Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of twenty-five. Sunrise is 7:06 AM and sunset 5:01 PM, for 11h 54m 43s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 96.6% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred twenty-sixth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1879, Albert Einstein is born in Ulm, Germany. On this day in 1794, Eli Whitney receives a patent for the cotton gin. On this day in 1854, the Baraboo River floods: “”On the night of March 14, 1859, the Baraboo River, greatly swollen by spring rains and melting snow, went on a rampage, taking out a dam that supplied power for the flour mill of Bassett and Pratt. The flour mill was then the ‘largest institution of its kind for many miles around and about it centered the interest of the entire community’. Nearly 500 men responded to the catastrophe. The progress of the water was checked by the felling of trees. The flour in the mill was hauled to safety with team and wagons. The flood caused damage to the lower Maxwell Dam.”

Recommended for reading in full — 

Jim Dwyer and William Rashbaum report that a Federal Inquiry of Fox News Moves to a Grand Jury, but Without Preet Bharara: “A federal grand jury sitting in Manhattan is expected to soon hear testimony from at least two witnesses to testify in coming days about business practices at Fox News when it was led by Mr. Ailes, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Mr. Ailes, who was forced out in July amid revelations of multiple accusations of sexual harassment, has denied those charges. The current inquiry, which began in September and appears to be in an early stage, may be focused, at least in part, on settlement payments, a person with knowledge of the matter said. One of those subpoenaed, according to the two people, is Mark Kranz, the former chief financial officer for Fox News who oversaw the network’s finances when it paid millions of dollars in settlements. Mr. Kranz was appointed to his position by Mr. Ailes in 2004, and resigned last year, a week after Mr. Ailes had done so.”

Jeremy Diamond has the headline of the day in Spicer: Trump didn’t mean wiretapping when he tweeted about wiretapping: “The White House on Monday walked back a key point of President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated allegation that President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower during the 2016 election. Namely, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump wasn’t referring to wiretapping when he tweeted about wiretapping.”

David A. Graham asks How Did Michael Flynn Ever Get Hired as National Security Adviser?: “Flynn’s lobbying on behalf of Turkey was not the only potentially disqualifying problem. For example, the retired general had shared bogus news items on several occasions, and his son was fired from the Trump transition effort for pumping a preposterous conspiracy theory about Clinton aides running a child-prostitution ring out of a D.C. pizzeria. Flynn’s tenure at the Defense Intelligence Agency should probably have given Trump some pause about appointing him. His brief and hectic stint directing DIA ended with his firing by the Obama administration, which probably made him a more alluring hire for Trump but should have given pause instead. ….Finally, there was the matter of Flynn’s ties to Russia, which ultimately caused his firing. In 2013, while still in uniform, he met with Russian intelligence officials, despite skepticism of many American officials. In November 2015, he traveled there for a celebration of RT, the Kremlin-backed news channel, against the advice of friends and colleagues. And during the presidential transition, Flynn spoke with the Russian ambassador to the United States, discussing sanctions levied on the Russian government by the Obama administration. Flynn then lied about those conversations, both to the public and to Pence, who repeated the denial in a CBS News interview before the election. Trump reportedly learned that Flynn had lied to Pence on January  26, but Flynn was not forced to resign until that became public knowledge.”

Zach Putnam’s film describes Coming to America as Refugees, in Children’s Words:

After several of his journalist colleagues were killed in Iraq, Ahmed Al-Zubidi applied for refugee status in the United States. After waiting seven years for approval, he was resettled in Oregon with his family. In this short film by Zach Putnam, we hear his children, 4-year-old Almas and 10-year-old Mustafa, explain what it was like to leave Iraq for Beaverton, Oregon. “When we came to America, I thought America was a dream,” says Mustafa in one of the more poignant opening scenes. “Now I’ve got my own room so I don’t have to share everything.” You can find more of Putnam’s work on his website. He is a master’s student in Multimedia Journalism at the University of Oregon.

Olly the Jack Russell runs with wild abandon at Crufts:

Good morning.

Whitewater will see snowfall through the day, on a Monday with a high of thirty-three. Sunrise is 7:08 AM and sunset 6:59 PM, for 11h 51m 48s of daytime. The moon is full, with 99.3% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred twenty-fifth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1781, British astronomer William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus. On this day in 1862, the 8th and 15th Wisconsin Infantry regiments and the 5th, 6th and 7th Wisconsin Light Artillery batteries fight in the Battle of New Madrid, Missouri.

Recommended for reading in full — 

James B. Nelson writes that Gov. Scott Walker’s promise to create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin remains elusive: “More than six years ago as a candidate for governor, Republican Scott Walker promised that if he was elected, the state would add 250,000 private-sector jobs in four years. That goal continues to be elusive. A report issued Thursday by the state Department of Workforce Development includes the final job creation tally for 2016, allowing a look at six complete years under Walker. The latest report showed that the state lost 4,000 jobs in December, putting total state private-sector employment at 2,516,100. For all of 2016, state reports show that employers added 17,200 jobs, by far the lowest annual tally since Walker took office in January 2011. The total number of jobs created since Walker took office is 185,208, or 64,792 short of Walker’s goal of 250,000.”

The New York Times describes the Man Without an ISIS Plan: “On the campaign trail, no foreign policy issue seized Donald Trump more than the fight against the Islamic State. Once president, he signed an executive order giving his generals 30 days to produce a plan to defeat the terrorist group, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis gave him options on Feb. 27. Yet if Mr. Trump has decided on a new plan for defeating ISIS, it isn’t obvious. The missions underway in Iraq and Syria were set in motion by President Barack Obama. While they have achieved some tactical successes, they point to a deepening American military involvement in both countries. The question now is whether Mr. Trump will continue, or accelerate, that trend.”

Kelsey Snell reports that Trump said no Americans would lose coverage under Obamacare repeal. Paul Ryan won’t make that promise: “House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Sunday that he doesn’t know how many Americans would lose coverage under his proposal to revise the Affordable Care Act, which is under fire from fellow Republicans, AARP and virtually every sector of the U.S. health-care industry. “I can’t answer that question,” Ryan said in an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Margaret Sullivan observes that the Pro-Trump media sets the agenda with lies. Here’s how traditional media can take it back: “A major new study, published in Columbia Journalism Review, detailed just how influential the new media ecosystem has become, calling it a determining factor in Trump’s election….You can’t fight propaganda with standard journalism, [editor of the CJR Kyle] Pope told me. Watchdogging the fake-news machinery and fact-checking relentlessly is part of his prescription. Rosenstiel has suggested other measures: being more transparent about how we gather and verify the news; covering what’s important (not “barking at every car”); and using clearer labels to distinguish news from opinion. I would add that news organizations have to acknowledge their own biases internally, and constantly report against them. The CJR study concludes on a hopeful note: that a renaissance of legitimate journalism may be the result of everything that’s happened. I’d love to think that, but it’s going to take hard work, the kind that doesn’t come easy to journalists: more openness to criticism, continued self-examination and willingness to change.”

Anatomy of a Scene takes a look at ‘Kong: Skull Island’:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of thirty-four. Sunrise is 7:09 AM and sunset 6:58 PM, for 11h 48m 52s of daytime. The moon is full today. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred twenty-fourth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 2009, notorious swindler Bernie Madoff pled guilty to 11 federal felonies, including securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, making false statements, perjury, theft from an employee benefit plan, and making false filings with the SEC. On this day in 1862, 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry musters in at Milwaukee. The regiment would lose 312 men during service in defense of the Union.

Recommended for reading in full —

Jason Stein reports for Sunshine Week: Secretive software doing more state of Wisconsin work: “Government is using private computer models to scrutinize most Wisconsinites in some way, from criminals to income taxpayers. State officials generally know the information being fed into these programs but often don’t know how the firms analyze the data. Companies guard these methods closely since this “special sauce” represents the basis for their business. That creates potential pitfalls because these computer models can make mistakes, said Cathy O’Neil, a Harvard-trained mathematician and author of the 2016 book “Weapons of Math Destruction.” “The problem is we have a blind trust mindset with the data,” O’Neil said. “We need to demand evidence that big data is accurate, fair and legal.” Bill Lueders agreed, saying the public has a right to know how government works. “The state of Wisconsin should not be using outside contractors if it means less transparency,” said Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.”

An informal shrine marks the place just outside the Kremlin wall where Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was slain in 2015. Every few days, city workers throw out the flowers, portraits, and candles, and a small group of activists who tend to the site build it back. . . . . . . #washpostmoscow #russia #moscow #ipulledoverforthis #moscow #kremlin #nemtsov

A post shared by Washington Post Moscow Bureau (@washpostmoscow) on Mar 9, 2017 at 3:41pm PST

David Filipov writes that A film about a slain Putin critic gets a screening — just off Red Square: “It takes about 700 steps at a leisurely pace to stroll from the lavish mall along Red Square to the bridge over the Moscow River where, more than 740 days ago , Russia’s most prominent opposition leader was gunned down as he made that walk with his girlfriend. There, in the shadow of the red brick Kremlin walls, an informal shrine marks the spot and the memory of Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and President Vladi­mir Putin’s loudest critic. A neat row of flowers, candles and portraits is guarded in shifts around the clock by pro-democracy activists, who frequently find themselves targeted by police. It’s truly a makeshift memorial: When its guardians are hauled away, city workers remove the flowers and portraits, and it’s up to the next shift to remake it. Against this tense backdrop, something remarkable is happening in a small, luxurious movie theater inside that opulent mall. A film is showing that recounts, in unflinching detail, the rise and fall of Russian democracy through the story of Nemtsov’s political career, from a whiz-kid regional governor considered presidential material to the political margins of an illiberal society dominated by Putin. That the film “The Man Who Was Too Free,” was allowed to be made, much less shown across Red Square from the Kremlin, came as a shock to its creators, Mikhail Fishman and Vera Krichevskaya. Told entirely through monologues by Nemtsov’s associates, interviews with him and video footage of his public speeches, the documentary focuses on the missed chances and miscalculations that led to Putin’s unchallenged rule. The Russian leader, whose intolerance of criticism is legendary, does not come off in a flattering light.”

Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg report that During his political rise, Stephen K. Bannon was a man with no fixed address: “In the digital age, when most Americans leave a clear footprint of their whereabouts, Bannon left a meandering trail filled with ambiguity, contradictions and questions. The Post found that Bannon left a negligible footprint in Florida. He did not get a Florida driver’s license or register a car in the state. He never voted in Florida, and neighbors near two homes he leased in Miami said they never saw him. His rent and utility bills were sent to his business manager in California. Bannon’s former wife occupied the premises, according to a landlord and neighbors. At the same time Bannon said he was living with his ex-wife, she was under investigation for involvement in a plot to smuggle drugs and a cellphone into a Miami jail, a law enforcement document obtained by The Post shows. The Post learned that state prosecutors in Miami have an active investigation into Bannon’s assertions that he was a Florida resident and qualified to vote in the state from 2014 to 2016. In late August, investigators subpoenaed Bannon’s lease of a Coconut Grove home and other documents. They also contacted the landlords of that home and another that Bannon leased nearby, and sought information from a gardener and handyman who worked at one of the homes, according to documents and interviews.”

Hunter Walker describes How the ACLU is gearing up to take on Trump, one city at a time: “And along with the lobbying and legal work that is typically the ACLU’s bread and butter, the organization is trying something new as it pushes the Freedom Cities agenda. The ACLU is providing supporters with a blueprint for activism to apply pressure on local authorities to adopt the plan. It’s a clear departure for the organization. For nearly a century, the ACLU has been nonpartisan and focused on legal battles. The organization’s foray into grassroots organizing and activism is the brainchild of Faiz Shakir, a 37-year-old former Senate aide who was hired in January as the group’s national political director. “People have known us for, ‘See you in court,’” Shakir said in the Freedom Cities memo. “I hope now they’ll also know us for, ‘See you in the streets.’” The ACLU’s Freedom Cities campaign will begin with a “Resistance Training” live-streamed from Miami, Fla., on Saturday afternoon. Supporters will be given materials instructing them on how to get meetings with local officials who are “key pressure points.” The ACLU is also advising activists on specific arguments to make in order to pressure them to adopt the policies. These initial meetings are just the beginning. The ACLU has also launched a website, People Power, which will feature maps highlighting future Freedom Cities meetings and other events. In addition to keeping people involved in the immigration policy effort, Shakir said the site will allow supporters to suggest ideas for future efforts.” (Disclosure: I am a longtime member of the ACLU.)

Great Big Story tells of Found Sounds: Making Instruments From Trash —

Found Sounds: Making Instruments From Trash from Great Big Story on Vimeo.

Ken Butler is a Brooklyn-based artist and musician who has built over 400 musical instruments. But these aren’t just any custom-built instruments. Butler builds his pieces from discarded items he finds on the streets of New York City. Hockey sticks, tennis rackets, brooms, golf clubs, pieces of furniture, styrofoam, toothbrushes: all are fair game for his masterpieces. It’s musique concrète … jungle.

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of twenty-nine. Sunrise is 6:11 AM and sunset 5:57 PM, for 11h 46m 04s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.7% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred twenty-third day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1941, Pres. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease policy “(An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States”, (Pub.L. 77–11, H.R. 1776, 55 Stat. 31, enacted March 11, 1941)  under which the United States supplied Free France, the United Kingdom, the Republic of China, and later the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and August 1945.” On this day in 1839, the Territorial Legislature passes an act that officially recognizing Dane County and calling for the election of county officers on the first Monday of May, 1839.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Peter Baker and Matthew Rosenberg report that Michael Flynn Was Paid to Represent Turkey’s Interests During Trump Campaign: “WASHINGTON — The candidate he was advising last fall was running on a platform of America First. The client he was working for last fall was paying him more than $500,000 to put Turkey first. Michael T. Flynn, who went from the campaign trail to the White House as President Trump’s first national security adviser, filed papers this week acknowledging that he worked as a foreign agent last year representing the interests of the Turkish government in a dispute with the United States. His surprising admission, coming more than four months after the election, raised further questions about the rise and fall of a presidential confidant who was forced to resign after 24 days in office for withholding the full story of his communications with Russia’s ambassador. Even now, out of government and out of favor, Mr. Flynn and his contact with foreign figures presented a new headache for a White House eager to move on.”

Ronald Klain describes The winning argument Democrats have against Trump [and not only Democrats, of course] : “Most of the country is divided between those who love Trump for the cultural war he is waging, no matter what else he does, and those who loathe him for his divisiveness, even if he somehow produces results on other issues. As a consequence, the future of Trump’s coalition — and the success of his presidency — turns on voters caught between the two groups, voters who were troubled by Trump’s outrageous behavior and statements, but “held their noses” to support him out of a belief that he would produce change on health care, jobs, trade and incomes. These “in spite of the outrages” voters are looking for results on bread-and-butter issues. Trump is not delivering for them, his claims to the contrary notwithstanding.  Democrats need to point this out — relentlessly. Take health care. During the campaign, Trump promised immediate action to repeal and replace Obamacare. In the world according to Trump, everyone was “going to end up with great health care for a fraction of the price”  that would “take place immediately after we go in.” Now, 122 days [as of 3.10.17] after the election, Trump’s laughable promise to call a special session of Congress to repeal Obamacare has evaporated. The plan circulated this week by House Republicans is under fire from conservatives and liberals. And Trump has still failed to put forward any approach of his own. About that “great health care for a fraction of the price”? Don’t hold your breath.”

James Poniewozik describes Sean Spicer’s Briefings, Cringe TV for an Audience of One: “As long as you don’t care too much about facts, you can learn a lot from a Sean Spicer daily briefing. The White House press secretary has said that whatever your lying eyes told you, President Trump’s swearing-in had “the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period.” He has insisted that the president’s travel ban against majority-Muslim countries, which the president called a “ban,” was not a ban. He has claimed, falsely, that former President Obama tapped a Fox News reporter’s phones. But Mr. Spicer’s performance — strident, defensive, stressed-out — carries a wealth of information: about Mr. Trump’s image obsession, about what the president expects of his underlings, about the impossibility of contorting one’s self into a human bridge between reality and Mr. Trump’s agitated mindspace. The real story, every briefing, is what Mr. Spicer can’t say and how he doesn’t say it.”

Jeff Potrykus reports on UW 70, Indiana 60: Balanced scoring, defense lead way: “Second-seeded UW overcame early rebounding issues in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament Friday night at the Verizon Center but gradually took control on both ends en route to a 70-60 over the 10th-seeded Hoosiers. “I think our system…they want to get up and down,” said senior guard Zak Showalter, one of five UW players who scored in double figures. “They load their team with shooters and guys who can get ’em up in a hurry. “If we can get a good look on the offensive end and set our defense…I think that is to our advantage. I think that’s why we handle them so well.” Save for brief stretches, UW (24-8) handled the white-hot Hoosiers on both ends of the court to advance to the semifinals, set for 2:30 p.m. (Central) Saturday. UW will face No. 6 Northwestern (23-10), a 72-64 winner over No. 3 Maryland in the final game Friday.”

Taichi Kitamura of Sushi Kappo Tamura describes process of making the best dang sushi rice you’ve ever had:

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be suny with a high of twenty-five. Sunrise is 6:13 AM and sunset 5:56 PM, for 11h 43m 09s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 95% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}One hundred twenty-second day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1864, U.S. Grant takes command of all Union armies, and makes his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac. On this day in 1949, Mildred Elizabeth Gillars is convicted of treason for her role as an American broadcaster employed by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany to proliferate propaganda during World War II.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Alan Rappeport reports that the White House Casts Pre-emptive Doubt on Congressional Budget Office: “Now, with Mr. Trump’s administration aggressively pitching the House Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Capitol Hill’s official scorekeeper — the Congressional Budget Office — is coming under intense fire. As it prepares to render its judgment on the cost and impact of the bill, the nonpartisan agency of economists and statisticians has become a political piñata — and the latest example of Mr. Trump’s team casting doubt on benchmarks accepted as trustworthy for decades.”

Rappeport also addresses the question Will a Leak Reveal Trump’s Tax Returns? Don’t Hold Your Breath: “I think an I.R.S. leak is extremely unlikely,” said Fred Goldberg, who served as I.R.S. commissioner from 1989 to 1992. “It’s a combination of the culture, the legal framework, the logistics and the risks.” Although the I.R.S. has nearly 80,000 employees, the agency uses strict safeguards when it comes to privacy. The number of people with access to returns is limited, and improper browsing of taxpayer files is automatically flagged. Hard copies of presidential returns historically have been kept in a safe outside of the commissioner’s office, tax experts say. Returns of celebrities are protected even more carefully than those of regular taxpayers. “I would never say never, because it has happened in the past,” said Lawrence B. Gibbs, another former I.R.S. commissioner who was its chief counsel when Mr. Nixon’s tax information was made public. “But people are probably going to have to look elsewhere than the I.R.S. for the president’s tax returns if that’s what they want.”

Marc Fisher explains The [six] terms Trump and Bannon use: a glossary: “President Trump and his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, have introduced a new political language to Washington — a populist and nationalist rhetoric that cuts across traditional Republican vs. Democratic divisions. Some of the words and phrases the administration has injected into Washington’s political vocabulary previously thrived on the far reaches of both left and right. Here is a glossary of terms that Trump and Bannon have been using, with some background on where the language came from and how it’s been deployed….”

Greg Sargent contends that Trumpism is now getting exposed as a monumental fraud: “little by little, as Trump seeks to make good on his promises, Trumpism — as sold by the man himself — is being revealed as fraudulent to its core. NBC News reports that health-care experts across the political spectrum agree that the new House GOP health-care plan, which Trump has now endorsed, falls short of his promises: The bill, experts said, falls far short of the goals President Donald Trump laid out: Affordable coverage for everyone; lower deductibles and health care costs; better care; and zero cuts to Medicaid. Instead, the bill is almost certain to reduce overall coverage, result in deductibles increasing, and will phase out Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.”

One photographer knows what it’s like to Film Up Close And Personal With A Rhino:

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will see a forty percent chance of snow showers this morning, with a daytime high of thirty-seven. Sunrise is 6:14 AM and sunset 5:55 PM, for 11h 40m 14s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 89.3% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred twenty-first day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1933, the first piece of legislation (the Emergency Banking Act ch. 1, 48 Stat. 1) as part of New Deal legislation is enacted during a special session of the 73rd Congress before regular seating. On this day in 1863, the 5th and 8th Wisconsin Light Artillery batteries support a reconnaissance expedition from Salem to Versailles, Tennessee.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Dylan Byers reports that Sean Spicer wrongly claims Fox reporter’s phones were ‘tapped‘: “White House press secretary Sean Spicer wrongly claimed Wednesday that a Fox News reporter had his phones tapped while Barack Obama was president. “James Rosen had his phone, multiple phones tapped,” Spicer said at the daily press briefing. The comment was made while Spicer was addressing a question about leaks from the intelligence community and new WikiLeaks’ documents detailing alleged CIA hacking operations. That claim, which has been propagating in conservative media for several days, was shot down by none other than Rosen himself during a recent appearance on Fox News. “I was not wiretapped, my parents were not wiretapped, which is where you place a listening device on someone’s telephone line and you listen to their conversations,” Rosen told Fox & Friends on Sunday after the show’s hosts claimed his phones were tapped. Instead, Rosen explained, former Attorney General Eric Holder had secretly designated Rosen a criminal co-conspirator — because he had received classified information from a former State Department contractor — thereby giving the government permission to subpoena Rosen’s emails and phone records, including those of his parents.”

Emily Steele reports that Fox Is Said to Settle With Former Contributor Over Sexual Assault Claims: “Last summer, as it wrapped up multiple settlements after the Roger Ailes sexual harassment scandal, Fox News and its parent company, 21st Century Fox, were trying hard to end the ugliest chapter in its 20-year history. The downfall of Mr. Ailes, the former chairman and chief executive, had exposed a newsroom culture that many women there called hostile and demeaning. 21st Century Fox ordered an internal investigation and stated publicly that “behavior that disrespects women” would not be tolerated. Nearly eight months later, the company finds itself still dealing with fallout from that crisis. In late February, 21st Century Fox reached a settlement worth more than $2.5 million with a former Fox News contributor who reported that she was sexually assaulted by an executive at company headquarters two years ago, according to people briefed on the agreement.”

Adrienne LaFrance asks Why Is Trump Returning to Birther-Style Attacks on Obama?: “Trump had claimed, without evidence or explanation, that President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump’s phone lines during the 2016 election. The White House confirmed on Sunday that it would neither explain the basis for the president’s accusation or offer additional comment on the matter. The president is calling for a congressional investigation into the alleged wiretapping, the statement said. Guessing at a president’s motivations has long been a national pastime for political junkies and journalists, but never quite like this. There is, however, an unmistakable familiarity to Trump’s latest accusations against Obama. Without knowing whether Trump’s tweets were based on an intelligence report, a news report, a conspiracy theory, or something else entirely—one must consider the possibility that the unsubstantiated claims are, in fact, a political strategy. Trump has peddled a lie as a way to delegitimize Obama in the past. “An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office,” Trump tweeted on August 6, 2012, “and told me that @BarackObama’s birth certificate is a fraud.” This was more than a year after Obama had publicly shared a copy of his birth certificate. The president was finally compelled to do so because of Trump’s birther crusade, a years-long attempt by Trump to convince people that Obama was born in Kenya and therefore not eligible to be president of the United States. (Obama was born in Hawaii.)”

For Amanda Marcotte, Here’s the key to Trump’s outrageous lies: He sells them with conviction: “Donald Trump lies, a lot. He lies so much it’s usually safer to assume any random statement he makes is false until proven otherwise. The Washington Post has been tracking the president’s falsehoods, and as of this week, he has told an average of 4.5 lies a day in the six weeks he’s been in office. Yet somehow, his supporters cling to this bizarre notion that he’s an honest man who shoots straight from the hip. During the campaign, polling showed that voters thought Trump was more honest than Hillary Clinton, even though PolitiFact has described her as one of the most truthful contemporary politicians, beating not only all available Republicans but also Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden. (Only Barack Obama has been found to be more truthful.) Trump’s supporters continue to believe in their man. While most Americans trust the news media more than Trump, a recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 78 percent of the Republicans surveyed insisted that Trump is more trustworthy. How can Trump’s supporters be so blind to the president’s measurable aversion to facts? Part of the problem, as psychologist Bill von Hippel explained in a phone interview, is that Trump supporters “feel that what he’s saying he genuinely believes.” This sense that Trump believes in himself may matter more than the actual facts. Von Hippel, who teaches at the University of Queensland in Australia, is part of a research team that just published the paper “Self-deception facilitates interpersonal persuasion” in the Journal of Economic Psychology. His study, which involved 306 subjects, suggests that those who excel at deceiving others often deceive themselves first. The best liars, it turns out, are people who can successfully lie to themselves.”

Harley is one cup-wasting cockatoo: