Althouse: Sunrise — 6:37, 7:01, 7:04, 7:09, 7:27.

February 15, 2026

Sunrise — 6:37, 7:01, 7:04, 7:09, 7:27.

Write about anything you want in the comments.

136 comments:

Yancey Ward said...: All of those photos are awesome.; 2/15/26, 5:43 PM
narciso said...: I would say the second one; 2/15/26, 5:53 PM
narciso said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/15/26, 5:53 PM
narciso said...: So wuthering heights barely eked out the no 1 spot with no real competition; 2/15/26, 5:57 PM
narciso said...: And all that controversy; 2/15/26, 5:59 PM
narciso said...: Rachel Bovard on X: "Yes, something has been amiss. There is zero debate or floor process for any bill, the Senate barely even legislates any more outside of must-pass bills, the committees have become huge and unwieldy which renders committee membership meaningless outside of performative hearing" / X https://share.google/saD6qzk0hzajgCrOI; 2/15/26, 6:05 PM
narciso said...: https://x.com/jsolomonReports/status/2022116316337906040; 2/15/26, 6:05 PM
narciso said...: Ryan Pote — RAPT Interviews https://share.google/nh2N1fCptjbtHyQ6Y; 2/15/26, 6:13 PM
narciso said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/15/26, 6:13 PM
narciso said...: An interesting offering clive clussler james rollins type; 2/15/26, 6:25 PM
Original Mike said...: Sen. Dave McCormick on SAVE Act: If An 80-20 Issue Can't Get 60 Votes, Something Is Amiss In The Senate

What's amiss is that democrats (in this case) aren't representing their constituents. They are representing their own interests.; 2/15/26, 6:34 PM
Humperdink said...: Olympics in the past were marred by athletes cheating with PEDs and blood doping. The Canadian Curling team has taken cheating to a new level using brooms, rocks, and finger tips.; 2/15/26, 6:34 PM
Jaq said...: When Kurt Vonnegut wrote about "when robots. take over" he predicted that they would end up putting us all in padded cells "for our own safety."

The top engineer had put in an exception for himself, directing the robots to never help or harm him, and he watched his invention destroy the society around him, then one day he broke his leg, and the only agency capable of helping him anymore, since the humans were all locked away "for their own safety" were the robots. They wouldn't help him until he signed a paper rescinding the prohibition on helping him, and the next thing you know, he was in a padded cell. And since they knew he liked to tinker, they gave him plastic toy tools.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX057P6g2Nw

AI is changing faster than we can imagine, and if you are comforting yourself with its shortcomings from six months ago, well, three years ago AI could not accurately count the number of "r"s in "strawberry" and now a team of AI bots, 16 of them, organized itself, distributed tasks among its members, and wrote a C compiler, with no access to the internet, so it could only use its training, and it passed 99% of the tasks in a test suite designed as a "torture test" for such compilers.

The task was set by humans, and its parameters, and a small amount of guidance was given, and there was one aspect that it could not master, but a C compiler is a really hard job compared to most of the stuff that needs to be written to be useful.

Another point he makes is that in chess, for a while, a human with access to AI could beat any human, or any pure AI chess program, for about twenty years this was the case, until one day no human/AI "centaur" could beat pure AI.; 2/15/26, 6:38 PM
bagoh20 said...: "What's amiss is that democrats (in this case) aren't representing their constituents. They are representing their own interests."

There is only one real reason to resist the Save Act, and we all know what it is.; 2/15/26, 6:39 PM
Peachy said...: Dems are owned by very dark forces. And they are slaves to it.; 2/15/26, 6:42 PM
Jaq said...: If this comment is true, it's kind of amazing:

Yup. I just started using the latest version of claude. I laid out an entire end to end scaled down ERP system compelete with AR, AP, GL and service orders in about 4 weeks. It looks and performs from a ui/ux perspective better than salesforce or servicenow. And im not even a coder. Just a business guy sick of paying 125 bucks a month per employee to microsoft to use d365 F&O for a system i cant customize without paying a Microsoft partner 250 bucks and hours for two weekw of work just to change the layout of a check. That was my last straw. They have feasted off us for far too long.; 2/15/26, 6:44 PM
Jaq said...: I know that you guys are not interested in the dustup that's shaping up in the Persian Gulf, but it is shaping up to be pretty interesting We are threatening to choke China off from its main source of oil, and Iran has probably told China that they were going to have to shut off the oil flow, and my guess is that China has tried to buy leverage over Iran, because they reported to be providing radar equipment purportedly able to detect stealth at a fair distance, and long range AD missiles. They are also sending destroyers and a "research ship" presumably to get a test their equipment against our aircraft when the transponders are off and probably to provide early warning of attacks. They have already published hi-res satellite images of our bases.

So one side or the other is totally deluded, I certainly don't know which, but this planned attack is an attack on both Russia and China, and it remains to be seen how it will turn out.; 2/15/26, 6:56 PM
narciso said...: Anthropic (the ai that wont shut it self down) allegedly was used on the maduros mission, so it was acquired a taste for blood; 2/15/26, 6:56 PM
narciso said...: You have it backwards china and russia have been supporting iran as they have done in the sudan; 2/15/26, 6:58 PM
Original Mike said...: "I know that you guys are not interested in the dustup that's shaping up in the Persian Gulf,…"

Oh, don't be a jerk. Of course people are "interested". It's serious stuff.; 2/15/26, 7:01 PM
narciso said...: China and russia built up north korsa china built up pakistans nuclear program; 2/15/26, 7:09 PM
narciso said...: Pakistan then supported the north korean and libyan programs; 2/15/26, 7:25 PM
Peachy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/15/26, 7:27 PM
narciso said...: Master of Projection: Obama Says Democrats Have It Hard Since They’re Not Mean and Nasty Like Republicans – Twitchy https://share.google/6gPkdrSqIFSCUBBQ3; 2/15/26, 7:41 PM
Eva Marie said...: “in chess, for a while, a human with access to AI could beat any human, or any pure AI chess program, for about twenty years this was the case, until one day no human/AI "centaur" could beat pure AI”
This kind of doesn’t make sense. What the sentence us effectively saying that a bad AI aided by a human couldn’t beat a good AI. What dies that prove except get a better AI; 2/15/26, 7:46 PM
Eva Marie said...: also get better spellcheck, dammit.; 2/15/26, 7:47 PM
Eva Marie said...: that last sentence was directed at me.; 2/15/26, 7:47 PM
LibertarianLeisure said...: Second picture, especially beautiful, probably, because of looming red.; 2/15/26, 8:00 PM
Beasts of England said...: I like the fourth and fifth - I’m a cloud guy… :); 2/15/26, 8:09 PM
Eva Marie said...: "I know that you guys are not interested in the dustup that's shaping up in the Persian Gulf,…"
My question is how can there be a dust up in water?; 2/15/26, 8:14 PM
Beasts of England said...: We had the gender reveal party* for the younger Beastette today and only one of the eight guessed a girl. His name will be Louis T. ‘Smith’, IV, and will be known as Louie!!

*she had ordered a layered dessert in cups and the frosting in the middle was blue. Kinda cute, although I was hoping for skydivers with the appropriate-colored smoke plume…; 2/15/26, 8:17 PM
Eva Marie said...: I found this in the comment section at Instapundit. Unfortunately I didn't take nite of the writer. Comment is brilliant though (in my opinion)
“Libertarians are philosophical Marxists, although almost none of them are smart enough to understand it. At the heart of philosophical Marxism is the idea that the individual is an interchangeable member of some larger group such that things like culture and religion and tradition are just false consciousness that prevent you from acting on your true nature. For economic Marxist, that true nature is economic class. For fascists, that true nature is nation or race. For Libertarians, it is economic self interest. For all of them, you are just one indistinguishable unit of some collective group, be that race, class or in Libertarians' case, labor. They all think they are the opposite of collectivists. In fact, every Libertarian operates on the assumption that everyone is just an interchangeable unit of labor, which is about as collectivist of a view as you can have.”; 2/15/26, 8:19 PM
Original Mike said...: You found that "brilliant", Eva?
My mileage varies.; 2/15/26, 8:23 PM
Eva Marie said...: Yes it is. It’s the reason Ben Shapiro could so blithely say that if you couldn’t get a job where you live, move. He wasn’t looking at people as humans but as units of labor.; 2/15/26, 8:25 PM
Eva Marie said...: It’s the reason libertarians have been so pro immigration. It explains a lot.; 2/15/26, 8:27 PM
Original Mike said...: I consider myself a libertarian. I vehemently oppose illegal immigration. I support legal immigration to the extent that it benefits those of us already here in OUR country.

You've been sold a bill of goods, Eva.; 2/15/26, 8:32 PM
Lazarus said...: I don't quite buy that. Libertarians reject the group because they are individualists. Marxist reject existing ethnic, cultural, and religious groups because they have a vision of a new collective that transcends such categories. I don't think you can call libertarians collectivist. We can think of a diagram with two axes: one referring to state power, and the other referring to individualism and the freedom from social conventions. It is interesting though, that for a long time the "libertarian" label belonged to left-wing anarchists. In some countries, that may still be the case.; 2/15/26, 8:40 PM
Eva Marie said...: I would say then that you’re not a pure libertarian.; 2/15/26, 8:52 PM
Eva Marie said...: You don’t have to immediately buy that or reject it. It’s an interesting way to look at it.; 2/15/26, 8:54 PM
Eva Marie said...: Libertarians assume humans are universally motivated by self-interest, with differences only in preferences that can be priced and traded. That’s been proven in the past few years by hard experience not to be true.; 2/15/26, 9:03 PM
Original Mike said...: "I would say then that you’re not a pure libertarian."

"Pure libertarian". I think the problem is the idea that the categorization is binary. It's a spectrum. Like just about everything else in life. People latch onto the extremes and think they understand something. But their "understanding" is a cartoon.; 2/15/26, 9:03 PM
Original Mike said...: "Libertarians assume humans are universally motivated by self-interest,"

Codswallop.; 2/15/26, 9:05 PM
Iman said...: narciso… “No one in the history of the USA has purposely caused more hateful division in America than Barack Obama.”

When you elect a privilege seeking Marxist that is what you get.; 2/15/26, 9:06 PM
Eva Marie said...: Well then libertarianism doesn’t mean anything. Self interest is at the heart of libertarianism.; 2/15/26, 9:08 PM
Mason G said...: From lp.org, OUR PLATFORM:

"We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual. We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose."

Not seeing 'collectivist' there, but then that's just me.; 2/15/26, 9:09 PM
Original Mike said...: Not sticking your nose where it doesn't belong is the heart of libertarianism.; 2/15/26, 9:17 PM
Original Mike said...: It's not just you, Mason.; 2/15/26, 9:18 PM
Eva Marie said...: Mason G, that definition is so broad it could be a plank of the Republican Party. Just say you’re a Republican and be done with it.; 2/15/26, 9:21 PM
Eva Marie said...: Libertarians have been stinking up the air defending mass immigration. Now that they see that was a failed idea, they’re disowning it.; 2/15/26, 9:24 PM
Jamie said...: Lent approacheth, and with it my twice-yearly commenting fast. I'll be around, I'll be reading, I'll be WANTING to comment, but except in the event of something very important happening to one of you, I will not be commenting from this Wednesday until Easter.

Have an excellent spring, all! Keep the faith, whatever one you have, and let's all be careful out there (and in here)!; 2/15/26, 9:31 PM
Original Mike said...: "Libertarians have been stinking up the air defending mass immigration."

I guess my newsletter has been delayed in the mail.; 2/15/26, 9:34 PM
Original Mike said...: Best wishes, Jamie.; 2/15/26, 9:38 PM
buwaya said...: "Libertarians assume humans are universally motivated by self-interest,"
Not so. Libertarians, like Ayn Rand, say humans SHOULD be motivated by self interest, but for various reasons are not, to their cost.
Not that I'm a libertarian, at all.; 2/15/26, 9:40 PM
Mason G said...: "Mason G, that definition is so broad it could be a plank of the Republican Party."

It's the first couple of sentences, there's a whole webpage devoted to their platform. You could check it out if you're interested in specifics.; 2/15/26, 9:45 PM
Eva Marie said...: That’s my point. Imperfect human beings let other things get in the way. But humans should be guided by self interest.; 2/15/26, 9:58 PM
Original Mike said...: Eva said…"But humans should be guided by self interest."

But you also said "Self interest is at the heart of libertarianism.", and you clearly have a negative view of libertarians. I'm confused.; 2/15/26, 10:06 PM
Eva Marie said...: A key libertarian principle is that governments shouldn’t restrict peaceful people’s freedom to move, work, or associate across borders just like they’ve been against trade barriers.
They’ve done as much damage to our country as commies.; 2/15/26, 10:07 PM
bagoh20 said...: What if my self-interest includes helping others with their self-interest, or adopting pets, or supporting charities, etc, because it gives value to my life or makes me feel good? Do they take away my libertarian card?
On a separate note: would a libertarian join the French Foreign Legion, I mean if it wasn't French, of course.; 2/15/26, 10:08 PM
Eva Marie said...: That’s right. Libertarians think that people should be guided by self interest. Only we find out humans are more complex than that.; 2/15/26, 10:09 PM
bagoh20 said...: I think the majority of the government, it's regulation and spending today is a scam, and therefore should be eliminated.
Am I a libertarian or just a self-interested tax payer?.; 2/15/26, 10:18 PM
Mason G said...: "A key libertarian principle is that governments shouldn’t restrict peaceful people’s freedom to move, work, or associate across borders..."

Yes, and I think they go off the rails here. But it's also my opinion that it's just silly for anyone to insist that libertarians are collectivists.; 2/15/26, 10:18 PM
Jupiter said...: Had a fairly horrifying experience today. I received a letter, in the mail, from the Oregon DMV, saying that I need to renew the registration on my car. This is, of course, unwelcome, but not altogether unexpected. So I went tot the website listed in the letter, and after a really ridiculous amount of toing and froing about whether I am a human, arrived at a page that listed every vehicle I have ever owned, and asked which of them I wished to renew.

Now, most of these vehicles no longer exist. In the past, when I renewed the registration for a vehicle online, the DMV knew precisely which of my vehicles it had sent me a renewal notice for, and took me rather swiftly through the process of renewing it. But today, the website has apparently been reprogrammed so as to do something really stupid and pointless. But possible. Undeniably possible.

So. Might this be "AI slop"? Is it conceivable that the dim-wits employed by the DMV have decided to encourage each other to "vibe-code", and I am being subjected to the result? Yes. It is conceivable.; 2/15/26, 10:25 PM
Original Mike said...: "A key libertarian principle is that governments shouldn’t restrict peaceful people’s freedom to move, work, or associate across borders just like they’ve been against trade barriers."

Well, I don't agree with open borders or no tariffs, but I am also struck by your characterization of this belief as "key". What makes you single that one out. Read through their platform (which I had never done before; thanks Mason!). There's a lot to agree with there.

https://lp.org/platform-page/; 2/15/26, 10:25 PM
bagoh20 said...: What is self-interest?
If I give money to a friend in need, that's not self-interest? If I donate a kidney to save my sister's life, that surly isn't self interest. Self-interest seems inadequate to base a philosophy on, but I must admit it's a sound financial strategy.; 2/15/26, 10:26 PM
Eva Marie said...: That’s why I thought that guy, who I quoted, was on to something. Libertarians have a vision of the perfect human being the same as commies have. In a perfect world sure no borders, no tariffs. But in this world those are bad idas. Not because we’re imperfect but we’re more complex than those ideologies allow for.; 2/15/26, 10:30 PM
Jupiter said...: The Oregon DMV has changed the way its website responds to people who are trying to renew their vehicle registration. Can anyone suppose, that they don't believe this change is an improvement? But of course, it is not an improvement. But it did require programming effort. Breaking the website in this particular quasi-functional way could not have been achieved by mere random modification. This required AB -- "Artificial Bureaucracy". Moronic obfuscation, pointless complication, carried out with diligence.; 2/15/26, 10:30 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I'm sorry I passed on this when it first showed up on my screen.

YouTube: The definitive thesis on the final episode's ending, of the hit TV show "The Sopranos".; 2/15/26, 10:34 PM
Original Mike said...: "Libertarians have a vision of the perfect human …"

"Libertarians have a vision of the perfect human "

Yes, I'm sure you can run their lives better than they can.; 2/15/26, 10:35 PM
Eva Marie said...: Read through the commie platform. Platforms are pablum. What libertarians have advocated for is open borders and no tariffs. For the past 50 years they’ve done that.; 2/15/26, 10:38 PM
Eva Marie said...: No, I don’t think I can run anybody’s life. I am simply saying libertarians have pushed some really bad ideas.; 2/15/26, 10:39 PM
Eva Marie said...: But your mileage may vary.; 2/15/26, 10:44 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: YouTube: Depth Illiteracy is the habit of misreading simplicity for shallowness.
"The Mistake Smart People Make When Learning"; 2/15/26, 10:48 PM
Original Mike said...: "I am simply saying libertarians have pushed some really bad ideas."

You've listed one bad idea (and I agree with you). Read their platform to see what other bad ideas they have.; 2/15/26, 10:48 PM
Original Mike said...: Oh, I see you have read their platform and dismissed it.; 2/15/26, 10:50 PM
Jupiter said...: "I am simply saying libertarians have pushed some really bad ideas."
As ideas, they may be just fine. A = B, B=C, therefore A = C. The difficulty is that they exist in a high-pressure vacuum. How can a vacuum be high-pressure? Well, you let out all the facts, and then you introduce your favorite fantasies, and you have a high-pressure vacuum. Where, for example, it is a great idea to import thousands of people who will parasite off my taxes while they drive down my wages. Which is a great idea, from someone's point of view. Just not mine.; 2/15/26, 10:57 PM
Jupiter said...: Essentially, libertarians argue as if the world does not contain any conflicts of interest. There is a best way of doing things (which, as it happens, they have the ability to discover), and anyone opposed to that course is motivated by ignorance or greed. Libertarians are motivated by enlightened non-self-interest. Their shit can actually be employed as air freshener, or to improve the flavor of ice cream.; 2/15/26, 11:01 PM
Jupiter said...: My view is that my US citizenship is an asset of considerable value, which I inherited from my parents. If I could sell it, it might well be worth several million dollars. After all, a thing is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. But the Libertarian position is that there is no logical reason why I should own this asset, and therefore I don't own it. Mao had it wrong; what comes out of the barrel of a rifle is not power. It is logic.; 2/15/26, 11:08 PM
Eva Marie said...: No I haven’t read the platform but I have dismissed it. I am reacting to libertarianism as it’s practiced.; 2/15/26, 11:15 PM
Eva Marie said...: I do the same thing with communism. The platform of the communist party doesn’t interest me. I react to communism as it’s practiced.; 2/15/26, 11:16 PM
Original Mike said...: "No I haven’t read the platform…"

What are you afraid of?; 2/15/26, 11:18 PM
Original Mike said...: "I am reacting to libertarianism as it’s practiced."

You've picked on one tenet.; 2/15/26, 11:19 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Video: Australia's first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal.

Competitors went down under.; 2/15/26, 11:24 PM
Ampersand said...: Valentine's Day got me thinking about the low birth rates we see in the US and throughout the world. Things are very different today than they were in, say, 1948 when men and women who had experienced death and civilizational destruction returned to postwar life with an instinctive hunger to repopulate the world.

Feminism has something to do with it, but there is also a comparably destructive male analog to feminism centering around the greedy desire to game the sexual revolution and enjoy sex without the burdens of commitment.
Many of us who comment here regularly watch films from that golden era between the 1930's and 1970's. What we can see in these films is that the male/female dynamic was quite different before there was effective inexpensive birth control, before there was educational and occupational equality, before homosexuality was legitimized, before physical violence was highly stigmatized, before diverse lifestyles were idealized, and before there was widespread prosperity.
What we can also notice from these films is that some things haven't changed. Men and women are still selfish, they still have radically different relationships to the reproductive process, women are still more inclined than men to empathy, quicker to pick up on social cues, and generally more compliant with social norms. Many young people now approaching the end of their reproductive years feel entirely self sufficient. They have stopped longing for an "other" that would complete them. Tens of millions of young men and women around the globe simply feel that the risks, the challenges, and the unforeseeable heartaches that await them in a committed relationship are just too frightening, too burdensome. Nobody is stigmatized for childlessness or for the choice to remain single. Many are stigmatized as deadbeat dads, bad mothers, poor providers, unfaithful or uncaring spouses, bad role models. You can see how the risk/reward sets up. People with nice apartments decorated with the exact art that they prefer don't want the baggage of some coughing, sneezing, farting, burping, menstruating, prematurely ejaculating, snoring, stranger with nearly maxed out credit cards and possible psychiatric or substance abuse concerns.
It's actually amazing that as many people embark upon marriage and child rearing as we now have. Happy Belated Valentine's Day!; 2/15/26, 11:35 PM
Eva Marie said...: “You've picked on one tenet.”
2 actually - open borders and no tariffs. Those 2 ideas in practice have led to a lot of destruction. And (going back to my anonymous quote) the reason they’re so destructive is that they presume that human beings are essentially one dimensional. That’s what I found so interesting and, for me, so clarifying.; 2/15/26, 11:48 PM
Original Mike said...: "2 actually - open borders and no tariffs."

I'd say they're pretty much the same thing; open borders for people, open borders for products. Can you name some other things the libertarians espouse that you disagree with?; 2/15/26, 11:52 PM
Eva Marie said...: National sales tax. That used to be a big one with libertarians. Also a bad idea.; 2/16/26, 12:24 AM
Eva Marie said...: My question is do they have any good ideas that aren’t already covered in our Constitution.; 2/16/26, 12:27 AM
Original Mike said...: "My question is do they have any good ideas that aren’t already covered in our Constitution."

Your problem with them is that they agree with the principles espoused in the Constitution?

If you were to read their platform, you would find it sounds an awful lot like the Constitution. Terrible people!; 2/16/26, 12:33 AM
Smilin' Jack said...: Hmm…tag says Monona, but still looks like Mendota to me.

Anyway, lovely photos. Brings to mind one of my favorite poems (excuse the religiosity; I like Bach too.)

Pied Beauty

BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS

Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.; 2/16/26, 12:45 AM
Original Mike said...: Yes, it appears that the tag is wrong.; 2/16/26, 1:00 AM
Eva Marie said...: I never said they were terrible people. To the extent they support the Constitution, I’m with them 100%. My opposition is to their advocacy of really bad economic policies that have damaged our country.; 2/16/26, 1:18 AM
gadfly said...: I read where Hoover Dam was the only public facility built that was named for a living president while the President was alive until Trump began naming facilities using his name. It seems that FDR changed the name Hoover Dam to Boulder Dam but Truman later restored the Hoover Dam name. But supposedly "Hoovervilles" were shanty towns built by the poor from whatever materials that could be bought , begged or stolen. Hmmm, "trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let 50 cents."

But I can only recall growing up in a small town that had a CCC campground financed by the government to provide restroom and sleeping facilities for campers during the Great Depression that became part of public parkland going forward. These campgrounds provided jobs for the unemployed. Trump would have zapped these facilities in a NY minute.; 2/16/26, 1:24 AM
Original Mike said...: "I never said they were terrible people. …My opposition is to their advocacy of really bad economic policies that have damaged our country."

You called them commies. In my book, that counts as terrible people.

There are good arguments for a sales tax over an income tax, if that's what you're talking about.; 2/16/26, 1:26 AM
Eva Marie said...: BTW, I fed that original statement I quoted to Grok and Grok demolished it. I happen to think Grok is wrong. But you might be happy to know Grok agrees with you.; 2/16/26, 1:31 AM
Original Mike said...: Although I don't see "sales tax" in this:

2.4 Government Finance and Spending
Since all persons are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor, we oppose all government activity that consists of the forcible collection of money or goods from individuals in violation of their individual rights and strive for the eventual repeal of all taxation. To further that end, we call for the repeal of the income tax, the abolishment of the Internal Revenue Service and all federal programs and services not required under the U.S. Constitution. We oppose forcing employers to serve as tax collectors. We support any initiative to reduce or abolish any tax, and oppose any increase on any tax for any reason. To the extent possible, we advocate that all public services be funded or allowed to be provided in a voluntary manner.

Not sure where they'd get money for government spending, (they support national defense, for example) though I suspect they would say they are for drastically smaller government, and thus don't need large sums of money. Just guessing.; 2/16/26, 1:33 AM
Eva Marie said...: No, that’s not what I said. I said that what libertarian have in common with commies is that their economic policies assume that people are one dimensional.; 2/16/26, 1:34 AM
Original Mike said...: "But you might be happy to know Grok agrees with you."

I don't think Grok thinks, so…; 2/16/26, 1:35 AM
Original Mike said...: "their economic policies assume that people are one dimensional."

I don't know what that means.; 2/16/26, 1:36 AM
Original Mike said...: Maybe this:

"To the extent possible, we advocate that all public services be funded or allowed to be provided in a voluntary manner."

which ain't going to work.; 2/16/26, 1:50 AM
Original Mike said...: Wow - just had the best salmon dinner I've ever had. Bought the salmon from the salmon farm 2 miles down the road. And the sashimi!; 2/16/26, 2:01 AM
wendybar said...: The lying half black bastard strikes again...He sued Catholic Nuns to force them to provide abortions to his cult....

Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan
·
🤣🤣Preposterously disingenuous nonsense by Obama. The woke left has been the single meanest, angriest, exclusive, us/them divisive movement in history.
Chief Nerd
@TheChiefNerd
OBAMA: “The other side does the mean, angry, exclusive, us/them, divisive politics. That's their home court. Our court is coming together.” 🤔; 2/16/26, 2:35 AM
wendybar said...: Congratulations New York City!! You've been conquered. Bow down to Islam!!!

Brandon Straka #WalkAway

@BrandonStraka
·
7h
🚨NYC: Less than two months into Mamdani’s leadership, the Muslim call to prayer is now echoing through the streets of New York City.

https://x.com/BrandonStraka/status/2023232997802094854?s=20; 2/16/26, 4:37 AM
Big Mike said...: I don't know what that means.

You wouldn’t, would you?; 2/16/26, 4:51 AM
Big Mike said...: I will not be commenting from this Wednesday until Easter.

@Jamie, we shall miss you. Hope all goes well with your rehab.; 2/16/26, 4:58 AM
Eva Marie said...: @Original Mike "their economic policies assume that people are one dimensional“ - that economic self interest trumps all other interests.; 2/16/26, 5:26 AM
Leland said...: @Jamie, we shall miss you. Hope all goes well with your rehab.

“; 2/16/26, 5:32 AM
Leland said...: I never understood the libertarian argument on open borders, particularly those who were followers of Ayn Rand. Rand said John Galt was her ideal of libertarianism. Galt’s Gulch had a border and anyone who refused to live by a code were not allowed to stay within those borders.; 2/16/26, 5:37 AM
Jaq said...: I was actually in Australia years ago when an Australian athlete won a *bronze* in the Winter Olympics, and she returned home a national hero. Well, for a couple of days... But they were excited about it.; 2/16/26, 5:56 AM
Curious George said...: Less than two months into Mamdani’s leadership, the Muslim call to prayer is now echoing through the streets of New York City.

Barack Obama: "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth,"; 2/16/26, 5:58 AM
Jaq said...: "The Mistake Smart People Make When Learning"

I watched it, and that's actually the mistake that mid-wits—like our old friend RJW—make, it's the basis of Dunning-Kruger. It's the mistake that people who think that they are smart make.

But obviously, since he doesn't define "smart" very precisely, he could well be including mid-wits in his calculations.; 2/16/26, 6:07 AM
Humperdink said...: Ten years ago my son and DIL moved from PA to western Colorado. We visited many times. It was the most beautiful location in the U.S.. Absolutely stunning views.

They moved back to PA five years ago and now want to return to Colorado. And want the spouse and I to move with them. I told them in no uncertain terms I will never, repeat never, move to a state run by Commies.; 2/16/26, 6:08 AM
Jaq said...: "You have it backwards china and russia have been supporting iran as they have done in the sudan"

Let's see, China gets a lot of its oil from the Persian Gulf, if the US controlled Iran, it could inflict a lot of pain on China.

Right now the Caspian Sea is a Russian lake, basically, but if you put a hostile regime in Iran, you open another front for the West against Russia.

Anybody could have predicted these wars by looking at a map a couple of decades ago and figuring out the best ways to attack Russia and China. All of these areas could have been circled by a bright high school student.

I do think I understand Trump's foreign policy now. He thought that the weapons Biden was sending to Ukraine should have gone to Israel, and to be honest, Israel has always gotten along pretty well with Russia, and it's very possible that Netanyahu convinced Trump that the Russian threat was being exaggerated for reasons having nothing to do with security of Europe.

The problem is that Israeli interests in the region now directly conflict with core interests of two nuclear great powers, Russia and China.

Bonus video if you are wondering why it's not really about nuclear weapons, which are not required to take out Israel, since it is small, it can be done with missile tech. You can skip through to the simulations that this MIT expert does of missile attacks at accuracy levels achievable by Iran if you want to see what gives BiBi nightmares. Basically Iran could turn Tel Aviv into Gaza.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llW5RUMkZLo

He does a lot of bloviating on his personal political opinions in the second half, but he is a genuine expert on missiles and nuclear weapons.; 2/16/26, 6:21 AM
Curious George said...: "Original Mike said...
Wow - just had the best salmon dinner I've ever had. Bought the salmon from the salmon farm 2 miles down the road."

Farm salmon is far inferior to wild caught.; 2/16/26, 6:21 AM
Jaq said...: It's likely that Bibi told Trump that the whole Russia scare was just a way for the Europeans to keep the US spending hundreds of billions in Europe and committing our military.

The thing about this argument is A: It's true, and B: Trump would be very disposed to accepting it.; 2/16/26, 6:24 AM
Jersey Fled said...: “I happen to think Grok is wrong.”

Grok is often wrong. A few weeks ago Grok told me that Joe Biden was our current president. He/she/they apologized for the oversite.; 2/16/26, 6:28 AM
Jaq said...: What Trump didn't figure on was that the Europeans had basically burned their boats, blowing up the pipeline, cutting off cheap Russian resources until they can install a puppet in Moscow, based on Biden's assurances, and now they see no way out. They pushed all of their chips onto the table.

That video on true mastery is excellent just for the quote

True mastery:

It is not sufficient to know what is so, you could be being fed lies.

It is not sufficient to know why it is so, you could be being fed plausible rationalizations.

You must understand why it cannot be any other way. This is the only true bulwark that a person interested in the ground truth has against propaganda.

Structural Realism is a theory of great power relations that says that the "tragedy" of neocon strategic thinking, as brutal as it is, and even as it has to be supported by propaganda aimed at mid-wits, is that it can't be any other way. You get people like Jeffrey Sachs who argue that it can be different, that we can all get along, and the structural realist just rolls his eyes.

I say that we can try to muddle through and live in peace and mutual prosperity, but they are the ones who claim lead pipe argument, bolstered by steel trap logic. My only hope is that you can't prove a negative.; 2/16/26, 7:03 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’Lent approacheth, and with it my twice-yearly commenting fast.’

I used to give up red wine for Lent. Maybe giving up commenting would be easier for me? lol Hope your knee rehad continues on pace… :); 2/16/26, 7:15 AM
Aggie said...: " Less than two months into Mamdani’s leadership, the Muslim call to prayer is now echoing through the streets of New York City....."

If NYC had any self-respect, they would be playing 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' at top volume, every time the call cranks up.

Next up: Ghettos, and how they get that way.; 2/16/26, 7:38 AM
Aggie said...: @Jupiter: "...But today, the website has apparently been reprogrammed so as to do something really stupid and pointless. But possible. Undeniably possible...."

Doesn't Oregon have motor-voter registration? Does it make you wonder about the voter rolls?; 2/16/26, 7:49 AM
narciso said...: Libertarians are classical liberals; 2/16/26, 7:50 AM
Humperdink said...: “Margaret Thatcher’s name appears in the “Epstein Files.” ‘ (Via Power Line)

Thanks to Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie the deviants have finally been exposed.; 2/16/26, 7:58 AM
john mosby said...: Aggie: “ If NYC had any self-respect, they would be playing 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' at top volume,”

I’d prefer AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells, with the opening toll of a huge deep church bell. Accompanied by all the parish bells in the city.

“I got the bell I’m gonna take you to hell/ I’m gonna get ya/ Satan get ya/ Hell’s Bells!”

The RC’s would never have the ballls for it (although they probably like Angus in his school uniform). But maybe the many flavors of orthodox in the city would do it. CC, JSM; 2/16/26, 7:58 AM
narciso said...: If they had any self respect they wouldnt havr let wilhelm nor the cobra; 2/16/26, 8:00 AM
Humperdink said...: As an aside, Khanna mentioned 4 people related to Epstein case on the house floor. Unfortunately for Khanna they were merely cannon fodder in a police lineup, not related in any way to Epstein. Good thing he stated it on the house floor so as to be immune from a lawsuit.; 2/16/26, 8:09 AM
wendybar said...: And now for the REST OF THE STORY!!!

"The estranged twin daughters of an Irishman who has been held in a Texas immigration detention facility for nearly five months blasted their father as an absentee parent — arguing he should be sent back to Ireland to face long-standing drug charges, according to a report.

Heather and Melissa Morrissey felt compelled to speak out after their father, Seamus Culleton, pleaded on RTÉ radio for Irish authorities to intervene in his US detention so he could return to his American wife and life in Boston, where he runs a construction company, according to the Daily Mail.

The twins, who are about to turn 19, told the outlet that Culleton “abandoned” them when they were 18 months old, leaving their mother, Margaret “Maggie” Morrissey, to raise them alone."
https://nypost.com/2026/02/15/us-news/daughters-of-irishman-held-by-ice-say-father-abandoned-them-and-should-return-to-face-drug-charges-report/; 2/16/26, 8:18 AM
narciso said...: In so far as one can ascertain, epstein seems to have been more affiliated with labour party figures like mandelson also some like nicholas leese were probably tory; 2/16/26, 8:21 AM
buwaya said...: https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-should-begin-work-on-nuclear-defenses-president-nawrocki-russia-putin-war/

Nuke proliferation is the natural consequence of the US withdrawing its security umbrella. Over NATO, over East Asia(maybe), etc. There is an argument pro and con over this, as the "Pax Americana" has been good for everyone but a bit of an expense for the US. But saving that expense (maybe) has its risks.; 2/16/26, 8:43 AM
john mosby said...: I was a capital-L Libertarian, but then I went MAGA. Basically because full-on libertarianism only works if all countries are libertarian. Sort of a high-trust international culture. Like the town where no one locks their doors - it works only if everyone follows the same norms. Bring in one family of people who don't have those norms, and they think "holy shit - these people are stupid. We're gonna be rich!" as they wander thru all the unlocked houses taking what they want. And then lock it up in their house. And they probably don't think they're doing anything wrong - they may come from someplace where family is the highest good, and community isn't even a word. And maybe they're not doing anything wrong on a cosmic scale. But it does ruin the unlocked doors for anyone else.

In my analogy, the larcenous family is the country that takes advantage of free trade without reciprocating. Or sends its people across the open border without allowing invaders to cross theirs.

I still think something like libertarianism in one country is achievable, behind secure borders. We do need an industrial policy to reflect the fact all the other countries have one. But certainly social libertarianism is doable - I tolerate you, you tolerate me, we don't force each other to go beyond mere toleration. CC, JSM; 2/16/26, 9:28 AM
john mosby said...: Wendybar: "The twins, who are about to turn 19,"

This was almost but not quite the natural intersection of the immigration and Epstein stories. Don Adams voice: Missed it by THAT much! CC, JSM; 2/16/26, 9:31 AM
wendybar said...: It's just another story of the left protecting a criminal who fled his country because he broke the law, leaving behind baby girls, overstays his visa by over a dozen years, and got caught. WHY shouldn't he go home, face justice, and pay his actual wife the child support he fled from??; 2/16/26, 9:35 AM
Peachy said...: Why China wants Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom to be US president

The pretty chi com stooge- who just bought a 9 million dollar mansion.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/15/opinion/why-china-back-calif-gov-gavin-newsom-as-us-president/; 2/16/26, 9:35 AM
john mosby said...: And the Deadbeat Dad from Donegal also puts a white face on the immigration issue. Lots of Irish in the Northeast who just never were about getting on the plane back home, don't yer know. Sort of like the illegal Poles in Chicago, still trying to find the airport. CC, JSM; 2/16/26, 9:39 AM
narciso said...: I think liberty outside institutional frameworks is the libertarian weakness; 2/16/26, 9:50 AM
Mason G said...: "Like the town where no one locks their doors - it works only if everyone follows the same norms. Bring in one family of people who don't have those norms, and they think "holy shit - these people are stupid. We're gonna be rich!" as they wander thru all the unlocked houses taking what they want."

Like this, maybe?

This incident is real and happened recently in Hunsel, Limburg, Netherlands. The unmanned roadside farm shop (“Oma’s boerderijwinkeltje”) run by Ellis Roost (57) and her husband Paul (68) was brazenly emptied on Monday morning (December 15, 2025). A man and woman (with a child) calmly loaded boxes of vegetables (potatoes, onions, carrots, ginger, peppers, etc.) and other goods into their car over multiple trips, taking almost everything in just minutes. Value: around €200. It was all captured on CCTV.

These honesty-box farm shops are a beloved Dutch tradition in rural areas, relying on community trust. Sadly, thefts like this (and similar ones reported elsewhere) are eroding that—some owners are adding locks or closing up.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSUwDiCEqI8/; 2/16/26, 10:17 AM
Gospace said...: Nothing about Randy Fine yet? I'll start. DemoncRATs/liberals everywhere excoriating him for his quote "If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one." As a dog owner I heartily agree with him.

The Google AI overview:" Approximately 45% to 53% of U.S. households own at least one dog" and "Demographics: Higher income households ($100,000+) and married households with children are more likely to own dogs." There's probably close to 100% of those people who agree. And a lot of families that don't own dogs are in that shape because the landlord doesn't allow them.

Seems they picked a losing side of an issue again.; 2/16/26, 10:53 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Hard choice between dogs and Muslims. They both wake you up at 5:00 AM.; 2/16/26, 11:35 AM