June 30, 2017

At the Russian Café...

moscow

... you can talk about whatever you want.

The picture is my selection from a Google Street View, somewhere near Moscow, Russia. I chose Russia because it's a place name that came up in this morning's blogging (the same idea as going to Dubai yesterday).

The previous post, embedding a Google selection from Agoraphobic Traveller, shows a completely different eye. I'm delighted by what she picks and interested in how different it is from what I pick.

And, since this is a "café" post, let me take the opportunity to remind you to do your shopping through The Althouse Amazon Portal.

64 comments:

Michael Gazonymous said...

in Russian cafe whatever you want talks about YOU

Patrick said...

A few years ago when I had more time, I spent time looking at Detroit, MI on Google maps street view. In some areas, with so many abandoned and dilapidated houses, the scenes liked positively rural. Very interesting and sad.

Trumpit said...

I just used Althouse's Amazon portal to buy Frontier Co-op "Whole German Chamomile Flowers certified organic." The smell is heavenly, and the health benefits of chamomile tea are are well-known and well-documented. Everybody should buy some; you will thank me.

Speak of yellow flowers in particular, all of the following have medicinal benefits (I'm sure that there are others):

1. Chamomile
2. Dandelion including the root
3. Marigold (Calendula)
4. Chrysanthemum

Yancey Ward said...

This is obviously a street view of the Trump Campaign Headquarters that Inga told us about.

TWW said...

This is a photo of Baltimore! Fake news.

peacelovewoodstock said...

Zucchini blossoms are yellow, and they are delicious, especially fried. Don't know about medicinal tho.

Bay Area Guy said...

It's the Ritz-Carlton -- Moscow style.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gahrie said...

The Republican Party controls most of the state governors and legislatures, the House, the Senate, the Presidency and some would say the Supreme Court, yet they stll refuse to pass a budget.

If not now...when?

320Busdriver said...

So the pols decided to start to fix our health care and debt problems by focusing on Medicaid. Only 8% of medicaid are old and they use only 16% of the bennies.

Medicaids share of spending is projected to increase from 2% gdp to 2.7% in 2047. With the planned caps in the senate plan the costs will fall by half to 1.4% gdp.

MediCARE costs will increase from 3.1 to 6.1% gdp in 2047.

SS, Medicaid, and Medicare now consume 58% of tax revenues and will be 80% by 2047.

Should work out well!!

Seeing Red said...

Via Insty, 5 states will decline the admin's request to turn over publically-available info, citing terms of privacy. One is SS#s, which is private.

Voter rolls aren't.


Now the fun begins.

Seeing Red said...

Publically available voting info.

Yancey Ward said...

Gahrie wrote:

"The Republican Party controls most of the state governors and legislatures, the House, the Senate, the Presidency and some would say the Supreme Court, yet they stll refuse to pass a budget.

If not now...when?"


A good question. The most under-reported big story of the day, in my opinion, was Trump's declaration that Congress should pass repeal of Obamacare if they can't agree on a replacement. This was a warning shot across the bow of Ryan and McConnell who, I think, were preparing to blame the administration for getting nothing done on healthcare. Trump is warning them that he is not going to let them shift the blame for not getting a bill to their desk.

Michael K said...

"Trump is warning them that he is not going to let them shift the blame for not getting a bill to their desk."

Glad to hear it. It should be headlines if newspapers were interested in news.

Jupiter said...

"SS, Medicaid, and Medicare now consume 58% of tax revenues and will be 80% by 2047."

And yet Democrats still claim that FDR was a great President.

Quaestor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quaestor said...

Trumpit wrote: I just used Althouse's Amazon portal to buy Frontier Co-op "Whole German Chamomile Flowers certified organic."

Cheapskate. I used the portal to buy a Bushnell Banner 6-24x44 telescopic sight with Dusk & Dawn low-light coated optics.

320Busdriver said...

I'm buying all my shorts at the portal. Lots and lots of shorts.

Kevin said...

The night crew sure started early today.

Fen said...

You sure the Russian Hack story is dead? Feels weird being out on an unsecured channel like this. Plus, I just splurged on a new Motole HAM radio with 28 point encryption.

Oh, hello Boris. Hi Natasha.

I guess its safe then... can we still exchange rubles through the Althouse Portal?

Unknown said...

It's the Russian Covfefe.

Fen said...

"The night sure started- "

Lower your voice, Mishka. It is plus ungood to be critical of those criticizing the critics...

(glances up as MeadeCam scans past)

... not that I am criticizing your criticism of those critical of the critics, Comrade.

eric said...

Seeing Red said...
Via Insty, 5 states will decline the admin's request to turn over publically-available info, citing terms of privacy. One is SS#s, which is private.

Voter rolls aren't.


Now the fun begins.
6/30/17, 12:08 PM


Why would a SS number, issued by the federal government, be information the state can't turn over to the federal government?!

Kevin said...

It's not the SS number which was assigned but the one people are claiming which is of interest.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Amazon portal. Good for mate by the kilo

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004B607MU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

eric said...

Blogger Kevin said...
It's not the SS number which was assigned but the one people are claiming which is of interest.

6/30/17, 1:04 PM


How does the state know if it's the one assigned or not?

If they know it's not the one assigned, why aren't they prosecuting?

Kevin said...

"How does the state know if it's the one assigned or not?"

They don't. They only know the one you claim and not whether it's the one assigned. I would think they're claiming privacy for the number used, recognizing it may not be the one assigned.

SSN also makes it easier for the Feds to check for fraud. 000-00-0000 is obviously suspicious.

rhhardin said...

Emergency, everybody to get from street.

wholelottasplainin said...

Anyone remember the hilarious Wendy's ad about a Soviet fashion show?

Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CaMUfxVJVQ

As Glenn Reynolds would put it, heh.

Michael K said...

"Why would a SS number, issued by the federal government, be information the state can't turn over to the federal government?!"

The voter's name and the SS# would be a big help in identifying those 2.6 million votes that put Hillary in as president of California.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

@ Yancy The most under-reported big story of the day, in my opinion, was Trump's declaration that Congress should pass repeal of Obamacare if they can't agree on a replacement.

This is what I've always thought should be done.

1. Repeal Obamacare but give it a drop dead date in the future. 12 months or so. Like: repealed as of June 2018. Gives people and businesses time to plan.

2. Take the interim period until 6-18 to come up with a workable plan (IF they can. Personally I think the best thing is to keep the government out of being in charge of a gargantuan nationwide cluster-F. Change regulations about insurance, being able to buy across state lines, portability etc. Give us some GD choices!)

3. Get Congress off their asses and to work. Forget all the other crap they seem to be focusing on. GET TO WORK! You have a deadline!

4. Get the advice of experts in the field. You guys in Congress are economic and insurance retards. You can't do this by yourselves dummies.

4. Divide the replacement into several stand alone bills. And start with the most crucial.

Seeing Red said...

I think there is some kind of Chinese (RACIST) firewall between depts. Like HHS can't tap into the IRS to compare SS#s and who gets aid and how much, etc.

But I do know the ITS has upgraded its software. Some idiot misentered my kid's birthday wayyy back and when we went to claim her, the tax form bounced back because she wasn't eligible. So I had to go to the SSA anf refill forms with birth certificate.

Seeing Red said...

IRS

Seeing Red said...

Just buy the voter rolls. There's more than 1 way to skin a cat. But suing them and taking their money for their recalcitrance and beating them like a rented mule will be much more satisfying.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

See - there's Poot and Trump and Carter Page & Flynn, in a sekrit meeting. Plotting the Podesta-Hillary e-mail hacking.

** still dicking bimbos at home.

Sebastian said...

@DBQ: "This is what I've always thought should be done." But we are talking about the Republican Party here, so . . .

traditionalguy said...

Dostavanya.

Michael K said...

" Get the advice of experts in the field. You guys in Congress are economic and insurance retards. You can't do this by yourselves dummies."

In 1994, I had just completed a masters in health policy at Dartmouth which had the best ideas at the time. The GOP had just won Congress, because of Hillarycare. Judd Gregg's office made some appointments for me to interview and see if they were interested in a physician with health policy experience to work for free.

Nope. All health care bills would be written by tax lawyers. They were not interested in provider input.

That is still the case. Look at the present legislation they are working on. All about taxes.

Mary Beth said...

Is the wire to keep people out or keep people in?

Rick said...

UW-Madison hiring admin to 'advance social justice' on campus

Saw this via Instapundit and came over for the inside scoop. My immediate question is does this hiring mean we get to fire the last 40 administrators and faculty we hired for the same purpose?

Fen said...

Michael K, I had a similar experience with Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison's chief of staff back around 2006 on a different issue.

Totally out of touch with the base.

I like KB, but it was my first encounter with the Establishment Party (E) mentality, before it was generally realized our reps were "failing" us on purpose.

Michael K said...

There is ab active shooter in a white coat in a NY hospital, and none of the big newspapers or CNN has anything on it.

It is all Trump 24/7.

Amazing

Clyde said...

Nyet welcome! Barbed wire AND concertina wire.

Clyde said...

Michael K said...
There is ab active shooter in a white coat in a NY hospital, and none of the big newspapers or CNN has anything on it.

It is all Trump 24/7.

Amazing


It's probably one of the Obamacare white coats, running amok to protest the repeal/replacement of Obamacare by Trump.

donald said...

My girl friend is Russia right now. The pictures she sends me are postcard level stuff. She ate in a resturaunt on Wednesday I believe, that was insanely gorgeous in all kinds of shades of red with China and stemware like I've never seen.

Cost her like 15 bucks (With a little caviar thrown in cause she's beautiful and hadn't been in that town in about 40 years).

She never sends me photos like that.

Clyde said...

From what I read, the Feds weren't asking for the entire SSN, only the last four digits. That, combined with names and DOB can create a pretty good database to detect if a person with the same name, DOB and last four of SSN is voting in multiple places. Funny how it's always the Democrats who oppose efforts to prevent voter fraud, isn't it? It's almost like their ideas aren't good enough to win among the electorate without cheating.

Darrell said...

On Wednesday evening Maxine Waters claimed that 700 BILLION Americans were at risk of losing healthcare coverage if Republicans replace Obamacare. No wonder Inga is so verklempt.

Fen said...

"Funny how it's always Democrats who oppose efforts to prevent voter fraud"

Another example - in the 6 months of Democrats caterwauling about Russia "hacking" the election, has anyone heard A SINGLE DEMOCRAT call for a return to paper ballots? I haven't.
'
It's almost as if the Left doesn't really - oh nevermind.

David said...

For some reason this photo puts me in mind of South Carolinian James L. Pettigru (1789-1863), who declared during the run up to the secession that South Carolina was "too small to be a nation, and too big to be an insane asylum."

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

93 million people die everyday from gunshots - sayeth Terry Clinton Rodham McAufiff.

No worries folks, at that rate it'll all be over soon.

donald said...

In Russia. I swear it said in Russia when I posted.

Fen said...

I agree the photo is odd. Looks like it would be easy to scale the wall and jump over the wire INTO the compound. But back out? Nope.

Hagar said...

I think Obamacare in any form cannot possibly work because many - if not the majority - of the "new" people they want to cover have no interest whatever in buying medical insurance, even if they are given tax money to buy it with. It is like paying H&R Bloch $250 to do your tax return to get a $150 rebate. If you cannot afford the deductible to start with, what good is the "insurance"?

The eGOP Congress critters are fashioning a bill to vote on that is entirely about Washington politics and has nothing to do with realities in the hinterland.

Hagar said...

Or anywhere else, for that matter. Not in this universe, anyway.

Michael K said...

The eGOP Congress critters are fashioning a bill to vote on that is entirely about Washington politics and has nothing to do with realities in the hinterland.

I have to agree.

I saw Rand Paul on TV a bit ago, as I walked by. He was talking about repel and replace down the road.

If they do that, I think it will turn our well. I don't know if the GOPe will vote for it, though.

Michael K said...

Repeal, not repel but either would be OK with me.

Hagar said...

What I am thinking is that a lot of the prospective "new" people are not otherwise known to the Government as taxpayers, or whatever, and they are going to be very reluctant to make themselves known, but they have to be known and on the insurance rolls for the insurance companies to get paid, whether the individuals pay or the Government does. Hospitals and doctors are going to have to be able to point to a known individual they claim to have treated, or be charged with attempted insurance fraud.

So, how far down this road is the Government willing to go?

And remember that the ACLU and the SJW's, etc., are adamant against the Government keeping such tabs on individuals.

Drago said...

Michael K: "I saw Rand Paul on TV a bit ago, as I walked by. He was talking about repel and replace down the road.

If they do that, I think it will turn our well. I don't know if the GOPe will vote for it, though"

Interestingly, I saw that Sasse made the same recommendation: just vote to repeal with a certain end date and then in August return to vote for a replacement.

If Sasse and Rand sound the same........hmmmmmmm.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

I like "repel and replace." Thanks!

OT: Why are we talking about renewable energy, but seldom about nuclear power and absolutely never about hydroelectric power? That's the plurality source of power in my own state. It's not a "nothingburger."

Hagar said...

Communist regimes generally solve the problem of registering every citizen (almost, anyway) by instituting universal rationing. No ration card, no groceries - and everybody has got to eat.

Michael K said...

"Why are we talking about renewable energy, but seldom about nuclear power "

In the 1950s, the KGB ran the most successful op ever and it is still running. They wanted to ban US Intermediate Nuclear Missiles from Europe on the premise that nukes were bad.

It is still running and the KBG is gone.

Fen said...

"Why are we not talking about nuclear"

My guess is because the autocrats aren't really interested in clean energy, they are interested in rationing (for us, not them).

Most of the autocrats are Marxists. Control energy consumption and you control the people. Frank Herbert did a wonderful job detailing this philosophy in his Dune series, I think most spcefically in God Emperor.

But I'm too lazy right now to dig up good examples.

Seeing Red said...

It's not T who's certifiable, via Drudge:

A Democratic congressman has proposed convening a special committee of psychiatrists and other doctors whose job would be to determine if President Donald Trump is fit to serve in the Oval Office.
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, who also teaches constitutional law at American University, has predict


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4655964/Democrats-lay-foundation-remove-Trump-mental-grounds.html#ixzz4lXeO01pv
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Gahrie said...

absolutely never about hydroelectric power?

The watermelon Left had vowed that there will never be another federal dam, and they are busy filing lawsuits to tear down existing dams. Apparently fish are more important than birds.