Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 22. Sunrise is 7:25 and sunset is 4:29 for 9 hours 4 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 70.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1170, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.
One reads that merely to secure the WISGOP nomination for governor, Tom Tiffany says he hopes to raise $40 million:
When asked how much money it will take to win the party’s nomination, Tiffany said his campaign is “budgeting to raise $40 million.” He criticized what he calls “the billionaire loophole” in Wisconsin that allows unlimited campaign contributions to political parties, which then transfer unlimited amounts to candidates.
“But you know, you can cry about it, or you can compete,” Tiffany said. “We choose to compete. We’re hoping to raise $40 million when it comes to a competitive primary.”
See Rich Kremer, GOP candidates running for governor talk Trump, $40M primary fundraising goal, Wisconsin Public Radio, December 29, 2025.
Part of Tiffany’s big-money talk — for a mere primary race — is to make himself seem inevitable and thereby to ward off any latecomers to the WISGOP gubernatorial primary who possess greater charisma1 .
In any event, no amount spent in the August primary will assure success in the November general election, for candidates of either party.
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- That would be just about any latecomer with a pulse. ↩︎
How a reporter prepared for visiting a Japanese bear hotspot:
Note: The reporter in the video says that he, and Japanese targets of bear attacks, can use a device that makes the noise of gunfire, thereby deterring bears from attacking. I’d simply observe that actual gunfire also deters bears.