Althouse: At the Sunrise Café...

April 19, 2022

At the Sunrise Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

37 comments:

Wa St Blogger said...: Today I learned that there are 3 finalists for the new Police Chief for Seattle. All three are black to replace a former black police chief. Seattle's population is 6.8% black but I guess the city leaders feel it is required to have black police chiefs. I wonder if they made a promise. But even if they did not, I am sure they felt that if they hired anyone other than a black the grievance-mongers would let them ear about it. I don't care particularly other than wondering if they truly found the most qualified candidates using whatever criteria they used. I hope whoever it is is up to the task as it will have significant repercussions otherwise.; 4/19/22, 7:18 PM
Dave Begley said...: Tucker’s first segment was about Taylor Lorenz. Tucker informed us that the German Department of Education funds a former Twitter employee who gave the doxxing info to Lorenz. Tucker asked why the German government and Jeff Bezos want to destroy the woman behind the Libs of Tick Tock account. All this woman does is inform the public what Libs say in their own words.

The woman behind LOTT is in hiding but won’t quit.

Libs are the worst people in the world.; 4/19/22, 8:05 PM
tim in vermont said...: BlackRock is not only the largest shareholder in the New York Times, but the third largest shareholder in Twitter. Hillary Clinton's chief of staff when Hillary was playing the Tallyrand role in her reprise of the XYZ affair, is on the board of the American dream destroying conglomerate. Why should young couples be allowed to buy homes and benefit from the appreciation in their old age when BlackRock has access to the money printing machines, and can snap them up first and then rent to young couples? "You will own nothing, and you will like it!"

Remember when the FBI gave Mills immunity, for nothing in return, during their investigation of Hillary's destruction of federal records of her meetings as SoS with large donors to the Clinton Foundation, mostly foreigners with business before the State Department? Good times, good times...; 4/19/22, 8:23 PM
Lurker21 said...: Watching Ismael's Ghosts, an utterly incomprehensible French film. It doesn't start off that badly, but whenever the filmmaker has an opportunity to wrap up his plot successfully he adds yet another layer of confusing complexity and the result is an unintelligible mess. Possibly the protagonist is going mad -- or the filmmaker already is.

[Elegant variation courtesy of https://www.merriam-webster.com/.]; 4/19/22, 8:36 PM
Lurker21 said...: I wish I'd had access to all these French films back in high school, but I suspect the result would have been my dropping French for once and for all.

Also, moviegoing wasn't such a bad thing when it was a thing. You got a little exercise and felt like you were part of the world. The movie theater and the smell of popcorn and even the sticky floors were part of the aesthetic (or not so very aesthetic) experience.

Watching movies at home seems a little like masturbation (but does that make going out to the movies exhibitionism or voyeurism?).; 4/19/22, 8:56 PM
William said...: Joe Biden's threat to run for re-election is probably just a bit of maneuvering to avoid lame duck status. However, if he does actually run for re-election wouldn't that be evidence of his altered mental status and delusional behavior and, thus, just cause for removing him from office.; 4/19/22, 9:13 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Got a message saying masks 😷 are now optional for ride-share.

Finally.; 4/19/22, 9:32 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: How can this conversation between Trump and Zelensky be spun into anything other than a good thing, at the time?

Video in a tweet; 4/19/22, 10:22 PM
wildswan said...: The Russians are attacking again, now in the eastern side of the country. Some say that Russian superiority in numbers and in planes, and artillery mean they will win. Others say that the Russian troops include many units which lost heavily up around Kiev. These units have been trucked around to the Donbass and sent into combat again. How will they do since they are going back into action so quickly that they must use the same tactics which failed before? Similarly, Russian artillery didn't do well up around Kiev and now the same tactics will be used in Donbass since there has been no pause for re-training or regrouping. But then it is said that the Donbass is flat and agricultural like Iowa rather than wooded and hilly like the northern part of Ukraine and the Ukrainians will not be able to hide and use partisan tactics.
I have no idea who is right but I hope it's the Ukrainians. As far as I can see, Putin is trying to extend slavery into new territories. The serf-like life from which Russians just can't escape is just slavery and the Ukrainians are straining to escape from being dragged back into it. Stopping the war by ceding territory means handing the inhabitants of the territory over to be enslaved. Is that a right act?; 4/19/22, 10:24 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Wa St Blogger:

It doesn't matter who they hire. The chief could be a Martian for all the good it would do Seattle. With the City Council being composed of left-wing loons who have never met a criminal they couldn't call friend, Seattle will continue to spiral into the toilet.; 4/19/22, 10:32 PM
effinayright said...: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/air-force-launches-safe-space-airmen

********************

Tom Cruise has a "Top Gun" sequel scheduled for release in a month or so.

But it's got a new title, in keeping with the times: "Top Cun..."; 4/19/22, 10:43 PM
Andrew said...: Something I've noticed. There's a tremendous backlash among various left-wingers against the "Trump judge" who ruled against the mask mandate. The judge is too young, she is unqualified, she is a protege of Justice Thomas, she embodies Trump's poor choices for the judiciary, she is not a medical expert, etc.

But I see no commentary on her actual opinion. There is no addressing of her arguments. In fact, there is no quoting of the opinion at all. Now maybe it's a lousy opinion, with poor reasoning. Or maybe she gave very little explanation, and just issued her ruling. But my guess is that the judge ruled against the mandate for legitimate legal reasons, and the left wants to avoid giving any publicity to those arguments, or doesn't have any valid counter-arguments. It's as if the judge's opinion doesn't exist at all, and she must be mocked without regard to any substantive rationale.

Has anyone here read her actual opinion? I haven't had the time.; 4/20/22, 3:05 AM
TwoAndAHalfCents said...: One perk of being an Althouse reader is the great book recommendations from other commenters. Anyone read anything of interest lately?; 4/20/22, 3:22 AM
wendybar said...: The Washington Post got caught in another giant lie yesterday after linking the Liberals of Tic Toc womans real estate license, and then removing it after the backlash, and trying to say they NEVER linked it at all. Democracy dies when Media lies.; 4/20/22, 5:45 AM
Bob said...: I love the fundamental blue tones of this one.; 4/20/22, 5:45 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Some China Futures...
https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=51172
https://www.battleswarmblog.com/
They need some young migrants. Bueller, Bueller.; 4/20/22, 5:54 AM
Jefferson's Revenge said...: Two and a half. I’ve spent the last 3 years going back and actually reading the books they made you read in school but you couldn’t understand. They are much better as an adult. Trollope’s “Can you forgive her” was excellent . For the adventurous there is Anthony Powell’s twelve volume “ Dancing till the end of time”

Also been enjoying all the John LeCarre books as well. I find nothing appealing in newly written stuff.; 4/20/22, 6:20 AM
Lucien said...: Twoandahalf:
I’m greatly enjoying Empire of the Summer Moon.
Recently (late to the party) read Darkness at Noon, and recommend it.; 4/20/22, 6:26 AM
Danno said...: Andrew, do not worry about the Florida judge and the opinion. This is just a (well-deserved) payback for the Hawaiian judges that did nationwide injunctions during the Trump years. In fact, I hope that they have lots more of these injunctions and they come fast and furious. It might make many libtards' heads explode.; 4/20/22, 6:34 AM
gilbar said...: TwoAndAHalfCents said... Anyone read anything of interest lately?

i just finished and liked
The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter By: Joseph Henrich

it's about what makes humans 'better' at being a species (more children,etc)
hint: it's Not our 'intelligence'.. It's our ability to learn from each other; 4/20/22, 6:56 AM
wendybar said...: "The brother of former first lady Michelle Obama has filed a lawsuit after his young 'model student' sons were dismissed from their university prep school following a dispute between his family and school administrators over teachers allegedly using inappropriate language in class." “The use of the word ‘plantation’ and things of that nature,” Robinson went on. “In addition to the racial and ethnic stereotypes, there was an insensitivity to socioeconomic status and as well as a disregard for the children who weren’t physically in the classroom.”- New York Post

OMG!!!...They used the word PLANTATION??? WHAT is this world coming to??? What a joke the whole Obama family is. THEY are the dividers of America.; 4/20/22, 7:16 AM
Jefferson's Revenge said...: Again about books. For those interested in a really fun read try any of the Flashman series. I would skip book one and start anywhere else. The single most politically incorrect books ever written. Could not get into print if written now. Hilarious, entertaining and very sharp historical fiction. I once told my wife that if I come back I want to be Flashie. Read them and you will understand why.; 4/20/22, 7:19 AM
Rusty said...: I skimmed through ,"Velikovski Reconsideredthe " and I was struck by notion that some cultures speak of a time when there was no moon in the night sky.; 4/20/22, 7:28 AM
Sydney said...: Twoandahalf- I recently finished reading a short novel called The Southwest Corner by Mildred Walker. It was written in the mid-twentieth century and is a reflection on aging alone in the world.; 4/20/22, 7:38 AM
tim in vermont said...: https://twitter.com/KoenSwinkels/status/1516546270319493123

Canada is authoritarian, full stop. You won't hear about this from US. regime propagandists, err, I mean the mainstream US press, which had no problem dishonestly labeling Trump as 'authoritarian.' I guess Trump is not as dreamy is Justin.; 4/20/22, 7:44 AM
farmgirl said...: https://youtu.be/fjGYsner6oI

Hey, Howard.
I found your dream leader. Hint: it ain’t Russell Brand.; 4/20/22, 7:47 AM
Andrew said...: @Danno,
Agreed. I'm in complete favor of more injunctions. The President, his staff, and the various administrative agencies need to be reminded of the limitations on their power.

And the hypocrisy is indeed stunning, concerning the judges that stymied Trump, often for purely political reasons rather than legitimate Constitutional ones.; 4/20/22, 7:50 AM
wendybar said...: farmgirl said...
https://youtu.be/fjGYsner6oI

Hey, Howard.
I found your dream leader. Hint: it ain’t Russell Brand.

4/20/22, 7:47 AM

PERFECT!! You found him!!; 4/20/22, 9:18 AM
hawkeyedjb said...: "Anyone read anything of interest lately?"

Winston Churchill's history of the second world war, six volumes. It will probably take me the rest of my life. The level of detail is extraordinary and the tale is told as if in real time. When the worst happens and the world is engulfed in flame, Churchill is remarkably calm and understated in presenting his I-told-you-so. And he did tell them so; he also told the appeasers that seeking peace with Hitler would make Britain a slave state. Churchill drunk had more awareness of the ways of the world than most sober leaders.; 4/20/22, 9:22 AM
wendybar said...: THIS is hilarious!!! It doesn't take much to punk the NYT's!!!

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/04/how-to-punk-the-ny-times.php?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=sw&utm_campaign=sw; 4/20/22, 9:29 AM
Friendo said...: Twoandahalf:
Anything Don Delillo has written. Maybe start with Underworld or White Noise.; 4/20/22, 9:37 AM
wendybar said...: THIS will make you puke in your mouth a little....https://twitter.com/ByronYork/status/1516747922821599234?; 4/20/22, 10:09 AM
Narr said...: Anthony Powell's series was "A Dance to the Music of Time." I read them years ago and have a pbk copy of "The Valley of Bones" (one of the wartime trilogy) on my re-read pile right now. He has been called a precious bore, and there are some slow passages, but Widmerpool is one of the great characters. For serious Anglophiles ONLY.

I'm just about done with Jonathan Sperber's "The European Revolutions of 1848-1851." Such an interesting period, so little known. The book is a good read as far as scholarly tomes go. The issues and actors are so mixed, and the events so complicated, it takes real effort to understand. From the most radical Paris radicals to the least radical peasants --who were still struggling over the right to scavenge in increasingly-privatized forests--those years set the terms of late 19th C developments. For Europhiles only.

Yes to Flashman. Sheer genius.

I re-read Thomas Berger's "Little Big Man" recently, and notice things I didn't before.

I'm halfway through AVI's recommendation, "The Horse, the Wheel, and Language." Halfway not because I'm not enjoying it, but because it's not uncommon for me the leave a book for months and go back to it later.; 4/20/22, 11:30 AM
Narr said...: "White Noise" is good. Beware the ATE.

Churchill famously said, "History will be kind to me. I know this because I intend to write it." He was a great leader and writer, but his account is the epitome of victor's history.
By all means read it and appreciate it. I did.; 4/20/22, 11:37 AM
Jefferson's Revenge said...: Narr- Widmerpool in the last book got very weird to me. I find Powell to be funny in a Brit way. I understand when he is compared to "a funny Proust" but you definitely have to get the Brit's to see the humor. I thought the volume after WW2 ended to be beautiful.

They were talking about making a Flashman movie with Robert Downey Jr. as Flashman. I don't see him in that. Flashman was a large fellow, in more ways than one, as you probably know. I think that casting would be as bad as Tom Cruise was for Reacher. Sean Connery, without a Brit accent not Scot, could have been Flashman.; 4/20/22, 11:38 AM
gahrie said...: They were talking about making a Flashman movie with Robert Downey Jr. as Flashman.

My pick would be one of the Hemsworth brothers, preferably Chris.; 4/20/22, 1:27 PM
Narr said...: MacDowell was a great Flashman. I've never thought of who else might do. (Not sure about the size issue there.)

I'm such a numpty I forgot entirely to mention my completion of Martin van Creveld's "I, Stalin" kindle book. A companion to his earlier "Hitler in Hell," it's a pretend-apologia from Stalin, an account of his doings from his POV. A prism that's different from formal history, but interpreting and spinning, spotlighting, gaslighting, and obscuring in turn to tell an important story.

If Churchill hadn't already done his own, I'd suggest that for van Creveld's next one.; 4/20/22, 2:55 PM