Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will see morning rain with a high of fifty-four. Sunrise is 7:14 AM and sunset 6:05 PM, for 10h 51m 13s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 75.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
Today is the seven hundred tenth day.
On this day in 1781, America is victorious at the Battle of Yorktown:
The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the Surrender at Yorktown, German Battle or the Siege of Little York,[a][b] ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by British peer and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in the North American theater, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. The battle boosted faltering American morale and revived French enthusiasm for the war, as well as undermining popular support for the conflict in Great Britain.[8]
Recommended for reading in full — Fraud is Trump’s business model, Putin’s favorite Congressman takes Julian Assange’s word, who;’s winning the social media war, Wisconsin man Todd Bol – who started the Little Free Library movement – passes, and video about the greatest year (so far) in gaming history —
Adam Davidson asks Is Fraud Part of the Trump Organization’s Business Model?:
It is becoming increasingly clear that, in the language of business schools, the Trump Organization’s core competency is in profiting from misrepresentation and deceit and, potentially, fraud. There are many ways to make money in real estate. The normal way is to identify a need in the market, raise money by convincing lenders or investors that your plan is sound, build the structure, then either profit through ongoing rent or by selling units. The key variables in such a business are what is known as product-market fit—the accuracy with which a developer understands the housing or commercial needs of a place—and the ability to execute well by keeping costs down without sacrificing the right level of quality. Perhaps more than anything, practitioners of a successful real-estate business obsessively focus on maintaining the ability to borrow money cheaply. The profit on many real-estate projects often comes down to simple math: the cheaper you can borrow money to build, the more money you make. The more trustworthy you are, through a long period of successful projects, the less interest banks will demand on their loans, so the more profit you can make, and the more successful you will be.
Rather famously, Trump overinvested in luxury housing, spent too much on his casinos, and completely blew his brief foray into a regional airline. Far worse, Trump did the very opposite of insuring a long record of fiscal prudence that would allow him to borrow money cheaply. Despite the company’s mixed record, it has survived and grown. It’s doing something well, so what is it?
This month, two incredible investigative stories have given us an opportunity to lift the hood of the Trump Organization, look inside, and begin to understand what the business of this unusual company actually is. It is not a happy picture. The Times published a remarkable report, on October 2nd, that showed that much of the profit the Trump Organization made came not from successful real-estate investment but from defrauding state and federal governments through tax fraud. This week, ProPublica and WNYC co-published a stunning story and a “Trump, Inc.” podcast that can be seen as the international companion to the Times piece. They show that many of the Trump Organization’s international deals also bore the hallmarks of financial fraud, including money laundering, deceptive borrowing, outright lying to investors, and other potential crimes.
(The answer to Davidson’s question is yes.)
Dan Friedman reports Putin’s Favorite Congressman Denies Russia Hacked the DNC, Because That’s What Julian Assange Told Him:
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said in recent interview that he does not believe Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee or other Democrats during the 2016 presidential election, based on a denial offered by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The congressman’s belief is contrary to the public conclusion of United States law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
“I know they didn’t hack the DNC,” Rohrabacher told political commentator Mark McKinnon in an interview for Showtime’s political show The Circus. “I went to the guy who received the DNC emails, Julian Assange, and talked to him personally, and he assured me it wasn’t and that they had proof,” the congressman said.
Asked if he trusted Assange over US intelligence, Rohrabacher said he did: “If you take a look at what evidence has been coming of this investigation, people have a lot of questions about our top law enforcement and intelligence services.”
See also Newly published files confirm plan to move Assange to Russia.
(Rohrabacher: Fifth-columnist within America.)
Kevin Roose and Keith Collins ask Who’s Winning the Social Media Midterms?:
After President Trump’s popularity on social media helped propel him to an upset victory in 2016, Democrats vowed to catch up.
Two years later, their efforts appear to be paying off.
A New York Times analysis of data from the Facebook and Instagram accounts of hundreds of candidates in next month’s midterm elections reveals that Democrats — and especially Democrats running for House seats — enjoy a sizable national lead in engagement on the two influential platforms.
(Every bit and byte helps.)
Meg Jones reports Todd Bol, Wisconsin man who started the Little Free Library movement, dies at age 62:
The Wisconsin man who started the Little Free Library movement died Thursday.
In 2009, Todd Bol of Hudson built a dollhouse-sized case in the shape of a one-room schoolhouse from a recycled garage door and set it up at the end of his driveway. He filled it with books and noticed during a garage sale that more folks spent time gathered around the library than perusing the things for sale.
Inspiration struck and Bol thought, why not build a handful of other cases to install around his western Wisconsin community? From that deceptively simple idea a tidal wave of Little Free Libraries began popping up throughout Wisconsin, the Midwest, the U.S. and world.
More than 75,000 Little Free Libraries are now located in 88 countries.
Bol died of cancer in Hudson. He was 62.
(A life well-lived.)