Althouse: At the Thursday Night Café...

January 2, 2025

At the Thursday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

***

No sunrise picture today. Sorry. I'm nursing a cold and did not go out, either today or yesterday. I almost never get a cold, but I've got one now.

63 comments:

Bill Crawford said...: I pray you have a quick recovery!; 1/2/25, 6:01 PM
Clyde said...: Welcome to 1³+2³+3³+4³+5³+6³+7³+8³+9³! (Yes, that adds up to 2,025!)

2025 is also a perfect square: 45*45.; 1/2/25, 6:08 PM
Aggie said...: Zinc and Vitamin C and made Meade wait on you hand & foot, filling your every whim, for the speediest recovery ! Get well soon.; 1/2/25, 6:09 PM
Wa St Blogger said...: Just a reminder that there is no limit to the evil of the left. Whether they are perpetrating crimes on innocents, burying them due to them being inconvenient to the narrative, or simply excusing the perpetrations and their apologists because of inconvenience to the agenda, it is still evil. I wonder how many of them can look in the mirror and honestly say that they were not part of the group that allowed this to happen.

It is a bit of old information, but some of it is coming to light again in the news...

https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/01/renewed-outrage-over-rotherham-other-uk-child-exploitation-cases-after-elon-musk-demands-accountability/; 1/2/25, 6:22 PM
Peachy said...: Sorry to hear that. No fun. Hope you feel better.
Things I do when I get a cold.
Take Zicam - early on - the dissolve in mouth kind. (only negative is what it does to your taste buds) I swear by that stuff. Totally takes the edge off the severity.
Agree with Aggie - Up your zinc, C, D.
Drink lots of liquids. Cold or hot - whatever feels comforting. But so much - that you complain about trips to the toilet.
Two others strange things I add: Food with lots of fresh minced garlic.
Organic or natural black licorice.
Chicken soup never hurts.; 1/2/25, 6:23 PM
Big Mike said...: 2025 factorial is a very large number; 1/2/25, 6:26 PM
Original Mike said...: I think only the last term is a factorial.; 1/2/25, 6:28 PM
Original Mike said...: Oh, I see.; 1/2/25, 6:30 PM
gilbar said...: that's what you GET, for traveling!; 1/2/25, 6:38 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Especially air travel.; 1/2/25, 6:51 PM
Narr said...: History is not only weirder and more complex than we imagine, it is weirder and more complex than we -can- imagine.

In the early 1700s the Ottomans were starting to lose territory and prestige, largely but not entirely to the Hapsburgs and Romanovs. In Istanbul, Christians, Jews, and women were getting uppity. From Marc Baer's book "The Ottomans," page 322--

"Janissary-connected, beardless Albanian youth who worked in public baths as shampooers and prostitutes pleasuring mature men bedevilled Ottoman authorities throughout the eighteenth century 57. As the Collection [of select Christian boys for conversion, education, and service as soldiers or administrators] fell into disuse, Janissary applicants as young as eight years old but most on the verge of puberty were permitted to live in the Janissary barracks and serve Janissaries until they grew facial hair."

I'm breaking this in two, in case I'm running into a character limit.; 1/2/25, 6:54 PM
Narr said...: Continued.

"In private, they attended to their master's needs. In public, the young boys wore veils over their faces so that other men could not gaze upon their beardless faces and desire them 58. Because they were not paid a salary, some of these Janissary interns worked in the public baths as shampooers and prostitutes in order to earn a living 59. One such man led a revolt that toppled a sultan."; 1/2/25, 6:59 PM
Narr said...: My posts are being fucked with.; 1/2/25, 7:00 PM
Narr said...: Anyone else having 'now you see it, now you don't issues'?; 1/2/25, 7:03 PM
Narr said...: Anyone else having 'now you see it, now you don't' issues with your comments?; 1/2/25, 7:05 PM
tcrosse said...: Ask Derve Swensen.; 1/2/25, 7:09 PM
MadTownGuy said...: US Postal Service faces huge threat as mail workers steal millions and are targeted by criminal rings

"One of the biggest threats to the United State Postal Service is not the ever-growing cost of stamps, long lines at the post office or even delayed mail.

The biggest threats to USPS may be the mail handlers themselves.

Auditors found that a tiny percentage of them steal. And they steal a lot, according to a stunning federal investigation of a dozen mail sorting facilities across the U.S.

In mid-December, federal prosecutors charged two postal workers with stealing more than $1 million in business checks. The two worked at postal facilities in Virginia and North Carolina.

But that’s not the whole mail bag on the matter. In a stunning finding by the USPS Office of Inspector General, I.G. Tammy L. Hull writes that “criminal organizations are targeting, recruiting and colluding with postal employees to move narcotics through the postal network and to steal checks – both personal and government-issued checks — credit cards and other valuables from the mail.”

Frank Albergo, president of the Postal Police Officers Association, told Norfolk TV news station WTKR that postal workers aren’t “getting a job because they want to deliver the mail or they want to sort mail. They’re getting a job to steal mail.”

He added, “Criminal organizations are recruiting postal workers to infiltrate the postal service. That should be shocking to everyone.”

More at the link.

Side note about USPS Police. Their officers are issued sidearms with authority to use them. We had an incident at a worksite in Texas when I was conducting training - a guy with mental issues came in with a knife and held our security guard hostage for about an hour. The general manager called City police, but because we were in a new business development, the police couldn't find the address right away.

The Postal Officer happened to walk by the front window of the office, saw what was happening, and calmly introduced himself as he came in the door. Talked the guy down and convinced him to surrender his knife. Never had to draw his gun. Local police finally got there and he turned the guy over to their care. That's how I found out that USPS officers carry arms.; 1/2/25, 7:14 PM
Dr Weevil said...: It happens quite frequently, is a bug in the software, and has nothing to do with the quality of your comments. It is certainly odd that the incompetent spam filter allows comments to appear for a minute or two before deleting them, but don't take it personally. Ann retrieves most of them from the spam filter eventually.; 1/2/25, 7:16 PM
Original Mike said...: I had a new one happen to me. Last night, I deleted a comment. It deleted properly and stayed deleted all night. This morning the deleted comment had reappeared.

Who knows? Blogger software is not exactly stable.; 1/2/25, 7:26 PM
narciso said...: https://x.com/laralogan/status/1874923204772589867 hmm; 1/2/25, 7:29 PM
narciso said...: https://x.com/OcrazioCornPop/status/1874974870460645638 nothing to see here; 1/2/25, 7:30 PM
Gospace said...: Nasal irrigation- relives symptoms better then OTC medications.

The Navage system is the easy way to do it.; 1/2/25, 7:35 PM
Narr said...: Utter not that name in this place.

I'm not at the paranoid-enough-to-suspect-the-Prof stage, but am well past the paranoid-enough-to-suspect-the-software stage.

But all's well that ends good.; 1/2/25, 7:44 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: 2025 is also the year Trump comes back 🤓; 1/2/25, 7:46 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I was going to say…; 1/2/25, 7:47 PM
Saint Croix said...: Nyquil was great until they made it fucking illegal.

The kids getting high on Nyquil are sad clowns, and they ruined my sick life. All because you youthful motherfuckers can't find a fake ID and buy beer like the rest of us.

Say it with me. Nyquil is not a high! Going to sleep is not a high!

If all Trump does is bring back real Nyquil, I will be a happy Republican.

I get a cold a year so that might make you feel better. Right now I feel good. Sleep is the best medicine.; 1/2/25, 8:12 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Video: Even wild boars 🐗 need belly rubs; 1/2/25, 8:12 PM
Rusty said...: Take a covid test and make sure it's not covid. Covid sucks. Get well soon, seriously.; 1/2/25, 8:16 PM
Saint Croix said...: And the capitalists putting the "Nyquil" name on that fake shit ought to be ashamed of themselves.

It's like putting Dick Francis on a book that Dick Francis didn't write.

You shark-jumping, leather jacket in the ocean wearing, uncool zombie capitalists ought to let the dead die!

RIP Nyquil, 1966-2006

We hardly knew ye; 1/2/25, 8:23 PM
Eva Marie said...: Yay, Dick Francis!; 1/2/25, 8:34 PM
Peachy said...: after 4 years of the mob controlled mob Biden - are we surprised?; 1/2/25, 8:37 PM
Eva Marie said...: If you’re a Dick Francis fan and even if you’re not, this video might interest you. It is Dick Francis in the 1956 Grand National, riding the Queen Mother’s horse Devon Loch. One of the most famous races in Grand National history:
https://youtu.be/62fPLtL8h7s?si=3TODAsg-QQPcKWbt; 1/2/25, 8:47 PM
Jaq said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/2/25, 8:50 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: IS THIS A SUPRISE TO ANYONE.? The King of division, no facts,blurt out lies then double down. Nothing new and more where that comes from. Begin the New Year racking up the lies. :( Trump Stokes Hate With False Insinuations About New Orleans Truck Attack Suspect
Donald Trump used the deadly New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans to bolster his fearmongering about “criminals” crossing into the U.S. from abroad and did not correct that assertion after the suspect was identified as a U.S. citizen from Texas.(AND A MILITARY VETERAN)
Republicans FEAR everything AND SPREAD THE FEAR WITH LIES Happy New Year ,looks like sometimes you do get what you deserve. :( Just like Ralph Kramden he got a big mouth! )
Fox News had reported about a minute prior to Trump’s Truth Social post that the vehicle used by the suspect had crossed into Eagle Pass, Texas, from Mexico two days before the attack.
Just over an hour later, the conservative network retracted that reporting, saying its sources had advised that the truck crossed the border on Nov. 16 apparently driven by someone else. Later in the afternoon, it reported that the truck never crossed over from Mexico.
The suspect was identified in the early afternoon by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. Army veteran from Texas. It said he drove a rented truck.; 1/2/25, 9:45 PM
Jupiter said...: "2025 factorial is a very large number."
There is a finite number of integers that are smaller than 2025!, whereas there are infinitely many numbers that are larger. Therefore, 2025! is a trivially small number. Negligible. As is any given integer.; 1/2/25, 10:09 PM
Jupiter said...: It's called "Artificial Intelligence". In time, it will be recognized that it is indistinguishable from "Artificial Stupidity". To the extent that computer programs behave as humans do (which is actually "Not At All"), they can be expected to misbehave as humans do.
Really. If it were actually the case, that all possible questions have definitive answers, but the reason we can't ascertain those answers is that we are insufficiently "intelligent", then it would be at least potentially possible that a computer program, which was able to deal with more "information", whatever that is, might be able to resolve those questions, and provide definitive answers.
But those predicates are false, wherefore, the consequent conclusions are false as well. There is no such thing as absolute truth. Which means that it cannot be possible to write a computer program that determines the absolute truth.; 1/2/25, 10:22 PM
walter said...: Povidone iodine solution or Xlear nasal spray from Walgreens.; 1/2/25, 10:37 PM
effinayright said...: Dinky, you ignore the FACT that the FBI and local authorities also got a lot wrong in the hours after the attack.

If you would like to tell us why Americans should not FEAR terrorism from unvetted llegal aliens entering our country from hostile Asian and Arab countries, possibly mounting in the hundreds of thousands, you go right ahead.

FOOL; 1/2/25, 10:43 PM
HistoryDoc said...: Hot Toddies are very medicinal; 1/2/25, 10:44 PM
walter said...: I was in Wallymart tonite and saw "Painquil" prominently displayed.; 1/2/25, 10:51 PM
walter said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/2/25, 10:52 PM
Howard said...: My way to keep a cold under control: Raw local honey, fresh lemon juice macerated garlic and ginger topped with Sriracha sauce. For your size, one tablespoon three times per day. Like others have said, Vitamin D and C, Zinc, and NAC. A sinus rinse with a mix of sea salt and baking soda. No alcohol no sugar no white carbs. I also make regular use of a jury rigged infrared sauna (cannabis grow tent with Home Depot heat lamps and one lizard uvb lamp) that I use when sick and over the winter. Another treatment is to use a theragun knockoff massager to hit all the major lymph nodes.; 1/2/25, 10:54 PM
Howard said...: I forgot daily doses of kombucha and kimchi.; 1/2/25, 10:56 PM
Jupiter said...: I mean, look; suppose you wrote a computer program, that was the smartest program ever, designed to run on the most powerful computer ever built, and to solve some very important question. So, you fire it up, and it says the answer is 42. OK. 42. Is that right? Is it wrong? You would not have written the program, if you knew the answer. So how do you determine whether the program is correct?; 1/2/25, 11:05 PM
Enigma said...: It happens to everyone. In my case the spam filter often catches posts with hyperlinks to references -- they get interpreted as advertising I think. Also, naughty keywords discussing v!0lence may get caught more often than other content.; 1/3/25, 3:49 AM
wendybar said...: "So busy has the FBI been these past four years rounding up the “terrorists” who “stormed” the Capitol on January 6, 2021 -- nearly 1600 and counting -- that they have not had time to track guys like New Orleans lifetaker Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

Make no mistake: From the Feds’ perspective, the J6ers were terrorists. To read the charging documents of those arrested shows just how much high-level time was frivolously spent identifying these citizens, charging them, arresting them, and making sure they were convicted. In the zero-sum game of law and order, the only ones who benefitted from the feds’ January 6 obsession were lethal clowns like Jabbar."

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/01/the_fbi_s_oblivious_terror_agenda.html; 1/3/25, 3:57 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: Wishes for a speedy recovery. Though I have been beset by some major health issues the past decade, I haven't had a cold in I don't know how long.; 1/3/25, 5:17 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Nyquil is not a high! Going to sleep is not a high!"

Yeah, but drug or alcohol-induced sleep is not good sleep.; 1/3/25, 7:08 AM
Saint Croix said...: Yeah, he's fun. His son is good too! I probably shouldn't have picked on him. I feel like Felix can stand on his own two feet, and the publisher can take the dead guy off the title page now.

On my bedside table I've got a book that says AGATHA CHRISTIE in big letters and in tiny, tiny, letters it says "as written by stinky sue without a clue." (Well, that's what it would say if it was honest). I knew it when I bought it, that's the horrible thing. The first page was good, I swear to God. They got me interested with the big AGATHA CHRISTIE letters and then they sucked me in with a good first page.

That book might sit on my bedside table for months, years, because I can't seem to pick it up again. It's pretty much a coaster now for my ice water in a yeti cup.; 1/3/25, 7:47 AM
Saint Croix said...: Yeah, but drug or alcohol-induced sleep is not good sleep.

Bad sleep is better than sick awake!; 1/3/25, 7:49 AM
Saint Croix said...: Hope you are feeling better!; 1/3/25, 7:50 AM
MadisonMan said...: Chicken soup!; 1/3/25, 8:05 AM
Meade said...: Two masks is not enough. One must wear at least three.; 1/3/25, 8:15 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Steaming hot Sauna with eucalyptus on the rocks!; 1/3/25, 8:16 AM
Rusty said...: Bourbon. A stiff shot of bourbon before bed. Sometimes two.; 1/3/25, 8:22 AM
Saint Croix said...: thanks for that link!

that ending caught me by surprise; 1/3/25, 8:39 AM
MadTownGuy said...: We thought we had a garden variety URI until yesterday. No loss of sense of smell or taste, no sore throat, just a runny nose and a bit of a cough from post-nasal drip. Took test kits, and, presto! C-19.

When I had it two years ago, I was dealing with it just fine until Day 10 when my O2 levels crashed and I ended up in hospital for 11 days. Got excellent care, and here I am. My wife came down with it at the same time I did, but recovered fully without the accompanying pneumonia (thank the Lord).

We're watching our daughter carefully, as she lives close by now, and was here on NYE. So far, so good. She's triple vaxed (on the advice of her caregiver when she was still in Madison) but we're glad she's in our immediate area now so we can monitor her care and stay ahead of any symptoms if they appear.; 1/3/25, 8:40 AM
mikee said...: Aren't negative numbers also integers? Would there not be an infinite number of integers smaller than 2025 from 0 on down in the negative numbers?; 1/3/25, 9:40 AM
mikee said...: Give me the original Vicks 44 with 30% ethanol by volume, or give me a nice peaty Scotch.; 1/3/25, 9:43 AM
Rocco said...: Jupiter said…
“I mean, look; suppose you wrote a computer program, that was the smartest program ever, designed to run on the most powerful computer ever built, and to solve some very important question. So, you fire it up, and it says the answer is 42. OK. 42. Is that right? Is it wrong? You would not have written the program, if you knew the answer. So how do you determine whether the program is correct?”

The answer is easy if you’re a government agency. You get an even bigger grant to build an even bigger computer - maybe even a planet-sized one.

And once the computer takes several million - if not billion - years dedicated to answering only that question and is finally ready to spit out the answer, it gets obliterated to in order to build an EV charging station there. Which never gets built.; 1/3/25, 10:37 AM
Rocco said...: Saint Croix said
“NyQuil was great until they made it fucking illegal.

The kids getting high on Nyquil are sad clowns, and they ruined my sick life. All because you youthful motherfuckers can't find a fake ID and buy beer like the rest of us.”

Or they could do what my brother did in high school and brew his own dunkel in the basement. Which was better than the cheapest barley piss at the local convenience store.; 1/3/25, 10:48 AM
Jim at said...: Again, do you really think anybody's going to try to take the time to read through your diarrhea?; 1/3/25, 4:52 PM
Marcus Bressler said...: Even though drug or OTC stuff may give you bad sleep, when you are sick, you need bed rest and they can keep you inactive and give your body time to recover.; 1/4/25, 11:15 AM