Althouse: Sunrise — 6:42, 6:46, 6:47, 6:48.

November 7, 2023

Sunrise — 6:42, 6:46, 6:47, 6:48.

34 comments:

BUMBLE BEE said...: Lately I've been thinking about Narciso's contributions here. Spooky, and stunningly accurate stuff.; 11/7/23, 6:27 PM
wildswan said...: I feel as if the news these days really is "breaking news." Breaking me, anyhow.; 11/7/23, 6:48 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: I'm one of those who cannot listen to Bob Dylan sing Bob Dylan songs (at least more than one). But I can listen to other people sing Bob Dylan songs. So it is with Cat Power's Ode to Dylan, an album, unlike the original despite the name, that was actually recorded at Royal Albert Hall, song for song from the 1966 original. Acoustic first set, electric ("Judas!") second set. Link goes to the last song on the album.; 11/7/23, 7:10 PM
Scott Patton said...: When reading "Stranger in a Strange Land", I had to stop about two thirds of the way through. If I had read the word "grok" one more time, my head would've exploded. It all worked out though, because, as rule, all books are two fifths too long anyway.
It was frustratingly hard to use google ngram viewer to try to see how many times the word was used in that one book.
I asked Bard who confidently responded: "The word "grok" appears 151 times in the original 1961 edition of Stranger in a Strange Land ".
Sounds about right, but I don't believe a lying AI. I asked for a source and it claims it did a search the original text. It also said that the book is available on Project Gutenberg. A quick search of Project Gutenberg come up empty.; 11/7/23, 7:28 PM
Scott Patton said...: Hopefully, when Grok the AI is accessible by us peons, it has the guts to answer a question with "I don't fucking know that shit" when that is the case.; 11/7/23, 7:32 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: LOL. Sorry for the Rick-Roll. Try this one for Cat Power's Ode to Dylan; 11/7/23, 7:50 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Buwaya and Narciso pretty much laid it all out years ago.
On the Althouse Blog, a great public service.; 11/7/23, 7:52 PM
FullMoon said...: I think Marianne Williamson will be Democrat nominee, and will be a fine president, with Newsome in the wings as VP.; 11/7/23, 8:17 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Wanna ruin a Republican’s night?

Be sure to let them know that the Kentucky Governors Race has predicted the Presidential election in the previous 5 cycles.; 11/7/23, 8:21 PM
MadTownGuy said...: Top 50 Disasters Gov. Gavin Newsom Has Ushered into California

"The blockbuster news this weekend that Obama Democratic Strategist David Axelrod advised President Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race after a damning poll showed him trailing behind former President Donald Trump, the New York Post reported. “David Axelrod pointed to Sunday polling from the New York Times and Siena College that shows the president lagging behind Trump in the five key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania — states which Biden won when he faced Trump in 2020.”

This changes everything. Prepare for Candidate Gavin Newsom."

Here's the top ten:

"1. Water rationing: How can California have a water crisis when the state borders the Pacific Ocean, and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, 400 miles north-south and 50 miles to 80 miles east–west, drains into more than 15 rivers, 6 lakes, and numerous creeks? The Sierra Nevada snowpack is the major source of water and a significant source of electric power generation in California.

2. Highest taxes in the nation: California Ranks Among 10 Worst in U.S. for High Taxes. Gavin Newsom’s state ranks in the bottom three for worst for individual taxes. Even with the highest taxes in the nation, Newsom and Democrats tried to pass legislation to force successful Californians to pay additional taxes on wealth and income that’s already been taxed – and vowed tax “avoidance” would not be allowed as California would tax them for the next ten years, despite what state they live in.

3. 817,000 Californians left California in just 2022. Thousands of businesses have fled to other states

4. Dramatically increasing crime wave: Gov. Newsom even announced in 2020 he planned to close two state prisons in the coming years, and all three state-run juvenile prisons. He’s also said he planned to increase sentencing credits to allow inmates to leave prison more quickly, shorten parole to a maximum of two years, down from five years for felonies, and let ex-felons earn their way off supervision in just a year, or 18 months for sex offenders.

5. All big cities in California are in decline under Gov. Newsom

6. multiple labor unions striking

7. growing mentally-ill, drug addicted homeless population littering streets with feces and drug needles

8. denied housing vouchers in Los Angeles

9. reparations for descendants of slaves

10. $7.00-per-gallon-gas"

Lots more at the link.; 11/7/23, 8:26 PM
Gusty Winds said...: Drug companies, the FDA, and the WHO are willing to accept a certain amount of death as an adverse reaction to their promoted snake oils. The percentages of the amount of death or adverse reactions to the snake oils seems to be creeping higher and higher. Vaccine side effects. Quick, unnatural loss drugs. Puberty blockers.

Soon the FDA will approve the "achieve immortality" pill that will kill millions and provide zero immortality to anyone. I trust Phillip-Morris and Miller-Coors more than Pfizer and Moderna.

Now, they vilify historically safe, effective, and affordable medications that have saved billions of lives.

I'd rather die from smoking cigarettes and drinking too much beer, than have my life taken by some man-boobed asshole like Bill Gates who tells me mRNA shots will save me, fake meat will feed me, and blocking out the warmth of the sun will keep me cool.; 11/7/23, 8:33 PM
Mark said...: Scott, Grok is only available via a $16 subscription.

Elon only mines your data for free. Getting a foul mouthed AI talk about shoving candy canes up your ass comes at a price, just another example of Musk's brilliant business sense.; 11/7/23, 8:38 PM
wild chicken said...: Scott that's about where I stopped reading it too.; 11/7/23, 9:28 PM
wild chicken said...: "Grasp," "understand," "comprehend."

Anything but "grok." It's too redolent of smart aleck libertarian sci-fi dorks.; 11/7/23, 9:32 PM
Roger von Oech said...: Ann: I see that you’re a Criterion subscriber.

I just watched the Argentine film “Nine Queens” (2000) which just dropped a few days ago as part of the con-men selections.

I think you and the Meadester would enjoy it. Lots of unexpected twists.; 11/7/23, 9:57 PM
chickelit said...: BUMBLE BEE wrote: Lately I've been thinking about Narciso's contributions here. Spooky, and stunningly accurate stuff.
Not the usual narcissistic fare here, eh?; 11/7/23, 10:08 PM
Josephbleau said...: According to Ohio results it’s slightly more important to smoke pot than to abort babies at 24 weeks, but both are good for the get out the vote game. If Republicans want to win they have to tone it down. This is the only thing the Democrats have going for them, and it is big joss.; 11/7/23, 10:37 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: Dems claim major victories in VA. My takeaways:
1) Well no shit, VA is District 1 in the Hunger Games.
2) It gives Biden confidence to continue his 2024 campaign. It's a bold strategy Cotton, let's see if it pays off for 'em.; 11/7/23, 11:09 PM
Quaestor said...: Scott Patton writes, "It was frustratingly hard to use [the Google] ngram viewer to try to see how many times the word was used in that one book."

Using archive.org I did a search of the "original, uncut version" and received 265 hits on grok. Searching the Berkley Publishing Corporation's 1971 paperback version, the most widely used student edition, returned 225 hits.; 11/8/23, 12:52 AM
Quaestor said...: In other news, The House finally censured one of its resident Nazis, Rashida Tlaib. Unfortunately, nine Republicans voted nay or otherwise fudged the vote. On the other hand, twenty-two Democrats discovered a sufficient residue of decency to vote yea. Twenty-two would have been more than enough to save the Cities of the Plain from divine wrath, but I think it won't do much for the Ds next November; Tlaib is far too stupid to profit from a lesson when it is taught, a definitive racial characteristic of the Palestinians. If it were ever honestly measured, I'd wager Israelis as a group would score a full standard deviation to the right of the IQ bell curve mean. I'd also bet the Palestinian score would plot as the mirror image.; 11/8/23, 1:10 AM
Mutaman said...: "It was such a bad night for Republicans that Sean Hannity went on TV and claimed Republicans are not against all abortions."; 11/8/23, 1:29 AM
wendybar said...: Travis🇺🇸

@Travis_in_Flint
Meet Letitia James, current AG of New York whose primary focus is getting Donald Trump. She claims Donald Trump uses his status to overvalue his properties and secure better loan terms.

In 2010 her alleged net worth was $100,000. From 2013-2018 she served as the New York City public advocate whose job was to protect citizens and advocate for them. While doing that job, somehow her net worth allegedly went from $100,000 all the way up to $5 million.

Since becoming AG her net worth is now estimated to be around $15 million. How does she do it? Well, that’s the most ironic part of all of this. She owns a ton of property and many have even complained that she was able to get them way under fair market value. She says this was because she has such a keen eye and deep understanding of real estate.

In what world does the media ignore an elected official who owns a ton of property that she got at amazing deals investigating the leading Presidential candidate?

It’s obvious now why she was chosen for this job!; 11/8/23, 4:24 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I just watched the Argentine film “Nine Queens” (2000) which just dropped a few days ago as part of the con-men selections. I think you and the Meadester would enjoy it. Lots of unexpected twists."

I think this is a category I've been avoiding all my life. I haven't even seen "The Sting" (also in Criterions current con men selection). I tried watching the trailer for "Nine Queens" and couldn't make it through. I don't think I care about "unexpected twists." By the same token, I have never read a book in the category called "thriller." Following a plot seems like work, and if it feels that way to me, what's to enjoy? I didn't find the men in the "Nine Queens" trailer interesting to look at. Why should I care about whether they can be successful in their con? What's it to me?; 11/8/23, 4:38 AM
Ann Althouse said...: That said, I have watched 3 of the 8 movies in Criterion's current "Con Games" collection.

1. "Trouble in Paradise" — because it's Ernst Lubitsch and it's pre-Code, and it has Miriam Hopkins (not to mention Kay Francis).

2. "The Lady Eve" — because it was one of the great old films I saw when I was in college.

3. "The Grifters" — because it got great reviews when it came out in 1990.; 11/8/23, 4:43 AM
Ann Althouse said...: And I've recently watched 2 film-noir movies that could be called "con game" movies: "The Asphalt Jungle" and "The Killing."; 11/8/23, 4:45 AM
wendybar said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/8/23, 4:55 AM
Unknown said...: Try ‘House Of Games’ for a con game movie.; 11/8/23, 5:18 AM
Big Mike said...: Dems claim major victories in VA.

@Rt41 Rebel, the 40 seat Senate will have 21 Democrats versus 17 Republicans with 2 districts too close to call — but a Republican is leading in both of them, and by enough that their leads should hold. The 100 seat House of Delegates is currently at 51 to 47 with two districts not yet called. Interestingly, one of the too-close-to-call districts is House District 57, where the Democrat candidate tried to raise campaign cash by setting up a porn site where she offered to livestream sex acts with her husband on demand. Normally that district, close to Richmond, is a safe Democrat seat but as of this morning the Republican’s lead seems safe.

Once again the anti-abortion women failed to deliver. It looks as though they can’t deliver — they aren’t as numerous as they have convinced some Republicans that they are.; 11/8/23, 6:35 AM
SteveWe said...: "Once again the anti-abortion women failed to deliver." Perhaps abortion as an election issue is a still birth. [Forgive me that.] Republicans should focus on the economy, taxes, inflation, feckless civil management, and issues like that which affect everyone's daily lives.; 11/8/23, 8:30 AM
Big Mike said...: Republicans should focus on the economy, taxes, inflation, feckless civil management, and issues like that which affect everyone's daily lives.

@SteveWe, they did, you imbecile. You could look things up before you pontificate about things you don’t understand. The pro-abortion women are single-issue voters, Democrats pounded on that issue in their ads, while Republicans ran on, of all things, taxes, the economy, and crime. Res ipsa loquitur, friend, the results speak for themselves.; 11/8/23, 9:01 AM
MadTownGuy said...: PA Supreme Court is now 6-1 (D). Our county voted contrariwise, but it's hard to outvote Philly from here.; 11/8/23, 9:16 AM
Narr said...: Per Quaestor above, any objective observer will agree that Planet Earth's twenty million Jews contribute more to the progress and well-being of the human species in a year than a billion Muslims manage in a century.

Islam is still largely what Naipaul called it--the poor teaching the poor to be poor, and Houellebecq says it's the stupidest religion. Both true, and proven spectacularly last month.

Islam is a retarded belief system, a stunter of minds, violent, obscurantist and incompatible with more advanced faiths and secular values.; 11/8/23, 9:41 AM
SteveWe said...: @Big Mike
Calling someone an imbecile and later a friend in your comment is strange.

When a candidate or political party takes a position to be against something or to prohibit something, it is virtually certain to lose in the next election. I can think of only one exception: abolition of slavery and that issue plunged this republic into a civil war.

The anti-whatever voters will not reliably vote at the polls, but the opposition voters will vote in great numbers. That was abundantly clear in Virginia and Ohio.

Republicans should steer clear of prohibiting abortion. Instead, they should promote citizen freedoms, a well-managed economy, civil order, citizen safety, rule of law, etc. They should not poison the well with abortion legality -- even if it's the morally responsible thing to do.; 11/8/23, 11:46 AM
wendybar said...: Marina Medvin 🇺🇸
@MarinaMedvin
AP “journalists” who entered Israel on October 7 together with the Palestinian terrorists: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali.

They documented some of the kidnappings. Did these “journalists” know of the plan ahead of time?

Ali Mahmud and Hatem Ali shot pictures of the abductions of Israelis into Gaza. Mahmud also captured the pickup truck carrying the body of Shani Louk.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/11/report-photographers-from-ap-cnn-nyt-reuters-were-with-hamas-on-oct-7/; 11/8/23, 2:43 PM