FREE WHITEWATER

US Senate Race 2024

Daily Bread for 11.19.24: A Concession Laced with Lies

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 59. Sunrise is 6:52, and sunset is 4:27, for 9 hours, 35 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 82.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1863, Pres. Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony for the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.


Eric Hovde has not once — not once — disappointed his critics during his U.S. Senate race. He’s been consistently and unfailingly unworthy of the office. Even during his stubbornly-delayed concession, Hovde proved himself worthy, offering a concession speech laced with lies:

Twelve days after news organizations called the Wisconsin U.S. Senate race for Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin, Republican candidate Eric Hovde conceded the race.

Hovde announced on Nov. 18 that he would not seek a recount. In the same video posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, he repeated falsehoods about Milwaukee’s absentee ballots.

“The results from election night were disappointing, particularly in light of the last-minute absentee ballots that were dropped in Milwaukee at 4 a.m., flipping the outcome,” Hovde said.

….

Wisconsin election experts told PolitiFact that this early morning influx of ballots was expected — and they not only don’t signal anything nefarious, they resulted from adherence to the law.

That’s because state law does not allow election workers to process absentee ballots before Election Day — a bipartisan bill to change that passed the Assembly, but Republicans in the state Senate did not take it up.

The claims echo falsehoods about the 2020 election, which included the same criticisms of Milwaukee’s early morning absentee ballot influxes.

“This is something that everybody who’s familiar with elections in Wisconsin understands will happen,” said Jay Heck, executive director of the public advocacy group Common Cause Wisconsin.

See Hope Karnopp, As he concedes, Eric Hovde earns a ‘Pants on Fire’ for absentee ballot claim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 19, 2024.

Hovde’s not a conservative populist, but the conservative populists traffic in conspiracy theories (about elections, vaccines, ‘a deep state,’ fluoride in the water, etc.). This out-of-state man knows his party’s base, and it’s simply impossible for him to leave them with an admission of his undoubted failure. Something, somewhere, had had to go wrong, had to be untoward: the populists will never blame themselves, and so will never admit an honest and lawful defeat.

Hovde: true to form, to the end.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATEREric Hovde’s Bad Math, Describing Eric Hovde AccuratelyHovde’s Out-of-State Bank Recipient of Bogus Positive ReviewsHovde Rationalizes His Ignorance and SlothCalifornia Carpetbagger with a Utah Bank Doesn’t Bother to Read Farm Bill on Which Wisconsin Agriculture ReliesHovde & BaldwinHovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does)These Aren’t Subtle MenEric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican BankHovde’s Evident, Ignorant RacismEric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for HovdeEric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a TherapistTim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.  


USC Student Rocket Group Shatters Amateur International Space Record:

Aftershock II is believed to be the world’s first civilian-built rocket to reach an altitude of 470,000 feet. The latest rocket designed and built by the student-run USC Rocket Propulsion Lab (USCRPL) at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, has broken the international altitude record – reaching further into space than any non-governmental and non-commercial group has ever flown before.

Daily Bread for 11.15.24: Eric Hovde’s Bad Math

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 54. Sunrise is 6:47, and sunset is 4:31, for 9 hours, 44 minutes of daytime. The moon is full with 99.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1777, after 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation (only coming into force after ratification in 1781).


While Eric Hovde lost the race for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin (see below), he’s doing better with conspiracy theorists on X:

Social media posts about election fraud in Wisconsin have surged since Election Day, surpassing all other battleground states, according to data collected by PeakMetrics, a software analytics company.

Between Nov. 6 and Nov. 12, the number of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, mentioning election fraud in Wisconsin surged from 2,570 to 22,589 — an approximately 789% increase, according to the report. There has been no evidence to suggest voter fraud is a common issue in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Republican Eric Hovde has been among those sowing doubts about voting integrity on X following the election, which he lost to Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

See Maia Pandey and Alex Groth, Posts on X about Wisconsin election fraud have increased nearly tenfold since Election Day, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 15, 2024.

Two days ago, I posted on a headline that nicely summarized Eric Hovde’s claims about his election loss: One week after Senate race was called for Tammy Baldwin, Eric Hovde admits he lost, but won’t concede.

Hovde’s claims about his loss to Tammy Baldwin are easily debunked, as Ricardo Torres writes at the Journal Sentinel:

Hovde went on to say that at 4 a.m. Milwaukee updated its count to include roughly 108,000 absentee ballots and that Baldwin won “nearly 90% of those ballots.”

“Statistically, this outcome seems improbable,” Hovde said. “As it didn’t match the pattern from same day voting in Milwaukee, where I received 22% of the vote.”  

….

Absentee ballots are just a portion of the total votes in any election. But since Hovde is focused on absentee ballots, it’s fairly easy to see his claim is incorrect by going to the city of Milwaukee’s election results page. It should be noted that some absentee voters chose third party candidates for U.S. senate or skipped that race.

Milwaukee received 108,964  absentee ballots by Nov. 5, according to the unofficial count. 

Of that group, Baldwin received 88,229 and Hovde received 17,699 absentee ballots. 

So Baldwin got about 80.9% of the absentee vote and Hovde got about 16.2% of it. 

Clearly Baldwin did not get “nearly 90%” of the absentee ballot vote.

Baldwin’s absentee ballot vote in Milwaukee was similar by proportion to her Election Day in-person vote in Milwaukee. Torres continues:

On Election Day itself, there were 140,043 votes cast in Milwaukee, according to the unofficial count. Of that number Baldwin received 102,598 and Hovde received 29,574.

So Baldwin pulled down 73.2% of the vote on Election Day compared to Hovde’s 21.1% of that vote. 

See Ricardo Torres, Fact check: Hovde’s claim Baldwin won ‘nearly 90%’ of absentee votes is a flop, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 15, 2024.

The wide disparities that Hovde claims are false: Baldwin did somewhat better with absentee ballots, but there was no statistically improbable result as Hovde claims.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATERDescribing Eric Hovde Accurately, Hovde’s Out-of-State Bank Recipient of Bogus Positive ReviewsHovde Rationalizes His Ignorance and SlothCalifornia Carpetbagger with a Utah Bank Doesn’t Bother to Read Farm Bill on Which Wisconsin Agriculture ReliesHovde & BaldwinHovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does)These Aren’t Subtle MenEric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican BankHovde’s Evident, Ignorant RacismEric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for HovdeEric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a TherapistTim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.  


Castle appears to ‘float’ in clouds in eastern France:

Drone views show the medieval castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg, as if it were floating in clouds on a foggy day. Built in the 12th century by a Germanic imperial family, the castle was a mountain fortress which was later besieged and pillaged.

Daily Bread for 11.13.24: Describing Eric Hovde Accurately

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with evening showers and a high of 54. Sunrise is 6:45, and sunset is 4:33, for 9 hours, 48 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous, with 92.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Lakes Advisory Committee meets at 4:30 PM.

On this day in 1833, the Great Meteor Storm of 1833 takes place:

Although it has been suggested the Leonid meteor shower and storms have been noted in ancient times, it was the meteor storm of November 12–13, 1833 that broke into people’s modern-day awareness. One estimate of the peak rate is over one hundred thousand meteors an hour, while another, done as the storm abated, estimated in excess of 240,000 meteors during the nine hours of the storm, over the entire region of North America east of the Rocky Mountains.


It’s been over a week, in a state where margins of electoral victory survive scrutiny (despite conspiracy theories and speculation), and yet losing candidate Eric Hovde admits he lost, but won’t concede. In this, Hovde is true to form, confirming what critics (as I am) saw about him. Wisconsin Public Radio describes Hovde’s stance accurately:

See Rich Kremer, One week after Senate race was called for Tammy Baldwin, Eric Hovde admits he lost, but won’t concede, Wisconsin Public Radio, November 13, 2024.

Hovde, accurately described.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATERHovde’s Out-of-State Bank Recipient of Bogus Positive Reviews, Hovde Rationalizes His Ignorance and SlothCalifornia Carpetbagger with a Utah Bank Doesn’t Bother to Read Farm Bill on Which Wisconsin Agriculture ReliesHovde & BaldwinHovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does)These Aren’t Subtle MenEric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican BankHovde’s Evident, Ignorant RacismEric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for HovdeEric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a TherapistTim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.  


Cats with Jobs:

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Daily Bread for 11.7.24: Wisconsin Turnout High

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 56. Sunrise is 6:37, and sunset is 4:39, for 10 hours, 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent, with 33.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1910,  the first air freight shipment (from Dayton, Ohio, to Columbus, Ohio) is undertaken in a Wright (Brothers) Model B.


The Associated Press reports Wisconsin turnout in presidential race nears 73%:

About 73% of Wisconsin’s voting-age population cast ballots in the 2024 presidential race, with the raw number of voters topping out at the highest in state history, based on unofficial results.

Nearly 3.4 million people in Wisconsin cast ballots in the presidential race won by President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, and the number is likely to increase slightly as the few remaining outstanding ballots are tabulated. Just over 3.3 million voted for president in the 2020 election.

The turnout percentage of 72.6% in Wisconsin, with a voting-age population of just under 4.7 million people, is just below the 72.9% seen in 2020.

The highest turnout percentage since at least 1948 was 73.2% in 2004, based on records from the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Fewer people voted in the two other statewide contests in this year’s election. About 30,000 fewer people voted in the race for U.S. Senate between Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican Eric Hovde. And more than 193,000 fewer people voted for a constitutional amendment limiting voting to U.S. citizens.


Snacking armadillo:

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

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 WHITEWATERHovde Rationalizes His Ignorance and SlothCalifornia Carpetbagger with a Utah Bank Doesn’t Bother to Read Farm Bill on Which Wisconsin Agriculture ReliesHovde & BaldwinHovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does)These Aren’t Subtle MenEric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican BankHovde’s Evident, Ignorant RacismEric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for HovdeEric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a TherapistTim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Run, and Another Vanity Candidate.  


POV: You are the pumpkin:

Daily Bread for 10.26.24: Hovde Rationalizes His Ignorance and Sloth

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 WHITEWATERCalifornia Carpetbagger with a Utah Bank Doesn’t Bother to Read Farm Bill on Which Wisconsin Agriculture Relies, Hovde & BaldwinHovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does)These Aren’t Subtle MenEric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican BankHovde’s Evident, Ignorant RacismEric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for HovdeEric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a TherapistTim 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:

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

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:

Post by @dscc
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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:

Post by @american_bridge
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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 WHITEWATERHovde & 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 BankHovde’s Evident, Ignorant RacismEric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for HovdeEric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a TherapistTim 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 for 10.13.24: Hovde & Baldwin

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:

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


Daily Bread for 10.9.24: Hovde Spreads Lies About Hurricane Response (Of Course He Does)

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 70. Sunrise is 7:01, and sunset is 6:21, for 11 hours, 19 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent, with 37.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Community Involvement and Cable TV Commission meets at 5 PM.

On this day in 1986,  Fox Broadcasting Company (FBC) launches as the fourth US television network.


FEMA debunks rumors like Hovde’s on funding, illegal immigrants ahead of Milton:

Hope Karnopp reports Senate candidate Eric Hovde circulates false Hurricane Helene claims debunked by FEMA:

Key Points

Hovde claimed FEMA is “out of money.” FEMA says it has enough money for immediate response and recovery needs.

FEMA money is not being diverted to illegal immigrants, and individual assistance is being distributed from a dedicated fund.

FEMA urges people to seek official, trusted sources of information.

Eric Hovde

Statement: “FEMA is out of money and doesn’t have money to transfer to those people affected by the hurricane … they used the money to assist illegal immigrants.”

Eric Hovde, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, has been circulating false claims about Hurricane Helene that federal officials are urging people to stop spreading. 

“FEMA is out of money and doesn’t have money to transfer to those people affected by the hurricane,” Hovde said in a video posted Thursday on X, formerly Twitter. “They used the money to assist illegal immigrants.”

It should be unsettling for the customers of California man Hovde’s Utah-based bank to have a liar for a CEO, but perhaps opinions differ even on that simple point.


IceNode: JPL’s Autonomous Underwater Robots:

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are testing a prototype of IceNode, a robot designed to access one of the most difficult-to-reach places on Earth. The team envisions a fleet of these autonomous robots deploying into unmapped underwater cavities beneath Antarctic ice shelves. There, they’d measure how fast the ice is melting — data that’s crucial to helping scientists accurately project how much global sea levels will rise. The IceNode team took a prototype robot for a test under Arctic sea ice in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, in March 2024.

Daily Bread for 10.7.24: These Aren’t Subtle Men

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 RacismEric Hovde Treats Wisconsin as a Side Hustle,  It’s Not Going So Well for HovdeEric Hovde Should Fire His Political Consultants and Hire a TherapistTim 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 for 10.3.24: Perhaps Accurate for a Moment with Much Ahead

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 76. Sunrise is 6:55, and sunset is 6:31, for 11 hours, 37 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent, with 0.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

There will be a Home Buyer’s Educational Event at the Community Engagement Center, 1260 W Main St. in Whitewater from 6 to 7:30 PM.

On this day in 1952, the United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon in the Montebello Islands, Western Australia, to become the world’s third nuclear power.


The Marquette Law School Poll, a respected survey of political preferences, issued its latest findings yesterday. Here are some key results of their latest work:

I’ve reported poll results before, in these races and others, and yet one should be clear with oneself: these are no more than possible descriptions of sentiment at those brief moments when respondents answered a pollster’s questions.

With differences between the candidates so stark, and thus stakes so high, the course both practical and moral is simply to carry on, march on, and slog on in support of one’s candidates.

If ever one’s conscience were to be one’s guide, now’s the time.


Java In zero-g! How the space coffee cup works:

Astronauts on the International Space Station have a zero-g cup for their java. Find out about it here.

Daily Bread for 9.20.24: Eric Hovde’s Banking Deal with a Cartel-Linked Mexican Bank

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 83. Sunrise is 6:40, and sunset is 6:54, for 12 hours, 14 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous, with 91.0 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 2011, the United States military ends its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.


Eric Hovde’s banking deal with a troubled Mexican bank is in the news. Dan Bice of the Journal Sentinel writes:

Banco Azteca, the 10th largest financial institution in Mexico, has had its share of problems in recent years.

Accused in past news stories of having links to the Mexican drug cartel.

Dropped as a financial partner by some U.S. banks because of “risk and compliance concerns.”

And now caught up in a Texas bribery scheme with an American congressman.

But Sunwest Bank, the Utah-based financial institution run by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde, doesn’t mind doing business with it.

In December, Banco Azteca sent $26.2 million in cash to Sunwest on four airplane flights as part of a massive currency conversion called “repatriation,” records show. Hovde, who is running against Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, is chairman and CEO of Sunwest.

Oh, brother: nothing says Wisconsinite like a California-livin’ CEO of a Utah bank making deals with a cartel-linked Mexican bank.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATERHovde’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 TherapistTim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Runand Another Vanity Candidate.  


Austrian team claims victory in hot air balloon race across Europe:

Daily Bread for 9.10.24: Baldwin Leads Hovde

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 for 8.2.24: Hovde’s Evident, Ignorant Racism

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be increasingly sunny with a high of 86. Sunrise is 5:48, and sunset is 8:13, for 14h 24m 16s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 3.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1932,  the positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.


At Urban Milwaukee, Bruce Murphy has telling finds about Eric Hovde’s views of Black men and welfare policy. Murphy writes Hovde Blasted for ‘Bigoted’ Comments on Black Men (GOP US Senate candidate says Black men have lived on ‘handouts’ and ‘welfare checks’):

On the Jay Weber show on WISN on April 5, Hovde declared that “a lot of people in the minority communities, particularly young black men… are moving in the conservative direction” and “no longer want to just live on just getting welfare checks. They want to be part of the American entrepreneurial dream.”

Hovde repeated these kind of statements on other programs, including on Fox News on April 4, where he said that “Young Black men… want to get off of welfare, they don’t want to be stuck with handouts.”

Murphy reminds, as anyone who understands welfare policy would know, that

The old AFDC system of welfare was eliminated in 1996, in favor of the TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] program, and is used by states to provide non-welfare services, including educational services, job training and pregnancy prevention services.

As for the idea that welfare increased the percentage of out-of-wedlock births in the Black community, research has shown “welfare benefits could not have played a major role… because benefits rose sharply in the 1960s and then fell in the 1970s and 1980s, when out-of-wedlock births rose most,” as the Brookings Institution noted. The causes are far more complex and one key factor was the devastating post-1970s decline of manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

Hovde has a bigot’s view of Black men as check-collecting layabouts, when that’s false because they’re not, and no one of any race or ethnicity could be. TANF and W2 (Wisconsin Works) — as part of TANF do not operate the way out-of-touch Hovde must think they do.

The first rule for a U.S. Senate candidate from Wisconsin (other than living here full-time) should be to understand the federal and state policies that affect this state. Hovde evidently doesn’t.

One would almost think that it’s Hovde who’s a dividend-check-collecting layabout looking for a free ride to the U.S. Senate.

Previously at FREE WHITEWATER: 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 TherapistTim Michels 2.0 Eric Hovde Announces U.S. Senate Runand Another Vanity Candidate.


One year since wildfires ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui:

In August of 2023, the deadliest U.S. wildfires in over a century killed more than 100 people and left the town of Lahaina in Maui in ruin.