Althouse: Sunrise

April 4, 2024

Sunrise — 6:49

C2C4B14B-0858-4F02-82F7-2918D6E35DA8_1_105_c

37 comments:

rhhardin said...: A curious everything-goes-wrong bicycle repair - somebody sells gear inner cable that's too thick to move smoothly in gear shift housing cable, plus a frozen bolt on the derailleur. A half hour job turns into four hours. No blood was drawn, however.; 4/4/24, 7:35 PM
Humperdink said...: Former Defense Secy Gates stated that Biden has been wrong on every policy issue since his eighth grade picnic. To keep his streak unabated SOS Anthony Blinken "invited" Ukraine to join NATO. This will not end well.; 4/4/24, 8:11 PM
gilbar said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/4/24, 8:20 PM
Josephbleau said...: All the Democrats and Deep Staters have done with the Ukraine war is to enhance Russian military power. They have taken a sloppy corrupt Russian army and eliminated all the sclerotic commanders, created a core of hardened vets, and made inefficient processes visible for correction.

If a new war starts in Europe, the Russians will be lean and mean, and the Euros will have old head up their ass generals and a two blocked logistics pipeline. And all the spare ammo has been shot by Ukraine.

But several trillion dollars later, these geniuses think they destroyed Putin.; 4/4/24, 8:39 PM
Rocco said...: Joe Biden said...
"I joined NATO once. Back in '61, there was this bad dude named Corn Popov, who ran a bunch of other bad dudes called the Russkies. He was armed with a straight-edged razor and was pounding his shoe on the table threatening to bury me. But I didn't back down; instead I met him with a 6 ft length of chain in the Fulda Gap. We stared at each other. Finally, I apologized for calling him Esther Williams and gave him $500 billion dollars and he backed down.

If Corn Popov ever threatens you, just have your minigun handy and fire all six barrels through the front door. But a minigun is no good against an F-16, which the government has all of 'em.; 4/4/24, 9:17 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: I spent the last two days (Tuesday, Wednesday) grinding stumps. I rented a 35hp stump grinder to get rid of 12 stumps. They ranged in size from about a foot in diameter to 4-ft by 7-ft. I'd spent a couple of weeks trimming them down to about 6-in above ground level, creating much firewood in the process.

There are still some parts of the stumps below ground that I'll burn out later. I'll use some of the wood chips to start the fires. Good weather for that, cool and cloudy. No burn bans yet.

The weather was good for this, sunny and about 70F on Tuesday and cloudy and about 50F on Wednesday. I worked on grinding from about 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with breaks for lunch and dinner.

I have more stumps in the back-40, those will get get trimmed low to the ground. It's too much work to grind them down any further.; 4/4/24, 9:49 PM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Althouse favorite Gary Shteyngart goes on a cruise determined to not make friends and succeeds, thereby proving his superiority to the rest of us.

For those keeping score at home; his schlong even gets a mention.; 4/4/24, 9:54 PM
wildswan said...: images of the US debt are starting to look like climate crisis hockey sticks or population explosion images from the Seventies

https://thesoundingline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/US-National-Debt-and-Interest-Paid-and-Cumulative-Deficits-2.jpg

https://norunnyeggs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Debt-as-GDP-trajectory.jpg; 4/4/24, 11:54 PM
Eva Marie said...: Watching Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf led me to think about the different choices Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe made as they aged which led me to watch the available footage of Something’s Got To Give on YouTube which led me to read about MM’s death which led me to this very interesting passage (in my opinion) in The New York Social Diary:
“ . . . Lady Sarah Churchill told me that in 1965 after the death of her American grandmother Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, formerly the Duchess of Marlborough, her various residences were left to her grandchildren. One was a property in Menton on the French Riviera. Sarah, on visiting the estate, made a tour which included a guest cottage which at the time had been rented out to Sargent Shriver, a brother-in-law of JFK.
At the time of Sarah’s visit, the guest cottage was occupied by an American woman from California whom she did not know. In the living room of house there was a framed photograph, inscribed, by Marilyn. Sarah, always curious, asked the woman if she knew Marilyn. The woman replied automatically: ‘I was her housekeeper’ at the time of her death.”
So 3 years after MM’s death, her housekeeper was being shielded(?), rewarded(?), by the Kennedy family.; 4/5/24, 12:31 AM
Howard said...: Still sore from shoveling 3-inches of slurpie snow off the driveway. Just lifted for core and lower body last night. Didn't sleep well due to twitching muscles. Really shouldn't swim this morning, but peer pressure from the team is a huge motivation.

I have a nap in my future.; 4/5/24, 4:06 AM
wendybar said...: Rules for THEE, but NOT for me....

https://nypost.com/2024/04/04/us-news/gavin-newsoms-restaurant-offering-job-at-16-hr-despite-new-state-law-of-20-hr-for-fast-food-workers/

And progressives wonder why America doesn't take anything they say seriously??; 4/5/24, 5:32 AM
Jaq said...: Anybody who is not worried about the maneuvering going on to get Ukraine into NATO while at the same time keeping its land disputes with Russia alive through means of a temporary armistice, meant to allow Ukraine to re-arm for another bid to gain control of ethnic Russian territories within the Soviet created borders, should read The Guns of August, about how WWI started. Basically these kinds of alliances were created mainly as triggers to bring nations to a state of war, while blaming the other side, a war which European leaders foolishly wanted.; 4/5/24, 5:57 AM
Leland said...: Glenn Reynolds posted about The Atlantic article about Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Sea inaugural voyage. I think it is satire, as that is what the author is known to write. I'll let other people judge. Reading it as an American, it seems ugly and cruel about the passengers and their enjoyment. If I think like a Brit the title and the story take on another level of humor that could be ugly and cruel to the readers that might enjoy the tone about Americans.; 4/5/24, 6:15 AM
wendybar said...: Dr. Phil’s Audience Goes Silent as Son of Hamas Founder Shocks Palestine Activist w/ Facts

https://youtu.be/2E3vkVmbbRA; 4/5/24, 6:35 AM
Humperdink said...: Now that the Slo' Joe administration has elected to publicly take Israel to the woodshed, has anyone cared to ask the status the US hostages being still held by Hamas?; 4/5/24, 6:44 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Madison, you've made it!

https://www.theblaze.com/news/taxpayer-dollars-earmarked-for-covid-relief-went-to-services-for-illegal-migrants-in-dem-run-city-report; 4/5/24, 6:45 AM
MadisonMan said...: Am on a Joe Jackson listening kick. I'm the Man.
Life is good.; 4/5/24, 6:50 AM
Jersey Fled said...: “has anyone cared to ask the status the US hostages being still held by Hamas?”

Spoiler: They’re dead.

Why do you think Hamas has resisted releasing hostages so strenuously or even allowing access by the Red Cross?; 4/5/24, 7:55 AM
wendybar said...: MadisonMan said...
Am on a Joe Jackson listening kick. I'm the Man.
Life is good.

4/5/24, 6:50 AM

Love Joe Jackson. Saw him quite a few years back at the Beacon in NYC. Great show!!; 4/5/24, 8:01 AM
Rocco said...: Leland said...
“Glenn Reynolds posted about The Atlantic article about Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Sea inaugural voyage. I think it is satire, as that is what the author is known to write. I'll let other people judge.”

I read Day 1 of the exercise before getting bored and dropping the rest. I kept imagining the author as a 5 year old nebbish on the first day of kindergarten.; 4/5/24, 8:12 AM
Leland said...: I kept imagining the author as a 5 year old nebbish on the first day of kindergarten.

I fully understand. That's about as far as I made it and initially thought the same. I took the extra step of looking up the author. He's a 51-year-old married father supposed satirist, but I'm struggling to know who would find his satire to be good, besides the foolish editors of The Atlantic. If they did pay $19,000 for just his cabin, then perhaps he is lampooning his editor's gullibility.; 4/5/24, 8:27 AM
lonejustice said...: wendybar said...

Rules for THEE, but NOT for me....

https://nypost.com/2024/04/04/us-news/gavin-newsoms-restaurant-offering-job-at-16-hr-despite-new-state-law-of-20-hr-for-fast-food-workers/
----------------------------------

You must not have read the article.

"The new law applies to restaurants offering limited or no table service that are part of a chain with 60 or more locations nationwide.

"It raises the minimum by $4 an hour from the previous $16 an hour base pay."

Newsom's PlumpJack Group operates four restaurants and bars and four wineries, according to its website, and therefore it’s far below the standards to meet the $20-hour wage minimum.

Plus, Newsom's restaurants sell $37 pasta and $67 steaks. If you are working in an upscale place like that, then $16 an hour PLUS TIPS is a really good paying job for a food service position.; 4/5/24, 8:46 AM
Rusty said...: So tell me, lonejustice. How does anyone working at Wendys rate 20$ an hour?; 4/5/24, 9:08 AM
Big Mike said...: Plus, Newsom's restaurants sell $37 pasta and $67 steaks.

@lonejustice, so you’re saying that Newsome’s position is “To Hell with cheap MacDonald’s burgers; let them eat $67 steak (plus $13.40 tip)”? Didn’t some French queen say something along those lines about bread and cake?; 4/5/24, 9:27 AM
Christopher B said...: @lonejustice, I can only laugh if you think that's a 'gotcha'.

Gov Hair Gel's Democrat buddies carefully wrote the law to exclude the establishments most likely to be owned and especially frequented by themselves and their lobbyist and donor buddies while driving up the prices on people for whom a trip to Wendy's, McDonald's, or Popeye's with the family might be an occasional splurge.

And you wonder why Donald Trump is getting traction?; 4/5/24, 9:41 AM
Mason G said...: "Newsom's PlumpJack Group operates four restaurants and bars and four wineries, according to its website, and therefore it’s far below the standards to meet the $20-hour wage minimum."

So Newsome is exploiting a loophole in the law in order to avoid paying the $20/hr. minimum wage he says he thinks other employers should pay?

Sounds about right.; 4/5/24, 9:47 AM
Big Mike said...: @Leland, my wife has often said that liberals absolutely hate it when ordinary people enjoy themselves. I did follow the Instapundit link and did start to read the article. The author’s dyspeptic take on his fellow cruisers , written for the sort of lefty loonies who read The Atlantic, made me think of what my wife says.

No, I didn’t make past the first part of the author’s screed. It didn’t read to me like satire, more along the lines of “join me is looking down on these proles who enjoy themselves on ugly, ridiculous ships.”

Plus, given that there are still liberal sites insisting on fact-checking Babylon Bee, I’m not inclined to look for satire from liberal sources. It’s pretty clear liberals don’t grasp the concept.; 4/5/24, 9:58 AM
Leland said...: I couldn't have made a better argument to support Wendybar's comment than lonejustice's explanation of the article.; 4/5/24, 10:03 AM
Big Mike said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/5/24, 10:05 AM
Eva Marie said...: lonejustice said: “Plus, Newsom's restaurants sell $37 pasta and $67 steaks. If you are working in an upscale place like that, then $16 an hour PLUS TIPS is a really good paying job for a food service position.”
O please.
So it’s a coincidence that the new law doesn’t apply to Newsome’s own business and doesn’t inconvenience him and his wealthy friends?
“Rules for thee but not for me,” sums up the Democratic Party elite.; 4/5/24, 10:15 AM
Old and slow said...: I'm no fan of lonejustice or Newsome, but the law does not apply to his restaurant and his employees are well paid, so what is the point here?; 4/5/24, 10:31 AM
Old and slow said...: The minimum wage should not exist at all. One thing this stupid law has going for it is that it does not apply to all jobs. This is a stupid "gotcha". Repeal the law or shut the fuck up.; 4/5/24, 10:33 AM
Christopher B said...: Old and slow said...
I'm no fan of lonejustice or Newsome, but the law does not apply to his restaurant and his employees are well paid, so what is the point here?

If, as lonejustice and now you are claiming, servers at Newsome's restaurants were well paid at $16/hour + tips on expensive meals for actually waiting on tables, why would fast food counter help not be similarly well paid at their current wages? What's the point of forcing their employers to pay them $20/hour? What's changed?

Also, as is often repeated, the real minimum wage is $0, as a lot of people formerly employed in California fast food restaurants are going to find out.; 4/5/24, 11:10 AM
Rusty said...: Leland said...
Dontcha just love it when they unwittingly make your point for you.
The Micky Ds where my brother lives has a kiosk system. There are three employees present. They are there to mostly serve the drive through crowd. Orde from the kiosk. Get a number. Pick up your food when the number is called.; 4/5/24, 11:44 AM
Gospace said...: Centrists, the great hope. All those people in the middle wh aren't represented. Who are they.

let us, just for a moment go back to the election of 1860 here in the good ol' USA. An issue that had been simmering in the USA since before it even became the USA finally came to a full boil. In presidential candidates that year, there was a choice- pro-slavery or anti-slavery. That was it. The pro-slavery side- that is- the Democrats- refused to even allow the anti-slavery Abraham Lincoln on the ballot in their states (Hmmm. seems to be something familiar in that...)

SO- all you believers in centrists- the saviors, the unrepresented, a question. It's simple. What was the centrist position in 1860? Who wasn't represented by the candidates running?; 4/5/24, 11:58 AM
Leland said...: Thanks for the response Big Mike. I agree with your wife about the pricks who thumb their nose at plebs having a good time. Myself, I'll be enjoying another cruise very soon and will enjoy knowing I didn't spend a small fraction of what The Atlantic shelled out to send this guy out to write an awful article.; 4/5/24, 3:11 PM
Leland said...: Rusty, my first job was MickyD's. Back then, I was able to start at 15 and minimum wage was much less. That job provided me with a work ethic that lasted into my professional career. It wasn't the best job, and 6 months later, I left for a better job, but I remember the efforts back then to unionize the workforce. Nobody wanted it. The younger people didn't want to be locked into the job and older employees knew there was nothing to gain from it but union dues.; 4/5/24, 3:43 PM