Good morning.
Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of fifty-one. Sunrise is 6:35 AM and sunset 4:41 PM, for 10h 05m 49s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 97.2% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}three hundred sixty-first day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
On this day in 1912, Wisconsin voters (men only) consider a referendum on women’s suffrage, when they “considered a proposal to allow women to vote. When the referendum was over, Wisconsin men voted women’s suffrage down by a margin of 63 to 37 percent. The referendum’s defeat could be traced to multiple causes, but the two most widely cited reasons were schisms within the women’s movement itself and a perceived link between suffragists and temperance that antagonized many German American voters. Although women were granted the vote in 1920 by the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Wisconsin’s own constitution continued to define voters as male until 1934. [Source: Turning Points in Wisconsin History]”
Recommended for reading in full:
Dan Balz and Scott Clement report Trump’s approval rating is far lower than any president in 7 decades of polling:
A majority of Americans say President Trump has not accomplished much during his first nine months in office and they have delivered a report card that is far harsher even than the tepid expectations they set for his tenure when he was sworn into office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News survey.
Approaching the first anniversary of his victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, Trump has an approval rating demonstrably lower than any previous chief executive at this point in his presidency over seven decades of polling. Fewer than 4 in 10 Americans — 37 percent — say they approve of the way he is handling his job.
Trump’s approval rating has changed little over the past four months, which have included tumultuous events, from hurricanes to legislative setbacks to indictments in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into the role Russia played in the 2016 campaign….
(Trump received three million fewer votes than Clinton, received that minority share of the vote with Russian help, is historically at the bottom of polling for a sitting president, is collapsing nationally among rural voters, and was decisively rejected here within the City of Whitewater on election day. When one encounters someone from what’s left of Trump’s base taking up about him, it’s worth remembering and reminding of these uncontestable truths.)
Tai Ragan writes Don’t Lose Focus: Here Is Every Scandal Plaguing Donald Trump (“The Trump presidency is defined by the presence of scandal”):
Donald J. Trump has led a confrontational social and business life that often landed him in the tabloids. In both his personal and professional life he has been notoriously litigious and has been mired in many scandals over the years. The press mostly emphasized President Trump’s controversies while on the campaign trail, but a brighter light has shown on his actions since taking office.
Several books could be written on the events plaguing this administration, but these are the most egregious scandals [list that follows includes Trump-Russia, Nepotism And Swamp Creatures, Dog Whistling Dixie, Conflicts, Sexual Harassment & Assault, Gross Ineptitude]….
Ellen Nakashima reports U.S. investigators have identified Russian government hackers who breached the DNC:
Federal investigators have identified several Russian government hackers who penetrated the Democratic National Committee’s computers last year and siphoned out information that was released online, according to individuals familiar with the matter.
Gathering the evidence necessary to bring charges against them has proven to be a challenge, and it is not clear when that might happen, the individuals said. Prosecutors and FBI agents have been in discussions about the case and could bring charges next year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Justice Department declined to comment. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied his government played any role in the hacking or in seeking to influence the 2016 election….
Anna Nemtsova reports Ukraine Believes Paul Manafort’s Crimes Go Way Beyond Money Laundering:
MOSCOW—Many of Kiev’s journalists, investigators, and officials felt genuinely happy on Monday when they heard Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, had been indicted on charges of laundering more than $18 million from Ukraine.
Most of the 12 counts of the indictment pulled together by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team spoke about Manafort’s illegal financial deals when he was working for Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin Party of Regions from 2006 onward. It also accused him of “conspiracy against the United States,” since Manafort allegedly used multiple shell companies to hide his money, and never bothered to inform U.S. authorities about the true size of his income.
Manafort had racked up this fortune as an adviser to the infamously corrupt Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled into exile in Russia in 2014. So, to see Manafort brought up on charges and threatened with jail time was considered a triumph for Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, which overthrew Yanukovych. During the uprising, which centered on Kiev’s central square, the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, more than 100 people lost their lives in 2014.
“It is very important for Ukraine to never see such a phenomenon as Manafort on its soil ever again,” journalist and commentator Ekaterina Sergatskova told The Daily Beast. “He symbolizes the ‘old regime’ of money laundering, corrupt lobbying, dirty scams—the regime that made millions suffer—both in Ukraine and in United States. Manafort served a regime that worked under Russia’s total control—that regime should never come to power in Ukraine again.”
How ’bout A Michelin-Starred Meal for $1.50?
Chan Hon Meng is the master chef behind “Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle,” the food cart home to the cheapest Michelin-starred meal in the world. Ringing in at a mere $1.50, Meng’s perfected braised chicken recipe was passed down to him by his uncle. Now, he’s serving hundreds of meals a day out of his hawker in Singapore. And while his food has gained acclaim and recognition across the culinary community, Meng hasn’t forgotten his roots. He’s still serving up the same great food, all for under two bucks.