Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will see afternoon thunderstorms with a high of 78. Sunrise is 6:16 and sunset is 7:34 for 13 hours 18 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waning gibbous with 97.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing up to 1,392 people and causing $125 billion in damage:
Katrina’s storm surge caused 53 breaches to various flood protection structures in and around the greater New Orleans area, submerging 80% of the city. A June 2007 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers indicated that two-thirds of the flooding was caused by the multiple failures of the city’s flood walls.
If tariffs were to work, then domestic manufacturing would increase and imports would decrease. Unsurprisingly, as increased tariffs run counter to centuries of sound economic theory, they don’t work:
The U.S. goods trade deficit widened to $118.8 billion in July, up $17.4 billion from $101.4 billion in June, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. The reading represented the widest monthly goods deficit recorded since March 2025.
Total imports climbed 3.7% to $318.2 billion, with capital goods accounting for much of the gain after that category surged 11.3%. On the other side of the ledger, exports dropped 2.9% to $199.4 billion, pulled down largely by a steep 11.2% contraction in industrial goods shipments. The expanding gap suggests trade will again subtract from gross domestic product growth, potentially marking a fourth straight quarter of such drag, according to Reuters.
See Cris Tolomia, U.S. goods trade deficit hit 16-month high in July 2026, Quartz, August 27, 2026.
Not long ago, a fanatical devotion to tariffs was supposed to bring America to a new golden age. It was a crackpot theory then, it’s a crackpot theory now, and it will be no more credible tomorrow. These third-rate federal men might as well have crafted their tariff policy by reading tarot cards, using dowsing rods, or consulting a Magic 8 Ball.
See also Another Federal Blow to Wisconsin’s Manufacturers.
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Forthcoming topics (in no particular order): Development in Downtown Whitewater (Follow-Up), A New Ethics Ordinance, Polling Places in the City (Further Considerations), and Steps for a Public Interest Campaign.
Bears continue their home invasions across America: