Althouse: At the Late Night Cafe...

September 13, 2018

At the Late Night Cafe...

... you can write about whatever you want.

91 comments:

Lucien said...: Looks like Feinstein is trying to establish her street cred as lowest of the low. The base will eat this up!
Well played Shy Di Fi!; 9/13/18, 9:06 PM
iowan2 said...: Feinstein should be censored by the Senate. This is worse by orders of magnitude than anything President Trump has been imagined to have done.; 9/13/18, 9:11 PM
Original Mike said...: As a non-liberal I’ve been saying for decades that I repected Diane Feinstein.

What was I thinking?; 9/13/18, 9:12 PM
~ Gordon Pasha said...: Info was passed to her by her former Chinese driver?; 9/13/18, 9:16 PM
traditionalguy said...: The double secret accusation seems to be that Kavanaugh was reported to be a heterosexual male in High School and he could talk his way into anything back then. He sounds dangerous to me.9; 9/13/18, 9:19 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Hopefully, Kavanaugh has a spine and can "resist" these smear tactics. Clarence Thomas, to his immense credit, had a spine and stood tall in the face of the Legtwing smear campaign. I hope Kavanaugh stands equally tall. No time for Romney-like choir boys. These fuckers will lie, scheme, disrupt, proclaim themselves "Spartacus" and do ANYTHING to thwart Kavanaugh's confirmation.; 9/13/18, 9:21 PM
eric said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/13/18, 9:23 PM
Comanche Voter said...: This is high school--maybe high school sex, maybe high school cliques, maybe Kavanaugh didn't invite someone to the prom and broke her heart. So flippin' what?; 9/13/18, 9:24 PM
eric said...: Anyone know if there is a "Lives due to the Hurricane" factor in figuring out hurricane life and death?

I ask because I've been hearing all day that Hurricane Maria caused an extra 3,000 people to die. When I looked at the Puerto Rico death rate, though, for 2016 and 2017, it actually went down in 2017.

Which seems reasonable to me. Why? Because lot's of attention is paid to a place after a disaster. Lot's of money and volunteers and charities go into the area. Plus, many people probably come together and help one another after a disaster.

But other than finding out the death rate, I haven't been able to get monthly numbers (Except January 2018 where the murder rate spiked, gee, I wonder why that's the only number I can get) but I suspect there is a "Lives due to the Hurricane" that aren't counted in these studies. Only "Deaths due to the Hurricane" which seems like a poor way to do a study.; 9/13/18, 9:24 PM
rhhardin said...: Women aren't well-balanced mentally.; 9/13/18, 9:26 PM
Lucien said...: I saw part of an interview with RBG at an Asian Pacific American Bar Association shindig at GW LawSchool.

She looks frail. Any lawyer would cringe at the sight of her on the bench. Time to go.; 9/13/18, 9:28 PM
rhhardin said...: Kroger apparently is remodelling all its stores, making things impossible to find, and even if you do find them they've moved again the next day; and putting up a Walmart ambience at Kroger prices. Aisles closer together, rough backings of adjacent aisles.

Apparently corporate suicide is the plan.; 9/13/18, 9:29 PM
Be said...: Just looking out for the Anti Boston dregs (and you are Dregs) I need to keep my baseball bat angled against.

Hoping that you and Mr. Meade are doing okay. My dad, who had a couple conversations with you both back in the day, just passed.

There has been a lot going on about the nature of mental illness and the right to firearms on his quarter, that I need to figure out here.; 9/13/18, 9:34 PM
Andrew said...: Now we find out Lisa Page was a Clinton intern. This just keeps getting better and better.; 9/13/18, 9:35 PM
Christy said...: What's the downside of Trump pulling a judo move and, with a nod to Bernie, nationalizing Google?; 9/13/18, 9:40 PM
Michael K said...: The DSA member just won the state Senate primary in NY. Cuomo beat Nixon.

She should have changed her name.; 9/13/18, 9:47 PM
narciso said...: The fraud who went from pro Israel evangelical to bds ridden Jewish communist?; 9/13/18, 9:57 PM
Spiros Pappas said...: I don't believe 3000 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria.; 9/13/18, 9:59 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/13/18, 10:03 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Looks like Feinstein is trying to establish her street cred as lowest of the low.

When Booker and Harris go low, Feinstein goes even lower!; 9/13/18, 10:03 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: When Feinstein herself was in high school, she was one of those mean girls who invented and spread nasty, sexual rumors about other students.; 9/13/18, 10:06 PM
gilbar said...: back in the day, there was a Terrible Heat Wave in France, in August; and thousands and thousands (and Thousands!!) died: DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING!

Then, people mentioned that ALL Doctors in france go on vacation for the month of August; and that thousands and thousands (and Thousands!) die Every August.
Then people mentioned that the number of people dying (DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING!) was ANYONE that died that August . . .

That said; are you people denying that 3,000 people died in PR since Hurricane Maria?; 9/13/18, 10:08 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: The FBI decided not to "investigate" Feinstein's letter because now the FBI is afraid of the Republicans in the Congress.

Two years ago, the FBI would have established a FISA warrant to search through all of Kavanaugh's communications -- back to his high-school years.

The FBI would have been entrapping Kavanaugh with female agents who look like high-school girls.

Now, though, the FBI is afraid of the Republicans in Congress.; 9/13/18, 10:14 PM
Owen said...: I think Kavanaugh should have his second call on Feinstein's second and demand satisfaction. Pistols at dawn.

Serious here. In the old days when one's honor was everything, it was guarded jealously. To slander someone was to invite mortal combat. Then it became passé and a curious old custom, because we all knew better. But now? With social media spreading a smear at light speed around the entire planet without any hope of correction or apology? Suddenly we face again this disconnect between the calumny and the consequence, and the best way to reconnect them may be with blood.

Worth a try.; 9/13/18, 10:15 PM
narciso said...: Yes there is no evidence a whole host of if he studies are more accurate.; 9/13/18, 10:17 PM
eddie willers said...: Clarence Thomas, to his immense credit, had a spine and stood tall in the face of the Left Wing smear campaign.

That was the moment I stood up and cheered and vowed to never again vote for a Democrat. ANY Democrat. (and I was a straight ticket voting Yellow Dog Democrat at the time); 9/13/18, 10:26 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: The two things I recall from the Thomas hearings are:

1) Strom Thurmond's "Speak into the machine!" (microphone)

2) A very prolix black guy who was brought on to support Thomas, and probably did, I guess, but ended up talking for half an hour mostly promoting himself. I wonder from time to time whatever happened to him.; 9/13/18, 10:31 PM
bbkingfish said...: McConnell begged Trump to pick one of the other finalists.

But, noooo...Trump really liked the sexual predator. What a maroon!

This is a classic lose-lose for the GOP. If they jam Kavanaugh through, they lose the Senate. If they make Kavanaugh walk the plank, they may lose it anyway. Guys like Ted Cruz and Dean Heller are shitting their pants tonight. They might as well have nominated Jerry Sandusky.

Boy, the Dems played this beautifully.; 9/13/18, 10:41 PM
Jon Ericson said...: Wow.; 9/13/18, 10:47 PM
wildswan said...: Personally I'm sure that Judge Kavanaugh is a great pick for the Court. And I don't listen to any stories suddenly presented as a deadline comes nearer. That used to be an effective tactic - save up bad stuff till close to the election or the Senate vote. Now, that timing suggests to me that I am hearing a planted lie. And all these stories about Hurricane Florence (whoever she is) and Trump - it will all blow over before I know what it is all about because I'm not really listening. There's only so many hours in a day and the Dems have developed a new Lie of the Hour program. Why answer them when the lie will be different by the next day?; 9/13/18, 10:48 PM
Sebastian said...: "That was the moment I stood up and cheered and vowed to never again vote for a Democrat. ANY Democrat."

Of course.

But the question for the Althouses of the world, which is not to disparage the uniqueness of our hostess, but you know what I mean, is what, if anything, the Dems can do that would make them take the same vow. The borking of Bork and Thomas didn't do it. The boinking of Juanita and Paula and Monica didn't do it. Will the borking of Kavanaugh? If not that, what? Anything?; 9/13/18, 10:48 PM
Owen said...: bbkingfish: what are you talking about? So far we have been told that Feinstein has a letter from somebody that reports on a complaint by somebody else (who adamantly refuses to be identified) about something that happened in...high school. That is, 35-plus years ago.

So we have triple hearsay about "something" where the key witness never filed a complaint and refuses to cooperate now. Where Feinstein gave the information to the FBI and it has declined to do anything. About something that might could allegedly maybe have happened...35 years ago.

Wow. That's the kind of case any litigator dreams of getting.; 9/13/18, 10:51 PM
William said...: The Dems and the news organizations never had much luck policing or reporting on the various rapists and pervs within their own ranks, but they will not rest until,all the details of this sordid relationship is revealed.; 9/13/18, 10:51 PM
wildswan said...: These political stories are like the weather channel. Way offshore a mighty storm develops. Dread pictures from the satellite. A vast cone of probable devastation. No gas, no food, no ice. A smaller cone of possible devastation. Well, well, ... it's raining hard in Florida, well, onto to something else.; 9/13/18, 10:54 PM
eddie willers said...: The borking of Bork and Thomas didn't do it. The boinking of Juanita and Paula and Monica didn't do it. Will the borking of Kavanaugh? If not that, what? Anything?

I once thought it would have been their treatment of Sarah Palin. Boy, was I wrong.

I guess my hope lies with Candace Owens.; 9/13/18, 10:54 PM
William said...: The party of Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Anthony Weiner is ready to stand behind women everywhere and push forward to help them achieve their goals.; 9/13/18, 10:54 PM
eddie willers said...: So we have triple hearsay about "something" where the key witness never filed a complaint and refuses to cooperate now. Where Feinstein gave the information to the FBI and it has declined to do anything.

Mark Steyn pointed out tonight (on Tucker Carlson) that it would have been adjudicated in Juvenile Court.; 9/13/18, 10:56 PM
Owen said...: Eddie willers: "...would have been adjudicated in Juvenile Court."

OMG: that's child abuse, right there. Book him!; 9/13/18, 10:59 PM
Matt Sablan said...: "I think Kavanaugh should have his second call on Feinstein's second and demand satisfaction."

-- In a more serious way, sorry Feinstein. You exposed this woman -- Kavanaugh has the right to face his accuser. She asked you not to do this, but you did anyway. Why? Because Feinstein knows she can get away with launching the allegation without ever having to back it up.

She should be drawn to account and made to produce the accuser.; 9/13/18, 10:59 PM
Darrell said...: Boy, the Dems played this beautifully.

What a delusional person says. . .; 9/13/18, 11:02 PM
Ralph L said...: It's the same tactic Biden used with Anita Hill. The Repub senators forced him to bring her into the open. She said she didn't want to.; 9/13/18, 11:08 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Here are key dates in 2016.

April 29 -- DNC becomes aware that its server is penetrated

May 5 -- CrowdStrike begins special monitoring of the DNC server

May 25 -- Seth Rich downloads files from DNC server

June 12 -- Julian Assange announces he soon will release e-mails related to Clinton

June 14 -- Washington Post reports that CrowdStrike says Russia is the hacker

June 15 -- Guccifer 2.0 boasts that he hacked the DNC server

July 10 -- Seth Rich murdered.

October 7 -- Assange begins to release the DNC files

October 7 -- DNI Clapper accuses Russian Government of stealing and releasing the files

-------

The two events on October 7 were not a coincidence. Clapper had his Joint Statement ready to be published immediately after Assange began to release the files.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/10/07/joint-statement-department-homeland-security-and-office-director-national

The fundamental purpose of Clapper's Joint Statement was to prepare the ground on which Hillary Clinton and her DNC would dismiss all the released files as having been altered by Russian Intelligence.

If Assange had decided not to release the stolen DNC files, then Clapper never would have published his Joint Statement. Clapper waited for Assange to act. On October 7, Assange acted, and so Clapper too acted on that very same day.

Clapper's Joint Statement was signed only by Clapper and by the Director of Homeland Security. Soon, Clinton began to declare that Clapper's Joint Statement was an opinion shared by all 17 Intelligence agencies of the USA.

Clapper knew that Clinton's declaration was a lie, but he did not correct it for the electorate's benefit, because he figured that the lie was helping Clinton to defeat Trump in the election race.

=====

Clapper's Joint Statement said not only that the Russian Government had directed the stealing and releasing of the DNC files but also that the Russian Government had done so in order "to interfere in the US election process".

This alleged motive of the Russian Government was important, because Clapper intended that his Joint Statement would enable Clinton to dismiss all the released files as having been altered by Russian Intelligence. Clapper wanted the electorate to believe that the Russian Government was so strongly motivated that it would expend the time and effort necessary to alter -- not merely to release -- the stolen files.; 9/13/18, 11:17 PM
narciso said...: Its like shooting womprats:

https://mobile.twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1040402313242976257; 9/13/18, 11:17 PM
buwaya said...: Anne Applebaum does a hit job on Poland in the Atlantic - apparently Poland is undemocratic, now, because its citizens have elected a government of which she (and her husband, an ex-minister of the main opposition party) disapproves, and according to opinion polls, they still support it. YMMV with polls, but in Poland anyway they do seem to reflect election results in terms of parliamentary representation. An easier thing to get right than the excruciating margins of US first past the post elections.

She leaves out EU hostility and the bien pensant disgust with Polish identity, including their very old-fashioned conservatism.

She also takes a bunch of whacks against Hungary and Viktor Orban.; 9/13/18, 11:18 PM
eddie willers said...: Kavanaugh has the right to face his accuser. She asked you not to do this, but you did anyway.

Yep. I got the same impression that this woman didn't want Feinstein to do a damn thing with this. "Just leave it, and me, alone!"

What a betrayal.; 9/13/18, 11:19 PM
narciso said...: She also compared Poland to dreyfud era France, but considering that the Atlantic has been steeped in category error perhaps in the last ten years.; 9/13/18, 11:22 PM
narciso said...: Natasha Bertrand is their designated fusion gps recipient, that's the outfit that posited the ridiculous chabad putin; 9/13/18, 11:27 PM
Arashi said...: bbkingfish - What the hell are you smoking, and did you bring enough for everybody?

The Guardian is saying that the horrible event was Kavanaugh and one other 17 year old locking another 17 year old (of the female persuasion) in a room by herself at a party She managed to get out of the room by herself.

OMG - break out the cross and nails. Bring the tar, feathers and rail.

And don't forget the smelling salts for all the people with the vapors.; 9/13/18, 11:30 PM
Darrell said...: Doctor Who does the Hillary celebratory video you never got to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm2PXshWC_0

Doctor Who Who.; 9/13/18, 11:46 PM
buwaya said...: The usual narrative of the Dreyfus affair story ignores the perspective of French history and politics.

This was not simply an individual injustice, but a nasty, vicious power struggle between, of course, conservatives (very Catholic) and liberals (anticlerical). The conservatives got locked into backing a bad and unjust cause, in the case of one man.

But in the larger picture it was a bloody shirt for the left that helped them pass anticlerical laws. And moreover administer the army in such a way as to blackball and purge many Catholic officers (most of the professional caste of officers were Catholic conservatives), using politico-cultural preferences to stoke a constant bitter conflict, leading to confusion that did much to hamper the army, come 1914.; 9/13/18, 11:52 PM
Roughcoat said...: Poland twice saved Western Europe and Western Civilization from destruction by the forces of evil -- first in 1683 in the Battle of Vienna and then in 1920 in the Battle of Warsaw. And they played a decisive role in bringing about the collapse of Soviet Communism and winning the Cold War. If Polish conservatism is a strong whiskey, I say let's buy a bottle for all of our policymakers.; 9/13/18, 11:52 PM
narciso said...: Also it was set against the canal scandal, the anarchists and the last wave of boulangers supporters.; 9/13/18, 11:54 PM
chickelit said...: @Be: sorry to overhear that about your dad. Did he post here too?; 9/13/18, 11:55 PM
buwaya said...: Perhaps coincidentally, Poland and Hungary are both seeing >4% GDP growth this year, in spite of the occlusion of the bien-pensants that Applebaum decries.

This success is not welcome to the EU which has passed sanctions against Hungary.

The parallels with the US are striking.; 9/13/18, 11:59 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: " ... I have followed the news about Mormonism, which has often been unflattering to the institution of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That’s not because journalists have been unfair to the Church; it’s been because the Church has too often chosen the comfort of empire over the cause of justice."

"For example, [September12th], a MormonLeaks document was released to the public that has been discomfiting to say the least. It was apparently an internal memorandum from the Salt Lake City law firm Kirton McConkie detailing several cases of alleged or admitted sexual misconduct on the part of various LDS church leaders and missionaries."

"I’m bothered as much the banal bureaucracy of the cover-up as the abuse itself. This two-page document seems to chronicle only about two months in 2012, which of course begs the question: how many more such memos are out there, detailing the Church’s attempts to hide, obfuscate, delay or otherwise deny justice to victims? So filing reports like this is a kind of quarterly thing, just business as usual?"

"In one entry the Church’s attorneys seem to be ready to offer $10,000 to a man who claimed he was physically and sexually abused while he was a student in the Indian Placement Program. In another, the Church reveals knowledge of an elder who sexted with one girl before his mission and also inappropriately touched another girl while serving on his mission. And while the attorneys are recommending that the elder be sent home, the missionary department seems to be resisting because “he may face prosecution for a felony” because 'his conduct is clearly unlawful.'”; 9/13/18, 11:59 PM
Clyde said...: "Tell me a story." I think that humans are hard-wired to want stories, and all of the various arts that we have come up with, whether painting, sculpture, dance, poetry, song or books, are made to fill that desire. All of them are about telling a story, and it goes all the way back to petroglyphs and cave wall paintings. Before the invention of writing, the oral tradition and representative art were the only way of passing down knowledge from one generation to the next. Stories that we share within our group tell us about our identity, such as songs that we know and others outside the group do not, whether drinking songs, school fight songs or national anthems. Stories teach us proper behavior ("Disobedient children may be eaten by wolves," etc.). And stories entertain us, providing the hope that the good will triumph, that the evil will be vanquished, that the monsters will be slain, that life has meaning, even though in real life, those things often don't happen.

I was thinking about this on Thursday after watching the YouTube video of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" on Wednesday. Why were people in the original audience in 1913 so angry and offended? Because every art form has its own conventions, and when the conventions are violated and the story is altered from what the audience thinks it should be, people get angry and offended. The same sort of thing happens when Bob Dylan goes to the Newport Festival and performs electric music, or when an author like George R.R. Martin kills off favorite characters in the "Game of Throne" series in scenes like the Red Wedding, or when the Blues Brothers show up at Bob's Country Bunker and start playing blues music. That's when you get bottles shattering off the chicken-wire in front of you. Stravinsky's audience came expecting on thing and got something quite different from their expectations.; 9/13/18, 11:59 PM
Yancey Ward said...: On the surface, it appears that a second person wrote the letter to Feinstein, and I would wager the Democrats brought immense pressure on her to come forward to the hearings, to no avail. Giving the letter over to the FBI was the final option- it creates a scaffold on which the media could hang a story that doesn't start with the letter being leaked to the media by Feinstein herself. Of course, the charade is rather pointless at this point- no one is really fooled by all of this any longer.; 9/14/18, 12:02 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Is Florence even going to be a hurricane when the eye wall gets over the coast? Down to 90 mph right now.; 9/14/18, 12:04 AM
LordSomber said...: Nine times the colour red explodes like heated blood.
The battle is on...; 9/14/18, 12:06 AM
Jon Ericson said...: Roughcoat:
Damn Straight.; 9/14/18, 12:07 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Amusing Hoyt typo on Insta now in her link the the Fienstein non-story:

THE DEMOCRATS “HOLD MY BEAR AND WATCH THIS” COMPETITION TO SEE WHO’S CRAZIEST; 9/14/18, 12:20 AM
Darrell said...: The Democrats are really crazy if they're asking people to hold their bear.; 9/14/18, 12:31 AM
David Begley said...: 1. Debra Katz, the lawyer running this disgraceful Kavanaugh stunt, is a Wisconsin Law alum.

2. The Guardian reports the rumor that Kavanaugh and a buddy locked her in a room at a party. No sex. She escaped from the locked room. That’s it. A high school party.; 9/14/18, 12:35 AM
Yancey Ward said...: See, Hoyt probably outed herself as a GRU agent!!!!; 9/14/18, 12:36 AM
Jon Ericson said...: Annie Lennox with Hugh Laurie, John Malkovich "Walking on Broken Glass"; 9/14/18, 12:36 AM
Darrell said...: Diane Feinstein was locked in a room by everyone who knew her back in 1950 when she was 17. She got out, too. I doubt the rumor that she gnawed through the floor.; 9/14/18, 12:39 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Kavanaugh kept a young girl prisoner locked in a room!

You know this is going to be the headline this morning, right?; 9/14/18, 12:43 AM
Jon Ericson said...: RE: Diane Feinstein:
She does seem to have a sturdy set of choppers though.; 9/14/18, 12:43 AM
David Begley said...: Ronan Farrow is supposedly in Palo Alto working on this story.

This story is not exactly Risky Business.

And did these kids have BEER at this party? A keg?; 9/14/18, 12:43 AM
Ralph L said...: How do you lock someone in a room that isn't designed for that (and few are)?; 9/14/18, 12:45 AM
David Begley said...: Yes, Senator, I drank a beer when I was not of legal age. I am withdrawing from the confirmation process.; 9/14/18, 12:45 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Did she have pigtails, and did Kavanaugh own an inkwell?; 9/14/18, 12:49 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Making a splash: American town launches Uranus Examiner newspaper

Now that's what I call finding a need and filling it.; 9/14/18, 12:50 AM
Francisco D said...: "bbkingfish said.."

Has one of the usual suspects changed their screen name?; 9/14/18, 12:58 AM
Darrell said...: bbkingfish has commented here occasionally for a long time. It might be a sockpuppet. Our regular loonies want to keep their "credibility" for when George Soros gets generous.; 9/14/18, 1:05 AM
Darrell said...: Kavanaugh kept a young girl prisoner locked in a room.
And made her wear a starched white bonnet.
This is worse than The Haidmaid's Tale.; 9/14/18, 1:18 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: He Led Female Students On Trips Abroad. Then, He Introduced Sex ‘Ceremonies.’
Alleged abuse and cult-like brainwashing. “Magic” crystals. And a self-proclaimed healer with unfettered access to young women for decades.

Good times. Salute the flag.; 9/14/18, 1:19 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: I mentioned yesterday (Tues) that the Great Awakening Reddit subreddit had been deleted along with its entire archive. This was apparently one of the primary Qanon sites (where Q posts are analyzed and researched by its army of Anon researchers). Today Reddit apparently followed up by deleting a number of other conservative subreddits. The claim is that this is a Soros financed and orchestrated operation, with its people infiltrating subreddits, posting content that violates its terms of service, then having other agents complain about the violations. Also apparently a meeting between a Soros agent and a Reddit executive.

Also, there were Strzok/Page text messages where she talked about being a Clinton intern. From the timing, it most likely means having worked in the Clinton White House. No wonder she was so adamant about wanting Crooked Hillary to be elected. There was also an interesting article about the two phases of FBI leaking (with Page having been one of the primary leakers). First phase leaked highly classified documents to get the Russian probe kicked off. Second phase was an attack on the incoming Trump Administration, where its two big successes were taking out NSA Gen Flynn, and the recusal of AG Sessions.

Oh, and maybe one of the reasons that the Dems have gone batshit crazy about Kavenaugh is that Justice Ginsberg sees to be falling apart mentally. All that Kavenaugh is going to do, when confirmed, is solidify a bit the conservative's fifth vote. Justice Kennedy was, overall a fairly conservative Justice, but he would just stray a bit on occasion on some important decisions. Which means that the overall balance is not going to shift that much. But what happens if, as is becoming apparently more likely, Justice Ginsburg can't perform her duties? Or even dies in the near future. That likely means a 6-3 Court, and if Justice Thomas can be talked into retiring while the Republicans control the WH and enacted, their dominance on the Court would be fairly well cemented for a generation. This also may explain why Ginsburg is being trotted out as being so healthy - to reassure the troops, because she really isn't.; 9/14/18, 1:26 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Blogger Clyde said...

"Tell me a story." I think that humans are hard-wired to want stories, and all of the various arts that we have come up with, whether painting, sculpture, dance, poetry, song or books, are made to fill that desire.

A story is simply a set of statements that are framed as beginning, middle and end.We can't help but see stories wherever we look, because that is what we are, we have a beginning, a middle, and an end. When we look out, we see ourselves.
C.S. Lewis:
. . . if you start investigating the nature of matter, you will not find anything like what imagination has always supposed matter to be. You will get mathematics. From that unimaginable physical reality my senses select a few stimuli. These they translate or symbolise into sensations, which have no likeness at all to the reality of matter. Of these sensations my associative power, very much directed by my practical needs and influenced by social training, makes up little bundles into what I call ‘things’ (labelled by nouns). Out of these I build myself a neat little box stage, suitably provided with properties such as hills, fields, houses, and the rest. In this I can act.; 9/14/18, 3:48 AM
dustbunny said...: Buwaya, I read the Applebaum piece too and found it to be strangely blinkered for a writer of Applebaum’s skills. Itread like the story of a woman who feels personally betrayed by her former friends and determined to set the record right according to her version of events. She has taken a personal situation and converted it to geo-political significance. Not to say what is happening in Poland and Hungary isn’t important and that it could be potentially disastrous. Just that her spin on it seems tinged with personal animosity. I can see why the Poles are suspicious of her motivations.; 9/14/18, 5:29 AM
Sydney said...: @LewisWetzel, What book is that C.S. Lewis book from? I’d like to read it.; 9/14/18, 5:31 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: @Sydney-
Letters to Malcolm
You can tell that Lewis learned under the last generation of philosophers trained in the British idealist tradition.; 9/14/18, 5:47 AM
Jaq said...: The claim is that this is a Soros financed and orchestrated operation, with its people infiltrating subreddits, posting content that violates its terms of service, then having other agents complain about the violations.

They did the same thing to Lucianne.com, depriving them of mainstream advertisers. I don’t know it was “Soros” it seems like something anybody could do by themselves.; 9/14/18, 6:06 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: I just can't get over the amount of time/money wasted on investigations and damage wrought to American institutions by Clintons and their minions over the last 30 years.; 9/14/18, 6:25 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: It's bad when I can read a paranormal headline like this and it's not a joke:

Former Clinton Aide on Coons: We Would Have Been ‘Better off if the Witch Had Won’

But it's horrible when I don't know what election they're talking about because the reference could be about so many women.

Everybody's insisting Trump started this, but they're all liars: they did, and they're using Trump to cover for their folly.; 9/14/18, 6:53 AM
Paco Wové said...: "what is happening in Poland and Hungary ... could be potentially disastrous."

How?; 9/14/18, 6:56 AM
Ralph L said...: damage wrought to American institutions by Clintons and their minions over the last 30 years.

Imagine the damage they could have done if they'd been more competent. Same with BO. We should be glad they were feckless for the most part.; 9/14/18, 7:04 AM
dustbunny said...: Paco Wové, I don’t think it’s happening but if Applebaum is right, those countries going full bore fascist could be disastrous.; 9/14/18, 7:41 AM
Paco Wové said...: "those countries going full bore fascist could be disastrous."

Yes, that would be bad, for at least some definitions of "fascist". It seems to be a word whose meaning has remarkably elastic boundaries, expanding to cover whatever a writer dislikes.; 9/14/18, 7:56 AM
Hagar said...: The 2975 number for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico is B.S. It is based on reported population numbers before and after the event, but I do not think Puerto Rico has a tight enough base to go from to use for this purpose.

The mortality of Mao's "Great Leap Forward" is similarly based on reported population numbers, but in Mao's China all food was rationed, and the Chinese government of course had a very good account of the ration cards issued where and when and to whom. (That is one thing socialism is good for - there will be a bureaucratic file on every living thing.) Even so, the researchers give a range - from 32.4 million to ~40 million, and some say even ~45 million, iirc. Those are very large numbers and over a 6 year period that can be followed over time - not just a blip like the hurricane event and with a doubtful base to go from.; 9/14/18, 7:56 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Using the same methods and logic as the PR study, 12,000 people have died in San Francisco over the past 2 years due to all of the poop and needles on the sidewalk.; 9/14/18, 8:18 AM