Good morning.
Whitewater will see a mix of rain and snow today, with a high of forty-three. Sunrise is 7:24 AM and sunset 4:41 PM, for 9h 17m 29s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 94.4% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}sixty-third day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
Whitewater’s Parks & Recreation Board will meet tonight at 5:30 PM.
On this day in 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense anonymously. On this day in 1883, the Newhall House caught fire at the northwest corner of Broadway and Michigan Streets in Milwaukee, claiming more than seventy lives.
Recommended for reading in full —
Chelsea Harvey reports that Methane may not last long in the atmosphere — but it drives rising seas for hundreds of years: “A new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, written by Solomon and colleagues Kirsten Zickfeld of Simon Fraser University and Daniel Gilford of MIT, underscores the fact that even greenhouse gases that don’t last long in the atmosphere — methane, for instance — can have centuries-long impacts on the expanding oceans. So although the atmospheric warming they cause may taper off comparatively quickly after their emissions are halted, their effects in the oceans are much longer-lived. “The ocean never forgets — that’s the essential message of this paper,” Solomon said. The researchers used a climate model to examine the effect of various greenhouse gases on thermal expansion in the oceans. They started with a “business-as-usual” scenario, which assumes high emissions into the future. They applied this scenario to emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and various halocarbons, a group of chemicals including the chlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons.”
John Wagner and Ylan Q. Mui report that it’s not just a problem for his family and cabinet secretaries, but also true that Trump confidants serving as presidential advisers could face tangle of potential conflicts: “Billionaire investor Carl Icahn will have the ear of President-elect Donald Trump as an adviser focused on cutting government regulations. But Icahn also stands to benefit if his advice is taken: It could make the energy companies and others in which he has a stake more profitable. Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who’s a major figure in her father’s business, has been present at transition meetings and is expected to continue to counsel him at the White House. So, too, is her husband, Jared Kushner, who has a web of business interests of his own that could be affected by Trump administration policy. And another Trump intimate — his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski — is making no secret of his desire to profit on his continuing closeness to Trump, setting up a new lobbying firm with an office just a block from the White House.”
Every second counts, as Ralph Russo reports Clemson edges Alabama in last second for national title: “Tampa, Fla. — College football’s first national championship rematch was even better than the original, with an incredible twist at the end. Deshaun Watson and Clemson dethroned the champs and became the first team to beat Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty in a national title game, taking down the top-ranked Crimson Tide 35-31 Monday night in the College Football Playoff. Watson found Hunter Renfrow for a 2-yard touchdown pass with a second remaining to give the Tigers their first national championship since 1981. A year after Alabama won its fourth title under Saban with a 45-40 classic in Arizona, Clemson closed the deal and denied the Tide an unprecedented fifth championship in eight seasons. “That has to be one of the greatest games of all time,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.”
Amie Tsang and Sui-Lee Wee report that McDonald’s China Operations to Be Sold to Locally Led Consortium: “HONG KONG — McDonald’s said on Monday that it would sell its businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong for $2.08 billion to Citic, a state-owned conglomerate, and the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. The deal gives Citic and Carlyle franchise rights for 20 years. Citic and its investment arm, Citic Capital, will have a controlling stake of 52 percent, while Carlyle will take 28 percent. McDonald’s will retain the remaining fifth of the company. “China and Hong Kong represent an enormous growth opportunity for McDonald’s,” Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s chief executive, said in a news release. “This new partnership will combine one of the world’s most powerful brands and our unparalleled quality standards with partners who have an unmatched understanding of the local markets.”
There are thousands of happy parakeets thanks to The Birdman of Chennai —
The Birdman of Chennai from Great Big Story on Vimeo.