Althouse: Wildflowers at dawn.

July 16, 2023

Wildflowers at dawn.

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Talk about whatever you want in the comments.

(Note state capitol building in the background.)

33 comments:

Dave Begley said...: Ann’s photos of Lake Mendota remind of those paintings by the French guy with bad eyesight who kept painting his garden. What was his name?; 7/16/23, 8:23 PM
Rocco said...: You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free

Run away, find you a lover
Go away somewhere all bright and new
I have seen no other
Who compares with you

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free

Run away, go find a lover
Run away, let your heart be your guide
You deserve deepest of cover
You belong in that home by and by

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong somewhere close to me
Far away from your trouble and worry
You belong somewhere you feel free
You belong somewhere you feel free

- Tom Petty (1994); 7/16/23, 8:35 PM
walter said...: Went to my local beach for sunset today. 3 different hispanic groups playing music loudly, simultaneously. One group upped the ante with a group singalong at top of their lungs. Absolute cacophony while the sun descended behind a..wall..of clouds.
Definitely a "surge" this year.
Thanks Joementia!; 7/16/23, 8:35 PM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: Crimea has been Russian for all but two decades of the last couple centuries, but, you know, this time the ethnic cleansers are on our side, so, it's cool, right?

https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-crimea-russia-collaborators-purge-tamila-tasheva-1813033

Think about what might have really happened in Bucca, when the Ukrainians came back and found lots of locals had supported the Russians. Why are we involved in this war?; 7/16/23, 8:46 PM
wildswan said...: The other day I forced ChatGPT to admit that in its opinion The Answer, that is the overall answer to such questions as "why am I here?" "What should I do?" might be 42 in the future since science is always changing. And I've been amusing myself by asking other questions since then, such as "Isn't it true that Schrodinger's cat must be dead after all these years since cats don't live very long?" And whether all Cretans are liars. On that, ChatTold me not to generalize or stereotype groups in negative ways.
But let me be fair and repeat what I have noticed which is that ChatGPT is simply outstanding in terms of answering semi-technical consumer questions such as how to turn off Norton; what software runs Canon on Windows and so on. It's a one-stop answer-shop, fast, accurate. And no nonsense about "I'm Bruce" (I think not); "What can I do for you?"; explanation from me, the same one I later gave to ChatGPT; long pause; "OK, I can help you"; long pause; "Are you using Windows S". etc. ChatGPT said "Right click the icon and click on disable." I'm sorry I laughed at you ChatGPT, you are a great product.

Although:

User
if Schrodinger died in 1961 which you do know then must not his cat be dead since they don't live very long?

ChatGPT
I apologize for any confusion. Erwin Schrödinger, the physicist who proposed the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment, did pass away in 1961. However, it's important to clarify that the cat in the thought experiment is not a real cat. It is a hypothetical construct used to illustrate principles of quantum mechanics, specifically the concept of superposition.
...
User
AS a thought experiment, if Schrodinger's cat dies after September 2021, you wouldn't know, would you?

ChatGPT
That's correct. As an AI language model, my responses are based on the information available up until September 2021, and I don't have access to real-time data. If something were to happen to Schrödinger's cat or any other event occurring after that time, I would not have knowledge of it unless it was widely known and included in the data I was trained on. My responses are limited to the information and understanding available prior to September 2021.; 7/16/23, 9:27 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I see Rocco’s Tom Petty (1994) and I raise …

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

All the lonely people
(Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
(Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all belong?

The Beatles (1966); 7/16/23, 10:35 PM
Dr Weevil said...: I've said this before, I'll say it again. A friend of a friend is a Ukrainian professor who saved up for years to buy an apartment in Crimea so she could spend her summer breaks at the beach. For the last 9 years, she has been unable even to visit Crimea, and a Russian family has been living in the apartment she paid for. They've never paid her a single kopek in rent.

If the Russian squatters who only moved to Crimea in 2014 are compelled to bugger off back to Russia after Ukraine retakes Crimea, that is not "ethnic cleansing" in any way, shape, or form, it is simple justice. Or rather the only injustice involved in such an ending would be them getting away with not paying nine years of back rent, with interest, plus full compensation for any damage done to the property.

The suggestion that the murders, rapes, and tortures in Bucha were committed by Ukrainians is disgusting Russian propaganda only repeated by contemptible swine like 'tim in vermont'.

And anyone who knows anything about the history of Crimea knows that the people with the longest and strongest claim to owning the place are the Crimean Tatars, who would far rather be part of Ukraine than of Russia.; 7/16/23, 10:53 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: An Elon boost is not necessarily the picture which may pop up in your mind... which btw is nothing like a Fauci boost.

#misdirection

I have an old covid joke. Incidentally, can we really call a covid joke an "old joke" when it was forbidden to joke about covid?

Cold War jokes are old because the cold war ENDED, there was finality, there was a resolution, and if that was not clear enough for the doubters, an iron curtain came down, both literally and on paper. Don't get me started... this thing should not be treated like something you just sweep under a rug somewhere in San Fransisco.

Meanwhile, here's the joke... Forgive me father Fauci, for I have sinned. Last week, I went to a clandestine House Party where nobody wore a mask, and I accidently touched my face.

Fauci says, how long has it been since your last booster?; 7/16/23, 11:23 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Scott Adams find: Is this the Tate that talked to Tucker?

Is it? 🫣; 7/16/23, 11:50 PM
gadfly said...: Dave Begley said...
Ann’s photos of Lake Mendota remind me of those paintings by the French guy with bad eyesight who kept painting his garden. What was his name?

Well, I would likely be wrong if I guessed John Paul Mac Isaac, who is the most famous guy with bad eyesight that anyone talks about since the 2020 election. If you recall, Mac Isaac sued Twitter for $500,000,000 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida but the case was dismissed because his complaint failed to allege "complete diversity."; 7/17/23, 12:05 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: A compilation of the 2020 Beirut Warehouse explosion almost three years later.; 7/17/23, 12:07 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: YouTube: thought experiment testing trans ideology

Hint: Looking for the trans red line. Maybe they don’t have one.; 7/17/23, 12:28 AM
Narayanan said...: have butterfly come visit yet?; 7/17/23, 2:19 AM
Kate said...: I can imagine a Eugene Fields poem about two insulted field mice called "Wildflowers at Dawn".; 7/17/23, 2:57 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: NYC To Pay Minority Teachers Who Failed Teaching Exam Up To $2M. Each.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/07/nyc-to-pay-minority-teachers-who-failed-teaching-exam-up-to-2m-each/; 7/17/23, 4:58 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: WSJ has an interesting poll:

“Can You Wear Shorts?

Overall: A healthy 58% of respondents think it can be appropriate for guys to flash some leg in the office.

But boomers will have something to say about that. Those aged over 58 were the sole anti-shorts crusaders, with 57% deeming the style unacceptable at all times. They’ll have to face off against millennials, who were the most enthusiastic knee-freers: 75% say shorts can be office-worthy. Gen Zers and Gen Xers were also fairly bullish on leg-baring, with 67% and 56%, respectively, asserting that shorts can be appropriate professionally.”; 7/17/23, 5:12 AM
Political Junkie said...: Dave B - Monet?; 7/17/23, 5:52 AM
Humperdink said...: @ Dr. Weevil A friend of a friend had an uncle an killed in Korea in the 50's, a classmate of mine was shot down, was seen captured, and is still missing in action* in Viet Nam, my son's C-17 was shot at while transporting troops during the second Gulf war, a church member's son was killed in Afhganistan. Enough is enough.

*Robert J. Acalotto MIA 1970, name is on the wall.; 7/17/23, 6:47 AM
Rocco said...: BUMBLE BEE said...
“NYC To Pay Minority Teachers Who Failed Teaching Exam Up To $2M. Each.”

If they want to save some money on this program, I’d be willing to fail it for $1M.; 7/17/23, 7:00 AM
Humperdink said...: Want a interesting Monday morning exercise? Track the stock prices of Lowes, WalMart, Home Depot, and Pfizer from the beginning of the Covid plague lockdowns. Pfizer's stock price has subsequently petered out for obvious reasons. Then track small business sentiment and closures.; 7/17/23, 7:34 AM
Dave Begley said...: Monet!; 7/17/23, 7:37 AM
gilbar said...: Dr We evil? Do you get your checks from the Ukrainian fascists? Or just straight from the CIA?; 7/17/23, 8:01 AM
Original Mike said...: Did Monet think it improved his art. They had glasses then, right?

I finally broke down and got glasses for distance (I've needed readers for decades). It is kind of nice to see the finely etched branches on the trees on the other side of the lake. But I can imagine they'd be easier to paint a little bit fuzzy.; 7/17/23, 11:07 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Humperdink (6:47am):
What does that have to do with Ukraine? They neither need nor want American or any other foreign troops: all they need is weapons, ammunition, and enough cash to keep their economy from collapsing due to the fact that their defense budget is now equal to what their entire budget was before the invasion, while tax receipts have of course shrunk. The cost is a trivial part of our massive deficits, and most of the equipment is cheaper to give them than to dispose of safely. There are over 2,000 F-16s in storage around the world, but Biden has been screwing around for over a year, promising to send some without actually doing so, and preventing our allies from doing so. Ukrainians are dying because of his (or his handlers') stupidity.

The only way American troops would end up in Eastern Europe is if we do what so many here want to do, cut off all aid, allow Ukraine to be conquered and enslaved, and encourage Putin to do what his propagandists keep saying they want to do, which is to invade Poland, the Baltics, Finland, and Qazaqstan. (Qazaqstan? Yes, they've changed the name because Kazakh is a Russianized form that follows Russian rules to make the first and second K/Q sounds look different when they're pronounced the same in Qazaq.) That really would be World War III and would very likely require American troops.; 7/17/23, 11:08 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Too-stupid-to-argue-like-an-adult gilbar (8:01am):
No, I don't get checks for what I write: do you?

Someone who refuses to acknowledge that he's been proven wrong, even when reminded, looks a hell of a lot more like a paid propagandist than I ever will. You repeated an easily-proven bald-faced Zero Hedge lie on the July 4th Sunrise thread (link), and still refuse to admit or even discuss it, but just quote Zero Hedge again on another subject, as if they were some kind of authority (July 15th Sunrise thread, still on the front page). ZH lies about Ukraine, and so do you. Why would you do that if you're not being paid to do so? Pure unselfish and uncompensated love of lies?

I spend an hour or more a day keeping up with Ukraine news, reading dozens of Twitter feeds, and have crossed off my list quite a few pro- as well as anti-Ukrainian ones that I've found unreliable. I also regularly read what the Russians have to say themselves, translated by Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews), Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr), and TheKremlinYap (@TheKremlinYap). Ironically, two of the best sources for honest news on just how badly the Russians are losing are two of the biggest Russian war criminals, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagnerite and failed insurrectionist, and Igor Girkin, the man who actually led the 2014 Russian invasions of Crimea and the Donbas, and shot down the Malaysian airliner - nine years ago today, as it happens. (Both are regularly translated by the three previous accounts.) Infinitely more trustworthy sources than ZeroHedge or convicted criminals Kim Dotcom and Scott Ritter.; 7/17/23, 11:32 AM
Humperdink said...: @Dr. Weevil

A) It is not our fight. It is on Europe's front door step. Let them deal with it.

B) I suspect we already have advisors *cough* on the ground in Ukraine.

C) Why is the US dead set against a cease fire or peace talks?

In answer to your question "What does that have to do with Ukraine?" All of my examples are wars where US soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines were killed. For what? What did we gain in Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan? Are these countries thriving democracies? In case you missed it, when we supply Ukraine with war supplies, we are in this war!; 7/17/23, 1:37 PM
Narayanan said...: If they want to save some money on this program, I’d be willing to fail it for $1M.
==========
even easier >> failed??!! due to absent for exam. just hack the registration roster!! + auto-enroll for mail-in ballot.; 7/17/23, 1:52 PM
Narayanan said...: “Can You Wear Shorts?
===========
is there gender barrier to Skorts?; 7/17/23, 1:56 PM
Narayanan said...: They've never paid her a single kopek in rent.
========
@ Dr Weevil >> if they want to pay will FJB sanction be waived for them? or should they also add 10% for processing?; 7/17/23, 2:02 PM
wendybar said...: Scott Newgent
@NotScottNewgent
“Antifa super soldier.”

People WAKE UP! Please, I'm begging you. All of this is about men with sexual fetishism & making 💰 by butchering your kids.

What else has to happen before you SCREAM Louder? http://Scottnewgent.com

NCAA swimmer responsible for ripping women's sports transwoman wearing a BDSM harness, black shirt emblazoned with the words “Antifa super soldier.”

https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-identifying-swimmer-shows-true-colors-in-social-media-post; 7/17/23, 3:24 PM
gilbar said...: Dr We Evil?
Are you GLAD that your side damaged the Crimea bridge? Civilians died, and civilians will Starve, but i suppose you'll say something like: Those are Russians Good Riddance?; 7/17/23, 3:24 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Humperdink (1:37pm):
A. As I've already said before on other threads, it is our fight because Clinton made it our fight by helping convince Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons in return for a guarantee of its 1991 borders. And Europe is dealing with it. As a percentage of GNP, our contributions to Ukraine put us equal to the U.K. (and Canada), behind Czechia, Slovakia, Norway, and the Netherlands, way behind Poland and all three Baltic countries, and not all that far ahead of half a dozen other countries.
B. Bullshit. If there were U.S. "advisors" in Ukraine it would have leaked out by now. This is the most transparent war ever, with everyone on both sides using cellphones.
C. South Korea is in fact a thriving democracy, though it took a couple of decades to develop into one. Iraq is on the same trajectory, and would be a lot further along if Iran were not doing its worst to stop them. Too bad Obama did absolutely nothing, even verbally, to help the protesters who came very close to overthrowing the mullahs. Iraq is certainly better off, and far less of a threat to its neighbors, than it was under Saddam Hussein and his sons. As for the others, of course they're not democracies: we either lost or gave up on them, depending on how you look at it. If Ukraine loses, as some here desire, it won't be a democracy either.; 7/17/23, 6:05 PM
Dr Weevil said...: As before, gilbar (3:24pm) refuses to correct his lies or admit them, and just adds more, while repeating his moronic insults.

He supposes that I will say things that any moron would know I would not say. Of course, I am glad Ukraine damaged the Crimea bridge: that will shorten the war and thereby save tens of thousands of Ukrainians from death, mutilation, torture, rape, and kidnapping, and probably save Russian lives, too.

However, for the two civilians who died, and one wounded, I am not glad that they died, and wish they'd had the sense to stay home. Collateral damage is an unfortunate side effect of war, and one of the reasons starting wars, as their leader Putin did, is evil. The bridge was damaged at 3:20am local time, when traffic was at a minimum, because the Ukrainians do their best to minimize civilian casualties. The same night two Ukrainians were killed and nineteen injured by Russian missiles, drones, and artillery aimed at civilian neighborhoods all across the country. The Russians do this every night, and 2+19 is on the low side of the usual casualties. They do it at night to maximize civilian casualties. Does gilbar care about those deaths and injuries? Does he care that what the Ukrainians did last night was not a war crime, while what the Russians do every night of the week is in fact a war crime? It's up to him to show it, but all signs point to no. Should we suppose that he would say something like: Those are Ukrainians Good Riddance? Fair is fair.

He needs to stop projectile commenting over every open thread.; 7/17/23, 6:24 PM