FREE WHITEWATER

Cats, Daily Bread, Science/Nature

Daily Bread for 12.27.25: A Second Kind of Lion Roar

by  • 

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 42. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:27 for 9 hours, 3 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 49 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

By Stubb – Own work, FAL, link.

On this day in 1966, the Cave of Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the world, is discovered in Aquismón, San Luis Potosí, Mexico:

“Temperatures in the cave are low. Vegetation grows thickly at the mouth, The cave floor is covered with a thick layer of debris and guano. The fungi in the guano may cause histoplasmosis in humans. The cave floor and walls are inhabited by millipedes, scorpions, insects, snakes and birds. From the floor at the bottom of the main shaft, there is a series of narrow pits known as “The Crevice”, totaling some 140 m (460 ft), which brings the total depth of the cave to 515 m (1,690 ft).”

Scientists have identified a second type of lion roar:

A new study has found African lions produce not one, but two distinct types of roars – a discovery set to transform wildlife monitoring and conservation efforts.

Researchers at the University of Exeter have identified a previously unclassified “intermediary roar” alongside the famous full-throated roar. The study, published in Ecology and Evolution, used artificial intelligence to automatically differentiate between lion roars for the first time. This new approach had a 95.4 percent accuracy and significantly reduced human bias to improve the identification of individual lions.

Lead author Jonathan Growcott from the University of Exeter said: “Lion roars are not just iconic – they are unique signatures that can be used to estimate population sizes and monitor individual animals. Until now, identifying these roars relied heavily on expert judgment, introducing potential human bias. Our new approach using AI promises more accurate and less subjective monitoring, which is crucial for conservationists working to protect dwindling lion populations.”

See Tom Seymour, Scientists discover new type of lion roar, which could help protect the iconic big cats, University of Exeter News, November 21, 2025.

See also Scientists discover a new type of lion roar:

New research reveals that a lion’s full-throated roar is unique to each individual and identification could soon help scientists to count lions and estimate population density. The team developed a data-driven method to automatically classify lion vocalisations, discovering two roar types (full-throated and a newly identified intermediary roar). The analysis used simple acoustic features, achieving up to 95% accuracy in identifying individual lions. Read the study published in Ecology and Evolution https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1… Led by Jonathan Growcott (University of Exeter and WildCRU), with collaborators at the University of Exeter, WildCRU (Matthew Wijers and Charlotte Searle), Lion Landscapes, Frankfurt Zoological Society, TAWIRI (Tanzania Wildlife Institute for Research) and TANAPA (Tanzania National Parks Authority).

Daily Bread, Nature, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 12.26.25: Winter

by  • 

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 43. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:26 for 9 hours 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 37.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1776, in the Battle of Trenton, the Continental Army under General George Washington executes a successful surprise attack and defeats a garrison of Hessian forces serving Great Britain.

Winter — quite beautiful:

Click image to play video.

Highlights over a full year of eruptions of Kilauea volcano:

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted on Dec. 24, 2025, marking one year of continuous on-off eruptions.

Cats, Nature

Friday Catblogging: An Albino Puma

by  • 

Itzae was the first albino puma born in Central America, and is one of four known in the world. She was born in a Nicaraguan Zoo in August 2023, among her beige and spotted siblings, the common coloration of pumas. After Itzae’s birth, she required special care due to her albinism. The condition can often reduce the survivability of an animal due to the lack of melanin.

Pumas, also known as cougars or mountain lions, are native to the Americas. The genus Puma only has one living species, Puma concolor, of which Itzae is a member. Cougars range from as far north as the Yukon in Canada all the way down to Patagonia in South America, rendering P. concolor the most widely distributed terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere.

They primarily inhabit the mountains of the Americas, but can also be found in a variety of habitats due to their high adaptability.

(Emphasis in original.) See Fiona Benson, Why The Rarest Ever Puma Cub Shocked The World When She Was Born, The Travel, April 20, 2025.

City, Film

Film: Tuesday, December 30th, 1:00 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Eleanor the Great

by  • 

Tuesday, December 30th at 1:00 PM, there will be a showing of Eleanor the Great @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:

Drama Rated PG-13

1 hours, 38 minutes (2025)

96 year old actress June Squibb is Eleanor, a lonely senior looking for meaning and fulfillment. She finds it at a Jewish Community Center, but her fibbing about experiences during the Holocaust creates problems. Directed by Scarlett Johansson.

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

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 12.25.25: Merry Christmas

by  • 

Good morning.

Christmas Day in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 39. Sunrise is 7:24 and sunset is 4:26 for 9 hours 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 27.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1758, Halley’s Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley‘s prediction of its passage. This was the first passage of a comet predicted ahead of time.

Pope Leo marks his first Christmas at the Vatican:

Daily Bread, Federal Government, Politics, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 12.24.25: The Other Top Wisconsin Political Story for 2026

by  • 

Good morning.

Christmas Eve in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 43. Sunrise is 7:23 and sunset is 4:25 for 9 hours 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 18.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1814, representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. (The treaty later takes effect on February 17, 1815.)

At the Journal Sentinel, Jessie Opoien writes a list of top Wisconsin political stories for 2026. Opoien sees six top stories: (1) control of the state government (legislative and executive branches), (2) possible congressional redistricting, (3) abortion, (4) large data center projects, (5) online sports betting, and (6) a Wisconsin Senate investigation of the state’s Department of Justice. See Jessie Opoien, The 6 big Wisconsin political stories to watch for in 2026, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 24, 2025.

I’d add one other, in front of all these: what do voters in Wisconsin think of federal policy? How do they feel about national issues now ever-present and intruding daily into their lives?

The answer will go far — very far — in determining control of the capitol, the intensity of the drive for redistricting, and what voters think of any WISGOP legislative investigations. The other issues Opoien lists, important in varying degrees, are slight as against the national political conflict that shrouds statewide politics.

See also It’s Who Was Missing from That Candidates’ Forum That Matters Most (11.9.25: “Our state politics is a proxy for national politics. There’s no evidence that this will change by next November, or for years afterward”) and Assessing Teasers and Speculation About Wisconsin Elections for 2026 (10.6.25: “There’s much about 2026 that’s yet to be decided, but one influence that’s certain. Wisconsin voters’ views of federal policy will shape the 2026 state races, whichever candidates are nominated”).

A Christmas light show in an 800-year-old cathedral in Brussels:

Lights, music, and history came together in a show inside the Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula in Belgium’s capital, Brussels on Saturday (December 20), to mark the building’s 800th anniversary, highlighting its architectural details throughout the month of December.

Conservation, Daily Bread, Legislation, Legislature, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 12.23.25: False Claims Battle Sound Data in Fight Over a Wisconsin Conservation Program’s Future

by  • 

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 43. Sunrise is 7:23 and sunset is 4:25 for 9 hours 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 11 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1688, as part of the Glorious Revolution, King James II of England flees from England to Paris after being deposed in favor of his son-in-law and nephew, William of Orange and James II’s daughter Mary.

FREE WHITEWATER has published before about Wisconsin’s popular, but legislatively challenged, Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Grant program. See The Knowles Nelson Stewardship Fund Deserves Renewed Support (7.11.25), The Push to Save a Wisconsin Conservation Program (8.27.25), and Wisconsin Conservation Program’s Future Uncertain (12.10.25).

A question presents itself: if the Knowles-Nelson program is popular with the public, why does it lack legislative support? The answer is that a faction within the WISGOP legislative caucus relies on false claims about the program’s supposed impact in northern Wisconsin:

At a Wisconsin Assembly committee meeting in November to consider a proposal to extend the widely popular Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Grant program, Rep. Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander) complained that too much land in his district has been conserved through the program.

That sentiment has become increasingly common among a subset of Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, most of them representing the far northern reaches of the state. The complaint they often make is that Knowles-Nelson has taken too much land off local property tax rolls, depriving already struggling local governments of important revenue. 

Reliable data about the program show, in fact, that these claims are false:

The complaints that Knowles-Nelson has conserved too much Northwoods land may prove fatal to the program in a Legislature that has been unable to find common ground on environmental issues. 

But an analysis of public lands data shows that the Knowles-Nelson program plays a comparatively small role in Wisconsin’s conserved land portfolio. Despite the claims of critics, the program’s land purchases have been made in all corners of the state. 

…

Swearingen’s 34th district, which covers north central Wisconsin from Rhinelander up to the Michigan border, has more land conserved by the DNR than any other district in the state — almost 335,000 acres, nearly 24% of the district. That includes land set aside for state parks, natural areas, forests and similar uses. 

But only 4.7% of the district is conserved through Knowles-Nelson. Another 4.6% of his district is conserved by the federal government, and 8.6% is conserved county forest land. 

Despite the claims that Knowles-Nelson has devoured valuable land across the state, no Assembly district has had more than 5.1% of its land conserved through the program, data shows. The average amount of Knowles-Nelson conserved land across all 99 Assembly districts is 1.13%. 

See Henry Redman, Republicans attack ‘strawman’ Knowles-Nelson for land conservation (‘Public lands data shows stewardship program just a small portion of conserved land across the state’), Wisconsin Examiner, December 22, 2025.

It’s much easier to claim falsely that the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program is responsible for too much conservation land, and kill that program, than to assess accurately which ways that land became conservation-protected, or to declare openly that you’d rather not have conservation at all.

The impulse to assert without proof, and hope (or assume) that you must be right, is a lazy approach1.

_____

  1. The Whitewater version of this is for a local landlord to walk up to the lectern at a council meeting and assert erroneously that “I think you have gone in a lot of your employment brackets where you’re hiring or you have staff that you are moving a lot of people up to the top part of the bracket.” See A Baseless Speculation About the City of Whitewater’s Salary Scale, Video @ 28:13, December 2, 2025 Common Council meeting. It’s so easy to speak those words into a microphone. It takes genuine effort, by contrast, to research first and speak only afterward. ↩︎

The world’s largest spider web discovered in a cave:

Deep in a cave on the Albania–Greece border, scientists found the world’s largest spider web — home to over 100,000 spiders, the biggest ever recorded.

Daily Bread, Elections, Wisconsin, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 12.22.25: Look Who Supports Mail-in Voting Now… the WISGOP

by  • 

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 37. Sunrise is 7:23 and sunset is 4:24 for 9 hours 1 minute of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 6.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1864, Savannah, Georgia, falls to the Union’s Army of the Tennessee, and General Sherman tells President Lincoln: “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.”

Didn’t Mr. Trump say of mail-in voting that “ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS”? He did.

Didn’t he say he’d sign an (unconstitutional) executive order purporting to end mail-in voting? He did.

And yet, and yet, Republicans now push mail-in voting for the midterms in defiance of Trump:

Republicans are making mail-in voting a core part of their midterm battle plans — a sharp contrast with President Donald Trump’s efforts to abolish the practice as they scramble to turn out his base.

In Wisconsin, the state party is preparing a full-court press of mailers, emails, phone banks, door knocks and digital ads to get voters to sign up for mail ballots.

…

Trump has long falsely decried mail voting as rife with fraud. Over the summer, he vowed that Republicans “are going to do everything possible [to] get rid of mail-in ballots.” In November, and again this week, he called on Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster and pass a law to ban mail-in voting.

But, as has been the case for several years, he and his party are out of sync.

(Emphasis added.) See Lisa Kashinsky, Republicans push mail-in voting for the midterms in defiance of Trump (‘Fearing a turnout slump, Republicans are promoting mail voting to keep Trump’s supporters engaged — even as he tries to end the practice’), POLITICO, December 17, 2025.

See also Avery Lotz, Trump raises end to mail-in ballots after claiming Putin questioned their security, Axios, August 18, 2025. Putin is a tyrant and war criminal, with one more distinctive trait: Russia’s dictator knows how to manipulate Mr. Trump like nobody’s business.

What happened? Perhaps the WISGOP, and GOP parties across the country, woke1 up to the security and popularity of mail-in balloting. No. It’s more likely that worry over political trends drove them here.

No matter — mail-in voting is a sound and sensible choice for millions across the country.

_____

  1. Woke: Used here as a verb, but more powerful as an ill-defined noun whose use causes blood-pressure spikes on the far right. ↩︎

Red-winged blackbirds in the spotlight:

Meet the bold Red-winged Blackbird! This quick 2-minute introduction presents all the basic information you need to know about this common North American bird, from identification to foods, nesting behavior, range, and more.

Daily Bread, Gubernatorial Race 2026, Wisconsin, WisDems, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 12.21.25: A Working Theory — The 2026 Wisconsin Gubernatorial Race Will Be a Referendum on Federal Policy

by  • 

Good morning.

Winter1 begins in Whitewater with sunny skies and a high of 28. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset is 4:23 for 9 hours 1 minute of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 2.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1913, Arthur Wynne, a journalist born in Liverpool, England, publishes a “word-cross” puzzle in the New York World that embodied most of the features of the modern crossword puzzle genre. This puzzle is frequently cited as the first crossword puzzle, and Wynne as the inventor. An illustrator later reversed the “word-cross” name to “cross-word.”

Yesterday, FREE WHITEWATER published PBS Wisconsin Interviews of Candidates Running for Governor.

This libertarian blogger holds the working theory (shared by many) that the 2026 Wisconsin gubernatorial race will be a referendum on federal policy. See It’s Who Was Missing from That Candidates’ Forum That Matters Most (11.9.25: “Our state politics is a proxy for national politics. There’s no evidence that this will change by next November, or for years afterward”) and Assessing Teasers and Speculation About Wisconsin Elections for 2026 (10.6.25: “There’s much about 2026 that’s yet to be decided, but one influence that’s certain. Wisconsin voters’ views of federal policy will shape the 2026 state races, whichever candidates are nominated”).

There are contrary views (that this candidate or that, that this state matter or another) may be decisive. They’re unpersuasive. See The Wisconsin Gubernatorial Race Will Be a National Race.

It’s true that particular statewide candidates, some stronger and some weaker than others, will make a difference. Mostly, however, the degree to which they more effectively support or reject federal policy will be their path to success.

Local races may remain local (although that will vary across the state).

Statewide, however? That’s national now.

_____

  1. Winter: the second-best season, after fall. In your hearts, you know I’m right about this. Even now, you’re probably wishing it were colder. ↩︎

Vladdie the Canadian Adventure Cat in Training is prepping for the season:

Click image to play video.

Daily Bread, Gubernatorial Race 2026, Wisconsin, WisDems, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 12.20.25: PBS Wisconsin Interviews of Candidates Running for Governor

by  • 

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 38. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset is 4:23 for 9 hours 1 minute of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 0.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1940, Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published.

Organized by party, then alphabetically.

WISGOP

WISDEMS

CDA, City, Daily Bread, Open Government

Daily Bread for 12.19.25: What a Thorough Review Looks Like

by  • 

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 22. Sunrise is 7:21 and sunset is 4:23 for 9 hours 2 minutes of daytime. The moon will be new this evening.

On this day in 1972, the last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.

It takes time beforehand, and time in presentation, to address an organization’s condition, finances, and outlook. When that organization is a public one, then the presentation should be a public one (conducted as frequently as necessary to apprise the community).

On December 18, Whitewater’s current Community Development Authority heard a presentation on outstanding loans, the condition of loan fund accounts, and a discussion of selected CDA programs. See Video from 7:22 to 1:14:49.

The key points: someone has to believe that a presentation is owed to the community, has to perform the background research, and thereafter present his or her findings.

Whitewater will do best with good research, good analysis, and good discussion.

That’s what happened here; that’s as it should be.

Hubble captures pair of large bodies colliding in nearby star system:

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a collision near the star Fomalhaut.

Budget, City, Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 12.18.25: A Baseless Speculation About the City of Whitewater’s Salary Scale

by  • 

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will see light rain with a high of 48. Sunrise is 7:20 and sunset is 4:22 for 9 hours 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 2.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.

On this day in 1865, Secretary of State William Seward proclaims the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the United States.

Yesterday’s post mentioned that there were other points about the City of Whitewater’s budget to consider. I’ll take up one of those points today, about City of Whitewater employees’ positions on the city salary scale.

CLAIM: “I think you have gone in a lot of your employment brackets where you’re hiring or you have staff that you are moving a lot of people up to the top part of the bracket.” See Video @ 28:13, December 2, 2025 Common Council meeting.

CITY REPLY:

As of December 5, 2025, the City employs 119 individuals, of whom only 10 employees are currently
compensated at the top of their designated salary range. Of these 10 employees:

  • 2 are recent hires, whose placement reflects market conditions and the qualifications necessary to
    successfully recruit for their positions; and
  • 8 employees have served the City for no fewer than 18 years, with the majority exceeding 20 years
    of service. These individuals have reached the top of their respective ranges through long-term
    tenure, sustained performance, and adherence to the City’s established compensation structure.
  • On average, employees across the City are positioned at 53.74% of their respective salary ranges.
    This means that, on average, employee pay sits just over halfway between the minimum and
    maximum of each position’s established range.
    Salary placement decisions are influenced by various factors including, but not limited to, market
    competitiveness, availability and qualifications of applicants, internal equity, and the City’s ability to
    recruit and retain skilled employees.

(Emphasis added.) See Employee Salary Ranges Memo, City of Whitewater, December 16, 2025.

ASSESSMENT: The claim on December 2 came from a student-rental landlord who was, it turns out, speculating baselessly. (About what he thought, which it turned out had no factual basis.) ‘Just asking questions,’ that sort of thing. It’s as though Edna and Gertrude took their across-the-clothesline conversation to the Whitewater Common Council lectern.

The speculation was always an improbability: an organization of the City of Whitewater’s size is too small to hire heavily at the top of the scale; that practice comes, if at all, only in much larger organizations with far more employees to bear the weight of top-scale salaries for a few. It’s only a much larger organization — public or private — that would be able to do so (or would even try to do so). The December 2 question comes from a failure to understand the load-bearing requirements of scale.

For an employer like the City of Whitewater (or Fort Atkinson, Milton, etc.) the best you’re hoping for is to attract employees who like public work and (this is key) stay in public work because they like their colleagues. (Legal and medical clinics attract talent the same way — dedication to the work and affection for colleagues. It’s not for salary, honest to goodness; they’d make far more in the private sector.)

Although the claim about the salary scale was easily refuted, it has another attribute. It’s uncreative. If someone wants to advance a conspiratorial claim, why not go big?

Something like this: Is it true that Bigfoot keeps an office in Whitewater’s municipal building?

‘Cause, you know, I saw something on the internet…