Althouse: The full moon was setting in the west as the sun rose in the east.

December 4, 2025

The full moon was setting in the west as the sun rose in the east.

This morning on Lake Mendota. Video by Meade:

40 comments:

gadfly said...: NYT reports:

After Hurricane Francine damaged Althea Vallotton’s house in suburban New Orleans last year, puddles formed on her floors whenever it rained. But she saved up money and lived in a mobile home on her front lawn for months, until she finally obtained a loan to pay for a stronger, metallic covering.

The cost? About $49,000.

On Wednesday, several workers — hired by a “legitimate contractor,” she said — arrived around 7 a.m. and got to work on the roof. She, in turn, drove to her job at a nearby school, relieved that her home repair odyssey was ending. It was a one-day job, after all.

Forty-nine thousand dollars for a one day job replacing this roof?

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/12/03/multimedia/03nat-nola-roof-hgpz/03nat-nola-roof-hgpz-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp; 12/4/25, 1:48 PM
rhhardin said...: Sun rises in the SE and moon sets in the NW. The winter moon follows the summer sun path.; 12/4/25, 2:06 PM
Old and slow said...: I've noticed that the pro-war forever in Ukraine people on X seem to be entirely energized by emotion. They rarely make fact based arguments in favor of carrying on with this stalemate. They throw insults constantly. "Coward - appeaser - vatnik - sellout", but never make a rational case for rejecting an agreement. Russia must be destroyed at all costs because that is the right thing to do, seems to be the only message. Well, it might be the right thing to do in a perfect world, but in this world there are costs to consider. I'd love to see Russia pushed right back to the original lines, but I do not see how that is likely to happen, especially given Europe's fecklessness and the American unwillingness to commit to a land war against a nuclear superpower. It seems we are now considered not only an unreliable partner, but an actual enemy because we are unwilling to risk everything to do all the heavy lifting.

One very common complaint recently has been about Belgium being unwilling to release Russian funds to Ukraine to fund the war. Belgium said they would do it, but only if the rest of the EU provided assurances that Belgium wouldn't get stuck with the bill if things went south. Everyone is saying that Belgium of all countries should stand up for Ukraine. After all, didn't the rest of Europe sacrifice 10 million men and destroy itself in defense of plucky little Belgium? This seems like a very poor analogy to me. In hindsight, defending Belgium was a poor choice.; 12/4/25, 2:18 PM
Jaq said...: "After all, didn't the rest of Europe sacrifice 10 million men and destroy itself in defense of plucky little Belgium? This seems like a very poor analogy to me. In hindsight, defending Belgium was a poor choice."

You means losing scores of millions of people in two world wars to prevent 7 million people who already speak two languages from having to know some German wasn't worth it?

Where did that come from, oh yeah security guarantees was how Great Britain sold the war to the public. They wanted to fight Germany at the side of France because they considered Germany an existential threat, prior to WWI, because Germany started, against Bismarck's advice, to build a navy. But the British people could not be sold on a war on that basis, so it was all about giving security guarantees to "poor little Belgium."

This is the same reason that we wanted and provoked the war with Russia, because we see them as a potential existential threat, and Russia sees Ukraine in NATO as an existential threat, which we very well knew, and getting them into a war while they were seen as still weak was a win for us. Biden said that the US won the war as soon as Russia crossed into the Ukraine.

This whole worrying about what some country might theoretically do to you at some future date if they got different leadership sure leads to a lot of death and destruction. Great Britain has been fighting Russia, in Russia, not on British soil, BTW, since the Crimean War.; 12/4/25, 2:59 PM
Jaq said...: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/04/ladas-may-be-putins-last-resort-russia-ukraine-war-defence/. - Russia is out of armor.

https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/12/02/russia-more-vehicles/

"Russia has more armored vehicles now than in 2022. The math is ugly."

Czechoslovakia had the "velvet divorce" and formed two countries, we inflicted a civil war on Ukraine because we wanted to bring down Russia, and maybe you think that that is a good thing, that they are the last thing standing between us and taking down China, that's all well and good, just don't tell me that you want it to protect "poor little Ukraine" a country not even its own leadership actually seems to care about.; 12/4/25, 3:09 PM
Humperdink said...: In NW PA we have been buried with lake effect snow. Probably 12-14”. Now it’s going to get cold. Real cold.; 12/4/25, 3:14 PM
Original Mike said...: "The winter moon follows the summer sun path."

The full moon.; 12/4/25, 3:18 PM
Original Mike said...: "two world wars to prevent 7 million people who already speak two languages from having to know some German"

Seriously?; 12/4/25, 3:21 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: “Full Cold Moon”

Every thing you see on it is well over 200 degrees F. You’re the one who’s cold.; 12/4/25, 3:27 PM
Old and slow said...: Original Mike said...
.....
Seriously?

How far would you go to preserve the ever changing border line for Ukraine? I know that you were commenting on Belgium, but the point is the same.; 12/4/25, 3:29 PM
Humperdink said...: Obama’s Affordable Care Act: Premiums will go down $2500. Mine went up $6000.

Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act: Inflation hit 9%.

Obama/ Biden: The affordability twins.; 12/4/25, 3:47 PM
FullMoon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/4/25, 3:55 PM
lonejustice said...: I woke up very early this morning, and the super moon was so bright it lit up every room in the west side of my house. It was throwing shadows from the trees into every room. Impressive.; 12/4/25, 3:56 PM
FullMoon said...: Home of Apple Headquarters

The racial makeup of Cupertino was 22.3% White, 0.6% African American, 0.2% Native American, 70.2% Asian,

n the year of 2023, Cupertino, CA had a population of 58.9k people with a median age of 41.3 and a median household income of $231,139.; 12/4/25, 4:03 PM
FullMoon said...: Borders San Francisco

The racial makeup of Daly City was 14.3% White, 2.4% African American, 0.9% Native American, 57.5% Asian, 0.7% Pacific Islander, 15.2% from other races

median household income of $119,570.; 12/4/25, 4:07 PM
FullMoon said...: Least popular "silicon valley" area

Milpitas was 11.3% White, 2.1% African American, 0.6% Native American, 71.7% Asian, median yearly income of $179,011.; 12/4/25, 4:12 PM
Clyde said...: My favorite story on social media and in the news over the last couple of days was the raccoon who broke into the liquor store in Ashland, Virginia, knocked over a bunch of bottles, got drunk off the booze and then passed out in the bathroom next to the toilet. In a politically polarized country, stories like that can be appreciated by everyone. The raccoon was rescued by the local animal control people, sobered up and was released back into the wild. It broke 14 bottles worth about $250, so it wasn't drinking the good stuff. I watched the surveillance video, and it tried to climb onto the top shelf but fell down and settled for the cheap stuff on the bottom shelf.; 12/4/25, 4:34 PM
West TX Intermediate Crude said...: Russia invading Ukraine and keeping part of its territory is a Bad Thing.
The Bad Thing happened because European nations, as a group, got fat and happy relying on Americans to keep the Russians out, and failed to maintain militaries to allow themselves to defend their borders and those of their friendly neighbors.
Europe made a mistake, and when people or nations make mistakes, Bad Things happen.
America learned that its indulgence of European elites was a mistake, and changed its national policy by electing Trump.
Europe can minimize the occurrence of future Bad Things by acting like real nations and funding their militaries.
That can prevent future Bad Things from happening, but it cannot reverse the current Bad Thing that has already happened.
Too bad for Ukraine, and Ukrainians, but not so bad that I want my kids or grandkids bleeding to reverse it.; 12/4/25, 4:40 PM
buwaya said...: (Nearly) all of Europe was already at war before a single German set foot in Belgium. That invasion of Belgium was what brought Britain into WWI (as a casus beĺli), nobody else.
You could say everyone was murdering each other over Serbia, not Belgium, and you would be much more correct, but even that is only a partial truth.
It would help if certain persons were educated, but as usual humanity disappoints.; 12/4/25, 4:53 PM
Humperdink said...: I wonder what the Russian people think of Putin getting a substantial portion of younger population slaughtered on the front lines. Surely there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction.; 12/4/25, 4:54 PM
narciso said...: It has been a stupid incursion, from the beginning
But the european seem to be grabbing for the ale; 12/4/25, 4:59 PM
Mark said...: Its been about a year since the TikTok ban.

What a joke Congress is, we have been waiting on a 'deal' any day now since Inauguration and they are perfectly fine having the ban they made such a deal about blatantly ignored.

Turns out they're perfectly fine letting minds rot on a Chinese run platform.; 12/4/25, 5:05 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I was driving east on I-40 late yesterday afternoon just as the Moon was rising in the east. Looked gigantic coming up over distant mountains.; 12/4/25, 5:07 PM
buwaya said...: Daly City is, famously, the Filipino enclave just south of San Francisco. Well, locally famous. It is also the subject of the Malvina Reynolds/Pete Seeger "Little Boxes" (Ticky tacky 1961), those "little boxes" being the homes on the hills of Daly City, which were even then being bought up by Filipino immigrants. The hip leftist sneer at the upwardly mobile bourgeois, who happened, in that case, to be Filipinos.
The left despises minority groups who are not suffering from interesting depravities. And this shit goes back a long, long way.; 12/4/25, 5:08 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Turns out they're perfectly fine letting minds rot on a Chinese run platform."

So, I guess we now know Mark spends a lot of time on Tik Tok.; 12/4/25, 5:10 PM
buwaya said...: I can see the "ticky tacky" little boxes of Daly City from the rear balcony of our San Francisco house. My son still lives there now.; 12/4/25, 5:12 PM
narciso said...: Seeger the rich communist no surprise; 12/4/25, 5:17 PM
FullMoon said...: "Little Boxes" (Ticky tacky 1961), those "little boxes" being the homes on the hills of Daly City,"

Yep, bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathrooms, front and rear yards, garage. 10 minutes from the beach , the zoo, horse riding stables, theatres, bowling alley, etc. !5- 20 minutes from downtown San Francisco.
Terrible !; 12/4/25, 5:25 PM
Old and slow said...: Things (and property values) change all the time FullMoon. It can be difficult if profitable for the original inhabitants. There are small cattle pastures where I live that are now ludicrously valuable. The owners will move on, probably when they die. Such is life.; 12/4/25, 5:30 PM
Achilles said...: buwaya said...

The left despises minority groups who are not suffering from interesting depravities. And this shit goes back a long, long way.

The left despises anyone who does not help them obtain power over other people.; 12/4/25, 6:03 PM
Big Mike said...: @Clyde, my favorite story concerned an executive at a major carmakers discovering the word “accountability”:

Gerry McGovern, Jaguar's Chief Creative Officer, who oversaw the brand's 2024 rebrand featuring diverse, androgynous models has been fired. Jaguar's sales fell 97.5% in April 2025 to just 49 vehicles.

McGovern probably has a decent-sized nest egg to fall back on. Tough for the factory workers, but elitists never care about them

Best part was the story of his being marched out the door by security officers. No retirement announcement — marched out by security is typically something reserved for a bookkeeper caught embezzling or a factory worker who started a fight. I guess taking charge of a weak brand and cutting its sales by 97.5% will put you in that sort of company.

Get some, go broke.; 12/4/25, 6:07 PM
Josephbleau said...: An interesting strategic point about Belgium is that the estuary of the port of Antwerp, the scheldt, is directly across the channel from the estuary of the Thames River in England. The English were very sensitive over who ran Belgium because if a fleet collected there it could quickly shell and invade London.

Britain was always making treaties with Belgium to make sure they did not ally with someone who would destroy their capital. If the German Kaiser had not been a dumb shit he would have wooed Belgium and based his high seas fleet in Antwerp, immobilizing England and making it unlikely they could support France.; 12/4/25, 6:15 PM
Big Mike said...: I see that Ukraine is tonight’s topic. I imagine they’ve spent over a decade— since Russia annexed the Crimes — regretting letting Bill Clinton sweet-talk them into giving up the nukes they inherited when the old Soviet Union fell apart. Turns out that the US was never going to risk war with a nuclear power (Russia) no matter what “assurances” we gave the Ukrainians. I’m not disputing that we were and are right to not risk World War III over Crimea or the Donbas, but in that case we should never have offered vague assurances that were not worth the paper they were written on.; 12/4/25, 6:20 PM
narciso said...: Kaiser was not that smart see his portrayal in seven percent solition as well as the kingsman; 12/4/25, 6:20 PM
narciso said...: How was that going to work a dozen warheads versus 6000; 12/4/25, 6:22 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: 2 NEED to win going at it tonight on Paramount+. I'll stop in not really interested in football only end of year SUPERBOWL POOL.$200 A SQUARE from my friends in NY. Im in every year No takeout , front back score 1/4's 1/2 end score NO OVERTIME SCORE ,REVERSE and different gimmicks they put in every year. Im not wagering either Cowboys or Lions will be there but I always go for my numbers ,fair weather fan. Not quite as boring as baseball though and always good eats.; 12/4/25, 6:39 PM
Old and slow said...: Big Mike says "we should never have offered vague assurances"

I agree entirely. We are not to be trusted, nor is anyone else.; 12/4/25, 6:47 PM
Josephbleau said...: It is interesting that Ukraine engineered and built and repaired most of Russia’s icbms, but never built warheads. The warheads in Ukraine were controlled by the Russians.

Ukraine could probably have taken possession but they did not have the codes. They could have broken them apart and used the pits and such to make ones they could explode, but probably not hydrogen, just 70kt or so.

So it was rational to give them back.; 12/4/25, 6:48 PM
narciso said...: We actually believed it was the 'end of history' snorfle; 12/4/25, 6:49 PM
narciso said...: I suppose they could have cracked the pals then what?; 12/4/25, 6:51 PM