Good morning.
Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of seventy-one. Sunrise is 5:58 AM and sunset 7:47 PM, for 13h 48m 34s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 12.9% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred sixty-sixth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
April 23rd is the traditionally observed birthday of William Shakespeare, on this day in 1564. On this day in 1954, playing for the Milwaukee Braves, Hank Aaron hits his first major league home run.
Recommended for reading in full —
Craig Gilbert observes that Paul Ryan’s national popularity sags: “His favorability ratings have gone from positive to negative for the first time in Gallup’s polling. In a poll by Pew, his approval rating is 29%, his disapproval 54%. In a survey by Quinnipiac, 28% of voters view him favorably, 52% unfavorably. These national polls were all taken in the aftermath of the House GOP’s highly publicized failure to pass a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. But they also reflect broader forces at work in Donald Trump’s presidency. The speaker is now a less popular figure among GOP voters than Trump is. But as a partner of Trump in Republican-run Washington, Ryan has seen his standing suffer among Democrats and independents.”
Patricia Torres and Nicholas Casey report that Armed Civilian Bands in Venezuela Prop Up Unpopular President: “Carlos Moreno, 17, lay sprawled on the ground, a pool of blood around his head….The uniformed men who shot Mr. Moreno were not government security forces, witnesses say. Rather, they were members of armed bands who have become key enforcers for President Nicolás Maduro as he attempts to crush a growing protest movement against his rule. The groups, called collectives or colectivos in Spanish, originated as pro-government community organizations that have long been a part of the landscape of leftist Venezuelan politics. Civilians with police training, colectivo members are armed by the government, say experts who have studied them. Colectivos control vast territory across Venezuela, financed in some cases by extortion, black-market food and parts of the drug trade as the government turns a blind eye in exchange for loyalty. Now they appear to be playing a key role in repressing dissent.”
Dan Balz and Scott Clement report that Nearing 100 days, Trump’s approval at record lows but his base is holding: “President Trump nears the 100-day mark of his administration as the least popular chief executive in modern times, a president whose voters remain largely satisfied with his performance, but one whose base of support has not expanded since he took the oath of office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
Bob Holer reports that Tom Brady gives much to Best Buddies, but has taken millions for his own charitable trust: “The legend of Tom Brady has grown thanks to charming images of his celebrated appearances for Best Buddies International, a nonprofit dedicated to helping intellectually and developmentally disabled people….Yet Brady’s relationship with Best Buddies has changed in recent years. The organization has become a major source of funding for Brady’s own charitable goals. Since 2011, while Brady has served as the face of its signature Massachusetts fund-raiser and helped it raise nearly $20 million, Best Buddies has paid $2.75 million to Brady’s own charitable trust and has pledged to grant the organization an additional $500,000 in 2017 — a total of $3.25 million….Brady “really can’t take credit for being a great philanthropist when he is using other people’s money to help his own organizations,’’ said Daniel Borochoff, president of Charity Watch, a Chicago-based nonprofit that evaluates philanthropies and advocates for consumers. “It’s certainly not pure altruism.’’
What would it be like to work undercover in a Chinese iPhone factory? Dejian Zeng knows: