May 4, 2017

At the Bluewood Café...

P1120269

You can talk about whatever you want.

(And, please, if you have some shopping to do, use The Althouse Amazon Portal.)

47 comments:

Once written, twice... said...

Boy, that whole Trump/Civil War thing that Ann dreamed up yesterday was embarrassing. Has anyone yet figured out her point? What a fizzle.

tim in vermont said...

Nice pic, great color harmonies and composition.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Boy, Onesie, you really must like life on your knees. Should Althouse borrow a new dog or are you good with Zeus?

Once written, twice... said...

I realize that Ann is now maybe feeling that she has over-invested herself in Trump so she might feel extra pressure to explain away his constant craziness--but come on, her whole thing yesterday with how Trump is going strategically deep with his comments on the Civil War is just plain goofy.

Michael K said...

"I realize that Ann is now maybe feeling that she has over-invested herself in Trump"

I'm curious why she has invested in so many lefties on this blog.

You and Inga are pretty harmless but some of the others are really nasty. I wonder if they drive away commenters as I assume the reason she doesn't block them is click totals.

She does block a couple of other commenters but I don't know why since they are gone almost as soon as they post comments.

Once written, twice... said...

I think Ann thought she had some great idea yesterday but when she went to put it into a written post later in the day I think she realized there wasn't much there.

Funny either way.

tim in vermont said...

Weird that someone is obsessed with a post a day later still, then wonders why it was written.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Rhinocerous.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Eh, maybe a boar.

Drago said...

Once written: "I think Ann thought she had some great idea yesterday but when she went to put it into a written post later in the day I think she realized there wasn't much there"

Ann was on to something yesterday and most readers appreciated it.

As for realizing "there wasn't much there", the complete collapse of the Trump/Russia meme is something marvelous to behold.

Poor dems. The republicans, for once, showed some backbone and didn't fall for the fake "independent" investigation trick and now we see the truth emerging of a fake oppo memo being used as the basis for a warrant to spy on domestic political opponents.

And "courageous" Susan Rice running as fast as she can away from testifying under the cover of the Senate Dems who, all of a sudden, seem quite "uninterested" in what she might have to say.

LOL

Rosalyn C. said...

Writing a blog is a creative venture. Being an entrepreneur is a creative venture as well. Creativity requires an openness to new ideas and a certain amount of vulnerability, revealing yourself uncensored. That's something Althouse and Trump have in common which I admire.

There used to be a term for that willingness to throw out new ideas, "brainstorming." I don't see that term very often these days " Apparently "... There has been some discussion in recent years - much of it plainly daft - that the term 'brainstorming' might be 'political incorrect' by virtue of possible perceived reference to brain-related health issues." brainstorming process

FullMoon said...

Michael K said... [hush]​[hide comment]

"I realize that Ann is now maybe feeling that she has over-invested herself in Trump"

I'm curious why she has invested in so many lefties on this blog.



Tolerance, that is why. Ann, and Meade tolerate idiots, assholes, arrogance,stupidity,frivolousness, poor humor and other deplorable traits by commenters from left, right, and center. Keeps it interesting.
Of course, some people find it challenging, if not impossible to resist the bait cast by the occasional troll, which amuses some of us poorly educated.

Guildofcannonballs said...

"I assume the reason she doesn't block them is click totals."

I assume it is an effort to promote tolerance of ideas being conveyed and hopefully argued/discussed, especially controversial concepts such as Civil War II preparations, regardless of her predilection to concur or not.

Anywho:

COMMENTS ARE MODERATED some but not all of the time. This is for the purpose of excluding/removing a small handful of commenters who, I believe, intend to ruin this forum. They already know who they are. For everyone else, try to be responsive to the post, don't make personal attacks on other commenters, bring some substance or humor to the conversation, and don't do that thing of putting in a lot of extra line breaks.

wwww said...


Althouse is a free speech supporter. More speech is better, not banning speech.


Big health care vote today. Interesting there's not more discussion of it. Do people get bored with policy or what?

MadisonMan said...

Weird that someone is obsessed with a post a day later still, then wonders why it was written.

This, exactly!

I didn't read the post in question -- I'm burnt out on Trump Civil War news. But you hit the nail on the head, I think.

mockturtle said...

Nothing makes one dislike politicians more than listening to hours of Congressional speeches.

Michael K said...

"Althouse is a free speech supporter. More speech is better, not banning speech. "

I don't object to free speech. Just to trolls dominating threads with obscenity and personal invective.

If there were not some interesting discussions here, I would have left around the election. I almost did not come back.

I quit Patterico because of the angry Trump hatred there but it is moderating and I am drifting back.

Kevin said...

"I don't object to free speech. Just to trolls dominating threads with obscenity and personal invective."

Ha! No one objects to free speech. They just want a moderator to limit the kind of speech they find personally offensive or bothersome.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Just finished listening for an hour to Terry Gross on "Fresh Air" talking to a New Yorker author on "how can we fire Trump?" Seriously. Half of it was on the 25th Amendment, and whether the dude was literally too mentally impaired to serve at all. The other half was about whether there were grounds for impeachment.

The guy did acknowledge that the man who actually wrote the diagnostic for "narcissistic personality disorder" for the DSM-V said it didn't apply to Trump, but thousands of psychiatrists apparently disagree. It's a pity that the amendment wasn't around for Edith Bolling Galt Wilson's presidency, where it might actually have been useful. (It was actually drafted after the JFK assassination, where there were fears that he might remain alive but permanently comatose. Said fears would've been instantly dispelled by the sight of his corpse, but there's always a next time, as we saw with Ford, and Reagan.)

As for impeachment, have we any grounds? I think not. For all the talk of how "unusual" this president has been, I see nothing that rises to the level of treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors. Folks, it's just a presidency, off to a rockier start than most because it's not being run by a career politician.

Michael K said...

"They just want a moderator to limit the kind of speech they find personally offensive or bothersome."

Hmm. This isn't offensive and personal ?

Just my $0.02

Given your social ineptitude and the ridiculous chip you've carried on your shoulder against me for years, I'd have to wonder if that's denominated in Japanese Yen or some similarly devalued currency.

Other than that, how are the blog posts going at Lem's, cuckenlittle?! Are you still getting like a grand total of two comments per chemistry post or music video? Including the comments you add to it yourself?

I've never seen someone so innocent-sounding be such a bitchy, vindictive twat as you've been. Go defend the angry immigrant and leave me alone.


Not directed at me, by the way.

tcrosse said...

Ha! No one objects to free speech. They just want a moderator to limit the kind of speech they find personally offensive or bothersome.

It does not improve the quality of the discourse to have another commenter tell you to 'go eat shit, you stupid fucking asshole.' If I wanted that, I could go talk to my stepson.

Paddy O said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

I see that Trump's predecessor in office has endorsed Macron. Biggest boost Le Pen could have received.

mockturtle said...

House passes health care bill by four votes.

DanTheMan said...

Free speech does not require that I listen. There are those here who I never respond to, and would filter out if I could. And I suspect there are those who would do the same with my posts as well...

Michael K said...

"There are those here who I never respond to, and would filter out if I could. "

I tried to killfile one commenter, I think everyone knows who, but it didn't seem to work.

Chrome has an option but I couldn't get it to work.

mockturtle said...

It's so easy to just skip past the pussy hat.

wwww said...



House passed bill. this is a big deal.

khesanh0802 said...

@ Mockturtle Great, huh! The Senate will be sticky to , but what it all comes down to is: are the Republicans really ready to govern? If McConnell can't get the Senate in line he will be hearing it from DJT. 20 R's voted "NO". 34 Dems voted "No" for Obamacare - for what it's worth.

David Baker said...

I forgot about child-star Natalie Portman. She certainly made the transition, although I think people will remember her first and last as the ultimate damsel-in-distress in the movie THE PROFESSIONAL.

I can only think of one roll that was Portman's equal, maybe even better: Tatum O'Neal in PAPER MOON - for which she received an Academy Award. But unfortunately, her life seem to spiral down from there.

Anonymous said...

It's so easy to just pass by the turtle. Slow and boring, as most turtles are.

Now let's see if the Senate passes it. I hope they do. Then Republicans will own it lock stock and barrel. Yeah for TrumpCare!

Wince said...

They should have shown the baby doing a "Mic Drop" with the IUD, since the photo was staged anyway.

BABY FAIL Hilarious photo shows newborn baby holding the implant that was meant to stop his mum becoming pregnant
Newborn Dexter was snapped clutching the Mirena implant in a picture that was posted on Facebook

https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/3478916/hilarious-photo-newborn-baby-implant-stop-pregnant/

tim in vermont said...

The killfile only works if you click on the headline of the post to read the comments.

Titus said...

So I go to the gym everyday for 2 hours. My workout is intense and I have a good body that attracts younger brown and black dudes. I can't keep track of them sometimes. Most of them are studying at Harvard or MIT with a Tufts and BU guy thrown in the mix.

Anywho, everyone at my gym is alone and no one talks to each other. When I visit my parents I go to a gym in Madison and there are like families and friends and everyone is so friendly-it scares me.

So, I was starting to get a little down because no one at my gym talks to each other, and I see these people everyday. So I decided to start saying hello and smiling at them-especially the fags who would never talk to each other but would do sucky sucky in the steam room with each other. I don't do the steam room. There is always 1 or 2 hotties, but there are grossies around the steam room and I would not know how to manage getting blown while grossies are around. I think I might wave my hand at them like leave, but how could I do that? It is a public space. I have waved away guys at The Fens Victory Gardens when I am getting blown and a grossie tries to get a bite, but I don't know, there is so much more space in the gardens for the grossie to go. If you are in the steam room where does the grossie go? Not worth it if you ask me.

I digress. I feel good about smiling and saying hi to fellow faggys. They seem shocked at first but now we smile and say hi. So much better than giving them a crusty.

thanks and have a super day!

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

Rumor: Susan Rice has a net worth of $50 million as a career U.S. public servant on a maximum salary of $172,000.

Cynicus said...

Still thinking about the Trump Jackson thought experiment. Trump stuck opposition to him, the resistance or the rebellion is now paired with the failed Confederacy. To channel Scott Adams, that's a new sticky description that hurts the "resistance", like crooked Hillary.

Michael K said...

" I don't do the steam room. "

Watch out, The Jackal is in there.

Kevin said...

@Michael K
@tcrosse

When people attack me personally rather than my argument, it means they have no response to my argument. I just won.

When people attack me day after day rather than my argument, it means they have deficiencies in their life which have nothing to do with me. I silently hope they get the help they need, and leave it at that.

"Eat shit and die" only has meaning if it comes from someone whose opinion you respect. Once we delegitimize the personal attacks, we can scroll right by them. They become the equivalent of Charlie Brown's teacher.

And if we can all learn to do this, then we won't give others the right to erase our uncomfortable arguments for their own purposes.

Kevin said...

If one group begins to feel they are unwelcome we lose their good arguments along with the "eat shit and die" posts. You've all seen that elsewhere.

I don't want people who think differently than me to go away. I want them to make good arguments which make me think. I want them to be so persuasive that my argument gets better in response.

If I have to sometimes scroll past "eat shit and die" to get the occasional gem of a comment, I consider that the price I pay to participate in a free blog discussion.

Kevin said...

"So I go to the gym everyday for 2 hours. My workout is intense and I have a good body that attracts younger brown and black dudes. I can't keep track of them sometimes."

How is this not the start of a Laslo post?

Correction: How is this not the first two sentences which start each of a series of Laslo posts?

Michael K said...

And if we can all learn to do this, then we won't give others the right to erase our uncomfortable arguments for their own purposes.

Oh, I pretty much do this and have tried to figure out how to set up a kill file on Chrome for you-know-who.

I just wonder why Ann ignores her own rules about personal attacks.

I know she deletes a couple of commenters.

It is unpleasant even scrolling by long strings of nasty comments that have no information.

tcrosse said...

It is unpleasant even scrolling by long strings of nasty comments that have no information.

It is unpleasant when a thread turns into a pissing match between the usual suspects.
But I am only a guest in Althouse's blog, so let her run it as she sees fit.

Michael K said...

"But I am only a guest in Althouse's blog, so let her run it as she sees fit."

We all are. I was just trying to understand her reasons.

I used to read and comment on Washington Monthly. Then it got very unpleasant.

So did HuffPo where I used to comment sometimes.

Blogs are like newspapers. You can read them, or read something else.

Chuck said...

Watching Trump's speech commemorating the Battle of the Coral Sea.

It's Trump, reading a reasonably well-crafted speech. It is so refreshing and almost surprising, hearing sensible and well-crafted words, coming out of Trump. It is too bad that Trump can't be speech-written 100% of the time.

wildswan said...

"Kevin said...
If one group begins to feel they are unwelcome we lose their good arguments along with the "eat shit and die" posts. You've all seen that elsewhere.

I don't want people who think differently than me to go away. I want them to make good arguments which make me think. I want them to be so persuasive that my argument gets better in response.

If I have to sometimes scroll past "eat shit and die" to get the occasional gem of a comment, I consider that the price I pay to participate in a free blog discussion."

Agree.

And ... the New Confederacy (of Dunces) includes: The hunger strikers who leave when they get hungry, the students who find that teaching creates a need to study which creates a toxic atmosphere (to be continued)

Once written, twice... said...

God Michael K, you are such a Whiny bitch. You pollute this blog with dozens of pointless comments for each post. I usual am polite and do two or three per post.