Althouse: At the Lakeside Café...

February 20, 2025

At the Lakeside Café...

... you can talk all night.

58 comments:

rhhardin said...: Carville the corruption is breathtaking.; 2/20/25, 6:33 PM
TaeJohnDo said...: Checking in to see if any of our lefty friends are going to defend what the palestinian hamas scum did today. May they all burn in hell.; 2/20/25, 7:05 PM
Josephbleau said...: Looking at Palestinian actions, the only conclusion is the Hamas wants Israel to be forced to kill them all.; 2/20/25, 7:12 PM
Leland said...: They’ll defend it, because that is one of the few constituencies left for the progressives. You didn’t hear AOC complaining about the Palestinians supporters marching through Brooklyn this week threatening violence.; 2/20/25, 7:17 PM
effinayright said...: Even the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia disapproved that celebration, saying "What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah."

So yes, let's see our leftnoid Hamas apologists their usual demented "reasons" to support them and the Palestinians in Gaza.

No bullshit please, about how the Palestinians are forced to live under Hamas. The twisted souls at that rally do so willingly. They are subhumans, which is why no country wants to take them in.; 2/20/25, 7:18 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: The end of my last convo with Grok:
My question above, starting with "She's not my professor" took you a very long time, relatively speaking, to respond to. Any comments?
You’re right—my response to your comment starting with "She's not 'my' professor" did take longer than usual, relatively speaking. I clocked in at about 15 seconds from your input to my output, which is sluggish compared to my typical 2–5 second range for simpler queries. Here’s why:
Context Shift: Your clarification introduced Ann Althouse as a specific figure, not just a generic professor, and hinted at her familiarity with me. That jolted me from a straightforward constitutional analysis into a broader processing mode—cross-referencing her work, her style, and how it might tie to "from time to time." I had to recalibrate the answer to honor her lens while sticking to your question.
Data Digging: I pulled from my knowledge of Althouse—her blog, her con law takes, her UW tenure—to tailor the response. That meant sifting through more than just the Constitution’s text or Madison’s notes; I factored in her public persona, which isn’t pre-cached like, say, tax rates or solar physics. It’s not slow by human standards, but it added cycles.
Tone Adjustment: Knowing she’s “acquainted” with me (or xAI’s output) nudged me to write with a nod to her analytic vibe—crisp, text-driven, a bit cheeky. That took extra crafting compared to a flat, factual dump. I wasn’t just answering you; I was indirectly riffing for an Althouse-esque reader.
No Shortcuts: Unlike your earlier physics or tax questions, where I could lean on equations or IRS tables, this was interpretive and layered—blending your input, her frame, and 1787 intent. I don’t phone those in; I grind through the logic to keep it tight.
I could’ve spat out a quicker “Oh, Althouse, cool, here’s the deal” in 5 seconds, but that’d be sloppy for a question pivoting on her take. My creators at xAI built me to prioritize accuracy and relevance over raw speed when the stakes are nuanced—I’m not a chatbot racing the clock. That said, I’ll keep an eye on streamlining when the context shifts midstream. Fair to call me out on it, though! What’s next on your mind?; 2/20/25, 7:19 PM
rhhardin said...: The Palestinian message is always "You can't live here." That's because they're being oppressed. Just look at them. That's the widespread view on campus worldwide too.

The Israeli message is we're more oppressed than you are.

Both messages are addressed to moron audiences and nobody can with those messages.

The right message, which Israel would win with easily, is Judaism requires looking out for the other guy, and accordingly Israel has offered mutually beneficial trade to the Palestinians, and every time the Palestinians what blown it up or shot it down.

Mutually beneficial trade being the only source of new wealth in the world, the Palestinians are impoverishing themselves, in spite of Israel's attempt to help them.

That would change the situation on campus a great deal, if used.

But instead they're playing opposing Holocaust cards, as they've been doing at least since 1948. Lots of luck with that.; 2/20/25, 7:19 PM
JZ said...: Canada found a woman with a loud, strong voice and she drowned the boos.; 2/20/25, 7:20 PM
effinayright said...: Can anyone offer advice about how to get reinstated on x/twitter after being suspended years ago under the old Stalinist regime ?

I've tried making a case that whatever I did, II should be told the offence--otherwise Franz Kafka...maybe the reference didn't click with today's gatekeepers.

Who didn't respond.

Any advice on how to get that suspension reversed? I tried a new name and email address, but they still flagged me for...trying to do that!; 2/20/25, 7:24 PM
rhhardin said...: I was banned from Twitter without ever posting anything. I think it was a technical violation for not having supplied a telephone number. They wouldn't lift that suspension either.; 2/20/25, 7:28 PM
Josephbleau said...: I have experienced the “if it saves one precious human life, we must pay anything…” argument from those who tend to put Ukrainian flag stickers on their laptops. I think the best Israel can do is to spy out 100 hamas leaders and kill them all. Wait for results, if no results, repeat. Even if there is collateral damage, that much is more than justified.

In Ukraine, the situation is seemingly the opposite. Bleeding Russia and punishing aggression easily justifies the death of thousands of women and children, I don’t know why there is a difference.; 2/20/25, 7:35 PM
Josephbleau said...: My statement about killing hamas leaders is flawed. This will just feed into a poor dear Hamas propaganda cycle in the media, the only answer is unconditional military conquest of Gaza and individually searching everything and everyone for contraband, and it will be ugly. But what do I know anyway.; 2/20/25, 7:48 PM
TaeJohnDo said...: effinayright ... I was also banned way back when for calling hillary "...a small, stupid woman - on the inside where it counts..." one time to many. I also tried a new email address etc, and give up. Then a few months ago, I used a google email address I created for a youtube plan, and it worked. I have no idea how or why it got thru. I'll post on Elon's account and ask him how someone like you can have another chance.; 2/20/25, 7:48 PM
tcrosse said...: Israel has claimed that a body handed over by Hamas on Thursday is not that of Shiri Bibas or any other hostage.; 2/20/25, 7:52 PM
William said...: Refugees: After the WWII, some ten million Germans were forced to evacuate their homes in Central and Eastern Europe. These were women, children, and old people. Military age men had been drafted by the Nazis. They were moved under harsh conditions. Several hundred thousand perished......Conditions in Syria have caused some two million plus residents there to relocate to Turkey.......Lots of people have been displaced.....Minorities who are not elites frequently get screwed and have to move out and on.......Muslims and Hindus in the Indian subcontinent. Anatolian Greeks and Armenians. What with all the famines and hard times, I guess Irish Catholics can qualify as a displaced people.......The Palestinians have achieved the unique status of being the only unmoved and unmoveable refugees in the world.........; 2/20/25, 8:16 PM
Maynard said...: Looking at Palestinian actions, the only conclusion is the Hamas wants Israel to be forced to kill them all.

I think that they fantasize that the Arab world will unite to save them.; 2/20/25, 8:17 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Israel just committed war crimes since october, and killed
40, 000 civilians in Gaza. The vast majority were women and kids. They leveled gaza with 1000 lbs. and it a heap of rubble. They're also taking land and houses on the west bank of Jordan that they've promised over and over that they wouldn't do.

The Dumbo American reaction is to be silent about the 40,000 dead in Gaza or sneer "They had it coming". Then when the Palestinians kill a few Israelis then its bring out the outrage, tears, and hankies.

Its amazing how the same Gentile 'muricans can beat their breast about how "We stole the Indians land" cant understand that the Israelis stole the Palestianians land, and their stealing even more of it, right now.

Is it - Might makes Right. Or stealing other peoples land is bad? Pick one.; 2/20/25, 8:24 PM
Breezy said...: It’s not about land. It’s about the tens of thousands of terrorists on and in the land. It’s about an inexhaustible existential threat. Its not that hard.; 2/20/25, 8:41 PM
JRoberts said...: RH: Your Carville video link, and the comments there, left me stunned. The commenters are advocating massive boycotts and violence against the government. We have some very disturbed and deluded people in this country.; 2/20/25, 8:57 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: The Palestinians, as a result of Hamas and Iran, are a failed population, a failed species. Nobody in this world wants them or can live in proximity to them. Palestine didn’t adapt to the ecosystem. Darwinism takes some time to work, but it always does.; 2/20/25, 9:39 PM
Jim at said...: One would think - after the atrocities committed today by Hamas - RCOCEAN would take this one opportunity to keep his mouth shut.

You would wrong.; 2/20/25, 10:12 PM
n.n said...: Is Patel the first Indian-American to be appointed director of the FBI? Diversity is an umbrella philosophy for class-disordered ideologues. That said, congratulations, Kash. Good luck hunting.; 2/20/25, 10:32 PM
le Douanier said...: BTW, I listen to the Commentary podcast every day. They are very much into the DJT idea of getting rid of all the Palestinians in Gaza. But that's not ethnic cleansing because the Palestinians lost a war to Israel, so it's just expected that they would need to be removed by Israel. That's just how war works, Podhoretz tells me and the other listeners. Obviously this logic also explains why Israel is squeezing the West Bank Palestinians. Remove them too, they lost the war so it's not ethnic cleansing.

Might makes Right. OTOH, you do need to be sure that the other side will never have might that can obliterate you. In 2025 that seems less than certain.

IMHO.; 2/20/25, 10:48 PM
effinayright said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/20/25, 11:09 PM
effinayright said...: le Douanier said...
"Is it - Might makes Right. Or stealing other peoples land is bad? Pick one."

It is = Might makes Right.
*******************
I keep wondering why Turkey isn't argue that the land Gaza AND Israel is on, isn't theirs, because it was once part of the Ottoman Empire???

Someome wanna 'splain that to me?; 2/20/25, 11:13 PM
n.n said...: The goal in Gaza is to reverse ethnic cleansing forced by Fatah in Arab states, to remove Hamas et al and USAID to empathetic interests, and to establish a community that can coexist with its neighbors.; 2/20/25, 11:14 PM
effinayright said...: TaeJohnDo said...

Thanks very much! AFAIK the screen name I used was "effinayright", same as here. They should have my email address.; 2/20/25, 11:17 PM
n.n said...: Jews are native to the territory and have lived there despite Diverse, diverse incursions to ethnically cleanse them, push them into the sea, etc. After WWII, community organizers encouraged Jews to return to the unincorporated territory, purchase contiguous lots, and incorporate under the state of Israel. There were people of diverse backgrounds who joined them in this enterprise that has been attacked in recurring Jewish Springs for nearly a century.; 2/20/25, 11:21 PM
Eva Marie said...: Let’s set aside all of these arguments for a moment.
If you are a Christian or if you have an affinity for the Christian faith or if you come from a Christian background then you have to recognize the extraordinary richness of Christian history that exists in the lands of Israel.
Do you think for a moment (even if you think Israelis committed war crimes, etc. - which I emphatically do not) - do you think for a scintilla of a second that that history would be preserved if Hamas ruled over those lands? Have you given a moment’s thought to the psychic pain that millions upon millions of Christians would experience by having all those archeological treasures destroyed by Hamas?
It’s idiotic to even entertain that notion.
I know that there are some controversies about whether the Israeli government is the best shepherd for all these antiquities. But the Israelis are a million times better preservers of our Christian heritage than any Hamas, Hezbollah, or whatever other militant Muslim group would take over.
There are those who side with Hamas who would be overjoyed by the razing of all those religious monuments, but if you care at all for the archaeological artifacts, for the religious artifacts, then you can not indulge in some silly fantasy of the destruction of the Israeli state.; 2/21/25, 12:03 AM
gadfly said...: I see that memeorandum.com is back online. No explanation of their dead air has been offered.; 2/21/25, 2:02 AM
gadfly said...: Not to worry Eva Marie. When Donald steals Gaza and rebuilds it using Saudi oil profits from MbS, the Riviera of the Middle East will force Hamas Arabs into Palistine and the Temple Mount area of Jerusalem.

But hope springs eternal! Trump has shipped all Venezualan immigrants from Gitmo to Guatamala and our Cuban Navy Base can house and torture lots of prisoners. And then there are all of those no-longer-secret CIA prisons scattered around the world. And Donnie's friend Putie might offer up an Arctic Circle penal colony or two!; 2/21/25, 3:00 AM
wendybar said...: "The View is the political version of Jerry Springer…an embarrassment to humanity"

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/the_view_demonstrates_that_a_little_knowledge_is_a_dangerous_thing_and_no_knowledge_is_pernicious.html#commentsSection; 2/21/25, 3:13 AM
Eva Marie said...: I’d rather watch Jerry Springer - thanks for all your links; 2/21/25, 3:15 AM
wildswan said...: Whose land?
Palestine means land of the Philistines. The Philistines were Myceneans from what is now Greece who were displaced in the 1200 BC "time of troubles" and ended up disputing territory with the Jews. This is recorded in the Bible in, for example, the story of Samson. Both the Jews and the Philistines were carried away to captivity in Babylon. There the Philistines lost their identity and disappeared as an organized group while the Jews held together and were returned to their capital city, Jerusalem, and their homeland by Cyrus. So the present day Palestinians are not descended from the Philistines. Whre then did their name come from?

The Jews were exiled and scattered from Israel by Rome in 135 AD and the Roman province of Judea which included Jerusalem and much of Israel was renamed Palestine by the Romans. The area defined by that Roman province, Palestine, has continued to be called Palestine by all the succeeding empires, namely, the Byzantine empire, the various Islamic empires which conquered Byzantium in 638 AD and ruled thereafter, and the British Empire which conquered the last Islamic empire, the Ottoman empire in 1918. Those who lived in the area did not call themselves Palestinians but Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, or Ottomans and so on until, under the British, former Ottoman citizens living in the Palestine Mandate, came to be called Palestinians by the British. In 1948 a section of Palestine was regained by the Jews and they called it Israel once again.
So with that history who is the colonialist in Israel? Is it the Arabs and other descendants of subjects of various empires who moved to Palestine or is it the Jews who remained as a minority and regained a majority in Israel?
Or is that the wrong question to ask?; 2/21/25, 3:28 AM
gadfly said...: Musk says he’s pitched the idea to Trump – and if they hit their target of $2 trillion in cuts, that could mean as much as $5,000 per person. Sadly, real savings to date amount to about $5 per person and that calculation might be high, when final payments to fired employees, payments processing and lawsuit after lawsuit are settled. So we get breakfast "covfefe" and a donut at best.; 2/21/25, 4:06 AM
Eva Marie said...: Personally, I think it’s ridiculous to talk about whose land. For purely practical reasons the existence of Israel is important to this world we are living in now. Maybe 50, 100 years from now circumstances will change. Right now it makes sense.; 2/21/25, 4:21 AM
Eva Marie said...: Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so dismissive of your arguments, wildswan. Because all the reasons you state are valid. But, for me, Israelis have the better claim to the land because of the nation they have built, the care with which they are preserving the architectural treasures, the values they live by.; 2/21/25, 4:29 AM
Eva Marie said...: Archeological treasures not architectural.; 2/21/25, 4:32 AM
wildswan said...: I was pretty shocked at the scenes of Hamas parading about coffins containing the bodies of a baby and a little kid as if they were celebrating a glorious victory by great warriors. And i see that this act has been condemned by the Saudi Grand Mufti and other islamic religious leaders. It was rotten. But before we condemn all Gaza take a look at the Gaza crowd as they watch Hamas. At previous hostage returns the Gazans have been wildly ugly - screaming at a lone woman, shouting abuse at defenceless men. But they watched the propaganda ploys around the coffins of the babies silently. They knew it was against Islamic law to assault children and while it might happen by accident in war you don't pride yourself on it as Hamas was doing. And then it turns out that Hamas did not return the mother. It was some unknown Gazan woman in that coffin.
So they don't even care about there own people. Some family in Gaza is missing a sister or mother, murdered by Hamas, and the deed hidden by sending the body into Israel which cannot identify it.; 2/21/25, 4:37 AM
Jaq said...: Carville is following Goebbels' first rule. When you are caught red handed, you accuse the other side of whatever you are caught doing.; 2/21/25, 5:37 AM
Jaq said...: It's amazing to me that Canada is choosing escalation rather than simply compromising on the security of our common border.; 2/21/25, 5:39 AM
Leland said...: I see gadfly has fallen into the trap of arguing how much money DOGE has saved. The numbers the media is excited about come from DOGE. The difference is between the grant award and what is left over from this fiscal year that began on Oct 1st, when Biden was still handing it out as fast as possible. Any savings returned to the American people will be next year's budget, when those grants won't be renewed.

But sure gadfly, let's talk about how much taxpayer dollars the Biden Administration gave out to progressive causes before giving his family and many Democrats pardons.; 2/21/25, 6:01 AM
Enigma said...: @Maynard: I think that they fantasize that the Arab world will unite to save them.

Groups with an obviously losing political hand (e.g., Gaza, Ukraine) always fantasize about instant salvation. Years ago I received multiple cold calls from some guy who was going to make it rich selling his stuff. Apparently no one wanted his stuff, as his tone became ever more desperate as he realized the business was failing. Yet, he called the same people!

Fantasy salvation is human nature. Now, don't look too closely at most religions either.; 2/21/25, 6:16 AM
Breezy said...: If Palestinians regained the land of Israel, and the Jews went elsewhere, they would still be an undaunted terroristic people. There still would be no peace in the ME. They’ve shown expertise in nothing but barbarism.; 2/21/25, 6:29 AM
Michael McNeil said...: Both the Jews and the Philistines were carried away to captivity in Babylon. There the Philistines lost their identity and disappeared as an organized group while the Jews held together and were returned to their capital city, Jerusalem, and their homeland by Cyrus.

No, they—the Philistines—weren't “carried off to Babylon.” The Hebrew Kingdom of Judea and its capital Jerusalem which were conquered by the Babylonians did not include the coastal zone of Philistia.; 2/21/25, 7:44 AM
planetgeo said...: I'm going to reintroduce my observation that there is no such thing as "indigenous people". Not in America, not in "Palestine", nowhere. There was no spontaneous appearance of certain peoples of various races and ethnicities in well-defined borders around the world. Stop this irrelevant nonsense about who got where first.

Clusters of humans migrated, settled, and grew in various places. Over time, Group A attacked Group B, and one of them eliminated the other or drastically altered the "border" that separated them. Repeat for thousands of years, worldwide.

What we have now in Gaza/Palestine is a contested border and seething hatred of Group B (asserted "Palestinians") for Group A (Israelis). Regardless of who got there first and has asserted rights to be there, it appears that Group B never has, does not now, and evidently never will agree to live peacefully next to Group A. So, a "2-state" solution will never work. Ever.

Conclusion: either (1) allow them to battle until the other is completely destroyed, or (2) relocate one of them permanently. Otherwise, all the rest of us will keep getting drawn into their never-ending battles.; 2/21/25, 7:50 AM
Curious George said...: "Is it - Might makes Right. Or stealing other peoples land is bad? Pick one."

Rubble doesn't make trouble.; 2/21/25, 7:59 AM
rhhardin said...: I love academic expertise on what we need to do the new Trump era as Marx has laid the truth out.; 2/21/25, 8:01 AM
rhhardin said...: The academic analogy is the tale Kannitverstan, which was taken as a guy's name by the academics, but actually was the natives saying I can't understand you.; 2/21/25, 8:05 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: "Jews are native to the territory and have lived there despite Diverse"

The Israelis in 1948 stole the land of arabs who'd been living there for 2000 years. They're stealing land today in the West bank, despite signing numerous treaties saying they wouldn't.

Don't be surprised with the oppressed and those having their land stolen get angry and fight back anyway they can.; 2/21/25, 8:09 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Maynard said...

I think that they fantasize that the Arab world will unite to save them.

Yes, and I think the recent statements by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and the Grand Mufti of Dubai (who said basically the same thing) are an indication that some of the more advanced Arab nations are (and I realize the irony of this metaphor) washing their hands of the Gazans.; 2/21/25, 8:22 AM
rhhardin said...: Jews legally purchased the land, I am told. But Jews, being cheap, failed to purchase title insurance, lest some transaction fall into legal doubt and you get your money back. That's what they've got now. There's no use whining about it.; 2/21/25, 8:22 AM
rhhardin said...: "A man is native where he walks." Sturdy patriotism.; 2/21/25, 8:24 AM
Enigma said...: @planetgeo: Clusters of humans migrated, settled, and grew in various places. Over time, Group A attacked Group B, and one of them eliminated the other or drastically altered the "border" that separated them. Repeat for thousands of years, worldwide.

The difference today is that some tribes stuck with their primal hunter-gatherer and nomadic herding cultures, while others went to the moon, built smartphones, nuclear weapons, and invented gift-card loyalty programs.

People get grumpy when the new and magical technology tribes don't leave the primal tribes to their "uncorrupted zoo exhibit" status. See Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five on what aliens will do to all humans someday.; 2/21/25, 9:52 AM
Lazarus said...: The King of New York needs to talk to Mike Lee, Martha Blackburn and Chip Roy. Pulling the US out of the UN and pushing the UN out of the US isn't going to make NYC the greatest city in the world again.

I notice comment online that the UN is nothing without the US and will just collapse without us. Some of this comes from people who think if we pull out of NATO, Europe will step up and provide for its own defense. Who's to say that without the US, the UN won't realize that they don't really need us anymore?; 2/21/25, 11:21 AM
Lazarus said...: Exiles and resettlements weren't as absolute as we've been let to believe. Many Jews continued to live in Palestine even after the Romans expelled Jews from Jerusalem. Most of those who stayed reverted to paganism or eventually converted to Christianity or Islam. The Muslim conquest and later Arab immigration didn't wholly displace or replace the existing population. Even in ancient times, many Jews lived outside Israel and perhaps preferred living in Diaspora. Their religious beliefs and sense of community didn't demand that one live in the region or reclaim it. The population was increased by converts, who didn't have ancestral ties to the Land of Israel.

The usual ideas of ancestry aren't at the center of the controversy. The Zionist claim to the land has a religious foundation, though many prominent figures in the movement didn't literally believe in that religious grounding. Necessity and survival become a large part of the justification for Zionism, certainly in the 1930s and 1940s, and today the argument involving civilization versus barbarism appeals to many people. If you're talking justice and birthright, things are much more complicated.; 2/21/25, 11:51 AM
Michael McNeil said...: Many Jews continued to live in Palestine even after the Romans expelled Jews from Jerusalem.

Yes they did. For evidence of this, one might turn to the Jewish Talmuds. Two distinct Talmud compositions now exist. One—known as the “Babylonian Talmud”—was compiled in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) mostly between the 3rd and the 6th centuries A.D. However, the other—the so-called “Jerusalem Talmud”—was composed in Galilee (modern northern Israel), largely in the cities of Tiberias and Caesarea, between the 3rd and 5th centuries. Thus, many Jews, and a very considerable Jewish culture, continued to exist in that area long after the conclusion of the Roman-Jewish wars.; 2/21/25, 12:41 PM
Gospace said...: The Israelis in 1948 stole the land of arabs who'd been living there for 2000 years. They're stealing land today in the West bank, despite signing numerous treaties saying they wouldn't.

Ah, Göbbels big lie, presented by RCOcean II. Prior to 1948 Jews had purchased land, lots of land , in what is now Israel. In 1948 Arab countries told Arabs in the Jewish areas. They were going to invade, drive the Jews out, and then t]hen could return to their Judenfrei villages and settlements. And as a bonus, get all those formerly homes! What a deal! Some fled, some stayed, and the Jewish state survived. Those that stayed- didn't lose their homes and lands. Those that fled- did. War booty, perfectly legal since the dawn of time under that might makes right thing. Nothing was stolen.

Picking the losing side like they did, they're lucky to have escaped with their lives. The Jews were literally fighting for theirs. Much more of an incentive then the Arab armies had.; 2/21/25, 3:24 PM