shows the operation’s scale and sweep:

A report prepared for the Senate that provides the most sweeping analysis yet of Russia’s disinformation campaign around the 2016 election found the operation used every major social media platform to deliver words, images and videos tailored to voters’ interests to help elect President Trump — and worked even harder to support him while in office.

The report, a draft of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the first to study the millions of posts provided by major technology firms to the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), its chairman, and Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), its ranking Democrat. The bipartisan panel hasn’t said whether it endorses the findings. It plans to release it publicly along with another study later this week.

The research — by Oxford University’s Computational Propaganda Project and Graphika, a network analysis firm — offers new details of how Russians working at the Internet Research Agency, which U.S. officials have charged with criminal offenses for interfering in the 2016 campaign, sliced Americans into key interest groups for targeted messaging. These efforts shifted over time, peaking at key political moments, such as presidential debates or party conventions, the report found.

 Scott Shane and Sheera Frenkel report particularly that the Russian Effort to Influence 2016 Election Targeted African-Americans:

The Russian influence campaign on social media in the 2016 election made an extraordinary effort to target African-Americans, used an array of tactics to try to suppress turnout among Democratic voters and unleashed a blizzard of posts on Instagram that rivaled or exceeded its Facebook operations, according to a report produced for the Senate Intelligence Committee.

  An Affectionate Sea Lion:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of forty-two.  Sunrise is 7:19 AM and sunset 4:22 PM, for 9h 02m 22s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 60.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1733, the Sons of Liberty in Boston protest through a Boston Tea Party:

While Samuel Adams tried to reassert control of the meeting, people poured out of the Old South Meeting House to prepare to take action. In some cases, this involved donning what may have been elaborately prepared Mohawk costumes.[65] While disguising their individual faces was imperative, because of the illegality of their protest, dressing as Mohawk warriors was a specific and symbolic choice. It showed that the Sons of Liberty identified with America, over their official status as subjects of Great Britain.[66]

That evening, a group of 30 to 130 men, some dressed in the Mohawk warrior disguises, boarded the three vessels and, over the course of three hours, dumped all 342 chests of tea into the water.[67] The precise location of the Griffin’s Wharf site of the Tea Party has been subject to prolonged uncertainty; a comprehensive study[68] places it near the foot of Hutchinson Street (today’s Pearl Street).

Recommended for reading in full:

Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig report As the Trumps Dodged Taxes, Their Tenants Paid a Price:

They were collateral damage as Donald J. Trump and his siblings dodged inheritance taxes and gained control of their father’s fortune: thousands of renters in an empire of unassuming red-brick buildings scattered across Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.

Those buildings have been home to generations of strivers, municipal workers and newly arrived immigrants. When their regulated rents started rising more quickly in the 1990s, many tenants had no idea why. Some heard that the Trump family had spent millions on building improvements, but they remained suspicious.

“I’ve always thought there was something strange going on,” said Jack Leitner, who has lived in the Beach Haven Apartments in Coney Island, Brooklyn, for more than two decades. “But you have to have proof, and it’s an uphill battle.”

As it turned out, a hidden scam lurked behind the mysterious increases. In October, a New York Times investigation into the origins of Mr. Trump’s wealth revealed, among its findings, that the future president and his siblings set up a phony business to pad the cost of nearly everything their father, the legendary builder Fred C. Trump, purchased for his buildings. The Trump children split that extra money.

  Six of the Best Street Food Finds in Mexico City:

(Inviting, every last recommendation.)

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of forty-six.  Sunrise is 7:19 AM and sunset 4:21 PM, for 9h 02m 45s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 51.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1791, the Bill of Rights is ratified, with proposed articles of amendment Three through Twelve becoming Amendments One through Ten of the Constitution.

Recommended for reading in full:

 Libby Nelson writes of Gov. Walker’s approval in full of lame-duck legislation, describing it as Scott Walker’s revenge:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed bills on Friday that take power away from Wisconsin’s new governor, a Democrat, and give it to Republican lawmakers in the statehouse. Vox / Tara Golshan

The bills cut down on early voting hours and will make it harder for Gov.-elect Tony Evers to keep some of his campaign promises — including withdrawing Wisconsin from an Affordable Care Act lawsuit and eliminating work requirements for Medicaid. NBC / Dartunorro Clark

The state legislature, controlled by Republicans, passed the bills in a special lame-duck session to get the legislation through before Evers takes office in January. NYT / Mitch Smith and Monica Davey

But the bills were months in the making, plotted out so that Republicans could shore up their policy changes even if Democrats won in November. NYT / Mitch Smith, John Eligon, and Monica Davey

Progressive groups are already planning to file a lawsuit against the bills. AP

In Michigan, Republicans are trying to follow in Wisconsin’s path — but it’s not clear if Gov. Rick Snyder will go along. Detroit News / Jonathan Oosting

For scholars of democracy, these are scary developments. Democracy relies on the peaceful transition of power and elected officials’ willingness to accept the legitimacy of elections. Lame-duck power grabs challenge both. Vox / Zack Beauchamp

Jackie Speier writes Strange real estate deal raises specter of Putin buying Trump:

In July 2008, Donald Trump undertook one of his most infamous transactions. He sold a mansion in Palm Beach for $95 million to Dmitry Rybolovlev, Russian oligarch and billionaire. Trump had purchased it four years earlier for $41.35 million. The sale price was nearly $54 million more than Trump had paid for the property, even though he had made only modest improvements in it.

….

Five years after the sale, when the economy had made a significant recovery, Palm Beach County appraised the house for just $59.8 million. In other words, despite an actual recorded sale of $95 million and despite the economic recovery, the county determined that it was worth $35 million less than what Rybolovlev had paid five years earlier.

….

There must have been another reason — a reason to give Trump tens of millions of dollars with no expectation of a financial return. One possibility is that Russian leader Vladimir Putin saw an opportunity to exploit Trump’s financial problems to obtain his loyalty and indebtedness.

  Cat takes a luxurious bath:

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of thirty-nine.  Sunrise is 7:18 AM and sunset 4:21 PM, for 9h 03m 11s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 41.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1911, Roald Amundsen and his expedition become the first people to reach the South Pole.

Recommended for reading in full:

Norm Eisen responds to Trump’s claim that Trump relied on his lawyer’s advice:

Here’s the flaw in Trump’s reasoning. If you know something is illegal and then you do it thru a lawyer, that doesn’t excuse you. Otherwise every mobster would do what Trump did here.

@realDonald Trump: I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. It is called “advice of counsel,” and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid. Despite that many campaign finance lawyers have strongly……

  Morgan Chalfant reports Intel panel expects to refer more cases of suspected lying to Mueller:

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Thursday that the Senate Intelligence Committee has made “quite a few referrals” to special counsel Robert Mueller of cases where witnesses questioned in the panel’s Russia probe were suspected of lying, adding he expects there will be more.

“We’ve made quite a few referrals,” Burr, who chairs the Senate panel, told The Hill on Thursday afternoon. “I won’t get into the numbers, but where we have found criminality, we have made those referrals, and I’m sure that they’re not the last.”

  Sarah Grant and Chuck Rosenberg write The Steele Dossier: A Retrospective:

The dossier is, quite simply and by design, raw reporting, not a finished intelligence product.

….

With that in mind, we thought it would be worthwhile to look back at the dossier and to assess, to the extent possible, how the substance of Steele’s reporting holds up over time. In this effort, we considered only information in the public domain from trustworthy and official government sources, including documents released by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office in connection with the criminal cases brought against Paul Manafort, the 12 Russian intelligence officers, the Internet Research Agency trolling operation and associated entities, Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos. We also considered the draft statement of offense released by author Jerome Corsi, a memorandum released by House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member Adam Schiff related to the Carter Page FISA applications and admissions directly from certain speakers.

These materials buttress some of Steele’s reporting, both specifically and thematically. The dossier holds up well over time, and none of it, to our knowledge, has been disproven.

(I’ve not spent much time thinking about the Steele Dossier, but Grant & Rosenberg have published a serious review worth reading and pondering.)

  Here’s the Evolution of Spider-Man’s Classic Costume:

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of thirty-nine.  Sunrise is 7:17 AM and sunset 4:21 PM, for 9h 03m 41s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 32.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 2000, Al Gore concedes the presidential election to George W. Bush following a United States Supreme Court ruling of the previous day.

Recommended for reading in full:

  Charles Dunst and Krishnadev Calamur report Trump Moves to Deport Vietnam War Refugees:

The Trump administration is resuming its efforts to deport certain protected Vietnamese immigrants who have lived in the United States for decades—many of them having fled the country during the Vietnam War.

This is the latest move in the president’s long record of prioritizing harsh immigration and asylum restrictions, and one that’s sure to raise eyebrows—the White House had hesitantly backed off the plan in August before reversing course. In essence, the administration has now decided that Vietnamese immigrants who arrived in the country before the establishment of diplomatic ties between the United States and Vietnam are subject to standard immigration law—meaning they are all eligible for deportation.

….

Many pre-1995 arrivals, all of whom were previously protected under the 2008 agreement by both the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, were refugees from the Vietnam War. Some are the children of those who once allied with American and South Vietnamese forces, an attribute that renders them undesirable to the current regime in Hanoi, which imputes anti-regime beliefs to the children of those who opposed North Vietnam. This anti-Communist constituency includes minorities such as the children of the American-allied Montagnards, who are persecuted in Vietnam for both their ethnicity and Christian religion.

  Elizabeth Williamson reports Troubled by Lapses, Government’s Voice to the World Braces for New Trump Management:

TV Martí, which aims broadcasts at Cuba, aired a segment in May that called the financier and Democratic donor George Soros, a longtime opponent of authoritarianism, “a nonbelieving Jew of flexible morals.”

….

Mr. Trump’s nominee as chief executive of the global government media agency is Michael Pack, who runs a conservative filmmaking business out of his house in suburban Washington. He declined to be interviewed.

Mr. Pack would join a couple of other Trump loyalists in the operation who some employees say have already shown a clear political tilt in their approach to broadcasting. Among those working in the Cuba office, for example, is Jeffrey Shapiro, a former Breitbart News writer who played a prominent role in a politically charged battle over the agency’s direction this year. Mr. Shapiro, an acolyte of Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s former strategist, did not respond to a request to be interviewed for this article.

  When to see the 2018 Geminid meteor shower: