Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy, with morning snow showers, and a daytime high of twenty-five. Sunrise is 7:23 AM and sunset 6:43 PM, for 9h 20m 30s of daytime. The moon is full today, with 100 percent of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}sixty-fifth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

Whitewater’s Tech Park Board meets at 8 AM, and the Landmarks Commission Birge Fountain Subcommittee Meeting will meet at 10 AM.

On this day in 2010, an earthquake strikes Haiti, killing over one-hundred thousand. On this day in 1864, the 20th Wisconsin Infantry takes part in a battle in Matamoras, Mexico to rescue the American consul in Matamoras when he became caught in an uprising between two opposing Mexican factions.

Recommended for reading in full —

Christian Caryl writes that one should Beware the Dark Art of Russian Blackmail: “Blackmail exists everywhere, of course. But nowhere else has it become such a prominent part of political life as in post-Soviet Russia. In the wild 1990s, the gray men of the old KGB sold their talents to the highest bidders, and plenty were willing to bid: newly minted millionaires, would-be politicians, mobsters. Countless private security services competed to see who could produce the dirtiest dirt, and journalists — another feature of a strange new world of turbulent freedom — were happy to publish what they dug up. Putin learned well. As president he soon cracked down on both the freelance spies and the journalists, but he never forgot his early lessons about the uses of kompromat, from the Russian for “compromising material.” Discrediting an enemy, he realized, can be far more effective than throwing them in jail, so the culture of kompromat has continued to thrive under his rule — though it’s now primarily deployed in the services of the Russian state.”

Paul Wood of the BBC considers the Trump ‘compromising’ claims: How and why did we get here?, and offers different perspectives on Trump: “In a New York Times op-ed in August, the former director of the CIA, Michael Morell, wrote: “In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr Putin had recruited Mr Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.” Agent; puppet – both terms imply some measure of influence or control by Moscow. Michael Hayden, former head of both the CIA and the NSA, simply called Mr Trump a “polezni durak” – a useful fool. The background to those statements was information held – at the time – within the intelligence community. Now all Americans have heard the claims. Little more than a week before his inauguration, they will have to decide if their president-elect really was being blackmailed by Moscow.”

Longtime intelligence analyst Amy Zegart poses The Biggest Intelligence Questions Raised by the Trump Dossier: “1) Trump team communications with the Russian government before the election….2) Whether the FBI screwed up….3) Is the two-page intelligence report officials provided to Trump and Obama, which in part summarizes the longer set of memos compiled by the former MI6 agent and made public by Buzzfeed, primarily aimed at the past or the future?….4) The obvious unknown:  Is the embarrassing information about Mr. Trump true?”

Greg Sargent observes that Trump’s presser was remarkable. It means we’re heading into truly uncharted territory: “Take two key provisions [of Trump’s proposals oon conflicts of interest] here, the idea for a new ethics adviser that would sign off on new deals, and the pledge to “isolate” himself from the business to the degree that he won’t know about any new deals unless he reads about them in the media. The problem is obvious: Even if Trump takes these steps, and even if he does transfer his holdings into a trust managed by his sons, he still knows what his business holdings are, regardless of whether he knows about any “new” deals or whether any such new deals pass muster with his ethics adviser. That means that much of the potential for conflicts remains in place: Trump will be making regulatory decisions impacting businesses (such as banks) that are entangled with his own. He will be setting American policy in countries where he retains holdings. Trump’s businesses could even directly benefit from Trump policies. Only full divestment would have sufficed to ward off potential conflicts in these areas.”

From You Suck at Cooking (episode 55) it’s Slam Poetry Popcorn —

Good morning.

Midweek in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of thirty-eight. Sunrise is 7:23 AM and sunset is 4:42 PM, for 9h 18m 58s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.7% of its visible disk illuminated.Today is the {tooltip}sixty-fourth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

Whitewater’s Police & Fire Commission meets tonight at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1964, the U.S. Surgeon General issues the first government report saying smoking may be hazardous to one’s health. On this day in 1887, conservationist Aldo Leopold is born.

Recommended for reading in full —

Julian Borger reports that John McCain passes dossier alleging secret Trump-Russia contacts to FBI: “The Guardian has learned that the FBI applied for a warrant from the foreign intelligence surveillance (Fisa) court over the summer in order to monitor four members of the Trump team suspected of irregular contacts with Russian officials. The Fisa court turned down the application asking FBI counter-intelligence investigators to narrow its focus. According to one report, the FBI was finally granted a warrant in October, but that has not been confirmed, and it is not clear whether any warrant led to a full investigation.”

Jennifer Rubin asks the pertinent question, Could Trump be in Putin’s pocket?: “unless and until Americans are satisfied that their president-elect is truly putting America first and not acting at the behest of a foreign country, every nominee, policy decision and statement will raise questions. Does Trump believe what he says or is he saying what Russian President Vladimir Putin wants him to say? Does Trump want to get along with Russia for his own purposes or for the country’s benefit?”

J. Gerald Hebert, Joseph D. Rich and William Yeomans write that Jeff Sessions says he handled these civil rights cases. He barely touched them: “In the questionnaire he filed recently with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sessions (R-Ala.) listed four civil rights cases among the 10 most significant that he litigated “personally” as the U.S. attorney for Alabama during the 1980s. Three involved voting rights, while the fourth was a school desegregation case. Following criticism for exaggerating his role, he then claimed that he provided “assistance and guidance” on these cases. We worked in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which brought those lawsuits; we handled three of the four ourselves. We can state categorically that Sessions had no substantive involvement in any of them. He did what any U.S. attorney would have had to do: He signed his name on the complaint, and we added his name on any motions or briefs. That’s it.”

Frank Bruni describes The Dark magic of Kellyanne Conway: ” But for sheer, jaw-dropping wonder, I doubt that any of it will improve on a typical Conway television interview, which is a circus of euphemisms, a festival of distractions and a testament to the stamina of a willed smile. She looks cheery when attacking, even cheerier when attacked and absolutely radiant when descending into a bog of half-truths and fictions. It’s always sunny on Conway’s side of the street….What she possesses is a showmanship that Trump can’t help appreciating. I know dozens of people who despise her politics but are mesmerized by her performances. She’s the Streep of “Fox & Friends” (of “Morning Joe,” too) and a perfect emblem of these polarized times, when no claim is too laughable or denial too ludicrous if it counters the supposed insidiousness of the other side.”

There’s windy and then there’s windy in Colorado —

Good morning.

Whitewater will see a mix of rain and snow today, with a high of forty-three. Sunrise is 7:24 AM and sunset 4:41 PM, for 9h 17m 29s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 94.4% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}sixty-third day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

Whitewater’s Parks & Recreation Board will meet tonight at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense anonymously. On this day in 1883, the Newhall House caught fire at the northwest corner of Broadway and Michigan Streets in Milwaukee, claiming more than seventy lives.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Chelsea Harvey reports that Methane may not last long in the atmosphere — but it drives rising seas for hundreds of years: “A new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, written by Solomon and colleagues Kirsten Zickfeld of Simon Fraser University and Daniel Gilford of MIT, underscores the fact that even greenhouse gases that don’t last long in the atmosphere — methane, for instance — can have centuries-long impacts on the expanding oceans. So although the atmospheric warming they cause may taper off comparatively quickly after their emissions are halted, their effects in the oceans are much longer-lived. “The ocean never forgets — that’s the essential message of this paper,” Solomon said. The researchers used a climate model to examine the effect of various greenhouse gases on thermal expansion in the oceans. They started with a “business-as-usual” scenario, which assumes high emissions into the future. They applied this scenario to emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and various halocarbons, a group of chemicals including the chlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons.”

John Wagner and Ylan Q. Mui report that it’s not just a problem for his family and cabinet secretaries, but also true that Trump confidants serving as presidential advisers could face tangle of potential conflicts: “Billionaire investor Carl Icahn will have the ear of President-elect Donald Trump as an adviser focused on cutting government regulations. But Icahn also stands to benefit if his advice is taken: It could make the energy companies and others in which he has a stake more profitable. Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who’s a major figure in her father’s business, has been present at transition meetings and is expected to continue to counsel him at the White House. So, too, is her husband, Jared Kushner, who has a web of business interests of his own that could be affected by Trump administration policy. And another Trump intimate — his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski — is making no secret of his desire to profit on his continuing closeness to Trump, setting up a new lobbying firm with an office just a block from the White House.”

Every second counts, as Ralph Russo reports Clemson edges Alabama in last second for national title: “Tampa, Fla. — College football’s first national championship rematch was even better than the original, with an incredible twist at the end. Deshaun Watson and Clemson dethroned the champs and became the first team to beat Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty in a national title game, taking down the top-ranked Crimson Tide 35-31 Monday night in the College Football Playoff. Watson found Hunter Renfrow for a 2-yard touchdown pass with a second remaining to give the Tigers their first national championship since 1981. A year after Alabama won its fourth title under Saban with a 45-40 classic in Arizona, Clemson closed the deal and denied the Tide an unprecedented fifth championship in eight seasons. “That has to be one of the greatest games of all time,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.”

Amie Tsang and Sui-Lee Wee report that McDonald’s China Operations to Be Sold to Locally Led Consortium: “HONG KONG — McDonald’s said on Monday that it would sell its businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong for $2.08 billion to Citic, a state-owned conglomerate, and the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. The deal gives Citic and Carlyle franchise rights for 20 years. Citic and its investment arm, Citic Capital, will have a controlling stake of 52 percent, while Carlyle will take 28 percent. McDonald’s will retain the remaining fifth of the company. “China and Hong Kong represent an enormous growth opportunity for McDonald’s,” Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s chief executive, said in a news release. “This new partnership will combine one of the world’s most powerful brands and our unparalleled quality standards with partners who have an unmatched understanding of the local markets.”

There are thousands of happy parakeets thanks to The Birdman of Chennai —

The Birdman of Chennai from Great Big Story on Vimeo.

 

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with an even chance of afternoon snow showers and a high of twenty-eight. Sunrise is 7:24 AM and sunset 4:40 PM, for 9h 16m 04s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 87.9% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}sixty-second day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On January 9, 2001, iTunes 1.0 was released at Macworld in San Francisco. On this day in 1863, the 23rd Wisconsin Infantry participates in the Battle of Arkansas Post.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Bruce Vielmetti reports that on the view of a federal Appeals judge: ‘Bad police work’ in custody death: “Federal appeals judges tore into Milwaukee police handling of a prisoner who died in custody during an epileptic seizure in 2010, during oral argument on an appeal of his family’s civil rights case last week.”I must say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such bad police work,” said Judge Richard Posner, part of a three-judge panel at the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals hearing the case in Chicago. It was a rough morning Thursday for the city’s attorney, Susan Lappen, who was interrupted repeatedly by Posner and Judge Ann Williams during a session that lasted more than an hour, about double the time normally allotted for oral argument.”

Hank Steuver reports from last night’s Golden Globes: Lots of ‘La La’-dee-da, but a wake-up call from Meryl Streep: “The hands-down highlight of the show came from a hoarse-voiced Meryl Streep, who accepted the association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement award with sharp criticism of Trump and the cultural forces that led to his victory. Recalling a moment from the 2016 campaign when Trump appeared to mock a New York Times reporter’s physical disability, Streep likened it to an effective movie performance. “I still can’t get it out of my head,” she said, with genuine sadness.”

Ben Gilbert writes about how One man spent 5 years creating an incredible ‘Minecraft’ universe: “As one of the world’s most popular, most widely played games, “Minecraft” attracts a large swath of players. Many of these folks are just like you and me — casual, into playing fun games, but maybe not ready to dig in and spend, like, years handcrafting a massive world. And then there’s a small section of that massive playerbase that takes the game’s creation aspect to stunning heights. Such is the case with the “Kingdom of Galekin,” an enormous, incredibly ambitious world that one “Minecraft” player has been building for nearly five years.”

Jim Rutenberg observes that In Election Hacking, Julian Assange’s Years-Old Vision Becomes Reality: “…last week brought the sight of Mr. Hannity speaking with Mr. Assange in glowing terms about “what drives him to expose government and media corruption” through Clinton campaign hacks that American intelligence has attributed to Russia. And Ms. Palin hailed him as a great truth teller, even apologizing for previous unpleasantries. (Cue sound of needle sliding across record album.)….The answer has been in front of us all along. And the current imbroglio over Russia, WikiLeaks and their role in Mr. Trump’s victory — or, more to the point, Hillary Clinton’s loss — might be viewed as the realization of the vision Mr. Assange had when he started WikiLeaks over a decade ago. Mr. Assange spelled it out in prescient terms in an essay he posted online in November of 2006, the year of WikiLeaks’ founding.”

On Saturday, Milwaukee’s former Transit Center clock came down to make way for a 44-story skyscraper –