August 16, 2024

Sunrise... with waterlilies.

Long views at 5:53 and 6:07:

IMG_8233

IMG_8258

Lilies:

IMG_8245

IMG_8244

40 comments:

rehajm said...

Is that an inappropriately named seagull? I was surprised to see pelicans on Washoe Lake a couple of weeks ago. They did not seem lost…

rehajm said...

My Cyma DD was quite borked. Someone took out all the balance wheel screws, bent the hairspring and glued the stud on to the collet. The rest of the movement was drenched in oil, grease and dirt. Pre cleaning went surprisingly well as the movement besides the balance has lots of scratches but otherwisr looks good mechanically. I’m going to try and repair the balance but its a long shot…

Inga said...

Apparently he doesn’t like people who get blown up, shot (unless it’s himself) killed, or captured.

“Former President Donald J. Trump on Thursday described the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which honors civilians, as being “much better” than the Medal of Honor, because service members who receive the nation’s highest military honor are often severely wounded or dead.

Mr. Trump’s remarks follow a years long series of comments in which he has appeared to mock, attack or express disdain for service members who are wounded, captured or killed, even as he portrays himself as the ultimate champion of the armed forces.

“It’s actually much better, because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, that’s soldiers, they’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead,” Mr. Trump said, using a common misnomer for the military award. “She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman.”

NYT

TickTock said...

Love the water lilies.

Breezy said...

Gorgeous photos!

Mutaman said...

In Trump's world, an elderly widow who is left a lot of money by her late casino owning husband, is a much greater patriot than John Basilone.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

firstsportz.com : "Sam Ponder, who was vocal about trans-inclusion in women’s sports FIRED from ESPN"

Aggie said...

You're trying too hard, dear. There's no need to act on every email coming in from Central Control.

Howard said...

We're getting Canadian wild fire smoke here in Eastern upstate NY.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

Dave Portnoy : I fucking love Massachusetts.

I could watch this over and over.

Michael K said...

Another mind reader lefty.

Iman said...

It’s fairly simple… if you believe you are now in better shape financially than you were in 2019 - and had been increasingly so during Trump’s presidency before COVID - and currently feel more secure in your employment, feel the country is in a better position financially, culturally and its place as the leader of the free world is more secure now than back then… if you believe the same (things are better now than during Trump’s term) and this holds true for your family and friends… if you believe there is a promising future for our young under Democrat Party governance, then vote for Harris-Walz and other Democrats.

If, however, you believe this is pretty fucking far from reality, a choice to vote for a different candidate is the way to move forward.

Kakistocracy said...

The vibe to me feels a bit like 2016 in the sense that Trump and his people are running as if he was Hillary Clinton.

1. Rather than articulating a clear positive case, a lot of the argument for his election is based on the fact that he is not his opponent. That might have worked with an unpopular incumbent like Biden, but it is a harder sell against a fresh face.

2. Instead of building out ground organization, Trump and his people are directing resources to ancillary activities. It isn't clear that the Trump team is doing any voter identification, persuasion, or mobilization.

3. VP selection done with an eye to donor interests rather than the electoral map.

4. There's talk about how Trump is trying to enlist his youngest son to help with youth voter turnout. e.g. the answer in 2016 was a focus on policy, instead of Clinton speaking to actual needs of young voters, she tried to use a celebrities and vibes to do the work. Trump has similar issues.

5. Similar to Clinton, Trump is struggling to top 45% in head-to-head polls, even though he is a candidate that a lot of voters know. He has incredibly high negatives. What this suggests is that a lot of voters are shopping around for an alternative. Usually when this happens, these voters will break for an alternative closer to the election rather than the candidate that they know and have already rejected.

Drago said...

LLR-democratical Rich: "The vibe to me feels a bit like 2016 in the sense that Trump and his people are running as if he was Hillary Clinton."

LOL

planetgeo said...

Rich, help us out here. With your profound knowledge of finance, as evidenced by your recent riffs on how damaging tariffs are, could you please describe for us the benefits of the Harris-Walz proposed new policy plan for price controls on food and its effectiveness in combating inflation. Your expert opinion would be very helpful.

Mutaman said...

Michael K
"Another mind reader lefty."

“It’s actually much better, because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, that’s soldiers, they’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead,” Mr. Trump said, using a common misnomer for the military award. “She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman.”

The Know Nothings hate quotes.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

Via X Chief Nerd reacting to the VP speech : “Every socialist experiment in human history has started with caps on food and it has resulted in bread lines like you can see in the image behind me…This is a mistake. It is anti-American.”

wendybar said...

"Playing to idiotic racial stereotypes is commonly known as racism. One wonders how Walz’s fellow Minnesotans will react to his claim that we don’t eat any spices more exotic than pepper.

The whole thing is puzzling. Other than reassuring voters who hate white people that Kamala is one of them, what is the point?"

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/08/kamala-mocks-white-people.php

wendybar said...


Glenn Beck
@glennbeck

If Harris and Walz weren't radical enough, check out her proposed cabinet: Eric Holder as Chief of Staff, Jake Sullivan as Secretary of State, Rahm Emanuel as National Security Advisor. Notice a pattern? The Obama/Biden "Fundamental Transformation" continues...

https://revolver.news/2024/08/kamala-proposed-radical-cabinet-eric-holder-rahm-emanuel-more/

john mosby said...

A lot of Trump’s humor doesn’t make sense because it is from a different generation. And not even his generation. He is a Boomer who grew up trying to emulate the Greatest Generation. His humor is kind of like Dean Martin Roast style.

The WWII guys used to downplay their accomplishments. They would say they got a medal for ‘being in the wrong place at the right time” or “not ducking” (e.g. Reagan). Trump was trying to do that kind of humor. He wasn’t saying the MOF is qualitatively better than the MOH. He was trying to say that if you got to pick which medal to have, pick the MOF because it doesn’t require getting shot.

Probably better to let an MoH awardee make the joke, but he wasn’t trying to derogate anyone.

JSM

Ann Althouse said...

"He wasn’t saying the MOF is qualitatively better than the MOH. He was trying to say that if you got to pick which medal to have, pick the MOF because it doesn’t require getting shot."

Exactly and obviously, but hating Trump entails effort to misunderstand everything and playing dumb to a degree that would be embarrassing if there weren't so much mutual support in the stiflingly cozy anti-Trump crowd.

lonejustice said...

Regarding Trump's dismissive comments about the Medal of Honor:

"These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation's highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty," Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander Al Lipphardt said.

"When a candidate to serve as our military's commander-in-chief so brazenly dismisses the valor and reverence symbolized by the Medal of Honor and those who have earned it, I must question whether they would discharge their responsibilities to our men and women in uniform with the seriousness and discernment necessary for such a powerful position," Lipphardt continued. "It is even more disappointing when these comments come from a man who already served in this noble office and should frankly already know better," he said.

Jaq said...

Damn, I gotta get a new phone with a better camera. Those pictures are better than anything I used to take with my digital SLR, even after an hour of post-processing, which the phone does in part of a second, and it was such a pain to carry around that I just stopped.

narciso said...

About tienanmen tim that rewarded an al queda front group isna

Kai Akker said...

You at Lake George by any chance, Howard?

Kai Akker said...

Medal of Freedom receivers are far less likely to have been damaged, maimed, or killed. It is a note of sympathy for the predicaments of many Medal of Honor winners. But when you hate someone, as you do, you tend to project your own biases on him.

Big Mike said...

Back when the wife and I were out of grad school and into our starter (fixer upper) home I put in a modest lily pond for my wife using prefabricated a pond liner from Lilypons Water Gardens in central Maryland. The yards since that house have been too sloped for a pond, but water lilies are very relaxing (though hard work to keep the pond clean). Since we both had jobs we put in night-blooming tropicals because regular lilies start closing up around 5:00 - 6:00.

Kai Akker said...

Yeah. I see you and the Grey Ghost already covered this one. Hating Trump makes commenter assume Trump is nasty and selfish. Sometimes these willful misunderstandings come back to bite oneself, hard.

Rusty said...

The second photo is very nice in subject and composition. The last in the series is the most zen like. It invites you to contemplate.

Rusty said...

See the Althouse comment above and really read it this time.

Big Mike said...

A note for anyone thinking about installing their own pond — check local regs. In our county a pond greater than 18” deep would be classed as a swimming pool and need a gated fence, county inspections, etc.

Kakistocracy said...
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Kakistocracy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ralph L said...

I thought it was illegal to promise anyone a government job before you're elected. Oh--only when Republicans do it.

Mutaman said...

Ann Althouse said...
" Exactly and obviously, but hating Trump entails effort to misunderstand everything and playing dumb to a degree that would be embarrassing if there weren't so much mutual support in the stiflingly cozy anti-Trump crowd."

An all time space cadetery comment.

Iman said...

Go, Mutt, go!

Lilly, a dog said...

Every day, one of you senile fuckers infects the comments with boldface or italics. Close your tags or don't use them.

Jim at said...

Using your 'logic', apparently you like dead or severely injured members of the military.

That's how stupid you sound.

Kakistocracy said...

@ planetgeo: Any importers want to explain how they deal with tariffs on say food or agricultural products?

Team MAGA are screaming commie takeover at Harris miss the big picture. The GOP Senate is a strong ideological hedge. 4 years of a Center Left administration is a small price to rid the party of the Trump cancer. No more sucking up to dictators. We’ll be legitimate conservatives with sane policy arguments again.

Bob Boyd said...

Am I the only one who sees the fire-breathing dragon flying over the lake.