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Recent Tweets, 7.14 to 7.20

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Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.21.13

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Good morning.

We’ll have a high of seventy-nine with an even chance of thunderstorms in the late afternoon.

A quick reminder from an earlier post a several days ago – Film: Free Showing of Honor Flight, Sunday, July 21st at 2:30 p.m.

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This Sunday, July 21st, there will be a showing of the film Honor Flight at 2:30 p.m. at Mulberry Glen, 1255 W. Main Street, Whitewater. It is being shown courtesy of Mulberry Glen and Capri Senior Communities.

The showing is free and open to the public.

It’s Hemingway’s birthday:

On this day in 1899, Ernest Miller Hemingway, author of such novels as “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea,” is born in Oak Park, Illinois. The influential American literary icon became known for his straightforward prose and use of understatement. Hemingway, who tackled topics such as bullfighting and war in his work, also became famous for his own macho, hard-drinking persona.

On this day in Wisconsin history, Gen. Mitchell conducts a demonstration:

1921 – General Billy Mitchell Proves Theory of Air Power
On this date Milwaukee’s General William “Billy” Mitchell proved to the world that development of military air power was not outlandish. He flew his De Havilland DH-4B fighter, leading a bombing demonstration that proved a naval ship could be sunk by air bombardment. Mitchell’s ideas for developing military air power were innovative but largely ignored by those who favored development of military sea power. Mitchell zealously advocated his views and was eventually court martialed for speaking out against the United States’ organization of its forces. [Source: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Division of Archives & Special Collections]

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.20.13

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of eighty-one. Sunrise was at 5:35 a.m. this morning, and sunset will be at 8:28 p.m. The moon is in a waxing gibbous phase with 94% of its visible disk illuminated.

And of the moon, on this day in 1969, man first walks on its surface:

At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, speaks these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon.

No less astonishing, these forty-four years later:

On this day in 1976, a baseball record:

1976 – Hank Aaron Hits Record Home Run
On this date Hank Aaron hit his 755th and last home run at Milwaukee County Stadium against the California Angels. [Source: Milwaukee Brewers]

Poll

Friday Poll: Civet Coffee

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Over at the Huffington Post, there’s a story about a taste test of civet-poop coffee. Civets eat coffee beans, but digest them only imperfectly:

It comes from a bean that’s been swallowed and partially digested by a civet, a mammal native to parts of Asia and Africa that looks a bit like a cat but is more closely related to the mongoose.

The civet has a reputation for climbing trees to eat the best, hardest to reach coffee berries. At some magical, undocumented point in history, a truly disturbed person picked out the partially digested beans from the animal’s poo, and found that it was fermented to perfection in the varmint’s alimentary canal.

Now, farmers are harvesting these beans for big bucks. And, of course, we use the word “harvesting” to be polite.

But is it worth $55 or more for roughly two servings? Editors at The Huffington Post tested Doi Chaang Coffee Company’s civet coffee, and pitted it against Starbucks and 7-Eleven to see which hot drink is the crappiest (video above).

Taste-testers at the Huffington Post found the coffee delicious.

Would you try it?

I’ll say yes, I would. How about you?


Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.19.13

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Good morning.

One last day of consecutive temperatures in the nineties for Whitewater: a high of ninety-one with a one-third chance of early afternoon thunderstorms.

The European Space’s Agency’s satellite, Mars Express, offers sharp and stunning pictures of that planet’s surface:

On 7.19.1799, a profound discovery:

512px-Rosetta_Stone

On this day in 1799, during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign, a French soldier discovers a black basalt slab inscribed with ancient writing near the town of Rosetta, about 35 miles north of Alexandria. The irregularly shaped stone contained fragments of passages written in three different scripts: Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic. The ancient Greek on the Rosetta Stone told archaeologists that it was inscribed by priests honoring the king of Egypt, Ptolemy V, in the second century B.C. More startlingly, the Greek passage announced that the three scripts were all of identical meaning. The artifact thus held the key to solving the riddle of hieroglyphics, a written language that had been “dead” for nearly 2,000 years.

Puzzability‘s current series, Switch Hitters, concludes today.

Switch Hitters
There are some changes in this week’s lineup. For each day, change a letter in each of the two words given and move the space to get the name of a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Example:
TOSS WAVER

Answer:
Tom Seaver

Here’s the puzzle for Friday:

ASK ALICE

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.18.13

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny and hot, with a high of ninety-two.

There are comets, and then there are sungrazing comets:

In Wisconsin history, on 7.18.1865, some Wisconsin soldiers end their service to the Union:

1865 – (Civil War) Four Wisconsin regiments muster out
The 3rd and 18th Wisconsin Infantry regiments and the 1st and 6th Wisconsin Light Artillery batteries mustered out. For details on their service, see the Civil War Regiments page.

Puzzability‘s current series, Switch Hitters, continues its July 15-19 run.

Switch Hitters
There are some changes in this week’s lineup. For each day, change a letter in each of the two words given and move the space to get the name of a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Example:
TOSS WAVER

Answer:
Tom Seaver

Here’s the puzzle for Thursday:

CRY SUNG

City, Local Government

Common Council Session of 7.16.13

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A few items from a long Common Council session —

Council chose an appointee to fill the open Aldermanic District 1 seat. After an initial 3-3 vote between Philip Frawley and Tiiu Gray-Fow, Council selected Philip Frawley. The process – as with the one used last December – was a good one. Applications, speaking in open session, a vote: that’s open and informative, both. Best wishes to Mr. Frawley in the term ahead.

The East Gate Project. It’s lovely, and (sure enough) it will cost millions. It’s like a homeowner’s too-pricey remodel (only with public money): one can spend what one wants, but the expense will not be recouped.

The CDA’s proposed purchase of hundreds of acres of Whitewater’s public land for a dollar. There are two aspects to this proposal: those of policy and those of law. So far, there’s been principal discussion of it twice in Council (6.4.13 and last night, 7.16.13) and once at the CDA (6.27.13).

The proposal will go back to the CDA after last night’s review and direction session.

My take after a first review of what’s now transpired, including the discussion from last night: the policy claims in favor of the sale are diverse but sometimes contradictory (depending on which member of the CDA is advocating for it) but more significantly the legal due diligence required for the sale seems incomplete.

There’s time enough to organize all of the public videos and memoranda on the proposal (including last night’s video), and post on both aspects of it. It’s not that it can’t be done, but rather how it can be done, that matters (even if setting aside the policy question of whether it should be done).

All in all, a long summer evening that went about how one might have expected.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.17.13

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Good morning.

Wednesday brings a high of eighty-nine with a heat index of ninety-six. We’ve a one-in-ten chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm.

If people have been teasing you because you’ve never seen a video of foxes on a trampoline, then a single mouse click should improve that unfortunate situation:

On this day in 1955, a California theme park opens:

Disneyland, Walt Disney’s metropolis of nostalgia, fantasy, and futurism, opens on July 17, 1955. The $17 million theme park was built on 160 acres of former orange groves in Anaheim, California, and soon brought in staggering profits. Today, Disneyland hosts more than 14 million visitors a year, who spend close to $3 billion.

In Wisconsin history on 7.17.1995, a huge merger:

1995 – Scott Paper and Kimberly-Clark Merge
On this date, after months of negotiations, the merger of Scott Paper and Kimberly-Clark companies was announced. The $9.4 billion merger created a Fortune 100 global consumer products company with annual revenue of more than $13 billion. [Source: KimberlyClark.com]

Puzzability‘s current series, Switch Hitters, is at the middle of its July 15-19 run.

Switch Hitters
There are some changes in this week’s lineup. For each day, change a letter in each of the two words given and move the space to get the name of a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Example:
TOSS WAVER

Answer:
Tom Seaver

Here’s the puzzle for Wednesday:

HONK SWAGGER