Althouse: At the Capitol Café...

February 10, 2012

At the Capitol Café...

... fill in the blanks.

25 comments:

edutcher said...: Oh, goody!

More street art.

Whoops, it's from '04. And it looks as if it's being done in a vault.

SEIU was plotting that far back.

PS Any snow up in Madison? We're supposed to have some, but it's being a little stubborn.

Wonder if you guys had any the last couple of days.; 2/10/12, 10:56 PM
edutcher said...: Not vault, loft.

The Blonde's had a bad couple of days.; 2/10/12, 10:57 PM
coketown said...: This is an interesting example of middle-period protest art, notable for its technique of applying chalk to concrete rather than civil war monuments, as was often found in early-period protest art.; 2/10/12, 11:00 PM
Petunia said...: We had a bit today, edutcher. It snowed on and off all day but it's very light and fluffy and there wasn't much accumulation.

RIP, Jeffrey Zaslow.; 2/10/12, 11:12 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/10/12, 11:20 PM
Anonymous said...: I was treated as a terrorist suspect today.

As some of you know, I have a neurological disorder similar to Tourette's, but without the verbal tics. I can be quite twitchy because of it... especially when I am in a jurisdiction where the medical marijuana I sometimes use for treatment is illegal. I'm in such a jurisdiction now, and I'm too wussy to break the law here.

Anyway...

I stopped by a local shopping mall after an appointment (ironically enough, a therapy appointment for my neurological disorder). As I entered, I noticed that there were lots of police around. The security guards' eyes were darting everywhere.

I was hungry. So first off I got something to eat. As I was sitting at a table, trying to find a WiFi connection so I could troll some Althouse, I noticed that a young female police officer was staring at me, continuously, for a very uncomfortable 5 minutes.

Another officer came up next to her and they both stared at me. I went over and asked them what was going on. They refused to tell me. They demanded my name. They demanded to know what I did for a living. Then the second officer asked me why my hands were shaking.

I told him I had a life-long neurological disorder.

"Sure you do." he said.

I went back and sat down to try to finish eating. One minute later, I noticed that the second officer had taken out his cell phone (or something like that) and was video'ing me... all from 20 or so feet away, all in full view of everyone else in that food court. It was humiliating.

I felt harassed by this. So I got my cell phone out of my pocket and called the police on the police. The dispatch operator seemed very concerned that the officer was standing right near me and video-recording me ("our officers aren't supposed to do that") and said that she would send someone to clarify the situation.

Two minutes after I called, I saw the officer who was video'ing me speaking on his cell phone. By that time, he had been video-recording me for a good 5 minutes. Then both officers quickly left.

Later on two other police officers met me. Their demeanor was very polite even if I felt that the words that came out of their mouth were insane. The first thing they said was that the video was erased. Then they said that they had, earlier in the day, received a terror threat that a sole white male would be bringing a shotgun to that mall. I was suspicious because I was a sole white male and because I was twitchy! But they had determined that I was not their man...

I thanked this second pair of officers. But I was disgusted and left, almost fainting on the way out at being treated like a terrorist for the first time. It really is something you need to experience to appreciate. Somehow, as our bipartisan neo-Fasicst state expands, I don't think this will be the last time!

So... Thank you, America! You have deemed the only medicine that alleviates my medical problem-- and it does almost completely solve it, being far more effective than anything else-- to be illegal. I can't have it. Instead, I get to be suspected of being a terrorist because of this burdensome physical disability.

This is why I am a Libertarian.; 2/10/12, 11:23 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Does the artist need to wash (her?) hands before he/she wipes their behind?

Is this a picture for someone who fell down and can't get up?

What happens if someone comes along and ads a "turban bubble" with a Mohammed comment inside?; 2/10/12, 11:33 PM
Carnifex said...: @Dead Julius

I regret you had to go through that, I agree that this is going to become the norm for our society. With congress pushing the use of drones as surveillance platforms, the eavesdropping of cell-phone communication, and the reading of e=mails, and data mining we are fast approaching the "Big Brother" we've been warned of for so long.

Both parties are guilty of over reaching on they're quest for a strangle hold on their powerbase.

The part that has me completely confused is how quickly the "liberal" party has taken to facism so readily with nary a peep out of their base. I can see republicans doing it, but conservative constitutionalist try to keep them in check(we don't trust any politician). The liberal democrats seem more than willing to give up any right just as long as they don't have to take responsibility for their own failures.(BO has taken GWB's policies and run with them, and the libs hate Bush but love Obama)

This is one of the reasons the comservatives loathe Obama, we hated Bush too.

I've been looking at other means of communicating without government eavesdropping, but beyond hard wiring point A to point B(and I ain't sure that's secure) there's little to do.

Did you know your phone "pings" a signal to the nearest cell phone towers, and that the government can use triangulation to track you..constantly? Did you know that your phones microphone can be turned on remotely, to be used as a "bug"? Did you see the Ipad app that downloaded the address books of its users, without permission? By accident the company that owns the app said. The code just wrote itself, like "Skynet", I suppose.

Brave New World indeed.; 2/11/12, 12:06 AM
Jaske said...: The Capital shadow.; 2/11/12, 12:07 AM
deborah said...: Carol, that post is sheer perfection.; 2/11/12, 12:14 AM
Anonymous said...: Somebody order a turban'd Mohammad head? Here ya' go!; 2/11/12, 12:31 AM
edutcher said...: Dead Julius said...

I was treated as a terrorist suspect today.

...

So... Thank you, America! You have deemed the only medicine that alleviates my medical problem-- and it does almost completely solve it, being far more effective than anything else-- to be illegal. I can't have it. Instead, I get to be suspected of being a terrorist because of this burdensome physical disability.

In Denmark, the dhimmis run the show and he won't be bothered there.

So he can go back anytime he wants.

Since he hates it here.

This is why I am a Libertarian.

No, this is why he's a hard Lefty.

PS The Blonde practically gets strip-searched every time she goes to the airport because she has a titanium knee replacement, so we don't like Big Sis and the TSA, either, but she understands the Moslem crazies have to be put in their box.

I suspect Julie doesn't.; 2/11/12, 5:31 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Is that you? Is that now?

If this is a hint you're doing art, I'm overjoyed,...; 2/11/12, 5:52 AM
Hagar said...: The present kerfluffle over the "birth control insurance" is a bit of a "fire bell in the night."
This time it was an attack on a religious denomination in a clear vio;ation of the establishment clause, and if they can get away with this then obviously they can next "come for" other religious groups.
But it can also go farther than that, into just about anything and everything. This thing of Congress leaving the actual rule- or lawmaking to to the Administration departments have to stop.
First they issue a broad rule, and then they give "waivers" to favored groups or individuals. That is just straight-forward gangster government.; 2/11/12, 7:17 AM
Hagar said...: Also I don't believe that this just "happened." I think it was a deliberate provocation for campaign purposes.
Again, gangster government.; 2/11/12, 7:21 AM
Jim in St Louis said...: Coda:

There's little in taking or giving,
There's little in water or wine;
This living, this living,this living
Was never a project of mine.

Oh, hard is the struggle, and sparse is The gain of the one at the top,
For art is a form of catharsis,
And love is a permanent flop,
And work is the province of cattle,
And rest's for a clam in a shell,
So I'm thinking of throwing the battle-
Would you kindly direct me to hell?

Dorothy Parker; 2/11/12, 7:25 AM
Toad Trend said...: If you look closely enough you just might see some change on that sidewalk.; 2/11/12, 7:31 AM
Toad Trend said...: edutcher

Light snow up here in WNY, about 1-2 inches since last nite.

Beautiful February morning.; 2/11/12, 7:35 AM
Hagar said...: And that also goes for this "compromise" that isn't a compromise. I think it was intended all the time as a mechanism to make "the other side" look unreasonable and uncompromising, while actually never giving an inch themselves.; 2/11/12, 7:37 AM
Phil 314 said...: re contraception fight:

- when the admin first announced the rules I recall they heavily emphasized the one year reprieve in implementation. They didn't seem to understand how it might be received ("Hey, we gave you an extra year to conform").
- when the protests grew louder they tried a variety of counterarguments but still didn't understand why it was a big f***ing deal
- when they finally grasped the politics of the policy they came out with this modification. As a former Health plan Medical director I thought, "what the hell!". It sounds so childish :

You Catholics employers can pay for the health coverage but we'll just say you REALLY aren't paying for the contraception coverage

BOTTOM LINE: They've yet to demonstrate any real understanding of what all the fuss is about.

And I hate to question a man's faith but this all reminds me of BO's revelation of what his long-term pastor, Rev. Wright, was really saying from the pulpit.

PS: Does Kathleen Sibelius really believe what she says? How did she get elected Governor in Kansas?; 2/11/12, 8:29 AM
Phil 314 said...: on another unrelated note watched Jeremy Linn of the Knicks last night:

Is he the NBA's Tim Tebow (without the heavy evangelism)?; 2/11/12, 8:49 AM
Mogget said...: Does Kathleen Sibelius really believe what she says? How did she get elected Governor in Kansas?

Vote-buying via perks, subsidies, tax credits, promises of free stuff, access to power, etc.

Pretty much like any other politician.; 2/11/12, 8:52 AM
HT said...: I think that photo is really cool. I like the colors. The crispness is not there like it is with the later photos, but neither are the reds so garish and over prominent.

Lots of Democrats don't like Obama for his caving on the Constitution. I did not vote for him because he, like everyone else at the time, supported giving telecoms retroactive immunity.

(I did not vote for him in the general.)

It's a patent falsehood to claim 'all' 'libs' like Obama.

It's frustrating, as a Democrat, that the outcry is not greater. On that, I will agree.; 2/11/12, 9:00 AM
Anonymous said...: PS: Does Kathleen Sibelius really believe what she says? How did she get elected Governor in Kansas?

Two things:
1. She ran as a moderate in her Kansas political career.
2. Her father-in-law, Keith Sibelius, was a popular 11-term Republican congressman from the KS 1st district, and she got the benefit of his name recognition.; 2/11/12, 9:29 AM
Anonymous said...: D'oh! Keith Sebelius, not Sibelius. And 6 terms, not 11.

I'm going back to bed.; 2/11/12, 9:33 AM