FREE WHITEWATER

Daily Bread, Economy

Daily Bread for 11.17.21: On Inflation, the Present Isn’t the Future

by  •  •  Comments

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 51.  Sunrise is 6:50 AM and sunset 4:29 PM for 9h 38m 38s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 96.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

 Whitewater’s Parks and Recreation Board meets at 5:30 PM.

 On this day in 1869 in Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated.

 Wendy Edelberg writes What does current inflation tell us about the future?:

What signal should we be taking from current inflation for future inflation? The answer: some signal, but not a lot. To be sure, inflation is running high (figure 1); and, after excluding the typically volatile categories of food and energy prices, is running higher than it has been in decades. But because the factors that are leading to inflation are pandemic-related and therefore temporary, the current trend does not forecast the future.

Figure 1

….

the primary contributor to the recent spike in inflation is core goods. The strength in real consumer spending (shown in figure 4a) has reflected a surge in spending on consumer goods (shown in figure 4b). Real goods spending is currently about 15 percent higher than it was pre-pandemic, and there were a couple of months when it was 20 percent higher.

Figure 4

Are the trends described above a signal that we should expect continued extraordinary inflation for core goods—everything from automobiles to exercise mats—in the coming years? Three factors suggest no.

  • First, the surge in spending on goods has put upward pressure on prices as suppliers have been unable to keep up with demand. Suppliers have strong incentives to iron out issues with the supply chain to get more product onto shelves; in addition, the problems with the supply chain that owe more directly to the pandemic will ebb as the pandemic is brought under control globally.
  • Second, that surge in goods spending is no doubt temporary because households—as the pandemic recedes—will rebalance consumer spending toward services, which has been unusually depressed (figure 4c).
  • Third, the fiscal support to households that has helped to finance the surge in goods spending has largely waned.

In contrast to spending on consumer goods, spending on services remains below its pre-pandemic peak. This pattern is a significant departure from previous business cycles where services were relatively unaffected.

There’s no suggestion, of course, that inflation is a benefit; it’s simply that inflation will not become a persistent detriment.

Fennec fox brothers Ollie and Artie make themselves at home at the Milwaukee County Zoo:

Constitution, Daily Bread, Law, Liberal Democracy, Local Government, Politics

Daily Bread for 11.16.21: Not Only in Washington, and Not Only Journalists

by  •  • 1 Comment

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 50.  Sunrise is 6:49 AM and sunset 4:30 PM for 9h 40m 41s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 92.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

 The Whitewater School Board’s Policy Review Committee meets at 9 AM and the Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

 On this day in 1532, Francisco Pizarro and his men capture Inca Emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca.

 Jennifer Rubin writes Journalists also have an obligation to fix democracy:

Looking back on the first 10 months of Joe Biden’s presidency, we see little evidence the media has examined its own role in Republicans’ assault on democracy. Indeed, one could argue mainstream media outlets have been complicit in the current crisis of democracy. The trivialization of coverage, default to false equivalency, amplification of GOP spin and habitual treatment of Republicans’ conduct as within the normal boundaries of politics have serious implications for a democracy that relies on an informed citizenry.

Journalism professor and media critic Jay Rosen observes that “the incremental coverage, the focus on the inside game, the notion of tactics and strategy, and the joining up of the political class with the information junkies” does little to inform voters about major pieces of legislation. We get nonstop coverage of the “sausage making” but little about the content of bills that cost trillions. We hear incessant chatter about the filibuster but little examination of Senate Democrats’ compromise voting-rights plan, while Republicans are rarely grilled as to the basis for their objections to common-sense measures (e.g. enhancing penalties for threats to election officials, requiring a paper audit trail, limiting wait times to 30 minutes).

Rubin is right, of course. There is a moral obligation to defend the constitutional order. That obligation extends beyond the District of Columbia, and beyond journalism.

And yet, and yet, on local boards, councils, and commissions, how many elected and appointed officials speak confidently in defense of liberal democracy?  In Whitewater, Wisconsin and so many nearby towns, too many of those who took office democratically, and too many of those who were appointed to prominent positions under the law, are silent in the face of challenges to democracy and the rule of law.  (There are a few notable and worthy exceptions, but they are notable and worthy as exceptions from the rest.)

The diffident majority of these officials will not change; if they’ll not defend now, then they never will.

A community that wishes to defend itself will have to rely on its own lawful efforts of advocacy and organization.

Daredevil Stands Atop 13,000-ft Hot Air Balloon:

Business, Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 11.15.21: Washington, D.C. Is About to Look Nicer

by  •  •  Comments

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 37.  Sunrise is 6:48 AM and sunset 4:31 PM for 9h 42m 48s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 86.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

 Whitewater’s Library Board meets at 6:30 PM.

 On this day in 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman begins Sherman’s March to the Sea.

Stephanie Mencimer writes Bye Bye, Trump Hotel:

It turns out not even Rudy Giuliani’s bar tab could save the Trump International Hotel. The Trump Organization lost at least $70 million since its opening in 2016, even as the grand hotel became a fixture of Trump-era Washington, a place where the president’s loyalists and sycophants alike could gather in a cozy bubble safely away from the fake news and impeachment managers and sip champagne from a spoon and imbibe cocktails starting at $24 a pop.

The Trump family has been threatening to sell it for the past few years, and now it seems they finally have: The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that a Miami-based investment firm, CGI Merchant Group, intends to assume the lease with the federal government for $375 million and turn the Trump Hotel into a Waldorf Astoria.

The hotel had become a liability for a family company that no longer had a steady stream of lobbyists and influence-seekers willing to pay inflated prices for rooms in a hotel that many businesses wouldn’t come near because of the association with Trump. By far one of the former president’s biggest conflicts of interest—he refused to relinquish control of the company that ran it—Trump had won the contract to lease the former Old Post Office Pavilion from the federal government by wildly overpaying, and then sinking $200 million into renovations, paid for with $170 million borrowed from Deutsche Bank. That loan, and others, comes due in 2024.

When a new owner gets the keys to the hotel, the first order of business should be (1) hiring an exterminator and (2) calling an exorcist.

For it all, the removal of the TRUMP name is sure to uplift both residents’ moods and nearby property values.

How Pine Nuts Are Harvested:

Daily Bread, Dog-Crap Company, Social Media

Daily Bread for 11.14.21: Facebook won’t let you control your own news feed

by  •  • 1 Comment

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will see occasional flurries with a high of 37.  Sunrise is 6:46 AM and sunset 4:31 PM for 9h 44m 56s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 79.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1889, pioneering female journalist Nellie Bly (aka Elizabeth Cochrane) begins a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She completes the trip in 72 days.

Will Oremus reports Why Facebook won’t let you control your own news feed:

A growing number of lawmakers in both parties now think users should have an option to disable such automated ranking systems — for good. A bill introduced in the House of Representatives this week would require social media companies to offer a version of their services that doesn’t rely on opaque algorithms to decide what users see. It joins a similar bill in the Senate. Both are sponsored by high-ranking members of both parties, giving the legislation a viable path to become law. (They are distinct from previous proposals that seek to regulate algorithms through other means, such as by allowing platforms to be sued when they amplify illegal content.)

Lawmakers’ latest idea to fix Facebook: Regulate the algorithm

The political push raises an old question for Facebook: Why not just give users the power to turn off their feed ranking algorithms voluntarily? Would letting users opt to see every post from the people they follow, in chronological order, be so bad?

The documents suggest that Facebook’s defense of algorithmic rankings stems not only from its business interests, but from a paternalistic conviction, backed by data, that its sophisticated personalization software knows what users want better than the users themselves. It’s a view that likely extends beyond Facebook: Rivals such as Twitter, TikTok and YouTube rely heavily on automated content recommendation systems, as does Facebook’s corporate sibling Instagram.

But critics say this view misses something important: the value of giving users more agency over their information diet.

Since 2009, three years after it launched the news feed, Facebook has used software that predicts which posts each user will find most interesting and places those at the top of their feeds while burying others. That system, which has evolved in complexity to take in as many as 10,000 pieces of information about each post, has fueled the news feed’s growth into a dominant information source.

The proliferation of false information, conspiracy theories and partisan propaganda on Facebook and other social networks has led some to wonder whether we wouldn’t all be better off with a simpler, older system: one that simply shows people all the messages, pictures and videos from everyone they follow, in the order they were posted. That was more or less how Instagram worked until 2016, and Twitter until 2017. But Facebook has long resisted it.

This libertarian opposes a legislative effort to restrict Facebook’s use of its algorithmic ranking. If Facebookers don’t like the algorithm, it is they — not the government — who should pressure the company to change its practices. If Facebook won’t change, disappointed users should quit Facebook. After all, earlier Facebook Revelations Show a What a Dog-Crap Company It Is.

 The Inspired by Iceland tourism site has released a parody, entitled Introducing the Icelandverse, of Facebook CEO Mark Zukerberg’s grand ambitions (he’s looking to create a ‘metaverse‘) and awkward manner:

City, Culture, Daily Bread, Toxic Positivity, Tragic Optimism

Daily Bread for 11.13.21: Toxic Positivity Is Worse than Annoying as Public Policy

by  •  • 1 Comment

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 39.  Sunrise is 6:45 AM and sunset 4:32 PM for 9h 47m 07s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 70.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1940, Walt Disney’s animated musical film Fantasia is first released, on the first night of a roadshow at New York’s Broadway Theatre.

Elizabeth Bernstein, writing in the Wall Street Journal, rightly observes (focusing on a personal context) that Toxic Positivity Is Very Real, and Very Annoying:

Yes, cultivating a positive mindset is a powerful coping mechanism, especially in tough times. But positivity needs to be rooted in reality for it to be healthy and helpful.

“ Toxic positivity is positivity given in the wrong way, in the wrong dose, at the wrong time,” says David Kessler, a grief expert and the author of six books about grief, including his latest, “Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief.”

….

“It’s a form of gaslighting,” says Susan David, a psychologist and consultant at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts and the author of “Emotional Agility.” “You basically are saying to someone that my comfort in this situation is more important than your reality.”

….

How can we avoid forced positivity, to better help ourselves or someone else who is down?

Start by recognizing that it is different from hope or optimism. Those emotions are rooted in reality, Dr. David says, while toxic positivity is a denial of it.

Bernstein is writing of toxic positivity as a response to illness, but it’s worse than annoying as a public policy position: like boosterism (accentuating the positive to spur business development), toxic positivity as a public policy position overlooks human need (e.g., injury, poverty) for the sake of a happy narrative (that benefits officials’ self-promoting claims).

See Boosterism’s Cousin, Toxic Positivity and Tragic Optimism as an Alternative to Toxic Positivity (“Tragic optimism involves the search for meaning amid the inevitable tragedies of human existence, something far more practical and realistic….people can grow in many ways from difficult times—including having a greater appreciation of one’s life and relationships, as well as increased compassion, altruism, purpose, utilization of personal strengths, spiritual development, and creativity. Importantly, it’s not the traumatic event itself that leads to growth…but rather how the event is processed, the changes in worldview that result from the event, and the active search for meaning that people undertake during and after it.”)

In a place with genuine needs, toxic positivity is a lie. The danger: proponents of toxic positivity will first overlook these needs, but later conceal these needs.

 Something healthfully positive — Endangered Amur Leopard Cub Makes Debut at Zoo:

Daily Bread, Employment, University, UW Madison, UW System, Vaccines

Daily Bread for 11.12.21: UW-Madison Charts the Right Course on Vaccination

by  •  •  Comments

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will see scattered of showers of rain or snow with a high of 39.  Sunrise is 6:44 AM and sunset 4:33 PM for 9h 49m 20s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 60.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day, in 1970, the Oregon Highway Commission decides to blow up a dead, beached whale in Florence, Oregon:

Kelly Meyerhofer reports UW-Madison tells all employees to get vaccinated, citing Biden’s federal vaccine mandate:

UW-Madison told its employees on Thursday that they must be vaccinated by early 2022 to comply with a vaccine mandate for federal contractors.

The university said the order applies to all workers, including student employees, those working remotely from home and part-time workers. About 95% of employees are already fully vaccinated.

Roughly 1,800 UW-Madison employees have not yet provided proof of vaccination, university spokesperson Meredith McGlone said.

The University of Wisconsin System last month said it would comply with President Joe Biden’s executive order to avoid jeopardizing millions of dollars in federal contracts. But officials didn’t respond to questions about how broadly it interpreted the order and whether it covered all campuses.

Many other colleges across the country have cited the federal order when announcing campuswide worker vaccination requirements, even in some conservative states where mandates draw fierce opposition. At least a handful of schools, however, are narrowly interpreting the order by assessing which employees are involved in federal contract work.

Tommy Thompson, the interim president for the System, later said that four of the 13 campuses have federal contracts: Milwaukee, Madison, Stevens Point and Superior.

Under a draft version of “vaccination policy concept” paper the System sent to university leaders last week, other campuses could impose an employee mandate if the chancellor determines that the university may seek future federal contracting opportunities. The draft paper also appeared to allow campuses with federal contracts to either narrowly or broadly interpret the federal order.

Asked whether the System is leaving it up to campuses to decide if and how the order applies to them, System spokesperson Mark Pitsch said there’s no new System policy or guidance. Details of the order remain “subject to change” and “the situation is fluid.” He said each university has unique circumstances, and individual chancellors are responding to those circumstances.

The vaccination deadline is Jan. 4. Employees may request a medical or religious exemption.

While UW-Whitewater is not among the universities Thompson cited as receiving federal contracts, every school in the UW System should adopt the same mandate on vaccines.

See also Employers Have Rights — and Obligations to Workplace Safety and Immunization Mandates Are Right and Effective.

Building homes with hemp:

Animation, Cats

Friday Catblogging: A Computer-Animated Cat from 1968

by  •  •  Comments

Over at BoingBoing, one reads that “Kitty” is an early realistic computer animation from 1968:

Kitty is an early computer animation, created by a group of Soviet physicists and mathematicians in 1968. It was made on a BESM-4 computer. The computer used alphabetical characters (similar to ASCII art) to make the images, transferred the resulting animation to a printer, and then a camera photographed the animation frames to create the video. This could possibly be the world’s first computer-generated video. I can’t get over how cool this cat looks. I want it on a t-shirt!

In 1968 a group of Soviet physicists and mathematicians with N.Konstantinov as its head created a mathematical model for the motion of a cat. On a BESM-4 computer they devised a program for solving the ordinary differential equations for this model. The Computer printed hundreds of frames on paper using alphabet symbols that were later filmed in sequence thus creating the first realistic computer animation of a character, a walking cat [Kitty (1968) – Computer Animation history-CGI!]

Daily Bread, Elections, Politics, Sen. Ron Johnson

Daily Bread for 11.11.21: Ron Johnson Wants It All

by  •  • 2 Comments

Good morning.

Veteran’s Day in Whitewater will see morning showers with a high of 52.  Sunrise is 6:43 AM and sunset 4:34 PM for 9h 51m 35s of daytime.  The moon is in its first quarter with 49.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1918, Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car in the forest of Compiègne.

Patrick Marley and Bill Glauber report Ron Johnson calls for having Republican lawmakers take over federal elections in Wisconsin:

MADISON – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is calling on Wisconsin lawmakers to take over elections and tell local officials to ignore the work of the bipartisan Elections Commission they set up six years ago.

The Oshkosh Republican on Wednesday met privately for an hour with GOP legislative leaders in the state Capitol, less than two weeks after telling the Journal Sentinel in an interview that lawmakers should set aside the commission’s work. He repeatedly declined to say afterward whether he’d discussed his views on taking over elections, saying only that he had talked about many issues.

In the earlier interview, Johnson accused the state commission of “systematically” violating the law with the advice it gave to municipal clerks during the coronavirus pandemic last year.

He contended Republicans who control the Legislature could unilaterally take over federal elections and said Democratic Gov Tony Evers couldn’t stop them.

“There’s no mention of the governor in the Constitution” when it comes to running elections, Johnson said. “It says state legislatures, and so if I were running the joint —and I’m not — I would come out and I would just say, ‘We’re reclaiming our authority. Don’t listen to WEC  anymore. Their guidances are null and void.'”

He added: “I think the state Legislature has to reassert, reclaim this authority over our election system.”

Attempting to overtake elections without the sign-off of Evers would all but guarantee a legal challenge. The Elections Commission was created by state law and the normal process for replacing it would be for legislators to pass legislation and the governor to sign it.

In the interview with the Journal Sentinel, Johnson focused on how he believed lawmakers could take control of federal elections, such as those for Congress and the presidency. He said the situation may be different for elections for state offices like the governor.

Johnson’s been plain that he may break his pledge to serve only two terms, but if he were confident of victory he wouldn’t need WISGOP control of federal elections in the state. The WISGOP created the bipartisan Elections Commission in 2015, but that creation isn’t enough for Johnson in 2022.

Ron Johnson wants it all: he wants an election he can’t lose.

Crypto boom strains Kazakh energy grid:

Animals, Cats, Daily Bread, Nature

Daily Bread for 11.10.21: Cougar Visits West Bend, Wisconsin

by  •  •  Comments

Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 56.  Sunrise is 6:41 AM and sunset 4:35 PM for 9h 53m 52s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 39.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

 Whitewater’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee meets at 5 PM, the Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM, and the Police and Fire Commission meets at 6:30 PM.

 On this day in 1674, as provided in the Treaty of Westminster, Netherlands cedes New Netherland to England.

 Paul A. Smith reports Trail camera picks up image of cougar on West Bend property:

The cougar sighting was confirmed Monday by Eric Kilburg, a senior wildlife biologist for the Department of Natural Resources in Washington and Ozaukee counties.

Kilburg said the West Bend trail cam image fits a pattern of other recent cougar observations in the state.

On Oct. 22 a cougar was captured on a trail cam in Waupaca County and then one was photographed Nov. 3 near Fond du Lac.

“This new image in West Bend falls into the trajectory of those earlier sightings,” Kilburg said. “So it could be the same individual continuing its travels.”

Cougars were native to Wisconsin but extirpated in the 1800s.

In recent decades they have started to expand from a population in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The species has been documented in Wisconsin for at least the last 13 years.

In each case DNA evidence could be recovered, the animals were young males that originated from the Black Hills, according to the DNR.

Cougar sightings in Wisconsin are uncommon but are no longer unexpected. From 2017 through this year there have been 76 confirmed or probable cougar sightings in the Badger State, according to DNR records. It should be noted many are likely reports of the same animal in a different location.

La Palma lava flows into the sea:

Conservative Populism, Daily Bread, Politics, Trumpism

Daily Bread for 11.9.21: Mitch McConnell Closes as Trump’s Fool

by  •  •  Comments

Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 59.  Sunrise is 6:40 AM and sunset 4:36 PM for 9h 56m 11s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 27.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1867, the Tokugawa shogunate hands power back to the Emperor of Japan, starting the Meiji Restoration.

 Michael Kranish writes Mitch McConnell spent decades chasing power. Now he heeds Trump, who mocks him and wants him gone:

While seven GOP senators voted to convict Trump following his impeachment by the House for inciting an insurrection, McConnell supported acquittal, ensuring Trump would face no formal penalty for inciting an insurrection.

Ten months later, Trump is once again dominating the Republican Party, expected to run again in 2024 — and utterly disdainful of the Senate leader who helped save him.Trump dismissed McConnell as a “stupid person” and suggested his favored 2022 Senate candidates should oust McConnell from his leadership post when they get to Washington.

McConnell is not a “real leader” because “he didn’t fight for the presidency,” Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post.

….

Just two years ago, seemingly at the pinnacle of his power, McConnell could hardly have foreseen himself in such a precarious position. Midway through Trump’s term, the veteran lawmaker released a new version of his autobiography, which described his rise in the Senate in heroic terms. The book opened with a new glowing foreword penned by Trump, who lavished praise on McConnell as his “ace in the hole” and wrote that he “couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”

Except Trump never actually wrote those words — at least according to the ex-president, who now mocks McConnell’s role in pursuing his agenda. In an interview with The Post, Trump said McConnell actually wrote that foreword and simply used the president’s name on the passage.

Trump said he told McConnell, “Why don’t you write it for me and I’ll put it in, Mitch? Because that’s the way life works.”

McConnell, asked if Trump’s account was accurate, did not dispute it. “I really don’t have anything to add related to him,” McConnell said.

On this last dispute, Trump is undoubtedly right: Trump has never shown any ability to write coherently, and didn’t write even his own supposed autobiography.

This is the effect Trumpism’s rise: other kinds of conservatives, traditional or transactional, amount nearly to nothing within the Republican party. It’s Trumpists and everyone else, where everyone else is a softer term for nobodies.

The same is true in Whitewater, where older varieties of conservatives scamper to win the support, or at least hope they don’t draw the ire, of the populists. See The Kinds of Conservatives in Whitewater.

Highlights From SpaceX’s Water Landing of NASA’s Crew-2 Mission:

Books, Daily Bread, Education, School District

Daily Bread for 11.8.21: The War on Books

by  •  •  Comments

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 66.  Sunrise is 6:39 AM and sunset 4:37 PM for 9h 58m 31s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 18.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

 Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets at 6 PM.

 On this day in 1895, while experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.

 Molly Hennessy-Fiske reports A ‘war on books’: Conservatives push for audits of school libraries:

In the Dallas suburb of Southlake, the school board voted to reprimand a fourth-grade teacher earlier this year for keeping an anti-racism book in her classroom after parents complained. Last month, leaked audio of an administrator in the district instructing teachers to present “opposing” views of books about the Holocaust sparked national outrage. In another Dallas suburb, a group of conservative activists, Respect Midlothian 1888, decried teachings they said support critical race theory and called for the district diversity officer’s removal.

In the Fort Worth suburb of Keller, school officials removed “Gender Queer: A Memoir” from a high school library “pending investigation” after parents complained it contained graphic images.

In the Houston suburbs, school officials at Spring Branch district removed “The Breakaways,” by Cathy Johnson, a graphic novel featuring a transgender character, after parents in the Spring Branch district petitioned and complained it was sexually explicit and contained “political propaganda.”

On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott — running for reelection against two conservative primary challengers — sent a letter to the Texas Assn. of School Boards and several state agencies demanding they investigate “pornographic” books that parents had complained about at public schools, despite the agencies’ lack of authority.

Hennessy-Fisk further reports that

Liberal parents have also pushed to remove books from schools in recent years: Burbank schools last year removed the classics “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Of Mice and Men” after parents complained their depictions of race and racism were harmful to students (they were among the top banned books nationwide last year).

There is, of course, nothing liberal (in the broad, proper sense of preserving individual rights) of book banning from left or right.

Before these loud campaigns against books, however, there are likely to be local officials who, themselves, covertly restrict speech and books to placate activists in the hope of avoiding greater controversies.

In this way, there are two wars against books: the hot war one notices, and a cold war waged out of public notice.

Both are wrong; one is harder to spot.

Liar: Giuliani admits under oath he didn’t even check 2020 claim:

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 11.7.21: The 1,200 Year-Old Canoe in Lake Mendota

by  •  •  Comments

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 64.  Sunrise is 6:38 AM and sunset 4:39 PM for 10h 00m 54s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 10% of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1916, Jeannette Rankin is the first woman elected to the United States Congress.

 Sophie Carson reports A scuba-diving archaeologist found a sunken 1,200-year-old canoe on a whim. Here’s how divers brought it to the surface of Lake Mendota:

A dugout canoe emerged Tuesday from Madison’s Lake Mendota for the first time in 1,200 years.

A team of divers and archaeologists carefully extracted it from lake sediment 27 feet underwater and pulled it to a beach in the city’s Spring Harbor neighborhood to the cheers of historians and nearby residents.

The moment was a historic one. Discovered this summer by a Wisconsin Historical Society archaeologist while she was scuba diving for fun, it is the oldest fully intact dugout canoe in Wisconsin.

“I’m underwater an awful lot,” said Tamara Thomsen, the maritime archaeologist who spotted it in June. “I’ve never seen this underwater (before) and I don’t think I’ll ever get to again in my career.”

The canoe was in use around A.D. 800, according to carbon dating the archaeologists did on a sliver of wood before it was lifted out of the lake. With it now out of the water, experts are excited by what the boat might teach them about the early Native Americans who lived in the Madison area at the time and built effigy mounds that still dot the landscape today.

“Ninety-nine percent of the archaeological record is trash — broken things, things people have thrown away. Rarely do we find something that was lost or deposited as a whole thing,” said James Skibo, state archaeologist.

The Rise and Fall of Milk: