Althouse: At the Pure Fluff Café...

August 1, 2016

At the Pure Fluff Café...

... say what you like.

43 comments:

wildswan said...: Two Fun facts about dandelions:
Most dandelions reproduce by cloning. They develop stamens and pistils; bees scatter the pollen around; then the plant develops the seed without reference to those activities. Almost all the dandelions in the world clone but somewhere high on a mountainside in Colorado is a field of non-cloning dandelions. (There are some swamps in Europe also.) It is surrounded by fields with cloning-dandelions and by professors studying the two different fields to see whether cloning or sexual selection leads to survival as the fittest.

All the dandelions in America were brought by settlers and they spread very successfully by cloning.

PS I know that the picture is a hawkweed, a dandelion relative.; 8/1/16, 11:33 AM
Curious George said...: There are weeds growing between my fence and my neighbors garage. Quite tall now, they hang over and have grown through the fence. He and I talk about getting them out of there but I really don't push him (there on his property) because they have gone to seed and the goldfinch's love them.; 8/1/16, 11:51 AM
rhhardin said...: Find a Goats Beard, what every dandelion identifies with in movies.

The flowers are open only in the morning, pre-fluff.; 8/1/16, 12:20 PM
rhhardin said...: because they have gone to seed and the goldfinch's love them

Thistle.; 8/1/16, 12:21 PM
Fernandinande said...: A weed is a plant that doesn't like you.; 8/1/16, 12:34 PM
madAsHell said...: Am I mistaken, or is the entire Clinton machine going to de-rail? I'm reading about some of the emails that Assange is sharing. There seems to be a lot of dirty dealing that always allows the Clinton's to profit.; 8/1/16, 12:39 PM
rehajm said...: For those who haven't sworn off polls the post DNC public numbers are coming in showing Hillary regaining momentum attributed to post convention bounce but some of the local lefties in the know are saying it's Bernie voters dutifully falling in line and coming to grips with not having a horse in the race.; 8/1/16, 12:42 PM
FullMoon said...: So, the hot balloon operator in the Texas explosion had a drunk driving ticket in 2010. Or, as the press says A record of driving under the influence starting in 2010"..
How many here have a " history of traffic violations starting in the last century?"; 8/1/16, 1:44 PM
Static Ping said...: Having pondered this for no good reason, if this political election was a Dungeons & Dragons game Hillary would be Lawful Evil and Trump would be Chaotic Neutral veering into Chaotic Stupid. Additionally, Trump has the potential of being the evil overlord in disguise, the long lost hero in disguise, or the crazy guy who normally screams at flowers but has become temporarily coherent enough that people think he is a prophet. Or all of the above.; 8/1/16, 1:52 PM
Static Ping said...: A weed is a plant that doesn't like you.

That describes my lawn.; 8/1/16, 1:52 PM
MadisonMan said...: I like how Dandelion stalks have different amounts of turgor depending on whether the seeds are ready.; 8/1/16, 1:53 PM
Nonapod said...: @Static Ping - Everything I have learned about politics I've been able to relate back to RPGs. I imagine that an RPG character sheet for Trump would have high scores for influence and demagoguery talents, and Hillary's would have high scores in dissembly and equivocation.; 8/1/16, 2:02 PM
Curious George said...: "Static Ping said...
A weed is a plant that doesn't like you.

That describes my lawn."

My motto: If it's green it's grass.; 8/1/16, 2:52 PM
furious_a said...: Weeds -- Unless you want to resort to Round Up, crabgrass can only be eliminated by digging it out by the roots. I got mine out in May before it crowned and spread, some of my neighbors that's all their yards are now.; 8/1/16, 2:56 PM
David said...: madAsHell said...
Am I mistaken, or is the entire Clinton machine going to de-rail? I'm reading about some of the emails that Assange is sharing. There seems to be a lot of dirty dealing that always allows the Clinton's to profit.

Someone dust off the late to the party trophy.; 8/1/16, 3:42 PM
Static Ping said...: Oh, I managed to eliminate 90% of the crabgrass. Used crabgrass and weed killer late in fall when the weeds were at their weakest. Most of it died and very little of it came back. The problem is my regular grass seems ambivalent to living.; 8/1/16, 3:52 PM
Quaestor said...: Correction: A weed is a plant that likes you so much it grows without cultivation, without fertilizer, without pesticide... nothing from you at all, just a little space. It loves you so much it does all the work. All it wants is to be near you.

Just imagine how its little heart must break when you rip it up by the roots, or drown it in Roundup. It LOVES you, and you repay that love with murderous intent.

I hope a vegan kidnaps your geraniums, you insensitive herbaphobes!; 8/1/16, 4:01 PM
khesanh0802 said...: The following is a quote from today's Gordon Crovitz's Information Age column in the WSJ:
"Security experts believe Russia hacked all 63,000 of Mrs. Clinton’s emails as secretary of state, including the 33,000 emails she destroyed, and that Russia supplemented this information by later hacking the Clinton Foundation and the State Department. That would mean Mr. Putin has a trifecta of sources to identify suspicious links between Mrs. Clinton and multi-million dollar donors to her foundation, including authoritarian governments and crony capitalists, and favors granted by the Clinton State Department."

This is the first time I have seen this acknowledged in print. Those of you who are more in the tech world may have been privy to this already. If Trump doesn't ride this horse home he's not the man I thought he was.; 8/1/16, 4:15 PM
khesanh0802 said...: I apologize for the Crovitz quote in a flower column, but I had to tell someone!; 8/1/16, 4:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Pure fluff you say? No this is serious business...............

Nice Cargo Shorts! You’re Sleeping on the Sofa; 8/1/16, 4:43 PM
Rosalyn C. said...: Comment blocked by DailyKos:

"The latest news is that the father, Khizr Khan, specializes in visa programs and is accused of selling US citizenship/visas. So he definitely has an interest in not imposing the extra scrutiny proposed by Trump on immigrants from Muslim countries where terrorism is rampant, i.e., his customers. BTW, I didn’t notice him offering any suggestions on how to deal with the problem to protect this country he loves from jihad and becoming another Middle East, and now Europe.

But people are outraged that Trump says things that are insensitive; especially when they are taken out of context, if not completely misrepresented. He’s accused of making demeaning remarks about Muslims — which he never did, for example.

Don’t bother discussing about issues like national security and trade and the national debt, they don’t matter."; 8/1/16, 5:52 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: There is a prediction going around twitter that there aren't going to be any presidential debates.; 8/1/16, 6:01 PM
Etienne said...: Clinton and Kaine showed-up quatre-vingt dix minutes (une heure et demie) late to an Ohio rally, and 50 people had to be treated for heat exhaustion after getting there early to pass through the secret police inspection.

These people sacrificed themselves for their country.

"Clinton - The Higher Cause!" -- Suggested motto...; 8/1/16, 6:03 PM
Etienne said...: Lem said...There is a prediction going around twitter that there aren't going to be any presidential debates.

What would be the point in debating a known, convicted, liar?

(with 30,000 missing government documents); 8/1/16, 6:05 PM
BN said...: When Jesus was doing carpentry, did he have to "measure twice and cut once" like we all do? Or did he not have to measure at all? I'm guessing he did.; 8/1/16, 6:09 PM
BN said...: When the AI Singularity takes over, will it measure us before chopping? Once, or twice?; 8/1/16, 6:12 PM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Where blew a flower, may a flower no more lift its head to the blows of the rain.

You know, . . . blew a flower makes perfect sense, given the context, and yet I can't help having this nagging suspicion that the typesetter made an error and its been repeated as original intendment ever since.; 8/1/16, 6:21 PM
Fernandinande said...: Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I bet it was 'sposed to be:

"Where blew a flower, may a flower no more lift its head to the rain blowers."

so it'd rhyme.; 8/1/16, 6:36 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: No debates? I have co-workers who are convinced that Mr Obama is going to 'impose martial law' and cancel the November elections.; 8/1/16, 7:39 PM
Jaq said...: No debates? I have co-workers who are convinced that Mr Obama is going to 'impose martial law' and cancel the November elections.

I heard the same thing about Bush/Cheney.; 8/1/16, 8:11 PM
HT said...: Will Arnett should play one of the Trump children in a movie. Any one of them.; 8/1/16, 8:31 PM
Saint Croix said...: So Gary Johnson is now on record as saying that government should pay for abortions. Free abortions for the poor! Free abortions for the masses! Not free food for the masses, or free housing for the masses. Free abortions for the masses.

As a real libertarian might tell you, if the government pays for something, you get more of it. And I'm wondering why a libertarian would want more abortions in the world.

You want to abort the poor, Gary Johnson? You want to trick poor people into paying doctors for miscarriages so that they fail to reproduce?

Hey, what if somebody realizes that a lot of black people and brown people are poor?

Do you want to abort black babies, Gary Johnson?

See, this is the kind of question Donald Trump might ask. I'm playing devil's advocate, Gary. I like you, Gary. You're nice. Clueless and stupid. But nice. You're me when I was 27. Which is embarrassing for you because you are way older than 27.

Practice this speech, Gary Johnson. "Abortion is bad. It's wrong. I think it should be the choice of the woman, but it's awful. I think abortion should be rare. I think when young people have sex, they should have love in their heart. You might be making a baby. Be ready for that. I don't think the government should interfere in these family decisions. But pro-lifers are good people and they have a strong point."

Do not listen to your vice-president. He is not your friend. I am your friend. Rand Paul would also be a good friend for you to make. And go to church, please. I would like to vote for somebody who has a working familiarity with Christ.; 8/1/16, 8:41 PM
khesanh0802 said...: Here's one to get ready for tomorrow On Khan's appearance.; 8/1/16, 9:01 PM
Saint Croix said...: We don't care what you are socially as long as you don’t force it on others.

I think that should be your campaign slogan, Gary!

We Don't Care; 8/1/16, 9:32 PM
Saint Croix said...: Hey, Gary Johnson!

You have the emotional intelligence of a small dog.

I have the emotional intelligence of a golden retriever. So I am doing better than you. Although worse than 90% of women on the planet.

Hillary has no emotional intelligence at all. And she's faking it as best she can! Also she's avoiding press conferences. Soon she will stop laughing altogether, and go with Tight-Lipped School Marm.

She is terrified of the debate with Donald Trump. She is hoping that you and Donnie fight each other and she will be the Nice, Gentle Woman and all women everywhere will vote for the Sweet One Who Loves Us.; 8/1/16, 10:00 PM
Unknown said...: Hillary is afraid of debating Trump? LOL! So why is Trump making the big stink about debate times? Sounds like he's trying to get out of debating her.; 8/1/16, 10:13 PM
Quaestor said...: So why is Trump making the big stink about debate times? Sounds like he's trying to get out of debating her.

Hillary is counting on low rating numbers on the debates, because the fewer people hear her defend her lies the better her chances, which is why she likes the schedule conflicts with the NFL.; 8/1/16, 10:56 PM
LCpl Predator said...: Actually, I'm looking at this picture and wondering what plant it is. Knautia Macedonica perhaps? It's not looking like a dandelion to me. It's more fun trying to figure it out than following politics these days.; 8/2/16, 5:46 AM
Chuck said...: Is Trump now stumping for Paul Ryan's primary opponent?

That would be a worthy subject for an Althouse blog post.; 8/2/16, 7:53 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: It's also reasonable to say that Trump would like people who watch NFL games to be watching him. That is, for that demographic not to be excluded from watching by the timing conflict.; 8/2/16, 8:21 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: And Saint, you are unkind to the emotional intelligence of small dogs. I know some very empathetic, nurturing Chihuahuas.; 8/2/16, 8:23 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Yorkies, now there's some spastic morons for you.; 8/2/16, 9:01 AM
mockturtle said...: I agree that the debates should not have been scheduled during NFL night games. Hildebeest is not concerned about that, of course, since her followers don't watch football. At least, American football. Soccer, maybe, since it is so incredibly dorky.; 8/2/16, 5:00 PM