Althouse: At the Sundrop Café...

July 1, 2026

At the Sundrop Café...

... you can talk all night.

Photos by Meade today. I slept in after the play.

66 comments:

hanuman_prodigious_leaper said...: Nice frame #1; 7/1/26, 5:13 PM
Leland said...: Missed the wake up call?; 7/1/26, 5:17 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: USA world cup match is coming up. The England vs. DR Congo was a humdinger. A wide open affair without the usual riskless passing back and forth and trying to eek out a win on corner kicks. Instead DR Congo and England boldly pushed ball up the field and tried to score. DR Congo because its their style, England because they behind 1-0 after 7 minutes, and couldn't afford to "play it safe".

Belgium/Sengal as too dull to watch.; 7/1/26, 5:28 PM
mccullough said...: Meade only needs 4 hours of sleep. He awakens in the roosters.; 7/1/26, 5:35 PM
Vance said...: News that will make RC and DDDriver smile. Loay Alnaji has been sentenced to 1 year in a county jail for killing the 69-year-old Jewish-American Paul Kessler.

Apparently killing Jews in America only is worth a year in jail. And only in a county jail.

Democrats like Virginia's governor have vowed to make it not even that long, especially if you are an illegal immigrant killing any American citizen.; 7/1/26, 6:00 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: How many White non-Jews have been murdered in the USA in the last 20 years and their killers were given lenient sentences? Lots. So many its hard to keep track of them. The poor girl in NC killed on the train was the latest.

But Vance didn't care about those. Or at least didn't think it worth while to comment about. But a White Jewish person gets killed and he cares that the killer got 1 year. Wonder what thats all about.

Is "vance", Mark Levin?; 7/1/26, 6:06 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: One rule for everyone. No double-think. No double-standards. Thats America.; 7/1/26, 6:08 PM
Mr. T. said...: "A volunteer staffer for Wisconsin Democrat Congressional candidate Katrina DeVille, posted a shocking series of videos planning a “trans jihad” and urging social media followers to “kill your local Republican.”

Teha Delaruelle, a transgender male, posted a deranged video to social media calling on followers to “kill your local Republican” and claiming that they had only “one month” to do so.

In another post, Delaruelle called for “left wing death squads” to “smash MAGA.” "

Hey KKKak/Richsockpuppet/paidActbluetrollaccount(TM)

-is there anyone in your party that ISN'T a violent transurrectionist, pedophile prophet terrorist, murderer, rapist, pedophile groomer???; 7/1/26, 6:47 PM
Eva Marie said...: But RC, aren’t both just as bad? Can’t we acknowledge both are terrible crimes with terrible sentencing?; 7/1/26, 6:50 PM
Humperdink said...: The NY Mets get ridiculed every July 1 and will continue to be until 2035. It’s Bobby Bonilla Day. It seems the brain trust of the Mets agreed to a deferred compensation deal that would pay the long retired Bonilla $1.9 mil per year until 2035. The annual payments began 15 years ago. Who says athletes are stupid?

https://triblive.com/sports/tim-benz-on-bobby-bonilla-day-we-remember-his-time-with-the-pirates-and-what-happened-when-he-left/; 7/1/26, 6:54 PM
William50 said...: I love Postmodern Jukebox on YouTube. My favorite version of 7 Nation Army.
Seven Nation Army - Vintage New Orleans Dirge White Stripes Cover ft. Haley Reinhart; 7/1/26, 6:55 PM
Narr said...: I've been catching up with the Hanks WWII venture and it's not as godawful as I feared it would be.

Still not that good though. The recent episode on the strategic air campaign was all 8th AF and B17s, even though B24s were just as numerous and the 15th AF out of Foggia and other Italian bases was bombing many of the same cities, plus those too far from England, and taking comparable losses.

An opportunity to explain the British night bombing technique of the 'bomber stream' (as opposed to mass formations) was missed.

The talking head experts are actually fairly expert, which isn't always the case in productions like this.

It makes me want to re-view the classic BBC series with Olivier for comparison. They had the advantage of actual veteran interviews, and their talking head experts had largely been alive during the events.

I give it a C+ / B- so far.; 7/1/26, 7:03 PM
john mosby said...: I am trying to catch up with AMC's The Vampire Lestat series. Very different from last season (when it was called Interview with the Vampire). It is over the top louche rock n' roll, with Lestat providing a constant stream of annoyed debauched aristocratic one-liners. So far (I only saw the first episode) it has none of the woke stuff of IWTV's 1900s Jim Crow setting. Interestingly, in the aftershow, Sam Reid, the actor who plays Lestat, claims he doesn't notice a tonal difference - he thought he was in a farce last season, too.

Fun to see Eric Bogosian, the interviewer, now a vampire himself, playing it as kind of a Lou Reed figure.

And Jennifer Ehle, from the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice, plays Lestat's mom, in an on-again/off-again incestuous relationship with him. Because decadent vampires don't follow mortal rules. I think she looks better now than in P&P - like a lot of British girls, she aged into her face. Also the empire waist doesn't work for a lot of women, and now she's wearing jeans and leather jackets. CC, JSM; 7/1/26, 7:27 PM
gilbar said...: ProTip: sell schools short.. The population collapse is HERE, NOW
https://www.aei.org/foreign-and-defense-policy/the-worldwide-fertility-crash-is-bringing-countries-back-to-pre-industrial-birth-levels/

..while jaw-dropping declines in fertility levels per se have captured attention (it’s hard not to be shocked, say, by Mexico City’s less than one birth per woman),
the actual birth totals associated with these record-breaking fertility declines deserve attention, too..

.. peak birth levels for most of the world’s countries took place in the past—often well in the past. And for a growing number of countries, birth totals today now approximate levels witnessed literally centuries ago—in some cases, even before the Industrial Era..
In other words, with a global population of about 8.3 billion, our births have declined to the rates they were nearly a century ago, when there were only about 2.3 billion people on the planet.

read it, and weap; 7/1/26, 7:29 PM
john mosby said...: Trump opened the TR Presidential Library today, in a tiny Badlands town. Gave a long-ass speech with a lot of love for TR. Also was the first customer to talk to AI TR - you can ask him whatever you want, and he answers in the correct higher-pitched nasal voice with an odd (to us) NY accent. Trump asked him about the Panama Canal, and of course in his speech riffed about how he saved the Canal from the ChiComs. CC, JSM; 7/1/26, 7:33 PM
john mosby said...: Having a smaller population might not be so bad, especially if AI and robotics take away all our jobs. The difficult part would be the inverted age pyramid for the first couple of generations - after that, wouldn't it be more like an age pillar, with each generation about the same size? CC, JSM; 7/1/26, 7:35 PM
tcrosse said...: Today's pictures suggest that Madison should call in Trump's pool guys to clean up Lake Mendota.; 7/1/26, 7:45 PM
narciso said...: Ita an odd little show isnt it (the prequel was terrible); 7/1/26, 8:26 PM
narciso said...: Bogosian is perhaps the worst part of the series; 7/1/26, 8:51 PM
Breezy said...: USA beats Bosnia Herzegovina 2-0!
Next stop v Belgium Monday night. We played down 1 player for half an hour or so due to red card penalty. Very intense and exciting to watch…!; 7/1/26, 9:15 PM
Breezy said...: Beautiful penalty kick by Tillman - the second goal.; 7/1/26, 9:15 PM
JK Brown said...: A very good exposition on the Constitution

The study of Anglo-American constitutional law is that of the liberties of the people. Neither a body of dry technicalities, as the demagogue is prone to consider it, nor an instrument new created in the year 1787 and now but an inconvenient impediment to the national destiny, our own Constitution registers the totality of those principles which, in eight hundred and forty years of struggle, the Saxon peoples have won back again from Norman kings, the common law from Roman conceptions of a Sovereign State; each rising wave of freedom leaving its record in some historic document, then perhaps to recede again until the next flood left a higher record still. And if to the Mother Country is due the invention of the Constitution as a bulwark of the people against the Executive, to our forefathers belongs the glory of protecting the people against the Legislative as well; and against the usurpations of any Government or law, even of their own making, on that irreducible minimum which time has shown to be necessary to the English-American people for freedom as they understand it. Give them less than this and they will fight.

--THE CONSTITUTION AND THE PEOPLE'S LIBERTIES, F. J. STIMSON. (1907)
http://www.jstor.org/stable/25105808; 7/1/26, 9:24 PM
JK Brown said...: "ProTip: sell schools short.. "

Well, the schools and universities are reaping the success of the 50+ year campaign to demoralize the youth to "save the planet". Expert predications of overpopulation lead the march through the institutions.

Even as the birth rates in the US and UK started falling in 1960, dropping below replacement in 1973 where they hovered ever since. But that drop was really just a return to the long 140 year decline for the US from 1800-1940, after the unprecedented historical anomaly of the near "universal motherhood" for women born in the 1920s and 1930s.

The rest of the world have joined in as development and modernity have spread since WWII ended.

“Development is the best contraceptive” is attributed to Karan Singh, India’s minister of population, who famously said this during a 1974 United Nations population conference in Bucharest.; 7/1/26, 9:32 PM
FullMoon said...: Memorable line in Indian series Delhi Crime. Police officer asks the boss, "We have so many gang rapes whats special about this one?:; 7/1/26, 9:37 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: Trump Made $1 Billion on Crypto Deals While His Fans Lost a Fortune ~ WSJ

Donald Trump made up to $1.4bn in stock purchases in 2025 ~ FT

Being an American right now is waking up and being told how much more money our president is stealing and having to go about it like it's normaL

I just can’t understand how 50% of Americans are not be deeply troubled by this. I’m not sure it raises new questions as much as it cements it as the norm.; 7/1/26, 9:50 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: On his way out the door, it is likely Trump will issue a flurry of pardons for family and business associates. However, one downside to this approach is that it means that Congress will have the ability to compel testimony because pardon recipients can no longer invoke protections against self-incrimination. These family members and business associates may still be held legally accountable if they provide false testimony. At the absolute minimum it is critically important to establish a full accounting of the actions by this president, his friends, and allies to leverage public office for private gain.; 7/1/26, 10:06 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: "Donald Trump made more than $1bn last year"

And yet people say his presidency is a failure.; 7/1/26, 10:15 PM
Eva Marie said...: I usually start complaining about the weather right about now but it’s July and we haven’t gone above 110. Which is wonderful. May and June have been very nice with some cloudy days.; 7/1/26, 10:24 PM
Jim at said...: Trump opened the TR Presidential Library today,...

I have several, life-long friends in Bismarck, ND dating back to my time in the USAF. To say they were bouncing off the walls watching Air Force One land at the airport would be quite the understatement.; 7/1/26, 10:31 PM
Vance said...: RC seems to think I don't care about the murder on the train? Really? In my long posting history, what exactly would even begin to suggest that I approve of the decision to let that guy escape penalty by claiming he's incompetent. I note, however, that RC didn't criticize the 1 year sentance for killing a Jew.

That said, we finally have clear skies today, with the wildfire smoke gone for a bit. I fear that many of the sites our gracious hostess and Meade saw as they traveled through Utah a few years ago are not as good looking after the wildfires went through.; 7/1/26, 10:40 PM
Iman said...: “He awakens in the roosters.”

Hopefully a stop gap measure and he prefers awakening in the hens. 🤨; 7/1/26, 10:57 PM
Aggie said...: I heard on NPR that Trump's financial declaration ran to more than 900 pages, compared to Biden, which was only 11 pages. Or, only 1% for the Big Guy.; 7/1/26, 10:58 PM
mccullough said...: Imam, it was a typo. I meant “awakens the roosters.” Don’t know how the “in” got in. Lol; 7/1/26, 11:21 PM
mccullough said...: Iman, I just mistyped your name. I do wish blogger had an edit feature.; 7/1/26, 11:22 PM
Ampersand said...: Has anyone else noticed that all of the other teams in the World Cup are simply named by the nations that they represent, and that the US team is called the US Men's National Team? Was that necessary to avoid confusion? What's going on here? What sly propaganda victory is being achieved? Was there some ambiguity inherent in calling them the US team? Why do no other nations require this semantic precision? Is the US women's team somehow in the running here? I get sense that some people must think that they are striking some sort of blow for gender something or other.; 7/1/26, 11:45 PM
Eva Marie said...: No other country requires it because no other country had its women’s program so dramatically overshadow the men’s for so long.
Womens team won big in the 90s; 7/1/26, 11:53 PM
Eva Marie said...: and 2000s; 7/1/26, 11:54 PM
rhhardin said...: At the end of the afternoon the temperature was 94 and "feels like 105." It didn't feel like 105, it felt like 94. The heat index, ;ike the wind chill factor, is bogus media hype for temperatures that are pretty ordinary.; 7/2/26, 12:21 AM
rhhardin said...: There's a large difference between 94 with low humidity and 94 with high humidity, but it's not felt as a temperature difference. It's felt as sweat not evaporating.; 7/2/26, 12:22 AM
Iman said...: NP, mccollough. That was a good one 😁; 7/2/26, 12:37 AM
Clyde said...: The zebra longwing butterfly is the state butterfly of Florida. I went to a nearby nature park yesterday morning and saw some. They are difficult to photograph because they usually are in constant motion, seldom lighting on plants, but yesterday one landed on a plant right in front of me and I got a great picture of it. It was also a good day for other butterflies and dragonflies, anole lizards and various flower. There is also a huge live oak tree that has several large (about three feet long) cereus cacti growing out of a branch about twelve feet off the ground. I spotted a pair of fat raccoons on the main path but they scuttled off before I could get a picture. All in all, a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.; 7/2/26, 4:41 AM
john mosby said...: Kat Timpf should go on Andy Cohen's show. She is a Bravo super fan who can rattle off plotlines from years ago. And she frequently does it on Gutfeld, giving Bravo free advertising.

Andy loves to bring celebrity Bravo fans on his show. An episode with Kat would blow the ratings sky high. And she's not even MAGA. She's a libertarian. She often disagrees with the other Fox people. She would certainly share Andy's views on drug legalization and gay power.

But no. Can't have anything that makes Fox look like it has human beings.

Course it also is possible Fox doesnt let her go on other networks. But I think the roadblock is on NBC/Universal's side. CC, JSM; 7/2/26, 4:47 AM
Enigma said...: Global population:

I chalk this up to the delayed aftermath of modern medicine and more 'marginal' children surviving to adulthood. Until the 20th century a huge percentage did not make it, and there were lots of youth accidents and diseases.

Now that most babies, and now that wars employ drones rather than teenage boys, and now that men have desk jobs and wear hardhats, and now that mothers get C-sections, a lot of people who'd otherwise not make do make it. More bodily imperfections make it through and more people don't have children. Still, even with the global birth decline the world will have plenty of billions of people.

True shocker: South Korea (Republic of Korea) -- small town farmers had huge families and then their kids moved to the city and became tech workers. Boom and bust in just a couple generations.

https://www.populationpyramid.net/republic-of-korea/2026/; 7/2/26, 5:30 AM
rehajm said...: …we’re supposed to have them in South Carolina Clyde and we get amazing butterfly invasions but I’ve never seen one of those…; 7/2/26, 5:36 AM
Humperdink said...: The post game celebration was extraordinary last night. The U.S. comes together. The Commies will try to harpoon it.; 7/2/26, 5:44 AM
rehajm said...: …government experts have identified one thousand nine hundred billion in entitlement expenses not going to entitled people and places, so that’s a bigger priority than most other things. A big dent in that solves many other top priority problems so opinions about Trump’s jet fuel consumption or his personal finances are immaterial. You kind of had to make up your mind if he was either the world’s dumbest broke businessman OR a wealthy evil mastermind. You try both you get neither…; 7/2/26, 5:50 AM
rehajm said...: …parasite warning! cyclosporiasis is showing up…well, a bunch of places in the US. Be vigilant. If you don’t know what it does to you you’re lucky. You don’t want to know…; 7/2/26, 6:00 AM
Humperdink said...: You know IEE and his ilk are hoping the U.S. doesn’t win the World Cup. They are thinking of the visuals of the U.S. team at the White House.; 7/2/26, 6:07 AM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: Whether it’s Joe Biden making 12 stock trades over four years or Donald Trump making 800 stock trades over three months, both presidents made unusual numbers of stock trades.; 7/2/26, 6:14 AM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: If Thomas Jefferson had written a declaration addressing the needs of working-class American colonists instead of one filled with liberal platitudes, the revolution might not have turned into a forever war.; 7/2/26, 6:15 AM
hawkeyedjb said...: Liquid gold. It’s beautiful.

(Also the nickname for Chateauneuf du Pape blanc.); 7/2/26, 6:17 AM
imTay said...: Oh look. Concentration camps. Genocide has a logic of its own. Ghettos and concentration camps.

https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/06/30/board-of-peace-to-open-hamas-free-humanitarian-zones-in-gaza/; 7/2/26, 6:25 AM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: Trump, isn't technically having a forever war with Iran, because all of the fighting takes place during ceasefires.; 7/2/26, 6:35 AM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: @Hump: Really impressive performance. To the point where Belgium is very beatable even without Balogun.And if there’s a single stadium where you want be playing that match if you’re the US, it’s Seattle.; 7/2/26, 6:40 AM
Breezy said...: Norwegian player Haaland is a hoot, fun to watch.; 7/2/26, 6:45 AM
Humperdink said...: @ Jaq/ RCO/ imTay/ Tim in Vermont, but I repeat myself: Read how an Israeli hostage in Gaza was tortured for over a year. Beaten all over his body while bound. IDF neutralized the torturer. Note: the torturer was not a woman or child.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/07/we-wanted-to-inform-you.php; 7/2/26, 7:02 AM
Kai Akker said...: The different vantage point of those pictures adds to the sense they give that the viewer is looking at a strange and little-known place. The northern edge of a continent, rarely visited, perhaps.

Tuesday night's full moon -- called the Strawberry Moon, although I never heard that one before -- rose bloody orange and sparking all around the edges. One low cloud in an otherwise clear sky might have divided the disk in half; but, in addition, the sparkling, glittering, twinkling edges made a remarkable appearance and nothing I can remember having seen before. It came up big, on its seasonally low arc, and hung over the dark fields looking spooky and beautiful.; 7/2/26, 7:19 AM
Jamie said...: "You kind of had to make up your mind if he was either the world’s dumbest broke businessman OR a wealthy evil mastermind. You try both you get neither…"

This made me LOL.; 7/2/26, 7:37 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: Biden wasn't smart enough to trade stocks; 7/2/26, 7:45 AM
wendybar said...: I guess this ugly black RACIST never heard of the Celtics in the 70"s??? This right here, is the problem in America today. If he were white and he complained about black Hockey players, he would have been fired...and we ALL know it.

Gina Milan
@ginamilan_
·
25m
And people wonder why Caitlin Clark is treated like dog shit…
Quote
Stephen A Smith
@stephenasmith
·
18h
3 WHITE DUDES?! The Lakers Really Think THIS Can Win a Championship?

👇 Watch the full episode. Link in the comments.

https://x.com/ginamilan_/status/2072671325592621437?s=20; 7/2/26, 8:46 AM
john mosby said...: Speaking of the World Cup: I am not seeing any media, on any side, talk about immigrant-Americans supporting their old-country teams. Remember a few years back when Mexican-heritage fans were cheering on the Mexican national team in a friendly against the US? Haven't seen any stories like that. Lots of footage (usually on Fox) of well-behaved fans from the old countries celebrating in the streets. But nothing from the ones who live here.

Is it that working-class people are priced out of the stadia? But they could still gather outside, like impoverished Deadheads.

Nothing from MSCOW. Nothing from Fox. Nothing from cop blogs. Maybe they're just afraid to celebrate in public, because of ICE?

Weird. CC, JSM; 7/2/26, 9:49 AM
Aggie said...: Judge Emmet Sullivan strikes again

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/judge-blocks-usps-ballot-rule-tied-to-trumps-election-integrity-order-6056271

Use print preview to read.

..."A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing a Trump administration proposal to boost election integrity by enhancing ballot tracking and verification..."; 7/2/26, 11:00 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Anyone who knows anything about Gaza knows that Hamas rules the place with an iron fist, confiscating food shipments and selling them at high prices, living like kings while the people starve, raping widows, and torturing to death anyone who complains. Yet somehow umbDay imTay (6:25am) thinks establishing "Hamas-free humanitarian zones" in Gaza is "Genocide . . . Ghettos and concentration camps". He really must be paid to post the things he posts.; 7/2/26, 1:49 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Insurrection Barbie (no relation to Klaus) has a Twitter post spelling out my point in more detail: link.; 7/2/26, 2:07 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: $500.00 alex, ON THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED Former US Olympian David Hearn indicted in alleged Reflecting Pool vandalism. A shill (Pirro)for donald trump, did his bidding to try and prove vandalism on the crap job done on the reflecting pool in Washington DC. There will be no evidence provable beyond a doubt on this fake case.There will be no videos and only hearsay of witnesses. Pirro s a terrible attorney and (failure Jerome Powell,,Lisa Cook and a terrible 50% win record and will worsen as she continues to do trumps bidding. This is so bad I my make another political wager(like one I cashed on BIRTHRIGHT REJECTION BY scotus on trumps failed bid to squash that(14TH AMENDMENT read it to help you out) .This is more" look over here" after a rushed ,no bid,horrible job done in trumps name. Did the biker also put ALGAE in the water as trump stated(guy is scientifically clueless) c'mon man use your brain,,you keep falling for this crap..Too much DTS (deranged trump syndrome) :); 7/2/26, 2:24 PM
SAGOLDIE said...: Althouse said, "I slept in after the play."

We began attending matinee performances two decades ago.; 7/2/26, 4:21 PM