Althouse: At the Wednesday Night Cafe...

February 21, 2018

At the Wednesday Night Cafe...

... you can say all your Wednesday things.

34 comments:

Churchy LaFemme: said...: London Police tell chicken lovers to stop calling them to report the KFC crisis.

So could you do the Cheese Shop sketch with different varities of Chicken?; 2/21/18, 10:14 PM
buwaya said...: A lens for you cheap camera nuts -

From the Althouse Amazon portal -

7Artisans 7.5mm/2.8 manual focus Full Frame Fisheye for APS-C - mine was for Sony mount. $139, free shipping.

Made very nicely in China. And at 7.5mm you dont need to focus the bloody thing at all, mostly. In daylight leave it at f/4, put it somewhere between 3 feet and infinity, and its all in focus, even the corners are decent (for a fisheye). Even your feet if you aren't careful. And its a tiny thing, perfectly suitable for little mirrorless cameras.

Took it out for my lunchtime walk, and it works superbly. For the money, and if you aren't trying to please the National Geographic photo editor, thumbs way up.

Very quick 2-day delivery from Amazon.; 2/21/18, 10:19 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: I really love that Camel Hump Day ad. I really do. Camels have such expressive faces. In fact, I think I'll watch it right now.; 2/21/18, 10:19 PM
traditionalguy said...: Wednesday night cafe must mean the church dinner. And it was very good tonight.; 2/21/18, 10:20 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: C: Burford Brown?

O: No

C: Derbyshire Redcap?

O: No

C: Czech gold brindle?

O: No

C: Norfolk Grey?

O: Not -today-, sir, no.

(pause)

C: Aah, how about Rhode Island Red?

O: Well, we don't get much call for it around here, sir.

C: Not much ca--It's the single most popular hen in the world!

O: Not 'round here, sir.

C: (slight pause) and what IS the most popular hen 'round hyah?

O: Marsh Daisy, sir.

C: IS it.

O: Oh, yes, it's staggeringly popular in this manusquire.

C: Is it.

O: It's our number one best seller, sir!

C: I see. Uuh... Marsh Daisy, eh?

O: Right, sir.

C: All right. Okay. 'Have you got any?' He asked, expecting the answer 'no'.

O: I'll have a look, sir.. nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnno.

C: It's not much of a chicken shop, is it?

O: Finest in the district sir!

C: (annoyed) Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.

O: Well, it's so clean, sir!

C: It's certainly uncontaminated by chicken.

O: (brightly) You haven't asked me about Leghorn, sir.

C: Would it be worth it?

O: Could be.

C: Have you --SHUT THAT BLOODY BOUZOUKI OFF!

O: Told you sir...

C: (slowly) Have you got any Leghorn?

O: No.

C: Figures. Predictable, really I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have posed the question in the first place....... Tell me:

O: Yessir?

C: (deliberately) Have you in fact got any chicken here at all?

O: Yes,sir.

C: Really?

(pause)

O: No. Not really, sir.

C: You haven't.

O: Nosir. Not a scrap. I was deliberately wasting your time,sir.

C: Well I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to shoot you.

O: Right-0, sir.; 2/21/18, 10:25 PM
Mark said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/21/18, 10:29 PM
Mark said...: These made-up, non-traditional events -- I can't honestly call them sports -- are so utterly dull and boooooooorrrring. How many times can you watch some dude do some twists and turns on some silly "half-pipe"? That it is over-hyped 10,000 times only makes it worse.; 2/21/18, 10:31 PM
pacwest said...: The US, China, and Russia are bidding to build a nuclear reactor for Saudi Arabia. The Saudis hold all of the cards and are not willing to be bound by the 'Gold Standard'. The camel's nose is in the tent. Soon to be 11 countries, and counting. Remember to buy your iodine tablets through the Althouse portal!; 2/21/18, 10:53 PM
Laura said...: Do I even dare start the conversation on CNN's lynch mob, er make that town hall, tonight?; 2/21/18, 11:50 PM
buwaya said...: Re CNN.
Its going to get a lot worse.
This is election propaganda, for turnout.

What the net effect will be re elections I don't know, but the other effect is a fresh flood of acid and poison into the veins of the people, that their mutual hatred will increase.

Its just as well, I suppose, that right-wing media is rarely seen by liberal viewers, as that side of things is too unstable to handle the stress of hearing opposition. Conservatives can hear liberals with a degree of maturity or equanimity, but vice versa cannot be. Personality thing I guess.; 2/22/18, 12:03 AM
MaxedOutMama said...: Hehehe, I'm posting at 1:31 AM my time, so I can say Thursday things!!!

Broccoli. That's a Thursday thing.; 2/22/18, 12:31 AM
Yancey Ward said...: On the KFC crisis- an odd coincidence for me- I had never once in my life thought of Great Britain and KFC in the same thought- not one time in my 51 years. But then I have had the thought twice now in the last two days- the second was the story about the chicken shortage that I read about today. Yesterday I had been watching a British crime drama on Amazon in which a medical parcel service operator was trying to remember who was driving a particular van used in a murder, and in his sty of an office he kept looking around muttering, "KFC, KFC," before finding the invoices for that van stashed in an old KFC box.; 2/22/18, 12:47 AM
grackle said...: For the past couple of weeks I’ve been binge-viewing Jordan Peterson on YouTube. His value: He explains the socio-political chaos the West (especially the US and Canada) is in, how it came about and what it means. He is a gifted lecturer and his grasp of the issues is … well … impressive.

He could be seen as an intellectually gifted, credentialed and more complex version of someone like Scott Adams. But his scope of revelation is huge compared to Adams. He is already influential but I think his impact will spread even more as time goes by. I recommend Peterson without reservation.

Try viewing him here and here …; 2/22/18, 3:02 AM
Sally327 said...: I can't stop watching Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, ND) score the winning goal in the shootout and Maddie Rooney (Duluth, MN) stopping that final shot to end the game and an amazing win for the gold medal in USA Women's Hockey at the Olympics. Rooney is 20 years old! 20. So young, so good, so golden!

Yea! USA Women's Hockey. It really should be a thing.; 2/22/18, 3:11 AM
rhhardin said...: "I read today that a person 20 years old walked into a store and bought an AR-15 in 5 minutes with an expired ID."

What's wrong with an expired ID?; 2/22/18, 5:33 AM
Humperdink said...: pacwest said: ".......Remember to buy your iodine tablets through the Althouse portal!"

Several years ago, my brother-in-law bought several Geiger Counters on Ebay. He buys weird things all the time. He sold me one (cheap). I bought it as a joke. Then Fukishima happened. It went from cheap to not so. I still have it.; 2/22/18, 5:35 AM
rhhardin said...: USA Women's Hockey. It really should be a thing.

They're playing against women.; 2/22/18, 5:40 AM
Rusty said...: Fiberwell Sugarfree Gummies are NOT gummie bears.; 2/22/18, 5:44 AM
Humperdink said...: Unless an exception has been granted recently, the Amish can't walk into a gun store and buy anything. No photo ID. And for good reason, they're terrorists in the making.; 2/22/18, 5:46 AM
iowan2 said...: I heard 1,000,000 <17 year olds with no English skills walked into voting polls and voted with out ever being questioned.; 2/22/18, 6:34 AM
iowan2 said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/22/18, 6:42 AM
Michael K said...: " I recommend Peterson without reservation."

I have his book on audio in the car. I sent copies to several of my kids.

One who was a Bernie voter and who I wondered if she would read it, called me to tell me how much she loves it.; 2/22/18, 6:56 AM
Hagar said...: Democrats are not the only ones ascribing magical powers to the AR-15. In a thread yesterday someone (John Henry?) said it was great for hunting feral hogs with.
Mmm, no, no! AR-15 of course refers to the trigger mechanism, and an "AR-15 style" rifle can be assembled for any caliber cartridge, but that fact also seems to escape most people, so the .223 Remington or NATO is what they are thinking about.
However, .223 is just a "varmint cartridge;" great for killing prairie dogs, jackrabbits, etc., but not suitable for hunting large or dangerous animals with. I should think you want at least 30-06 or heavier for hunting javelinas, never mind 2-400 pound hogs.

Humans are quite fragile beings compared to animals of similar size and weight; it is our weapons that make us super predators, but note that the original military call for development of an "assault weapon" cartridge called for wounding capacity (not killing) at least equal to that of the .30 carbine cartridge, which is so weak that Ruger even uses it as a handgun cartridge.; 2/22/18, 7:13 AM
Big Mike said...: @Laura, I wonder how much money CNN raised for the NRA and the GOP tonight? Quite s bit more than it did for the Democrats, I would imagine.; 2/22/18, 7:14 AM
Hagar said...: A checkout clerk at Kroger's once refused to sell me a six-pack of non-alcoholic beer when she noticed my driver's license had expired.; 2/22/18, 7:17 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Trump polLing at 48% approval at Rasmussen vs. Obama at 45% on same date (Feb 21) in his second term.

CNN hardest hit.; 2/22/18, 7:17 AM
Michael K said...: it is our weapons that make us super predators, but note that the original military call for development of an "assault weapon" cartridge called for wounding capacity (not killing) at least equal to that of the .30 carbine cartridge,

There is a theory in military circles that wounding is preferable in battle as it immobilizes three people. Two to carry the wounded.

The introduction of auto fire came in Korea with the M 14 but the 30-06 cartridge has too much recoil and they are too heavy.

The M 14 was then replaced by the M 16, based on the AR-15. The recoil when firing full auto is less and the ammo is not as heavy,

Even so, three shot bursts are recommended for better accuracy,

The Ar-15 has a .308 modification for hunting larger game. That is essentially the 30-06.

One advantage of the AR -15 is that the modular design allows the change in caliber with the same basic unit.; 2/22/18, 7:42 AM
Hagar said...: I well remember how my right shoulder hurt after the first time we shot for record (also the first time I fired a rifle), but after firing my M-1 carbine in Germany, I figured that if "the balloon went up," the first thing I would do would be to ditch that thing and latch onto the first decent M-1 Garand, or preferably BAR, I could find.; 2/22/18, 8:06 AM
Hagar said...: Should add that Germany is not the jungles of East-Asia, and as Heavy Mortar FDC and my own "deuce and a half", I did not have to carry my rifle much.; 2/22/18, 8:13 AM
Hagar said...: A M-16 weighs about 2/3 of a Garand, and the .223 cartridge about half as much as a 30-06.
The theory is that most enemy interaction occurs at close range and the more bullets, the better; never mind accuracy or lethality.; 2/22/18, 8:21 AM
Etienne said...: The 5.56 is a higher velocity round. Higher velocity adds kinetic power to the lower mass. If I remember my physics...

The old 7.62 round didn't do as much damage. I've seen guys shot with the 7.62, and the wounds were not bad. The 5.56 wounds were bad - small hole in, big chunks of meat blown out.

I seem to recall our drill instructor recommending a ricochet as part of your assault, as the noise was scary, and the bullet was deformed so it caused better wounds.

If you are going hunting, you probably don't want high velocity, as you don't want parts of your supper being blown all over the valley. You want to keep the meat on the bone. If you aim for the heart, you might blow the whole animal up with gizzard grease everywhere and then you just have to let the coyotes have it.; 2/22/18, 8:22 AM
Hagar said...: These days, it is also to be considered that a M-1 with 200+ rounds of ammunition would be quite a heavy burden for some infantry persons.; 2/22/18, 8:34 AM
Hagar said...: Etienne's argument again comes from the experience from Vietnam, where when fired at the Viet Cong through the jungle foliage, the lightweight .223 bullets likely would first touch a leaf that would set them to tumbling and cause those terrific flesh wounds he describes.
That comes perilously close to arguing for the .223 as a substitute for hollow-point and other "dum-dum" designs that are universally condemned for military ammunition.; 2/22/18, 9:05 AM
Hagar said...: And back to my beginning post, a 400+ pound feral hog is most likely to become seriously annoyed by a nasty flesh wound that does not immediately kill it.; 2/22/18, 9:09 AM