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Daily Bread, Politics, Weather

Daily Bread for 2.2.25: Groundhog Predicts Six More Weeks of Controversy Winter

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 46. Sunrise is 7:08 and sunset is 5:09, for 10 hours, 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 20.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1653,  New Amsterdam (now New York City) is incorporated.

Earlier today, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the world’s most famous meteorologist predicted six more weeks of winter.

An ordinary person can, reasonably, do Phil one better. We may have six more weeks of winter, but we’re sure to have more than six weeks of political controversy across the city, state, and nation. If there’s ever been an understatement, there it is…

As for Punxsutawney Phil, he saw his shadow:

New York inaugurates a new honorary dog mayor (since the human mayor of New York is under indictment, it’s probably for best):

New York inaugurated their new honorary dog mayor, a basset-cattle dog mix rescue named Simon.

Daily Bread, Games/Puzzles, Technology

Daily Bread for 2.1.25: An Octogenarian Coder Transforms Japanese Gaming

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 33. Sunrise is 7:09 and sunset is 5:08, for 9 hours, 59 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 12.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1865, President Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, after Congress passed the amendment on 1.31.1865.

An 81-Year-Old Coder Transforms Japanese Gaming:

You’re never too old to learn how to code. Three years ago, Masako Wakamiya noticed the lack of fun game apps for senior citizens and created her own at the age of 81. It’s called Hinadan, and it’s inspired by a traditional Japanese doll festival. We met Wakamiya, now 84, in Kanagawa, Japan, and learned how this IT evangelist and digital creator is empowering other senior citizens to make the most of technology.

For more about Wakamiya see Kiyoko Ogawa, INTERVIEW | Masako Wakamiya, the Oldest App Developer in the World, Japan Forward, September 1, 2023.

February 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA:

What are some skywatching highlights in February 2025?
Venus blazes at its brightest in the early evening, despite being only a slim crescent through the telescope eyepiece.
Mars and Jupiter to rule the night sky after Venus sets, amid the menagerie of bright winter stars in Orion, Taurus, and Gemini.
And enhance your astronomy IQ by knowing the difference between a conjunction and an appulse.
0:00 Intro
0:13 Moon & planets
0:41 Appulses 1:39
Venus at maximum
2:51 February Moon phases

Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin, WisDems, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 1.31.25: Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn Recuses

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 45. Sunrise is 7:10 and sunset is 5:07, for 9 hours, 57 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 5.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1865, Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery, and submits it to the states for ratification

On the issue of whether he should hear a challenge to Act 10, or instead recuse himself, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn is undoubtedly right:

Conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn will not participate in a case challenging the constitutionality of Wisconsin Act 10, the 2011 law restricting public employee collective bargaining rights. 

In an order released Thursday afternoon, Hagedorn said he would recuse himself from a case being considered by the state Supreme Court that was filed in 2023 by the Abbotsford Education Association. The court is currently weighing whether to take the case directly before a state appeals court weighs in.

Hagedorn previously served as chief legal counsel for former Republican Gov. Scott Walker when Act 10 was drafted and defended in earlier court challenges.

Hagedorn said after reviewing legal filings in the case and the court’s ethics rules, he determined that recusal “is not optional when the law commands it.”

“The issues raised involve matters for which I provided legal counsel in both the initial crafting and later defense of Act 10, including in a case raising nearly identical claims under the federal constitution,” Hagedorn said.

See Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn recuses himself from Act 10 challenge, Wisconsin Public Radio, January 30, 2025 and Abbotsford Education Association v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, No. 2024AP2429 (Wis. Supreme Ct. Order Jan. 30, 2025).

And, there’s an update on yesterday’s post about partisanship on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Readers may have seen WISGOP complaints about Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford’s attendance at a Democratic event. The complaints would have more credibility if her conservative and WISGOP-backed opponent, Brad Schimel, hadn’t already justified partisan support of court candidates:

“It’s just become that way, that liberal judicial candidates will associate with the Democratic Party and conservative judicial candidates will end up affiliating with the Republican Party,” he said, adding that each campaign needs grassroots support. “The question isn’t whether you have a political affiliation. It’s whether you can set that aside when you get on the bench.”

Belgian zoo unveils baby white rhino:

Cats

Friday Catblogging: Miss Bindle the Tabby Has 27 Toes

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At the Kentucky Humane Society, there’s a sharp-looking tabby with 27 toes. TJ Macias reports on this unusual feline:

Normally, a cat is born with 18 toes, with five toes on the front paws and four toes on the back. Bindle has, well, a little more than that. 

….

According to the Guinness World Records, Paws, a cat in Minnesota, tied another cat for the record of most toe beans in 2018, CBS News reported. Jake, from Canada, initially set the record for a cat with the most toes in 2002, according to the Guinness World Records.

“It almost looks like a catcher’s mitt,” Paws’ owner Jeanne Martin told CBS.

Polydactyl cats are nicknamed Hemingway cats, thanks to author Ernest Hemingway and his undying love for cats — most of which had six toes. His home and museum in Key West still house many polydactyl kitties

See TJ Macias, Cat at Kentucky shelter has an astounding number of toes. How many is too many?, Lexington Herald Leader, January 30, 2025.

Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin, WisDems, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 1.30.25: Of Course It’s a Partisan Race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 51. Sunrise is 7:11 and sunset is 5:05, for 9 hours, 55 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 1.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1933, Hitler takes office as the Chancellor of Germany.

I’m not sure what to make of a story that finds the Wisconsin Supreme Court race effectually partisan. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been partisan for many years. Still, someone feels the need to explain this to Wisconsin readers:

As with each one before them, Wisconsin’s next Supreme Court justice pledges to be “impartial” when ruling from the bench.

But the current race for that coveted seat has been — and will continue to be — anything but politically neutral.

Indeed, the two candidates are repeatedly pointing out the other’s political ties leading up to the April 1 general election, and the two major political parties have lined up behind their preferred candidate, animated by the prospect that voters could again flip the court’s ideological majority.

One hears that even a broken clock is right twice a day, and so it’s Brad Schimel (of all people) who explains the state of affairs accurately:

In an interview with the Journal Sentinel, Schimel said he didn’t see a retreat from the overt partisanship of state Supreme Court races coming any time soon.

“It’s just become that way, that liberal judicial candidates will associate with the Democratic Party and conservative judicial candidates will end up affiliating with the Republican Party,” he said, adding that each campaign needs grassroots support. “The question isn’t whether you have a political affiliation. It’s whether you can set that aside when you get on the bench.”

See Alison Dirr and Daniel Bice, Just how partisan are the candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court? Here are the details, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 30, 2025.

Indeed: that is a question.

The choice for voters, however, depends on what one prefers from the partisan alternatives on offer.

Drone captures hundreds of dolphins along the California coast:

A whale-watching group captured drone video of a large pod of Risso’s dolphins near Carmel Bay, California.

Crime, Daily Bread, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.29.25: The Connection Between Two Murderous Extremists

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 41. Sunrise is 7:12 and sunset is 5:04, for 9 hours, 52 minutes of daytime. The moon is new with 0.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1845, “The Raven” is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe.

Madison and Nashville killers visited the same online networks:

Moments before 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow opened fire inside her Madison, Wisconsin, school, killing two people and herself last month, a social media account believed to be hers posted a photograph on X showing someone sitting in a bathroom stall and flashing a hand gesture that has become a symbol for white supremacy. 

As news about the shooting broke, another X user responded: “Livestream it.” 

Extremism researchers now believe that second account belonged to 17-year-old Solomon Henderson, who police say walked into his high school cafeteria in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday and fired 10 shots, killing one classmate and then himself. Archives of another X account linked to him show that he posted a similar photo to Rupnow’s in his final moments. 

While there isn’t any evidence that Rupnow and Henderson plotted their attacks together, extremism researchers who have tracked their social media activity told Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica that the two teenagers were active in the same online networks that glorify mass shooters, even crossing paths. Across various social media platforms, the networks trade hateful memes alongside terrorist literature, exchange tips on how to effectively commit attacks and encourage one another to carry out their own.

See Phoebe Petrovic, Madison and Nashville school shooters appear to have crossed paths in online extremist communities (‘A month after a student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, another killed a classmate at Antioch High School. Both were active in an internet subculture that glorifies mass shooters and encourages young people to commit attacks themselves’), Wisconsin Watch, January 24, 2025.

Lightning strikes British Airways plane at a Brazil airport:

Video shot by an eyewitness shows the moment lightning strikes a plane’s tail while parked at a gate in Sao Paulo’s International Guarulhos Airport on Jan. 24. (Eyewitness Bernhard Warr said the aircraft was moved away to undergo safety checks after the incident, and that it departed almost six hours after it was scheduled to fly, following repairs of minor damage.)

Business, Daily Bread, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.28.25: Data Centers

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 48. Sunrise is 7:13 and sunset is 5:03, for 9 hours, 50 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 1.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Finance Committee meets at 5 PM, and the Public Arts Commission at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1958, the Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.

New data centers may be coming to Wisconsin, in Kenosha and Wisconsin Rapids:

More data centers — computer warehouses that underpin artificial intelligence and store everything from PayPal transactions to YouTube videos — are coming to Wisconsin.

Microsoft has purchased 240 acres for a new data center complex in Kenosha, the city announced Monday. It will sit northwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Route 142, 6 miles south of the company’s $3.3 billion data center campus under construction in Mount Pleasant.

Meanwhile, the hydroelectricity that once powered Wisconsin Rapids’ paper mill will now flow to a new data center. The data center developer Digital Power Optimization, known as DPO, announced on Thursday it has purchased the site and its power supply.

See Nick Rommel, New data centers planned for Kenosha, Wisconsin Rapids (‘Hydroelectricity, unused since paper mill closure, will power Wisconsin Rapids facility’), Wisconsin Public Radio, January 27, 2025.

Microsoft is one of the world’s largest corporations; DPO is far smaller, and involved in the volatile cryptocurrency mining sector.

Two announcements do not mean two constructed data centers. They mean only two announcements.

Highway bridge in Germany demolished with controlled explosion:

A highway bridge near Dortmund, Germany, was brought down with a controlled explosion.

City, Daily Bread, University

Daily Bread for 1.27.25: A State of UW-Whitewater Presentation

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 38. Sunrise is 7:14 and sunset is 5:01, for 9 hours, 48 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 4.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School Board’s Policy Review Committee meets at 6:15 PM, and the School Board meets at 7 PM.

On this day in 1776,  Henry Knox‘s “noble train of artillery” arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

On 1.9.25, UW-Whitewater Chancellor Dr. Corey King delivered a State of the University presentation at a Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ meeting. (The university’s formal State of the University Address will be on 3.18.25.)

A few remarks:

While I don’t believe that Wisconsin’s university system is better off with a WISGOP legislature, legislative pressure has demanded in response a more skillful university chancellor than ones our campus has fifteen years ago. There’s less local control over public universities in Wisconsin than in years past, but Whitewater did poorly with the choices her local input produced (Telfer, Kopper). See on the problem of poor local judgment The Dark, Futile Dream and Revisiting Kozloff’s ‘Dark, Futile Dream.’

These are not times of local university control. For this city, the decline of local control has led, it seems, to a decidedly more competent chancellor. If local control should one day return, Whitewater will have to produce better recommendations than she did years ago.

For now, however unwelcome the legislative balance, Whitewater is fortunate that she has better than her own past judgment brought.

One should be careful about breaking pets’ treats in half. They don’t like it:

Daily Bread, Music

Daily Bread for 1.26.25: Man Tries to Learn Bagpipes in One Hour

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 28. Sunrise is 7:15 and sunset is 5:00, for 9 hours, 46 minutes of daytime. (For those who need as much daytime as they can get, there’s more of it each day, and sunset is now after 5 PM.) The moon is a waning crescent with 10.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1915, an act of Congress establishes the Rocky Mountain National Park.

By Daniel Mayer (Mav) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Man ties to master bagpipes in an hour… here’s what happened:

From bagpipes to kilts and tartans, we traveled to Edinburgh in preparation for Burns night to explore one of Scotland’s most iconic instruments: the bagpipes. Our first stop was Kilberry Bagpipes, the last workshop making bagpipes by hand and our producer Stuart gives a crash-course lesson in playing the pipes. Next we went to Gordon Nicolson Kiltmakers, the masters of Scotland’s national dress, they even found Stuart a kilt in his family’s tartan.

A day in the pool…

Daily Bread, Space

Daily Bread for 1.25.25: A Parade of Planets

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 36. Sunrise is 7:15 and sunset is 4:59, for 9 hours, 43 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 17.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1947, Thomas Goldsmith Jr. files a patent for a “Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device,” the first ever electronic game:

U.S. patent 2,455,992, filed by Goldsmith and Estle Ray Mann on January 25, 1947, describes the world’s first cathode ray tubebased game, the “Cathode-ray tube amusement device”. It was inspired by the radar displays used in World War II.[13] Goldsmith and Mann were granted their patent on December 14, 1948, making it the first ever patent for an electronic game. Entitled “Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device“, the patent describes a game in which a player controls the CRT’s electron gun much like an Etch A Sketch. The beam from the gun is focused at a single point on the screen to form a dot representing a missile, and the player tries to control the dot to hit paper targets put on the screen, with all hits detected mechanically.[14] By connecting a cathode ray tube to an oscilloscope and devising knobs that controlled the angle and trajectory of the light traces displayed on the oscilloscope, they were able to invent a missile game that, when using screen overlays, created the effect of firing missiles at various targets.[14] To make the game more challenging, its circuits can alter the player’s ability to aim the dot. However, due to the equipment costs and various circumstances, the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device was never sold. Only handmade prototypes were ever created.[15]

Jan Wesner Childs writes Look Up For January’s ‘Parade Of Planets’:

Stargazers are in for a treat the next few weeks as a parade of planets marches across the night sky.

The January planetary alignment includes Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus all visible to the naked eye at the same time. Neptune and Uranus will be there, too, but they won’t be shining brightly like the others.

What To Know:

Planets, including Earth, orbit around the sun in a line called the ecliptic. But what we see in the night sky changes as we move through space. “These multi-planet viewing opportunities aren’t super rare, but they don’t happen every year, so it’s worth checking it out,” according to NASA’s January night sky notes.

The best viewing for January’s planetary parade is about 90 minutes after sunset, in as dark and clear a spot as you can find. Use binoculars or a telescope for an even better look.

The alignment will be visible into February.

….

Why winter is a great time for stargazing:

The night sky changes with the seasons. In winter, cold air holds less moisture, which can make for clearer viewing.

See Jan Wesner Childs, Look Up For January’s ‘Parade Of Planets, Weather.com, January 24, 2025.

In Amsterdam, there’s an entire museum dedicated to cats:

Whitewater’s own version could go here:

Courts, Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 1.24.25: World’s Richest Man Weighs In On Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 19. Sunrise is 7:16 and sunset is 4:57, for 9 hours, 41 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 24.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1943, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca:

Key decisions included a commitment to demand Axis powers’ unconditional surrender; plans for an invasion of Sicily and Italy before the main invasion of France; an intensified strategic bombing campaign against Germany; and approval of a US Navy plan to advance on Japan through the central Pacific and the Philippines. The last item authorized the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific, which shortened the war.

ALTERNATIVE TITLE:

Wisconsin has 5.9 million people, but he has 400 billion dollars. He’s overmatched.

The Nazi-adjacent Mr. Musk has weighed in on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race:

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and Tesla CEO, has waded into Wisconsin’s high-profile state Supreme Court race that will determine if the court stays under liberal control or flips back to a conservative majority.

“Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!” Musk posted Thursday morning on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that Musk owns.

While races for Wisconsin Supreme Court are technically nonpartisan, partisan groups and donors have already heavily flooded cash into the campaigns of Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, the liberal candidate, and former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, the conservative in the race.

See Hope Karnopp, Elon Musk weighs in on Wisconsin’s high-profile April state Supreme Court election, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 23, 2025.

Much better to be, as I am, one of these Wisconsin millions. The Wisconsin Supreme Court race will be decided here, and nothing of Musk’s voice or money will change the outcome.

Doorbell cam captures meteorite crashing into Earth (video & audio):

A ring doorbell camera captured a meteor strike near a house in Canada’s Prince Edward Island.

City, Film

Film: Tuesday, January 28th, 1:00 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Reagan

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Tuesday, January 28th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Reagan  @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:

Period Drama/Biography

Rated PG-13

2 hours, 21 minutes (2024)

Based on the life of Ronald Reagan, from his childhood, through his Hollywood career, to his time in the Oval Office. Starring Dennis Quaid, Penelope Ann Miller, Jon Voight, and Pat Boone.

One can find more information about Reagan  at the Internet Movie Database.