Althouse: Sunrise

January 7, 2023

Sunrise — 7:34.

43 comments:

Lem Vibe Bandit said...: There was an attempt to record a proposal; 1/7/23, 5:54 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Free speech isn't free speech unless you are allowed to disagree; 1/7/23, 6:02 PM
farmgirl said...: Madison looks like here- NEK.
Grey, snow in the air, damp that gets into the bones.

How much time have we gained since Solstice?; 1/7/23, 6:07 PM
Gahrie said...: Way to go Wrexham!; 1/7/23, 6:22 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "How much time have we gained since Solstice?"

The latest sunrise here is at 7:29, and it isn't until December 31st. It stayed at 7:29 through January 5. Yesterday and today, it came one minute earlier. So one answer to your question is one minute.

But the earliest sunset was 4:22, which we had first on December 4th and through December 13th. The shortest day, the solstice, was 8:59:44. Today's day-length was 9:10:05. So we've gained 10 minutes and 21 seconds since the solstice. I think that's the better answer to your question, though you can see how little that has to do with my sunrise practice.; 1/7/23, 6:29 PM
Ann Althouse said...: By "latest sunrise," I'm ignoring Daylight Savings. By the clock, there's are many later sunrises, the latest being at 7:37 Daylight Time on November 5th, the day before we reset to Standard Time.; 1/7/23, 6:32 PM
Ann Althouse said...: The Sunday NYT crossword is one of the least enjoyable NYT puzzles I have ever seen. Bleh!!; 1/7/23, 6:33 PM
rhhardin said...: Dislocation of earliest and latest from solstice is just from the earth spinning too slowly to keep up with the closer sun in the winter. Opposite in the summer.; 1/7/23, 7:28 PM
Saint Croix said...: The Chosen mini-series is fantastic. It's about Jesus and the disciples he drafted. It's so well done.

I've seen season 1, and just bought season 2. I think they're on season 3 now. Highly recommended.; 1/7/23, 7:32 PM
farmgirl said...: Thank you, Althouse.
I’ll take the gain in light whichever way- both are a win :0).
It’s been a dark Winter.; 1/7/23, 8:35 PM
Saint Croix said...: When I was a kid, Bugs Bunny was a cross-dressing man-kisser.

And it was funny!

Bob Hope would dress like a woman. Cary Grant would dress like a woman. It was comedy, and people liked it.

What people dislike about transvestites reading to children is not the cross-dressing.

What they dislike is the seriousness of it. That's what is spooky as shit. Nobody wrote those Bugs Bunny cartoons to get people to question gender roles. They wrote those cartoons to make people laugh.

Woke people are not funny. They are serious as shit. And so I see this as indoctrination. We are supposed to believe that men and women can indeed cross over biological reality. We are supposed to believe that men can become women, and vice versa.

Rational people know this is completely horseshit. It's a confusion of superficial appearances with biological reality. And it's really dangerous for kids who are learning the norms to have our fucking authorities destroy the norms and insist there are no norms.

The fact that the Woke believes that women are something people pretend to be is insane. Yes, sure, women can act a variety of ways, and men can act a variety of ways. And it's healthy for men to cry and women to get angry. But what's unhealthy (and dark, and Satanic) is to deny biological reality, deny God's creation, and pretend like human beings have the power to rearrange these things. What upsets people is not the humorous attempt at play (Bugs Bunny). What upsets people is the very serious denial of biology and denial of God. Brought to you by the same people who make babies disappear, and pretend like they never existed.; 1/7/23, 8:55 PM
Political Junkie said...: Predictions on Georgia vs TCU?; 1/7/23, 9:15 PM
walter said...: Via Berenson:
"Let’s just say what turned up is fascinating - and will make someone very unhappy that Elon opened these files. A couple of someones, but one someone in particular.

The story will be coming soon. (Ironically, I am waiting for Twitter to pull the “do not amplify” tag from my account before I post. This piece needs the widest distribution possible, and having Twitter itself suppress a story that I have gotten based on its files doesn’t make much sense.)

Tick, tick, tick…"; 1/7/23, 9:29 PM
h said...: I'm seeing a number of reports along the lines of "citizens take actions against criminals" and then police are called. (1) There is a video of a man in a Houston restaurant who shoots and kills a criminal who had come into the restaurant and held up customers with a gun; (2) In Washington, DC, police were called to investigate the shooting of a young person by a homeowner who observed the young person trying to "tamper with parked vehicles" (in DC there is a common crime of breaking into cars parked on the street to steal wheels, or airbags, or other parts).

I wonder if this is a more and more common type of story which is to say: "We no longer rely on police; we now deal with criminal behavior that we observe with our own weapons." Isn't it much better to have vigilant and active police than to have vigilante civilians?

This is not a trend I endorse or hope for; it is one of which I am fearful.; 1/7/23, 9:31 PM
Achilles said...: farmgirl said...

How much time have we gained since Solstice?

The rate of change in day length is very low immediately around the solstice. We will gain less than a minute a day for a while.

But every day we move closer to the equinox the rate of change will increase.

Right around the equinox the rate of change will start decreasing again. The days will get longer at a slower rate.

Then the summer solstice where the days start getting shorter and the rate they get shorter will be as slow as the rate the days are getting longer now.

It is hard to put a sin wave and first and second derivatives into words.; 1/7/23, 10:03 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Watch people die inside; 1/7/23, 10:10 PM
Humperdink said...: @Saint Croix. I concur, very powerful. Highly recommend. Spouse and I both watched the first two seasons, one episode per night. There have been a few episodes of season three produced. We will dive into those shortly.; 1/7/23, 10:10 PM
Dave Begley said...: Attended the Inaugural Ball in Omaha. Sat next to one of the football teammates and frat brothers of the Governor. He is from Central City. The First Lady is from Central City. He introduced them to each other. My date’s friend’s husband lived in Platte Center on the same block as the Governor and his family.

Nebraska is a big small town.; 1/7/23, 11:21 PM
Saint Croix said...: Satan Visits Saint Croix

Okay. So last time I was inhabited by a spirit, I thought it was the Holy Spirit. This happened in the "Sunrise" post. You can see a few posts that are pretty scary and controversial. And I left those up because I'm a badass and not scared of ghosts.

(I was a little worried that my homophobia would overwhelm me and we would lose "How Rumors Get Started" but when the spirit left me and I read my posts I was still happy).

You also might notice that three major posts have all been deleted by somebody. I did that. I deleted three posts out of fear. My fear was, fucking Satan was in me again.

I really liked them, too! But when I'm reading them, and I got to the line "you fucking Catholics," I started shivering violently. I got the shivers and I'm trying to hang in there.

Maybe the Holy Spirit is mad at the Catholics. It's possible, right? We're all human and sinners and we're all wrong about something. And clearly the Catholic church is wrong on a few major issues.

No women priests, that's wrong. Priests can't get married, that's wrong.

Possibly I had made some angry spiritual observations -- working with the Holy Spirit -- and now all I had to do was not freak out when the spirit left me.

And I'm trembling violently. What was causing me a little stress was that I had just watched the trailer to The Chosen, which is amazing. And that's how holy and spiritual people act. And a little voice in my brain seemed to be afraid that I might have screwed the pooch again.

So I'm trembling with fear. And I'm trembling because there's no spirit inside me to keep me warm and happy and confident. It's just me, motherfucker, reading that "you fucking Catholics" line a couple of times, three times, four times, wondering how many Catholics I'm pissing off.

Maybe I'm secretly mad at those Catholics for not listening to my man Martin Luther and also killing a bunch of us under that Queen Mary bitch, who does she think she is, bloody Mary, your drink sucks too

and I'm trembling, and I'm trembling, and a little voice in my head that is my voice says

Fucking Satan got me again! Holy shit! Delete! Delete motherfucker! Delete!

I was like, boom, boom, boom!

And the universe is all quiet. And I hear another little voice. "Maybe you ought to delete the whole page and never speak again."

And I'm like, "Found you, motherfucker! Jesus kicked your ass and I am not afraid."

That was a close one.; 1/8/23, 12:06 AM
gadfly said...: On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) loosened its restrictions that prohibited the sale of the “abortion pill” mifepristone at pharmacies. Prior to this change, patients would have to go in person to receive the pill, and doctors were unable to write a prescription for them like any other medication.

While these new rules will make it easier for patients needing the medication for abortion or miscarriage treatment, states like Iowa and Wisconsin will not be affected as their laws heavily restrict abortion.

Under Wisconsin’s abortion law, anyone other than the mother of the child who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child is guilty of a felony.

But the abortion pill is supposedly safer than Tylenol. So when was the last diagnosis performed where Tylenol killed an unborn?; 1/8/23, 1:13 AM
Saint Croix said...: Saint Croix Defends the Honor of His First Love

"Look at this fucker. Look how sad he is. He's like a fucking hound dog."

"I'm not sad," I said, not looking at anybody.

"This is why nobody wanted you to come down for spring break. You are Mr. Buzzkill."

"Drop me off at the airport and I'll fly home, motherfucker. I don't need you or your shit."

"Wow. Look, Taylor, we're just trying to get laid, man."

"I'm trying to get laid."

"The hell you are. You don't even lie to girls. You want to sleep with your ex-girlfriend."

"No, I don't."

"You're such a fucking liar."

"No I'm not."

"You're just so pathetic, nobody can stand you."

"I don't give a shit."

"You're still in love with her. She's just a kike, man."

"Hey! I told you fucking Nazis--"

"I'm not a Nazi."

"--I don't like that fucking word."

"You don't like it because you lost your virginity to a kike, and now she's gone."

"Motherfucker."

"Kike, kike, kike, kike..."

Saint Croix stands up and starts pointing his finger at his three Nazi buddies. "If I bring my ex-girlfriend around to meet you fuckers, and anybody calls her a kike, I don't know what I will do, but if I lose my shit, I guarantee you one fucking thing, you will not like it. Son of a bitch."

Saint Croix storms off into his bedroom to cry into his pillow.

"Told you we should have left him at home."

"Fuck, man. How long did they date, anyway?"

"Six months."

"Those orgasms must have been off the charts."

"He used to be a man. Now look at him. Crying in the fucking bedroom."

"Why did we fucking bring him?"

"He's funny as shit and he can't play pool."

"How much did you take from him?"

"$200."; 1/8/23, 4:26 AM
Saint Croix said...: People on the left seem to hate babies, Boomers, white people, the rich, and men.

People on the right seem to hate Millennials, gay people, black people, foreigners, and the homeless.

Everybody loves money and nobody wants to look in a mirror. We all know the world is fucked up. And we hate on each other for pointing out how fucked up it is.

Cheer the fuck up! Life is fun. Enjoy it.

All of our sins are obvious to everyone in the afterlife. You have no secrets in the afterlife!

We are awful people, and yet a sweet afterlife awaits us anyway. After we spend one second to three days in hell, our sins are washed away and we can try again on another planet.; 1/8/23, 5:16 AM
Saint Croix said...: So I sign up for Room at the Inn when our church houses a dozen homeless people for the night. Two people are supposed to spend the night with the homeless. One has to be a man. I sign up and bring my dog. All the homeless like my dog. We bring them food and eat with them.

The only white person in this crew is named Paul. He's some kind of speed addict and he's got a blue mohawk. He's both racist and homophobic, so he's already gotten into arguments with all the black people in the room.

A single mom who reported me to Safe Church for asking her out twice is eating dinner with us. So I'm already a little stressed out. Paul stands up and is ready to get into a fight with a black guy on the other side of the room. I head him off, walk through two fucking tables and get between them.

I calmly talk to Paul. He doesn't want to sleep in a gay church where they did a gay marriage. I calmly talk to Paul some more. He says, "Fuck it, I'm out of here." He marches out of the room, and he's heading out into the snow.

I try to help Paul. He yells at me for loving gay people and black people and shit like that. He tells me I'm going to hell. He wipes the bottom of his shoes with his hands to indicate that I am in Sodom and he is never coming back. I ask him if he would like a Chick-Fil-A gift certificate. He says, "Yes, I would." I give him two.

In the morning I will accidentally see a naked black woman. She will report me to the bus driver for being a racist, a rapist, an asshole, or some damn thing. A priest will talk to me about this and ask what happened. I said I was having trouble getting the homeless to get on the 6:00 a.m. bus. She said they are our guests and we have to be nice. I said I know but we didn't have a woman staying overnight so I had to go in there to wake them up. "I did not want to see a naked homeless woman," I say, irritated.

I resolve to never do Room at the Inn again. The lady who runs Room at the Inn invites me back. "Be sure to bring your dog." So I do it again. All the homeless love my dog.

I played Scrabble with this nice homeless lady. A little voice inside my head said, "Let her win, let her win, let her win!" I am so fucking competitive I beat her. "You did really well," I said, embarrassed at my own fucking sins.

A priest asks me about the dog that is running around in All Saints Hall.

"Who's dog is this?"

"That's my dog."

"Why did you bring your dog?"

"She told me I could," I said.

"Who told you that?" he said.

"I don't know," I said. "Laura."

And so it goes.

Later I wonder if Paul is the apostle Paul and if people in the afterlife come down here just to fuck with us and have fun.; 1/8/23, 6:00 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: “Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation—some fact of my life—unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment... Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and my attitudes.” - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition, Page 417

“Cheer the fuck up! Life is fun. Enjoy it.” Indeed

Liked Saint Croix comments about Holy Spirit, not Holy Spirit on yesterday’s sunrise post.; 1/8/23, 6:14 AM
D.D. Driver said...: Leftwing protestors are getting serious sentences for the Jacob Blake protests:

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2023/01/07/kenosha-man-sentenced-for-injuring-officer-during-2020-jacob-blake-protests/69787613007/

At first, I thought "5 years seems a bit much," but then this is what he did:

https://www.fox6now.com/news/kenosha-protests-officer-injured-prison

Smart phones; Dumb clients; 1/8/23, 6:26 AM
Saint Croix said...: Predictions on Georgia vs TCU?

Bulldog

vs

Horned Frog

I think my Bulldogs will get poisoned, or some shit like that. But when the game is over, nobody will be able to find that fucking lizard.

Might have to take the Bulldog to a vet and buy him a steak dinner. And he's going to be shitting green for a couple of days. But he's all right.; 1/8/23, 6:59 AM
Saint Croix said...: I gave my Millennial sweetie a nice Christmas bonus.

Too nice. It turned her into a Bridezilla.

(She didn't cash the check).

"I am a bartender. You are my customer."

"You are mad at me for giving you a Christmas present?"

She stormed out of the bar.

I'm like, "wow, the passion!"

My waitress Millennial cashed my check, told me a bunch of lies, and made me sit in a Starbucks by myself for an hour.

Amazing the fun you can have with a little money!; 1/8/23, 7:06 AM
donald said...: Georgia! As if I’d say anything else.; 1/8/23, 7:27 AM
iowan2 said...: I wonder if this is a more and more common type of story which is to say: "We no longer rely on police; we now deal with criminal behavior that we observe with our own weapons."

At its core, Police were put in place to protect the criminals from the People. "The Wild West" was wild. It is part of the unwritten social contract. We,(The People) will abide by the criminal justice system...until we (The People) no longer are protected by the criminal justice system we(The People) created. Then its open season on criminals.
Maybe thats what George Soros wants.; 1/8/23, 7:28 AM
West TX Intermediate Crude said...: People on the left seem to hate babies, Boomers, white people, the rich, and men.
People on the right seem to hate Millennials, gay people, black people, foreigners, and the homeless.

I'm a white, relatively prosperous, male Boomer who is most def on the Right. My lefty mom loves me anyway.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I do not hate Millennials, gay people, black people, foreigners or the homeless. I dislike and object to some ongoing attempts to force me to support and celebrate their lives, whether chosen or congenital.

I prefer to not have my favorite blog hijacked by a long winded bloviator's stream of consciousness, but that's in the very large category of things that I cannot control.; 1/8/23, 7:52 AM
Rusty said...: Maybe, Gadfly, if you took responsibility for where you stuck your penis all this wouldn't be necessary.
But I have to admit, if you really are 80, kudos.; 1/8/23, 8:55 AM
tastid212 said...: “Bleh is right. What was the point of it?; 1/8/23, 9:06 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Saint Croix:

Rational people know this is completely horseshit. It's a confusion of superficial appearances with biological reality. And it's really dangerous for kids who are learning the norms to have our fucking authorities destroy the norms and insist there are no norms.

Whenever I hear one side complain that another is denying "biological reality," I am reminded of an old joke: Conservatives think everything is genetic except homosexuality; liberals think nothing is genetic except homosexuality."

The issue isn't so much about denying biological sex but acknowledging that biological sex is not the same thing as gender. If sex is about one's maleness or femaleness, gender is more akin to one's masculinity or femininity. Our tacit understanding of this distinction is revealed in our understanding of phrases like "masculine woman" or "feminine men." In fact, we have a plethora of terms to describe the various convergences and divergences of gender from sex: macho man, sissy, femboy, tomboy, butch, girly-girl.

While sex and gender are undoubtedly interconnected, they are not interdependent. A large component of gender norms are, in fact, sociocultural creations. To take your own examples, when Bob Hope and Carry Grant "would dress like a woman," they weren't denying biological reality, they were bucking gender norms and social expectations. What it means to "dress like a woman" is not a question of morphology or physiology but society. The same is true of the different gender standards for beauty and grooming. To quote you, "It's a confusion of superficial appearances with biological reality."

What people dislike about transvestites reading to children is not the cross-dressing.

If the storyteller dressed and presented according to the gender norms for his or her biological sex, he or she wouldn't be a transvestite. The "superficial appearances" are the source of the consternation.; 1/8/23, 9:37 AM
Original Mike said...: "Predictions on Georgia vs TCU?"

Nobody will play defense, and thus it will be boring as hell.; 1/8/23, 9:54 AM
jaydub said...: Nobody will play defense....

Strange comment. UGA is ranked 5th in total defense and TCU is 60+

TCU is 5th in offense and UGA is 8th.

Both teams play elite offense, only one seems to play elite defense. UGA is a 12.5 point favorite, which seems about right, but they're still going to play the game just in case. Regardless, it won't be boring.; 1/8/23, 11:43 AM
Saint Croix said...: hey Farmer,

Thanks for your thoughtful analysis!

I still don't get how homosexuality could possibly be genetic.

They don't reproduce and pass genes to offspring!

Straight people reproduce.

Bisexual people reproduce.

Gay people do not reproduce.

On some level it's a decision people make. That's why there is a belief among many that gay people feel the need to recruit.

I think sexuality is mutable (of course!) but the idea that we can transform women into men or vice versa is in the realm of science-fiction. Men impregnate women and I'm afraid I'm never going to believe any "scientist" or "reporter" who announces that a woman impregnated a woman or a man just gave birth.; 1/8/23, 1:22 PM
Saint Croix said...: Finally it's not like some library somewhere just hired a transvestite for the book reading. I wouldn't object nearly as much if we were talking about open-minded librarians.

We're talking about close-minded Woke fuckers who think homosexuality is wonderful and little gay kids are wonderful and many of these people don't actually become parents themselves.

Just to give one example, suppose a black single mother doesn't want a white-ass tranny reading to her 6-year-old boy? Where does she go for the reading class if the entire fucking library system has gone full on tranny training?

I predict in my lifetime we will see a massive shift of black people back into the Republican party. See Dave Chapelle, for instance. I cheer this.; 1/8/23, 1:24 PM
Saint Croix said...: I prefer to not have my favorite blog hijacked by a long winded bloviator's stream of consciousness, but that's in the very large category of things that I cannot control.

ha ha ha

in Bible study I told them to yell "Joe Namath" (mouth from the South) if I'm talking too much; 1/8/23, 1:26 PM
Original Mike said...: "Strange comment. UGA is ranked 5th in total defense and TCU is 60+"

Georgia 42
Ohio State 41

TCU 51
Michigan 45; 1/8/23, 1:52 PM
jaydub said...: OM, ????. Are you saying those games weren’t exciting, or are you saying the losing B1G teams didn’t play defense? Regardless I still think they’re going to play the game and the team that scores the most points, whether by offense or defense, is probably going to win the game. Most people think that will likely be UGA. Good news, though, you aren’t required to watch.; 1/8/23, 3:51 PM
Original Mike said...: "OM, ????. Are you saying those games weren’t exciting, "

Yes, that's what I'm saying. I like a game where the defense puts up a fight, not one where the only thing determining the winner is which team has the ball last. Why not flip a coin?

"Good news, though, you aren’t required to watch."

Likely will be the same as the semifinals. I'll start watching the game, but lose interest about the fifth or sixth touchdown. But who knows, maybe one team's defense will summon some self-respect and put up a fight. That's the team I'll be rooting for.; 1/8/23, 5:42 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Saint Crox:

I still don't get how homosexuality could possibly be genetic.

They don't reproduce and pass genes to offspring!

One potential explanation is the concept of kin selection, a phenomenon where an organism will sacrifice its own reproductive success in favor of the reproductive success of its close relatives.

Sexual orientation, like all complex social behavior, cannot be explained in terms of the DNA sequence. Our explanatory gap between molecular behavior and its social behavior is gargantuan. And of course, acknowledging a genetic component to homosexuality isn't the same thing as saying genes cause homosexuality. There could be other biological factors (e.g. hormonal shift in utero, and there's still huge room for environment to play a role.

The genetic contribution to homosexuality is not any kind of "gay gene" but rather a collection of small genetic variations spread out across the genome. And with none of the variations seeming to have much to do with sexual behavior otherwise, suggesting that the collection of variants is significant.

On some level it's a decision people make. That's why there is a belief among many that gay people feel the need to recruit.

On some level, all sexual behavior, homo and hetero, is a decision people make. But what precedes sexual behavior is sexual attraction. It makes far less sense to talk about sexual attraction as "a decision people make" or as something people can be recruited to.

Just to give one example, suppose a black single mother doesn't want a white-ass tranny reading to her 6-year-old boy?

How about not taking her kid to the event? I just checked my local library, and there are 7 events planned tomorrow. What if I don't want to attend any of those events? Doesn't seem like much of a conundrum.

Where does she go for the reading class if the entire fucking library system has gone full on tranny training?

Well, since storytelling events don't do much for reading comprehension, she could check her son out a book. I'm not sure how Drag Queen Story hour, whatever one thinks of it, is going to displace traditional library services.; 1/8/23, 6:30 PM
Saint Croix said...: The Real Story Behind Drag Queen Story Hour; 1/8/23, 11:46 PM