Althouse: At the Morning Moon Café...

November 2, 2020

At the Morning Moon Café...

... you can write about anything you want.

The moon photograph was taken facing west at 6:37 a.m. At exactly that time, facing east, it looked like this:

52 comments:

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: BRING IT ON!; 11/2/20, 7:59 PM
RNB said...: A fantasy writer I work with had a character observing the setting of the Sun and the rising of the Moon through the same window. Had to explain to her it doesn't work that way.; 11/2/20, 8:01 PM
tim in vermont said...: Remember the monster in Young Frankenstein doing the tap dance routine? “Putting on the Ritz!"

Biden:
https://mobile.twitter.com/jordylancaster/status/1322271791411273735; 11/2/20, 8:03 PM
tim in vermont said...: It’s amazing to me that Europe seems to be all for going back to the guy who was partially responsible for the millions of refugees caused by the ham handed military adventurism of Obama-Biden + HillBillly Red Queen.; 11/2/20, 8:10 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Please lift the moderation for tomorrow night. You only have to do so until Wednesday morning.; 11/2/20, 8:11 PM
wildswan said...: Love the moon pic; 11/2/20, 8:18 PM
TwoAndAHalfCents said...: Three words I hope to never hear: President-Elect Biden; 11/2/20, 8:18 PM
rehajm said...: My building sent an email with the 'national election preparation' plan today. Foam board on all the first floor glass. In 'extreme' emergency will cut power to the garage doors, move all elevators to upper floors and turn off power, hvac turned off. Shelter in place order.

Call 911...; 11/2/20, 8:26 PM
stephen cooper said...: This month marks the 50th anniversary of American Beauty, a very good album which is still listenable.

I was never a big fan of the Grateful Dead although I always respected their musicianship.

I always have had the average alpha male's instinctive dislike for the passive-aggressiveness beta-male tendencies in so many of their lyrics (for example, they did not respect Uncle John very much, sang about him the way little kids sing about a disrespected teacher, and the lyrics of Trucking are disgustingly incel, and I could go on and on, without even touching on the disgust people who work for a living feel when being preached at by rich stoners), but as the years go by I have more appreciation for what they tried to do.

Anyway, if you miss the old days when these threads were not moderated, you might like to go back to the time I expressed my honest views of the Grateful Dead and the time when those honest views were hilariously attacked by people who really really hated my honest views of the Grateful Dead. Actually you can't, even in the good old moderation days all those attacks, and my comments too, were deleted. Too much of that old antagonistic "back and forth" which, to tell the truth, I don't miss at all.

Well, a great band, anyway, as rock bands go. I still don't like the way greasy Jerry G. criminally mistreated vulnerable young women, and I still think a neck-beard group of guys like that, no matter how talented, would go nowhere on the charts today, but that is just me.

That being said, I am totally against "pop icons" who do not resemble the Grateful Dead, too ... In the Book of Revelation, there is a passage about how there are people who will be, in the thousand year era right before the final triumph of love and goodness, people who are
living in this world but who will always have God evidently, without question, on their side, even in this world (that is not the case today - you can have God on your side but there is no guarantee God will be evidently, without question on your side in this current world.) I will not be one of those people --- you might be, but probably not ---- but I assure you, as much as one might feel awe at the charisma and RICHES of the Elvises and Kennedys and Marilyn Monroes and Sinatras and Tolstoys and Shakespeares and Leonardos of this world, none of them are worthy of awe or excessive admiration ... now if they were one of the people who will live good lives in that last thousand years, that would be a different story ....

I know a few old people, most of them dead, but some still alive, who have said, with no audience at all except me and whoever else was in the room, the most extraordinary beautiful things about the world they left behind, or soon will leave behind, and I know they meant what they said. The words were too precious to repeat here, but if you have had an elderly friend who KNOWS GOD LOVES YOU you probably have heard similarly extraordinary and beautiful things from that elderly person.

Each of us, my friends, is so so special to God: even if you think you can't likely be special because you have been surrounded all your life by loneliness on the south shore and disgustingly selfish people on the north shore .... well maybe only you could have achieved what you achieved in those circumstances, God knows that. I don't know that, I don't know you, but God knows that, if it is true.
and of course maybe it is true; 11/2/20, 8:29 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: ----Sad Trombone ----
for the "C'mon Man!"
-----Joe Biden----

Fanfare For The Common Man
*****We, The People*****
-----TRUMP 2020-----
*God Bless America*; 11/2/20, 8:33 PM
chuck said...: observing the setting of the Sun and the rising of the Moon

George Gamov gave Dirac a copy of Crime and Punishment to read. When he later asked Dirac what he thought of the book, Dirac replied that it was nice, but there was a place where the sun rose twice in the same day. Gamov could never figure out where that happened.; 11/2/20, 8:36 PM
MadTownGuy said...: Wall Street Journal NM puzzles over Wisconsin's COVID-19 spike:

Wisconsin Struggles to Explain Sudden Covid-19 Spike

"A surge of Covid-19 cases in Wisconsin as students returned to universities in major cities like Milwaukee and Madison left many believing college parties and lax social distancing were responsible for what is now the state’s worst case spike since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

But health officials soon noticed that cases were also rising in cities and towns without a college campus, leading them to question what else might be driving the increase."; 11/2/20, 8:48 PM
320Busdriver said...: Blogger Yancey Ward said...
Please lift the moderation for tomorrow night. You only have to do so until Wednesday morning.

11/2/20, 8:11 PM

Indeed. Last year was a fun ride.; 11/2/20, 8:49 PM
Matthew Heintz said...: The best thing about tomorrow is that we will never have to hear another reference to Joe Biden's presidency, and even better, Kamaltoe Harris will be relegated to the dust bin of history,forever. I bought a bottle of good whiskey today with which to savor the election results tomorrow night.; 11/2/20, 8:49 PM
320Busdriver said...: Correction.....16 was a fun ride; 11/2/20, 8:52 PM
Joe Smith said...: Good framing (as always).

Way better than that Yglesias dude...; 11/2/20, 8:54 PM
I'm Not Sure said...: A fantasy writer I work with had a character observing the setting of the Sun and the rising of the Moon through the same window.

The movie "Apocalypto" had a scene including a solar eclipse and showed the (full?) moon in the sky later that night.; 11/2/20, 9:03 PM
stephen cooper said...: chuck - if you ride a horse very fast, north of the Arctic circle, and you know which direction to go, it is easy to see the sun set and rise two or three times a day on certain days near Arctic midsummer.

With a sports car and a well paved north-south road, you could probably see half a dozen sunrises in any given 24 hour period at the right time of year.

I am surprised Dirac, a very clever young fellow, did not know that, it is simple Scandinavian calendar/solstice/inclination of the sun math, maybe the clever young fellow just never gave it much thought.; 11/2/20, 9:04 PM
walter said...: rehajm said...
--
Where are you?; 11/2/20, 9:13 PM
narciso said...: Woops

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/11/02/cdc-bails-on-coronavirus-rules-goes-all-in-with-democrats/; 11/2/20, 9:31 PM
wildswan said...: This is a link to election night 2016 on ABC starting at 2am. In that hour and a half you hear John Podesta saying Hillary won't concede, you hear the media attempting to explain or explain away Trump's victory and alternately, you hear them trying to explain why they aren't calling states even when 99% of the votes in that state are counted. Then you hear that Trump is coming to make a speech. Will he dare claim to be President simply because he has the votes though Hillary won't concede and the media won't call the states? And he does. And Hillary concedes. And the media calls the states for him - but not before he has started speaking. And he gives a beautiful, gracious speech.

Election night 2020 will be more like Election night 2016 than anything else that's happened. So maybe refresh your insights while you wait Nov. 3 out by watching last the hour and a half of election night 2016 so as to be able to compare them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA6SyPeLbpA; 11/2/20, 9:31 PM
Jersey Fled said...: Big bay tomorrow; 11/2/20, 9:31 PM
bagoh20 said...: stepehen cooper @ 8:29

I don't usually read long comments, because I'm lazy, but in this case I was actually too lazy to scroll past, and so I took it all in, and I enjoyed it.; 11/2/20, 9:34 PM
wildswan said...: You see, Biden's campaign manager is saying the election caller won't call the election this year. But the same thing was done in 2016 as you can see by the video of Election Night 2016 ABC 2:200am to 3:30am

Election Night 2016 ABC 2:200am to 3:30am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA6SyPeLbpA; 11/2/20, 9:35 PM
stephen cooper said...: By the way when I argue with people I do so out of respect. I hope you do too. Nobody has ever really hurt my feelings since 1959, and that was a long time ago, and a different country, and I hope it has worked both ways. I am a lot closer to 100 years old than to the vintage year when a man or woman is middle aged, and trust me if I argue with someone that means I have not lost respect for them, I have been that way since EISENHOWER, the poor little fellow, was PRESIDENT. 'Nobody cares about anybody who is not rich or pleasant or useful', you may have heard someone say, but I SAY 'SOMETHING DIFFERENT', I SAY ----- that is not how it works.

When I delete my own comments it is just a whim, more or less: I am someone who talks, not a writer. REMEMBER TO SAY TOMORROW TO SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU FORGOT TO SAY TODAY TO SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT !!!!

I MISS THE RATZ!!!!

I Like the Sunrise and Sunset pictures, but I MISS THE RATZ --- I was Learning more about Ratz with each and every Rat picture post, and then they went away !!! :( :( :(

it is no small thing to be a friend to a creature who never had a friend in this world; 11/2/20, 9:37 PM
Narayanan said...: chuck said...
observing the setting of the Sun and the rising of the Moon

George Gamov gave Dirac a copy of Crime and Punishment to read. When he later asked Dirac what he thought of the book, Dirac replied that it was nice, but there was a place where the sun rose twice in the same day. Gamov could never figure out where that happened.
-------------==============
don't leave us hanging >>> do you know where in the book?; 11/2/20, 9:38 PM
bagoh20 said...: I watched a video where under cover Steven Crowder asked Trump haters about Trump's failure to denounce racists. Then he showed them multiple examples of Trump doing exactly that over and over, including the Charlottesville lie. Only one out of a half dozen said that changed anything about their opinion on the subject. Even after watching Trump vigorously denounce them all these people made up some bullshit about him not doing it enough. I bet nobody in history has been asked the question and denounced racists as much a Donald Trump. That's what Trump has been up against. Abject stupidity and irrational hatred based on lies. To vote for these liars or not vote at all makes you about as useful as a coward with his head down shaking in the corner of the foxhole as the enemy approaches. "Ask yourself, are you helping?"; 11/2/20, 9:58 PM
narciso said...: Shirley

https://mobile.twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1323443005567782913; 11/2/20, 10:03 PM
alan markus said...: Yancey Ward said...
Please lift the moderation for tomorrow night. You only have to do so until Wednesday morning

I agree. Four years ago the election thread ran over 1100 comments.

Election Night

Never turned on the TV or looked at MSM sites - everything I needed to know was to be found here.

Fun to look back and see who was saying what. A few samples:

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
I would like to suggest that we make predictions and see who is closest tomorrow. I predict Clinton wins the total vote by 3%.
11/8/16, 6:17 PM

Inga said...
Amazing how well Clinton is doing in NC, huh? Hi Althousians! I dropped by in honor of election night and to celebrate the first woman President. Don't get mad, she's more better suited to be President than Trump, the country will survive her, can't say the same for Trump.
11/8/16, 7:12 PM

Inga said...
Florida just flipped back, lol.
11/8/16, 7:18 PM

Mick said...
dustbunny said...
"Everyone is talking about Mick, who is Mick?"
That would be me. Merry Trumpmas. Ding Dong the witch is dead.
11/9/16, 4:28 PM; 11/2/20, 10:05 PM
iowan2 said...: Lots of places use an average of polls to make predictions, I'll use an average of predictions about Pennsylvania to note that all of the political pundits think President Trump is going to get the majority of votes in Pennsylvania, and the only unknown is if Democrats can manufacture enough votes to beat the actual votes cast.; 11/2/20, 10:13 PM
D. said...: The power plant keeping the Luddites warm. Way too many stupid people!; 11/2/20, 10:54 PM
Greg The Class Traitor said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 11/2/20, 10:54 PM
eddie willers said...: Please lift the moderation for tomorrow night. You only have to do so until Wednesday morning.

Yes, please....

....we promise to be good.; 11/2/20, 11:42 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Birkel:

Smug typed some things and then gets Smug when people disagree.
1000 random names out of the Tampa phone book would do better than all the professors at Smug University.

Oh, Birkel, you still don't get it. I love being disagreed with. Talking to people only about things we agree on seems incredibly boring. The interesting thing about people you often agree with is when you disagree. If you have any confidence in your ideas, you should expose them to the most stringent criticism possible. My interest in a dialogue is not to be right or to convince anyone else that I am right but to understand the reasoning that led them to a different conclusion. That you disagree with someone is not as interesting or useful as knowing why you disagree with them.

Unfortunately, for a lot of people, encountering ideas they disagree with is experienced in a highly personal way. It elicits negative emotions, a conviction that the person who expressed it must be some combination of stupid, ignorant, or evil, and a desire to tell that person just what the combination is.

This is an appealing option because it doesn't require people to even understand the idea, let alone explain why they disagree with it. But more importantly, it allows people to continue confidently believing ideas they want to believe even though they don't know why they believe them. For them, ideas are less a consequence of reasoning and more an article of faith.; 11/3/20, 12:05 AM
Yancey Ward said...: So, will any Democratic governor in the following states have the cajones to try to shut down in-person voting today by declaring a COVID emergency?

North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada.

I ask because there are increasing calls for them to do so by some panicked Democrats.; 11/3/20, 12:07 AM
Narayanan said...: Predictions; 11/3/20, 2:46 AM
wendybar said...: I am reading all over Face book how it is Trumps fault the buildings around the country are getting boarded up. Last I looked, it was Biden supporters who are burning down cities and looting them. So in other words, They are worried that no matter what happens...Biden supporters are going to go nuts tonight. Stay safe everyone.; 11/3/20, 3:20 AM
Matthew Heintz said...: No moderation or your blog is dead.; 11/3/20, 3:36 AM
Matthew Heintz said...: My dog farts every 41 seconds._; 11/3/20, 4:04 AM
stevew said...: It's all over but the crying... thank god.

This, from Rod Dreher, is true for me and mine:
"I cannot imagine caring so much about politics that I would cut off a friend or family member. I don’t make friends on the basis of politics, so why would I cease being friends with someone I otherwise cared about, because they came to a different political conclusion. I mean, yeah, if it were Germany 1934 or Russia 1917. But we aren’t there. We get there more quickly by becoming the sort of people who value politics more than friends and family."

"please lift the moderation for tomorrow night. You only have to do so until Wednesday morning.

Yes, please....

....we promise to be good."

Unfortunately it is not we that are the problem.

Sunrise at 6:20AM today, headed to the polls when they open. It is going to be a glorious day, I can feel it.; 11/3/20, 4:33 AM
Lars Porsena said...: "God protects drunks, babies, and the United States of America" Bismarck; 11/3/20, 5:01 AM
Browndog said...: Yancey Ward said...

So, will any Democratic governor in the following states have the cajones to try to shut down in-person voting today by declaring a COVID emergency?

North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada.

Our local news in Michigan (Fox32) stated last night to expect longer lines because all Covid protocols are in place--you MUST wear and mask, social distance, and wash hands upon entering the polling place.

Blatant lie.

No masks are required, and you certainly don't have to wash your hands. I was pissed.; 11/3/20, 5:02 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Wall Street Journal NM puzzles over Wisconsin's COVID-19 spike:

Kind of makes you wonder whether the shutdowns, masks, and social distancing really have any effect, doesn't it.; 11/3/20, 6:40 AM
chuck said...: it was Biden supporters who are burning down cities and looting them.

More Bernie than Biden, I think.; 11/3/20, 6:42 AM
tim in vermont said...: Friedman of the Times is freaking out that China’s preferred candidate, the one they bought and paid for and cheap, BTW, not just bought and paid for, but the one they have a huge collection of kompromat on, Joe Biden, might not be declared POTUS by acclamation.

I don’t think that China’s whore Tom Friedman should be talking about “whores” But you know the saying, "thieves think everybody is a thief."; 11/3/20, 6:46 AM
tim in vermont said...: "f you have any confidence in your ideas, you should expose them to the most stringent criticism possible.”

You would do better to pick someone of a little bit higher wattage to heat your crucible, Farmer.; 11/3/20, 6:53 AM
rehajm said...: rehajm said...
--
Where are you?

My condo building is in Boston. I am not in Boston...; 11/3/20, 7:22 AM
Maillard Reactionary said...: Nice composition in that first photo.; 11/3/20, 8:00 AM
Maillard Reactionary said...: tim in vermont @6:53 AM: LOL. Well said. Chemistry guy, eh?; 11/3/20, 8:15 AM
Maillard Reactionary said...: stephen cooper: I too still like the Grateful Dead (in small doses), despite being as far in my values and interests from the hippie-druggie subculture of the '60s as could be imagined. I don't overthink the lyrics though. It's not serious music, like Brahms or Schubert or Monteverdi, but it's still OK sometimes.

Regarding the "Ratz", many of us miss them, but as you know maintaining an attachment to things that are past can only lead to unhappiness.; 11/3/20, 8:23 AM
tim in vermont said...: Ha ha ha!

Amazing. Hours before Election Day comes news that Mueller aggressively tried to prosecute Assange and Roger Stone for a conspiracy related to the 2016 DNC/Podesta emails, but ran into "factual...hurdles” which could not establish any conspiracy. Perfect time to memory-hole this - Michael Tracey; 11/3/20, 3:47 PM
DavidD said...: Those are both very nice photos—well done.; 11/3/20, 4:54 PM