May 6, 2017

The news for cats.

1. "They even had a cat together named Max," writes the Daily Mail in "EXCLUSIVE: 'They went back and forth having sex, screaming, yelling, having sex.' Meet the college professor who Barack Obama loved and lost because he 'wasn't black enough to have a white wife,'" where the top-rated comment is: "They 'had a cat together'? Is that even biologically possible?"

2. "Judge Posner Is Beyond Catty" is a column by Ed Whelan at National Review who is incredibly irked at 7th Circuit judge Richard A. Posner for doubting that Neil Gorsuch cried while skiing when he heard that Justice Scalia died. Posner doubts both that the news intercepted Gorsuch on a ski slope and also that the crying could ensue, given that Scalia was 80, a heavy smoker and — in Posner's un-PC words — "known to be obese." Whelan struggled to come up with mean enough words to lob at Posner. After trying "What a jerk," he ended up with Posner's own words: "I have exactly the same personality as my cat…. Cold, furtive, callous, snobbish, selfish, and playful, but with a streak of cruelty." Poor hapless Whelan, trying to make us hate Posner and serving up one of Posner's best witty remarks. Whelan, thinking he's getting the better of Posner, follows that cool joke with a humorless "Yes, indeed. Decent human beings aim higher."

3. Howard Stern has 17 kittens.

4. "In a bizarre case that so far has police and residents stumped, at least seven cats in Waynesboro’s Tree Streets neighborhood have been shaved since December without their owners’ permission, according to Waynesboro Police," reports The News Virginian. The cats were "shaved in the underbelly, groin and leg areas" and "not otherwise harmed."

5. Evidence that cats are nowhere nearly as popular as mainstream media think. Here's a Washington Post article, titled "An artist’s best friend? Cats, a new Smithsonian exhibit claims," full of cute pictures of cats, including one holding an artist's brush and palette and — to make sure you get that the cat is an artist — wearing a beret. The article has been up for over a week, and it has zero comments.

6. That's it for the cat news. There are hundreds of recent cat stories, but they don't make the cut. They don't make the shave. I think, as I said in Item #5, people are not that interested in cats. Remember when cats ruled the internet? Bloggers did Friday Cat Blogging. Hey, wait a minute. Kevin Drum still does Friday Cat Blogging. Here's the most recent one, deploying a cat for the cause of anti-Trumpism. But even cat-anti-Trumpiana is old. Here's "These Cats Look Like Donald Trump/The Internet makes #TrumpYourCat a thing." It's from July 2015.

7. From the comments to this post, after a certain amount of discussion of crying — "What happened to Posner?" (MayBee), "I don't know, but he's 78, and if he dies, there should be no crying" (me), "There's no crying in jurisprudence – or skiing!" (Paco Wové) — campy said: "I cried because I had no cats, until I met a man who had 17."

71 comments:

dbp said...

"3. Howard Stern has 17 kittens."

Biological impossibility aside, that is a really impressive litter size for a man of Howard's age.

Heywood Rice said...

This is pointillist.

MadisonMan said...

Zeus will be angered by this Pussy Galore text.

Matt Sablan said...

I love the URL for the Posner article. It just reads: http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/447377/posner-gorsuch-scalia-death

MayBee said...

What happened to Posner?

exhelodrvr1 said...

"Biological impossibility aside, that is a really impressive litter size for a man of Howard's age."

His teats must be really sore!!

Ann Althouse said...

"What happened to Posner?" I don't know, but he's 78, and if he dies, there should be no crying.

rhhardin said...

Shaving the cats is probably a comment on body hair practices.

MayBee said...

"What happened to Posner?" I don't know, but he's 78, and if he dies, there should be no crying.

Is there such a thing as late-onset sociopathy?

Curious George said...

"Bloggers did Friday Cat Blogging"

I remember it being "Caturday."

Curious George said...

You know, on Saturday.

Rae said...

Great, now I'm picturing Howard Stern as part of the cast of Cats. Thanks guys.

Thuglawlibrarian said...

Posner is approaching the end and he isn't happy.

Rob said...

Could somebody tell FoxNews (Stern story) it's "fazed," not "phased"? iIlliteracy among journalists has reached alarming levels.

sykes.1 said...

Anyone who has washed a cat will want to know how one shaves a cat.

Kate said...

Shaving the cat's underside is a search for hysterectomy scars. There are some crazy ass people out there when it comes to litter control.

Ann Althouse said...

"Caturday"... at least they kept blogging on the weekend. I remember Friday being treated as an unimportant day, time to taper off, no serious blogging. I didn't start blogging until 2004, and I always blogged all 7 days, treating them all equally seriously/frivolously depending on my mood and what happened to be interesting at a particular time. But I entered a scene where there was an established tradition of goofing off on Friday.

Paco Wové said...

"there should be no crying."

There's no crying in jurisprudence – or skiing!

Barry Dauphin said...

I wonder if Posner cried when Scalia was younger and healthier, knowing that one day he would die?

rhhardin said...

Mark Steyn's :42 in the first hour (of Rush) analysis of Trump politics vs Ryan politics is worth some thought.

"Ryan thinks he's got Trump's number right now. Ryan is basically putting Trump's face on his own agenda..."

I don't see a transcript.

robother said...

I shed a tear when I heard about Posner's lack of empathy for Gorsuch's need to demonstrate rhetorical grief. Plus, many's the time I have literally shed a tear at the top of a wind-swept Colorado ski slope.

campy said...

I cried because I had no cats, until I met a man who had 17.

rhhardin said...

I'm great with cats, having a shoulder rub that sets them into deep purr mode.

Bob Boyd said...

Does a full grown cat need its owner's permission to go out and get shaved?

Humperdink said...

I read the Barack the Magnificent link and find it amusing this info, undoubtedly available prior to 2008, is only now coming to the surface.

You would think that The Magnificent One, having proposed to the same chick twice, might be newsworthy, good or bad. The crack investigative MSM chose not to report it.

traditionalguy said...

Mousers are a necessary part of the ecosystem since man started to grow and store grain a/k/a mice food.

Humperdink said...

"Obama believed he needed to 'fully identify as African American' to fulfill his political ambitions".

Love this quote from the book. Did Rachel Dolezal write this?

AllenS said...

That was great, campy @ 8:00 am.

Michael K said...

27 million songbirds could not be reached to comment on the cat situation.

"Is there such a thing as late-onset sociopathy?"

Posner has been a sociopath for a long time. It's not recent.

Bay Area Guy said...

"..... given that Scalia was 80, a heavy smoker and — in Posner's un-PC words — "known to be obese."

Hmmm. Posner could be lying here about the "obesity." In 2008, I was in Vale, Colorado and Scalia was at the resort, giving a speech, at age 72. He was sharp and witty and very approachable (numerous folks came up to him to ask for pictures to be taken). He seemed to be in good health. But the kicker was that he was a fantastic tennis player. I saw he play a few points, and he was quite agile and mobile.

Nobody on Planet Earth would say, at that time, Scalia was "known to be obese"

So, either his health went downhill from age 72 to 80, or Posner - who looks like an unathletic dork - is making shit up.

mockturtle said...

I cried because I had no cats, until I met a man who had 17.

:-D

mockturtle said...

sykes inquires: Anyone who has washed a cat will want to know how one shaves a cat.

Heavily sedated. Both you and the cat.

buwaya said...

"They had a cat together" = "She got a cat, and persuaded him to maintain the litterbox".

Its about the way wife and daughter managed it with me. Sons pleadings (not for cats) were resistable.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Relevant cat joke

How to give a cat a pill

Yancey Ward said...

Dangerous cat!

Police respond to sniper cat

Fernandinande said...

A cat walks into a bar and the bartender says, "Hey Joe, would you chase that cat out and close the door?"

frenchie said...

According to his Wikipedia page "Posner is a self-described 'cat person' and is devoted to his Maine Coon, Pixie. Posner appeared with his previous cat, a Maine Coon named Dina, in a photograph accompanying a lengthy profile (of Posner) in The New Yorker in 2001. He has been known to illustrate legal points in his opinions with elaborate cat-related metaphors and examples."

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I never really like Howard STern, until; today. Real man have pussy on their laps.

David Begley said...

Thanks for the info. Now all the more reason to hate Posner and Stern.

Ann Althouse said...

"Could somebody tell FoxNews (Stern story) it's "fazed," not "phased"? iIlliteracy among journalists has reached alarming levels."

That spelling mixup started with "Star Trek" "phasers."

Mark said...

Shaving the cat's underside is a search for hysterectomy scars.

But how do they know if the cat is male or female, so as to be neutered or spayed, if in self-identifying all they can say is "meow"?

Ann Althouse said...

"I'm great with cats, having a shoulder rub that sets them into deep purr mode."

He just starts rubbing them. It’s like a magnet. Just rub. He doesn't even wait. And when you’re rh, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the shoulders. He can do anything.

mockturtle said...

Great link, DBQ! ;-D

Fernandinande said...

Ann Althouse said...
That spelling mixup started with "Star Trek" "phasers."


"Phase" has been more popular than "faze" since 1800.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

My dog strongly objects to this entire thread.

Fernandinande said...

"Phased" has been more popular than "fazed" since 1800.

Fernandinande said...

exiledonmainstreet said...
My dog strongly objects to this entire thread.


A traitor to the cause.

rcocean said...

Scalia didn't die because he was a smoker or obese - he died because he was fucking 80 years old. I suggest people start reading mortality stats.

You can not drink, smoke, or eat saturated fat - and you're still going to die.

Marc in Eugene said...

Was Judge Posner not being straightforward when he described his personality? Without the context-- can someone access the 2001 New Yorker article from which the 'cold, furtive, callous, snobbish, selfish, and playful, but with a streak of cruelty' line is quoted?-- who can know? I don't think that Ed Whelan is at all 'struggling, hapless, humorless' in that post. There are some contexts in which irony and humor are out of place.

rcocean said...

Its funny how they keep talking about Obmama's "White Girlfriend" when in fact she's Asian. Everything has to fit "the narrative", so you end up with a Japanese/Javanese/Dutch girl married to a Korean-American being described as "White".

Its like Zimmerman being labeled a "White Hispanic".

Stephen A. Meigs said...

Remember when cats ruled the internet?

Ohhhawwwohhhawwwww--I'm yawning. Good cats don't want to be a fad. Copycatty behavior is dangerous.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Fernandinande said...
exiledonmainstreet said...
My dog strongly objects to this entire thread.

A traitor to the cause.

5/6/17, 10:30 AM

A traitor indeed. Are those rescued cats grateful? Does it cause them to rethink their anti-dog ways? Would they rescue a dog if the tables were turned?

I think we know the answer.

Ann Althouse said...

""Phase" has been more popular than "faze" since 1800."

But not to mean "stun."

Ann Althouse said...

"Phase" as a verb doesn't mean the same thing as "faze."

I was fazed when they phased in new spellings.

Ann Althouse said...

I think the Star Trek spelling related to this meaning of "phase":

" 1. trans. Physics, Electrical Engin., etc. To adjust the phase (phase n.2 3a) of (an oscillation, alternating current, etc.), esp. in order to bring it into phase or synchrony with something else. Also with up or in. Also (occas.) intr.: to undergo such a change of phase."

Fernandinande said...

Ann Althouse said...
I think the Star Trek spelling related to this meaning of "phase":


Yes, it doesn't mean "stun", it's from "Phased Array".

I got curious about what "phaser" meant (not much) and found this nifty Shepard tone, "the auditory illusion of a tone that continually ascends or descends in pitch, yet which ultimately seems to get no higher or lower".

Anonymous said...

Howard Stern's wife or girlfriend or whatever maintains a sort of shelter. She shares pictures of her animals on one of the social sites, my daughter informs me.

Maybe Gorsuch did cry when he realized that a Supreme Court Justice could die away from home and not have an autopsy performed, because he smoked and was overweight. Open season on paunchy smokers of a certain age and who sets the lower end of the age range or the paunchy range. I asked a retired police detective what the protocol would be if a local district judge died this way and he immediately said, "...autopsy."

Ignorance is Bliss said...

The Indians send signals
From the rocks above the pass
The cowboys take positions
In the bushes and the grass...

Cool for Cats

navillus said...

"They even had a cat together named Max," writes the Daily Mail...
where the top-rated comment is: "They 'had a cat together'? Is that even biologically possible?"

It is an incontrovertible fact that Barack Obama is a huge pussy, so I wouldn't rule it out.

Bilwick said...

This all reminds me of Orson Bean, back when he came out of the closet as a conservative (en route to declaring himself a libertarian), saying on some talk show--I think it was Buckley's "Firing Line"--that conservatives should do more to cultivate the cat-lover vote. He said something like "Cats are independent--dogs are more like liberals, wanting everyone to love them!" Of course this is more of a satirical jeu d'esprit and not Holy Writ. Hemingway was a big cat lover and something of a leftist.

JohnAnnArbor said...

I wonder what Laslo would do with this thread.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

"...the woman who Barack Obama proposed to..."

...to whom...

Michael K said...

" Hemingway was a big cat lover and something of a leftist."

Including a KGB payroll spot if recent stories are true.

Rosa Marie Yoder said...

On a farm, everything must have a purpose. Cats keep away the mice, lick up spilled milk, bury their poop and don't demand much of your time. Dogs are loyal companions but are so needy! Today, my Labs Chloe and Tucker are the best thing in my life in this urban sprawl called suburbia.

Anonymous said...

When Posner kicks the bucket I hope the news reaches me somewhere other than a ski slope. That's no place to be dancing a jig.

Bilwick said...

" Hemingway was a big cat lover and something of a leftist."

"Including a KGB payroll spot if recent stories are true." (Michael K)

There's a new book called "Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy," by Nicholas Reynolds, that I just started reading, and is pretty interesting so far. You might enjoy it, MK. I'm interested in seeing if the stories I read about a year ago, that Hemingway approvingly watched a Che-led firing squad kill so-called Enemies of the (Fidelista) State, are actually true; but that probably comes in the latter part of the book.

Michael K said...

"There's a new book called "Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy," by Nicholas Reynolds, "

Sounds interesting. I have a pretty heavy duty Hemingway collection.

Thanks

Michael K said...

""Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy," by Nicholas Reynolds"

Hey, it's on Audible. I need a new book for the commute so I downloaded it for next week.

I also downloaded the one on "The Sun Also Rises."

Bad Lieutenant said...


rhhardin said...
I'm great with cats, having a shoulder rub that sets them into deep purr mode.
5/6/17, 8:01 AM

Well, they're not human beings, so you've got that going for you.

Jim S. said...

You know, the whole "Obama dumped his white girlfriend to further his political career" story bothers me. In an earlier generation, a man (Edward VIII) who was given great political power but who loved someone in a different social class chose to give up the power in the name of love. Our generation has a man who loves someone in a different social class and chooses to give up the love in the hopes that he might someday be given great political power. And his reasons are explicitly racial. It's just unseemly.

Etienne said...

It's impossible for French people to pronounce the "H".

My mother always caused us kids to laugh when she she said "cat-o-licks" for Catholics.