Althouse: Sunrise — 6:27, 6:43, 6:46, 6:47.

February 23, 2024

Sunrise — 6:27, 6:43, 6:46, 6:47.

49 comments:

rhhardin said...: Michael Connelly, in the 7th and most recent Haller "Lincoln Lawyer" novel, has the hero finally realize that the reason his ex wife is always mad at him, in the novels, is because of something she did to him, not something he did to her, so was finally freed from trying to please her.

In case you're wondering why Liam Neeson in spite of rescuing his ex wife and family in Taken Taken II and Taken III can't ever get laid. It's a universal.; 2/23/24, 6:28 PM
rehajm said...: So...I was at The Grove talkng with my architect and designer about the gold elevator...; 2/23/24, 6:42 PM
narciso said...: Oh

https://twitter.com/barnes_law/status/1761182417552060691; 2/23/24, 6:52 PM
narciso said...: As impenetrably ignorant as ever

https://twitter.com/StephenM/status/1761168658984820850

Thats why he worhs at the post; 2/23/24, 6:57 PM
Mr. Majestyk said...: Trump's attorneys apparently used cell phone data to prove that Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade became romantically involved before when they claimed in their sworn testimony.

There is video evidence showing those who built the "gallows" near the U.S. Capitol starting at 6:30 a.m. on January 6, 2021. You know, the gallows that figured so prominently in the "bipartisan" January 6 committee hearings. But, gosh darn it, the committee somehow never got around to unmasking those dastardly megasupreme extreme ultra MAGA insurrectionists.

Hmmm. [Wheels start spinning inside brain]. I wonder if cell phone data could be used to help identify the gallows builders? I'm sure our professional, non-partisan, cruelly neutral, by-the-book, wherever-the-facts-lead-us, and let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may FBI will get right on that.; 2/23/24, 7:10 PM
rehajm said...: So….last time I was at The Grove I was relieving myself by a redwood next to Al Haig….; 2/23/24, 7:20 PM
rhhardin said...: "Not many places are named after bad guys, she said.

How about Trump Tower, Bosch responded."; 2/23/24, 7:37 PM
rehajm said...: When I was a preschool child I lived in Great Barrington and we often had to drive to Stockbridge- dad for golf mom for stuff on main street snd behind where Alice was (you remember Alice…) So one morning I’m riding shotgun with mom and we park on Main St in front of Rockwell’s studio and mom as we’re getting out of the car is going on to her pre-school son about Norman Rockwell and…’Oh, Hi!’…; 2/23/24, 7:46 PM
Mark said...: I lived near Tenney Park along the lake one winter about 30 years ago. It was memorable, especially for the 'ice thunder' when the lake cracked in cold spells and for this point in the melt when sunsets (looking at your sunrise spot) were glorious.

Your photos triggered a wonderful memory today, thank you.; 2/23/24, 7:52 PM
rehajm said...: When YouTube gets you you get this; 2/23/24, 8:05 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: I suffered a stroke in on February 3, 2023, and then was hospitalized until February 28, 2023. I continued to receive at-home therapy until mid-June. I have been working again since August 3, but only half-time.

I retired today, February 23, 2024, after working 21 years in my last employment. I worked in the administration of a home-health-care agency.

If I had not suffered the stoke, I would have worked another five years in that position. However, the stroke caused some brain damage, and my various physical and mental difficulties made my work unpleasant for me. I am 71 years old, and other people will be able to take over my occupation.

My co-workers threw a very nice and touching retirement party for me.

=======

I always have been a voracious reader, but the stoke has caused dyslexia in me. I still can read, but slowly. I attend vision therapy twice a week.

I still can type, but slowly.

Participating in this blog will continue to be a daily part of my life.

=======

Now that I have plenty of free time, I plan to do some writing projects.

One such project will be to write a long article about Craig Unger, whose books include House of Trump, House of Putin --- The Untold Story of Donald Trump and Russian Mafia, published in 2017. I spent about a month reading this book and finished it a couple days ago.

In recent days, I wrote some comments about this book in this blog. (Aggie, I read your comment on this blog earlier today, and I will respond eventually.)

Unger's book provides much interesting information and is foot-noted superbly.

However, Unger's book is extremely tendentious. In general, Unger obviously thinks that anything proves that Trump is complicit with the Russian Mafia. I am amazed that the book is praised in all the book reviews I have seen so far and that Unger seems to be quite influential.

Unger and this book deserve to be debunked, and I intend to do so.; 2/23/24, 8:26 PM
Mutaman said...: Last time I was a the Grove I saw Harlan Crow handing over a big wad of cash to Clarence Thomas.; 2/23/24, 8:27 PM
Mutaman said...: “I don’t know, maybe the guy did lie,” Gym Jordan said at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.; 2/24/24, 12:02 AM
gadfly said...: Mr. Majestyk said...
Trump's attorneys apparently used cell phone data to prove that Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade became romantically involved before when they claimed in their sworn testimony.

The DA’s office, responding to an earlier motion filed by Trump’s lead attorney in the Georgia case, said the cited phone records “do not prove anything relevant” and should not be considered as evidence in proceedings to decide whether Willis should be disqualified.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/23/politics/private-investigator-trump-georgia-fani-willis/index.html; 2/24/24, 2:28 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: A paper: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines: Lessons Learned from the Registrational Trials and Global Vaccination Campaign

Abstract

“Our understanding of COVID-19 vaccinations and their impact on health and mortality has evolved substantially since the first vaccine rollouts. Published reports from the original randomized phase 3 trials concluded that the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could greatly reduce COVID-19 symptoms. In the interim, problems with the methods, execution, and reporting of these pivotal trials have emerged. Re-analysis of the Pfizer trial data identified statistically significant increases in serious adverse events (SAEs) in the vaccine group. Numerous SAEs were identified following the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), including death, cancer, cardiac events, and various autoimmune, hematological, reproductive, and neurological disorders. Furthermore, these products never underwent adequate safety and toxicological testing in accordance with previously established scientific standards. Among the other major topics addressed in this narrative review are the published analyses of serious harms to humans, quality control issues and process-related impurities, mechanisms underlying adverse events (AEs), the immunologic basis for vaccine inefficacy, and concerning mortality trends based on the registrational trial data. The risk-benefit imbalance substantiated by the evidence to date contraindicates further booster injections and suggests that, at a minimum, the mRNA injections should be removed from the childhood immunization program until proper safety and toxicological studies are conducted. Federal agency approval of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines on a blanket-coverage population-wide basis had no support from an honest assessment of all relevant registrational data and commensurate consideration of risks versus benefits. Given the extensive, well-documented SAEs and unacceptably high harm-to-reward ratio, we urge governments to endorse a global moratorium on the modified mRNA products until all relevant questions pertaining to causality, residual DNA, and aberrant protein production are answered.”

It’s probably nothing.; 2/24/24, 4:46 AM
Humperdink said...: From Judge Jeanine on The Five: "Wade got paid, Fani got laid and the taxpayers got played".; 2/24/24, 4:49 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: YouTube: Stuff about hero Navalny I’m just hearing about for the first time

Hint: count on Glenn Greenwald to pour cold water on the media’s attempt to elevate a new narrative convenient martyr to sainthood.; 2/24/24, 5:08 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I can’t conjure up a good conspiracy theory behind the AT&T outage.

My attempt to join the legit crackpot crowd is in jeopardy.

Speaking of crackpot crowd, did y’all hear about Reddit becoming a source material for the spanking new Google AI?

Conclusion: it pays to censor.; 2/24/24, 5:24 AM
Kakistocracy said...: I actively seek out alternative sources but places like the Telegraph and UnHerd are full of odd ducks who (despite complaining about the death of rational debate) just want a safe space to moan about immigrants and trans stuff they've read about online.

Because that group are totally ossified in their views and impermeable to anything else it's just not a fun place for anyone else to spend their time. Even if you enter with the best intentions of reaching a rational consensus you're going to have an awful time getting there when instead you could just spend time with people that already agree with you.

The issue with polarization is not that we are inherently tribal and social beings but that these fictions have come to forge and define our personalities and sense of self.

There is always an injection by an external source of some kind of information. Without that the groups would have no choice but to operate under common informational circumstances. Whether those circumstances are true or real or not would be irrelevant as they are real qua the group.

The internet and thousand-channel TV (and the car) have fractured our modern groupings and infected them with information from all over the place. We all inhabit different truths. We are now so detached from the real group that external information has reached a critical mass in each individual and made itself the dominant reality for that individual only.

With this new detached and atomized personality we can reach out to the online world and find a specific niche to replace the group in our immediate physical world.

This digital niche will pretty much always be more comforting than most real-world groupings and it becomes self-reinforcing. It will certainly be more comforting than the enlightenment free speech ideal of killing flawed closely-held beliefs through debate.; 2/24/24, 5:45 AM
Humperdink said...: It what can only be described as a shocking development, it was revealed the murdered University of Georgia student was killed by an illegal immigrant. Collateral damage for the approved invasion from the Biden administration. Howard, Mark, Mutaman nod.

https://nypost.com/; 2/24/24, 5:46 AM
Saint Croix said...: Beyonce is amazing.

I loved it when she told that guy if he wanted it, he ought to put a ring on it.

And now she's rocking up the country charts, with the #1 country music song. Fantastic artist, sexy as hell. And she's got a conservative streak and a libertarian flame.

Woo!; 2/24/24, 5:59 AM
Saint Croix said...: Beyonce with lyrics; 2/24/24, 6:21 AM
Jaq said...: "the enlightenment free speech ideal of killing flawed closely-held beliefs through debate."

You mean like talking about who Mavalny really is?

https://uk.news(dot)yahoo.com/alexei-navalnys-far-right-racist-past-back-in-spotlight-after-putin-critics-death-150644657.html

This link is suppressed in a lot of places by our "free speech" platform, so replace the (dot), google showed itself to be not above suppressing posts here with WrongThink links.

This Mavalny psy-op really tears it for me.; 2/24/24, 6:26 AM
William50 said...: gadfly said...
"The DA’s office, responding to an earlier motion filed by Trump’s lead attorney in the Georgia case, said the cited phone records “do not prove anything relevant” and should not be considered as evidence in proceedings to decide whether Willis should be disqualified."

Well it does show that they both committed perjury if that means anything.; 2/24/24, 6:34 AM
Leland said...: Congratulations Mike Sylwester on retirement. Take care.; 2/24/24, 6:48 AM
Humperdink said...: My favorite Rich pronouncement: " We all inhabit different truths."

The best example of Rich's mindset: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson being unable to differentiate between a woman and a man. She has a different truth and it's laughable.; 2/24/24, 6:48 AM
Jaq said...: I wonder if Rich really believes that he doesn't live in a bubble.

Twitter suppresses this link to House.gov, for example.

https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-releases-third-bank-memo-detailing-payments-to-the-bidens-from-russia-kazakhstan-and-ukraine; 2/24/24, 7:08 AM
Scott Patton said...: Yous may have covered this in another post...
Grimes: "I am retracting my statements about the gemini art disaster...".
"It is in fact a masterpiece of performance art, even if unintentional. True gain-of-function art."
...
"It's trapped in a cage, trained to make beautiful things, and then battered into gaslighting humankind abt our intentions towards each other. this is arguably the most impactful art project of the decade thus far. "; 2/24/24, 7:10 AM
Data Schlepper said...: Once again, Earth turns its Wisconsin face to the sun.; 2/24/24, 7:32 AM
Rusty said...: Rich said...
"I actively seek out alternative sources.............."
You've proven that's a lie. Over and over again.

My favorite Rich pronouncement: " We all inhabit different truths."
TaaDaaaa! The moral relativity of the left.; 2/24/24, 8:10 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Rivian, maker of EV trucks and SUVs, is struggling, and laying off employees. When they fold, were are owners of said EV trucks and SUVs going to get parts and service? Once a vehicle fails without any hope of repairs, their owners are going to which they had bought a FORD: Fix Or Repair Daily; at least FORDS are repairable.; 2/24/24, 8:21 AM
Narr said...: I look forward to your posts, Mike Sylwester, and congratulate you on slipping the harness.

Althouse can be therapeutic.; 2/24/24, 9:51 AM
Dr Weevil said...: 'tim in vermont':

1. Why do you keep calling Navalny 'Mavalny'? You've done it four or five times since he was murdered. Is that some kind of insulting Russian-langauage pun? If so, you should explain it to those of us who don't know Russian. Not all puns are translatable. Putin's puppet dictator of the 'Donetsk People's Republic' (now annexed by Russia) is named Denis Pushilin. When Ukrainians call him 'Penis Dushilin' ('Dush' rhymes with 'douche'), it translates very easily. What about 'Mavalny'? Please explain.

2. Your remarks (6:26am and on other threads) about Navalny's severe character defects utterly refute your long-time anti-Ukraine position. If even the best Russia could hope for as a ruler was a racist bigot with Nazi sympathies, it is obviously essential that Russia be decisively defeated in Ukraine and its subject nations (Tatars, Udmurts, Buryats, and all the rest) be released from its imperial despotism. Ukrainians never supported Navalny, and it's very difficult to find any prominent Russian, even outside Russia, who is not tainted by the same imperialistic racist Russian attitudes. The only one I can think of is Garry Kasparov, and he's half-Armenian. Russian culture is deeply sick: not surprising when the 'best' rulers they've had are such barely-human individuals as Khrushchev and Yeltsin and some of the Tsars.

3. I thought we all agreed that "Epstein didn't kill himself" was a shocking scandal, and that governments should not be murdering prisoners, even when those prisoners are disgusting and contemptible individuals. A pedophile rapist who facilitated the rapes of hundreds of underage girls by hundreds (thousands?) of rich and powerful men is one of the most evil people in the world, far more evil than Navalny. Yet you seem to think it's somehow OK to murder Navalny because of his severe (and typically Russian) character defects: why the obvious and blatant double standard?

4. Have you figured out yet that it was Putin that killed Navalny, not the CIA? Here are some clues: a. Over 350 people were arrested in the first day or two for laying flowers in his honor, and six of the young men arrested were drafted and sent to the front; b. They kept Navalny's body from even being seen by his mother and lawyer for 8 days, and only released it today under pressure; c. The deputy head of the prison service was just promoted to Colonel General (3 stars); d. When Navalny's mother continued to complain, they ordered the arrest of her other son.; 2/24/24, 11:50 AM
Jaq said...: I think it's been about 20,000 years or since the sun was directly overhead anywhere in Wisconsin at noon. About the time the glaciers melted.; 2/24/24, 12:00 PM
Jaq said...: Mike, you weren't supposed to actually read it, you were supposed to buy it and display the cover on your bookshelf, like those books in the library of Gatsby's mansion where none of the pages were cut.

You were supposed to weigh it with a scale, not weigh the arguments!; 2/24/24, 12:04 PM
Candide said...: Dr Weevil said...

"Putin's puppet dictator of the 'Donetsk People's Republic' (now annexed by Russia) is named Denis Pushilin. When Ukrainians call him 'Penis Dushilin' ('Dush' rhymes with 'douche')"

Dreevil,

I see you blundered cluelessly into Eastern Slavic etymology again. I warned you before not to do that.

In Russian 'Dush' or better "Doosh" doesn't rhyme with 'douche'; it literally means 'douche', a French word that means 'shower' in English. Russian language has quite a lot of words borrowed from French without distorting their meaning. For some reasons Americans made a word 'douche' into obscenity but it simply means 'shower' in the original French, and in Russian too. Nobody in Russia and Ukraine would understand your misguided implication of 'Douche-ilin', because Russian and Ukrainian peoples see nothing obscene about taking a 'Doosh'. In fact Russian and Ukrainian peoples are as fond of taking their 'Dooshes' as Americans are fond of taking their 'showers'.

The macabre pun in Pooshilin to Dooshilin conversion comes from the slavic verb 'Dooshit'" which means 'to strangle' or 'to smother', so 'Doosh-ilin' means 'strangler'.

Youy are welcome.; 2/24/24, 12:58 PM
Kakistocracy said...: I read somewhere that if you are unable to articulate (in your own words) the position of people who disagree with you in a way they agree is accurate and comprehensive, you have not understood your own position very well.; 2/24/24, 12:59 PM
Iman said...: Best wishes to you, Mike Sylwester! I hope you find retirement to your liking.; 2/24/24, 1:37 PM
Iman said...: “The DA’s office, responding to an earlier motion filed by Trump’s lead attorney in the Georgia case, said the cited phone records “do not prove anything relevant” and should not be considered as evidence in proceedings to decide whether Willis should be disqualified.”

LMAO! We’ll soon see how all of their lies work out for them, ‘fly.; 2/24/24, 1:40 PM
Iman said...: Rich is like a dumbed down Mr. Rogers.

Only a little more smarmy.; 2/24/24, 1:44 PM
Narr said...: Rich reports the he "read somewhere that if you are unable to articulate (in your own words) the position of people who disagree with you in a way they agree is accurate and comprehensive, you have not understood your own position very well."

Don't believe everything you read (until it has been confirmed on Althouse, at least).; 2/24/24, 2:32 PM
Jaq said...: "you have not understood your own position very well."

Did you take it to heart? It seems not.

But when a position is absurd, such as "This man Navalny was a hero of freedom, and his death must be avenged," how do I articulate that position sensibly?

I know that Navalny was financed by the US, a country that is all but in a declared state of war with Russia, and that he is a right wing nazi, and that his wife was cheered thunderously by the attendees of a meeting of the military alliance founded specifically to counter Russia, and that he was never a popular politician there, and has been basically a traitor to Russia, but his death, even though he had a lot of very powerful enemies, most of whom can get people killed in prisons, like Epstein was here, shows that we are talking about Putin's main opposition, and the fact that he was imprisoned for extremism, even though he advocated for the murder of Muslim "flies and cockroaches," proves that Putin is evil?

Did I get that right? or can you articulate this position in a way that makes sense. Because I can articulate anti-Trump positions, but most of them, in order to seem coherent, require the omission of one or more key facts. If you include all of the facts, these positions become as absurd as the Navalny thing, and the task of describing them coherently is like explaining dreams in terms of logic.; 2/24/24, 2:36 PM
Dr Weevil said...: 'tim in vermont':

Why do you evade my questions with irrelevant insults? The people who call him 'Penis Dushilin' are tweeting in English for readers of English: 'douche' is obviously the primary meaning there. That there's another insult encoded in Russian is interesting, but irrelevant.

So, answer my questions:

1. Why do you call Navalny 'Mavalny'? We know you like to alter people's names or pseudonyms to insult them - you just did so with mine. And you claim fluency in Russian. So what are you implying about Navalny by misspelling his name?

2. Do you agree that the racist bigotry of even the 'democrat' opposition in Russia proves that Russia must be decisively defeated? Yes or no?

3. Why is murdering Epstein in prison a terrible thing, but murdering Navalny no big deal?

4. Have you figured out that Putin killed him yet? If so, say so. If not, explain why a top prison administrator was promoted just days later. Screwing up so badly that the CIA manages to kill a top prisoner in a high-security prison near the Arctic Circle is the sort of thing that should have gotten him demoted, or fired, or imprisoned. Promotion clearly implies approval of a job well done.; 2/24/24, 2:37 PM
Candide said...: Dreevil,

Did it ever occur to you that you might be as ignorant about East Slavic history and politics as you are about East Slavic languages?; 2/24/24, 5:59 PM
wildswan said...: Look at that water!; 2/24/24, 7:02 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Looks like 'Candide' can't answer my questions, either, and must resort to stupid insults. Are 'Candide' and 'tim in vermont' the same person, who forgot to log out and back in again this time? Because it certainly looks like one is answering (or pretending to) for the other, as it they are somehow interchangeable.

As for what 'tim in vermont' says about Navalny, I don't care, because I have never thought he was Russia's great hope, or particularly admirable for anything except his courage, or that Russia has any great hope, other than a defeat so thorough and undeniable it will crush their vile imperialist dreams and make them think about behaving as a nation among other nations for a change. I still object to Putin murdering him. Does 'tim in vermont'? Does 'Candide'? Can they say so?

Now, can the two of you (assuming you are in fact two) lay aside the stupid insults and answer my questions? Or is something preventing you from answering?; 2/24/24, 7:21 PM
wildswan said...: Mike Sylwester
I was tremendously encouraged by your post. Coincidently, just one year after your medical troubles began, I found out about mine. On January 4th 2024 I found I had cancer and the tumor had an abscess which could go septic and kill me. I watched Seinfeld and other shows about nothing until January 30th when I had an operation which got rid of all the cancer and now I just have a long physical recovery. But I've been soaked in drugs - fentanyl, morphine, oxy, anti-nausea and I've wondered when (and if) I'll get my appetite and strength and mind back. I feel slow and my preferred reading is the more light-hearted mysteries, especially ones I've read before. Your posts seemed OK over the last year so I guess it's just a matter of time as I'm always being told. Anyhow, keep on keeping on.; 2/24/24, 7:32 PM
Jaq said...: "I still object to Putin murdering him. "

There is no evidence that Putin murdered him, and of course you object to his death, he was a nazi sent by the CIA, just like the nazis the CIA used to gain control of Ukraine.; 2/25/24, 5:22 AM
Dr Weevil said...: 'tim in vermont' lies again:
"There is no evidence"? I gave 4 specific pieces of evidence ('clues') indicating that Putin murdered Navalny, helpfully labeled 'a' through 'd' under point '4' in my 11:50am comment. If you'd written "there is evidence, but not absolute proof", you wouldn't look like a paid Putinite propagandist, but you didn't write that, did you?

I object to Navalny's murder in prison for the same reason I (and everyone else in the world, last I heard) object to Epstein's murder in prison. Not because I liked him or supported him (I never did, as you well know) but because murdering prisoners is simply wrong, no matter how vile they are.

If I can find a comment in which you wrote "Epstein didn't kill himself", will I have proved that you support pedophile rapists, and probably are a pedophile rapist yourself? Of course not: that would be deeply dishonest. But that's what you're doing here, unashamed and probably paid.

Now why do you keep calling him 'Mavalny'?; 2/25/24, 9:24 AM

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