Althouse: At the Juneteenth Café...

June 19, 2025

At the Juneteenth Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

56 comments:

Iman said...: Which holiday is more real?
6,295 votes • Final results

Kwanzaa 6.8%
Juneteenth 4.8%
Toyotathon 88.4%; 6/19/25, 8:36 PM
Original Mike said...: Junewhat?; 6/19/25, 8:39 PM
Iman said...: Liberals… they’ve just finished hanging their Mexican flags and now have to find an Iranian flag.

https://x.com/Jbanklestankle1/status/1935506384012837030?s=19; 6/19/25, 8:58 PM
Aggie said...: It's amazing to me how completely the Boelter case has dropped off the radar screen. And equally amazing is the absolute shambles reporting being done by the major networks, holes in stories big enough for a truck, and journalists with remarkable incuriousity.

There are a few timelines now published by local outlets that are pretty helpful, but don't offer much glory to LEO.

It's now clear that Boelter drove to the homes of several legislators, but found some of them empty:
.."The officer, believing the SUV resembled a police vehicle, thought Boelter was sent as backup for responding officers and when she tried to make contact with Boelter, reports he stared straight ahead and was unresponsive.....The officer then drives up to Rest's home, sees no signs of distress and waits for additional law enforcement to arrive.....Boelter leaves the area." (What ?!)

"Officers see Boelter near the front door of the house before watching him fire several shots as he moved into the home.....Boelter leaves the home on foot after an exchange of gunfire with police, leaving behind his SUV...." (What ?!)

3½ hours later:
"Boelter meets a man at the bus stop at 48th and Lyndale Avenues North, who first agrees to sell Boelter his bike, before also agreeing to sell Boelter his personal vehicle.....After taking the bus together to Witness 1's home, the pair drive Witness 1's Buick to the bank, where Boelter withdraws $2,200, emptying his account."

Some first class weirdness going on here, and motivations till unclear.; 6/19/25, 9:04 PM
Larry J said...: Juneteenth, when we the celebrate the day Republicans freed the Democrats’ slaves.; 6/19/25, 9:04 PM
Peachy said...: How many sleeper cells crossed Biden's open border?; 6/19/25, 9:05 PM
Big Mike said...: @Iman, well, Juneteenth was a real holiday in Galveston, Texas. It marked the daye — June 19, 1865 — that word reached the local black population that the Civil War was over and any of them still enslaved were now free under the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Still, it’s fair to wonder (as I do) why of all the dates associated with the end of the Civil War and the abolition of the institution of slavery we would focus on the effective end of slavery in one Texas town. Why not December 6th, 1865, when the 13th Amendment went into effect? Why not April 9th, 1865, when Lee surrendered his army? Why not June 23rd, 1865, when the last Confederate garrison (in Oklahoma) surrendered. I get why not the date the Emancipation Proclamation took effect (January 1st, 1863) because January 1st is already a holiday.

My point being that there are more significant dates associated with the end of slavery in the US, many of them much more critical than when word of their freedom reached black slaves in a single Texas town.; 6/19/25, 9:06 PM
Big Mike said...: How many sleeper cells crossed Biden's open border?

@Peachy, I fear someday we will find out.; 6/19/25, 9:07 PM
gilbar said...: gilbar's serious question for the night:
as y'all know, women (single women (single white women)) are the new backbone of the Democrat Party..

as y'all Also know, MOST of those women are crazy (or, at least; on meds like SSRIs and such)

Here's the serious question:
It makes me wonder how much of that, too, is the impact of not having a father?
How many of these women didn't have fathers?
(in fact, how many democrats in toto)

How much is lost when you grow up without that steady presence, that protector? When there isn’t someone who picks you up from the car and carries you to bed even when you are faking being asleep? When there isn’t someone to discipline you when you need it, or to make you spend what feels like hours picking dandelions for wine and taking you out for ice cream or doughnuts? Who shares his secret stash of chocolate bars when you stay awake during the long road trips and keep him company? Is this why there are so many women who have become so unbalanced?

i'm asking this question after reading
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2025/06/18/fathers-day-by-the-baloonatic/

so comments? or GOD Forbid, facts or observations?; 6/19/25, 9:16 PM
Iman said...: Understood, Big Mike.

Given the numbers allowed in, Peachy, terrorist acts are much more likely to happen than not.; 6/19/25, 9:20 PM
Peachy said...: Bid Mike - me too.; 6/19/25, 9:22 PM
Aggie said...: @BigMike, that's not quite accurate; Galveston is where the Major General stepped off the boat he had used to be transported with his troops to to take command of the District of Texas. One of his first acts was to deliver the proclamation message that the Civil War was over and slavery, abolished. About a quarter-million slaves were freed across the state on that day. It's long been thought that the plantation owners wanted to get their crops in, being the probable reason that word was not spread regarding the end of the war in early April.; 6/19/25, 9:26 PM
Dave Begley said...: June 19th was picked as the day off because it is in the summer.; 6/19/25, 9:30 PM
Mark said...: Entering month 7 of making a deal to avert the TikTok ban. What a joke.

Seems like the 2 week decision window on Iran is the beginning of another much delayed solution.; 6/19/25, 9:33 PM
Original Mike said...: "It's amazing to me how completely the Boelter case has dropped off the radar screen."

One can only assume the "he's a Trump-loving, MAGA, righty" tirade hasn't held up.

Let us see the manifesto.; 6/19/25, 9:38 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Meet Margaret; 6/19/25, 9:41 PM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Texas didn't officially surrender until June 23, 1865.; 6/19/25, 9:45 PM
gilbar said...: "It's amazing to me how completely the Boelter case has dropped off the radar screen."

i was curious, so i just did a search.. for news TODAY..
here's what i found:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/doesnt-matter-minnesota-shooter-republican-144506321.html
Reason.com
It Doesn't Matter If the Minnesota Shooter Is a Republican or a Democrat; 6/19/25, 9:47 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Trump’s Iran Decision to Come Within Two Weeks ~ WSJ

Of all Trump’s walk-backs this one is the wisest.; 6/19/25, 9:50 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Thank goodness Boelter was a lawful gun owner 🤣

Here are all the guns that charges say suspect brought to assassination ~ Minnesota Star Tribune
https://www.startribune.com/taking-stock-of-the-guns-vance-boelter-allegedly-had-with-him-and-his-longtime-interest-in-firearms/601374583; 6/19/25, 10:05 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Goddamn, this Juneteenth crap is ridiculous. Who ever knew what this damn holiday was about until a couple years ago. Of course, the dumbshit DC Republicans went along with it, because they think the Blacks will then vote against them by 80 percent instead of 81 percent.

If they want to pander to minorites, why not make Cinqo de mayo a national holiday? Instead we now have 2 - i repeat 2 - holidays related to black people. who make up 12 percent of the USA.

Or hey, if we just want more holidays, why not just make Easter a Federal holiday. Oh wait, we can't do that. That would be something christians would like and we cant have that! So cross that out. Why not make Yom Kippur a holiday, instead? Then everyone would be happy. Even the Pope would clap for that. Or we make up a new one holiday. "We love illegal immigrants and cheap labor day".

All the losertarians would support that.; 6/19/25, 10:07 PM
320Busdriver said...: 2 hours for an Appleton jury to side with Ascension hospital and Dr in wrongful death of Grace Schara 2021. My faith in humanity somewhat diminished.; 6/19/25, 10:21 PM
Aggie said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/19/25, 10:26 PM
Aggie said...: Did you ever wonder what it would be like if the British Army had Twitter-'X' during the Revolutionary War? Language Warning.; 6/19/25, 10:28 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: TACO DON and his favorite "i'll tell you about it in 2 weeks")“Two weeks” is one of President Trump’s favorite units of time. It can mean something, or nothing at all.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a briefing on Thursday that President Trump will decide on attacking Iran “within the next two weeks.”
“I have a message directly from the president, and I quote, ‘Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.’” “What exactly would a deal with Iran need to entail?” “No enrichment of a uranium and it would, absolutely not — Iran is not absolutely not able to achieve a nuclear weapon.”
Within the next two weeks.”
That is when President Trump now says he will be ready to make his decision about bombing Iran or not. This new timeline was offered by the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at her briefing Thursday afternoon. But as she read the president’s statement aloud, some in the room couldn’t help but feel that this new time frame sounded a little … familiar.
As almost everyone in Washington is by now aware, “two weeks” is one of Mr. Trump’s favorite units of time.
Asked eight weeks ago if he could trust Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Trump replied, “I’ll let you know in about two weeks.”
Tax plans, health care policies, evidence of conspiracy theories he claimed were true, the fight against ISIS, the opening of some coal mines, infrastructure plans — all were at one point or another riddles he promised to solve for the public in about two weeks. At least 10x just so far into this 1st 5 months trump has said "in 2 weeks" and when 2 weeks come nothing happens.,, NO NEW WARS he'll let you know in "2 WEEKS"..If Repubs think IRAQ was a quagmire killing Americans, IRAN will be 10x harder (93 million people ,NUKE sights buried inside of mountains, see how well Carter did with Iran Those people will die before ever SURRENDER, and after the horrible ,portrayal of our Military in the trump parade, I don't think they are too concerned. This ain t a 2 week game game show with a drama on WILL HE OR WONT HE (and CONGRESS WILLL REMAIN DEAD) might as well have a KING because they are useless. Americans are sick of going to foreign wars after the last few debacles and lives lost. BEAUCOUP DINKY DAU.. :(; 6/19/25, 11:21 PM
buwaya said...: Compare and contrast - the Marinski Ballet production of Borodins Polovtsian Dances - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADJzzBR0qzg
versus the Bolshoi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D06rsbKGBc
On the whole I think I like the Marinsky better.
They both have a bunch of slinky Russian ladies, but the Marinsky ones are slinkier. IMHO. They are supposed to be captives of the Polovtsians (The Turkic Cumans/Kipchaks) but they don't act all that sad. Prince Igor is of course pissed, not appreciating the great party the Khan is throwing.
This sort of thing makes on realize the collapse of Russian culture - they can perform the old stuff the the spark that gave the world Borodin and gang died long ago. Ref - Orlando Figes, "Natashas Dance" - currently reading Figes, "The Crimean War".

Both are worth a watch - the music is really a coproduction of Borodin, Rimsy-Korsakov and that circle, that filled out Brodins work, plus in time the dance parts by Diaghilev, Fokine, etc.; 6/19/25, 11:26 PM
Jim at said...: It's not so much the blatant pandering that created this holiday that annoys me. Because that's all it was and is.

But it's a stupid name, too.

Really? They couldn't come up with anything better?; 6/19/25, 11:41 PM
buwaya said...: Paola Hermosin, who teaches guitar in Sevilla, on the origins of the musical refrain (estribillo in Spanish). Its Spanish of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWRL29q_EKg

This is in Spanish but heck, just turn on the captions. She's a great explainer. Then she does her guitar arrangement of Alfonso X (King of Castile) "cantiga" "Santa Maria, Strella do Dia". The songbook that that is from, btw, may be the earliest significant piece of music with a recognizable musical notation.

You early music fans may like the Cleveland Orchestra's version - with lots of refains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCGyDmclpS8
Note: The song is NOT in Spanish, Its in Galician-Portuguese, as the King though it more suitable for poetry than Castillian. And what the King wants the King gets.; 6/19/25, 11:55 PM
gadfly said...: Whoa!! Not only did Musk's latest Starship blow up, but fuel tanks nearby also caught fire. Elon can’t do what he’s already being paid to do. However, Republicans are poised to provide billions more to him to tackle a far more complex problem.

And Sen. Mark Kelly, a guy who (even Whiskey Pete recognizes) would know, seems to suspect that Hegseth just fired the people who would tell him that this boondoggle is physically impossible to pull off the ($35 billion in year one) underpriced Golden Dome project that Trump dreams about.

Kelly knows we cannot pull this rabbit out of a hat. Not a full salvo protection system guarding against both Russia and China, with an integrated command and control (C2) system, not just ground-based but space-based. Kelly's background says we cannot build that system because of difficult physics problems.

Kelly: So I want to get to another issue that is — that you’re facing here. How much of the staff of the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation did you cut? I’ll tell you what you cut. You cut 74%.; 6/20/25, 12:00 AM
buwaya said...: In the meantime SpaceX/Musk in 2024-25 has launched 200 units of the National Reconnaissance office spy satellite "constellation" - which are going to give the US a near-real time view of the earths surface, in detail. Its as close as current technology can get to military omniscience. Thats step 1 in what SpaceX can give the US to establish total military domination. Whatever the US gives Musk its a bargain.; 6/20/25, 12:10 AM
buwaya said...: https://www.defensenews.com/space/2025/04/08/intel-agency-expanding-proliferated-constellation-with-april-launches/ - a bit dated article, the NRO satellite count is now over 200. And the fact remains that nobody else on earth can do this sort of thing at all, not on this scale.; 6/20/25, 12:16 AM
stunned said...: I ❤️ buwaya; 6/20/25, 12:28 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I wouldn’t expect Trump to speak about the targeting of the Ayatollah. I would be surprised if he did, knowing that Trump must be aware that he himself was targeted not even a year ago. Iranians who might be expecting signals from Trump himself.; 6/20/25, 12:59 AM
gadfly said...: Washington's cherries will rot on the trees.; 6/20/25, 1:12 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: All that to say, except fake audio of Trump talking about the killing of the ayatollah.; 6/20/25, 1:14 AM
Jim at said...: @ gadfly

That's pretty balanced piece. And I've known Mike Gempler for more than 30 years. I also know the growing areas, the seasons and the migrations.

Know who used to do all the harvest work? US citizens from Arkansas, Missouri and other areas within the borders of this nation.

Don't blame Trump because the tree fruit industry is having a labor shortage.

Blame the onerous government regulations Washington state's imposed on those orchardists - mandated housing, just for starters - so they're looking to cut corners.

Long-term policy should never be determined by one crisis. Especially when it's already the law of the land.

Adjustments will be made.

Funny how the Spokesman never did any stories when hail storms (or rain when it comes to cherries) would wipe out an entire season's crop, and you had a bunch of immigrants (legal and illegal) out of work.

Why is that?; 6/20/25, 1:25 AM
Big Mike said...: BREAKING: A federal appeals court has indefinitely blocked Judge Breyer’s order to put Gavin Newsom back in control of the National Guard.

The three-judge panel, which included two Trump and one Biden appointee, was unanimous.

Took longer than I had expected, but it’s the obviously right ruling. It does show that both Breyer brothers were highly partisan backs.; 6/20/25, 1:53 AM
Big Mike said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/20/25, 2:52 AM
Big Mike said...: There’s a great article in Bari Weiss’s Free Press by Ido Hevroni. He teaches classical literature at Shalem University, a small liberal arts college in Israel. As his students, many called up to fight after October 7th, 2023, returned to class he discovered that they found many of the events in The Illiad and The Odyssey to be relevant to their own experiences as war fighters. I had not thought about it, partly because my own Vietnam War experiences were stateside in a Pentagon billet that was just like many other civilian IT jobs. But of course I knew people who had faced combat; one of my high school classmates won a Medal of Honor. We knew each other from the same home room, and we both dated the same girl (though not simultaneously). And I became close friends with a couple in living in the my apartment building when I went to graduate school using the GI Bill, where both had served in Vietnam (her as an army nurse). I knew that combat vets had issues, even those who did not manifest PTSD, but this article helped me understand that I wish I had known back then.; 6/20/25, 3:00 AM
Big Mike said...: From the lips of Barack Obama, during a conversation last Tuesday with historian Heather Cox Richardson:

”We want diversity of opinion. We don't want diversity of facts. And how do we train and teach our kids to distinguish between those things? That, I think, is one of the big tasks of social media. By the way, it will require some government, I believe, some government regulatory constraints around some of these business models in a way that's consistent with the First Amendment … [My emphasis]

Except that there is no way government regulation of what constitutes factual information can ever be consistent with the First Amendment, is there? Coming so soon after we Americans were told, repeatedly, to ignore our lying eyes because Joe Biden was “just as sharp as a tack,” it seems clear to me that Obama has developed a political tin ear.; 6/20/25, 3:25 AM
john mosby said...: Lem: "I wouldn’t expect Trump to speak about the targeting of the Ayatollah. I would be surprised if he did, knowing that Trump must be aware that he himself was targeted not even a year ago."

Trump did say, albeit on another topic, "I was the hunted. Now I'm the hunter."

That must resonate with the mullahs.

JSM; 6/20/25, 4:53 AM
john mosby said...: Buwaya: first, glad you're back. Second, the Polovtsian Dances always make me think of the great 70s commercial for the compilation album of pop classics, featuring the moustachioed gent with a cheesy English accent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guSc6hKC9LE&t=2s

I'm just a stranger in paradise.

Ravishing Regards,

JSM; 6/20/25, 4:56 AM
Kakistocracy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/20/25, 5:57 AM
Tina Trent said...: Big Mike, I know I've told this, but when I taught in Brandon Community College, Fl, a pretty rough woman came to see me. She was retiring from ten years in the desert the week of 9/11. She was called up for two more years. She had never read a whole book before The Odyssey, though she was some sort of communications/cartography worker. She missed her kids growing up. She had drafted beautiful parchiment maps with what she could learn from the Odyssey to show where she fought, and gleefully called Odyssses' troops wimps because they only spent ten years outside the Gates of Troy, while she spent 12 and didn't complain. The workbooks at Brandon Community College didn't contain full texts, just paragraphs from books. Except that the Koran and other Middle-Eastern stories were much longer excerpts.

She asked for another book to read. How deplorable of her.; 6/20/25, 6:01 AM
Leland said...: How are those LA Riots going for you progressives? No Kings? Reminding everyone Republicans freed the slaves?; 6/20/25, 6:40 AM
Rusty said...: Mark said...
"Entering month 7 of making a deal to avert the TikTok ban. What a joke.

Seems like the 2 week decision window on Iran is the beginning of another much delayed solution."

This Trump administration just isn't going well for you, is it?; 6/20/25, 6:40 AM
Jamie said...: My father-in-law, who lives a little over an hour from LA, insists that there are and were no riots in LA. Evidently his news sources (that would be USA Today and whatever news feed pops up on his iPad without his choosing) didn't cover the cord of police's statement, among other things.

It is frustrating enough to try to counter others' poorly thought-out opinions when we share facts. When we aren't even operating from the same set of facts, it feels hopeless.; 6/20/25, 7:40 AM
Jamie said...: The CHIEF of police, dang it; 6/20/25, 7:40 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Just had an interesting encounter with Grok.

I asked Grok a question about the recent power shortages in California and Grok noted a study by the National Bureau for Economic Analysis, a well respected organization among economists.

I asked Grok for a link to the study.

Strangely, the link took me to a study on an unrelated topic.

I pointed this out to Grok, who apologized profusely and offered a new link, which took me to another completely unrelated study.

Tried again. Another unrelated study.

So Grok cited a study from NBER as definitive in its first response but couldn’t provide a link in three tries.

Lesson learned. I’m guessing Grok found a reference in a news story somewhere but never went to the primary source. Treat AI like you would a typical story on CNN.; 6/20/25, 7:44 AM
Original Mike said...: "Treat AI like you would a typical story on CNN."

Except, motives are different. I don't think we yet know why AI hallucinates. CNN does it out of malice.; 6/20/25, 7:51 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Note the difference between a No Kings rally and a typical Trump rally.

https://x.com/gotrice2024/status/1935958218171097563?s=61; 6/20/25, 9:43 AM
Anthony said...: I only heard of Juneteenth a few years ago, mostly on Insty, when people were making fun of what a fake made-up "holiday" Kwaanza was and that if black folks wanted their own holiday, they had one in Juneteenth.; 6/20/25, 11:07 AM
Kakistocracy said...: Trump administration boosts monitoring of possible Iran-backed cells in U.S., as Trump weighs strikes, sources say ~ CBS

Will any news organization dig into this. I doubt it. It will make the Biden administration handling of immigration look even worse…; 6/20/25, 11:40 AM
Leland said...: Since our hapless prognosticator continues to post comments here; I decided to check on how Diamondback Energy (FANG) is doing. Oh my. The are down 10% for the year. Most of that loss coming in April, when the CEO was heralded by our prognosticator. They also dropped 4% since Israel started bombing Iran.

That's pretty interesting considering that since the beginning of the year, the price per barrel of WTI crude is essentially unchanged. We were told by our prognosticator that it was going to fall drastically in May, but instead it increased nearly $10 a barrel. Then we were told that Iran might block the Strait of Hormuz with thoughts and prayers, yet oil prices dropped $2 when everyone realized that wasn't going to do it.

Wonder how TSLA is doing? 100 points higher since the prog mentioned FANG. Anyone else making bank off doing the opposite of our prognosticator?; 6/20/25, 2:20 PM
Leland said...: My take at a headline to interest the hostess; University of Wisconsin is suing the University of Miami for inappropriate contact with a freshman.; 6/20/25, 2:33 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Markets don’t price geopolitical risks. Not because they’re irrelevant, but because they’re unquantifiable—until they smash through the windshield.; 6/20/25, 5:57 PM