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Sen. Baldwin

Banking & Finance, Daily Bread, Dog-Crap Company, Eric Hovde, Sen. Baldwin, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 10.29.24: Hovde’s Out-of-State Bank Recipient of Bogus Positive Reviews

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 79. Sunrise is 7:26, and sunset is 5:50, for 10 hours, 24 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 7.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1969, the first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.

California-man Eric Hovde’s out-of-state bank, Sunwest, has been the recipient of bogus favorable reviews. Dan Bice reports Major job site flags Eric Hovde’s Sunwest Bank over fake reviews to boost rating:

Glassdoor, the online platform where workers go to dish on their employers, has placed an alert on its Sunwest page stating that it has detected an attempt to “inflate reviews” for the $3.3 billion financial institution.

“We have evidence that someone has taken steps to artificially inflate the rating for this employer in violation of our Community Guidelines,” states the Glassdoor alert on Sunwest’s page. “We have addressed the issue. Please exercise your best judgment when evaluating this employer.”

The company says it posts such alerts in the “rare instances” that it identifies “particularly aggressive attempts by employers or others to influence or manipulate the integrity of reviews.”

Glassdoor did not say who it believes is responsible for Sunwest’s reviews.

After removing dozens of questionable reviews, the overall rating for Sunwest has dropped from a 4.9 overall score out of 5.0 to a 3.1. Hovde’s approval rating as Sunwest CEO has also been lowered from 98% to 79%. And the percentage of people who say they would recommend the company to a friend has plummeted from 98% to 43%.

But wait, there’s more! The Journal Sentinel investigated further:

We decided to check out the Sunwest reviews at the popular job search site Indeed to see if anyone might be posting bogus information there.

Here is what we found:

Journal Sentinel data journalist Eva Wen ran each of the company’s 105 reviews through GPTZero, a platform that identifies text generated using artificial intelligence.

Everything appeared to be on the up and up between 2012 and April 2024. But that all changed on May 22, three months after Hovde entered the U.S. Senate race.

Beginning on that date, GPTZero identified 15 of the 30 reviews as AI-generated with 100% certainty. There was more than 75% certainty that two others were also created via AI — meaning more than half of the recent reviews were AI creations. The AI-generated reviews are all overwhelmingly positive or give high ratings.

Honest to goodness. Out-of-state life, out-of-state bank, can’t bother to the study farm bill that matters to our state: Hovde’s a copy of a copy of a copy of a serious candidate.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATER: Hovde Rationalizes His Ignorance and Sloth, California Carpetbagger with a Utah Bank Doesn’t Bother to Read Farm Bill on Which Wisconsin Agriculture Relies, Hovde & Baldwin, Hovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does), These Aren’t Subtle Men, Eric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican Bank, Hovde’s Evident, Ignorant Racism, Eric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for Hovde, Eric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a Therapist, Tim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.  

POV: You are the pumpkin:

Agriculture, Daily Bread, Eric Hovde, Farming, Ignorance, Sen. Baldwin, Sloth, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 10.26.24: Hovde Rationalizes His Ignorance and Sloth

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 56. Sunrise is 7:22, and sunset is 5:54, for 10 hours, 32 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 28.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1818, Lewis Cass, governor of the Michigan Territory, declares the first counties in Wisconsin:

The counties included Michilimackinac (all areas drained by Lake Superior tributaries), Brown, and Crawford counties, which were separated through Portage. Michilimackinac County is now part of the state of Michigan. Governor Cass later became the Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, as well as the Minister to France and a Michigan Senator. Cass, a Democrat, also ran for president in 1848, but lost to Whig Zachary Taylor due to factions within the Democratic Party and the formation of the Free Soil Party.

 On this day in 1881, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday participate in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.

Eric Hovde, a California livin’ man with a Utah bank, admitted at his debate with U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin that he’s not read up on the farm bill on which Wisconsin agriculture depends. See California Carpetbagger with an Utah Bank Doesn’t Bother to Read Farm Bill on Which Wisconsin Agriculture Relies.

Predictably, Hovde has a rationalization for his ignorance and sloth:

“Why in God’s green Earth would I know all the details in a farm bill when I’m not serving in this Senate right now?” he told reporters after he voted Tuesday.

A job applicant walks into an interview with a prospective employer, and the interviewer asks the applicant what he thinks the most important goal for the bank should be. The applicant replies, “I’m not employed by this bank yet, so I cannot opine on what might be a good next move. In fact, why in God’s green Earth would I know all the details in about this bank when I’m not yet employed?”

A question like this is conventional and predictable: it’s a test of what research about, and interest in, the bank the applicant has. It’s a test of enthusiasm and diligence. Of course the applicant can say he does not yet have all the details, but he or she should have some sense of what might matter from public sources.

(A candidate should have the ability to express the limitations on his knowledge in a language intelligible to other humans. English, for example, is a language with a large vocabulary for expressive possibilities beyond “I can’t opine specifically.”)

Previously at FREE WHITEWATER:  California Carpetbagger with a Utah Bank Doesn’t Bother to Read Farm Bill on Which Wisconsin Agriculture Relies, Hovde & Baldwin, Hovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does), These Aren’t Subtle Men, Eric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican Bank, Hovde’s Evident, Ignorant Racism, Eric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for Hovde, Eric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a Therapist, Tim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.  

Kevin the Canadian Chihuahua Know the Best Season When It Comes Along:

Agriculture, Daily Bread, Eric Hovde, Sen. Baldwin, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 10.19.24: California Carpetbagger with a Utah Bank Doesn’t Bother to Read Farm Bill on Which Wisconsin Agriculture Relies

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 72. Sunrise is 7:13, and sunset is 6:05, for 10 hours, 51 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous, with 93.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 202 BC, during the Second Punic War, Roman legions under Scipio Africanus defeat Hannibal Barca, leader of the army defending Carthage, at the Battle of Zama.

Eric Hovde, a fast-talking, strangely nasal carpetbagger from California wants to be a United States senator from Wisconsin but he’s been too busy to read up on the farm bill on which Wisconsin agriculture depends:

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He can’t opine? It’s a Wisconsin debate, with a predictable question, important to the state from which he is seeking federal office.

Bonus error: This California livin’ man, who wants to tout his local ties when he was in school here decades ago, isn’t aware that his Wisconsin-based and Wisconsin-focused opponent is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School:

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It’s been many years, and thousands of miles, so Hovde may not even recall the location of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Filled as this bleeding-heart libertarian blogger is with love for all my fellow creatures, I’ll offer Mr. Hovde a map with directions from his California home to the University of Wisconsin Law School:

It’s 29 hours by car, but, ya know, a man whose “ocean view mansion is located in one of Laguna Beach’s most affluent and luxurious gated communities with California’s only private beach, a private fire department, and private yacht parking dock” can probably spring for a plane ticket, or even his own plane, truly.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATER: Hovde & Baldwin, Hovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does), These Aren’t Subtle Men, Eric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican Bank, Hovde’s Evident, Ignorant Racism, Eric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for Hovde, Eric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a Therapist, Tim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.  

You’ve Never Seen Graffiti Like This Before:

French artist Guillaume Legros AKA SAYPE living in Switzerland makes real-life graffiti. From Switzerland to France, Canada, Italy and even Burkina Faso, he is on a mission to document the stories of migrants through art leaving his mark one spray paint at a time, painting interlinked hands across different countries to bring humanity together.

Daily Bread, Eric Hovde, Sen. Baldwin, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 10.13.24: Hovde & Baldwin

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 57. Sunrise is 7:06, and sunset is 6:14, for 11 hours, 8 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous, with 79 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1775, the Continental Congress establishes the Continental Navy (predecessor of the United States Navy).

Eric Hovde falsely insinuates to rightwing media:

Tammy Baldwin effectively advocates for Wisconsin agriculture:

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Previously at FREE WHITEWATER: Hovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does), These Aren’t Subtle Men, Eric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican Bank, Hovde’s Evident, Ignorant Racism, Eric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for Hovde, Eric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a Therapist, Tim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.  

Daily Bread, Eric Hovde, Sen. Baldwin, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 10.7.24: These Aren’t Subtle Men

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 65. Sunrise is 6:59, and sunset is 6:24, for 11 hours, 25 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent, with 20.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1774, Wisconsin Becomes Part of… Quebec:

On this date Britain passed the Quebec Act, making Wisconsin part of the province of Quebec. Enacted by George III, the act restored the French form of civil law to the region. The Thirteen Colonies considered the Quebec Act as one of the “Intolerable Acts,” as it nullified Western claims of the coast colonies by extending the boundaries of the province of Quebec to the Ohio River on the south and to the Mississippi River on the west. [Source: Avalon Project at the Yale Law School].

Dan Bice of the Journal Sentinel writes of Eric Hovde’s attack ad against Tammy Baldwin:

For the past month, Republican candidate Eric Hovde and his GOP allies have been pounding on Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin over her relationship with a New York money manager, Maria Brisbane.

Hovde’s ads suggest there is a likely conflict of interest between the two because of Baldwin’s work in the Senate and Brisbane’s job advising ultra-wealthy clients on their finances. Baldwin and Brisbane have been dating since 2018.

“Tammy Baldwin: in bed with Wall Street,” concludes one of Hovde’s TV spots, which features pictures of the pair.

Yeah, not terribly subtle.

Yeah, not terribly subtle. But, then, these aren’t subtle men. Attacks like this, however, won’t change the race’s outcome. If Hovde had more and better to offer Wisconsin, he’d already be using that more and better.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATER: Eric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican Bank, Hovde’s Evident, Ignorant Racism, Eric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for Hovde, Eric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a Therapist, Tim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.  

Why Is This Island Filled With Rabbits?:

Imagine an island filled only with rabbits. Okunoshima is a small island in Japan’s Inland Sea. It’s called “Rabbit Island” because of the thousands of feral rabbits that roam the land. No one knows exactly how they got there, but since the end of World War II, the rabbits have been doing what they do best … multiplying.

Daily Bread, Eric Hovde, Local Government, Sen. Baldwin, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 9.10.24: Baldwin Leads Hovde

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 81. Sunrise is 6:30, and sunset is 7:11, for 12h 41m 02s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 43.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Public Works Committee meets at 5 PM, and her Community Involvement and Cable TV Commission also meets at 5 PM.

On this day in 1846, Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine.

A recent CBS poll of US Senate races simply confirms what’s evident in Wisconsin: Baldwin leads Hovde. Kabir Kanna reports CBS News poll for 2024 Senate races shows Democrats lead in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin:

Though Democrats face a formidable U.S. Senate map in 2024, they’re currently ahead in three key races. 

In CBS News’ first poll of the race for Michigan’s open Senate seat, Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin is leading former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers by seven points. Meanwhile, Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin are ahead in their reelection bids by seven points and eight points, respectively.

….

Two months lie ahead, but Wisconsin’s a tough state for a carpetbagger. See also  Tim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run.

Hydration:

Daily Bread, Sen. Baldwin, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 8.2.23: Rep. Tiffany’s Not Running Against Sen. Baldwin (Because He Knows He’d Lose)

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Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 85. Sunrise is 5:48 AM and sunset 8:14 PM for 14h 25m 59s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1939, Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to…

Daily Bread, Elections, Politics, Sen. Baldwin, US Senate Race 2024, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 6.9.23: Gallagher Won’t Run, So Baldwin’s Looking to Win in a Walk

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Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 80. Sunrise is 5:16 AM and sunset 8:32 PM for 15h 16m 14s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 63.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1973, Secretariat wins the U.S. Triple Crown. Embed from Getty Images…