FREE WHITEWATER

Daily Bread

Daily Bread, Scott Walker, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.9.25: Scott Walker, Man from Another Era

by  • 

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will see evening showers with a high of 46. Sunrise is 6:22 and sunset is 7:30, for 13 hours, 8 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 89.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.

Scott Walker, former governor of Wisconsin and one-time presidential candidate, spoke in Madison this week. Walker is the president of Young America’s Foundation. It’s a position far from the current center of Republican gravity (in Wisconsin or nationally): far past the asteroid belt, much closer to Neptune than Earth. Walker has a well-paid gig, wears a tie, and appears occasionally to speak. He’s also desperate to trim any position he ever had to remain topical. Here’s Walker describing Trump’s anti-market tariffs:

MADISON – Former Gov. Scott Walker says he’s no fan of tariffs but he’s willing to give President Donald Trump’s gamble on taxing foreign imports a chance.

Walker spoke Monday night to about 100 students and members of the public gathered at UW’s Grainger Hall for an event hosted by Young America’s Foundation, of which Walker is the president.

Walker, who spoke on a variety of topics, said he isn’t typically supportive of tariffs and favors open trade.

But, he said, Trump is doing what he believes needs to be done to get America back on the same playing field as everyone else. Walker said that if anyone had read Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal,” they would know he’s a fan of tariffs.

“I think that can end up being a good thing as long as we eventually get the free trade because again, then Americans can compete,” he said. “We can innovate.”

See Laura Schulte, Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says Trump’s tariffs should end by Labor Day, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 8, 2025.

Walker is for free trade, unless Trump believes otherwise. Disorder can be a good thing as long as we get order again eventually, filthiness can be a good thing as long as we get cleanliness eventually, illness can be a good thing as long as we are healthy eventually.

It would be better to have order, cleanliness, and health from the start. Walker’s too weak, too needy, to speak sensibly.

A ridiculous man, one of many.

Drone footage shows collapsed roof of Dominican Republic nightclub:

Search efforts continued early on Wednesday after more than 100 people died in a nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic. The popular Dominican merengue singer Rubby Pérez was performing at the Jet Set nightclub when the disaster took place shortly after midnight on Tuesday and was among those killed. Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when the roof collapsed at about 12.44am on Tuesday. The club had capacity for about 1,700 people. Nearly 100 dead in Dominican Republic nightclub roof collapse

Courts, Daily Bread, Gableman, Law, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.8.25: Updates on the Careers of Gableman and Bradley

by  • 

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 42. Sunrise is 6:24 and sunset is 7:29, for 13 hours, 5 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 83 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Tech Park Innovation Center Advisory Board meets at 8:30 AM, the Public Works Committee at 5 PM, and the Community Development Authority at 6 PM.

On this day in 1820, the Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.

There are updates on the careers of influential two Wisconsinites.

Michael Gableman, former justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and thereafter Speaker Robin Vos’s selection as a paid election conspiracy theorist, has struck a deal with the Office of Lawyer Regulation:

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who led a widely derided review of the 2020 presidential election,  searching for evidence for baseless accusations of fraud, will have his law license suspended for three years, according to a stipulated agreement between him and the state Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR). 

Law Forward, the progressive voting rights focused firm, filed a grievance against Gableman with the OLR in 2023. The OLR filed a complaint against Gableman in November that alleged, among other counts, that he had failed to “provide competent representation” and to “abstain from all offensive personality” and of violating attorney-client privilege.

The allegations against Gableman stemmed from his treatment of the mayors of Green Bay and Madison, whom he threatened with jail time during his review, false statements he made during testimony to legislative committees, violating the state’s open records laws, breaching his contract with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and, when OLR began investigating him, “making false statements” to the investigators in an affidavit. 

As part of the stipulated agreement, Gableman admitted that “he cannot successfully defend against the allegations of misconduct … and agrees that the allegations of the complaint provide an adequate factual basis in the record.” 

See Henry Redman, Gableman’s law license suspended for three years, Wisconsin Examiner, April 7, 2025.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will have to approve the agreement between the parties, as is likely. A three-year suspension is lenient; Gableman’s conduct merits permanent disbarment. Vos, regrettably, remains in office despite his own role in selecting (and tolerating too long) Gableman’s cascade of lies.

Screenshot Rebecca Bradley April 5, 2025

When one last heard from Justice Rebecca Bradley, she was bitterly complaining expressing mild disappointment with Judge Susan Crawford’s election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Bradley’s now announced that she will run again next year:

MADISON – Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley said this week she plans to seek another 10-year term in 2026, setting in motion another high-pitched battle for a seat on the state’s highest court.

….

State appeals judge Chris Taylor, a former Democratic state lawmaker, told the Journal Sentinel on Saturday she is considering running for the seat.

Bradley, appointed to the court by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2015 and elected for a full 10-year term in 2016, announced just days after liberals secured control of the court until 2028.

….

Bradley also has been floated as a contender to replace retiring federal judge Diane Sykes on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which would be a lifetime appointment.

She told Wispolitics she is focused on Wisconsin at the moment.

See Molly Beck, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley announces she’ll seek another 10-year term, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 5, 2025.

At the moment: unless something more secure comes along.

Philippine volcano erupts, shooting ash cloud kilometers into the sky:

City, Daily Bread, Local Government, School District

Daily Bread for 4.7.25: Referendums

by  • 

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 46. Sunrise is 6:26 and sunset is 7:28, for 13 hours, 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 75.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1862, at the Battle of Shiloh, the Union’s Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi near Shiloh, Tennessee.

Referendums. One referendum for the City of Whitewater (Police & EMT personnel) and one referendum for the school district of which the city is the largest part are now behind us. Agreeably, happily behind us.

Both were important to their proponents, the Police & EMT referendum being especially so as it was operational. A referendum that retains or adds people (adding in this referendum to adjust workloads) is more important than capital improvements or modifications to public property. The loss of the municipal referendum would have increased burdens on the workforce (as rejection would have worked an attitudinal burden all its own on existing employees).

The community gets more personnel and the personnel know that the community appreciates the need for more personnel. These are each gains for Whitewater’s residents.

Of the district’s capital referendum’s merits, by contrast, it seems clear to me that enough could’ve been done with far less.

Taxes. An anti-tax wave swept Whitewater in the early winter and into the new year, but it did not change the result of either referendum. In January it looked to me as though it would sink both referendums, but by March that seemed less probable. The Police & EMT referendum was easily better offering. That city referendum seemed secure to me by March. We’ve no polling for the Whitewater area, but it’s likely the anti-tax faction saw what it wanted to see among like-minded residents, and ignored or distorted contrary indications among others.

The herding and magnifying influences of Facebook, especially, leave people thinking their views are more widespread than they are. It takes time and effort Facebook does not require (and does not provide) to assess opinion accurately. Facebook is often like a man who goes into the woods, makes a lot of noise, and then looks around for how many birds he can count. By then, only the loudest or deafest ones remain.

Rearview Mirror. These were important topics for the community, and yet, and yet… this libertarian blogger will be happy that they’re over.

Before us persist issues and conflicts in the city to address now that these referendums are behind us.

Veluwabbit (Lagomarsupialis veluwensis) spotted in the Netherlands on April 1st:

City, Daily Bread, Local Government, School District

Daily Bread for 4.6.25: Quick Observations on a Weekend

by  • 

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 51. Sunrise is 6:27 and sunset is 7:27, for 12 hours, 59 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 65.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1865, at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fights and loses its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia, during the Appomattox Campaign.

A few quick observations:

Dorothy Day. Whitewater is divided into several factions, a divide that has grown wider over the last twenty years. The best outcome for Whitewater, after the Great Recession especially, would have been for Whitewater to have had a local version of Dorothy Day. That moment never came, and the recession of the Aughts became the lost years of the Teens, the rise of rightwing populism, a pandemic, another recession, and now a return to a populism more virulent than the last.

We are past the point when someone other than Dorothy Day, herself, could bridge the gap between defenders of the constitutional order and authoritarian populists. This political conflict will end only when one side prevails; pretending otherwise is delusional and attempting otherwise is futile. While not every event will be political, there’s no solution apart from the political.

City and Environs. The most obvious political observation one might make in our area is that the City of Whitewater is a center-left community and the nearby towns within the Whitewater Unified School District are on the right. The gap has grown between the city and these towns, and by now I would have thought that every man, woman, child, and household pet understood as much. Still, there’s room for empirical inquiry.

Coalitions. Whitewater has had, this last generation, a type now nearing endangered status: the supposed independent, or even Democrat, who aligns with conservatives (in this town, special interests) on major policies. These remaining few will keep pretending (of course they will) but stark political times make their kabuki evident for what it is. A soft-spoken liberal in a rightwing coalition is rightwing. No one owes anyone else his or her LARPing and cosplay. You are your vote, you are your coalition.

Fallacies and Denials. The people who brought you a politicized Christian theology, pandemic denialism, a recession thereafter, and claims that a violent insurrection was an act of love, now bring you an authoritarianism that offers nativism, book-banning, closet-confining, and a crackpot economics. The mix: fallacies of Tu Quoque (diversionary arguments by claims of hypocrisy), Whataboutism (diversionary arguments by claims of unrelated events), and a closed system of belief (where evidentiary counterexamples are denied or redefined beyond recognition).

The School District. Voters returned both board incumbents to office, and approved a large referendum. There’s probably more than one conservative who’s wondering what happened. I’ll answer only for my own view of the outgoing administration. Of my views of this administration, I have been clear: These Aren’t the MAGA Claims You Were Looking For and “Nice Person, But…”

These posts came in March 2024, when conservatives still held a majority on the board. For months prior, they had the chance to use that majority in the service of open government. They couldn’t muster four votes to rebuke a ridiculous defamation effort against a boardmember and send the current administration on its way. Should have been then.

I don’t think that the city saw the 2025 election this way, but I do: a conservative board didn’t act in 2024 when it should have, and a center-left board didn’t act as it should have in the year since. (No doubt, some rationalized this as a necessary defense against an instability that might have produced reactionary policies.)

The district instead should and can have open government and a community united against reactionary policies. Both, not either.

The district has been these recent years, all around, a dog’s breakfast.

How Japan Perfected the Art of Ramen:

Ramen, Japan, black ramen, broth, dashi, tonkotsu, miso, chashu, instant noodles… mmm, who’s hungry? We love this food, and in this week’s Great Big Story, we explore how ramen became a global phenomenon. From the world’s most remote ramen shop to Toyama’s famous black ramen and the rise of instant noodles. Join us as we dive into the history, flavors, and culture of Japan’s most beloved dish.

America, City, Daily Bread, Local Government, Never Trump, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.5.25: Go Outside

by  • 

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.

Even now, the world watches:

Authoritarian Populism, Authoritarianism, City, Daily Bread, Economics, Economy, Local Government, Nativism, Never Trump, Recession, Special Interests, Tariffs, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.4.25: Is Hyperlocal Politics Finally Dead?

by  • 

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 50. Sunrise is 6:31 and sunset is 7:25, for 12 hours, 54 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 45.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1865, a day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, President Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.

In this last generation, Whitewater, Wisconsin has felt the effects of national calamities: the Great Recession, a pandemic, an insurrection, and now a trade war.

In each case, a small group of local men and women carried on as though local affairs were paramount1; in each case, they did so while conditions in the city grew worse from those national calamities.

Now comes another calamity, and with it a few likelihoods.

Those who supported the authoritarian movement that made a pandemic worse, inspired an insurrection, the return to power of a would-be king, and now a global economic crisis will never admit that they were wrong. Never. They wanted this and they will continue to want this, all of it.

Those who cannot see past Townline Road won’t develop broader horizons. It’s all roads, press releases, and sanewashing with that crew. They’ll keep thinking that if you talk to a hyena in a soft voice that foul creature will give up meat for vegetables. They’d probably keep thinking this even as that carnivore crunched on the nearest human femur2.

There are, however, many more residents in this city, in this state, and this nation who will stand opposed to wholesale ruin.

Of that ruin, there are months and years of damage3 ahead, with this only a portion:

Is “recession” now spelled T-A-R-I-F-F? 

Markets were gripped by the recession trade after President Trump’s tariffs on Wednesday threatened a global trade war. Treasury yields, stock futures and the dollar all plunged.

This isn’t mere market hyperbole. Thursday was only the sixth time in history that the S&P 500 had fallen more than 4% while the dollar also fell more than 1%—with investors shocked that the greenback had failed in its usual role as a safe haven.

The carnage in the markets might be just the beginning: If the biggest U.S. tax rise since at least the 1950s causes the economy to shrink, stocks and Treasury yields still have a long way to go down.

As recessions take hold, stocks are hit both by lower earnings and by lower valuations, as spending falls and savers switch to safer assets. Defensive stocks better able to maintain sales—such as sellers of food and other household staples—beat those selling optional purchases such as luxury goods and cars, known as cyclicals.

See James Mackintosh, Market Upheaval From Trump’s Tariffs Could Be Just the Beginning, Wall Street Journal, April 3, 2025.

______

  1. By contrast, this libertarian blogger has argued that the betterment of the city comes from applying the best of the nation. See FREE WHITEWATER, ‘How Many Rights for Whitewater?’, ‘What Standards for Whitewater?’, and ‘Methods, Standards, Goals’ (2013). ↩︎
  2. The last words of these sad types would likely be along the lines of ‘but I tried to be bipartisan!’ ↩︎
  3. The greater losses have been and will be to individual rights. ↩︎

We’ll have more than egg prices to worry about:

See Matt Grossman, Near-Term Inflation Expectations Surge, Wall Street Journal, April 3, 2025.

City, Courts, Daily Bread, Economy, Local Government, Nativism, Special Interests, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.3.25: Adding Another Threat for the Nation, State, and City

by  • 

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 50. Sunrise is 6:33 and sunset is 7:23, for 12 hours, 51 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 34.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Public Arts Commission meets at 5 PM, and the Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1865,  Union forces capture Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy.

In October, writing about the scariest things in Whitewater for the year, this libertarian blogger listed the two worst threats to the city as special interests and nativism. Later, in February, I wrote that there was now only one notable kind of conservative in Whitewater, as only the conservative populists matter politically (‘a conservative might imagine himself as something else (a traditionalist or a deal-maker), and might be something else, but only in his house or in his head’).

There’s one more threat to add to the list, brought about by the same movement that is responsible for the other three: A third global recession in 20 years looms.

There’s always someone who thinks that this predatory movement will see the error of its ways. It won’t, not now, not ever. It may lose its grip on the nation, but it will fall to a majority of others outside that movement to turn it aside.

Those who’ve gone this far, these dead-enders, will never repent of the their conduct, of the damage they’ve caused others.

On the contrary, they’ve never been more assured, more self-justified, than now.

The most conservative justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court — she is — seems upset:

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley on Crawford: "I think the way Judge Crawford ran her race was disgusting…I'm not looking forward to working with her. She's bought and paid for by the Democratic Party." Via Vanessa Kjeldsen

— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.bsky.social) April 2, 2025 at 10:15 AM

City, Daily Bread, Elections, Schimel, School District, Susan Crawford, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.2.25: Statewide and Local in Whitewater

by  • 

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 68. Sunrise is 6:34 and sunset is 7:22, for 12 hours, 48 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 22.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Lakes Advisory Committee meets at 4:30 PM, the Public Arts Commission at 5 PM, and the Starin Park Water Tower Committee meets at 6 PM.

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.

The Wisconsin event of the moment: Susan Crawford — intelligent, knowledgeable, and of a proper judicial temperament — won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In every way that could possibly matter, she was the better candidate.

The statewide race wasn’t close, as Crawford won by over 200,000 votes and ten percentage points. See Patrick Marley, Liberal projected to win Wisconsin Supreme Court race in blow to Trump, Washington Post, April 2, 2025 and Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Result, New York Times, April 2, 2025.

How did Crawford do in the City of Whitewater?

Crawford2,56268%
Schimel1,18932%

How did the School District Referendum fare only in the City of Whitewater (passing by a smaller margin districtwide)?

Yes2,09761%
No1,35739%

How did the Police & EMT Referendum fare in the City of Whitewater?

Yes1,88054%
No1,59946%

Judge Crawford ran ahead of either referendum.

Although a good day, other and challenging days lie ahead for the nation, state, and city.

Planets, Lyrid meteors, the moon and more in April 2025 skywatching:

Jupiter and the crescent moon start off and end the month together. Find out where to see Mars and Venus as well. The Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks on the night of April 21-22. Amazing globular cluster M3 is also available for skywatchers this month.

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  • 

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.

______

  1. 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:

Authoritarian Populism, Authoritarianism, Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Law, Musk, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.31.25: Musk Has a Good Time in Green Bay

by  • 

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will see wind gusts and a high of 46. Sunrise is 6:38 and sunset is 7:20, for 12 hours, 42 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 6.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School Board meets at 7 PM.

On this day in 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.

Update No. 2: Turns out Nicholas Jacobs, one of the winners of a million dollars, wasn’t an ordinary attendee but a Wisconsin College Republicans chairman:

One of the recipients of Elon Musk’s $1 million checks at his event in Green Bay Sunday night is the chairman of the Wisconsin College Republicans, sparking some suspicion on social media that the giveaway was fixed.

Nicholas Jacobs, a student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, is listed as the chairman of Wisconsin’s College Republicans chapter. He has made his account private on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that Musk owns.

According to his LinkedIn account, Jacobs worked for the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Rep. Derrick Van Orden. In the fall of 2024, he worked as a “ballot chase representative” for Turning Point Action, which began as a youth-focused group active on college campuses but has expanded its voter outreach operations, especially in Wisconsin.

See Hope Karnopp, Wisconsin College Republicans chairman received one of Elon Musk’s $1 million checks, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 31, 2025.

And so, and so, of the attendees the breakdown would be two winners in a room full of suckers.

Update No. 1 on yesterday’s post (Wisconsin Courts Won’t Intervene Against Musk): Elon Musk hands out $1 million payments after Wisconsin Supreme Court declines request to stop him:

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda and “the future of civilization.” 

Elon Musk presents a check for $1 million dollars to a man during a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
Elon Musk presents a check for $1 million dollars to a man during a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
Elon Musk presents a check for $1 million dollars during a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
Elon Musk presents a check for $1 million dollars during a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

“It’s a super big deal,” he told a roughly 2,000-person crowd in Green Bay on Sunday night, taking the stage in a yellow cheesehead hat. “I’m not phoning it in. I’m here in person.”

….

A unanimous state Supreme Court on Sunday refused to hear a last-minute attempt by the state’s Democratic attorney general to stop Musk from handing over the checks to two voters, a ruling that came just minutes before the planned start of the rally.

See Scott Bauer and Thomas Beaumont, Elon Musk hands out $1 million payments after Wisconsin Supreme Court declines request to stop him, Associated Press, March 30, 2025. See also Wisconsin Supreme Court Kaul v. Musk, Case 2025CV001087, March 28, 2025.

How Tariffs Are Going To Jack Up Car Prices In The U.S.:

Authoritarian Populism, Authoritarianism, Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Law, Musk, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.30.25: Wisconsin Courts Won’t Intervene Against Musk

by  • 

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 64. Sunrise is 6:40 and sunset is 7:19, for 12 hours, 39 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1867, the United States and the Russian Empire agree to the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million, about two cents/acre. The parties later ratify the agreement by treaty, and effective transfer occurs in October 1867.

It was improbable that Wisconsin courts would intervene to prevent Elon Musk from conducting a giveaway (of either hundreds of dollars or even millions of dollars) so close to the April 1st election. American courts are not dispositionally situated to address an authoritarian movement, as these movements act quickly, audaciously, and ignore both law and tradition in pursuit of their goals.

Attorney General Kaul’s litigation against Musk has come to naught:

A Wisconsin appellate court denied the state Democratic attorney general’s request to stop billionaire Elon Musk from handing over $1 million checks to two voters at a rally planned for Sunday, just two days before a closely contested Supreme Court election.

The denial Saturday by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals is the latest twist in Musk’s deep involvement in the race, which has set a record for spending in a judicial election and has become a litmus test for the opening months of Donald Trump’s presidency. Trump and Musk are backing Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel in the race, while Democrats are behind Dane County Judge Susan Crawford.

Attorney General Josh Kaul filed the lawsuit Friday, arguing that Musk’s offer violates the law. Kaul on Saturday later appealed to the state Court of Appeals, after a county court judge refused earlier in the day to hear the request for an emergency injunction to block the payments.

See Wisconsin appeals court won’t stop Musk’s $1M payments to voters after attorney general sues, Associated Press, March 29, 2025. See also the circuit court filing Kaul v. Musk, Case 2025CV001087, March 28, 2025.

Authoritarian movements do not meet their end in the courts; they meet their end through widespread protest and civil disobedience.

Global protests against Tesla CEO Elon Musk:

Agriculture, Culture, Daily Bread, Nature, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.29.25: Three Wisconsin Generations Tap Maple Trees

by  • 

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 68. Sunrise is 6:41 and sunset is 7:18, for 12 hours, 36 minutes of daytime. The moon is new with none of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1999, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the dot-com bubble.

Three generations tap maple trees during Saint Patrick’s season:

Each Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, generations of the O’Brien clan gather in the family’s maple grove to tap the sap, cook the syrup and enjoy each other’s company. The family’s creation of combination sap shed and gathering space ensures their family tradition will go on for many generations.

James Webb Space Telescope captures a ‘cosmic tornado’:

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captured an amazing video of the outflow Herbig-Haro 49/50 (HH 49/50), a newborn star.

Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Musk, Schimel, Susan Crawford, Trump, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.28.25: Look Who’s Coming to Review His Investment

by  • 

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 76. Sunrise is 6:43 and sunset is 7:16, for 12 hours, 33 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 1.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1862, in the Battle of Glorieta Pass, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory.

It’s a frenetic ending to the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

Elon Musk is coming to Wisconsin:

In a post on X, the social media platform he owns, Musk wrote late Thursday that he would “give a talk in Wisconsin” on Sunday night. He did not say where.

“Entrance is limited to those who have voted in the Supreme Court election,” he wrote, though he did not specify how that would be verified.

Musk also wrote that he would present two $1 million checks “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.”

….

In a statement, the spokesman for Schimel’s opponent, liberal Susan Crawford, said Musk was trying to buy off Schimel and labeled his visit a “last-minute desperate distraction.”

“Wisconsinites don’t want a billionaire like Musk telling them who to vote for, and on Tuesday, voters should reject Musk’s lackey Brad Schimel,” spokesman Derrick Honeyman said.

See Alison Dirr, Daniel Bice, and Molly Beck, Elon Musk will be in Wisconsin Sunday, hand out $2M ahead of Tuesday state Supreme Court election, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 28, 2025.

Trump joins a teleconference for Schimel:

Trump framed the race that will decide the ideological balance of the state Supreme Court in national terms, saying it would have an “outsized impact on the future of the country.”

“I know you feel it’s local, but it’s not. It’s really much more than local,” Trump said in the 10-minute call. “The whole country’s watching.”

See Alison Dirr, President Trump in public call urges Wisconsinites to support Brad Schimel in Supreme Court race, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 27, 2025.

We’ll know soon enough.

This time, a Guinness World Record for an Ashland motorcyclist’s global journey:

After 14 months and 50,000 miles, Bridget McCutchen from Ashland earned the Guinness World Record as the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe by motorcycle. The northern Wisconsin native traversed 45 countries, developing newfound confidence — and inspiring more women to ride — along the way.

America, City, Daily Bread, Economy, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 3.26.25: Consumer Confidence Plummets

by  • 

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: