In the clip above, Seth Meyers considers the relationship between Fox News and the Trump Administration, concluding that Fox News is ‘the closest thing we have to state TV,’ represents ‘sycophantic coverage,’ and that ‘instead of a Bible, Trump should have been sworn in on a TV Guide.’ (H/t to Raw Story for the pointer.)
Small towns across America are familiar with publications that are – in support and in effect – quasi-government publications. In the Whitewater area, it’s nearly impossible to imagine the Daily Union or Banner as offering anything other than sycophantic coverage. It’s fair to qualify this as nearly impossible, as ever so rarely one of these publications will stray from an insider’s line, for reasons of personal pique if not actual substance.
We’ve had years of coverage like this, weakening the quality of our politics and thinking, so much so that those in authority sometimes (but not always) seem like parodies of ill-preparation and weak analysis. Low quality of this kind is That Which Paved the Way, enabling a federal government led by the very worst among us.
A hotel, a party plan, and a dog might seem like three unconnected things (and normally they are, unless one is describing a dog show, I suppose).
In Whitewater, however, they’re connected: as items on the same agenda tonight at Common Council, and more generally as tactical solutions to a systemic problem: Whitewater’s economy is stagnant, the community divided along class lines, and the concept of genuine community enforcement in town isn’t even nominally convincing.
Into these conditions come discussions about a hotel, a party plan, and a canine. The city will hear more about all three tonight, but the discussions will be less revealing of where the city’s going (as we’re past the point where most sudden moves are worth much) than they will be of the current level of municipal management, such as it is.
Thursday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of fifty-one. Sunrise is 6:26 AM and sunset 7:27 PM, for 13h 01m 35s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 78% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred forty-ninth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission is scheduled to meet at 6 PM, the Fire Department for a Business meeting at 6:30 PM, and Common Council for a session beginning at 6:30 PM.
On this day in 1917, the United States declares war on Imperial Germany. On this day in 1831, many of the Sauk leave Wisconsin and Illinois: “the Sauk Indians led by Chief Keokuk left their ancestral home near the mouth of the Rock River and moved across the Mississippi River to Iowa to fulfill the terms of a treaty signed in 1804. Many of the tribe, however, believed the treaty to be invalid and the following spring, when the U.S. government failed to provide them with promised supplies, this dissatisfied faction led by Black Hawk returned to their homeland on the Rock River, precipitating the Black Hawk War.”
Recommended for reading in full —
Matthew Garrahan and Kara Scannell report that a Federal probe into Fox News casts shadow over Murdoch empire: “High quality global journalism requires investment. For Rupert Murdoch, the timing could not be worse. Six years after the tabloid phone-hacking saga engulfed his media empire and torpedoed his bid for Sky, a federal investigation into another company controlled by the 86-year-old billionaire could undermine his latest offer for the European pay-TV group. Sample the FT’s top stories for a week You select the topic, we deliver the news. Select topic Enter email addressInvalid email Sign up By signing up you confirm that you have read and agree to the terms and conditions, cookie policy and privacy policy. The sexual harassment scandal at Mr Murdoch’s Fox News Channel has already cost millions of dollars in payouts to victims after Roger Ailes, its former chairman, was fired last summer following allegations that he harassed a former presenter. Several other women came forward claiming similar treatment, including Megyn Kelly, then the network’s star presenter, and Laurie Luhn, a former Fox News talent booker, who was paid a secret $3.1m settlement by the channel in 2011 in exchange for her silence. Yet the turmoil at the cable news channel is far from over. Fresh allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse have been levelled at leading presenter Bill O’Reilly, leading more than 20 companies to pull their advertising from his programme.”
Meg Jones reports that Thousands of birch trees have been poached from the Northwoods: “Brazen thieves armed with axes and chainsaws are plundering parks, forests and private land in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Their prey? White birch trees. Thousands of trees have disappeared since last fall, stripped branches and stumps left behind at the crime scenes as the beautiful trees are sold to decorate homes and businesses and grace wedding tables. “It appears to be all market-driven,” said Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Warden David Zebro. “The ornamental market people are paying a lot of money for these types of birch trees. We didn’t see this type of issue a year or two ago but it’s certainly here now.” Some birch poachers have been nabbed. Five arrests were made in Washburn County over the winter including a man who admitted to authorities that he was in the area to illegally cut down birch trees but decided instead to break into a cabin and steal a generator. “We found out these people are not discriminate. They’ll steal anything,” said Washburn County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mike Richter. “We’ve had people say ‘we didn’t know there was anything wrong with it.’ Some said ‘we’re just logging, what’s the problem?’ Well, they don’t own the property, that’s the problem.”
Dana Milbank recounts Personal irresponsibility: A concise history of Trump’s buck-passing: “Here is a partial compilation of his buck-passing since taking office: He blamed the failure of the GOP health-care bill on Democrats, moderate Republicans, conservative Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus, the Heritage Foundation, the Club for Growth and, indirectly, Paul Ryan. He blamed a Yemen counterterrorism raid that didn’t go according to plan both on his generals and on Obama. He blamed airport protests of his travel ban on a Delta Air Lines systems outage and on “the tears of Senator Schumer.” He preemptively blamed future terrorist attacks on the judge who blocked the travel ban and on the court system. He blamed his own decision to remove national security adviser Michael Flynn on the intelligence community, the media and Democrats “trying to cover up” Hillary Clinton’s loss. He blamed his loss of the popular vote on voter fraud….”
Rosie Gray describes one writer’s predictable journey from alt-right website to a Putin-publication in From Breitbart to Sputnik: “A former Breitbart News writer is launching a radio show for Russian propaganda network Sputnik. “I’m on the Russian payroll now, when you work at Sputnik you’re being paid by the Russians,” former Breitbart investigative reporter Lee Stranahan told me. “That’s what it is. I don’t have any qualms about it. Nothing about it really affects my position on stuff that I’ve had for years now.” Stranahan’s new position is the latest twist in the increasingly atomized world of niche right-wing media, which has seen an increase in prominence and influence during the Trump era. It also reflects a realignment on the right towards Russia as the administration, led by an unusually Russia-receptive president, becomes increasingly entangled in a drip-drip of stories about Russian influence.”
A few remarks on local and statewide races from the Spring General Election:
1. In Whitewater, incumbents seldom lose (and indeed, seldom have challengers). Yesterday falls within the realm of the seldom: a challenger in Whitewater’s District 1 race easily defeated the incumbent (Carol McCormick over Patrick Wellnitz, 164-87).
Whitewater’s challenge is not merely that candidates rarely run against (let alone defeat) incumbents. Her challenge is that individual candidates, however talented some might be, have trouble making a difference in a city that’s facing high poverty and economic stagnation. See, along these lines, Whitewater’s Major Public Institutions Produce a Net Loss (And Why It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way): “although members of the government are certainly also sharp and capable individually, they often produce collectively a product that’s beneath their individual abilities or that of other competitive Americans.”
On the national level, a choice between productivity and mediocrity presents itself, also, as Jennifer Rubin describes ably in Trump vs. an America that works.
Midweek in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of forty-four. Sunrise is 6:27 AM and sunset 7:26 PM, for 12h 58m 44s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 68.5% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred forty-eighth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
Annysa Johnson reports that Tony Evers sails into third term as Wisconsin education chief: “Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers sailed into a third term on Tuesday, easily defeating challenger Lowell Holtz to hang on to his post as the state’s top educator. With most of the votes counted, Evers led with 70% to 30% for Holtz. Evers said he was surprised by the margin, but believes his positive campaign resonated with parents and public school advocates at the local level, in contrast with Holtz’s focus on the schools’ deficiencies.”
Paul Farhi reports that Advertisers flee ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ amid sexual-harassment claims against host: “Among the companies that confirmed they were suspending or removing ads from his program were the automakers Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi Motors; financial firms T. Rowe Price and Allstate Insurance; drugmakers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline; plus Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, the online marketing company Constant Contact and men’s apparel seller Untuckit. The list continued to grow late in the day; by early evening, CNN had pegged the number of companies pulling their ads at 18. A prolonged advertiser boycott of O’Reilly could prove financially painful to Fox. O’Reilly’s 8 p.m. news-discussion program is the highest-rated on cable, with an average 4 million viewers. It is also a tent-pole show upon which the rest of the conservative-leaning network depends. Fox counts on O’Reilly to generate an outsize share of its revenue and profit, which reached an estimated $1.7 billion last year, a record since the network’s founding in 1996.”
Matthew Haag and Niraj Chokshi report that Civil Rights Act Protects Gay Workers, Court Rules: “In a significant victory for gay rights, a federal appeals court in Chicago ruled Tuesday that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay workers from job discrimination, expanding workplace protections in the landmark law to include sexual orientation. The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [N.B.: the Seventh Circuit covers, among other states, Wisconsin], the highest federal court yet to grant such employment protections, raises the chances that the politically charged issue may ultimately be resolved by the Supreme Court. While an appeal is not expected in this case, another appellate court, in Georgia, last month reached the opposite conclusion, saying that the law does not prohibit discrimination at work for gay employees. The ruling on Tuesday comes as gay rights advocates have voiced concern about the potential rollback of protections under President Trump. While the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, many other legal protections, including in employment and housing, have not been extended at all levels to gay people.”
Katie Mettler reports that a New sheriff in town to close Joe Arpaio’s outdoor Tent City jail, of pink underwear fame: “In Arizona’s Tent City Jail, “America’s toughest sheriff” forced his inmates to wear pink underwear, shower with pink towels and sleep on pink sheets. Their meals were meatless and their jumpsuits striped in wide black and white. The only barrier between their bodies and the scorching summer sun was the weathered green canvas of surplus Korean War military tents. Everything they did at Tent City was outside, because Tent City was outside, too. The desert complex — erected in 1993 — became Joe Arpaio’s signature achievement during his 24 years as the Maricopa County sheriff, the physical manifestation of his flashy, Wild West, no-nonsense law and order mentality that made him a national celebrity and treasured ally of President Trump. But it also cast a dark mark on Phoenix and attracted criticism from civil rights groups who called Arpaio’s methods needlessly harsh. In November, the voters ousted Arpaio, a Republican, who faces trial for criminal contempt of court for ignoring a court order in a racial profiling case involving his notorious immigration patrols. Paul Penzone, a Democrat and retired Phoenix police sergeant, was elected on the promise of rolling back existing law enforcement policies he viewed as purposeless and self-aggrandizing. Now he’s following through. First, Penzone ditched the pink panties, then launched an investigation into the practicality of Tent City. On Tuesday, the new sheriff in town announced he would shut it down completely.”
Adam Khan, writing at @Khanoisseur, has an answer for why Trump was able to prevail, despite myriad political & personal failings. Khan’s answer explains part of Trump’s success (and on the national front, I think he’s chiefly right):
Investigative journalism was gutted at news rooms during the recession–partly why Trump was possible @fredericghttps://t.co/SIPiRjLB62
Locally, however, in places like Whitewater there never was much investigative journalism, and newspapers became incurious boosters of small-town notables long before the Great Recession.
There’s something sad about local groups that believe (or at least pretend with apparent conviction) that adopting Babbitt‘s boosterism is a ‘visionary’ development. It’s an imaginative result only if one looks ahead believes that grandiose claims, dodgy data, an anti-market outlook, and nativist policies could possibly represent a hopeful future.
More than a few town notables in places like Whitewater paved the way for Trumpism. They made this possible. See, along these lines, The National-Local Mix (Part 2). Those of us in an implacable resistance have much work hard work, and likely many hard losses, before we prevail in opposition.
When we do, Trump will go, and Trumpism with him. More than that, however: the causes of Trumpism in places like Whitewater will go, too.
About eighteen months ago, thinking only of these earlier causes, I wrote in reply to a prominent social & political figure in town, predicting that ‘not one of those practices will endure to this city’s next generation.’
Whether she believed this, I don’t know, and candidly it matters not at all what either of us believes.
Election Day in Whitewater will be cloudy with occasional rain, mainly in the morning, and a high of fifty-six. Sunrise is 6:29 AM and sunset 7:25 PM, for 12h 55m 52s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 57.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority will interview candidates for its executive director position at a 5 PM meeting, and the Birge Fountain Committee meets at 5:45 PM.
Note to the CDA candidates: they’re sure to ask you their favorite Local Notables’ Ultra-Tricky Question™, but don’t fret – the answer’s already available online. You’re welcome.
Dylan Byers reports that At Fox News, fear and silence amid O’Reilly controversy: “There are women at Fox News who want to speak up. But they’re afraid. They’ve seen other women stand up for themselves — against former Fox News chief Roger Ailes, against host Bill O’Reilly — and lose their jobs as a result. Meanwhile, they’ve seen those men defended and handsomely compensated by the company. They’ve been told there is an anonymous hotline they can call. But they’re afraid to call it because of a belief that the company is monitoring their phones. For many female employees at Fox News these days, the mood is one of fear and disappointment, several current and former employees told CNNMoney.”
Emily Steel and Michael Schmidt report More Trouble at Fox News: Ailes Faces New Sexual Claims and O’Reilly Loses Two Advertisers: “The sexual harassment scandal that engulfed Fox News last year and led to the ouster of its chairman, Roger Ailes, continued to batter the network on Monday, as a new lawsuit described unwanted sexual advances by Mr. Ailes and two major advertisers pulled their spots from the show of its top-rated host, Bill O’Reilly. Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai said they were withdrawing their ads from Mr. O’Reilly’s prime-time show, “The O’Reilly Factor,” after The New York Times published an investigation this weekend that found five women who made allegations of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior against him. Those five women received settlements totaling about $13 million, The Times reported. Together, the developments portray a network buffeted by allegations on multiple fronts, even as it draws record ratings with programming supportive of President Trump. Staff members remain anxious, some said on Monday, over questions about its workplace culture and its priorities.”
Adam Entous, Greg Miller, Kevin Sieff and Karen DeYoung report that Blackwater founder held secret Seychelles meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel: “The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials. The meeting took place around Jan. 11 — nine days before Trump’s inauguration — in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean, officials said. Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective that would be likely to require major concessions to Moscow on U.S. sanctions.”
Charles Bagli reports on a like father-in-law, like son-in-law situation – At Kushners’ Flagship Building, Mounting Debt and a Foundered Deal: “The Fifth Avenue skyscraper was supposed to be the Kushner Companies’ flagship in the heart of Manhattan — a record-setting $1.8 billion souvenir proclaiming that the New Jersey developers Charles Kushner and his son Jared were playing in the big leagues. And while it has been a visible symbol of their status, it has also been a financial headache almost from the start. On Wednesday, the Kushners announced that talks had broken off with a Chinese financial conglomerate for a deal worth billions to redevelop the 41-story tower, at 666 Fifth Avenue, into a flashy 80-story ultraluxury skyscraper comprising a chic retail mall, a hotel and high-priced condominiums. The official announcement said the company remained “in active, advanced negotiations” with a number of investors, whom it declined to name. There is no question that the Kushner Companies — Jared has moved to Washington to serve as an adviser to his father-in-law, President Trump — needs to reach a deal soon, either to bring in a fresh infusion of cash or a well-heeled partner willing to foot the bill, if it wants to hold on to the building. Whomever it brings on as an investor would also have to buy out Vornado Realty Trust, the family’s partner in the tower.”
Russian lawyer and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny sparked protests across his country when he posted on YouTube a video revealing the financial corruption of Dmitry Medvedev, currently prime minister, and Putin’s longtime political partner, in the Russian Federation. The exposé, He Is Not Dimon to You, shows how corrupt Russia has become, and is a forewarning of what America will become should Trumpism prevail. (Dimon is a disparaging diminutive of Dmitry.)
I’ve embedded Navalny’s documentary with English captions. (It’s worth nothing that there’s little of a free press left in Russia, so Navalny had to use an American YouTube channel to post his work on Russia’s lamentable political situation. Many Russians, legitimately distrustful of a pro-Putin state media, found and watched it nonetheless.)
Secret castles, vineyards and Dmitry Medvedev[‘s] yacht – https://dimon.navalny.com
proud to bring you the largest to date investigating the Fund’s fight against corruption.
We found and documented [by] the corrupt empire of the Prime Minister, consisting of a network of philanthropic organizations, issued on his proxies.
The oligarchs and the state-owned banks with their bribes pumped these charities, and then the money was spent on construction and the purchase of luxury real estate in Russia and abroad.
Documents confirming each fact set out in the film, are contained in the text investigation – https://dimon.navalny.com. We call on everyone to help us with the spread of this investigation. Send a link to friends and acquaintances, hang it in social networks….
Monday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of fifty-four. Sunrise is 6:31 AM and sunset 7:47 PM, for 12h 52m 59s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 46.7% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred forty-sixth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
The Los Angeles Times confronts the truth behind Why Trump lies: “The insult that Donald Trump brings to the equation is an apparent disregard for fact so profound as to suggest that he may not see much practical distinction between lies, if he believes they serve him, and the truth. His approach succeeds because of his preternaturally deft grasp of his audience. Though he is neither terribly articulate nor a seasoned politician, he has a remarkable instinct for discerning which conspiracy theories in which quasi-news source, or which of his own inner musings, will turn into ratings gold. He targets the darkness, anger and insecurity that hide in each of us and harnesses them for his own purposes. If one of his lies doesn’t work — well, then he lies about that.”
Jenna Johnson reports that Trump’s budget would hit rural towns especially hard — but they’re willing to trust him: “The president’s proposed budget would disproportionately harm the rural areas and small towns that were key to his unexpected win. Many red states like Oklahoma — where every single county went for Trump — are more reliant on the federal funds that Trump wants to cut than states that voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Durant has already undergone years of state budget cuts, as Oklahoma has been unable to balance its increasing costs with declines in the oil industry, tax cuts and generous corporate tax credits. That has made federal funds even more vital to the city, especially for programs that serve the poor and working class. “It’s very easy to look at a laundry list of things that exist and say, ‘Cut, cut, cut, cut,’ and say, ‘Well, this is wasteful spending’ without really understanding the true impact,” said Durant City Manager Tim Rundel, who grew up in poverty in northwest Arkansas. “The bottom line is a lot of our citizens depend on those programs.”
[Trump did not carry Whitewater proper (that is, the city), but even if he had, he would have been unworthy of trust, and deserving only of relentless opposition. We’re still early in a long struggle, and for now it seems reasonable that one’s focus should be on Trump, His Inner Circle, Principal Surrogates, and Media Defenders.]
Yamiche Alcindor reports that In Ohio County That Backed Trump, Word of Housing Cuts Stirs Fear: “In Warren, Amber Barr, 34, lives in a women’s supportive housing complex and regrets voting for Mr. Trump. She and her 4-year-old daughter, Brooklynn, survive on a $588 disability check and $340 in food stamps every month. Her rent is $99, and she fears that Mr. Trump’s housing cuts are just the beginning. “If I didn’t have these programs, I wouldn’t have any kind of support, I wouldn’t have any kind of direction as to what to do, where to go, and I wouldn’t have any money to help me find resources,” Ms. Barr said, as she began to cry. Housing assistance has helped her focus on getting treatment for hepatitis C, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and seeing a psychiatrist for anxiety. It also meant escaping the temporary housing she was in for several months after leaving an abusive relationship.”
It’s Opening Day, and Tom Hadricourt reports Brewers manager Craig Counsell ready for another ‘roller coaster’ season: Q: The Brewers are presently balancing the short-term goal of trying to win as many games as you can with the long-term goal of returning to playoff mode as soon as possible in this rebuilding process. Is that difficult to do?A: It will always be our jobs to have both of those goals in our heads and affect our decision-making. That’s how eventually you will sustain winning. You can never have one without the other, and decisions will fall at different ends of that spectrum. (General manager) David (Stearns) has been consistent in saying we’re going to make some decisions that satisfy one more than the other. I think that will be the case even when we’re winning (in the future). Otherwise, you run out of moves in our market. But, once the game starts, the long-term goes out the window. We might make decisions on who we’re allocating playing time to, with a longer focus. But when the game starts, you’re doing everything you can to win that game.”
Invisible Oregon is a stunning time-lapse film shot entirely with infrared converted cameras, uncovering a landscape that’s out of reach of ordinary human sight. “Invisible Oregon is a study of light across time and space,” wrote the filmmakerSam Forencich. “As the sun rises over the state of Oregon, infrared light travels across the earth revealing the subtleties of new growth and the dramatic intersection of sky and earth.” Forencich is a photographer for the National Basketball Association by day, and experiments with different types of filmmaking in his spare time. The sound design for Invisible Oregon was done by his son, Travis Forencich.
Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of sixty. Sunrise is 6:33 AM and sunset 7:23 PM, for 12h 50m 07s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 35.7% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred forty-fifth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
On this day in 1917, Pres. Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. On this day in 1865, the 5th, 6th, 7th, 19th, 36th, 37th and 38th Wisconsin Infantry regiments participate in the final assault on Petersburg, which brought about the fall of Richmond. (The 5th Wisconsin Infantry was in front at the charge and their flag was the first one planted on the rebel works.)
“WHITEWATER, Wis. – A 2-year-old who was supposed to be at a day care in Whitewater was found alone outdoors by strangers, according to police and the men who found the girl. Department of Children and Families Communications Director Joe Scialfa confirmed that the agency received a complaint against the The Learning Depot child care center related to the Whitewater incident. The Learning Depot is on Highway 59, the same road where Madl said the girl was found. DCF’s childcare rating and complaint-tracking system, YoungStar, had records of multiple violations during licensing visits by state officials in April, May and August of 2015 and April, July and November of 2016. Violations ranged from uncovered garbage cans, inaccurate record keeping to child-tracking procedures. YoungStar records show The Learning Depot was sent a warning letter on Aug. 31, 2016, for a violation in July in which a staff member reported having 11 children in her group, but officials counted 12 and only 10 were signed in. A violation of close supervision was noted on April 4, 2016, which YoungStar described as “Children were not closely supervised when they ran ahead of the teacher when leaving the center and crossing the parking lot to play on the driveway while cars were driving through this same area.” The center was fined $100 for an incident July 11 for an incident in which a 5-year-old was allowed to enter the building unsupervised from the playground to use the bathroom. A message left with The Learning Depot staff Friday was not immediately returned. Scalfa said DCF is investigating the Thursday incident.”
Matt Reed cautions Trump Is President. Now Encrypt Your Email: “This is more than a philosophical concern about the hypothetical violation of privacy rights; it’s a practical one, and not just for groups who have specific fears of federal intrusion — undocumented immigrants, say, who want to communicate with family or lawyers away from the predatory gaze of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or journalists seeking to protect confidential sources. As lawyers and civil libertarians point out, federal criminal law is so vast and complicated that it is easy to unwittingly violate it, and even innocent conversation can later be used to build a criminal case. Encrypting your communication isn’t a matter of hiding criminal activity; it’s a matter of ensuring innocuous activity can’t be deemed suspicious by a zealous prosecutor or intelligence agent. Telling a friend that a party is really going to “blow up” when you arrive is less funny when it’s being entered into evidence against you.”
Nicholas Kristof writes that In Trump Country, Shock at Trump Budget Cuts, but Still Loyalty: ““This program makes sense,” said Banks, who was placed by the program into a job as a receptionist for a senior nutrition program. Banks said she depends on the job to make ends meet, and for an excuse to get out of the house. “If I lose this job,” she said, “I’ll sit home and die.” Yet she said she might still vote for Trump in 2020. And that’s a refrain I heard over and over. Some of the loyalty seemed to be grounded in resentment at Democrats for mocking Trump voters as dumb bigots, some from a belief that budgets are complicated, and some from a sense that it’s too early to abandon their man. They did say that if jobs didn’t reappear, they would turn against him. One recent survey found that only 3 percent of Trump voters would vote differently if the election were today (and most of those would vote for third-party candidates; only 1 percent said they would switch to voting for Hillary Clinton). Elizabeth Hays, 27, said her life changed during her freshman year in high school, when four upperclassmen raped her. Domestic Violence Intervention Services rescued her, she said, by helping her understand that the rape wasn’t her fault. She’s profoundly grateful to the organization — yet she stands by Trump even as she is dismayed that he wants to slash support for a group that helped her when she needed it most. “We have to look at what we spend money on,” she said, adding, “I will stand behind my president.”
[Many Trump supporters will stand by him, and yet his particular ruin will come despite their support. They can’t save Trump. Successful opposition to Trump demands from a focus at the top, not the supporters about whom Trump nerver cared, and will soon enough abandon. Their loyalty to him will not – indeed has not – been reciprocated. See, Trump, His Inner Circle, Principal Surrogates, and Media Defenders.]
Susan Svrluga reports that A student says school officials stopped him from handing out copies of the Constitution. Now he’s suing: “Kevin Shaw was handing out copies of the U.S. Constitution to students at Pierce College in Los Angeles when he was stopped by a school official and told that he was only allowed to do so in the “free-speech zone” on campus and would need a permit, the philosophy and political science student says. “These are our rights,” Shaw said this week, after filing a lawsuit in federal court against the college and the Los Angeles Community College District, which requires all campuses to have such zones. “Why should the school be able to set which groups are allowed to speak, and who is allowed their First Amendment rights?”….Shaw’s case launches a national effort by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education to combat “free-speech zones” on campuses, which the group has long criticized as unconstitutional. “At the very moment when colleges and universities should be encouraging open debate and the active exchange of ideas, Pierce College instead sends the message to its students that free speech is suspect and should be ever more tightly controlled,” Arthur Willner, an attorney working with FIRE on the case, said in a statement. “This does a disservice to the student body, as well as being contrary to long-established law.”
Anyone can write their name in the sand, but Jim Denevan uses the beach to create stunning large-scale art. What started as a hobby over 20 years ago has resulted in worldwide recognition, and he’s created masterworks from Russia to Chile to Australia. At the end of the day, though, Jim’s just happy to find a new beach to make his canvas.
Saturday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of fifty-nine. Sunrise is 6:34 AM and sunset 7:21 PM, for 12h 47m 14s of daytime, The moon is a waxing crescent with 24.9% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred forty-fourth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
The New York Times laments Venezuela’s Descent Into Dictatorship: “A ruling this week by Venezuela’s Supreme Court stripping the nation’s legislative branch of all authority — and vesting that power in the court itself — moves a country already beset by violence and economic scarcity one step closer to outright dictatorship. The decision means essentially that every arm of Venezuela’s government is now under the thumb of President Nicolás Maduro, whose supporters have gone to great lengths to wrest authority from the National Assembly, which has been dominated by a slate of opposition parties since early 2016. The country’s top court, which is packed with Maduro loyalists, had already invalidated every major law passed by Congress. On Wednesday, as part of a decision involving the executive branch’s authority over oil ventures, the court declared that henceforth the judicial branch would execute all powers normally reserved for the legislature.”
Michael Kranish and Renae Merle report that Stephen K. Bannon, architect of anti-globalist policies, got rich as a global capitalist: “Years before Bannon became the architect of an anti-globalist revolution — working as chief strategist under President Trump to weaken free-trade deals, restrict immigration from a number of majority-Muslim nations and slam corporations that move jobs overseas — he made his fortune as the quintessential global capitalist. An examination of Bannon’s career as an investment banker found that the Bannon of the 1980s and 1990s lived what looks like an alternate reality from the fiery populist of today who recently declared that “globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia.” With stints at Goldman Sachs and his own firm, Bannon was a creature of corporatism, wealth-building and international finance. His company received crucial financial backing from banks in Japan and France, and one of his key clients was the Saudi prince. It all was managed from the unlikely setting of an office steps away from the elite shopping district of Rodeo Drive.”
For cat lovers and exercise enthusiasts, free yoga classes filled with feline friends sounds like a pretty good deal. But these classes are offered with a larger purpose in mind: The cats need homes.
The P.A.W.S. Animal Adoption Center in Camden, Maine, offers free monthly cat yoga classes as a way to introduce potential new pet owners to some kitties in need. P.A.W.S. executive director Shelly Butler told the Bangor Daily News Monday that the classes were a “win-win” because yoga has therapeutic benefits cats bring joy to many people.
Butler got the idea for the monthly classes after reading about other animal shelters in the U.S. with similar offers.
The trend started when yoga practitioner Jeanette Skaluba, a volunteer at the now-closed Homeward Bound Pet Shelter, in Decatur, Illinois, posted a video of her performing the practice with kitties to YouTube, according to Yoga Journal.
Skaluba started a website devoted to the concept called Yoga For Cats, though the trend has also been dubbed Meowga.
At New York City’s Meow Parlour, the Big Apple’s first cat cafe, Yoga and Kitty classes are offered five times a month in partnership with the nonprofit organization KittyKind. The parlour’s teacher Amy Apgar leads groups in 30 minutes of cat playtime and 45 minutes of yoga. “These cats are all up for adoption. Some of them are special needs,” she told CNN. “Some of them have been through a lot.”
Small towns across America are familiar with publications that are – in support and in effect – quasi-government publications. In the Whitewater area, it’s nearly impossible to imagine the Daily Union or Banner as offering anything other than sycophantic coverage. It’s fair to qualify this as nearly impossible, as ever so rarely one of these publications will stray from an insider’s line, for reasons of personal pique if not actual substance.