Althouse: At the Shy Sunflower Café...

June 24, 2010

At the Shy Sunflower Café...

... catch a glimmer of happiness.

22 comments:

mesquito said...: The hopey changey apologizey climatey Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been driven from office. After two reschedulings of American President's visit, it's gotta sting.; 6/24/10, 6:42 PM
pm317 said...: Ann, bees, flowers and Al Gore's sexcapade are all fine topics.. but do a story on this and you may help save something:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3bzypjTIWg; 6/24/10, 6:46 PM
pm317 said...: Damn. It doesn't do links. OK. The link is here.; 6/24/10, 6:49 PM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/24/10, 7:08 PM
Anonymous said...: Watch pm37's link people.

Enough is enough.; 6/24/10, 7:23 PM
MadisonMan said...: Blooming in June. Wow.; 6/24/10, 7:57 PM
traditionalguy said...: That is one beautifully designed plant; and it also produces food for us.; 6/24/10, 8:23 PM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/24/10, 8:42 PM
Revenant said...: That is one beautifully designed plant; and it also produces food for us.

Well, yes. Its a domesticated plant, like corn.; 6/24/10, 8:48 PM
pm317 said...: Sixty grit,

Watch this

She is the wife of a sick fisherman talking about what is going on in the Gulf and BP.; 6/24/10, 8:56 PM
bagoh20 said...: "I tried to watch the pm317 link but could not understand the audio - what was she saying? "

People are claiming that BP and those they pay are not trying very hard to clean up the mess. Frankly, the fact that BP can be blamed rather than a simple act of God makes volunteer help less likely and the effort less rewarding. Nobody gets too enthused about helping big government or big business fix their problem. Unfortunately, it's not really their problem. I think people would get more done if both the governement and BP got out of the way and paid contractors to get it cleaned for a given amount and by a certian deadline with bonuses for early completion. Something like 6 months after the flow is reduced to a certain level.

BP will file for bankruptcy in a few months and therefore they have little incentive to do more than make a show of it, and the government always only makes a show of what it does. So that's who we are depending on.

I feel that in the distant past, such an accident would have been less about blame and more about response and the future. Now days people seem satisfied to get plenty of blame applied and forget the rest.; 6/24/10, 9:09 PM
MadisonMan said...: BP will file for bankruptcy in a few months and therefore they have little incentive to do more than make a show of it,

I read something somewhere last week that BP has $60bn in cash reserves. I'm not sure how they could declare bankruptcy any time soon.

As far as blame goes, how can you not blame the current leaders of the Company? The stock price has dropped 50% in the past 2 months on their watch. Would you feel confident in investing in the company now? Has the bottom been reached? I'm not sure. I suppose I'm already a stockholder through some of the retirement funds that might some day pay me money -- or not -- so why should I be doing anything but shouting about their poor performance? My opinion is that it is part of their job to anticipate acts of God -- if you can call the oil blowout that -- and make efforts to mitigate them in advance. It seems to me that they spent too much effort on short-term stock gain -- which makes them look good, but for a long-term investor like me? Not quite so -- and not enough on long-term disaster mitigation.

And the performance since the blowout has been lackluster. They are playing catch up.; 6/24/10, 9:23 PM
MadisonMan said...: Back to sunflowers: There really isn't much of a better sight than a whole 100 acres or so planted in sunflowers, ripe and facing the sun early in the morning, still touched with dew, with a deep blue sky in the background.

Even though I am the son of an Iowan, I have to admit that that picture is so much better than a field of corn.; 6/24/10, 9:25 PM
MadisonMan said...: Googling, I find that $60bn isn't cash reserves. Not sure what that figure was -- but BP's assets are quite formidable. I would think it is a sound buy if you can hold it for a long time.; 6/24/10, 9:29 PM
garage mahal said...: I blasted Avatar, DVD, on a all-in-one DV/Projector against the side of my house on a queen-sized, cream colored, flannel bedsheet.. It turned out amazing. What a friggin trip. Have some good pics if anyone is interested.; 6/24/10, 9:44 PM
MadisonMan said...: Garage, Weren't the mosquitoes horrible?; 6/24/10, 9:47 PM
garage mahal said...: Oh yea. Really bad. I had the tiki cintronella torches going, and a nice cozy fire pit going, and of course sousing the mosquito stuff on. The outdoor movie is such a cool thing to experience for some reason. Better than I could ever expected. Our yard is finally kicking some major ass in the neighborhood.; 6/24/10, 9:54 PM
Unknown said...: If the National Socialists want to confront reality, as opposed to horticulture, they can start explaining why their Messiah has been sitting on the means containment of the gulf mess for 4 months. That people are getting sick is less BP's fault at this point than it is that of the 'never let a good crisis go to waste even if you have to turn it into one yourself' crowd in DC.

The Zero wants to frame this in military terms? Fine. Then drag his scrawny ass off the damned private golf course and make him act more like FDR after Pearl Harbor (or Dubya after 9/11, if that will get you moving) and less like the French planting trees by the side of their major highways.

He's your Messiah, after all.

PS Nice shot, Madame.

PPS Notice the point was made without use of the usual Leftist profanity.; 6/24/10, 10:12 PM
garage mahal said...: MM
Thing is to, mosquitos for the most part leave you alone right after dark and on. It's perfect out there right now. A little breeze even now, where it's been dead calm all night.; 6/24/10, 10:21 PM
former law student said...: Today in "WTF?" news:

Jun 24, 2010 7:08 pm US/Pacific

Schwarzenegger Bans Welfare Cards At Casinos

SACRAMENTO (CBS 5 / AP)

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has issued an executive order barring California welfare recipients from using state-issued debit cards at casino ATMs.

Thursday's order followed a report by The Los Angeles Times that found CalWORKS cards were used to withdraw cash in more than half the casinos in the state.

The newspaper reported Thursday that welfare recipients have withdrawn more than $1.8 million in taxpayer cash at casinos since October.

Schwarzenegger's order requires welfare recipients to sign a pledge that they will use their benefits only to meet the basic needs of their families.

Although I guess it's possible that casino ATMs don't charge fees to non-customers, and the welfare recipients are actually being thrifty, the image of welfare recipients putting their babies' milk money into a slot machine is just too shocking.; 6/24/10, 11:14 PM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/25/10, 7:00 AM
knox said...: the image of welfare recipients putting their babies' milk money into a slot machine is just too shocking.

"Shocking"? Dismaying maybe. Not shocking. Surely you realize a hell of a lot of people on welfare don't need it or don't deserve it. Not all, certainly. But a lot.; 6/25/10, 10:37 AM