Sunrise — 7:00, 7:10, 7:11, 7:12, 7:25, 7:27.

We walked out onto the ice today. I like to be able to do that, because you get a continual view of an unobstructed sunrise. I ran out ahead while Meade was holding still to do videos, seen here, and that's Meade in the distance in photo #3, with the waning gibbous moon. That's another moon view in photo #5.

 

Talk about whatever you like in the comments.

I was listening to a "daylist" Spotify had made for me, and this line struck me: "When you get up in the mornin' and you see that crazy sun...."

Elon Musk laughs at a prison rape joke.

Shameful.

Time only seems to go faster when you’re older because of the way your memory works. Does that mean you should seek out novelty?

Interesting: Here is the reason that as you get older, entire years feel like a week: 🙇‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/V6spUNMrFT

— AlphaFox (@alphafox) January 4, 2026

Assuming he's right about that, I don't jump to agree that one ought to seek out novelty. I'm thinking:

1. There is no problem to be solved. You experience your life in the present in real time. It only looks compressed in your memory. You're not being deprived of time in which to live. You're just freed from detailed memory.

2. Even though novelties would cause your memory to seem to contain more time spent doing the things you have done, you can always find more detail within your familiar activities.

Doesn't AI stop you from making basic grammar errors like "grabbing he and his wife in their pajamas"?

CBS Evening News in its supposedly new, better form:

Here is the soft launch of the @CBSEveningNews with @TonyDokoupil, not official until Monday, but kicking off two days early in light of the U.S. military strikes in Venezuela and capture of Nicolas Maduro pic.twitter.com/gFlviKfkqh

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 3, 2026

Give I a break!

You seem to think you can amuse us by painting a picture of a man and his wife caught in their pajamas, but I'm not amused. Their capture is serious matter, not a prank. It wasn't about humiliating them. And you humiliate yourself with that glaring, grating grammar mistake.

Get proper editing. How is this mainstream, professional journalism? I'd be embarrassed, on my little 1-person blog, to have written something as bad as "grabbing he and his wife in their pajamas." 

"You can't turn Venezuela into the operating hub for Iran, for Russia, for Hezbollah, for China, for the Cuban intelligence agents that control that country."

"That cannot continue. Those things cannot continue to be in place. You cannot continue to have the largest oil reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the United States, not benefiting the people of Venezuela, and stolen by a handful of oligarchs around the world including inside of Venezuela, but not benefiting the people of that country. You know, we've seen how our adversaries all over the world are exploiting and extracting resources from Africa, from every other country. They're not going to do it in the Western Hemisphere."

Said Marco Rubio, on "Meet the Press" this morning.

"'Gossip shows talk about her every day, about her outfits, about her stylist, about her appearances,' he said, a reference to Ms. Guilfoyle’s embrace of the Trump style for women..."

"... Rapunzel hair, false eyelashes, plumped lips, figure-hugging sheath dresses and high heels. 'In terms of public relations, she has done an excellent job,” [the Greek commenter said]. But the 'submissiveness' of so many Greeks lining up to meet her, he said, 'makes us look like a Third World country.' Mr. Georgiadis, the health minister, shrugged off the buzz. 'When she was first named, the people were, "What’s that?"' he said. But the early energy deals, he said, have proved that she has substance. 'If she delivers,' he said, 'who cares if she has a see-through dress?'..."

From "Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Talk of Athens/The former fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., and the former wife of Gov. Gavin Newsom, is working hard and pushing deals with American business interests. She’s also up late at parties" (NYT).

"'The task in front of him is stupefying,' said a senior U.S. official, noting the dizzying array of policy decisions related to energy, elections, sanctions and security that await."

"This person, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to respond freely. The moment marks the realization of a long-held goal for Rubio, who has voiced his criticisms of Maduro and desire for change in Venezuela for well over a decade. Those who have worked closely with Rubio, whose parents left Cuba before the Communist takeover in 1959, say the issues of the region are close to his heart. 'Marco’s parents’ experience … is hardwired in him,' said Cesar Conda, a Republican strategist who worked as the former senator’s chief of staff between 2011 and 2014.... His Spanish proficiency, familiarity with Latin American leaders and the Venezuelan opposition make him a natural point man for Trump, said another senior U.S. official...."

From "Rubio takes on most challenging role yet: Viceroy of Venezuela/The top U.S. diplomat has pushed for regime change for over a decade. Now the hard part begins" (WaPo).

WaPo's use of the word "viceroy" expresses its own opinion — though few readers will have any idea what that opinion is and many will mistake it for an official title that has been given to Rubio. It's not.

Wikipedia says: "A viceroy is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning 'in the place of' and the Anglo-Norman roy (Old French roi, roy), meaning "king.' This denotes the position as one who acts on behalf of a king or monarch. A viceroy's territory may be called a viceroyalty...."

I guess this is raw meat for the "no kings" crowd. But then again, maybe it's just a tidbit for those of us who enjoy alliteration: Viceroy of Venezuela. Maybe "governor" is a more appropriate word, but save that for the Washington Post headline when we take over Greenland. Just an alliteration joke. I think the right answer is that no title at all is appropriate for what Rubio is doing and a descriptive phrase like "who is taking the lead role" is best.

Meade catches Althouse catching the moon and the sun.

ADDED: One more:

Things I found when I created a new tag — "Trump and Venezuela" — and went back into the archive to add it to old posts.

From the Althouse archive:

August 2017: Trump said: "I’m not going to rule out a military option.... Venezuela is a mess. We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary."

March 2018: When anti-Trumpers were interpreting Trump's handshake with baseball hero Jose Altuve, I wrote: "I don't know if Altuve talks about politics, but I don't think he's even an American citizen. He's Venezuelan. If I were Venzuelan, I'd be most worried about Venezuela, and looking at Trump, I'd be thinking, is there some way he can help Venezuela?, or, if I was inclined to the hostility anti-Trumpers are seeing in his face — Why hasn't President Trump done something yet about Venezuela?"

February 2019: When Trump was pleading with the Venezuelan military to support Juan Guaido, I wrote: "I was surprised that on the channel I was watching — Fox News — the analysis after the speech was about the 2020 presidential campaign.... People in Venezuela are suffering. They're starving. We need to help. I thought Trump was trying to get something done, but the news folk rush to talk about the damned campaign, as if that's what sophisticated, savvy people do. I found it offensive."

April 2019: Quoting a Swedish journalist in Venezuela: "Two months have passed since I got here and in that time, the possibility of an American intervention in Venezuela has been on everyone’s mind.

I hope James Carville is doing satire.

About 24 hours ago, I said out loud, here at Meadhouse, "I'm waiting for Trump haters to say this was done to distract us from Epstein."

I'd like to think anyone saying that is doing satire, but James Carville really commits:

🚨NEW: James Carville goes on *UNHINGED* rant claiming Trump Admin Venezuela Operation was "ALL ABOUT EPSTEIN"🤦‍♂️

"Come on, people! Wake up! ... Never ever underestimate what Trump will do to try to survive and draw attention away from Jeffrey Epstein."@DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/jRa52gwDwD

— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) January 3, 2026

Sunrise — 7:04, 7:20.

There was a 100% cloud cover this morning. And it was a full moon, the wolf moon, but we saw nothing of it.

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

It was a theme day on the blog today. Did you notice?

Elon Musk loves the idea of Rubio as "president of Venezuela, governor of Cuba, and the Shah of Iran."

I support this 💯 https://t.co/MFckQ5VWqr

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2026

"The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a lot. They now call it the Donroe Doctrine."

“The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a lot. They now call it the Donroe Doctrine.”

He’s always on 😂 pic.twitter.com/78P3MnrLFv

— Josh Rainer (@JoshRainerGold) January 3, 2026

Mamdani's notion of "collectivism" as "warmth" finds its way into the WaPo editorial about Venezuela.

I'm reading "Trump’s bold capture of Maduro was a victory for America. What’s next?" by The Editorial Board of The Washington Post. That's the front page headline. Inside it's "Justice in Venezuela/The next challenge is setting the country up for long-term success."

The editorial ends: "For years, Maduro was a symbol of the false warmth of Latin American collectivism. Now he should spend the rest of his life in a humane American prison. His downfall is good news."

That can't be unrelated to Mamdani's recent assertion: "We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism."

Look for more "collectivism" as "warmth" rhetoric. I'm not making a new tag for that. Not yet. I'm sticking with the tags "socialism" and "hotness." How absurd is that?

Anyway, the WaPo editors seem rather positive about Trump's action in Venezuela. The mood at The New York Times is different: "Trump’s Attack on Venezuela Is Illegal and Unwise." It ends:

Trump's press conference this morning.

"[Maduro] was trying to get into [his safe room], but he got bum-rushed so fast that he didn’t get into that.... I watched it literally like I was watching a television show."

"And if you would have seen the speed, the violence, you know, they say that, the speed, the violence, they used that term, it was just an amazing thing, an amazing job that these people did — nobody else could have done anything like it."