June 13, 2013

At the Peony Café...

Untitled

... you can talk all night.

97 comments:

edutcher said...

The image is unavailable?

What kind of horticulture is that?

Another sequester cut?

ampersand said...

Pee on who?

Ann Althouse said...

It's "peony"... not "peonie."

Don't know why I spelled it like that.

Seems related to "peepers"...

Anonymous said...

I note the EEOC is trying to get rid of background checks at hiring.

So I guess the common law torts of negligent hiring and negligent retention are no longer wrongful.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and Peonies are stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

And what ever happened to that stupid bench angel you had?

And your stupid garlic that Mead planted.

We already saw you still have the stupid Audi TT.

(My golf round wasn't ...let's just say... emotionally satisfying this evening.)

Anonymous said...

And speaking of the TT, do you guys have your summer driving trip planned yet?

Where ya going?

Revenant said...

At the Image Unvailable Cafe...


... there's nothing to see. Move along.

Chip S. said...

The image was only temporarily unavailable.

The NSA has now determined that it is not linked to any terrorist operations, known or conjectured, so you may now view it.

If you download it, tho, the NSA reserves the right to delete it from your hard drive if it is subsequently determined to contain subversive content.

deborah said...

Lovely.

garage mahal said...

Seems related to "peepers"...

A lot of utero-peeper weirdos in the Wisconsin legislature. Did you catch any of the testimony in the Assembly today? You may even be impacted by the law when it heads to your hero's desk for passage.

Revenant said...

The image was only temporarily unavailable.

It is unavailable off and on. Probably one of their content distribution sites is on the fritz.

Meade said...

Cry us a river, Quayle. Do you think any of my golf rounds are EVER satisfying. No.

Plus, the Reds' bats walked off and headed back to their hotel while the Cubs walked off with the win in 14th. Stupid 14th.

Sydney said...

That is a beautiful blossom.

Meade said...

"You may even be impacted by the law when it heads to your hero's desk for passage."

Oh come on, garage, just because I don't personally like that part of the bill does not mean the governor wants to examine my uterus.

Sydney said...

Peggy Noonan has a paragraph in her WSJ column tonight that describes exactly how I am feeling these days:

I feel that almost everyone who talks about America for a living—politicians and journalists and even historians—is missing a huge and essential story: that too many things are happening that are making a lot of Americans feel a new distance from, a frayed affiliation with, the country they have loved for half a century and more, the country they loved without every having to think about it, so natural was it. This isn't the kind of thing that can be quantified in polls—it's barely the kind of thing people admit to themselves. But talk to older Americans—they feel they barely know this country anymore. In governance its crucial to stay within parameters, it's important not to strain ties, push too far, be extreme. And if you think this does not carry implications for down the road, for our healthy continuance as a nation, you are mistaken. Love keeps great nations going.

I am falling out of love with my country. Does that make me old? I am 50.

I understand the peonies have beautiful blossoms in Canada, too.

edutcher said...

Very beautiful, Madame.

Worth the wait.

PS Meade has a uterus?

Then...

Well, this will give some people all manner of ammunition.

edutcher said...

sydney said...

Peggy Noonan has a paragraph in her WSJ column tonight that describes exactly how I am feeling these days:

I feel that almost everyone who talks about America for a living—politicians and journalists and even historians—is missing a huge and essential story: that too many things are happening that are making a lot of Americans feel a new distance from, a frayed affiliation with, the country they have loved for half a century and more, the country they loved without every having to think about it, so natural was it. This isn't the kind of thing that can be quantified in polls—it's barely the kind of thing people admit to themselves. But talk to older Americans—they feel they barely know this country anymore. In governance its crucial to stay within parameters, it's important not to strain ties, push too far, be extreme. And if you think this does not carry implications for down the road, for our healthy continuance as a nation, you are mistaken. Love keeps great nations going.

I am falling out of love with my country. Does that make me old? I am 50


Not your country, with the people who think they are its ruling class.

When, in the course of human events...

Meade said...

"When, in the course of human events..."

Trouble with that, Ed, is the Founders weren't in their 50's. And we are. I feel syd's pain.

Chip S. said...

Don't be such pussies.

Resist we much, as Rev Al says.

garage mahal said...

Oh come on, garage, just because I don't personally like that part of the bill does not mean the governor wants to examine my uterus.

Whew. Thank God it's only something else he wants from you and your wife. In that sense, the governor is actually giving you something! By taking something away.

Makes perfect fucking sense!

pm317 said...

In governance its crucial to stay within parameters, it's important not to strain ties

Why? Nonaan could not decide which is which, if it was its or it's?

pm317 said...

I am falling out of love with my country. Does that make me old? I am 50


She is only 50? I thought she looked older.

Fall out of Obama, you stupid woman, you hoisted him on us when we were warning you with your addled brains. It is all on you. Fuckers.

Sydney said...

I'm the one who is 50. I don't know how old Peggy Noonan is.

Meade said...

Okay, garage, I give up. What does Governor Walker want to take away from us? Our first-born borrowed dog?

KCFleming said...

The peonies at my daughter's wedding on Saturday were as lovely as the bride.

pm317 said...

BTW, Syrian refugees are coming, Syrian refugees are coming. If any al queda decides to tag along as a stowaway, we will need Prism and its many enhanced versions to track them in the future.

Meade said...

Pogo, congratulations on gaining a son! Felicitations to your entire family.

pm317 said...

sydney said...
----------

oops, sorry about that. I am sure you look a lot younger than Noonan.

kentuckyliz said...

I think peonies are gross, because the ones I grew up with in my yard were always covered with ants. Ewww. What use is a pretty flower if it's always covered in ants?

Meade said...

Aphid farming.

pm317 said...

Yes, Pogo. Congratulations. Peonies are a great choice, fragrance plus beauty.

edutcher said...

Meade said...

When, in the course of human events...

Trouble with that, Ed, is the Founders weren't in their 50's. And we are. I feel syd's pain.


Caesar Rodney at age 48 rode the distance from Dover to Philadelphia (you can ask your sweetie) through a driving thunderstorm to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Quite a few were about his age or older, some in their 60s.

May we have their grit.

KCFleming said...

Danke schoen, Meade!

He's a good guy, and treats her well.

Meade said...

"some in their 60s."

Now that is encouraging. Thanks.

edutcher said...

Congrats, Pogo.

Methadras said...

garage mahal said...

Seems related to "peepers"...

A lot of utero-peeper weirdos in the Wisconsin legislature. Did you catch any of the testimony in the Assembly today? You may even be impacted by the law when it heads to your hero's desk for passage.


You're just jealous that no one wants to peeper in your utero.

Methadras said...

Pogo said...

The peonies at my daughter's wedding on Saturday were as lovely as the bride.


Congratulations. I am awaiting the pending nuptials of my only child. She's still working on it. I won't like the bill.

pm317 said...

I love to have peonies in my garden but I have heard they take a long time to flower and when they do, it is only for a short time.

Meade said...

Nice, Pogo. A simple and timeless prayer. The greatest fullfilled wish of each father of every bride.

Tim said...

"Plus, the Reds' bats walked off and headed back to their hotel while the Cubs walked off with the win in 14th. Stupid 14th."

Giants finally won...pitching, the strength of this team over the last four years, has, inexplicably, cratered.

IF it recovers, the Giants will be tough to beat.

IF it doesn't, the Giants will be just another team, like the Brewers, Pirates, Rockeies, etc.

Maddening.

Dante said...

Aphid farming.

I had huge Wisteria plants covering a 30'X30' deck with slats on the top, and decided to get rid of the ants. Next year, the Wisteria was completely covered with aphids. The ants were preferable.

garage mahal said...

@Meade
Medical records/HIPAA. Going off testimony from the state sanctioned rape bill that was passed by Republicans today though. I'll try to confirm.

Tim said...

As a father of two daughters, yet married...I hope they do, yet don't gift us with grandchildren, for reasons previously stated.

Eloping would be cool too.

I've enough ceremonies in my life.

Las Vegas is close enough...as long as one's future son-in-law keeps the hookers and slots far away.

Blackjack, on the other hand, is an opportunity to make money.

pm317 said...

My father had told (future) my husband when we got engaged, that I was serious about my career and that he hoped that my husband would be supportive. I never knew about that until my husband told me after many, many years, may be after my dad passed away. He certainly kept his word to my dad.

Tim said...

My wife, on the other hand, is all about weddings and grandchildren.

This is an irreconcilable difference.

But we're not divorcing.

I love her, despite her critical flaw: she loves me.

It's ironic, in a way.

Tim said...

"He certainly kept his word to my dad."

Excellent. That's important.

Tim said...

It's still ok to hate the Miami Heat, right?

I mean, seriously, I don't care if anyone tells me it isn't...

But I thought I'd check.

pm317 said...

Sequester King. This is crazy.

pm317 said...

from the article:

The president and first lady had also planned to take a Tanzanian safari as part of the trip, which would have required the president’s special counterassault team to carry sniper rifles with high-caliber rounds that could neutralize cheetahs, lions or other animals if they became a threat, according to the planning document.

edutcher said...

It will cost $60 - 100 million.

Hundreds of U.S. Secret Service agents will be dispatched to secure facilities in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. A Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma center, will be stationed offshore in case of an emergency.

Military cargo planes will airlift in 56 support vehicles, including 14 limousines and three trucks loaded with sheets of bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the first family will stay. Fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president’s airspace, so they can intervene quickly if an errant plane gets too close. [...]

Revenant said...

The government is now claiming that Snowden lied about what data the NSA collects. This is the claim we would expect, whether true or not.

What makes it amusing is that the claim follows a week's worth of the government and its defenders spent the last week saying "how DARE Snowden reveal that we collect that data! He's a traitor for telling people we collect that data! We have to collect that data to keep America safe!"

"... but we're not actually collecting it" is quite the follow-up. This is playing out like an episode of Parks and Recreation.

On the other hand, "we need that data to keep you safe but we're not actually collecting it" does have the virtue of being consistent with the successful terrorist attacks of the past few years. :)

Revenant said...

Going off testimony from the state sanctioned rape bill that was passed by Republicans today

I can't even guess. Any Wisconsinites want to run that through the crazy-to-English translator for me?

Revenant said...

week's worth of the government and its defenders spent the last week

To read makes the word usements I structure good.

garage mahal said...

I can't even guess. Any Wisconsinites want to run that through the crazy-to-English translator for me?

What are you confused about?

"Going off testimony", to anyone with half a brain would guess that the person making that claim was watching the testimony as the bill was being debated.

The "state sanctioned rape" remark was the vaginal probe ultrasounds that are going to be mandated by the state in some circumstances.

If you're still confused look up the definition of the word rape.

Tim said...

"...state sanctioned rape bill..."

I'm not in Wisconsin, but I'm guessing it involves Wisconsin's public employee unions, and its taxpayers, and, given history, we know who is raping who, don't we?

And, if I'm wrong, am I really?

Revenant said...

It will cost $60 - 100 million.

You're taking entirely the wrong attitude. Don't think of it as "Obama takes an absurdly expensive vacation". Think of it as "for a mere $100 million Obama will do nothing for a whole week".

For only $15 billion we could have him spend the rest of his Presidency taking pictures of water buffalo on the other side of the globe. Tell me that isn't a bargain for the American taxpayer.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

are we on?

test.

Tim said...

"...The "state sanctioned rape" remark was the vaginal probe ultrasounds that are going to be mandated by the state in some circumstances."

So, there's no choice or individual responsibility here, is that right?

Tim said...

Yes.

We, well, somebody is on.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Insta asks. "I mean, shouldn’t they have known this within an hour or two?"

Why did the Intelligence services take so long to say that Snowden is a liar.

The damage that Snowden did presented the Intelligent Services with an opportunity.

Snowden did something the targets of the NSA couldn't have expected.

You don't shut that down by coming out right away. Let them think we can do what Snowden claims we can do and see if you can pick up something useful.

Never let a crisis go to waste

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I was getting filtered out by the blogs spam catcher.

Tim said...

"For only $15 billion we could have him spend the rest of his Presidency taking pictures of water buffalo on the other side of the globe. Tell me that isn't a bargain for the American taxpayer."

Deal.

Can we send a petition to the White House?

And, let's throw in 18 holes a day, as a sweetener.

No green fees will have ever been better spent.

Revenant said...

What are you confused about?

The "state-sanctioned rape" remark.

The "state sanctioned rape" remark was the vaginal probe ultrasounds that are going to be mandated by the state in some circumstances.

See, I should have guessed. "Whenever those guys cry 'rape' it always means 'abortion'", I thought to myself. Accusing them OF rape was a new twist though, so kudos for that.

Tim said...

"Why did the Intelligence services take so long to say that Snowden is a liar."

Wasn't it the chair and ranking member of the house intelligence committee?

And, as for timing, lies take more time to develop than does the truth, no?

Anonymous said...

Of course a mandatory ultrasound is rape. This follows from the well-known fact that a voluntary ultrasound is sex.

garage mahal said...

See, I should have guessed. "Whenever those guys cry 'rape' it always means 'abortion'", I thought to myself. Accusing them OF rape was a new twist though, so kudos for that.

Okay now I'm confused. We aren't talking about "guys" getting raped, we're talking about women in this case. And typically women aren't raping themselves.

edutcher said...

Lem said...

Insta asks. "I mean, shouldn’t they have known this within an hour or two?"

Why did the Intelligence services take so long to say that Snowden is a liar.

The damage that Snowden did presented the Intelligent Services with an opportunity.

Snowden did something the targets of the NSA couldn't have expected.

You don't shut that down by coming out right away. Let them think we can do what Snowden claims we can do and see if you can pick up something useful.


We weren't hearing this last night. Quite the opposite, in fact.

And here's the selfsame Hill saying so.

Why does the new piece look as if it has "damage control" written on it?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

What I'm trying to say is that the real targets of the NSA, which for as much as we would like to imagine it is neither me nor my neighbor, didn't take a time out while the NSA huddled trying to figure out a response to what Snowden did. If anything, I would expect that as the world was in a didder about Snowden so would the NSA targets.

Snowden created a ripple, maybe the NSA wanted to see if it bounced of somebody they didn't suspect.

I'm speculating... playing NSA annalist.

garage mahal said...

Of course a mandatory ultrasound is rape. This follows from the well-known fact that a voluntary ultrasound is sex.

Mandating the government to stick a dildo/camera up a woman's vagina for no medical reason other than to please a fringe forced birther group is rapacious in my view.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

For the purposes of this scenario I'm trying to paint... lets just put aside whether or not the NSA can do, let alone have the authority to do, what Snowden claims.

While everybody is paying attention and all exited, including the targets I assume, the NSA has the opportunity to make the target believe they can do something. During that window of opportunity the NSA watches and see if they change behavior making themselves easier to catch.

What would happen if the targets stop using phones and the internet all together?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

You never let an enemy know your strengths nor weaknesses.

If they believe you are stronger than you really are, they may be overly cautious, timid and make mistakes.

If they believe you are weaker than you really are, they may get complacent, bold and make mistakes.

Revenant said...

Okay now I'm confused. We aren't talking about "guys" getting raped, we're talking about women in this case. And typically women aren't raping themselves.

To be more precise, YOU are talking about women getting "raped", and I am making fun of "guys", e.g. you, who abuse that word for political purposes.

I assume you have sufficient wits to realize that would alienate people if you tried it in real life, and that you do it here solely to annoy Republicans. Which it doesn't seem to be doing very effectively; they may be on to you.

garage mahal said...

To be more precise, YOU are talking about women getting "raped", and I am making fun of "guys", e.g. you, who abuse that word for political purposes.

Oh, I'm sure you have no problem with the term "rape" being thrown around when it comes to the government forcing you to pay taxes.

But like I said, a dildo/camera literally inserted into a woman's vagina by the state against their will should be called rape.

Revenant said...

Mandating the government to stick a dildo/camera up a woman's vagina for no medical reason other than to please a fringe forced birther group is rapacious in my view.

Oddly enough, Obamacare not only mandates crotch-insertion under various circumstances, but relies on extortion to fund itself and slavery to get the work done.

We'll make a libertarian out of you yet, garage. With every cry of "the government is abusing us" you slip further into our web.

Revenant said...

Oh, I'm sure you have no problem with the term "rape" being thrown around when it comes to the government forcing you to pay taxes.

Don't be ridiculous. Taxation is extortion (obtaining money via threats or violence), not rape.

Rape is what happens after you resist the extortion and get kidnapped and unjustly imprisoned in a cell with a tattooed man named "Tiny".

This is also the end result of, e.g., not buying the exact kind of health insurance the government wants you to buy. At least women can choose not to have their abortions in Wisconsin if they don't like the probe. :)

garage mahal said...

Oddly enough, Obamacare not only mandates crotch-insertion under various circumstances, but relies on extortion to fund itself and slavery to get the work done.

Example of government mandated crotch-insertion? [I don't need a link].

Remember: what I'm talking about are mostly religious referral clinics with technicians that don't even have to be licensed practitioners.

Ralph L said...

but I have heard they take a long time to flower and when they do, it is only for a short time.
The first isn't true if the soil, sunlight, and drainage are good--you won't get blooms the first year with most perennials, and you should nip many of them in the bud to keep the bloom size up and the stalks off the ground (most varieties must be staked).

The second is part of their attraction. Geraniums and marigolds are the slutty barflys of the ornamental garden.

Revenant said...

Example of government mandated crotch-insertion? [I don't need a link].

Insurance is mandatory, insurers are allowed to mandate preventative tests for the insured (provided the insurer covers them -- not that the insurer minds, since he gets to pass the costs onto customers and/or the government, who have to pay).

Thus you end up with an ironic situation in which ObamaCare will, as an unintended consequence, require many pregnant women to get ultrasounds. Isn't corporatism fun?

David said...

Is there a single Republican legislator who will say no to this ultrasound bill?

I thought we conservatives were supposed to be against intrusive regulation and state over reach?

Get a grip, Wisconsin conservatives.

edutcher said...

Lem said...

You never let an enemy know your strengths nor weaknesses.

If they believe you are stronger than you really are, they may be overly cautious, timid and make mistakes.

If they believe you are weaker than you really are, they may get complacent, bold and make mistakes.


Or, if you really screwed up and showed the world how incompetent you were by selling out of a cheap politician and letting some doofus get away with (or outrage somebody who really knows give the info to said doofus about) the most important (at least to anyone paying attention) breach of the Constitution in American history which coincidentally lays bare the extent of your operations, you would send out the chair of the House Intel Committee to play Chip Diller.

Aridog said...

Revenant said...6/13/13, 10:45 PM

The government is now claiming that Snowden lied about what data the NSA collects.

Is it "lying" if Snowden just doesn't really know what he's talking about?

PS: Please stop making comments I tend to agree with [white folks thread yesterday] ... you are scaring me. Or I am scaring me. Something.

Aridog said...

On the Peony photo...whoever [Meade or Althouse] took that shot did an excellent job of macro-photography controlling depth of field very well.

PS: No I am not going to distinguish micro from macro photography...that's more semantics than technique.

Aridog said...

pm317 said...6/13/13, 9:58 PM

Syrian refugees are coming.

Uh, oh...that may not work out so well in my neighborhood of Lebanese, Iraqis, and Yemenis. We already have some of those "tribal issues" y'all spoke of yesterday....but they're resolving themselves in the first generation of native born kids.

If you run across a sullen first or second generation native born, that is the one to watch. [Think Nidal Hassan, etc.]

Rusty said...

That's one hell of an expensive trip just for some bar-b-q dog.

Aridog said...

pm317 said...6/13/13, 10:29 PM

Sequester King. This is crazy.

What does he always do when teh fugits hit the fan blades in mass quantities? Either go on a campaign swing or visit another continent...usually both. Forward!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"Discovery: Bible's Greek word arsenokoites condemned boy rapers - not homosexuals."

Just discovered, huh.

It's good to know that scholars are still lying right at us but for a worthy cause.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Sydney, excellent share, and I agree entirely with Noonan on that.

I feel the same way, and honestly a lot of my peers (mid-30s, raising kids) do as well. Even, startlingly, my 23 year old recent college graduate nephew.

If anyone had told me even three years ago that I would begin to sincerely believe in the cause of Texas secession [Hi NSA! Kisses!] I never would have believed them. I've always been patriotic, my whole family is military, etc etc. But my devotion has always been to the founding principles that made this country such a miracle, and we all know the state those are in these days.

pm317 said...

Agree with this. I will add America should go back to rebuilding itself, to what made it different from the rest of the world, go back to first principles.

gerry said...

Sydney - Marxists are into recognizing and defining all sorts of alienation. Alienation of ownership from the producers. Alienation of consciousness from the person perceiving consciousness.

What Obama has succeeded in doing is alienation of citizenship from the citizens. We no longer feel that the country is ours, that we have inalienable rights: we feel we have only what Obama and his ilk want to allow us to have.

He and his minions in the Senate and the Press, and many Republicans in the House, as well, have succeeded in alienating us from our God-given rights. We feel an unease being free, as if we need permission and approval to be free, to exercise rights that cannot be alienated except by yes - a Marxist term - a form of "false consciousness" in which we each deny ourselves the exercise of rights that are ours naturally and irrevocably.

The means Obama used and is using are the propaganda machine that is the mainstream media, racism, racialism, economic deprivation, political intimidation, and religious persecution and intimidation, examples of which are surfacing from, especially, the IRS cesspool.

Welcome to Progressive America.

test said...

Officials say the United States is proceeding with a plan to arm Syrian rebels, a move that prompted a positive early reaction from U.S. allies in Europe.

This is stupid. In two decades the left will be teaching Arab kids that terrorism against America is justified because American weapons killed Arabs in Syria. In return not one fewer Arab will die in this war or experience freedom as a result of it.

pm317 said...

I sense a lot of defeatism in the thread starting with Noonan's article. Come on people, this is America, say 'I can't take it anymore' and elect good and capable leaders at every level.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The up close flower photos are magnificent. Remember that rose photo from a few years back?

deborah said...

"Resist we much, as Rev Al says."

Sadly, sitting around on our butts, commenting on the internet isn't much of a resistance.

deborah said...

"I sense a lot of defeatism in the thread starting with Noonan's article. Come on people, this is America, say 'I can't take it anymore' and elect good and capable leaders at every level."

I have the only idea that would probably work at this point, but we are being observed...

gerry said...

The up close flower photos are magnificent

I agree. And this peony is identical to the ones along the driveway where I grew up. And yes, they were covered with red ants, which is how they were pollinated, or something.

I always enjoy the Professor's and Meade's photo cafes. Sometimes they are really beautiful. Especially the cat-faced cardinal pictures.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Told you so. The NSA thing has the Reddit community up in arms. When Obama has lost that group.....hooo boy.

Reddit Rebellion

Meade said...

gerry said...
"The means Obama used and is using are the propaganda machine that is the mainstream media, racism, racialism, economic deprivation, political intimidation, and religious persecution and intimidation, examples of which are surfacing from, especially, the IRS cesspool.

Welcome to Progressive America."

That almost sounds like it could've come from the "Unabomber Manifesto" (without the "bomber" and "Obama" parts), a recent topic of conversation here at Meadhouse.