Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of thirty-one. Sunrise is 6:25 AM and sunset 5:47 PM, for 11h 22m 47s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 27.9% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred fifteenth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

Alexander Graham Bell is born on this day in 1847. On this date in 1875, industrialist, Republican politician, and Wisconsin governor Walter Jodok Kohler is born in Sheboygan.

Recommended for reading in full —

Margaret Sullivan writes that While pundits swooned over Trump’s speech, reporters plugged away at the real story: “Tuesday night was a low point for “the media” — if such a multi-headed beast can be described in those two words — as cable-news talking heads gushed over President Trump’s address to Congress. Will Oremus of Slate put it like this: Trump “managed to speak for an entire hour without sounding like an unhinged demagogue. For that, he was hailed by TV pundits across the spectrum who acted as though he’d just single-handedly defeated the Islamic State and restored the fortunes of the American middle class”….But as if to say that not all media are created equal, along came two blockbuster stories from two longtime rival newspapers. First, on Wednesday evening, with an 8:01 news alert, the New York Times dropped its triple-byline blockbuster: that the Obama administration had scattered a trail of bread crumbs, evidently so that contacts between Trump’s associates and the Russians would not be lost to a coverup by the new administration. Then, with a 9:04 p.m. news alert, The Washington Post published a shocker on the same general subject: that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had met with the Russian ambassador to the United States twice and failed to disclose that during his Senate confirmation hearings. Because of dogged reporting, and to some extent on intelligence-community leaks that Trump has found so outrageous, both stories hit hard.”

Aaron Blake describes Jeff Sessions’s puzzling press conference: “At one point early in the news conference, Sessions said there were two senior staffers in his meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in Washington. Later, he mentioned that there might also have been a third, more junior staffer. He at one point acknowledged that Kislyak may have sought the meeting because of his ties to the Trump campaign. “Ambassadors are always out trying to find out things and advance their agenda,” he said. Sessions also left open the possibility that there might have been other contacts with Russian officials, saying only, “I meet a lot of people” when asked to account for any other possibly undisclosed meetings. That will lead to all kinds of questions about more contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia.”

Tony Cook reports that Pence used personal email for state business — and was hacked: “INDIANAPOLIS — Vice President Mike Pence routinely used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, at times discussing sensitive matters and homeland security issues. Emails released to The Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, in response to a public records request show Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at the governor’s residence to the state’s response to terror attacks across the globe. In one email, Pence’s top state homeland security adviser relayed an update from the FBI regarding the arrests of several men on federal terror-related charges….Cybersecurity experts say Pence’s emails were likely just as insecure as Clinton’s. While there has been speculation about whether Clinton’s emails were hacked, Pence’s account was actually compromised last summer by a scammer who sent an email to his contacts claiming Pence and his wife were stranded in the Philippines and in urgent need of money.”

Jeff Potrykus describes Iowa 59, UW 57: Hawkeyes shock Badgers: “MADISON – This stunning collapse could weigh heavily on Wisconsin coach Greg Gard and his players for some time. How quickly the Badgers can recover from their stunning 59-57 loss to Iowa on Thursday night at the Kohl Center could determine how long UW remains alive in the postseason. UW led by nine points with 3 minutes 46 seconds left and by five points with 2:03 left. The Badgers committed two critical turnovers against full-court pressure, however, and Iowa capitalized to outscore UW, 7-0, in the final 1:45. “Losing is depressing,” said senior Nigel Hayes, who had five of UW’s 13 turnovers. “It is extremely upsetting. Especially when we lose the way we do and the way we have been.” In the closing seconds, Iowa’s Peter Jok missed a jumper, but Hayes mistimed his jump and Iowa’s Cordell Pemsl grabbed the loose ball.

Anatomy of a Scene takes a look at Logan:

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of thirty-two. Sunrise is 6:26 AM and sunset 5:36 PM, for 11h 19m 53s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 18.2% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred fourteenth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission is scheduled to meet at 6 PM.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Matthew Rosenberg, Adam Goldman, and Michael Schmidt report that the Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking: “WASHINGTON — In the Obama administration’s last days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election — and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians — across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators. American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence. Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates.”

Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller report that Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose: “Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions’s confirmation hearing to become attorney general. One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator’s office, at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race. The previously undisclosed discussions could fuel new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia’s alleged role in the 2016 presidential election. As attorney general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trump’s associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself.”

Partick Markey reports that Gov. Scott Walker: Wisconsin road projects may be scaled back to save money: “MADISON – The state is reviewing whether it can scale back future road projects to save money, Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday. Walker touted smaller-scale projects just weeks after the Department of Transportation warned in a memo that there is a “tidal wave” of costly, critical projects that cannot be delayed forever. The memo comes at a time when Walker is standing against raising the gas tax and some of his fellow Republicans who control the Legislature are calling for finding another $300 million for highways over the next two years.”

Ed Yong describes how Wild Elephants Sleep Just Two Hours a Night: “The remarkably short amount of sleep in wild elephants is a real elephant in the room for several theories for the function of sleep,” says Niels Rattenborg from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology. Some scientists have argued that sleep evolved to give animals a chance to reset their brains, ready for a new day of learning. Others suggest that sleep provides an opportunity to clear out toxins that accumulated during the day. And yet others say that sleep allows animals to consolidate the memories that they have created while they were awake. But if any of these ideas are right, how do elephants cope with such little sleep? “The hypotheses about restorative functions start to go out the window,” says Manger. “You can’t say that these are general things that apply to sleep across all mammals.” The idea about memory consolidation becomes especially shaky: it’s meant to happen during REM sleep, and Manger’s elephants only seemed to get REM sleep every three to four days. How do they remember anything at all, much less develop their apocryphally long-lasting memories?”

Biodegradable bags help save animals’ lives and reduce pollution:

Good morning.

A new month begins in this small town, on a day of rain & snow, with a high of thirty-six. Sunrise is 6:28 AM and sunset 5:45 PM, for 11h 17m 00s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 10.1% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred thirteenth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1872, Pres. Grant signs the Act of Dedication law that creates Yellowstone National Park. On this day in 1924, astronaut Donald ‘Deke’ Slayton is born in Sparta, Wisconsin.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Jennifer Rubin observes that Trump’s speech to Congress was mostly devoid of substance: “if you were looking for real details about policy matters, you no doubt were disappointed. Most critically, GOP members of Congress got little sense as to what the president would and would not accept as an Obamacare replacement. That means they’ll be flying blind, hoping to reach consensus that won’t be so unpopular with voters that Trump turns on his own party members. One cannot over-emphasize how strange it is that the White House is providing no cover, let alone direction, on arguably the most important aspects of its own agenda. Happy talk and mindless phrases, of course, leave Trump with wiggle room to blame Democrats or Republicans, or both, when things don’t work out, but it makes success on complex and controversial issues much more difficult.”‘

Glenn Kessler and Michelle Ye Hee Lee were Fact-checking President Trump’s address to Congress: “President Trump’s maiden address to Congress was notable because it was filled with numerous inaccuracies. In fact, many of the president’s false claims are old favorites that he trots out on a regular, almost daily basis. Here’s a roundup of 13 of the more notable claims, in the order in which the president made them….”

Alan Blinder, Serge Kovaleski, and Adam Goldman report that Threats and Vandalism Leave American Jews on Edge in Trump Era: “In a meeting with state attorneys general earlier Tuesday, Mr. Trump suggested that the threats and destruction might be a politically coordinated effort to “make people look bad,” according to the attorneys general of Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. “First, he said the acts were reprehensible,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who asked Mr. Trump about the episodes during a session at the White House. “Second, he said: ‘And you’ve got to be careful; it could be the reverse. This could be the reverse, trying to make people look bad.’” Jewish leaders denounced Mr. Trump’s comments to the attorneys general, and some urged the federal government to accelerate its investigation of the threatening calls, the latest of which came on Monday.”

Jim Rutenberg considers When a Pillar of the Fourth Estate Rests on a Trump-Murdoch Axis: “The Financial Times reported the latest example of their closeness last week: that Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka was a trustee of the nearly $300 million fortune Mr. Murdoch set aside for the two children he had with his third wife, Wendi, who arranged the trusteeship. Ms. Trump gave up that oversight role in December, before her father’s inauguration but well after Election Day. That means the whole time that Mr. Murdoch’s highly influential news organizations were covering Mr. Trump’s campaign and transition, their executive chairman was entangled in a financial arrangement of the most personal sort — tied to his children’s financial (very) well being — along with the president’s daughter. Referring to her only as the president’s “daughter” fails to capture her true role. She is Mr. Trump’s most trusted confidante. And she is married to a key presidential adviser, Jared Kushner, who, as it happens, is so close with Mr. Murdoch that he even helped Mr. Murdoch set up his bachelor pad after his last divorce, The New Yorker reported. The latest news about the Murdoch-Trump axis is acutely problematic for the leadership at The Wall Street Journal — owned by News Corp. — as it seeks to quell a rebellion by a group of staff members who believe that the paper has held them back from more aggressively covering Mr. Trump, they suspect, under pressure from Mr. Murdoch. (As Joe Pompeo of Politico first reported last week, a meeting to discuss their grievances is to take place at The Journal on Monday.)”

A robot named Handle, from Boston Dynamics, is amazingly agile, and can jump four feet, vertically:

Good morning.

February in this small town ends with thunderstorms and a high of fifty-seven. Sunrise is  6:30 AM and sunset 5:44 PM for 11h 14m 08s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 4.5% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred twelfth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1972, near the conclusion of Pres. Nixon’s visit to China, the United States and China issue the Shanghai Communiqué pledging to work toward normalization of relations between the two countries. On this day in 1862, the 8th and 15th Wisconsin Infantry regiments and the 5th, 6th and 7th Wisconsin Light Artillery batteries fight the Battle of Island No. 10, Missouri.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Drew Harwell reports that Hundreds allege sex harassment, discrimination at Kay and Jared jewelry company: “Hundreds of former employees of Sterling Jewelers, the multibillion-dollar conglomerate behind Jared the Galleria of Jewelry and Kay Jewelers, claim that its chief executive and other company leaders presided over a corporate culture that fostered rampant sexual harassment and discrimination, according to arbitration documents obtained by The Washington Post. Declarations from roughly 250 women and men who worked at Sterling, filed as part of a private class-action arbitration case, allege that female employees at the company throughout the late 1990s and 2000s were routinely groped, demeaned and urged to sexually cater to their bosses to stay employed. Sterling disputes the allegations. The arbitration was first filed in 2008 by more than a dozen women who accused the company of widespread gender discrimination. The class-action case, still unresolved, now includes 69,000 women who are current and former employees of Sterling, which operates about 1,500 stores across the country.”

Paul Kane finds An unlikely ally for President Trump: Liberal actress Jennifer Garner: “People felt like Trump really understood them, that he was going to come in and create jobs for them,” she said. “They felt like they needed something to just turn everything upside down.” It’s that level of despair that leaves Garner willing to deal with Trump when some of her friends want to offer nothing but resistance. She may even be willing to meet the president. “Send me a ticket to Mar-a-Lago. I’m ready to go down and have a steak and a good chat,” she said, only half joking about the prospect. “I really think it’s great, if he’s willing to help the poor kids who got him elected.”

Robert Pear and Kate Kelly report that Trump Concedes Health Law Overhaul Is ‘Unbelievably Complex’: “WASHINGTON — President Trump, meeting with the nation’s governors, conceded Monday that he had not been aware of the complexities of health care policy-making: “I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.” The president also suggested that the struggle to replace the Affordable Care Act was creating a legislative logjam that could delay other parts of his political agenda. Many policy makers had anticipated the intricacies of changing the health care law, and Mr. Trump’s demands in the opening days of his administration to simultaneously repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement made the political calculations far more complicated. Governors of both parties added still more confusion on Monday when they called for any replacement to cover all the people already benefiting from the landmark law.”

Michael Daly describes The American Greatness of Ian Grillot: “Nobody was ever more American than was Ian Grillot when he leapt from under the table and started towards the gunman in Austins Bar & Grill on Wednesday night. Grillot had been in this sports bar in Olathe, Kansas, watching a basketball game when a decidedly un-American man was ejected for making disparaging remarks to two patrons whom he imagined to be Middle Eastern. “Get out of my country!” the man was heard to shout. Moments later, the man returned to the bar with a gun in hand and shot both patrons. Grillot ducked under a table but retained the presence of mind to count the number of shots. “I thought I heard nine,” Grillot would later say in a video released by the University of Kansas Health System. “I expected his magazine to be empty.” America was never greater than the moment that immediately followed. “So I got up and proceeded to chase him down,” Grillot would recall. “I wasn’t really thinking when I did that. It was just, it wasn’t right, and I didn’t want the gentleman to potentially go after somebody else.” Grillot would dismiss any suggestion that he was a hero.”

Tech Insider finds evolving paper art that has no end:

Good morning.

Whitewater’s Monday will be mostly sunny with a high of forty-eight. Sunrise is 6:31 AM and sunset 5:42 PM, for 11h 11m 16s of daytime. The moon is new, with just .9% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred eleventh day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission meets at 4:30 PM. Whitewater’s School Board meets in open session beginning at approximately 7 PM.

On this day in 1933, Germany’s Reichstag catches fire. The ruling Nazis, blaming the Communists, quickly use the fire in the parliament as a pretext to suspend civil liberties. On this day in 1949, the Kittoe Mine Fire leaves fourteen miners trapped 168 feet underground in smoke, debris and knee-deep water for seven hours.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Andrew Higgins reports that Trump Embraces ‘Enemy of the People,’ a Phrase With a Fraught History: “MOSCOW — The phrase was too toxic even for Nikita Khrushchev, a war-hardened veteran communist not known for squeamishness. As leader of the Soviet Union, he demanded an end to the use of the term “enemy of the people” because “it eliminated the possibility of any kind of ideological fight.” “The formula ‘enemy of the people,’” Mr. Khrushchev told the Soviet Communist Party in a 1956 speech denouncing Stalin’s cult of personality, “was specifically introduced for the purpose of physically annihilating such individuals” who disagreed with the supreme leader. It is difficult to know if President Trump is aware of the historic resonance of the term, a label generally associated with despotic communist governments rather than democracies. But his decision to unleash the terminology has left some historians scratching their heads. Why would the elected leader of a democratic nation embrace a label that, after the death of Stalin, even the Soviet Union found to be too freighted with sinister connotations?

Meg Jones asks What if they held a town hall meeting and Rep. Paul Ryan didn’t come?: “KENOSHA – Lining up behind microphones Sunday evening, a few hundred of Rep. Paul Ryan’s constituents directed their wrath and disapproval toward an empty chair. “It says a lot to me that he’s not here,” said Lee Hansen of Racine, who served in the 82nd Airborne in the 1970s. “Maybe we should repeal and replace Paul Ryan.” Forward Kenosha organizers scheduled the town hall meeting Sunday evening at a union hall to give residents of the 1st Congressional District a way to get their thoughts and opinions to the Janesville Republican. Julia Kozel, a Forward Kenosha board member, said Ryan was invited to the event but didn’t respond. She said she found out he wasn’t coming through a story in the Kenosha News a few days earlier. “I don’t think he appreciates hearing things contrary to his ideology,” said Kozel.”

Jenna Johnson reports that These Iowans voted for Trump. Many of them are already disappointed: “Of the six swing states that were key to Trump’s unexpected win in November, his margin of victory was the highest in Iowa, where he beat Clinton by 9 percentage points. Yet at the dawn of his presidency, only 42 percent of Iowans approve of the job that he’s doing and 49 percent disapprove, according to a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll this month.”

Jennifer Rubin describes Trump vs. an America that works: “We don’t think it is a coincidence that in the election Trump lost the most economically productive areas of the United States. Brookings found, “The less-than-500 counties that Hillary Clinton carried nationwide encompassed a massive 64 percent of America’s economic activity as measured by total output in 2015. By contrast, the more-than-2,600 counties that Donald Trump won generated just 36 percent of the country’s output—just a little more than one-third of the nation’s economic activity.” To be clear, Clinton carried the most diverse, most cosmopolitan and most successful parts of America. (“Her base of 493 counties was heavily metropolitan. By contrast, Trumpland consists of hundreds and hundreds of tiny low-output locations that comprise the non-metropolitan hinterland of America, along with some suburban and exurban metro counties.”)

Nature on PBS shows how to Build Animatronic Animals That Go Undercover and Infiltrate the Pack:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of forty-five. Sunrise is 6:33 AM and sunset 5:41 PM, for 11h 08m 24s of daytime. We’ve a new moon today. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred tenth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

On this day in 1815, Napoleon escapes from Elba, shortly thereafter to inflict an additional Hundred Days of violence and suffering upon Europe until his final defeat.

Recommended for reading in full — 

Daniel Dale has updated the tally for The complete list of all 99 false things Donald Trump has said as president (The [Toronto] Star’s running tally of the bald-faced lies, exaggerations and deceptions the president of the United States of America has said, so far).

One reads, from the very horse’s mouth, that Trump will not attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (“I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!”) His absence is sure to make the evening twice as pleasant, and the food twice as easy to digest.

Evan Osnos, David Remnick, and Joshua Yaffa ponder Trump, Putin, and the New Cold War: “By Inauguration Day, January 20th, the evidence of a wide-scale Russian operation had prompted the formation of a joint task force, including the C.I.A., the F.B.I., the N.S.A., and the financial-crimes unit of the Treasury Department. Three Senate committees, including the Intelligence Committee, have launched inquiries; some Democrats worry that the Trump Administration will try to stifle these investigations. Although senators on the Intelligence Committee cannot reveal classified information, they have ways of signalling concern. Three weeks after the election, Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, and six other members of the committee sent a public letter to Obama, declaring, “We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the U.S. election that should be declassified and released to the public.” At a hearing in January, Wyden pushed further. While questioning James Comey, the director of the F.B.I., Wyden cited media reports that some Trump associates had links to Russians who are close to Putin. Wyden asked if Comey would declassify information on that subject and “release it to the American people.” Comey said, “I can’t talk about it.” Wyden’s questioning had served its purpose.”

Glenn Thrush and Michael Grynbaum observe that Trump Ruled the Tabloid Media. Washington Is a Different Story: “New York is extremely intense and competitive, but it is actually a much smaller pond than Washington, where you have many more players with access to many more sources,” said Howard Wolfson, who has split his career between New York and Washington, advising former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. “In New York, you can create a manageable set of relationships in a smaller universe,” Mr. Wolfson said. “In Washington, that becomes a lot more complicated.” There is another fundamental difference: During his Page Six days, Mr. Trump was, by and large, trafficking in trivia. As president, he is dealing with the most serious issues of the day. They involve the nation’s safety and prosperity, and it is the role of news organizations to cover them.”

Phil Edwards contends that Minecraft isn’t just a game. It’s an art form:

Good morning.

Following a light snowfall in the morning (with little accumulation), Whitewater will have a cloudy day with a high of thirty. Sunrise is 6:34 AM and sunset 5:40 PM, for 11h 05m 33s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 1.4% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}one hundred ninth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}

It’s the 175th birthday of Ida Lewis, an American lighthouse keeper rightly honored for rescuing people at sea: “There are no definitive records of Ida’s rescues and she was too modest to recount them herself, though some were documented in local newspapers and at least one garnered national attention; in February of 1881 she ventured into the bitter winter winds to rescue two soldiers who had fallen through the ice while traveling on foot. This act of bravery caught the attention of President Grant who shortly thereafter awarded her the prestigious Gold Lifesaving Medal. Eleven years after her death, the Rhode Island legislature voted to rename her former home, Lime Rock Lighthouse, as Ida Lewis Lighthouse in her honor. It’s important to remember that being a lighthouse keeper required unwavering courage, sheer physical strength, constant diligence, and a willingness to put one’s own life on the line. Ida was so dedicated that supposedly she would rush into inclement weather without shoes or coat so as not a waste a single second. Her life and legacy were not only an honor to research and illustrate, but truly a source of inspiration.”

Recommended for reading in full — 

Steve Verburg reports that Wisconsin Senate leader’s [Scott Fitzgerald] bill would relax high-capacity well regs: “The leader of the state Senate’s Republican majority has authored a bill to further relax regulation of high-powered water wells that have been linked to dwindling lakes and rivers in some parts of the state. The bill would allow drilling of wells that pump large quantities of ground water for farms and industry without review by state regulators if the new wells replace existing permitted wells. Conservationists and groups representing waterfront property owners have fought similar proposals — including several that failed last year — because they would eliminate opportunities to adjust well operations when they cause problems for other water users. “It locks in the existing problems, especially in the central area of the state where lakes and streams are drying up,” Amber Meyer Smith of Clean Wisconsin said Wednesday.”

Rachel Abrams profiles The Anti-Trump Activist Taking On Retailers: “SAN FRANCISCO — Sitting in a basement office that she rents by the hour, Shannon Coulter ticks off the activities she gave up in defiance of President Donald J. Trump: renting movies with her husband on Amazon, and shopping at Nordstrom, Macy’s and other retailers that sell Ivanka Trump’s products. A Nordstrom bag sat on a nearby table. It represents a victory lap of sorts for Ms. Coulter, who has almost single-handedly spearheaded a retail revolt against the president and his family. She was wearing a new silver Elizabeth and James lariat necklace purchased at the department store soon after it scrubbed Ms. Trump’s name from its website. “The goal,” Ms. Coulter said, “came originally from a place of really wanting to shop the stores we loved again with a clear conscience.” It’s been a wild ride these past few months for Ms. Coulter, who runs her shoestring movement from her home, or from cheerfully decorated work spaces like this one — surrounded by bright-blue furniture, clam chairs and decorative pillows that feel more Silicon Valley than anti-administration war room….The attention has transformed Ms. Coulter, 45, a digital marketing specialist, into the unlikely general of the digital army now supporting her campaign, Grab Your Wallet.”

Danielle Lerner reports that Muhammad Ali Jr. detained by immigration officials at Fla. airport: “Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the second wife of Muhammad Ali, were arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Feb. 7 after returning from speaking at a Black History Month event in Montego Bay, Jamaica. They were pulled aside while going through customs because of their Arabic-sounding names, according to family friend and lawyer Chris Mancini. Immigration officials let Camacho-Ali go after she showed them a photo of herself with her ex-husband, but her son did not have such a photo and wasn’t as lucky. Mancini said officials held and questioned Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?” When Ali Jr. responded that yes, he is a Muslim, the officers kept questioning him about his religion and where he was born. Ali Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1972 and holds a U.S. passport.”

Aaron Blake offers Stephen Bannon’s nationalist call to arms, annotated: “Bannon participated in a panel discussion with White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Conservative Union. And Bannon’s rhetoric was chock-full of the kind of nationalist, anti-news media rhetoric for which he has become known. He cast the next four years as a constant battle with the media. “If you think they’re going to give you your country back without a fight, you’re sadly mistaken,” he said. It was a window into the worldview of a man whose worldview very much aligns with Trump’s own. Below, we’re posting the conversation in full, with our annotations. To see an annotation, click on the yellow, highlighted text….“

Even small insects can do big things —