October 5, 2018

At the Short Shakes Café...

IMG_2327

... you can talk for hours.

Photo taken yesterday somewhere along I-39 in Illinois.

73 comments:

Mike Sylwester said...

It's been a very long time since I've eaten a milkshake.

Mike Sylwester said...

Just one dollar?

The shake must be very short.

Mike Sylwester said...

The field in the background seems to be a cornfield that's been cut down.

Christopher said...

I have no idea what the future may hold, whether the outcomes of today will be what I hope for or not. However, I can say without a doubt that today the good guys won.

The mob was beaten back and for a brief instance we cast emotional bullshit to the side and actually looked at the evidence.

Kavanaugh may not rule how I hope in the future but there isn't a single honest person out there that can say it's a bad thing that Ford's aspersions failed.

Birkel said...

I hope Kavanaugh is the fifth vote to overturn Chevron so that power is returned to Congress, away from the president.
And away from unelected bureaucrats within the Executive.

If Trump disbands federal worker's unions, eradicates civil service protections, and replaces RBG with Barrett (ACB?) he should be added to Rushmore.

mockturtle said...

No surprises on the MLB scene today.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

mockturtle said...

No surprises on the MLB scene today.

10/5/18, 10:38 PM

I was hoping the Dodgers would lose, but with Kershaw on the mound, a loss was unlikely.

narciso said...

Heck of a job, let's have single payer:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/05/gps-see-patients-groups-15/

Original Mike said...

”The field in the background seems to be a cornfield that's been cut down.”

Happens every year about this time ...

narciso said...

In other news


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/news/world/1027598/Trump-news-trade-war-EU-tariffs-US-cars/amp

eddie willers said...

Down here it would have said JESUS SAVES.

Titus said...

Omg. That place looks awful. Lots of deplorables and fatties there I imagine.

CWJ said...

Now that we are finally on the verge of a final vote, I want to return to my original reaction to CBF's accusation when sprung after the hearings supposedly concluded.

Even if true, so what! That was high school. They were unsupervised teenagers.

Over decades in the public eye in law and on the bench, examined by multiple background checks, we know a great deal about BK and his character. And in all that there is no indication of any pattern of physically taking advantage of women. If he groped a girl at a party 36 years ago, he certainly learned his lesson and didn't repeat that behavior. In light of his subsequent life, it's absurd to seriously consider this disqualifying.

In contrast, we know virtually nothing about CBF aside from this accusation. Indeed, it would appear that aside from what she claims for herself, much of her history has somehow been scrubbed. And what we supposedly do know about her is hardly reassuring, and changes day by day.

People can change, but I believe the range of change is limited, and one is constantly under pressure to be drawn back for good or ill to their baseline personality. The core of the accusation is not whether or not CBF was groped, but was BK even present, much less the culprit. As to that core question, CBF has given no reason to believe it, while the accusation is so out of character with BK's entire public life that I have no trouble believing his denial.


Not Sure said...

"I-39" sounds more like a bingo square than a highway.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

the sign in the foreground, behind, the telephone poles in descending order...

glad it's not the Appian Way, and I'm not Spartacus

mccullough said...

CWJ,

Let’s be honest. We know nothing about any of these people. Kavanaugh could be a good guy or he could be an asshole. If nothing else, he should stop drinking.

madAsHell said...

Short shakes??

This is why the last drop always goes down your leg. A woman could never know this. This is a Meade inspired post.

Yancey Ward said...

"In contrast, we know virtually nothing about CBF aside from this accusation."

It won't stay this way. During the confirmation process, resources were probably restrained in looking into her in a major way, but after tomorrow, regardless of how the vote goes, you can be sure the scrutiny on her will be ferocious. There are a lot of talented journalists out there who can write the book on Ford, and will. Little noticed yesterday was Grassley requesting all of Ford's communications with the Democrats on the committee. He will, of course, be told to pound sand by Ford's lawyers, but that might not be the end of matters. I am assuming he has a very good reason to demand this, and he might not take no for an answer.

StephenFearby said...

Washington Examiner October 05 09:57 PM EST

Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers demand senators stop spreading ‘lies’

'...Ford's lawyers also pushed back on the notion that Ford or her legal team told committee staff that the California professor could not travel to Washington due to her fear of flying. The lawyers said they had relayed to the committee that the timing of her testimony was at issue because Ford was “focused on taking measures to protect her family from threats, including death threats.”

“Dr. Ford does have a decades-long fear of flying for which she takes medication prescribed by a physician, but this had no impact on the timing of her testimony,” Ford’s lawyers said.'

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/christine-blasey-fords-lawyers-demand-senators-stop-spreading-lies

Google sez:

"Aerophobia, also known as Aviophobia, is the fear of flying either in helicopters, airplanes and other flying vehicles. In some patients, Aerophobia may be present along with other fears or phobias like Claustrophobia (fear of closed and confined spaces) or Acrophobia (fear of heights) etc."

There are all kinds of non-pharmaceutical interventions offered by psychologists (mostly talk therapy and but also a variety of more interesting and probably much more effective psychophysiological approaches. In the People's Republic of California, psychophysiologists are thick on the ground.
.
But Blasey Ford wants to be drugged. Consistent with the spaced-out appearance when she testified.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bay Area Guy said...

Blasey Ford's lawyers should keep writing whiney letters for the next month or two or three - nobody cares.

Freeman Hunt said...

Why do people have Instagram? It's terrible. Truly great pictures are fine. Mediocre pictures are fine mixed with good text and links. But a bunch of mediocre pictures with the occasional pretty good picture? Bleh.

Freeman Hunt said...

"There are all kinds of non-pharmaceutical interventions offered by psychologists"

Everyone I know with a flying issue has been given a prescription for Xanax.

Aussie Pundit said...

Kagan laments that there will no longer be a swing judge on the supreme court, and in doing so, is admitting that she isn't a swing judge. She laments that there's no longer a supreme court judge whose vote isn't predictable politically.... thus admitting that her vote is predictable.

Aussie Pundit said...

Let’s be honest. We know nothing about any of these people. Kavanaugh could be a good guy or he could be an asshole. If nothing else, he should stop drinking.

His 16 year old self should stop drinking.

As for personality, Kavanaugh has a long-standing public profile, including judgements, career decisions, public appearances, speeches, and has even featured in his friend's memoirs, so it's just not true that we know 'nothing' about him.

But CBF is very much a complete unknown. I'm astounded that people made assessments like 'she couldn't lie credibly about that' (e.g., our esteemed blog host Ann Althouse), when talking about someone who they literally know nothing about, who virtually dropped out of the sky two weeks ago.

What do people who know her think of her? Are there things that everyone who knows her personally is aware of, that we haven't been told? Why was she in therapy? It goes on. There are gaping holes in our understanding of who this woman is. Kavanaugh's life has been dissected by the FBI and the senate. The only gaping holes in our understanding of Kavanaugh are generated by her, a person we really know almost nothing about.

tim in vermont said...

Why do people have Instagram? It's terrible. Truly great pictures are fine. Mediocre pictures are fine mixed with good text and links.

I used to have an Instagram account for my nature pictures, but I couldn't stand that the amount of work I put into them was swallowed up in the great maw of the internet almost instantly. But I did get a couple of genuine fans, one lady from Australia. You know they really liked your picture if they go through your history and start liking old pictures. If they just "follow" you, it's just to get you to follow them, usually.

Right now the predawn glow over the mountains framed by clouds would probably make a great picture, but I would have had to have planned it, and by the time I scouted the best image, set up the camera, maybe set up a subtle HDR, it will have changed to something else. It's all to much work for too little reward. But i think I will go out with my coffee, sit in an Adirondack chair, and watch the sun rise. There were frost warnings last night, so I guess I will bundle up a little.

rhhardin said...

The female head of CERN writes to state that a gender workshop talk by a rogue formerly-employed male physics professor, who argued that the low participation in physics by women was not due to discrimination by men, was hopelessly wrong and what will be done in the future to prevent such things.

https://www.particlesforjustice.org/
(really is worth reading for a self-awareness score)

via Derb.

My rule is that women working in STEM wind up working on the Women's Workplace Issues committee. It's more interesting to them than the job they signed up for.

rhhardin said...

CERN Suspends Physicist via Derb

Humperdink said...

CWJ said: "Now that we are finally on the verge of a final vote, I want to return to my original reaction to CBF's accusation when sprung after the hearings supposedly concluded.

Even if true, so what! That was high school.
"

My thoughts also. If the charges are true (and doubtful at best), the guy turned his life around. He recognized the path he was on and made a right turn (ha). He should be hailed. His track record since has been impeccable.

rehajm said...

It’s true. Most of the STEM girls I grew up with that are at places like Oak Ridge or Livermore have activist looking twitter feeds.

rehajm said...

From the moving along dept...

How’s the Trump book coming along Ann?

tim in vermont said...

You might like this guy, theoretical physicist driven out of Harvard for the same reasons you probably would have been, rh.

https://motls.blogspot.com

This is the first year I have ever seen him ignore the Nobel Prize in physics, BTW.

Report on the sunrise, beautiful. Reminiscent of those Patagonia logos.

Breezy said...

Tim in Vermont, thank you for bringing some tranquility via sunrise view.

rehajm said...

A short shake is a cocktail shaken with ice for a short period of time so as to minimize dilution. With the added benefit of speeding up the bartender...

Do not throw ice.

Humperdink said...

Seneca Valley (PA) high school students are standing up for the boy falsely accused of sexual assault (twice). Students wore shirts at last night's football game that said " “We Stand 4 Flood” (the boy's name is Flood). They are also using the hashtag #SupportTheTruth. The tide is turning.

I posted about this story on an earlier cafe. Drudged picked it up a day or so ago.

https://triblive.com/local/regional/14149966-74/seneca-valley-students-show-support-for-former-student-accused-of-assault-in

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Good morning Althousians! My semi-autistic daughter, who struggles with communication, is having her first birthday party in years today. She asked, 'can I have the band kids over?' She's been palling around with a group of 5-6 kids from her school marching band lately. Of course I said yes. I discovered a few days ago, when I asked her for a final head count, that she thought I had given her permission to invite the entire marching band. She had printed up and handed out 100 invitations without my knowledge. I told her that our house, pool, yard, and goodwill of our neighbors can absorb about thirty people and that she needed to make a band-wide announcement (easy because she's a section leader and they have to listen to her at rehearsal anyway) that her parents are no-fun-niks and are limiting her to the first twenty-five people who texted her to get on the list. I'm thinking we'll wind up with thirty to thirty-five kids there total and any beyond that we'll have to bounce.

I'm more than a little nervous about all this so please cross your fingers for me that all goes smoothly!

Kevin said...

“I'm more than a little nervous about all this so please cross your fingers for me that all goes smoothly!”

Don’t worry. Once the cops come she’ll have an even better story to tell.

Kevin said...

“The field in the background seems to be a cornfield that's been cut down.”

The aliens need the corn to keep the galactic peace.

Jersey Fled said...

Interesting new conspiracy theory involving Monica McLean's name (Ford's retired FBI buddy) starting to show up on the broader Trump Russia investigation.

I love conspiracy theories.

The Crack Emcee said...

I don't know anything about short shakes - I started here:

AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long

Really: Y'all are on your own again with this one,....

The Crack Emcee said...

Christopher said...

"I have no idea what the future may hold, whether the outcomes of today will be what I hope for or not. However, I can say without a doubt that today the good guys won."

Riiiight. Y'all don't read enough cult news:

Buried in US archives, a stunning indictment of Scientology and prediction of the future

I always know what's happening because of it - because they run America - and y'all just react to them.

The Crack Emcee said...

eddie willers said...

"Down here it would have said JESUS SAVES."

I wish they'd say what he's saving us from. They say he was hung on a cross - but they keep insisting he's coming back - I figure it's really a boomerang...

rehajm said...

Interesting new conspiracy theory involving Monica McLean's name (Ford's retired FBI buddy) starting to show up on the broader Trump Russia investigation.

I love conspiracy theories.


I've been waiting to see if we need to set up the crazy wall with yarn and pushpins to make all the connections. The Clinton's are Kevin Bacon in this scenario.

The Crack Emcee said...

Humperdink said...

"If the charges are true (and doubtful at best), the guy turned his life around. He recognized the path he was on and made a right turn (ha). He should be hailed. His track record since has been impeccable."

Doesn't count: He's "A Man".

I discovered this during my divorce. I was guilty of the same crime.

Michael K said...

Blogger Birkel said...
I hope Kavanaugh is the fifth vote to overturn Chevron so that power is returned to Congress, away from the president.
And away from unelected bureaucrats within the Executive.


To really do anything about the Administrative State, you have to get rid of McCain-Feingold. It has turned Congress people into phone banks, "dialing for dollars," as individual contributions are limited. This places the legislative function in the hands of staff. Term limits does much the same.

That, of course, leads to 2,000 page bills. "Work expands to fill the time allotted."

The Crack Emcee said...

ehajm said...

"The Clinton's are Kevin Bacon in this scenario."

Kevin Bacon is in Germany while the Democrats fight for their lives.

"Footloose", as they say.

Jersey Fled said...

NBC is reporting that Murkowski will invoke the Obama Rule and vote "present" on Kavanaugh. Profiles in courage.

On a totally unrelated topic, it appears that the "skills gap" in unemployment has virtually disappeared since Trump took office. In other words, the unemployment rate for those with a high school educations is virtually the same as for those with college degrees. This is unprecedented. Even Paul Krugman has taken note.

Karen of Texas said...

Oo, oo! I know; I know. 🙋You were at a Culver's.

I hope you confirm my vast knowledge of useless trivia like the fact that Culver's has a dollar short shake, Althouse.

Humperdink said...

TCE said: "Doesn't count: He's "A Man".

I discovered this during my divorce.
"

Same here, during my custody hearing. The judge was mystified why me, a man, wanted custody. Simple, I was the better parent. I lost.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

A boomerang. OMG Crack, I'm going to be chuckling about that all day. A boomerang.

I will be judging an IBCA competiton today. Brisket, ribs, half-chicken. I just know I am going to bite into a rib, think of boomerangs, and end up laugh-spitting meat on a fellow judge.

If I get banned as a judge, it's your fault Crack!

tim in vermont said...

Your'e welcome Breezy! I am pretty lucky to live around here though.

the unemployment rate for those with a high school educations is virtually the same as for those with college degrees.

I guess Trump's wand is magic in a way that Obama's wasn't. Yes, double entendre intended. Don't get Peanut Butters started on that, he thinks that all of the coal miners and auto workers should be shipped off to coding boot camp, union or no. It's funny that Democrats now seem to want to move the economy from unionized industries to non unionized ones.

MadisonMan said...

Why do people have Instagram? It's terrible.

I'm on Instagram because my kids are. I keep in touch with people. It's easier than Fessbook. Put up a picture every now and then (People who put up pictures every day are evil) so people know what's up. The last pic I put up was just something that struck my fancy and I thought it made an interesting picture. That was 2+ weeks ago.

I've a kid who is allergic to communication, apparently. Instagram is nice because I can see when kid was active on Instagram last, and I stop worrying that he's dead :)

AllenS said...

Mike Sylwester said...
The field in the background seems to be a cornfield that's been cut down.

It was chopped for silage.

Humperdink said...

I see there is a move afoot to have Susan "Five Lies in One Weekend" Rice run against Susan Collins in Maine.

Big Mike said...

@Humperdink, that assumes Rice isn’t in jail for her role in the FBI’s spying on the Trump campaign.

rehajm said...

It was chopped for silage.

Industrial Marshmallow Farming

Big Mike said...

So it turns out that the Republican War on Women was and is fake, but the Democrat women’s War on Men is very, very real.

MadisonMan said...

I wonder -- is that the Culvers in Peru? There aren't a lot of Culvers on I39 south of Rockford -- I know this from experience!

stlcdr said...

"Heck of a job, let's have single payer:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/05/gps-see-patients-groups-15/"


And the brits will lap it up because they are told that it's a good thing and better for everyone. A couple of decades ago, when I came to the US, I never realized how bad the British health care system was until experiencing US healthcare.

Paco Wové said...

"we know virtually nothing about CBF aside from this accusation."

And that she's made hundreds of thousands of dollars from it.

Ray - SoCal said...

A+ comment on Boomerangs and Jesus, bright a smile to my face!

Thanks Crack!

Paco Wové said...

"women working in STEM wind up working on the Women's Workplace Issues committee"

In my STEM workplace, I notice that this is more commonly true of American-born or American-educated women. The Chinese and Russian women tend to stay in serious coding.

The Crack Emcee said...

Humperdink said...

"The judge was mystified why me, a man, wanted custody. Simple, I was the better parent. I lost."

I know a guy who fought like a dog for his kid, for 18 years, blowing all his money in court and losing almost every battle. By the time the kid grew up, all that fighting and losing had curdled a good man into an angry to-the -Right-of-Rush troll, who hates the world so much, even his boy can't stand to be around him.

I'm still waiting to be convinced Family Law works - or is in anyone's good interest - in this country. I needed help with a vulnerable spouse, who'd been taken advantage of, but, instead, I got treated like a criminal. That THAT could happen, here, after I'd returned from living in the madness of Yurp, was maddening beyond belief.

Has anyone else seen The Separation? It's an Iranian movie about a couple trying to separate, amicably, but the state's in the way. I highly recommend it.

The Crack Emcee said...

Annie C said...

"If I get banned as a judge, it's your fault Crack!"

Pray for me.

The Crack Emcee said...

rehajm said...

"It was chopped for silage."

Industrial Marshmallow Farming

Industrial Dental Floss Farming.

The Crack Emcee said...

Ray - SoCal said...

"A+ comment on Boomerangs and Jesus, bright a smile to my face!

Thanks Crack!"

Yer Welcome!!!

mockturtle said...

Most men who want child custody are just trying to avoid child support payments.

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"Most men who want child custody are just trying to avoid child support payments."

I can't speak to what "most" men are doing, but just those I know, and that's bullshit. I've seen real suffering, of a kind I wasn't aware of, not being a father myself. It's tragic, and existential, partially - I think - because so few respect the biological connection with a child the way they do with mothers. At least, until the kid grows up and looks like the Dad or something.

It's criminal what we do to fathers. Truly criminal.

mockturtle said...

Well, Crack, if more fathers actually married the mothers they might be better treated in court.

Marc in Eugene said...

Maria de Montserrat Caballé i Forch, requiescat in pace. This is a version of Casta diva from Bellini's Norma.

Leora said...

Love the picture - added it to my screen saver rotation.

mockturtle said...

Maria de Montserrat Caballé i Forch, requiescat in pace. This is a version of Casta diva from Bellini's Norma.

Splendid, Marc!

Gahrie said...

It's criminal what we do to fathers. Truly criminal.

When he's right, he's right.