Althouse: At the Drop-of-Water Café...

August 18, 2018

At the Drop-of-Water Café...

... you can drink your fill (if you get very very small).

89 comments:

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: "First!" --A. van Leeuvenhoek; 8/18/18, 11:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Beautiful pic.; 8/18/18, 11:11 AM
Hagar said...: All socialist theories are developed from:
"To each according to his needs; from each according to his ability."
So someone is going to have to determine what your needs and abilities are, and it is not going to be you.; 8/18/18, 11:28 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: Excellent article on shadow banning:

http://thefederalist.com/2018/08/17/screenshots-show-google-shadowbans-conservative-pro-trump-content/

These Screenshots Show How Google Shadowbans Conservative And Pro-Trump Content

New membership on my Facebook page has stopped dead. My best YouTube videos cannot be found. All because I posted videos of myself going on Fox News.

Doug Wead; 8/18/18, 11:33 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Kimberley Strassel DISMANTLES Washington Post fact check of Bruce Ohr

Dismantling the agenda(D) hacks is the real journalism.; 8/18/18, 12:04 PM
Oso Negro said...: We can get as small as you want on this blog.; 8/18/18, 12:06 PM
Rosa Marie Yoder said...: Fall is definitely in the air this morning. I had been admonished to get the plantings done by Thursday, and now the reason is more obvious. (I failed.)

And the iced cinnamon rolls from the Amish stand of baked goods were good, indeed, with morning coffee on the front porch.

Today's looming dilemma is about tomorrow's potluck at church. Should I go? I know no one. What would I take? I've not planned anything, and am likely procrastinating so as to have a reason to not go... Church potlucks have the best food.; 8/18/18, 12:50 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Song lyrics by Kitty Kallen (1921 - 2016)

-----

Little Things Mean a Lot

Blow me a kiss from across the room.
Say I look nice when I'm not.
Touch my hair as you pass my chair.
Little things mean a lot.

Give me your arm as we cross the street.
Call me at six on the dot.
A line a day when you're far away.
Little things mean a lot.

Don't have to buy me diamonds and pearls,
Champagne, sables or such.
I never cared much for diamonds and pearls.
'Cause honestly, honey, they just cost money.

Give me your hand when I've lost the way.
Give me your shoulder to cry on.
Whether the day is bright or gray,
Give me your heart to rely on.

Send me the warmth of a secret smile
To show me you haven't forgot.
For always and ever, now and forever --
Little things mean a lot

-----

Sung by Joni James; 8/18/18, 1:23 PM
Anne in Rockwall, TX said...: Let's Get Small; 8/18/18, 1:31 PM
Tank said...: I was thinking this AM about what an amazing couple of years its been since the day Pres. Trump came down that escalator. Who'd a thunk it?

And that lady, the Big V, is still not president.

But why isn't she in jail?; 8/18/18, 1:42 PM
Drago said...: "U.S., China Plot Road Map to Resolve Trade Dispute by November"

Well well well. Looks like all the obvious and plain as the nose on your face US Trade leverage advantages over China are beginning to reach critical mass for the Chinese (who operate a Producer and NOT consumer economy).

Trump/US Trade Delegation 1, moron lefties/dems/LLR's/LLR mini-me's (gadflys) 0

Precisely as predicted would occur...assumung the Dems/lefties/LLR's/mini-mes didnt sabotage the negotiations.; 8/18/18, 1:45 PM
Drago said...: Wall street Journal article, btw; 8/18/18, 1:46 PM
Michael K said...: Drago, I assume you saw this at CTH.

Then, of course, there is this.

Aidan Yao is senior emerging Asia economist at AXA Investment Managers.

Yao wrote, "China needs to put its house in order as the trade war goes from bad to worse."

He pointed out, "In contrast with the progress seen in United States-European Union negotiations, there are no signs of trade talks resuming between the US and China since the breakdown of negotiations in June."

There are 375 billion reasons this is bad for Red China. That is the number of dollars its profit was from exports to the United States last year.

Xu Yimiao is an independent China-based researcher.

Xu wrote, "China should cut its losses in the trade war by conceding defeat to Donald Trump."

He spared not Chairman Xi's regime.; 8/18/18, 1:49 PM
Hagar said...: Another thing that irritates me are these high level writers for "respectable" publications who think "but" and "and" are interchangeable words.; 8/18/18, 1:52 PM
harrogate said...: At least it isn't Flint water.; 8/18/18, 2:09 PM
Paco Wové said...: There's an infuriating article I ran across in the WaPo today... infuriating because it takes what could be an interesting kernel of a story ("why, if unemployment is extremely low, aren't wages rising?") and not only makes no attempt to answer that question, but also wraps the whole thing in layer after layer of tearjerker emo pablum.; 8/18/18, 2:49 PM
Birkel said...: What is wrong with Flint water that more Democrats elected mayor would not solve?
Right, harrogate?; 8/18/18, 3:09 PM
tim in vermont said...: and not only makes no attempt to answer that question,

Well, first off, it's pretty funny that a publication that advocates for illegal immigration at every turn pretends to be interested in that question, but it's very likely that they know where such an inquiry would lead, and it would point strait to illegal immigration.

According to Vox, it turns out that the wage increases are going to, wait for it, the bottom of the earnings heap.

In the past three years, workers in the bottom two-fifths of the income distribution have seen comparable or faster real wage growth than they did in the late 1990s. Higher earners, meanwhile, have seen much slower wage growth than they did in the 1990s.

This trend is clear in the data but little understood among the broader public. In the three-year period I am focusing on, we have seen some narrowing of inequality, measured as wages at the top relative to the bottom

It's kind of weird, you would think that Democrats would be ecstatic about numbers like that.; 8/18/18, 3:11 PM
tim in vermont said...: "To each according to his needs; from each according to his ability."
So someone is going to have to determine what your needs and abilities are, and it is not going to be you.

Yeah, the big problem for them has always been to get people to produce according to their abilities without incentives, which in turn leaves them to define your needs down. Robert Cook will not answer this riddle.; 8/18/18, 3:14 PM
harrogate said...: Birkel,

It's too bad you took my comment as pro-Democratic Party. Worse, though, your implication that the buck stops with the mayor when an American city's water remains poisoned for years and years.; 8/18/18, 3:14 PM
gilbar said...: Hager, the interesting thing is ALL Capitalist theory is developed from

"To each according to his needs*; from each according to his ability."
So something is going to have to determine what your needs and abilities are, and it is going to be the invisible hand of markets .

I think i'll get a much better deal from an invisible hand, than from a government bureaucrat.

needs* vs. wants is a discussion for another day; 8/18/18, 3:15 PM
Rob said...: And for today's comic relief, it was revealed to the 93-year old head of the Mormon church that it is no longer appropriate to call it the Mormon Church or even the L.D.S. Church. It's "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," yo, or if you insist on a shortened version, "the restored Church of Jesus Christ." Good-bye Mormons, hello members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.; 8/18/18, 3:27 PM
Birkel said...: Sure thing, harrogate.
It must always be somebody else’s problem.

The larger and less directly affected entities will do a better job.
This time for sure!; 8/18/18, 3:28 PM
gilbar said...: no longer appropriate to call it the Mormon Church or even the L.D.S. Church.
Can we just call them The Church of the Mountain Meadows Massacre?; 8/18/18, 3:31 PM
tim in vermont said...: I love how the left mocks the "invisible hand" of market selection, but has zero problem with the "invisible hand" of natural selection. I accept both on account of I try my best to be rational.

Vox has some pretty funny stuff on single-payer, BTW

What about just taxing corporations and rich families? Raising the final $34 trillion would require seizing roughly 100 percent of all corporate profits as well as 100 percent of all family wage income and pass-through business income above the thresholds of $90,000 (single) or $150,000 (married), and absurdly assuming they all continue working. (This calculation refers to individual income, not investment income.) . - Vox

I am sure Occaisional Cortex, the economics major/bartender can fill us all in on how it's going to work.; 8/18/18, 3:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Paco Wové: There's an infuriating article I ran across in the WaPo today...

You ain't kidding. That was unbelievably bad "reporting". Not bad because it was biased, but because it was pretty much devoid of information. It set forth the economic conundrum, but asked no pertinent questions. As you say, just rambling emo bullshit, paragraph after paragraph.

A biased but substantive article is still worth reading. But aside from a dumb, entirely uninformative swipe at the "Republican legislature", the reporter doesn't even organize and present an intelligent, left-biased economic analysis. Hell, I could play devil's advocate and write that article, and it wouldn't take all that much effort and research.

On the upside (especially for a paper with a fair claim to have the world's stupidest commenters), there were a couple of commenters who did point out the questions the writer should have raised, questions that would have been obvious to any honest, competent old-time lefty reporter.; 8/18/18, 3:38 PM
tim in vermont said...: Basically Vox makes the case that single-payer in the US would be far more expensive than in other countries on account of stuff that anybody who has every been "in hospital" abroad already knows. We have waay more technology, we have bigger hospital rooms, we do a lot of pharmaceutical research and development. I read some where that there are individual hospitals in the US that do more medical research than most countries in Europe.; 8/18/18, 3:38 PM
tim in vermont said...: (This calculation refers to individual income, not investment income.)

One wonders what kind of investment income there would be to tax after seizing all corporate profits.; 8/18/18, 3:45 PM
walter said...: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/us/new-hampshire-white-diversify.html; 8/18/18, 3:48 PM
Paco Wové said...: "it's pretty funny that a publication that advocates for illegal immigration at every turn pretends to be interested in that question"

Yes, quite noticeable by its absence is any mention of immigration (legal or otherwise) in that article.

I suspect the article had its genesis as a vehicle for bitching about the Republicans taking shots at public employee unions, and SEIU trotted out Ms. Mocktezuma as the pity-object for this particular instance. Skilless single mother just can't get ahead!; 8/18/18, 3:57 PM
Paco Wové said...: "you would think that Democrats would be ecstatic about numbers like that."

But who will cook their food, mow their lawns, or raise their children?!; 8/18/18, 3:59 PM
Anonymous said...: harrogate:

"Birkel,

It's too bad you took my comment as pro-Democratic Party. Worse, though, your implication that the buck stops with the mayor when an American city's water remains poisoned for years and years."

So please explain how a U.S. municipality ends up with poisoned water? Do you you live in a city or town with safe, potable tap water? How do you think it gets that way and stays that way?

Perhaps the American cities and towns I've lived in have been wildly anomalous, but competent, responsible, locally elected officials had a lot to do with it.; 8/18/18, 3:59 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/18/18, 4:00 PM
harrogate said...: Birkel,

It's almost as though you don't think the state and the federal governments should fix what remains an American city with poisoned water.

Sp... congratulations on having your ideological desires fulfilled.; 8/18/18, 4:00 PM
harrogate said...: Angel-Dyne,

Of course local officials have a lot to do with it. But when things go sideways like this, in addition to fixing blame, fixing the problem might deserve consideration?; 8/18/18, 4:02 PM
Anonymous said...: Paco: I suspect the article had its genesis as a vehicle for bitching about the Republicans taking shots at public employee unions, and SEIU trotted out Ms. Mocktezuma as the pity-object for this particular instance.

You know what really kicks my empathy-and-pity module into overdrive? So much so that it steam-rolls right over my capacity for rational thought and makes me want to vote to have myself taxed even more to alleviate an appalling unfairness? Being told about the tragedy of a public-sector union worker now being forced to fork out $80.00/month (that's EIGHTY freakin' dollars, people!) toward her health insurance, instead of the $0.00 she had to shell out heretofore.

Oh, the humanity.; 8/18/18, 4:20 PM
Birkel said...: I am agreeing with you, harrogate.
I too believe the larger and less-directly affected organizations will do a better job than the smaller and directly affected would.

Doesn’t it make sense, therefore, for you to give me control of your finances?
I swear I will operate in your best interest.; 8/18/18, 4:21 PM
Birkel said...: Pottery Barn Rule only applies to Republicans?; 8/18/18, 4:23 PM
harrogate said...: Birkel,

In good faith. What if, genuinely, the city cannot afford to fix the problem? Then what?; 8/18/18, 4:34 PM
Anonymous said...: harrogate: Of course local officials have a lot to do with it. But when things go sideways like this, in addition to fixing blame, fixing the problem might deserve consideration?

Of course not, harrogate. Obviously anybody pointing out that *local* incompetence is the root of the problem, not a nebulous cabal of racist higher-ups, wants to see people poisoned. It stands to reason.

"Of course local officials have a lot to do with it." Lol. Looking forward to your forgetting you ever said that the next time you drop Flint's water into a thread.; 8/18/18, 4:37 PM
Birkel said...: harrogate,
In good faith, what happens if you cannot pay the bills that you have run up?

Your assets above certain minimums are sold. A city enters receivership.
Your spending habits are curtailed. A city has its promised benefits to municipal employees cut.
Your wife cheats on you with a more successful man. Residents move.; 8/18/18, 4:40 PM
harrogate said...: God. As much as I disagree with you, that was fucking barbed and well-done.

I have to cede the damn round.; 8/18/18, 4:48 PM
harrogate said...: Angel-Dyne,

Please find where I posted that a racist or white supremacist force was to blame for Flint, before you start pre-emptively calling out my future comments. I just think it sucks that two administrations in a row, and multiple Congresses in a row, have ignored the problem.; 8/18/18, 4:50 PM
Michael K said...: I'm thinking of building a barn owl box. Anybody done that ?

We have barn owls around here. I see them when going to work at 4 AM.

I've got a set of plans but wonder if anybody has done it.

Politics is not the world.; 8/18/18, 4:54 PM
harrogate said...: Michael K,

My brother recently built one with the help of a buddy, and they had a blast. He posted pictures of it about a month ago. I have zero construction skills but he does, and he keeps talking about it even tho his Oakland As are on fire.; 8/18/18, 4:56 PM
J. Farmer said...: Socialism vs. capitalism is a 19th century anachronism that has little relevance to the modern world. Since the second industrial revolution, the world by and large has settled on mixed economies that combine state intervention and public enterprise with private property and market dynamics. This is true of the much vaunted free market economies of Hong Kong and Singapore and the so called "socialist" economies of Scandinavia.

As Michael Young predicted in his 1958 dystopian satire The Rise of the Meritocracy, and as Charles Murray documented in The Bell Curve, the massive increase in complexity brought about by industrialization as stratified society along meritocratic lines. It is not so much the 1% versus the rest of us as the top 20% versus the bottom 80%. If you have an IQ of 115 or higher, you have more than likely seen a net benefit from globalization.

Outsourcing and mass immigration are perfectly defensible from libertarian, GDP-maximizing perspectives. People always found it odd when I told them that my second choice for President after Trump was Bernie Sanders. Yet, the differences between Trump and Sanders are more style than substance. Both recognize that in order to improve the lot of the average American, they most oppose the elite agenda that has been in force for at least the last 30 years. For all the "derangement syndromes" infecting both sides of the aisle, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, and Obama have all been poster children for the elite agenda and each dutifully worked to bring it into existence.; 8/18/18, 5:06 PM
rhhardin said...: "One study found that IQ scores related to spatial skills rose eight to nine points after the subjects listened to Mozart."

IQ related to subtlety fell those same eight to nine points, I'd wager.

Mass in C minor was okay.; 8/18/18, 5:17 PM
Leigh said...: For the "gender is a social construct but only when it suits me" file ...

https://www.city-journal.org/html/gender-construct-16117.html; 8/18/18, 5:20 PM
Sebastian said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/18/18, 5:28 PM
Birkel said...: harrogate,
I appreciate the back and forth.; 8/18/18, 5:39 PM
Sebastian said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/18/18, 5:43 PM
Sebastian said...: Ah, yes, the Flint water crisis -- umm, panic.

Here's Kevin Drum, in Mother Jones of all places:

[T]he health effects are, in fact, pretty minimal. With a few rare exceptions, the level of lead contamination caused by Flint’s water won’t cause any noticeable cognitive problems in children. It will not lower IQs or increase crime rates 20 years from now. It will not cause ADHD. It will not affect anyone’s ability to play sports. It will not cause anyone’s hair to fall out. It will not cause cancer. And “lead leaching” vegetables don’t work.

For two years, about 5 percent of the children in Flint recorded blood lead levels greater than 5 m/d. This is a very moderate level for a short period of time. In every single year before 2010, Flint was above this number; usually far, far above."

And a Journal of Pediatrics study:

"The use of Flint River water from April 25, 2014, to October 15, 2015, in Flint coincided with an increase in BLLs of young children in Flint, Michigan. This investigation reveals that BLLs during the Flint River water exposure did not exceed values found before 2013. Over the 11-year period of 2006-2016, there was a 72.9% decrease in the percentage of children with BLLs ≥5.0 g/dL and a 50.6% decrease in GM BLLs. A random and quantitatively similar increase in BLLs occurred in 2010-
2011, which was 4 years before the Flint River water switch. These findings suggest that public health efforts to reduce BLLs of young children in Flint have been effective over the 11-year period studied."

At least in this case, some of the MSM and some responsible researchers quickly exploded the BS. But in how many cases did the BS continue to pollute the culture long after (Katrina, Love Canal . . .)?; 8/18/18, 5:45 PM
Sebastian said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/18/18, 5:47 PM
Sebastian said...: Apologies for two long posts -- just want to give a shoutout to . . . the New York effing Times, for helping to clear up the Flint BS:

"In the mid-1970s, the average American child under the age of 5 had a blood lead level of 14 micrograms per deciliter. The good news is that by 2014 it had fallen dramatically, to 0.84 micrograms per deciliter, largely because of the banning of lead in paint and the phaseout of lead in gasoline, among other measures.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now considers a blood lead level in children of 5 micrograms per deciliter and higher to be a “reference level.” This measure is intended to identify children at higher risk and set off communitywide prevention activities.

It does not suggest that a child needs medical treatment. In fact, the C.D.C. recommends medical treatment only for blood lead levels at or above 45 micrograms per deciliter. Not a single child in Flint tested this high. This was a surprise for several visiting celebrities, who requested a visit to the “lead ward” of Hurley Children’s Hospital.

Nonetheless, the reference level has been misinterpreted by laypeople — and even public health officials — as a poisoning threshold.

After Flint’s water was switched from Detroit’s municipal system to the Flint River, the annual percentage of Flint children whose blood lead levels surpassed the reference level did increase — but only from 2.2 percent to 3.7 percent. . .

Moving from evaluating percentages to examining actual blood lead levels in children, we found that levels did increase after the water switched over in 2014, but only by a modest 0.11 micrograms per deciliter. A similar increase of 0.12 micrograms per deciliter occurred randomly in 2010-11. It is not possible, statistically speaking, to distinguish the increase that occurred at the height of the contamination crisis from other random variations over the previous decade.

For comparison, consider the fact that just 20 years ago, nearly 45 percent of young children in Michigan had blood lead levels above the current reference level. If we are to be consistent in the labeling of Flint children as “poisoned,” what are we to make of the average American who was a child in the 1970s or earlier? Answer: He has been poisoned and is brain-damaged. And poisoned with lead levels far above, and for a greater period, than those observed in Flint.

A comprehensive analysis of blood lead levels across the United States reveals at least eight states with blood lead levels higher than Flint’s were during the water switch."; 8/18/18, 5:48 PM
Hagar said...: There is no "poison" in the water in Flint any more than there is in Detroit where they now import their water from. The difference is only that Detroit pre-treat their water properly, which Flint did not do.
The operation of the local water treatment plant is strictly the responsibility of the local government.
The problem of lead contamination of the water after it leaves the plant from old lead pipe water services and lead pipe fittings in the building plumbing in the older cities is well known as is the pre-treatment of the water required to ameliorate it.

There should be a Federal requirement for municipalities to have a program to identify and remove lead services and fittings in a rational manner over time as there is for combined sanitary sewers and storm drains, but there isn't.; 8/18/18, 5:57 PM
Michael K said...: "Here's Kevin Drum, in Mother Jones of all places:"

Kevin Drum is an honest leftist who I trust to tell the truth implicitly.

I used to read his own blog, Calpundit, then moved with him to Washington Monthly where I read his posts and commented until the Left, not Kevin, went nuts in 2004. Kevin went to Texas to research that Bush TANG story and concluded it was not true long before Dan Rather did his pratfall.

However, about the same time, the leftists there began to attack me for disagreeing, then the attacks got to resemble Ritmo, then they banned me. For a while, my comments would be deleted and the nasty attacks in response would still be posted.

I finally gave up but have great respect for Kevin. I could not even wish him well when he had Hodgkins disease a couple of years ago.; 8/18/18, 5:59 PM
walter said...: "the differences between Trump and Sanders are more style than substance."
More accurate if reversed; 8/18/18, 6:34 PM
JackWayne said...: Interesting post on Zerohedge that the James Madison Project has persuaded a judge that the FBI has to release the documents that show how the Steele Dossier was verified. ZH tends to be a bit breathless, but it looks to me that as the swamp is drained the defensive square is collapsing.; 8/18/18, 6:38 PM
Birkel said...: Jack Wayne,
The square is smaller than you think.
And the people inside the square are well-aware of their respective positions.
The list of people with exposure includes Brennan (obviously), a few senators, and most of the Obama Administration security team.
If Obama escapes, it will be due to a Trump pardon.

Count me bullish.
And count the number of times on this blog I have been too far in front of my skis.

Marker.
Placed.; 8/18/18, 8:42 PM
Roughcoat said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/18/18, 10:33 PM
Triangle Man said...: Michael K. I wanted to apologize for offending you the other day when I wondered why you would defend white supremacists chanting "jews will not replace us." I believe that among the versions of videos of that event, there are some in which the chants are "you" rather than "jews" and that you may have been ignorant of the other versions where they were chanting "jews will not replace us."; 8/18/18, 11:04 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Vietnam veteran pastor, 69, is arrested for assaulting staff at a Uganda hotel and using the N-word on a 'drunken' rampage' while on a Christian missionary trip

Explain.; 8/18/18, 11:29 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Shocking video shows black man being 'beaten, punched and kicked by six North Carolina police officers'

My sense of patriotism is running thin.; 8/18/18, 11:32 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: This criminal's free speech is the hill the Right wants to die on: Alex Jones is accused of destroying evidence in Sandy Hook defamation case after deleting videos in response to threats of a ban from Twitter

I bet you they wouldn't if he was black.; 8/18/18, 11:36 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: White woman 'calls the cops on black corrections officer she presumed was a thief because he was struggling to open his own car'

America, America, God shed his grace on theeeeeeeeeee,...; 8/18/18, 11:38 PM
wholelottasplainin said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/18/18, 11:43 PM
wholelottasplainin said...: Miss Ann, I have to say it is enormously petty of you to CENSOR my comment yesterday based on an inane and capricious infraction of your posting "rules", which are not "posted", but supposedly something everyone should know, write down somewhere, and tremble against infracting.

So..Crack, whom you condescend to you by allowing him to post inanity after inanity (because :"that's what Black Folk do, is to be inane and butthurt about life"?) is given free rein, but a formatting error gets me censored.

AceofSpades went through this a few years ago, simply because he could not bring himself to hire a competent webmaster capable of obviating arcane posting restrictions imposed by an archaic system.

But HE, unlike you, had the integrity TO INFORM THEM THEY HAD VIOLATED the standard and given them the chance to correct it before accepting their comments.
Y
But you? No. For you it's censor and be damned.

Apparently your hierarchy of values goes like this: proper formatting comes first and foremost, and ideas/opinions come later, much later. If ever.

Your self-proclaimed commitment to intellectual inquiry just falls apart.; 8/19/18, 12:03 AM
narciso said...: You mean like the way various networks altered evidence in video audio and other controversies, and libel suits,were deemed not relevant to said case.; 8/19/18, 12:08 AM
narciso said...: You want to go all the way to Uganda, the home of the lords resistance army (They apparently are the folks targeting me chiffre for bad debts in casino royale); 8/19/18, 12:23 AM
narciso said...: Speaking of Which, the late kofi Annan failure to stop Rwandan massacre, where does that rate; 8/19/18, 12:27 AM
gadfly said...: Blogger Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
Kimberley Strassel DISMANTLES Washington Post fact check of Bruce Ohr

Dismantling the agenda(D) hacks is the real journalism.

Strassel is wrong about a couple of things. This whole Trump tirade began because Ohr's wife worked for the firm that the Hillary's campaign hired to do oppo research on Trump. Its a really old story that has nothing to do with Bruce Ohr's work as a protected Federal employee.

Sean Hannity has been repeating his machine gun "no corruption" for far too long so he reopened the nonexistent relationship between Ohr and his wife's job - and of course, Trump chases everything that Sean tells him.

When the job first surfaced a long time ago, the Justice Dept demoted Ohr for having done nothing wrong but now Trump's unreasonable mind has again been fired up.

I am personally disappointed that the GOP conservatives that I believed in for years are just as dishonest as the liberal Dems. If Ohr committed a fireable offense, there are Civil Service rules that need to be followed. Trump is getting worse every day.; 8/19/18, 1:59 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Jay Elink said...

"Miss Ann, I have to say it is enormously petty of you to CENSOR my comment yesterday based on an inane and capricious infraction...Crack, whom you condescend to you by allowing him to post inanity after inanity..."

Oooh ("Miss Ann" is a derogatory term). That I always become the focus of the commenters here - the one (1) black American who does not agree on the one (1) issue of reparations - would be odd if it wasn't so much like walking outside my front door, and subjecting myself to the country some of you think so much of (the one time I wasn't made to feel different was in the 80s in Thailand. No eyes watching me, no one following me around in stores, etc. - you know, Freedom. That's an amazing fact to think about, considering I'd only had my home to compare Thailand with, at the time). That you can't see it is even more curious. A warning your blindspot is in full-effect. A warning you can't see.

I think Ann knows I bullshit you guys a lot - because you spout bullshit. I'm not Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, or even Ta-Nehisi Coates or BLM, but some of you can make anybody dislike you, right along those same lines, because your "issues" are ultimately no different than theirs: power. That you turn it all over to me is flattering, but, as you notice, it doesn't help me or the blog at all, and I wish you would stop. I'm good but I'm not that good.

As for you specifically, yesterday I sat with a poor black family, deciding what they're going to eat from "Mickey Donalds". If you think it's "inanity" for me to be charmed by them, to feel for them, to post about them, or to defend them, well, I think expecting Ann to feel sorry for you, after you broke the rules here, as set by others, is expecting just a little too much. You're a big fan of being extreme - quit bitchin' and live with it. I, on the other hand, have just started saying "Mickey Donalds" like a mothafucka, and don't think I'm likely to change.; 8/19/18, 5:50 AM
FIDO said...: Okay, I'll take a swing at it.

When you, for valid or invalid reasons, get very angry at a person, you say things to try to hurt their feelings.

So a Vietnam Vet, being accosted, insulted or attacked by a black person he does not know or like, will likely call him a name which he would NEVER call one of his Black Brothers in Arms from the Mekong Delta.

This is called 'nuance', things that a five year old understands.

The semantic difference between 'that' word and 'you felching NAMBLA supporting asswipe' is essentially zero...they both mean 'I don't like you.'; 8/19/18, 6:43 AM
tim in vermont said...: Alex Jones is maybe a moron or a tool, I don’t know, I don’t read him, but whom do we appoint as the moron ref? There isn’t anybody I would trust with that job. I wouldn’t trust anybody to monitor Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s show either, BTW.

It’s called free speech.; 8/19/18, 6:50 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: tim in vermont said..
.
"Alex Jones is maybe a moron or a tool, I don’t know, I don’t read him, but whom do we appoint as the moron ref? There isn’t anybody I would trust with that job. I wouldn’t trust anybody to monitor Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s show either, BTW.

It’s called free speech."

It is not. It's the Wild West Medicine Show that Americans used to chase out of town with shotguns for ripping people off and causing trouble. Why can't we start applying some simple logic and responsibility to our society? If we know supplements are useless and a racket - and we do - why aren't we outing supplement peddlers as misinformers and kicking them out of our lives?

Because your favorite cow will probably be slaughtered, that's why. Y'all don't care about America or Americans. You're all bullshit artists.; 8/19/18, 7:48 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: tim in vermont said..
.
"whom do we appoint as the moron ref?"

Why do we have to appoint anyone to anything? If we know psychics are frauds, why aren't we arresting psychics for fraud? Why let people go on thinking they talk to the dead, and letting them earn money, and then forcing innocent Americans who have to endure whatever fallout comes from THAT nightmare, to do so, alone, with a possible mental case who believes nonsense?

It doesn't require some special appointment. It requires a desire to simply make sense.; 8/19/18, 7:52 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: FIDO said...

"Okay, I'll take a swing at it."

And then you left the word "Pastor" out of your whole excuse. FAIL.; 8/19/18, 7:53 AM
Paco Wové said...: Stop blubbering and put on your white man pants, Jay.; 8/19/18, 8:17 AM
Birkel said...: Non-falsifiable theories are the best kind.; 8/19/18, 8:32 AM
Michael K said...: I am personally disappointed that the GOP conservatives that I believed in for years are just as dishonest as the liberal Dems. If Ohr committed a fireable offense, there are Civil Service rules that need to be followed. Trump is getting worse every day.

Poor gadfly. Your world will come crashing down soon as Ohr is shown to be the criminal he is.

China is about to cave on the "trade war" and Mueller's Inspector Javert role is going to come to a nasty end when that Manafort jury comes in.; 8/19/18, 8:52 AM
Drago said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/19/18, 9:03 AM
Drago said...: Crack: "Why let people go on thinking they talk to the dead,..."

Because when Billy the rapist Clinton relayed Hillary's "communing" and speaking with the spirit if Eleanor Roosevelt it would have been too difficult to fight thru the Secret Service to make a Citizens Arrest; 8/19/18, 9:03 AM
Drago said...: Its adorable when gadfly attempts to post on his/her own outside the protective umbrella of LLR Chuck's hilariously imcompetent tutelage and oversight!

Its like watching a toddler hesitantly taking his/her first tentative steps.

Inevitably they will end up on their rear ends but its fun to see how far they can get before that.; 8/19/18, 10:08 AM
Drago said...: Michael K: "I am personally disappointed that the GOP conservatives that I believed in for years are just as dishonest as the liberal Dems."

LOL

That comment nominated for "Least Successful Concern Troll Effort Award" for 2018!

You know, it doesnt really matter if gadfly wins the award or not. Its really an honor just to be nominated.; 8/19/18, 10:11 AM
tim in vermont said...: Why can't we start applying some simple logic and responsibility to our society?

There is no such thing as “simple logic” where politics is involved. If it weren’t for the politics, for example, climate science would be an entirely different thing.; 8/19/18, 12:30 PM
wholelottasplainin said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/19/18, 4:11 PM
wholelottasplainin said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/19/18, 4:29 PM
wholelottasplainin said...: Blogger Jay Elink said...
Crack bullshit, part 2:

"As for you specifically, yesterday I sat with a poor black family, deciding what they're going to eat from "Mickey Donalds". If you think it's "inanity" for me to be charmed by them, to feel for them, to post about them, or to defend them, well, I think expecting Ann to feel sorry for you, after you broke the rules here, as set by others, is expecting just a little too much. You're a big fan of being extreme - quit bitchin' and live with it. I, on the other hand, have just started saying "Mickey Donalds" like a mothafucka, and don't think I'm likely to change.

>>>> More bullshit. How big was this family? Any father? What's their monthly welfare budget? How far did the parent(s) get in terms of an education? WHY IS IT WHITEY"S fault if they didn't bother to marry, finish school etc.? Why are they not shopping for cheaper, more nutritious food?

(So go ahead and tell us the facts about this charming family, and BACK THOSE FACTS up)

Most importantly: why is it WHITEY'S fault that you are angry and resentful? That the family is poor and stupid.

It's amazing how you, the purported "woke" black, just duck your head and justify a blow from Miss Ann for "violating the rules". Arbitrary rules at that.

You remind me of Egypt's famous "Narmer Palette":

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=King+Narmer+Palette&FORM=IDINTS

That's you, right there, Crack, submitting to the Pharaohs'"rules", only in this case defeated by imaginary adversaries in your head and not by physical combat.

If you are "charmed" by people who somehow haven't got the brain cells to manage their lives to the point that they can't manage their own BASIC economic lives, AND THEN BLAME IT ON WHITEY, you are one dull, dull tool.

>>>>As for "reparations": Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe confiscated all white lands as "reparations".

What happened? The country is now economically FUCKED, a basket case. Ditto Cuba. Ditto Venezuela.

Now South Africa wants to do the same thing. And expects a different outcome. That's a definition of insanity.

Grievance-mongering is no substitute for being an adult.

Give us your treatise on "What Has to Be Done". Tell us what you are DOING as a Social Justice Warrior to change our society.

Or tell us which country, African or otherwise,you are emmigrating to, to avoid all this racism holding you back.

Otherwise you're just another balless bleating whiner.; 8/19/18, 4:37 PM
wholelottasplainin said...: Crack YAKKITY YAK: Oooh ("Miss Ann" is a derogatory term).

************************
>>>>Oh really? When "Hank Ballard and the Midnighters" put out a song with that title back in the late 50's, were they dissing white ladies? SNORT.

Crack: That I always become the focus of the commenters here - the one (1) black American who does not agree on the one (1) issue of reparations - would be odd if it wasn't so much like walking outside my front door, and subjecting myself to the country some of you think so much of (the one time I wasn't made to feel different was in the 80s in Thailand. No eyes watching me, no one following me around in stores, etc. - you know, Freedom.

>>>> What a load of shit. Unlike YOU, I have lived and worked in many Asian countries. Most are much more racist than any American--not just toward blacks, but to anyone other than their own. Thailand discriminates less against Africans, because American blacks they encountered during war years were much better-behaved than Africans. (Japanese, Chinese and Koreans were all well-down on that list.)

Crack: I think Ann knows I bullshit you guys a lot - because you spout bullshit.

>>>>Oh yeah--that advances the intellectual discussion, don't it, makes you a serious commentor --- snort. I'm sure a law professor want to encourage bullshit on her website. Just as she would have in court, or in her law classes. You sound like Jon Stewart, who used to put his "comedian hat" on when his bullshit was shot down for being what it was.

>>>>My take is" Miss Ann tolerates you because of her "soft bigotry". You're her black court jester, good for laughs but not for substance.

>>>>But thanks for conceding you're not "really" serious---we'll ALL remember that in the future.

Crack: I'm not Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, or even Ta-Nehisi Coates or BLM, but some of you can make anybody dislike you, right along those same lines, because your "issues" are ultimately no different than theirs: power.

>>> That we don't turn it (power) over to you?! You just spout bullshit and we respond to it. But, OK, what "power" would you want turned over to you that doesn't involve "whitey giving me money and free shit"?

Crack: That you turn it all over to me is flattering, but, as you notice, it doesn't help me or the blog at all, and I wish you would stop. I'm good but I'm not that good.

>>>>what bullshit: you put yourself out there, and then complain when people respond to your butt-hurt inanity.

>>>>And you flatter yourself: You're not even "not that good"; 8/19/18, 4:49 PM