Althouse: Sunrise

March 5, 2023

Sunrise — 6:27.

34 comments:

Lucien said...: How about this for a Ukraine peace deal: Russia gets a reservation around Sevastopol (like the US has at Guantanamo Bay), Ukraine gets the rest of Crimea back, and Russia keeps some of Donbas? (Or the UN administers referenda in Crimea and Donbas to see which way the populations want to go.); 3/5/23, 6:23 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: I've started to watch all of the Bond movies in order. The only Bond movies that I've seen in the theater have been the Roger Moore movies.

Just watched "Dr. No." Bond is in a supposedly secure cell, but he breaks out in under five minutes. The ventilator grill is flimsy and he breaks it using his slipper. Into the ventilator ducts and he quickly arrives in the control room. All the rest is history. James Bond: 1, Dr. No. fricasaeed in his reactor water.

Today was a partly sunny 54F. Nice day, almost shirt-sleeve weather. Still a little brisk for sustained shirt-sleeves, but warm enough for ten minutes.; 3/5/23, 7:28 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: A perfect illustration of what's going on today.

While everybody is streaming and TikToking the ground is literally moving from underneath us; our new ministry of truth is rewriting books and declaring inconvenient facts "misinformation", pregnant women and children are being poisoned with a so-called vaccine, and a president is trying to buy re-election by forgiving student loans in the billions of dollars with his mere signature.

Finally, somebody looks up where they are going, but by then they are heading down a ditch.

Streaming While Driving; 3/5/23, 8:53 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Chris Rock's material is a bit stale.

Even the biggest punchline is almost a year old.

While his abortion bit reflected new thinking slowly taking hold - "that is a baby you are killing", the Supremes decision is old news.

A comedian of Chris Rock's stature is expected to keep his material fresh.; 3/5/23, 9:10 PM
Chuck said...: A Jonah Goldberg retweet.

I love it. Curious what Meade thinks of it.; 3/5/23, 9:44 PM
wildswan said...: Finished reading Conversations with Stalin by Milovan Djilas (1962). The book is about disillusionment with Communism by a man who saw it at first as the way to end the injustice of centuries. The spirit of Djilas as it comes through the print and down through the years makes the gloomy topic, Eastern European Communism meets Stalin, almost exhilarating. And the topic is timely again. Besides the Putin and his followers sighing over the lost Soviet Union while raping women, torturing men and kidnapping children in the name of fraternal union, we have in this country people who are similarly yearning to see justice established and who see in CRT and in electing Senator Fetterman and in silence about Hunter Biden's corruption a quick, slick pathway to the final reign of justice. Somehow this book made them more comprehensible. And perhaps easier to defeat.
Amazon Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-Stalin-Milovan-Djilas/dp/0156225913
Archive.org if you're a member
https://archive.org/details/conversationswit00djil; 3/5/23, 10:29 PM
Drago said...: Anyone have any idea when they will be releasing the new variant to "scare the pants off us" prior to the 2024 election?

Asking for a world population that is just waiting for the globalists to pull their next ploy.; 3/5/23, 11:04 PM
Mr. Forward said...: The next toxic train derailment do I go to TJ Maxx or Kohls?; 3/6/23, 1:11 AM
effinayright said...: Lucien said...
How about this for a Ukraine peace deal: Russia gets a reservation around Sevastopol (like the US has at Guantanamo Bay), Ukraine gets the rest of Crimea back, and Russia keeps some of Donbas? (Or the UN administers referenda in Crimea and Donbas to see which way the populations want to go.)
************
I'd add guaranteed passage of Baltic sea lanes all the way to the Atlantic, with conventional military build-ups in Russsian Kaliningrad permitted to help enforce it. Otherwise Russia will feel it's running a NATO gauntlet every time its ships leave St. Petersburg.

Plus: Turkey to allow safe passage through the Bosphorous as long as the Russkis desist from molesting its neighbors with Black Sea littorals.; 3/6/23, 3:31 AM
Humperdink said...: Drago asked: "Anyone have any idea when they will be releasing the new variant to "scare the pants off us" prior to the 2024 election?"

That's a tough one. R's hate the environment (nuclear good, coal good, natural gas good, drilling good), R's want to kill SS and Medicare, R's want to put blacks back in chains, R's hate women, all white men are racists, R's love Vlad the Impaler .... there's still some mileage left on these.

However, my thinking it will have something to do with China. The Commie-Pinkos libs (looking at you LeBron) are in bed with the Chi-Coms, so it makes sense they will claim it's the R's who are the guilty. The libs are the master's of projection.; 3/6/23, 5:34 AM
gilbar said...: Lucien said...
How about this for a Ukraine peace deal...

The Problem Is: The only people that are interested in a peace deal, are the Ukrainians and the Russians.
The Western Military Industrials have NO interest in peace.. let alone a peace deal

As the WSJ proudly stated.. This Is OUR War; 3/6/23, 6:09 AM
Humperdink said...: @Drago. When you said "variant", I assumed you meant variant as to their latest political gambit, not the Covid variant. If the house holds Fauci's and Pfizer's feet the fire in the upcoming hearings, the Covid variant scare will die a slow death.

Speaking of Pfizer, the company was to release a study on the effects of their vaccine on pregnant women in 2022 (read: miscarriages). For some reason *cough* the study was cancelled due to lack of enrollment. I'm shocked.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/pfizer-confirms-it-ended-covid-19-vaccine-pregnancy-trial-early; 3/6/23, 6:29 AM
farmgirl said...: ASMR. Agreed.

Why curious, Chuck? B/c the guy wields a rake?; 3/6/23, 7:12 AM
jaydub said...: Chuck, Meade thinks you're a POS just like the rest of us. You're welcome.; 3/6/23, 7:46 AM
Meade said...: “Chuck, Meade thinks you're a POS just like the rest of us. You're welcome.“

Truth-O-Meader rates this statement… 100% TRULY TRUE!!!; 3/6/23, 8:08 AM
Václav Patrik Šulik said...: Naomi Wolf warns that by turning our back on God, we've opened the door to ancient demons - really:

"Though I don’t agree with everything in his book, Pastor Cahn’s central argument — that we have turned away from the Judeo-Christian God and thus we opened a door into our civilization for the negative spirits of “the Gods” to re-possess us — feels right."

Read the long essay at the link, above.; 3/6/23, 8:24 AM
tim in vermont said...: "Ukraine gets the rest of Crimea back"

Yes, Ukraine held Ukraine for 15 whole years after annexing it in 1995, nullifying Crimea's independence referendum by an act of the Ukrainian parliament, and using a Ukrainian SMO and Ukraine's far larger military, and the the rest of the previous 200 years it has been ruled out of Moscow, aside from five years of independence prior to 1995, and Crimeans support Russia to the point where it was re-annexed by Russia in 2014 without firing a shot, and government officials just switched over to working with Russia.

Everything is so easy in this war for people who don't know any Ukrainian history besides the stuff put out by the Ukrainians.

It's also funny how Donbas managed to hold out eight years in the civil war, despite American support for the Kiev faction. The whole concept that Kiev has the legitimate right to rule Donbas comes from the immediate US recognition of a violent coup that overthrew the democratically elected government there. As soon as the US takes a side in a civil war, the people on the other side are now, by definition, traitors and separatists, and all use of military means to put down such an insurrection against the will of the United States's diktats are justified.

Russia, of course, is forbidden to arm the other side, against our chosen side, in a conflict on Russia's border, on the other side of the world from the United States.

Just like we can pour weapons into the conflict, throwing gasoline on the fire, but China better not do anything similar, even as we openly discuss fighting a war with them over Taiwan.

"My country, right or wrong" is just as true for a Russian or the Chinese, as it is for Americans, and the only resolution then is the test of strength: war.; 3/6/23, 8:43 AM
tim in vermont said...: "Naomi Wolf warns that by turning our back on God, we've opened the door to ancient demons - really:"

We have torn down "Chesterson's fence" without due consideration as to why it existed in the first place.; 3/6/23, 8:45 AM
Chuck said...: farmgirl said...
ASMR. Agreed.

Why curious, Chuck? B/c the guy wields a rake?

No, it is because that, for longtime and attentive readers of the Althouse blog, they may remember a time -- years ago -- when Madison's Regent Street Neighborhood, in the midst of some nasty late-winter slush and snow, was plagued with clogged street drains. And Meade went out, in a quiet and simple act of community spirit, unclogged some of the drains and immediately improved the situation at a couple of intersections that might otherwise have flooded.

Thanks for asking.

Isn't it wonderful, how this simple observation by me leads to negative commentary aimed at me?

Have a nice day.; 3/6/23, 9:15 AM
Meade said...: He’s not only merely a POS.
He’s really most sincerely a POS.; 3/6/23, 9:30 AM
Michael McNeil said...: Brought forward from an earlier post…

As noted up thread, the problem isn't really that new editions of newly expurgated books are being published, but more significantly owners of earlier, unexpurgated editions of ebooks such as Kindles are having their books be automatically updated under their noses to the new, censored versions. For those desirous of evading such a fate, Kindle users at least can do this:

Go to your Amazon account, then to:

Manage Your Content and Devices / Preferences / Automatic Book Updates

Then turn "Automatic Book Update" OFF.; 3/6/23, 9:41 AM
Old and slow said...: The problem is you Chuck. You have such an off putting personality and it comes through so prominently in your writing that literally everything you post inspires a negative response. I went back and looked at the twitter link you had posted and enjoyed it. Your personal brand is so tainted that people just assume the worst when they see your name.; 3/6/23, 10:44 AM
Candide said...: History of war in Donbas offers another caution story that may hit close to home in US in the years to come.

Russian involvement in Donbas started with limited military and humanitarian assistance in 2014 and escalated to the invasion in 2022.

Likewise, US support for Kievan forces since 2022 started with limited supply of military equipment and expertise and keeps increasing in scope as the fighting in Ukraine continues. How long will it take until US gets actively involved, with ‘boots on the ground’?

It is not at all rare that regional military conflicts make slaves of Great Powers, forcing them to act against their own interests; in fact, it is common. WW1, US war in Vietnam, USSR war in Afghanistan, all started as small regional conflicts, where Great Powers’ involvement was supposed to solve the issue quickly and decisively, but lead instead to protracted war putting the whole World in danger.; 3/6/23, 11:07 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Meade:
Your 8:08 comment is disturbingly ambiguous: if you 100% agree that Chuck is "a POS just like the rest of us", are you saying that every single commenter on this site is a POS? Clarification urgently needed!; 3/6/23, 11:59 AM
Saint Croix said...: What's funny about Goldfinger is that Pussy Galore saves the world.

Yeah, sure, Bond beat up that silent Korean guy.

What did Pussy do?

Save the day!

How did Bond save the world?

He slept with Pussy!; 3/6/23, 12:12 PM
Narr said...: I might be a POS myself, but I'm a proud Althouse POS.; 3/6/23, 2:26 PM
Meade said...: “are you saying that every single commenter on this site is a POS?“

Every single commenter except you, Doc. No, I’m just messing with you. Of course I include you in that group. HA!

Look — jaydub and his syntax come from down there where all the people say y’all. We love those people and we know exactly what he means. Even Chuck knows what jaydub means — that Chuck is a POS. Being a POS is what Chuck does best. He’s a
Sh*tter. Sh*tting is what he does to get attention. But his greatest sin is being boring. That’s what the blogger banned him for the first time. Also the second time. And no doubt it’ll be the reason she bans him next time. Rule 1 of commenting: “Do not be boring.” She hates that.

Right Chuck?; 3/6/23, 3:01 PM
Meade said...: And we’re damn proud of you, Narr!

Carry on.; 3/6/23, 3:02 PM
Chuck said...: Meade said...
“are you saying that every single commenter on this site is a POS?“

Every single commenter except you, Doc. No, I’m just messing with you. Of course I include you in that group. HA!

Look — jaydub and his syntax come from down there where all the people say y’all. We love those people and we know exactly what he means. Even Chuck knows what jaydub means — that Chuck is a POS. Being a POS is what Chuck does best. He’s a
Sh*tter. Sh*tting is what he does to get attention. But his greatest sin is being boring. That’s what the blogger banned him for the first time. Also the second time. And no doubt it’ll be the reason she bans him next time. Rule 1 of commenting: “Do not be boring.” She hates that.

Right Chuck?

Aren't we being boring, with a personal back-and-forth featuring your personal insults aimed a me?

You ask, "Right, Chuck?" You of all people know that I in fact have a clear, documented history as to my "first" and "second" bans, and that in neither case did "boring" have anything to do with it. I copied you on relevant emails I sent to the blog hostess. You were central to my first ban.

Do you want me to answer, on this page or any other page of this blog? I think we should let it go, but not if you say otherwise.

Comments should respond to material raised in the post. I encourage brevity and substance and discourage personal attacks and repetition.; 3/6/23, 3:40 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Eddie, is that you?; 3/6/23, 4:42 PM
Dr Weevil said...: 'tim in vermont' continues to bore us all with his quarter-truths about Ukraine. The fact is that the Donbas and Crimea chose to join Ukraine when the USSR broke up. The 1991 vote was fairly close in Crimea (53%) and Sevastapol (then a separate jurisdiction - 57%), but overwhelming in Luhansk and Donetsk (both nearly 84%). Russia ratified Ukrainian ownership of all three in the 1994 deal in which Ukraine gave up all their nukes. That settled the matter: Crimea and Donbas are Ukraine.

TIV's point that Russia seized Crimea "without firing a shot" is disingenuous. They had overwhelming force. Igor Girkin, who led the annexation, specifically said:
"that the 'overwhelming national support for the self-defence' as portrayed by the Russian media was fiction, and a majority of the law enforcement, administration and army were opposed to it. Girkin stated that under his command, the rebels 'collected' deputies into the chambers, and had to 'forcibly drive the deputies to vote [to join Russia]'." Unlike Yanukovych's voluntary flight to Russia after he had betrayed his country and lost all support, this really was a coup.

Girkin (a Russian from Moscow) also started the violence in the Donbass on April 12, 2014. TIV says "It's also funny how Donbas managed to hold out eight years in the civil war, despite American support for the Kiev faction." It may be funny, but it's also false. As the very detailed Wikipedia article points out: "By late August 2014, Ukraine had re-taken most separatist-held territory and nearly regained control of the Russia–Ukraine border. In response, Russia covertly sent artillery, tanks and personnel across the border, and what it called a 'humanitarian convoy'. Ukrainian officials called this a Russian "stealth invasion". The Russian incursion helped pro-Russian forces regain much of the territory they had lost. Alexander Borodai, former 'Prime Minister' of the DPR, later said 50,000 'Russian volunteers' had fought in the first five months of the war."

So the Donbass rebels, who already included lots of Russians from Russia, held out for four and a half months, not eight years, after which Russia in fact invaded Ukraine with masses of regular troops. By the way, Borodai, P.M. of 'independent' Donetsk, was, like Girkin, a Russian from Moscow, and probably FSB (=KGB). The annexation of Crimea and 'civil war' in Donbas were in fact Russian invasions of an independent country whose sovereignty they had solemnly promised to respect.; 3/6/23, 8:40 PM
Drago said...: Comments should respond to material raised in the post. I encourage brevity and substance and discourage personal attacks and repetition as well as banned commenters continuing to comment and then condescendingly behaving as if they are the rightful arbiters of what should be allowed to be posted.; 3/6/23, 8:41 PM
Drago said...: Ann Althouse: "Eddie, is that you?"

I'm just glad Ken Osmond isn't around to see LLR-Democratical Chuck push the profoundly and transparently insincere Eddie Haskell-like creepy cringey nearly-stalkerish suck-uppery so far over the edge.; 3/6/23, 8:43 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Eddie, are you kidding?; 3/7/23, 5:51 AM