At the Forest Path Café...

... you can talk all night.

No sunrise today. It was raining. That's a photo from 3 days ago. Here, this is from today.

It stopped raining and we got out. Meade got me to notice the goldenrod.

"On immigration, you better get your act together or you’re not going to have Europe anymore. You got to get your act together."

"You know, last month, we had nobody entering our country. Nobody. Shut it down.... We took out a lot of bad people that got there with Biden. Biden was a total stiff. And what he allowed to happen, but you’re allowing it to happen to your countries. And you got to stop this horrible invasion that’s happening to Europe. Many countries in Europe. Some people, some leaders have not let it happen. And they’re not getting the proper credit they should. I could name them to you right now, but I’m not going to embarrass the other ones. But stop. This immigration is killing Europe." And also: "Stop the windmills. You’re ruining your countries. I really mean it. It’s so sad. You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds. And if they’re stuck in the ocean, ruining your oceans. Stop the windmills."

Said Trump, quoted in "Trump arrives in Scotland to claim immigration is ‘killing Europe’/The US president said there had been ‘a horrible invasion’ of migrants after he landed in Scotland for a four-day visit on Friday evening" (London Times).

"I hope they don’t do all these protests because I’ll be raging. I want him welcomed. I like Big Donald."

Said Irene Wright, 66, "a retired council worker from Glasgow," quoted in "Turnberry locals on Trump: We love ‘Big Donald’ and his $50 tips/Donald Trump will stop by his Scottish golf courses on a ‘private visit’ this weekend. Despite the protests, many Ayrshire residents are happy to see him" (London Times).

Trump bought the Turnberry golf course and hotel in 2014, saving it from what one local described as the threat of “rack and ruin.” Most locals know a family or friend who is employed by the resort.

Tam Cuthill, 63, from Kirkoswald, worked as a greenkeeper at Turnberry for 38 years.... “It’s one of them ones, it’s 50/50, you either love or hate him,” he said.... “I never found anything wrong with him as such.... He certainly didn’t commit to saying anything bad or anything like that, he’s more likely to shake your hand.”

Charming turns of phrase. I'd go to Scotland to hear more of them but I'm imagining not understanding a word they say. I wonder how much of Trump's interesting speech idiosyncrasies have to do with Scotland, the place of his mother's birth.

"She is the Rosetta stone. She knows everything. She arranged every single trip, and if she was just given… immunity, she could be compelled to testify."

Said Alan Dershowitz, quoted in "Trump’s MAGA allies zero in on Ghislaine Maxwell as Epstein furor persists/The intensifying focus on Ghislaine Maxwell represents the latest turn in a winding case that has long been a focus of conspiracy theorists" (NYT).

I'm sure her testimony is valuable, but I see at least 5 problems with the Dershowitz assertion: 1. She may have misunderstood or misperceived what she witnessed when she witnessed it. 2. She will have forgotten some things, 3. She may misremember when she attempts to recall when she is questioned now, 4. She has so much reason now to lie, distort, or at least shape her story to serve her obvious self-interest, 5. Arranging a trip doesn't mean that you know everything that happens everywhere on the plane and at the destination.

ADDED: I know what I've listed are typical problems, and of course, Professor Dershowitz know what they are, but he's the one who chose to say: "She knows everything."

"Missing from Mr. Pelzer’s list of books was the Bible, even though he had read it about a dozen times, his son said."

"Mr. Pelzer was a devout Catholic who left the Jesuit seminary for the Peace Corps. 'My friends from high school would always laugh,' John Pelzer, 51, recalled. When they visited, 'he would always be reading in our basement, typically the Bible, and he would be drinking a 40-ounce malt liquor — typically, Olde English.'"

From "He Read (at Least) 3,599 Books in His Lifetime. Now Anyone Can See His List. After Dan Pelzer died this month at 92, his children uploaded the handwritten reading list to what-dan-read.com, hoping to inspire readers everywhere" (NYT).

What do you need to do to get The New York Times to write an article about all the books your father read? You have to put together a website as cool as "What Dan Read."

The Department of Homeland Security — on Facebook — invites us to reveal ourselves in the discussion of a painting.

Here's the link to the Facebook page, where the image is quite large and clear and it's easy to read the comments. The government's caption is: "A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending."

"Proud"? "Worth defending"? This sets some people off.

Even if you like that European-Americans moved across the continent and made it their own — and now your own — you may be taken aback to see America symbolized by a gigantic white woman in a diaphanous gown that whirls and swirls in the breeze — but doesn't slip off of her tenacious left tit — as she brings light, a telegraph line, and a school book westward.

The painting, "American Progress," was done by John Gast in 1872. Here's the Wikipedia article. The piece is very well composed and executed, and it's a good thing to stare at to contemplate Manifest Destiny. The Department of Homeland Security is challenging us to step up and feel proud, to see the westward expansion as beautiful... as beautiful as a half-naked woman.

Sunrise — 5:13, 5:33, 5:37, 5:39.

Talk about whatever you like in the comments.

And please support the Althouse blog by doing your Amazon shopping going in through the Althouse Amazon link.

"And let me just put it to you with startling bluntness is President Trump Gatsby or Tom?"

"And I'll let you kind of imagine why I've even posed that question — because it's infused with new money, anti-establishmentism, and a motto — Make America Great Again — that to my mind borrows from — whether it means to or not — one of the great lines in Gatsby, which is when Gatsby says to Nick, 'You can't repeat the past? Of course you can.' I mean, what is MAGA other than a pleading to reclaim a past that's so central to this book?"/"It's a very interesting question of, I mean, with Trump, is this old money or new money? What elite does he or doesn't he belong to? And certainly his own mythology is that he's been, and I think our colleagues have written a lot about this, about his sense of outsiderness, his sense of the Manhattan elite, the Manhattan establishment, the fancy know-it-alls and eggheads who he was, you know, desperate for a long time to join, who always sort of rebuffed him, or went to his parties, but didn't necessarily accept him into their midst...."

That happens almost half an hour into "100 Years of ‘The Great Gatsby,'" today's episode of the NYT "Daily" podcast. That's Michael Barbaro asking the question and then A.O. Scott answering. 

It's mostly a solid discussion of the novel and not political... though there's also this near the end:

"A Texas man whose girlfriend used abortion pills to end her pregnancy is suing a California doctor who allegedly mailed her the medication..."

"... in what appears to be a first-of-its-kind wrongful-death lawsuit — and a fresh test of federal and state abortion laws. The complaint, filed in a Texas federal court, accuses the doctor of violating state law that prohibits performing or facilitating an abortion, including by distributing pills. But California, where the physician is based, has a 'shield' law explicitly protecting providers who mail abortion pills, including to states where the procedure is banned. The case appears to be the first time an interstate wrongful-death claim over an abortion has been filed in federal court. It is also the latest legal challenge against a provider as antiabortion activists attempt to curb the flow of abortion pills, which are being mailed into all 50 states under shield laws passed after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade...."

From "Man sues over girlfriend’s abortion in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit/he first-of-its-kind wrongful-death lawsuit tests the laws blue states passed to protect abortion access after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade" (WaPo).

"We talk about the view that the soul exists but can’t do so without the body"/"'Is that what you believe?' he asks."

"'Ah well, I don’t, you see. My body is like a Hillman Imp and my soul is driving it. When I die, I park the car and walk the rest of the way. And I’m thinking that heaven is probably pedestrianised, so I can leave it outside.'"

From "Frank Skinner on faith and finally getting married (she said no four times)/The comedian opens up about his alcoholism, the consolation he finds in poetry — and whether he could succeed Melvyn Bragg as In Our Time presenter" (London Times).

There's a new season of "Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast" beginning this week, first episode here. I'm a big fan of that.

Hillman Imp? Apparently some sort of car. 

Oh!

That's Frank's idea of the metaphorical body that contains his soul. 

I'm reminded of the George Harrison song: "I got born into the material world/Getting worn out in the material world/Use my body like a car/Taking me both near and far...."

But George didn't name a particular car. Frank named the Hillman Imp. How about you?

"We commit federal felonies by the day, by the hundreds if not the thousands. But there’s no real ability for the federal government to shut it down. So the cat’s out of the bag."

Said Aaron Morris, co-founder of the company that manufactures the Wyld brand of cannabis-infused gummies, quoted in "Mummies on cannabis gummies: meet the mothers getting high at home/Frazzled American parents are swapping a nightly glass of chardonnay for chewable THC gummies. But are they ignoring the health risks?" (London Times)

Meanwhile: "Stacy Allen lives in a white wooden house with a perfect lawn and a labradoodle in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.... About once a week, after her two children have gone to bed, she’ll take a bite of what looks and tastes like an ordinary [gummy].... 'I feel like it’s just a way to unwind.... Just like having a glass of wine.... I was even at lunch recently with someone I felt was a very conservative mom, and then she and her husband started opening up about doing gummies — and they have teenagers too.... More women do it than you realise. It’s just like anything — talking about it removes the shame. Then other people will be, like, "Oh, I do them too." It’s not a big deal.'"

"It’s something I haven’t thought about."

Said Trump, quoted in "Trump says he has no plans to pardon Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell" (WaPo).

It's not believable that he hasn't thought about it. Just to hear the question Have you thought about it? is to think about it... depending on the meaning of "thought." I think he means to assert that these current discussions his Justice Department is having with Maxwell are not about making some sort of deal with her to give them useful testimony in exchange for a pardon. But how can that not be implicit? How can he not have thought of it... he who has portrayed his whole existence as endless, ongoing dealmaking?

***

"Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully or write poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks" — Donald Trump, "The Art of the Deal."

"President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to find ways to make it easier to forcibly hospitalize homeless people with mental illness and addiction for longer periods...."

"The order... instructs agencies to prioritize funding for mental health and drug courts — and to not fund 'harm reduction' programs that the administration said facilitate illegal drug use. It also called for agencies to prioritize funding states and cities that to the 'maximum extent' enforce laws on open-air drug use, prohibitions on urban camping, loitering and squatting.... Dozens of states have added to or expanded involuntary commitment laws during the past decade. That includes states controlled by Democrats, an illustration that political momentum has shifted toward a more aggressive approach to dealing with the inextricably intertwined crises of mental health and addiction...."

I'm reading "Trump order pushes forcible hospitalization of homeless people/Trump’s executive order could increase hospitalization of homeless individuals with mental health and substance use disorders" (WaPo).

Looking for an existing tag that will fit this issue, I stumbled on "Trump's urban renewal." That could work for this... but what was it that led me to create it?

The oldest post with that tag was "Asking for the black vote" back in August 2016.

More relevant to today's post is this from July 2019: "'We have to take the people... And we have to do something... We may intercede. We may do something to get that whole thing cleaned up.' Said Trump, about the homelessness in San Francisco and L.A." 

Just what we need: an oiled-up, glowering comedian.

From the link:

Baron Cohen says his workout regime with the celebrity trainer Alfonso Moretti stops his mind spinning. “Instead of lying in bed overthinking and staring at my phone, I get up, jump on FaceTime and train with Alfonso. It sets a positive tone for the whole day.”... 

We all confront mortality, invisibility, loss of sexual appeal and having to use reading glasses in dark restaurants: the task is to work out the most constructive way to deal with all that....

He's "positive" and "constructive" and looking at us angrily. I'm sad to see he got divorced!

"How are we supposed to do pro-Trump messaging?"/"Oh, come on, guys. We're South Park. We can do it!"

Read warnings* before clicking.

*Warnings:

• Although South Park Studios posted this on YouTube, it is the end of the episode, so it's a spoiler, but I don't think that matters much, and they obviously don't either.

• There is some male nudity. 

• Trump is exalted but also humiliated. I think both Trump haters and Trump lovers can be entertained, depending on psychological complexities I would not pretend to plumb in this list of warnings. 

I watched this episode last night... after forking out $119 for an annual subscription to Paramount+ Premium. I paid precisely because I wanted to watch this episode, which I'd heard was great.

I was entirely satisfied. The animation of Trump is inventive. His Canadian-style detached head and pronunciation of the word "about" suggest an ongoing narrative — perhaps that he was really born in Canada and that's why Canada needs to become the 51st state. There are the new problems of living in post-"woke" America. Cartman — and the show's writers — are deprived of the material they liked to satirize and so life may not be worth living. We laughed a lot and are planning to rewatch.

So we have ChatGPT and what's the top-trending use?

Astrology!