Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of sixty-four. Sunrise is 6 AM and sunset 7:46 PM, for 13h 45m 55s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 30% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred sixty-fifth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
On this day in in 1889, approximately 50,000 people take part in the Oklahoma Land Rush. On this day in 1970, the first Earth Day is celebrated, with Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson having been among those advocating for a dedicated day for conservation issues.
Recommended for reading in full —
Sebastian Rotella reports that Russia is engaged in a full-scale shadow war in Europe: “American politics was jolted when 17 intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russia had covertly intervened in the 2016 presidential campaign with the aim of electing Donald Trump. Such activity is nothing new in Europe, where Russia has launched a series of clandestine and open efforts to sway governments and exert influence, according to European and U.S. national security officials, diplomats, academics and other experts interviewed by ProPublica in recent weeks. “The Russians have had an aggressive espionage presence here for a long time,” a senior French intelligence official said. “The Russians now have more spies, more clandestine operations, in France than they did in the Cold War.” European and U.S. security officials say Russian tactics run the gamut from attempted regime change to sophisticated cyber-espionage.”
Aurelien Breeden offers a Guide to the French Vote (and How It Relates to ‘Brexit’ and Trump): “French voters will go to the polls on Sunday for the first round of presidential elections. In the wake of electoral upheavals around the world, including the victory of Donald J. Trump and Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, the vote is one of several in Europe being closely watched worldwide….”
Damian Paletta reports that Trump’s ‘Big announcement’ on tax reform unlikely to reveal details, official says: “The White House will release on Wednesday the “broad principles and priorities” of their plans to overhaul federal taxes, a White House official said Friday night, downplaying expectations that the Trump administration would reveal key details underpinning the plan. President Trump said earlier Friday that he would release new information about his plan to overhaul the tax code on Wednesday, a sign that he is trying to accelerate one of his most ambitious campaign promises even though key specifics remain undetermined. “We’ll be having a big announcement on Wednesday having to do with tax reform,” Trump said Friday while visiting the Treasury Department. “The process has begun long ago but it really formally begins on Wednesday.”
Brian Fung explains Why Verizon is losing more cellphone customers than ever: “…aggressive moves by smaller carriers to build out their networks are paying off, said Roger Entner, an industry analyst with Recon Analytics, meaning that such companies as T-Mobile are chipping away at Verizon’s network advantage. In a recent federal auction of wireless airwaves, T-Mobile emerged as a major beneficiary, spending $8 billion to acquire rights to radio spectrum it will use to expand its mobile Internet capacity. “At least three of the four nationwide carriers [are] inching closer to network parity in the major markets,” Entner said. In addition, fewer customers are choosing to leave the smaller carriers for Verizon or AT&T, Entner said. This is important because in a market such as the United States, there aren’t many new customers left; most people already have cell service, and as a result, carriers have been forced to engage in costly price wars to poach subscribers from one another.”
Jason Drakeford, Dennis Overbye, and Jonathan Corum describe Dark Oceans: Surveying Saturn’s Moons: