July 9, 2019

At the Poppy Café...

Poppies at Olbrich

... you can talk about anything.

Poppies at Olbrich

(Photographs taken at Olbrich Gardens in Madison).

120 comments:

gilbar said...

i see today, for the first time, we have a withdraw from the demo President race of an openly gay candidate. All's well that Swallow well?

Chuck said...

Something with poison in it, but attractive to the eye, and soothing to the smell...
Poppies...

Chuck said...

Oops that was {#3}.

narayanan said...

Well done Chuck.

you have been incentivized

h said...

I just spent 3 days in Wisconsin and had a wonderful time with my cousins who live there. A nice walk along Lake Michigan in Kenosha. A great Mexican meal in Delevan. Dairy breakfast in Wautoma. And beautiful beautiful evening skies in the central sands. Althouse photos often bring these to my memory.

rhhardin said...

I used to photograph new wilflowers, when I was learning them. Something to do while bike commuting.

I never was interested in garden flowers. There are too many of them and there's nothing naturally interesting about them. Made for some mass market I'm not part of.

rhhardin said...

I've tried to plant Dames Violet by the road from commercial seeds but they never come up. The thing is all over as a weed, so you'd think it would grow.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

There's nothing like a Dames!

Big Mike said...

Those sure look like opium poppies.

But then again, this is Madison.

tcrosse said...

Poppycock.

Fen said...

Poppycock

"It’s a fine-sounding expletive — meaning nonsense or rubbish — but hardly heard on anybody’s lips these days, and rather dated. It feels very English: think of elderly ex-Indian-Army colonels in retirement in Tunbridge Wells exploding in wrath over some supposed mismanagement of the country’s affairs and writing disgusted letters to The Times about it. And most of the citations for it in the Oxford English Dictionary are from British sources.

But, as the OED reminds us, the word is actually American in origin, first turning up there about 1852. The OED is firm in dismissing one often-heard view of its origin, from the Dutch word pappekak for soft faeces. It says firmly “no such word appears to be attested in Dutch” but points to the very similar word poppekak, which appears only in the old set phrase zo fijn als gemalen poppekak, meaning to show excessive religious zeal, but which literally means “as fine as powdered doll shit”. The word was presumably taken to the USA by Dutch settlers; the scatological associations were lost when the word moved into the English-language community.

The first half of the word is the Dutch pop for a doll, which may be related to our term of endearment, poppet; the second half is essentially the same as the old English cack for excrement; the verb form of this word is older than the noun, and has been recorded as far back as the fifteenth century.

Despite some uninformed speculation, there’s no link with the vulgar meaning of cock. Nor is it linked to the sense of cock for rubbish (as in phrases like that’s a load of old cock), as that’s a shortened form of cock and bull story, which comes from a fable concerning a bull and a cockerel."

http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-pop1.htm

bagoh20 said...

Did you hear about the 33 year old man who claims to identify as 65 for Social Security benefits.

The government says to pound sand, becuase they go by birth certificates.

It seems to me that it's easier to prove a person's gender than their age. You don't even need any documents, ... or clothing.

Fen said...

And hey, Luke and Laura spotted a passing freighter but forgot to restock dry wood for the signal fire so... still trapped on that island. In case you wanted to know what you missed.

pacwest said...

I have concerns about the 'trade wars' that Trump is waging. First, it doesn't appear that the new NAFTA deal will be doing anything other than putting lipstick on a pig. No new jobs, and slight economic losses. I think he has isolated himself in not getting more partners in squeezing China. I don't see any progress on currency manipulation. China recently devalued the Yaun by 10% in response to tarriffs. The US needs to devalue the dollar by 25% in response. If that doesn't happen the manipulators (China, SK, Japan, Germany, most countries that run worldwide trade surpluses year after year) can render tarriffs useless by manipulating their currencies further.

I'm not an expert in this area by any means, but unless there is something going on under the radar, I don't see what Trump is doing as able to solve the inequalities in worldwide trade structures. His current tack may even be harmful to the end goal. Devaluation of the dollar, even as a threat, would go farther than tarriffs to solve our trade deficits.

Looking for education on the matter. About the only thing I can the experts agreeing on is that "something" needs done.

bagoh20 said...

"you have been incentivized"

Clearly the carrot works better than a whole pile of sticks.

Fen said...

I have concerns about the 'trade wars' that Trump is waging. First, it doesn't appear that the new NAFTA deal will be doing anything other than putting lipstick on a pig.

I thought the main progress there was closing the back door China was using to sneak goods in under NAFTA? But I haven't had time to follow it closely. Been too busy refuting Titleist Gate.

Fen said...

Clearly the carrot works better than a whole pile of sticks.

Well frack, I just spent the afternoon sharpening up a gross of them. Now what?

Shish kebobs?

But I'll be gracious and checkfire to see how this plays out.

William said...

I prefer to binge watch because it solves the existential dilemma of what to watch next. The problem is that very few shows are worthy of that much focus. On occasion, binge watching exacerbates the existential dilemma of our lives. A show, after a promising start, devolves into silly plot twists, flaming pc, and character development secondary to plot points rather than the other way around. One is forced to struggle with the anguished realization that the time spent watching the show is a total waste of time. If, like me, you feel that there is no better or more meaningful way to spend your time on earth than by watching television, such bad or mediocre shows serve to undermine one's faith in our earthly purpose.

Rabel said...

"China recently devalued the Yaun by 10% in response to tarriffs"

No, they didn't.

rehajm said...

Wasn't there somebody inquiring about the possibility of moving to Boise? I'm in Idaho! The local relatives say to Watch Boise Boys on HGTV- a good look at what you get in the housing market. I'd say that's true. My thought is that if you're expecting bargains you'll be disappointed. Cali refugees bought them all up. Caldwell and Nampa have values but it's not where it's at IMO. I really like McCall but the relatives say the 'yuppies' wrecked it, whatever that means. Moscow is a cute college town. Everyone raves about Coeur D'Alene but I don't see it. The lake is pretty. Lake Pend Oreille is prettier. Do Gozzer Ranch in Harrison if you have the means...

traditionalguy said...

I love watching DJT wiping the floor with the British Ambassador. No deals for him or the UK until they have something to offer more than a superior attitude.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Well, it's mostly a non-issue as presumably the new PM will want his own team anyway, and that should be in the next few weeks (although the process seems to be moving more slowly than a whole General Election..)

Narayanan said...

Keep sticks for go at this next time.
https://odditymall.com/booze-pinata

Fen said...

I love watching DJT wiping the floor with the British Ambassador. No deals for him or the UK until they have something to offer more than a superior attitude.

Well, it's mostly a non-issue as presumably the new PM will want his own team anyway, and that should be in the next few weeks (although the process seems to be moving more slowly than a whole General Election..)

Is Trump playing to the outgoing team or the incoming one? Because it seems his attack would give the new administration more maneuver space.

Henry said...

Some fun fashion. "Christian Yelich's look was pretty classic and timeless..." But no Alex Bregman.

FullMoon said...

Nadler and the rest deserve to be punished for this bs.

"House Judiciary Democrats Prepare Slew of Subpoenas for Trump-Tied Targets Including Jared Kushner, Jeff Sessions and Rosenstein"

Fen said...

Comey is retweeting the Bulwark.

I bet David French is titillated at the humiliation.

Darrell said...

It's been tough getting fifteen old ladies, wearing cast iron boots, to hang around Holiday Market in Royal Oak Michigan waiting for a gin pick-up.

Michael K said...

L Lake Pend Oreille is prettier. Do Gozzer Ranch in Harrison if you have the means...

My daughter has 5 acres just east of the lake and about 10m miles from Sandpoint. Sandpoint is more popular now that Cour d'Alene is getting heavy traffic and higher prices.

Cold winters, though. It's 50 miles from Canada.

Swede said...

I just walked through Tractor Supply and The Chow Hound before I realized I still had my house slippers on instead of my sandals.

Fortunately, that was the worst part of my day.

And by worst, I mean most comfortable.

Old and slow said...

Those, in fact, most certainly are opium poppies (papaver somniferum). The smooth nearly hairless, grey-green leaves are the most certain way to distinguish these from papaver rhoeus. The pods and straw contain significant amounts of morphine, codeine, and thebain, and possession or cultivation of these flowers is illegal under federal law. The penalties are quite draconian as well, though I see them growing in yards and gardens quite often, and the seeds are readily available via the althouse portal... .

narciso said...

That's just a counterattack, ambassador is fully committed eurocrat (hence hatred for farage) Iran deal proponent, (the times of Israel oiece) and vouched for the dossier.

tom thacker said...

This isn't my idea -- I read it on another blog. Has to do with Hillary's e-mails. Hillary said she sorted out hundreds (at least) of e-mails that were related to Chelsea's wedding. Since it turns out now that an assistant of Epstein's attended the wedding, the FBI looks even dumber for allowing this to happen. Who knows what might have been in those e-mails.

effinayright said...

rehajm said...
Wasn't there somebody inquiring about the possibility of moving to Boise? I'm in Idaho! The local relatives say to Watch Boise Boys on HGTV- a good look at what you get in the housing market. I'd say that's true. My thought is that if you're expecting bargains you'll be disappointed. Cali refugees bought them all up. Caldwell and Nampa have values but it's not where it's at IMO. I really like McCall but the relatives say the 'yuppies' wrecked it, whatever that means. Moscow is a cute college town. Everyone raves about Coeur D'Alene but I don't see it. The lake is pretty. Lake Pend Oreille is prettier. Do Gozzer Ranch in Harrison if you have the means...
************

Tell us about Mountain Home.

pacwest said...

@Rabel
Since April 2018 the value of the Yuan has depreciated 8.3% against the dollar. That offsets a lot of the pain of the tarriffs. Not a governmental intervention true. My error. Larger point is that we can solve the trade imbalances in short order by devaluing the dollar despite the risks a currency war would entail. It's been done before.

@Fen,
That's the lipstick. USMCA is closer to a deal since Trump removed tarriffs on Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum. But as far as the rest of it no real US gains as far as I see.

Trump seems ham handed in his negotiations to me. A little less throwing our economic weight around, indiscriminately it seems to me, and a little more finesse would be helpful.

There are a few currency manipulators, and a lot trade imbalances because of it. I've come to this position only recently and am still educating myself, so rebuttals are welcome.

Fen said...

Lawrence got an Instalaunch today.

He's been delayed but asked me to announce drinks are on his tab tonight. ;)

rehajm said...

Mountain Home report- right on the freeway so easy commute to Boise. 75mph interstate. Strategic Air Command located there, so u get nuked first. Decent suburb. Some big houses, a few lakes and waterfront. Otherwise unremarkable, so the relatives say.

Fen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fen said...

That's the lipstick.

For me that was the DDs in the fishnet top, but I get your point. And I've read others who share your criticism that not much else was fixed.

It's become hard to identify legitimate mistakes Trump has been making, because the zone is just flooded with trivial or distorted nonsense.

rcocean said...

Given that the Establishment and the Media were completely against ANY renegotiation of either NAFTA or Chinese Trade, Trump has done wonders. He has gotten ZERO Support from the R's in Congress who are COMPLETELY bought off by the Chamber of Commerce and various Billionaires who like the status quo.

One thing Trump has done is shown the Democrats and their labor friends have zero desire to help workers affected negatively by Globalization. All the talk of redoing NAFTA or getting a "Good" TPP was just hot air. They've also dropped the mask on Immigration and have come out 100 percent for cheap labor and undercutting wages, just like Wall Street. If they actually cared about workers, they'd make a deal and trade border security for a minimum wage increase. But they don't care.

rcocean said...

BTW, I love Trump's tweet on the British Ambassador. My suspicion is that Trump never liked the guy, and knew he was a back-stabbing fraud but kept quiet because that's what you do.

Plus, this whole kerfuffle helps Boris Johnson.

pacwest said...

"It's become hard to identify legitimate mistakes Trump has been making, because the zone is just flooded with trivial or distorted nonsense."

Hear, hear! Plus the pros and cons of any Trump policy are rarely discussed without the tinge of partisanship. Too much chaff to sort through, and not enough wheat.

Josephbleau said...

"Do Gozzer Ranch in Harrison" Gozzer almost destroyed NYC in Ghostbusters, small world. Steven Pinker wrote in a past book,"True in the entire habitable world, and Canada." few Canadians live more than 100 mi from the border.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Everyone raves about Coeur D'Alene but I don't see it. The lake is pretty. Lake Pend Oreille is prettier.”

Swung by both of them last weekend. Came through Sandpoint at the top of Pend O’Rielle, then down to the bottom for Bay View Days. Then, about dusk drove down to Coeur d’Alene for the night. Then home the next day. Prices esp in the latter have gotten pretty steep, since we are now in tourist season. My partner prefers Lake CdA, but I prefer Pend O’Rielle. Esp down in Bayview, where the friend we visited has a house. He has a telescope set up to look at the >2k’ cliffs across the bay, where you can sometimes see mountain goats. Also, if you are up at dawn, you can sometimes see one of the Navy’s 1/4 scale subs returning from a night of sonar testing (the newest destroyer was also tested there in 1/4 scale). Funny finding a small Navy base there in Bayview, >300 miles from the nearest ocean. But during WW II, Ferraught there was the Navy’s second largest training facility on (or at least by) the west coast.

CdA has been expensive for quite some time now, with Hayden next door now getting a bit pricey, but nowhere near the cost of a house on the lake. Looked at buying a house last year in Sandpoint, and the prices are starting to go up, but surprisingly, not as obnoxiously as in Bayview at the other end of the lake. Nice thing about Sandpoint, or it’s close environs, is that there is a nice ski area right next to it, which allows you to ski in the morning, looking down on the lake, and sail in the afternoon. Given my choice, I would probably sell the house here in NW MT and move to the Sandpoint area, but this house is hers (mine is the AZ house), so it isn’t happening. But it was really nice to pick up Blue Cheese at the Costco and off white AR magazines (which you can die any color you want) at Black Sheep next door in CdA Sunday.

narciso said...

Yes darroch was a leaker all the way back to November 2016, for reasons I've laid out.

Bruce Hayden said...

BTW, one of the things that is starting to drive up housing prices in N ID right now are the crazy new gun laws in WA. The question, if you are making decent money, is whether giving up no income tax is worth it. But it is a fairly quick commute from, say, Liberty Lake, right across the border, into work in Spokane.

stevew said...

Poppies, pretty poppies!

After a wet - seriously wet - spring my local micro climate on the north shore of Boston has been absolutely delightful. Very warm, but dry, day time temps and sun, with mid to low 60's and dry nights. Have only needed the AC a couple of times, and that just to dry out the air to help my wife with sinus headaches.

One of my guys retired yesterday. He's 64, soon to be 65, but his wife is 58 and still gainfully and profitably employed, with health benefits. Tired of the rat race that this job can be and so he is taking a few months to decide what is next. I'm tempted to do the same but am only 62 with a retired wife so health insurance is an issue. Good news is that by still working I make top 2% money, and I like and enjoy working with my team and manager. Was convinced they were going to can me last spring but then they shot the SVP and the whole tone changed. Granted me some RSUs too.

I think I'll stick around for a bit more; so long as they let me.

Michael K said...

with Hayden next door now getting a bit pricey,

When I was in college, my roommate's parent s had a house on the first fairway of the Hayden Golf Club. It was a very high end resort for California types. Bing Crosby's house was across the lake. Phil Harris's house was near the club house. Hayden fell upon hard times with the white supremacy nut.

It was a very popular resort at the time. I have played that course 100 times. It was always in great shape because it was only played 3 months a year.

narciso said...

They soft pedal the extent of the malpractice
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.law360.com/amp/articles/1176283

Michael K said...

A little less throwing our economic weight around, indiscriminately it seems to me, and a little more finesse would be helpful.

Like Bush and Clinton? I am certainly no billionaire but I might go with the guy who is one and made his money BEFORE politics.

I understand Biden has made $16 million since leaving office. Is that your preferred negotiator?

narciso said...

Also his brother made 1.5 billion on housing contracts in iraq

Narayanan said...

Can you eat petals?
What taste like?

pacwest said...

"Is that your preferred negotiator?"

Hardly. Trump seems to be the only choice here if we want to even try to get something done, and I'm sure he has a lot more capable people than me advising him. But as I've stated before, I don't think his business skills are 100% transferable to the world political stage. The frameworks are different. And that's my 1.5 cents (after currency devaluation).

Drago said...

Anyone want to chat about the fact that Mueller has now been shown to have developed NO CONNECTION WHATSOEVER between the several supposedly "bot" firms mentioned in his report and the Kremlin.

Further, there is no evidence that, for Concord Management in particular, the companies are even "bot" firms.

Let me try and summarize this for Inga: There is NO EVIDENCE AT ALL that the entire central thesis behind the dems claims of Russian interference have not been established.

Now, tie that fact from today's news to the collapse of these other elements:
- The collapse of the legitimacy of the so-called 17 intel agencies assessment (kaboom)
- The collapse of the hoax dossier
- The collapse of the hoax collusion charges
- The collapse of the original Carter Page origination lies
- The collapse of the hoax dossier origination lies
- The coming collapse of the Papadopolous origination lie

In other words: a 100% collapse of every Inga fever dream imaginable.

But only 100%.

It's not like its collapsed to the tune of 120% or anything.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Ghislaine in court the 11th-- will she eventually spill beans,
or end up like her dad?

https://www.usatoday.com/documents/6186200-Util-Set-Hearings/

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

odd that Isikoff is now doing a 6 part series 'debunking conspiracies'
when he pushed the russia collusion crap

cubanbob said...

@Pacwest..... be careful what you wish for. 25% devaluation will come with a commensurate rise in inflation. Remember the fundamental job of the Federal Reserve is to preserve the value of the currency. The last time we had double digit inflation first we had stagflation which is stagnation in the economy plus inflation. Then the Fed slammed on the breaks by rising interest rates to very high rates to quench the inflation but in doing so the side result was a very deep recession. I don't care to relieve the economy of the late seventies and the first two years of the eighties. Also keep in mind the reason the Euro exists in part is countries like Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Greece have a long and unhappy history of currency devaluation to promote exports and making imports more expensive. These countries couldn't maintain stable currencies for political reasons and their people's got tired of having their wealth debauched. Hence the Euro. For all it's faults, and it still may come apart, the Euro is still better for preserving wealth than the Lira, Peseta, Escudo, Franc or Drachma. Never forget that one of our greatest strengths is that our Dollar is a world reserve currency and that status could be lost if we deliberately and continually tank the Dollar. Also note that China while being an enormous exporter is also an enormous importer and the imports it needs such as food and energy as very price sensitive and price hikes in those items are very inflammatory to the people. Even totalitarian governments have to pay attention to anger from the people.

Michael K said...

But as I've stated before, I don't think his business skills are 100% transferable to the world political stage.

Maybe not but thank God the reverse is not true. Although Gillette and Nike seem to be working on it.

rehajm said...

My wife grew up in Liberty Lake, WA. Most of her family is from Newport, up by Sandpoint. She learned to ski at Schweitzer. Hates skiing in the east- goes in if she hears her skiis.

narciso said...

That was the pretext, its actually the control regime devised by Aldo spinelli. Italian Marxist in the guise of a mere common market

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

wtf??

Facebook issues new policy, bans death threats or statement that could lead to violence or death... unless... the target ...has been called out by media reports, market knowledge of news events, etc.
???

walter said...

Drago,
Don't be surprised if/when Mueller speaks imprecisely and gives some needed pumps on the bellows.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

@Drago
maybe some info to glean here:

https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1148581532598198273

narciso said...

I had that on the lunch thread:

https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/335545/

walter said...

"A Harvard University Center for American Political Studies/Harris poll found that 67% of all registered U.S. voters say the census should ask the citizenship question when the time comes. That includes 88% of Republicans, 63% of independents and 52% of Democrats.

Most notably, the poll found that 55% of Hispanic voters favor the idea.

Also in agreement: 74% of rural voters, 59% of black voters, 58% of urban voters and 47% of voters who backed Hillary Clinton in 2016. At 44%, liberal voters were the least likely to favor the citizenship question."

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jul/9/55-of-hispanic-voters-approve-citizenship-question/

Mark said...

So I'm watching this documentary on PBS about Apollo. And just a short time after Kennedy famously said that the U.S. should land a man on the moon "in this decade," they play a tape recording of a phone call he had where he worried about the cost and said, "I'm not that interested in space."

Jay Vogt said...

@ rehajm said...Wasn't there somebody inquiring about the possibility of moving to Boise?

That was me. We've been out there and are going out again. I think the bargains are indeed gone. But, it didn't seem as though prices were over the moon. Richly priced but not crazy. We like and think we can afford a house that will make sense for us in either Boise or Meridian. I'm focused on trying to stay close to the river/greenway - maybe southeast Boise.

Your thoughts? That area of Boise or other? Won't mind missing out on a bargain but don't want to buy at the tippy top.

Beasts of England said...

I was hoping for a full moon to enjoy the 50th anniversary of the moonwalk, but we'll miss it by four days. Heck. I wouldn't swear to it, but I kinda remember a full moon for the original event, but that was a long time ago. Almost fifty years... ;)

walter said...

narciso said...I had that on the lunch thread
--
And hey..now it made it to a cafe where folks not into Altparse might see it. ;)

pacwest said...

@cubanbob
Thanks. I'm not sure a devaluation at the current currency imbalances would bring about 70's levels of inflation. And the Fed would have to be on board to make it happen in the first place. I agree that a stable currency is desirable in the long term. Certainly, devaluation is a risky proposition, and I would be against continual manipulation. I just think that tarriffs alone are not going to get the job done. Look at the overall picture of world trade imbalances. Currency markets are not bringing equalization like they should. The ones on the plus side of the imbalances are the currency manipulators. They need to be stopped. I think, hope, the threat alone would bring results. 1985? got those results by threat.

narciso said...


The internet research agency is not a Russian govt institute hence part of muellers indictment fails, but no sanctions according to the judge


https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/274255/florida-dem-who-gave-epstein-pass-providing-daniel-greenfield

rehajm said...

Meridian is fast growing and where CA is moving. It’s nice but might have growing pains. Southeast is new and recent homes and neighborhoods and attractive. I like the foothills in Northwest for the trails and the outdoors.

Drago said...

walter: "Drago, Don't be surprised if/when Mueller speaks imprecisely and gives some needed pumps on the bellows."

I'd only be surprised if that hack didn't do that.

The dems are desperately attempting to construct Hoax Dossier 7.0 from the rotting carcass of the of the Mueller sham "investigation/Obstruction of Justice Out of Thin Air effort.

Jay Vogt said...

@rehajm.

Makes sense. Thank you. I think being by the greenway would be best for us. Do you think the North End will keep expanding?
Might be a trend to get in front of.

Thanks again for your insights.

How would you think Midwest emigres would be welcomed (or not)?

walter said...

Or..Dems surface damning questions for Mueller to not answer.

narciso said...


How he wishes Hillary were in charge now:


https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-07-09/turkey-seen-heading-for-latin-style-economic-calamity-by-ashmore&ved=2ahUKEwiQ8bvbr6njAhUIr1kKHa5hAOgQlO8DMAN6BAgGEBE&usg=AOvVaw1DzbRugjveYeDsogXsu_np

Michael K said...

Bloomberg has more than one reason to miss Hillary if his name is in Epstein's black book.

narciso said...

Point taken, epstein really is mysterious he was working at bear Stearns then sets up a hedgefumd whose most conspicuous Client was len wexner massive nevertrumoer like oaul singer, but nothing is spoken of this fund

narciso said...

Fund, wexner is behind the limited and victirisss secret a big donor to Romney and most recently jeb.

cubanbob said...

@Pacwest first you don't want to tempt fate by creating inflation. In 1980 I was getting 15% interest in London on a Euro Dollar account but US inflation was higher than that and I still had to pay taxes on the interest. I was simply losing less having the money there than here. Also the US is hardly a virgin in the game of currency manipulation. Obama's first term was nothing but currency manipulation. We didn't call it that but that is what it was. During the 2008 campaign the execrable Samantha Power while serving on the Obama campaign floated a trial balloon of nationalizing 401K plans and replacing them with government guarantee funds. A lot of people including me heard that and took money out of the country. A lot of money. I was one of them albeit small. I put money in Australia, Canada and Switzerland and believe me when the Dollar tanked I made money in Canadian and Australian Dollars and Swiss Francs. It is true the Chinese manipulate their currency but within a much narrower band than you think. They also have to import and their imports are also denominated in Dollars. Having travelled to Argentina and Brazil in the seventies and eighties for business you have no idea just how bad things can get when currency manipulation gets out of control. Tariffs can work for a while if and only if they are made to be implemented for a long period of time. Otherwise the US importer gets hammered on the duty increase but unless they are permanent depending on what industry you are in, the customers just won't pay more. They figure unless the increase is permanent they don't want to get caught paying higher prices for goods ( inventory build up) that in a few months will go back down again when the tariffs are lowered since the public generally won't pay more for those things . Nor will people invest moving production out of China if the tariffs aren't long term to merit the cost of relocating production and the hassle it entails. Now that I have run down tariffs, they are still more effective even in the short term to proding China and others than currency devaluation and the damage it can and will cost. In my business tariff increases will hurt, hurt badly especially if short term and with all that I still support Trump and will vote for him next year and give his campaign money. Currency manipulation is playing with fire.

narciso said...

That was Theresa ghillarducci of the new school but otherwise you are correct Cubanbob:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7228273/Donald-Trump-doubles-leaked-memos-row-attacks-foolish-Theresa-May.html

Original Mike said...

"I was hoping for a full moon to enjoy the 50th anniversary of the moonwalk, but we'll miss it by four days. Heck. I wouldn't swear to it, but I kinda remember a full moon for the original event, but that was a long time ago. Almost fifty years... ;)"

The moon was a waxing crescent, 6 days old, on July 20, 1969.

Original Mike said...

I was just watching an Apollo 8 documentary, and I didn't realize they went on the new moon. So the moon they were headed toward was dark. When they went around the back side, it was all lit up.

rehajm said...

Hey Jay-

Sorry, no special insight here on the future growth of North End. We drive a relative to the VA at Ft Boise (?) and the neighborhoods around there and the capitol remind me of neighborhoods back east- fixed up bungalows and victorians. And it’s quite laid back everywhere- I can’t imagine not feeling welcomed anywhere. I mean california transplants are hated everywhere but there’s so many people from somewhere else. The next door neighbors here are from WI or MN, I forget which...

Come visit. They had a wet spring and summers so no fires around (yet). Been in the 80s and dry since I showed up last week...

narciso said...

So far the price of tariffed items have gone, yes its dubious how long the pla ruling councils can hold out.

Original Mike said...

"So far the price of tariffed items have gone,..."

They've gone, huh? Where did they go?

narciso said...

Gone down instead of up:

The new atty from NY the DOJ got last October struck out:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Techno_Fog/status/1148746428350652417?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

have we done Dyncorp/epstein yet?

https://worldtruth.tv/u-s-state-department-tied-to-child-trafficking-operation-with-epstein/

narciso said...

The registration # may be off, but stranger things have happened

StephenFearby said...

Possible shiny new candidate for the Left Party's nomination!

Poll finds Rapinoe would beat Trump in 2020 election

'Megan Rapinoe, who led the United States to its record fourth Women's World Cup triumph, might like her chances if she ever decided to go head-to-head with Donald Trump in 2020 after Public Policy Polling revealed she would have a slight edge to succeed him as the country's next president.

Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm, found that the 34-year-old would beat the 45th president of the United States in a race, saying, "We found that Rapinoe gets 42 percent to 41 percent for Trump."...'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/fifa-womens-world-cup/poll-finds-rapinoe-would-beat-trump-in-2020-election/ar-AAE5GJH?ocid=spartandhp

narciso said...

They also ran Charlie sheen and other unorthodox candidates, she is quite a pill.

narciso said...

The minefield like hydra:


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/07/09/exclusive-swamp-monsters-angola-robs-american-company-at-gunpoint-hires-dc-lobbyists-to-clean-up-mess/

Yancey Ward said...

I think I burned my last bridge at Powerline tonight. I had a comment held in moderation last night because I referred to a commenter named Paul Dueffert as Paul Doofus. The man really is a doofus- he is Inga with half the brain power. However, the comment got held in moderation, and it took me a minute to figure out why- it was because I wrote "Paul Doofus", not because I wrote "Doofus". Apparently "Paul Doofus" is on the moderation list because of Paul Mirengoff, one of the blog's contributors. Now Mirengoff is sometimes a doofus- definitely a NeverTrumper from long-standing, but he is also very thin-skinned- I have had comments taken down because I wrote that Mirengoff's opinions were "idiotic" or just "wrong". But when I figured why the comment was held in moderation, I wrote another that pointed out why the comment was withheld- that Mirengoff was apparently withholding all comments with "Paul" followed by an insult word- an example of a very thin skin. Tonight all my comments were in moderation, so I wrote one last one to tell them to fuck off, I was done with Powerline.

narciso said...

I was banned from the Atlantic for bringing too much truth to their verbal tirades

Mike Sylwester said...

The TCM cable channel is broadcasting the movie For Those Who Think Young on Wednesday, July 10, at 12 noon EST. I will record and watch it.

Mr. Forward said...

“Headers in soccer cause more brain damage in women than men, new study says” USA Today

Titus said...

I just did a Rican from Grindr. He had a hot body. He is living in a one room dump in Brighton paying -1600 a month. Could u imagine.

walter said...

Won't your Muzzy be jealous?

Jaq said...

This is pretty funny in The Bulwark

I don’t speak for Frum and French and Kristol, but for my own part it’s always been clear that the eventual Democratic nominee will be someone who has little to offer most conservatives on the policy front. For Never Trumpers, such as my friend Matt Lewis, some of these Democrats’ policies—like support for late-term abortion—might be deal breakers.

But what Never Trumpers have been arguing, generally, isn’t that the Democrats should nominate someone who will make them (the Never Trumpers) happy, but that they should nominate someone who a majority of Americans in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, and Florida will be happy to vote for.

Because if Never-Trump type Republicans want a candidate whose policies broadly align with their own preferences, they have one. His name is Donald J. Trump.


https://thebulwark.com/the-breakup/

Jaq said...

“He hates every story starting with ‘billionaire pervert,’” . - New York Times

Billionaire pervert says what?

gilbar said...

from the humor magazine, the Bulwark....

...There aren’t enough tax cuts and judges in the world to justify a president ...
we Never Trumpers, like Democrats, believe it would be better for the country if Trump were to lose the next election. Would we rather he lose to a Republican primary opponent? Yes. Would we rather he lose to a Mike Bloomberg-style centrist? Sure. But unless one of those options materializes, we know that the most likely scenario in which Trump is defeated is in a loss to a Democrat.

So when we say that this or that Democrat seems “better,” we’re not making an ideological value-statement. Again: If that’s what we cared about, we’d just vote to Keep America Great.


hmmm, you have two choices:
a) vote for someone that IS DOING what you said you always wanted done
b) vote AGAINST that person, 'cause you've always been NOTHING but a liar, and DON'T want those things

Choice seems clear; at least, the choice says a LOT about who you are

Jaq said...

The sad thing about Never Trumpers is how they let their perceptions be defined by the zombie Hillary campaign, and her last bitter flailings about in defeat.

narciso said...

They are the pinocchio to a French Iranian gspetto and they dont even know it.

Jaq said...

a president who stands on the stage with Vladimir Putin and sides against America’s intelligence community; who ignores, if not invites, foreign interference in our elections and normalizes unprecedented levels of corruption

Maybe Chuck can fill me in on the “corruption.” Because all I ever seem to see from the four flushers who always claim to have the goods on Trump is that it can’t be proven he’s 100% innocent of this or that, so you just KNOW he must be guilty.

“There is little occasion to prove witchcraft, it being evident and notorious to all beholders.” - Cotton Mather

Mr. Forward said...

Bill Clinton claims four flights on Epstein’s airplane, reporter claims 27. Seems rather bold if it’s a lie.
So bold it’s got me doubting the reporter. Could depend on Clinton’s definition of “flight”.

narciso said...

Was this the thread:

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/07/is-the-epstein-acosta-plea-deal-a-barrier-to-new-prosecution.php

Bruce Hayden said...

“Hayden fell upon hard times with the white supremacy nut.”

Thanks for the info. My partner has said that CdA has been fairly exclusive for quite some time but never quite believed her despite the old wood boats and sea planes on the lake.

But talking a bit about Hayden Lake, my partner first came up here to NW MT about 30 years ago. She and her (now) ex each would bring all their kids up here for the summer. At that point, she had some money to invest, and found a nice piece of land at Hayden Lake for a really good price. She had a contract, and was ready to sign, when he explained about the skinheads and militias. She backed out of the deal. She regrets the decision to this day, a bit, since that piece of land has exploded in value since then.

Funny thing for this post is that the town obviously has my last name. Convoying with my kid last Sat down US 95 from Bayvie to our hotels in CdA and Post Falls, I did have to call them when we passed the city limits sign to congratulate them on their town. To the derision of my partner, who only has a street (actually) named after her in the Las Vegas area, and not a town like we do (not really).

The other aspect though is that I typically search on my last name in these threads to find my last post, and maybe responses to my posts. Didn’t work as well maybe as it usually does, thanks to the mention of Hayden Lake. This thread has maybe a dozen references, but fewer than half are to me.

Ralph L said...

narciso said...
I was banned from the Atlantic for bringing too much truth to their verbal tirades

No, they're very particular about typos.

Bruce Hayden said...

“I think I burned my last bridge at Powerline tonight. I had a comment held in moderation last night because I referred to a commenter named Paul Dueffert as Paul Doofus.”

I have followed that blog for quite some time, but less so since the election. Didn’t seem to go Never Trumper quite as badly as NRO did. But I never warmed up to their comments. I do like threading, but don’t like that you have to keep pulling down more comments periodically. My view is that if you are reading and commenting, then you want to see all of them so far. Hence, I like Blogger’s approach of giving you up to 200 at a time. But more relevantly, I never really felt comfortable commenting at Powerline.

I think that it was either Powerline or NRO that was using Facebook for commenting awhile back, and that was a big deal killer. I keep up with some pretty liberal friends from college on Facebook, and was not about to get into a discussion with them on anything political. I also follow my kid and their life. They are still decently liberal, not yet having been fully deprogrammed from five years in the PRB (People’s Republic of Boulder) getting their PhD. And now FB seems to be using facial recognition quite a bit to tie together people through photographs. They really are the most evil of the tech giants.

Ralph L said...

I've been getting Cambodian immigrant "friend" suggestions relentlessly since I signed up in 2017.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Bill Clinton claims four flights on Epstein’s airplane, reporter claims 27. Seems rather bold if it’s a lie.
So bold it’s got me doubting the reporter. Could depend on Clinton’s definition of “flight”.”

Her definition seems to have been whether or not he was listed on the flight manifest, or in the pilot log, as a passenger. His is likely something artful, like his definition of “sex”, though how he can redefine “passenger” even more egregiously than he redefined “sex” without looking ludicrous, I don’t know. But the Clintons are, if nothing else, brazen.

Interestingly, Wikipedia has been extensively scrubbed over the last couple days to eliminate the many repeated connections between Clinton and Epstein, while enhancing the ones with Trump. But Wikipedia has been less than worthless for anything remotely political for well over a decade now.

Jaq said...

Bill Clinton claims four flights on Epstein’s airplane, reporter claims 27. Seems rather bold if it’s a lie.
So bold it’s got me doubting the reporter. Could depend on Clinton’s definition of “flight”.


Maybe his story is going to be that Epstein wrote his name down but he was never on the flights. Kind of like how Samantha Powers didn’t unmask all of those people, somebody eles did it under her name.

Michael K said...


“I think I burned my last bridge at Powerline tonight. I had a comment held in moderation last night because I referred to a commenter named Paul Dueffert as Paul Doofus.”

I have followed that blog for quite some time, but less so since the election. Didn’t seem to go Never Trumper quite as badly as NRO did. But I never warmed up to their comments.


It's been mostly Paul but I have drifted away from commenting there,

Michael K said...

My partner has said that CdA has been fairly exclusive for quite some time but never quite believed her despite the old wood boats and sea planes on the lake.

I go back more than 50 years there and it was the big Southern California summer resort. CdA was a social scene and the favored bar was called "The Athletic Round Table." At the time both Washington and Idaho were pretty conservative.I may have recounted the story before here but Washington had "Blue Laws" when I was there. The whole state almost went dry. The liquor industry headed that off by passing a referendum to make state liquor stores the only retail source of "packaged goods" with all profit going to the UW medical, school. There were severe restrictions on public bars but "clubs" were legal. The ART was the favored "club" in CdA.

In the summer we used to date U of Idaho girls and, after school began, we spent time in Moscow where the Student Union Building (known as the SUB) was the social center along with The Pine Tree Tavern in Moscow.

Fen said...

I have followed that blog for quite some time, but less so since the election. Didn’t seem to go Never Trumper quite as badly as NRO did. But I never warmed up to their comments.

Same here. I always found Powerline to be a bit squishy and wobbly (Thatcher's warning) but I read them daily because I thought it was good to have a more moderate site on my reading list.

But for all their complaints about deplatforming, they really do not believe in Free Speech. I know I've been at odds with Althouse here and there, but she really does walk the walk re her principles about freedom of speech. She's had several occasions to ban me or ask me to leave and had not. And I've even pushed the line to test her commitment to that principle a few times.

So yah, a liberal democrat like Althouse won't ditch me, but conservative Powerline did?

Fen said...

Bulwark: it would be better for the country if Trump were to lose the next election. Would we rather he lose to a Republican primary opponent? Yes. Would we rather he lose to a Mike Bloomberg-style centrist? Sure. But unless one of those options materializes, we know that the most likely scenario in which Trump is defeated is in a loss to a Democrat.

There is a good reason the Establishment Wing of the GOP is linked to the NeverTrump movement: Trump took out all the people they wanted to Surrender Gracefully to. Kinda hard to do your Failure Theater act during a victory parade.

But what really pisses me off is all the things the GOPe advised us just couldn't be done, because Reasons. I was stupid enough, trusting enough, loyal enough to believe them when they complained they "just couldn't get it done, couldn't find the votes, not this hill, maybe next session".

And the Trump comes along and not only does what I wanted, he makes it look easy.

I remember trying to fix a toilet in the house so they wife would stop nagging me about it. 3 months of I'll Get To It or I Just Need To Get This Tool First. She finally called a plumber, he got it done in 5 mins. That's Trumpism, and why we are never going back to the days of John McCain.

Fen said...

it was because I wrote "Paul Doofus", not because I wrote "Doofus". Apparently "Paul Doofus" is on the moderation list because of Paul Mirengoff, one of the blog's contributors. Now Mirengoff is sometimes a doofus- definitely a NeverTrumper from long-standing, but he is also very thin-skinned- I have had comments taken down because I wrote that Mirengoff's opinions were "idiotic" or just "wrong". But when I figured why the comment was held in moderation, I wrote another that pointed out why the comment was withheld- that Mirengoff was apparently withholding all comments with "Paul" followed by an insult word- an example of a very thin skin.

That makes perfect sense, and dovetails with my experience.

You may have missed it, but back when people were eyerolling at all the articles where Paul couldn't resist inserting a Trump bash, John Hinderaker put up a Leave Britney Alone! post that was just... sad.

And someone asked upthread, yes it was Powerline that exclusively used Facebook as their commenting platform for a long while. I never understood that, sleeping with the enemy. Looks even worse now after what we've learned about Facebook's censorship of conservatives. That can be forgiven as an amateur mistake, but it also goes to show just how cocooned and out of touch they are.

Gahrie said...

but she really does walk the walk re her principles about freedom of speech.

Except of course when she deletes a bunch of comments because she doesn't like them and berates us for posting them as she threatens to delete more.

Michael K said...

But what really pisses me off is all the things the GOPe advised us just couldn't be done, because Reasons.

Boy, would I like to have the money back I donated to Romney!

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