Good morning. Tuesday in Whitewater will see morning showers and then cloudy skies with a high of 81. Sunrise is 5:58 and sunset is 8:00, for 14 hours, 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 87.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Public Works Committee meets at 5:15 PM. On…
America
America, City, Daily Bread, Economy, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 8.5.25: Prices (Claim & Reality)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 81. Sunrise is 5:50 and sunset is 8:10, for 14 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 85.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Alcohol & Licensing Committee meets at 5 PM, and the Whitewater Common…
America, Daily Bread, Democrats, Far-Right Populism, Never Trump, Republicans, Wisconsin, WisDems, WISGOP
Daily Bread for 8.3.25: After Bipartisanship
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 79. Sunrise is 5:48 and sunset is 8:12, for 14 hours, 24 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 69.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1921, Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis confirms the ban of…
America, Daily Bread, Newspapers, Social Media
Daily Bread for 7.30.25: Social Media Now Leading News Source in America
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 78. Sunrise is 5:44 and sunset is 8:17, for 14 hours, 33 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 31.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1971, on Apollo 15, David Scott and James Irwin in the Apollo Lunar Module Falcon land on the Moon with…
America, City, Daily Bread, History, Liberty, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 7.4.25: Happy Independence Day
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will see scattered morning showers giving way to sunnier afternoon skies and a high of 89. Sunrise is 5:22 and sunset is 8:36, for 15 hours, 14 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 66.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1776, the Second…
America, Authoritarian Populism, Conservative Populism, Daily Bread, Liberal Democracy, Libertarians, Never Trump, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 6.27.25: Persuading the Persuadable Is How This Conflict Will Be Won
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 82. Sunrise is 5:18 and sunset is 8:37, for 15 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 6.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1981, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issues its…
America, Daily Bread, Liberty, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 6.14.25: No Kings
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 5:15 and sunset is 8:34, for 15 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 89.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1777, the Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Act of 1777 adopting the Stars and…
America, Daily Bread, History, Military
Daily Bread for 5.26.25: Memorial Day
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Memorial Day in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 66. Sunrise is 5:22 and sunset is 8:22, for 15 hours, 00 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 0.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Memorial Day Parade will begin at 10:30 AM at 426 North…
America, Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Daily Bread, Economics, Economy, Special Interests, That Which Paved the Way, Trumpism, Willful Ignorance, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 4.26.25: Consumer Sentiment Falls, and Web Searches for Economic Calamity Rise
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 59. Sunrise is 5:55 and sunset is 7:50, for 13 hours, 54 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 2.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1954, the first clinical trials of Jonas Salk‘s polio vaccine begin in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Two charts tell the tale of Americans’ economic concerns:
See Alex Harring, Americans are getting flashbacks to 2008 as tariffs stoke recession fears, CNBC, April 26, 2025.
When sentiment declines, it’s understandable that Americans would look for examples of other difficult times.
For modern Whitewater, the Great Recession’s influence is the key to understanding both economics and politics in the city. It is Whitewater’s signal modern event. Those difficult years from 2007-2009 led to an aftermath that still afflicts the city.
The failure of local officials and community leaders during that time was astonishing: the boosters1 wanted to deflect past others’ suffering, the special-interest men diverted valuable resources to their own schemes while Whitewater stayed poor2, the center-left grew but still struggles to land a decisive blow3, and the rightwing populists4 now in the city owe their present role as a faction to forces they can’t or won’t grasp.
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- Narrow of mind and small of heart. See the FREE WHITEWATER category on Boosterism. ↩︎
- Avaricious schemers failing time and again to match the accomplishments of the generation before them. See the FREE WHITEWATER category on Special Interests. ↩︎
- It does no good to talk to a hyena in a soft voice hoping that the vile creature will give up meat for vegetables. See Wisconsin Senate Democrats Hope Hyenas Will Stop Eating Meat. ↩︎
- An authoritarian populist movement of recrimination and revenge. See Defining Populism. ↩︎
Hubble views of Mars and more for space telecope’s 35th anniversary:
America, City, Daily Bread, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 4.19.25: A Message from New England
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 57. Sunrise is 6:06 and sunset is 7:42, for 13 hours, 36 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 65 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Across America, in places near and far, Americans will exercise today the right of the people peaceably to assemble. There will be many days like this, and many assemblies across this continent, each one part of a growing effort.
In Boston, Americans celebrated the 250th anniversary of the nighttime ride of Paul Revere. They added their own contemporary touches in projections on the side of the Old North Church:
Rare North African lion cubs play in the sun:
America, City, Daily Bread, Local Government, Never Trump, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 4.5.25: Go Outside
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 50. Sunrise is 6:29 and sunset is 7:26, for 12 hours, 57 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 54.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1938, two days after the Nationalist army occupied the Catalan city of Lleida, dictator Francisco Franco decrees the abolition of the Generalitat (the autonomous government of Catalonia), the self-government granted by the Republic, and the official status of the Catalan language.
Our people have a centuries-long tradition of protest. Today, across this continent, Americans will exercise that right against Trump and Musk. There are both in-person and virtual events to which the American people are cordially invited. (You don’t need to be a Democrat, as I am not. Patriotism is your only necessary credential.) There’s no location for Whitewater, but other nearby by locations await (including Walworth, Janesville, Stoughton, Beloit, and Madison):
Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them. They’re taking everything they can get their hands on, and daring the world to stop them. On Saturday, April 5th, we’re taking to the streets nationwide to fight back with a clear message: Hands off!
A beginning only: every movement and every coalition has a beginning. Start, then keep going.
America, Authoritarian Populism, Authoritarianism, Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 4.1.25: Wisconsin’s Election Is Only One Moment in a Long Conflict
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 42. Sunrise is 6:36 and sunset is 7:21, for 12 hours, 45 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 14.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1865, Union troops led by Philip Sheridan decisively defeat Confederate troops led by George Pickett, cutting the Army of Northern Virginia’s last supply line during the Siege of Petersburg.
At the Journal Sentinel, Craig Gilbert writes How the election for Wisconsin Supreme Court became ‘a giant political science experiment’:
It’s also — to borrow a phrase I’ve heard more than once from people close to the campaign — a “giant political science experiment.”
What happens when you spend far more money than anybody ever has on a judicial election?
What happens when you do it in America’s most competitive state?
What happens when you do it at a moment of extreme political polarization?
What happens when the world’s richest man makes the election his personal project?
What happens when voters are told that an election for Wisconsin Supreme Court is really about Donald Trump (at a time when Trump is gradually becoming more unpopular)?
What happens when all this occurs in the fever pitch of the most turbulent launch of an American presidency in anyone’s memory?
We’ll find out.
See Craig Gilbert, Gilbert: How the election for Wisconsin Supreme Court became ‘a giant political science experiment’, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 1, 2025.
Gilbert’s implication that these questions are meaningful is false, and worse than false, it’s nonsense.
We are well past the point of ordinary political assessments through the concepts of conventional political science (let alone a political consultant’s views, honest to goodness). There are serious men and women who look at these days and see attempts to overturn the constitutional order. America now has a large authoritarian movement, a large authoritarian party, obedient to an authoritarian leader.
Gilbert, like many of yesterday’s men and women, cannot grasp how much the nation has changed. Poor man lost his paradigm and can’t see as much. Less political consulting and more political philosophy might have avoided this myopia. America, Wisconsin, and Whitewater are chock-a-block with people like this1.
Many other men and women, across all America, will make the difference in the years ahead. A few national figures are familiar, but many others will emerge, in places and circumstances yet unknown to us.
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- Especially: Those who seek bipartisanship with jackals, hyenas, and wolves will only find themselves no longer bipedal. Every town has too many versions of Senator Schumer. ↩︎
Icelandic town and Blue Lagoon spa evacuated after volcanic eruption:
America, Authoritarian Populism, City
Daily Bread for 3.27.25: Why Schumer Matters
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 58. Sunrise is 6:45 and sunset is 7:15, for 12 hours, 30 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 5.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1912, First Lady Helen Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, plant two Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the origin of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
In a post last week, this libertarian blogger wrote criticizing Sen. Chuck Schumer. That criticism was, and is, deserved. See Schumer Gets the Criticism He Deserves.
Josh Marshall relates an observation that one of Marshall’s friends made of Schumer:
A few days ago a friend told me that Chuck Schumer thinks he’s a minority leader but he’s actually an opposition leader. Or rather that’s the position into which history has placed him — and he doesn’t realize it or he doesn’t grasp the difference or he’s simply not able to be the latter thing. There are lots of ways to explain the disconnect or incapacity. But I thought this was a pretty good one.
Yes. These times, more than within the last three generations, will test understanding and imagination. Some will adjust; others not. Some previously unnoticed will rise to the moment; many prominent until now will fall away.
That’s true nationally, statewide, and it will prove true in Whitewater, also. How odd that even now one has to write this way, warning that a few hidebound men and women will not be able to shelter in local boosterism or positivity in the misapprehension that Whitewater is an island far from turmoil on the mainland.
Watching a community forum of municipal candidates from a few weeks, ago, where the organizers carried on as though we lived in conditions of nonpartisanship1, made so very clear that we are not immune from Schumer’s failure to grasp the moment.
A community that pretends a wolf2 is a sheep soon has fewer sheep.
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- Not even bipartisanship, itself an extinct species, but nonpartisanship. No one profits from these misapprehensions so much as the authoritarian populists. They’re professedly commonsensical only until they can impose their book-banning and closet-confining on others. ↩︎
- Even dimwitted wolves have teeth. ↩︎
A palate cleanser of sorts — Sophia S. Galer on the em dash. (Admittedly, I am a fan of the em dash, so her views suit my preferences.) What makes Galer so compelling, however, is that her intelligence is creative, inquisitive, seeking. Something about which to be hopeful in the generation after mine…
America, City, Daily Bread, Economy, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 3.26.25: Consumer Confidence Plummets
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 53. Sunrise is 6:47 and sunset is 7:14, for 12 hours, 28 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 11.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 2024, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses following a collision between the MV Dali container ship and one of the bridge’s support pillars, killing 6 people.
The last election was never about egg or gas prices, but for those who think it was, well, Americans’ confidence in the economy’s future is plummeting:
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence continued its sharp 2025 decline as Americans’ views about their financial futures slumped to a 12-year low, driven by rising anxiety over tariffs and inflation.
The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 7.2 points in March to 92.9, the fourth straight monthly decline and its lowest reading since January of 2021. The reading was short of analysts expectations for a reading of 94.5, according to a survey by FactSet.
The business group found that the measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell 9.6 points to 65.2.
That’s the lowest reading in 12 years and well below the threshold of 80, which the Conference Board says can signal a potential recession in the near future. The proportion of U.S. consumers anticipating a recession remains at a nine-month high, the board reported.
See Matt Ott, Consumer confidence is sliding as Americans’ view of their financial futures slumps to a 12-year low, Associated Press, March 25, 2025.
Come for the egg prices, stay for the declining economy under an authoritarian federal government.
Family rescues dog moments before tornado blows through: