FREE WHITEWATER

Daily Bread, Elections, Harris-Walz, Never Trump, Politics, Presidential Race 2024, Republicans, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 10.4.24: Harris, Cheney, and Wisconsin Republicans

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 70. Sunrise is 6:56, and sunset is 6:29, for 11 hours, 34 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent, with 2.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1957, Sputnik 1 becomes the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

There’s no one who now knows, truly, what will be the outcome of the 2024 presidential race, in Wisconsin or anywhere else. It’s enough to take a position, first to hold that position against opposition, and thereafter to advance from it against opposition. One watches and acts without foreknowledge of the final result. A letter yesterday is like that, as Erik Gunn reports Wisconsin GOP group launches pro-Harris campaign with open letter:


Two dozen Wisconsin Republicans, including former lawmakers, other former elected officials and a GOP sitting district attorney, have signed an open letter declaring their support for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in her campaign for president and condemning the Republican nominee former President Donald Trump.

The Harris campaign released the letter early Thursday, describing it as the product of months of outreach by the campaign and by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin to Republicans.

“We, the undersigned, are Republicans from across Wisconsin who bring the same message: Donald Trump does not align with Wisconsin values,” the letter says. “To ensure our democracy and our economy remain strong for another four years, we must elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House.”

The letter was released as part of the launch of a formal Wisconsin Republicans for Harris-Walz organization, with just over a month to go before the Nov. 5 election.

“Wisconsin Republicans for Harris-Walz will play a pivotal role in facilitating Republican-to-Republican voter contact,” said the Harris-Walz campaign announcement Thursday. Through phone banking and networking with “Republican organizations, businesses, and community groups,” the GOP-oriented group will focus “in part on the more than 120,000 Wisconsinites who voted against Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary earlier this year,” the campaign announcement said.

Trump’s Wisconsin primary opponent, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, finished with more than 16% of the vote in Ozaukee, 12% in Washington and 14% in Waukesha counties.

Liz Cheney joins Harris rally at historic birthplace of the GOP in swing state Wisconsin:

Daily Bread, Elections, Harris-Walz, Never Trump, Politics, Presidential Race 2024, US Senate Race 2024, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 10.3.24: Perhaps Accurate for a Moment with Much Ahead

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 76. Sunrise is 6:55, and sunset is 6:31, for 11 hours, 37 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent, with 0.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

There will be a Home Buyer’s Educational Event at the Community Engagement Center, 1260 W Main St. in Whitewater from 6 to 7:30 PM.

On this day in 1952, the United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon in the Montebello Islands, Western Australia, to become the world’s third nuclear power.

The Marquette Law School Poll, a respected survey of political preferences, issued its latest findings yesterday. Here are some key results of their latest work:

I’ve reported poll results before, in these races and others, and yet one should be clear with oneself: these are no more than possible descriptions of sentiment at those brief moments when respondents answered a pollster’s questions.

With differences between the candidates so stark, and thus stakes so high, the course both practical and moral is simply to carry on, march on, and slog on in support of one’s candidates.

If ever one’s conscience were to be one’s guide, now’s the time.

Java In zero-g! How the space coffee cup works:

Astronauts on the International Space Station have a zero-g cup for their java. Find out about it here.

Daily Bread, Elections, Local Government, Voting Rights, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 10.2.24: Clerk Lawfully Returns Drop Box that Wausau’s Mayor Removed

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 71. Sunrise is 6:53, and sunset is 6:33, for 11 hours, 39 minutes of daytime. The moon is new, with none percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater will hold a Healthy Lakes Summit today at 5 PM.

On this day in 1980, Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War.

Readers may recall that last week, Wausau Mayor Doug Diny removed “[a] drop box, located outside of City Hall, on Sunday and distributed a picture of himself doing it while wearing worker’s gloves and a hard hat. Diny is a conservative opponent to drop boxes. He insists he did nothing wrong.” See from FREE WHITEWATER Performative Voting Disruption in Wausau.

The Wausau City Clerk now has lawfully placed another ballot drop box outside her city hall. Scott Bauer follows his earlier reporting with Wisconsin city replaces ballot drop box after mayor carted it away:

An absentee ballot drop box that the mayor of a central Wisconsin city removed a week ago was back in place on Monday.

The Wausau city clerk said the box was available outside of city hall “for residents to submit absentee ballots, payments, and other important city requests as was intended.”

Mayor Doug Diny removed the drop box on Sept. 22 without consulting with the clerk, who has the authority under a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling legalizing drop boxes to make one available. They are not mandatory in the state.

Emphasis added. Wausau’s major is not a king1. He’s not even a duke, marquess, earl, viscount, or baron. The lawful authority over drop boxes was not his; he acted outside legal authority.

The law assigns the roles of public officials, and in a free society of limited government they do not (and should not) have more authority than the law allows.

Watch this octopus ‘punch’ a freeloading fish:

  1. A reminder to what’s left of Old Whitewater: this city did not have a mayor during your time, and if not a mayor then neither did Whitewater have a worthy and legitimate ‘unofficial mayor.’ When a few once declared someone an ‘unofficial mayor,’ the term was either a false & arrogant boast or an implicit insult against illegitimate overreaching. Those who thought the term praiseworthy confused praise with condemnation. ↩︎

City, Daily Bread, University

Daily Bread for 10.1.24: Keep Going, UW-Whitewater

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 66. Sunrise is 6:52, and sunset is 6:35, for 11 hours, 42 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 1.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1908,  Ford Model T automobiles are offered for sale.

The Universities of Wisconsin (UW System) writes that UW-Whitewater welcomes 20,000 visitors for summer programming:

Thousands of people visited the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater during the summer of 2024 as the Whitewater and Rock County campuses hosted scores of events between the spring and fall semesters.

A total of 6,330 campers and 700 camp counselors participated in the university’s 67 summer programs. Another 5,538 people were served through events run by external partners, including the Special Olympics Wisconsin Summer Games and the Drum Corps International Whitewater Classic.

UW-Whitewater’s First Year Experience office welcomed 2,182 students and 2,493 guests for Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR). The Department of Admissions held three preview days and 126 campus tours over the summer for prospective students and their family members and guests, attracting another 3,279 visitors to campus.

“It was an incredible summer at UW-Whitewater, and I’m so proud that nearly 20,000 people visited our campuses,” said Chancellor Corey A. King. “We have a vibrant community, and it was on full display across the wonderful plethora of events we hosted. I’d like to thank our students, event volunteers, faculty, and staff, including our camps and conferences office, for fostering a welcoming, inclusive environment for learning and engagement.”

Keep going: Whitewater is made happier and more prosperous when she has visitors.

Night Sky Oct 2024 Events:

As in years past, the Night sky October is meteor season – there are seven meteor showers that reach peak activity during the month! There are also chances to see asteroids, dwarf planets, and other planets in our solar system too. Also there will be a Annular solar eclipse on October 2. Be sure to mark your calendar for October 21st, the peak of the Orionids meteor shower and highlight of the month.

Campaign Ads, Daily Bread, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 9.30.24: Media Manipulation and Political Campaign Lies in 2024

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 80. Sunrise is 6:51, and sunset is 6:36, for 11 hours, 45 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 4.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1859, Abraham Lincoln delivers remarks to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society at the Wisconsin State Fair. The last paragraph of that address remains is both haunting and hopeful:

It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: “And this, too, shall pass away.” How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! — how consoling in the depths of affliction! “And this, too, shall pass away.” And yet let us hope it is not quite true. Let us hope, rather, that by the best cultivation of the physical world, beneath and around us; and the intellectual and moral world within us, we shall secure an individual, social, and political prosperity and happiness, whose course shall be onward and upward, and which, while the earth endures, shall not pass away.

Wolf pups in California:

Bigotry, Daily Bread, Immigration, Mendacity, Never Trump, Presidential Race 2024, Trump, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 9.29.24: 8 Clips of Trump at Prairie du Chien, Only Yesterday

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 78. Sunrise is 6:50, and sunset is 6:38, for 11 hours, 48 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 9.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1789, the United States Department of War first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

The Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center, where Trump held an indoor rally yesterday, is 142 miles by road from Whitewater. Not far at all. Whitewater has had a bitter taste of what grandstanding and lying against immigrants can mean. See The Local Press Conference that Was Neither Local Nor a Press Conference. We are fortunate that we have not experienced even worse lies about our city. See It Might Have Been Us.

Trump’s full remarks at that Prairie du Chien venue are available online. Aaron Rupar and Acyn have published pertinent clips from his remarks.

1. Trump lies about conditions in Wisconsin when he says that “I will liberate Wisconsin from this mass migrant invasion of murderers, rapists, hoodlums, drug dealers, thugs, and vicious gang members.”

Wisconsin is not beset this way; Whitewater is not beset this way. Whitewater, in particular, is a beautiful place to live. Indeed, I wish more people would move here. There’s no better place to live.

Trump’s claims about immigrant crime statistics nationwide are false. See Daniel Dale, Fact check: To attack Harris, Trump falsely describes new stats on immigrants and homicide:

Former President Donald Trump is wildly distorting new statistics on immigration and crime to attack Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump falsely claimed Friday and Saturday that the statistics are specifically about criminal offenders who entered the US during the Biden-Harris administration; in reality, the figures are about offenders who entered the US over multiple decades, including during the Trump administration. And Trump falsely claimed that the statistics are specifically about people who are now living freely in the US; the figures actually include people who are currently in jails and prisons serving criminal sentences.

2. Trump insists “You gotta get these people back where they came from. You have no choice. You’re gonna lose your culture.” Which culture? He’s speaking to his audience, not all Americans. Many have forefathers who came here generations ago, before the Revolution, whether willingly or in enslavement — Trump’s culture is not their culture. He, himself, looks — and is — unacculturated. It is instead many newcomers from so many parts of the world who look — and are — properly acculturated. The nation benefits from their presence.

3. Trump insists that “these people [immigrants] are animals.” Immigrants aren’t animals; Trump’s crowd wants to believe immigrants are animals. Trump’s audiences feel better about themselves if they’re given his permission to feel worse about others.

4. Trump notices a fly in the room (“Oh, there’s a fly. I wonder where the fly came from”) and implies that immigrants brought the fly. There were no immigrants in the room, so perhaps that insect’s presence has another, more proximate cause.

5. Trump pits racial minority against racial minority: “They’re taking all of our Black population’s jobs.” Trump has a long history of racial discrimination in his businesses; his professed regard for Black workers is disingenuous.

6. Trump whines about Kamala Harris’s border remarks from Friday that “then I have to sit there and listen to her bullshit last night. And who puts it on? Fox News. And they shouldn’t be allowed to put it on.” He’s a weak & vain man who wants to talk but cannot brook the contrary speech of others. (Kamala Harris’s thorough assessment of immigration is available at Harris delivers campaign remarks in Arizona after visit to border. See also FREE WHITEWATER, VP Kamala Harris (and Republicans & Trump) on Border Security.)

7. Trump remarks that “global warming doesn’t work anymore, because it’s actually cooling.” He confuses a change in terminology with a change in environmental forces, and fallaciously implies that the former negates the veracity of the latter. Trump plays to the willing, delighted ignorance of his audience.

8. Trump contends that there were “40 to 50,000 people at least out there… It looked like when Lindbergh landed in New York. Do you remember that? Thousands of people… they’re probably leaving and walking home.” The entire city of Prairie du Chien has a population of only about 5,500. There were never forty to fifty thousand people outside. Indeed, the ordinary venue at which he spoke holds only 766 at capacity.

A small point, by the way, in light of his other remarks: Lindbergh did not land in New York — he landed in Paris.

Trump has his history, like so much else, backwards.

Daily Bread, Harris-Walz, Immigration, Kamala Harris, Never Trump, Presidential Race 2024, Trump

Daily Bread for 9.28.24: VP Kamala Harris (and Republicans & Trump) on Border Security

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 77. Sunrise is 6:49, and sunset is 6:40, for 11 hours, 51 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 15.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1781, French and American forces backed by a French fleet begin the Battle of Yorktown.

Kamala Harris Describes Trump’s Opposition to a Border Bill:

Republicans Admit that Trump Killed the Border Bill:

Even Trump Admits He Killed the Border Bill:

VP Kamala Harris Speaks at Length on a Strong Border Plan:

Conspiracy Theories, Daily Bread, Elections, Voting Rights, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 9.27.24: Performative Voting Disruption in Wausau

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 74. Sunrise is 6:48, and sunset is 6:42, for 11 hours, 54 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 23.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1066, William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme river, beginning the Norman conquest of England.

Believe in election conspiracies long enough (like the notion that ballot drop boxes lead to fraud), run for office on that theory, and soon you’ll be mugging for the camera while carting away a ballot drop box.

Scott Bauer reports Wisconsin district attorney pursuing investigation into mayor’s removal of absentee ballot drop box:

In this photo provided by Wausau Mayor Doug Diny, Diny uses a dolly to remove the city’s lone drop box from in front of City Hall in Wausau, Wis., on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Doug Diny via AP)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin district attorney said Thursday that her office is pursuing an investigation into the removal of an absentee ballot drop box by the mayor of Wausau.

Mayor Doug Diny removed the drop box, located outside of City Hall, on Sunday and distributed a picture of himself doing it while wearing worker’s gloves and a hard hat. Diny is a conservative opponent to drop boxes. He insists he did nothing wrong.

The drop box was locked and no ballots were in it. The city clerk notified Marathon County District Attorney Theresa Wetzsteon and she said in an email on Thursday that she is requesting an official investigation with the assistance of the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Wetzsteon said she was waiting to hear back from DOJ on her request.

A spokesperson for DOJ did not immediately return a message Thursday.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers weighed in on Thursday, calling the removal of the drop box “wrong.” Evers said it should be restored “immediately”:

“Drop box voting is safe, secure, and legal,” Evers posted on the social media platform X. “As elected officials, we should be working to make it easier—not harder—for every eligible Wisconsinite to cast their ballot. That’s democracy.”

Diny wears a hard hat in his posed publicity photo. It’s a smart move — you never know when an incontinent pigeon might be flying overhead. Honest to goodness — he looks ridiculous to the sensible, and sensible only to the ridiculous.

International Space Station flies directly over massive Hurricane Helene in time-lapse:

The International Space Station flew directly over Hurricane Helene on Sept. 26, 2024. Full Story: https://www.space.com/hurricane-helen… Major impacts from inland flooding is expected along the path of Helene well after landfall, according to statement from NOAA. Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: NASA | edited by Steve Spaleta (https://x.com/stevespaleta)

Daily Bread, Fall, The Best Season, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 9.26.24: For Fall, the Fall Color Report

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 77. Sunrise is 6:47, and sunset is 6:44, for 11 hours, 57 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 31.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1789,  George Washington appoints Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State.

Travel Wisconsin offers a 2024 Fall Color Report:

Here’s to Chasing Fall in Wisconsin:

Wisconsin is waiting to welcome you this fall. It’s a time to breathe in the autumn air, discover new trails together and experience the delights of Wisconsin. Plan a colorful road trip with your favorite people to sample local craft cider at an apple orchard or tour a cranberry bog, an experience you won’t forget. On your way, take in the kaleidoscope of leaves that blanket every corner of the state. Here’s to those who Wisconsin. Explore more fall fun at https://bit.ly/3WLK1rZ.

Courts, Crime, Daily Bread, Press, Walworth County

Daily Bread for 9.25.24: Oops, Someone Has the Wrong Date

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 6:46, and sunset is 6:45, for 11 hours, 59 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent, with 42.0 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1804, the Teton Sioux (a subdivision of the Lakota) demand one of the boats from the Lewis and Clark Expedition as a toll for allowing the expedition to move further upriver.

The Daily Jefferson County Union (‘no one does local like we do’) leads with this story yesterday afternoon and this morning:

And yet, and yet…the Walworth County Circuit Court lists the next appearance for defendant Chad Richards as 10.25.24:

It’s easy to see which is correct.

Sure enough, no one does local like that.

So lots of bird species seem to be migrating, but others are stickin’ around. Your Top Bird Migration Questions – Answered by an Expert:

Cornell Lab scientist and Bird Academy course instructor Dr. Kevin J. McGowan answers 6 common questions about bird migration, including Why do birds migrate? What prompts the start of migration? What’s the best time to migrate? How can we help birds on their way? and more. This video compiles highlights from an hourlong webinar from September 2023.

Conflicts of Interest, Daily Bread, Ethics, Press, Wisconsin, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 9.24.24: Conflicts, What Conflicts?

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 69. Sunrise is 6:45, and sunset is 6:47, for 12 hours, 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous, with 52.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Finance Committee meets at 5 PM.

On this day in 1957, President Eisenhower sends the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation.

Locally, statewide, and nationally there has been a decline in conflict of interest standards. Conflicts, what conflicts? We’re all pals here, aren’t we? Consider an egregious case involving the WISGOP and the top-flight-and-always-above-board New York Post. Dan Bice reports New York Post campaign reporter was a paid consultant for the Wisconsin GOP:

Starting in June, the New York Post began publishing stories on the presidential, Senate and congressional races in Wisconsin as part of an initiative on battleground states.

But the Post — a right-leaning newspaper owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch — picked a reporter for the project with strong ties to Republicans and conservatives in Wisconsin.

In fact, Amy Sikma was paid twice last year by the state Republican Party for consulting work. She was also a campaign consultant for former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly’s 2023 campaign, previously ran a primary contest for a GOP candidate and worked for an organization that opposes same-sex marriage.

Neither her profile on the Post website nor her stories disclose any of these ties to readers.

The result: Sikma has published a series of stories criticizing presidential candidate Kamala Harris, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, former U.S. Rep. Peter Barca and congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke — all Democrats.

In fact, it appears that one of her stories critical of Baldwin was investigated and dropped by another Post reporter earlier in the year — only to be revived and published by Sikma. The story has been widely touted by Baldwin’s opponent, Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde.

Only the best people…

Another dog killer heard from; updating his résumé for a run as the next governor of South Dakota?

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