Althouse: At the Saturday Night Café...

September 30, 2017

At the Saturday Night Café...

... you can talk all night.

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51 comments:

Will Cate said...: could be lettuce... could be a portal to another dimension...; 9/30/17, 9:17 PM
Bob Ellison said...: I am sad.; 9/30/17, 9:33 PM
Bix Cvvv said...: Well I will go among the first. Like poor Hugh Hefner, I am a male who is only really interested in attractive females. Of the forty or so women I have gone on a second date with, at least 39 were Playmate-level in attractiveness. So what? The Bronte sisters were pretty brutally on the side of assertions that only uber-masculine men were interesting. Am I better than them? Even poor little Jane Austen never had a kind word to say for the English women who settled for unattractive English males. No, she mocked, the poor little woman: not that anyone in this world ever looked at her with love in his eyes - well, there were two or three, but only really good historians, like me, know their names.. Sad! But: Hefner could have been happy with love in his heart, and as far as we know, he lost that chance: poor Jane Austen, likewise: God loves us all.True story: Back in the 80s I almost married a woman who looked exactly like Hefner's first wife, Mildred: she (her real name was Sharon) was dating both me and this guy (sort of fat, but also sort of thoughtful - I could have beat him up, without weapons, but he was the sort of guy who did not leave the house without a shiv in his pocket - sad! I can say that now, he has been in the graveyard for 30 years) - well, me and her went on a few dates while the other guy was sitting in jail, waiting out his trial for attempted murder (baseball bat, pool hall) - well when he was convicted I thought I was on the road to the type of marriage people dream about - sadly, an appeal court threw out the conviction! What can you do - I got a phone call, informing me that the attempted murderer had been declared "innocent" (I had the sang-froid, learned I not knew where, to abstain from saying, no, he was simply not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt - that is not the same thing as innocent) - well, for the record, I just do not have it in my heart to wish anything but happy days to anyone who, in this difficult world, has found someone who loves them, or who, in the goodness of their heart, tries to pretend their best to love them. God loves everyone who cares about other people - it is a low bar and I pray that you have met it.; 9/30/17, 9:39 PM
Michael K said...: So sad.

The Navy used to operate a large Navy base there, Naval Station Roosevelt Roads. I spent six months on the island in 1993, but when the island’s population protested the presence of the training range at nearby Vieques Island, the Navy shuttered the base, taking $300 million a year out of the Puerto Rican economy.

Awwwww. PR did itself in.

Sort of like Subic Bay PI.; 9/30/17, 9:42 PM
Hagar said...: And they are still at it.
I thought it was funny with all that stuff piling up on the docks in Puerto Rico and having trucks, but no truck drivers because "they had all gone to check on their families."

According to Sundance, it turns out the boss of the P.R. Teamsters' Union has called a strike or whatever you would call it. Anyway, they are looking after their families until their wages are raised.

Still, it is all Trump's fault.; 9/30/17, 9:56 PM
Hagar said...: As a wise man once said: "Never let a good crisis go to waste!"; 9/30/17, 9:58 PM
Ralph L said...: Yo Bix: paragraph breaks. Butt if you want people to keep reading, better throw in some buggery.; 9/30/17, 10:16 PM
Bix Cvvv said...: They did not have a happy marriage and split up in the early 1990s. Sad! I really wish that she or he would have listened to good advice - at a minimum, be a decent person who cares about other people. Proverbs chapter One, chapter Eight, chapter 11 chapter 18. Life is short and we never waste a minute if that minute is spent caring about other people. I even feel sad for the foolish people on the spectacularly mistaken appeals court. They, too, did not want, as little children, to grow up to be powerful and foolish. But, somehow, they did - and is there anything sadder? I remember. So much sadness. :); 9/30/17, 10:19 PM
Bix Cvvv said...: Ralph L: let us raise our game. Let us try and understand each other. Buggery is boring: as much as one might wish it were not, it is. Here is what is interesting: love for each other. Remember, this is only 2017 in a limited way. Kurt Vonnegut may have been a good role model in some other year: but that year is gone. Peace, brother. As for paragraph breaks: sorry, even Finnegans Wake is simplistic to some of us. Join us, if not today, someday, in a world where we try to understand each other. Peace, brother.; 9/30/17, 10:23 PM
tim in vermont said...: Yo Bix: paragraph breaks. Butt if you want people to keep reading, better throw in some buggery.

I kind of like it, it's like a wall laid down brick by brick.; 9/30/17, 10:23 PM
Bix Cvvv said...: Ralph L : for the record I hope I made you laugh, I feel like I have lived thousands of years in this 20th century world and for the most part the things I am happiest about is making people laugh. Sure that sounds sad, but maybe my thousands of 22nd century grand children will think it is artistic, in its way. Tim in Vermont - thanks. I really miss, this time of year, the asters of the Vermont autumn. But I have no friends in Vermont and many friends in Virginia and I prefer friends to flowers. We all miss so much beauty in life.; 9/30/17, 10:31 PM
Big Mike said...: @Hagar, it's not completely clear the P. R. Teamsters union (Frente Amplio) is formally on strike, but formal strike or not it certainly is clear that few drivers have shown up to work so full ships ride at anchor because there is no room on the docks for their cargo to be off-loaded. Relief supplies are needed inland, and the trucks are available, but not enough drivers have come forward to work.

The reason why I think there is no formal strike is that the US Teamdters and AFl-CIO are recruiting drivers to come down to Puerto Rico to move supplies inland from the ports. I don't think the AFL-CIO would not be recruiting scabs, not even for humanitarian relief.

Of course it's almost as hard to believe that unions would be cooperating with Donald Trump. Topsey turvey world.; 9/30/17, 10:42 PM
Ralph L said...: There probably aren't enough trucks or drivers on the island to move all the stuff needed.; 9/30/17, 10:49 PM
Ralph L said...: I grew some asters in Va--one season.
they must not like humidity.; 9/30/17, 10:51 PM
Bix Cvvv said...: The asters in New England look less like weeds. They are bigger. I feel bad that it took me like 15 years to look at the NoVa asters and to truly say - thank you God for those beautiful flowers. I am not proud that it took me a microsecond to look at the New England asters and say: God is good and his works are admirable, and it took me 15 years to feel the same way about the equally amazing flowers of Virginia. . But I was older then, and I am younger than that now, as Dylan - a true poet - said - and God, thank you for the flowers of Virginia. Peace. brother: Peace. sister.; 9/30/17, 11:00 PM
Big Mike said...: @Ralph, the people on the scene disagree. At any rate if no trucks roll then no one is helped.; 9/30/17, 11:02 PM
Bix Cvvv said...: For the record I have several friends - a FEMA employee, a federal employee who is volunteering to help out FEMA, and one or two others - who are in Puerto Rico at this moment, or who soon will be, in order to help. God bless them. Keep Puerto Rico in your prayers.; 9/30/17, 11:20 PM
madAsHell said...: Bix Cvvv

Name and address withheld by request.; 10/1/17, 1:59 AM
Heywood Rice said...: I thought it was funny with all that stuff piling up on the docks in Puerto Rico and having trucks, but no truck drivers because "they had all gone to check on their families."

According to Sundance, it turns out the boss of the P.R. Teamsters' Union has called a strike or whatever you would call it. Anyway, they are looking after their families until their wages are raised.

Icky viral fake news!; 10/1/17, 4:42 AM
rhhardin said...: In red states, if you have a million person disaster, right away you have a million helpers.; 10/1/17, 5:16 AM
Heywood Rice said...: In red states, if you have a million person disaster, right away you have a million helpers.

So do the superior dance, church lady, and by the way there is no Teamsters strike in Puerto Rico. That is viral fake news cooked up by Juan Fiol,former vice chairman of Trump's Miami-Dade organization.; 10/1/17, 5:40 AM
Humperdink said...: Just watched the San Juan mayor, in near tears, begging for help. She was surrounded by pallets and pallets of supplies. Not a good photo-op.; 10/1/17, 6:10 AM
Humperdink said...: Big day for the NFL. I am taking a one (1) week respite from the game. We shall see.; 10/1/17, 6:12 AM
rehajm said...: Not a good photo-op.

No doubt it looks bad and is bad. I concede the fact that so much of disaster relief is a logistical nightmare- delivering the palettes and tonnage is one thing while getting the aid out where it is needed is quite another. It really does look like Katrina in that leftie leadership isn't working with the Feds while simultaneously blaming Trump and the Feds for not doing enough.

Trump won't be so easy to Katrina.; 10/1/17, 7:09 AM
traditionalguy said...: College football is extremely exciting to watch and is much better played to the end of the OTs by excited 19-22 year olds. Watching old men playing all day with a football past age 25 seems like a sad waste of time.; 10/1/17, 7:18 AM
Jersey Fled said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/1/17, 7:18 AM
320Busdriver said...: Tom Price is out. What a disgrace he is to doctors everywhere. Like it wasn't predictable since he barely made it through confirmation hearings because of his stock trades of HC corps. Trump should have abandoned him before he put him on the team. Good riddance.; 10/1/17, 7:28 AM
rehajm said...: College football is extremely exciting to watch and is much better played to the end of the OTs by excited 19-22 year olds. Watching old men playing all day with a football past age 25 seems like a sad waste of time.

Counterpoint: College football is extremely boring to watch. It's played by inexperienced boys who don't know how to play defense- touchdowns are fun but the football equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game is not. With so much scoring mediocre talent looks like greatness until it reaches the NFL and is exposed for what it is. Observing this flummoxes and outrages many college football fans blind to the recurring theme.; 10/1/17, 7:33 AM
Big Mike said...: @antiphone, unless you're the one pushing fake news. I doubt you know anything more than we do about the details of the situation down there.; 10/1/17, 7:41 AM
Big Mike said...: I mean, what sort of idiot believes CNN?; 10/1/17, 7:44 AM
Hagar said...: I have read other places also that there are trucks, but no drivers for them.

FEMA is the Government, and I assume the NGO's in situations like this have to follow Gov't guidelines. IOW, the Federal rates for truck drivers are surely at least somewhat above - and most likely well above - the going civilian rates in Puerto Rico.

And it does not have to be a strike-strike,, as Whoopie would say. Like a secondary boycott is illegal, but union labor are sensitive, caring souls, and the sight of a strike placard - even for a union or other organization they never heard of before - is likely to affect them so powerfully that they just have to go home and recuperate for a few days.; 10/1/17, 7:46 AM
Humperdink said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/1/17, 7:47 AM
Humperdink said...: OTOH, college basketball is about to hit an iceberg. That paragon of virtue, Rick Pitino is out at Louisville.

Ten (10) people have been arrested for taking bribes from shoe/apparel companies, including four (4) assistant coaches. How much money is involved? Indiana just signed an eight (8) year $53.6 million contract with Adidas. For wearing clothes and shoes made in Bangladesh. Think about that amount.; 10/1/17, 7:49 AM
tim in vermont said...: "Bix Cxxx"

Just what we need on Althouse, one more bankwalker.; 10/1/17, 7:58 AM
rehajm said...: Indiana just signed an eight (8) year $53.6 million contract with Adidas. For wearing clothes and shoes made in Bangladesh. Think about that amount.

Starved for sport I watched HBOs McEnroe/Borg documentary last night. Compelling if you lived through it though neither is the most sympathetic of protagonists. Tennis apparel was huge business back then but it was interesting to see McEnroe wear his Davis Cup zip up at the Wimbledon trophy ceremony. Apparel contracts would never let that happen today.; 10/1/17, 7:59 AM
Hagar said...: The other thing that bothered me this weekend was the Air Force general making that powerful speech to the Academy cadets. I turned it off when he said ".... Chancellorsville, Ferguson, and the NFL ...." This is is just B.S.

I still think Chancellorsville was a successful - extremely successful - Democrat dirty tricks operation. I wish someone would find out who paid for those tiki torches.; 10/1/17, 8:01 AM
Big Mike said...: @Hagar, do you perchance mean Charlottesville? Chancellorsville, also in Virginia, was a successful operation for a pair of generals named Jackson and Lee (though the former lost his life).; 10/1/17, 8:14 AM
tim in vermont said...: This Maria thing is one more information operation against Trump. You have to figure that antiphone would be on board right off. The Russian thing is not working out for them.; 10/1/17, 8:34 AM
Hagar said...: Sorry. Had not had my cup of coffee yet, and my head hurts.; 10/1/17, 8:50 AM
Hagar said...: Charlottesville, Ferguson, and the NFL ....
Apples, a sack of hammers, and a shelf of Nike sneakers.; 10/1/17, 9:21 AM
Heywood Rice said...: This Maria thing is one more information operation against Trump. You have to figure that antiphone would be on board right off. The Russian thing is not working out for them.

OK, have it your way. The Puerto Rican Teamsters union is in cahoots with the global Kenyan socialist conspiracy (MSM) to discredit Trump and (get this) used the U.N. "oil for food" slush fund to obtain tiki torches --in violation of international sanctions-- from North Korea for the Charlottesville false flag operation.; 10/1/17, 9:32 AM
tim in vermont said...: OK, have it your way. The Puerto Rican Teamsters union is in cahoots with the global Kenyan socialist conspiracy (MSM) to discredit Trump and (get this) used the U.N. "oil for food" slush fund to obtain tiki torches --in violation of international sanctions-- from North Korea for the Charlottesville false flag operation.

I almost think you really believe that is what I think.

I don't really know what is happening in Puerto Rico, and my Spanish is pretty limited, but here is an interview with a union truck driver:

Scab drivers from the mainland won't get the job done!

Maybe somebody fluent in Spanish can confirm or dispute the above translation.; 10/1/17, 9:43 AM
tim in vermont said...: We know that Kessler, who organized the whackos as Charlottesville is a former member of Occupy, expressed admirations for "provocateurs" on his blog, and only "came out" on the right once the "resistance" was announced in January of this year.

And oddly we are hearing nothing from Charlottesville in terms of investigation, nothing. So your confidence that it was definitely not a "false flag" operation is pretty telling right there.; 10/1/17, 9:52 AM
tim in vermont said...: But since I questioned the anti-Trump narrative, admitted of the possibility that there may be more to the story than the narrative machine is pushing, I guess I am a Nazi.; 10/1/17, 9:54 AM
Hagar said...: The point about the tiki torches (a nice touch meant to be reminiscent of Leni Riefenstahl's Nürnberg productions and rather sophisticated for this bunch) is that it cost money, and if the participating "clubs" paid for it, each would have had to hold a meeting, discuss the issue, and vote to authorize their sec-treasurer to disburse the money.
Anybody really believe that any such thing happened?; 10/1/17, 10:10 AM
Heywood Rice said...: I don't really know what is happening in Puerto Rico, and my Spanish is pretty limited, but here is an interview with a union truck driver

Yeah, I know. I traced the "smoking gun" unnamed source aka the "toothless guy" that's being cited by the right wing truth machine. One of the comments on Youtube claims "he is the leader of the truckers teamsters (frente amplio)" The video was posted by Juan Fiol,he gives no information about where the recording comes from but the google says he's the former vice chairman of Trump's Miami-Dade organization, a Cuban American from Florida. This is not simply bad journalism it's total BS.; 10/1/17, 10:14 AM
Hagar said...: Perhaps so, but you still have to explain the goods on the docks and available trucks, but no drivers in sight.; 10/1/17, 10:32 AM
Big Mike said...: @Hagar, antiphone can easily explain it -- Trump's fault somehow!!!; 10/1/17, 10:34 AM
tim in vermont said...: What the "Tiki Torches" showed me is that the KKK, who knew how to make real torches, died out a long time ago. Dylan Roof was distraught that he could not find any fellow white supremacists to hang with, so he took matters into his own hands.; 10/1/17, 1:03 PM
Bix Cvvv said...: madasHell at 1:59 - please look up metaphor in a dictionary of rhetoric. Knowledge makes us funnier, thanks.
time in vermont, 7:58 AM - I was led to believe that the Saturday Night Coffee House was supposed to be a hospitable place. But tim in vermont compares my character, God knows why, to an expl*tive del*ted and essentially says "go away"! Sad! Anyway, please go light on the expletives in future some people's grandmas read everything they write! Peace, brother.; 10/1/17, 3:16 PM
HT said...: I think it's a kale or cabbage, or an ornamental kale or cabbage.; 10/1/17, 9:31 PM