Althouse: At the Wednesday Night Café...

February 27, 2019

At the Wednesday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

145 comments:

Guildofcannonballs said...: America is the parade.

You can't lead, leave.; 2/27/19, 8:46 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Humanity has proved nothing better despite grandiose offerings.

Chillblaine.; 2/27/19, 8:47 PM
mccullough said...: Whoever signs Bryce Harper to a 10-year contract is going to regret it.

Harper is good, not great. His defense is average and he’s not consistent enough as a hitter. And he’s been hurt too often. Machado might be worth 10-year and $300 million. He’s a good defender and a consistent hitter who hasn’t been injured much.; 2/27/19, 8:52 PM
stephen cooper said...: anyone (any adult, anyway) who cares more than a little bit about baseball, unless they are making money off baseball, is going to regret it

spend time with your friends or kids or in devotional prayer: only by prayer will we defeat the evils of today: MLB is what it is, just a platform for nice summer afternoons at the park with friends or family, nothing more.

The Yankees, a generation ago, blew their wad on Alex Rodriguez, and did win a series in 2009 with him on the roster,
BUT NOBODY CARES anymore.

All anyone should care about is being the best person they can be and taking care of those whom God wants them to love.; 2/27/19, 8:55 PM
Achilles said...: India and Pakistan, two nuclear powers, are on the brink or war.

Trump is in Vietnam on the edge of ending a 60 year old war.

Democrats are busy trying to pull off a coup and masturbating over Cohen's "testimony" in congress.

CNN thinks Trump is trying to distract us from the "real story."

Northam's wife gave cotton to black kids and made racist comments.

The party of the KKK has been busy making sure babies they try to abort are killed off.

Democrats are just terrible people.; 2/27/19, 8:58 PM
stephen cooper said...: LIke Carrie4Truth says, quoting one of my ancestors, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Bryce and his ilk, not so much, I guess. Hope I am wrong, would love to welcome him to the real world.; 2/27/19, 8:59 PM
stephen cooper said...: Achilles - tell me something I do not know.; 2/27/19, 8:59 PM
Achilles said...: mccullough said...
Whoever signs Bryce Harper to a 10-year contract is going to regret it.

Harper is good, not great. His defense is average and he’s not consistent enough as a hitter. And he’s been hurt too often. Machado might be worth 10-year and $300 million. He’s a good defender and a consistent hitter who hasn’t been injured much.

Arenado is better in every way and he got 8/260. Why are they talking about Harper so much?; 2/27/19, 9:01 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Mueller was appointed to investigate claims of Russian interference with the 2016 election and any conspiracy with the Trump campaign to accomplish these illegal ends.

Quote from Michael Cohen, under Oath, subject to penalty of perjury:

"Questions have been raised about whether I know of direct evidence that
Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia. I do not. I want to be
clear. But, I have my suspicions."

No evidence, just suspicions. Game is over.; 2/27/19, 9:02 PM
mccullough said...: Got it. MLB is a waste of time for entertainment but commenting on blogs is a way to please God.

Unless you’re making money off religion like Billy Graham or Farrakhan there are better uses of your time than going to church or reading a translation of some sacred text with contradicting passages.

You can pray at the game. And Mike Trout is better at his job than any preacher.; 2/27/19, 9:02 PM
Achilles said...: Stephen Cooper said...
Achilles - tell me something I do not know.

New CS students would rather test everything against null rather than create a public class Empty {} and put "Type" enums in their classes in Object Oriented Design assignments.

It is frustrating.; 2/27/19, 9:05 PM
madAsHell said...: There seems to be a new protocol in the emergency room.

My 93 year old mother went to the ER. Diverticulosis. My mother is thinking she's going to bleed-out through her asshole. She's desperate for help.

The ER nurse wanted to know if she was suicidal. The ER went momentarily silent when Mom told the ER nurse, "You dumb fucking bitch, of course, I'm fucking suicidal" at the top of her lungs.

It was sarcasm born in desperation. Mom spent the night at the hospital.

Hell, I didn't even know she knew those words!!......and she was always mad at me!!; 2/27/19, 9:10 PM
n.n said...: Democrats are just terrible people.

First and second-rate wicked, to albeit hard problems.

That said, the right and center need to pursue rehabilitation, revitalization, and reconciliation. We need to weight the value of both private and public smoothing functions. And we need to address the progressive price, not cost, of medical products and services, and/or default to Medicare and Medicaid quick fixes, and redistributive change. Also, emigration reform to mitigate the collateral damage from immigration reform at both ends of the bridge and throughout, and unplanned parenthood because we're not children anymore.; 2/27/19, 9:11 PM
mccullough said...: Harper has been the only baseball prodigy, which could only happen to someone born after 1985 (Harper was born in 1992). He was 6’1 and strong as a 12 year old playing against high school players.

So he’s been “famous” for awhile. He graduated high school early and played a year of junior college where he was the college player of the year. Then he was the number 1 pick when he was 17.

So like Tiger Woods he’s always had a lot of hype and attention. But unlike Tiger he’s not an all-time great. Harper has had one exceptional season. But he’s been hurt and inconsistent in his other seasons.

Harper gets a lot of attention because he’s a free agent and sort of brash. Mike Trout is soft spoken and humble and is not a free agent.

Harper is not a top 5 position player in MLB. The attention he gets isn’t commensurate with his performance.

Betts plays right field and is better than Harper. But Betts isn’t a free agent either. He’s also smaller than Harper was at age 11; 2/27/19, 9:12 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: The genius of Wall Street is making the dough.

Like others in other ways, things happen.

Always will.

Can't stop.

My novel will be entitled Measure.; 2/27/19, 9:13 PM
madAsHell said...: New CS students would rather test everything against null rather than create a public class Empty {} and put "Type" enums in their classes in Object Oriented Design assignments.

The ISO-9000 guy that laments the demise of COBOL.; 2/27/19, 9:15 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "You dumb fucking bitch, of course, I'm fucking suicidal"

You might say that she was mad as hell.

Apple-->tree.; 2/27/19, 9:15 PM
n.n said...: No evidence, just suspicions. Game is over.

Now, the fast and furious, desperate, progress of a warlock trial (e.g. trial by press, public opinion, prosecutorial selection, legislative dictation... are the mobs still hunting?).; 2/27/19, 9:18 PM
narciso said...: One of the successors to Paul erdman in the gritty financial thriller was Michael Thomas, after the better part of a decade, he came up with players, a Roman a clef paint by numbers about how Obama was recruited by wall street.; 2/27/19, 9:20 PM
fivewheels said...: "spend time with your friends or kids"

For many of us, baseball is our favorite way to do that.; 2/27/19, 9:21 PM
Drago said...: mccullough: "Whoever signs Bryce Harper to a 10-year contract is going to regret it."

Conversely I am pleased the Rockies came to terms with Nolan Arenado.

In a happy angle to this story, Arenado could have gotten a 10 year contract on the open market instead of the 8 year deal with the Rockies, but Arenado wanted to stay here with his family and he let about $64 Million go by the wayside for that outcome.

Not every player chases every penny.

Of course, Arenado won't have to count every penny every day either...; 2/27/19, 9:21 PM
Drago said...: adSs: "You might say that she was mad as hell."

It doesn't matter what anyone else might say. It only matters what Kurt Eichenwald would say....if he wasn't too busy attempting to extricate himself from the appendages of his latest Tentacle Porn....er..."experiment"....; 2/27/19, 9:23 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Drago,

3 y opt out. Timed w/ the new CBA.

Just sayin'.

Plus, would be nice to see better numbers w/o the altitude bump re home. Before big dough knocks on the door. Time will tell. 3 years, that is.; 2/27/19, 9:27 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Kurt came by for din din tonight.

Great convo. He's so brilliant. Never ever gets old.

He's perfect. IMHO.; 2/27/19, 9:28 PM
stephen cooper said...: Mike Trout is wasting his life. He could be a saint in the making instead he is just Mike Trout, baseball player.
Mariano is on the right track, although he is a little arrogant and self-satisfied. Trust me, I know these guys better than they know themselves.
Billy Graham may or may not have accepted Jesus in his heart, he died with millions in his bank account.
And while you are at it, pray for Father Wojtyla. I personally think he is in heaven but if I am wrong about that, he needs your prayers.

I love you McCullough I wish you knew I am on your side; 2/27/19, 9:31 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “The ER nurse wanted to know if she was suicidal”

This is something all new patients are asked nowadays. Some new protocol.; 2/27/19, 9:32 PM
stephen cooper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/27/19, 9:34 PM
narciso said...: Really Stephen cooper how many countless did Billy Graham bring to christ, on balance Pope John Paul did much good was he perfect well no one is.; 2/27/19, 9:35 PM
narciso said...: Then again seeing how Hitchens attacked mother Theresa for I forget what reason, wonder what his earned atheism amounted to in the end?; 2/27/19, 9:38 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "that money was worth nothing compared to the gifts I have given of spending time with the few people in this world who wanted me to spend time with them"

How does this math work? IOW, do interactions w/ the not few people in this world who don't want to spend time w/ you, but (for whatever reason: work, normal day to day interactions, etc) do end up spending time w/ you count against yur balance?

Maybe yur way more in the whole than you realize, after a proper audit, i.e. looking at the hole thing.

I dunno.; 2/27/19, 9:40 PM
mccullough said...: Drago,

Arenado is a great player. It was cool that he re-signed with the Rockies. He does have an opt-out after three years for his protection — more about making sure the Rockies stay committed to winning than trying to get more money on the free agent market in three years.

Arenado has also tailored his hitting approach to Coors Field. He hits pretty well on the road but his home vs away splits are larger than other good players. He’s just dominant at Coors at the plate.; 2/27/19, 9:43 PM
mccullough said...: Is t the British writer character in Bonfire of the Vanities based on Hitchens?; 2/27/19, 9:44 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "Arenado has also tailored his hitting approach to Coors Field."

Ha ha ha ha.

Right, he's tailored to the easiest ballpark.

Funny stuff.; 2/27/19, 9:46 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Thorsten Verblen was onto things.

Also, Thorsten Verblen was on to things.; 2/27/19, 9:47 PM
narciso said...: I would think Anthony haden guest,; 2/27/19, 9:48 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: I don't know much about Mother Teresa, but Hitchens' obit for Bob Hope really rubbed me the wrong way. The sum of his essay was that Hope was the old unfunny man hosting mediocre NBC specials for the last 30 years. Yes, that happened, but first he was a hugely funny young man doing groundbreaking comedy and even establishing a genre with the "Road" movies.; 2/27/19, 9:48 PM
stephen cooper said...: narciso - Thanks for reading.
I am going to tell you a secret.
God loves us all.
God did not want Billy Graham to die with millions of dollars in his bank account.
Billy Graham did not bring a single person to the Lord no more than former USC football player convinced a single girl to marry a football player.
Father Wojtyla had one job to do and his job was to look at the Lord with love and to not be an indolent proud Slav, who could not concern himself, in the moments of truth, to stand up for the victims of his powerful friends. He failed in that job and I know that and maybe you do not know that but I know that and trust me, Narciso, he might need your prayers right now.

Nobody cares about how great someone seems in this world all that matters is what we do with the gifts we have been given.
If after we die there are millions in our bank accounts, or there are people who loved us but who still are not convinced we were indolent proud Slavs who did not support the victims of our evildoer friends, well then WE NEED PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR US

pray for Billy, pray for Father Wojtyla, and pray for me, who only knows these things because I lived the first years of my life without a guardian angel, none of you have lived the first years of that life that way, and I know who needs prayers because

I know who prayed for me in those years when I did not have a guardian angel.

You are a smart guy, you know I am not kidding about any of this.; 2/27/19, 9:50 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Fellas rubbin' it in yo' face is better than actually Trumping those models so super and not.

Amazing people do amazing things.

Amazing we are allowed a small window into their amazing soul.

Alas, ceasing wonders would be a sight.; 2/27/19, 9:50 PM
stephen cooper said...: "no more than any given former USC football player, John Wayne for example, convinced a single girl to marry a football player"

I know what I am talking about.; 2/27/19, 9:51 PM
stephen cooper said...: and narciso this is not all about you, I wrote a cryptic paragraph into a comment, and then I added the extra words to make it clear.

That is how I have been reading your comments I was trying to show others how that works.

Try living without a guardian angel and relying only on the Holy Spirit for a few weeks. I am hardly even a good person in many ways but I give good advice, I do not know how or why.; 2/27/19, 9:54 PM
narciso said...: How do you know you didn't have a guardian angel. Ultimately free will detemiines you have to decide to come to Christ or not. You have to decide not to do those many sundry songs was that not what David even Solomon did?; 2/27/19, 9:57 PM
Drago said...: adSs: "Ha ha ha ha.

Right, he's tailored to the easiest ballpark."

Easiest for whom?

Not for pitchers. It's the most difficult ballpark for pitchers for precisely the same reasons that hitters like hitting there, the thin air.

If we are going to discount the performance of hitters at altitude we ought to discount the performance of pitchers at sea level where the air is most dense and allows for more ball movement.; 2/27/19, 9:59 PM
narciso said...: But if they dont know who you are, it easy to be abstract about humanity. Yes evil ultimately settled into the bosom of the Church as it did five centuries ago.; 2/27/19, 9:59 PM
Mark said...: Whoever signs Bryce Harper to a 10-year contract is going to regret it.
Harper is good, not great.

What do you mean?? We've had him for years here in D.C. And don't you see how many World Series championships we have?; 2/27/19, 10:00 PM
narciso said...: That's kind of cold, mark.; 2/27/19, 10:02 PM
stephen cooper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/27/19, 10:06 PM
Trumpit said...: I predict Schlump will seek asylum in Russia on coming back from Vietnam. He will be arrested if he steps foot in the U.S. again for treason.; 2/27/19, 10:07 PM
stephen cooper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/27/19, 10:08 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "at sea level where the air is most dense and allows for more ball movement."

Stay in yur lane, bruh.

Ball movement and sea level sex stuff (e.g. w/ tentacled partners) is best left to me and Kurt.; 2/27/19, 10:09 PM
Mark said...: That's kind of cold, mark

It's all about the bottom line. Before we want great players, we want a World Series win. Give us a bunch of mediocre players, so long as we win a world champion.; 2/27/19, 10:11 PM
narciso said...: O cute them because their deeds might have disqualified them, in some eyes yet they are the authors of proverbs and the psalms.; 2/27/19, 10:12 PM
stephen cooper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/27/19, 10:22 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Do the research and the math: Rockford mocked The 2 Jakes hilariously, start to finish.

Nicholson must have hated Garner, James that is.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100828/

Oops...

I guess it was a couple lonely decades after S. J. Cannal along with the great musicians Post and Carpenter put toghether a little diddy some folks appreciative of THe Rockford Files jave seen 'for.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0688065/

What the hell it's an homage???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idg0PHq7dTc

Can't trust anybody no mo; 2/27/19, 10:23 PM
Hagar said...: I am wondering about Michael Cohen's "testimony."

On the one hand, Charles Hurt said that the most damaging thing to Trump that came out of it was that Trump has suffered Michael Cohen to be associated with Trump for so long.

On the other hand, for all his histrionic denunciations of Donald Trump, the truth seems to be that Cohen pretty much destroyed any testimony of an actual criminal case against Trump.

Could he/they be that smart?; 2/27/19, 10:25 PM
stephen cooper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/27/19, 10:25 PM
stephen cooper said...: I did not think you needed me to explain it that clearly

that was me

I remember; 2/27/19, 10:27 PM
Tom T. said...: Don't know if you guys already talked about this, but I just read that there was a 130-car pileup during a snowstorm on a highway in Wisconsin this past weekend. I'm a little surprised that Ann didn't write about it. The 911 calls were really scary -- people trapped in their cars with no visibility and vehicles crashing all around them, wondering if a truck was going to barrel through and wipe them out.; 2/27/19, 10:34 PM
stephen cooper said...: narciso please let me know you at least tried to understand, I like to delete my comments when at least on person says....

I understood, or I tried to understand
I am not worried, narciso my genius friend

God tells people what they need to hear, and I pray for that.

Internet comments are not how I roll when trying to say what needs to be said
Like I said, David and Solomon thought about people like me, dreaming of later years
I like to say what I have to say and then to go somewhere else, after all who among us will be more than a memory for anyone else if we do not get to heaven together

if you think the question answers itself, it does not

the answer is nobody, there is nothing worthwhile in this world absent great plans for heaven; 2/27/19, 10:34 PM
narciso said...: That is commendable, you look at things over the course of 6,000 years and yet humanity does not get the clue, from genesis to babel to the Noah to moses to the lesser prophets.; 2/27/19, 10:36 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "the truth seems to be that Cohen pretty much destroyed any testimony of an actual criminal case against Trump."

This statement would sound better if it was:

'the truth is that Cohen destroyed any testimony of an actual criminal case against Trump.'

Why didn't you type it that way?; 2/27/19, 10:42 PM
stephen cooper said...: google "saint elizabeth of the trinity quotes"

I remember; 2/27/19, 10:44 PM
narciso said...: I knew a friend he has passed on almost 10 years now, he grew up in dickensian conditions he enlisted in the airforce in the early days of the war, assigned to a place be
Wasnt officially supposed to be at. Saw much savagery and loss, there then served in law enforcement was married briefly but he couldn't really handle such a relationship.; 2/27/19, 10:48 PM
mccullough said...: Mark,

The Nats will be good without Harper. They offered him more than enough to stay. They have done a good job drafting and developing players. And Scherezer was a great free agent signing.; 2/27/19, 10:48 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: In the literal sense, could anything be more childish, commonly pejoratively used, than abortion?

Barbarians of all sorts have always soon found their creativity lacking. 'Cept when evil comes calling, again and again and again overly.; 2/27/19, 10:49 PM
narciso said...: He was an autodidact and quite a raconteur he knew of much I only know from books. He was bitter at the Church that he had grown up in.; 2/27/19, 10:50 PM
stephen cooper said...: I love the Church

I have no bitterness towards the church just almost infinite sadness for the fools that thought the church was their washpot

Trust me

I feel so sad for poor Father Wojtyla

It is not his fault he did not know suffering as much as people like me before he was tested

I do not hold it against him that he was proud and stubborn, as people who have not really suffered often are, when he was tested

Pray for him

I remember

He needs your prayers

Me not so much, all the Guardian Angels feel guilty that they left me alone in hell on this earth for so many years when I was young and they ALL Pray for me now

Please do not waste your time praying for me someone who has been abandoned by the Guardian Angels is a child of God and does not need prayers, but pray anyway, be not proud

Pray for our good friend Father Wojtyla

My heart is so full of love for him and for those he loves and those he loves and those he loved and those he loves

Love is infinitely powerful.

Billy Graham died with millions of dollars in his bank accounts and Father Wojtyla died without having spent a single day awake doing what needed to be done if he had been the great saint he should have been, we all knew he wanted to be the great saint he should have been but, clearly, he wasn't

Pray for them both.

My heart is full of love for them that is why I ask for prayers for them.

By the way I am no big fan of GKC but I think that he is, if not in Heaven, he is sort of in Purgatory, and possibly performing miracles, having repented of the worst things and the bad things he said. Trust me.; 2/27/19, 11:11 PM
stephen cooper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/27/19, 11:14 PM
eddie willers said...: Hell, I didn't even know she knew those words!!

How do you get a little old lady say "Fuck!"?

Have another little old lady say "Bingo!".; 2/27/19, 11:24 PM
William said...: The billionaire's dilemma: if you go anonymously to a low rent massage parlor, you end up getting accused of sponsoring sex trafficking. If, on the other hand, you go upmarket and avail yourself of the services of an accomplished pornstar, you end up in the middle of an elaborate shakedown. It's enough to make a man want to stay home and enjoy the stale comfort of his trophy wife. We tend to envy billionaires, but their lives are not without difficulties and challenges.; 2/27/19, 11:29 PM
StephenFearby said...: Today John Sexton wrote an interesting but dispiriting piece in Hot Air on Social Justice Warriors gone mad:

Vox: ‘The Knitting Community Is Reckoning With Racism’

https://preview.tinyurl.com/y2zgpe8e

As good as it was, an earlier article in Quillette by knitter and former journalist Kathrine Jebsen Moore is even better:

A Witch-Hunt on Instagram

"...On January 7, Karen Templer, a knitting designer and owner of the online store Fringe Association, published an innocuous blog post on her website entitled “2019: My Year of Colour,” in which she enthused about her forthcoming trip to India. To most observers, Templer’s post will read like a guileless account of her hopes and aspirations for her upcoming travels..."

'...One of the first people to attack Templer was a user named Alex J. Klein who wrote:

Karen, I’d ask you to re-read what you wrote and think about how your words feed into a colonial/imperialist mindset toward India and other non-Western countries. Multiple times you compare the idea of going to India to the idea of going to another planet—how do you think a person from India would feel to hear that?

Templer politely explained that Mars and India both felt unattainable to her as a child. This comparison did not strike her as imperialist, but she promised to give the matter some thought. “I have had responses from several Indian friends and readers today,” she added, “who had nothing but positive and encouraging responses. I’ll have to see if anything I said offended them.” Evidently unimpressed, Klein retorted:

Instead of asking your Indian friends to perform more emotional labor for you and assuage your white women’s tears, maybe do some reflection on how your equation of India with an alien world reinforces an “other” mindset that is at the core of imperialism and colonialism."'

Evoking Orwell's: “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.”

There's much more about this story (including the way Maria Tusken of Tuskenknits.com stood up to this crap).

https://quillette.com/2019/02/17/a-witch-hunt-on-instagram/; 2/27/19, 11:58 PM
effinayright said...: Today Accuweather.com has suddenly changed over to the metric system for their weather reports and forecasts.

No longer will you be able to see temps and forecasts in degrees F, or inches of rain, or barometric pressures in inches, or hurricane speeds in mph.

All the way down.

Now you will need an Accuweather Decoder Ring, available for $19.95, at the Accuweather home page to convert to English metrics used for hundreds of years..

I suspect a "woke" SJW is behind this. "You VILL surrender to the Borg!"

What a freakin' crock.; 2/28/19, 12:03 AM
Mark said...: So you heard about how Ralph Coonman Northam's wife passed out cotton to some black kids and asked them to imagine being slaves during a tour of the Virginia governor's mansion?; 2/28/19, 12:06 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Hagar wrote:

the truth seems to be that Cohen pretty much destroyed any testimony of an actual criminal case against Trump.

There are two ways to think about this- (1) Cohen had essentially no real access to the Trump campaign operation, was only Trump's lawyer for limited actions, like, for example, paying off inconvenient women; (2) there never was any sort of conspiracy at all.

I, of course, settled on (2) a long time ago, and if Cohen was deeply involved in the campaign, then that testimony today tells you explicitly that the investigation is a dry hole.; 2/28/19, 12:15 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/28/19, 12:23 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Today Accuweather.com has suddenly changed over to the metric system for their weather reports and forecasts.

What? No it hasn't. Here's my current accuweather conditions:

52°
RealFeel® 52°
Partly to mostly cloudy
Humidity: 92%
Cloud Cover: 73%
Dew Point: 51° F
Rain: 0 in
Snow: 0 in
Visibility: 10 mi
Winds from the W 2 mph

(It doesn't paste well into blogger, but you get the picture -- degrees 'F', 'inches' of rain, winds in mph.); 2/28/19, 12:25 AM
gadfly said...: Time after time, Trump and his underlings and supporters have stumbled when they’ve missed the difference between court and culture. Stone learned last week that U.S. District Court is not like Instagram. Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos and Cohen have learned that the easy lies offered thoughtlessly in the media scrum can lead to jail time when uttered to FBI agents. Today Republicans had the opportunity to learn—though if they actually learned who can say—that theatrical committee hearing tactics are ineffective against a witness trained to withstand cross-examination. Will the president of the United States ever learn that a federal criminal investigation is not a reality show? Says Ken White, Popehat lawyer extraordinaire.; 2/28/19, 12:38 AM
effinayright said...: Unknown said...
Today Accuweather.com has suddenly changed over to the metric system for their weather reports and forecasts.

What? No it hasn't. Here's my current accuweather conditions:

*********************

I logged off, shut down my PC, rebooted and double-checked to see if my VPN was off, and...I got the same result.

There's no place on the site where I can toggle back to English metrics.

The weatherchannel.com is less user friendly, but I guess I will have to go there. They still use English metrics.; 2/28/19, 12:44 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Click the little gear icon to the right of the search box. That should at least let you switch between F & C.; 2/28/19, 12:59 AM
Ty said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/28/19, 1:10 AM
Ty said...: Just went to accuweather.com for the first time. I've got imperial units, but also don't see any option for changing it. And sweet Jesus, the ads on that site make it completely unusable.

The NWS site is faster and ad free.; 2/28/19, 1:12 AM
Crazy World said...: It is cold here in Hawaii. What a dumb day.; 2/28/19, 1:33 AM
Ralph L said...: I use weather.com because it's simple to use.; 2/28/19, 1:39 AM
sodal_ye said...: Blogger narciso said...
Then again seeing how Hitchens attacked mother Theresa for I forget what reason, wonder what his earned atheism amounted to in the end?

For exploiting the poor to further her ends. The book is called “The Missionary Position”.; 2/28/19, 4:31 AM
sodal_ye said...: Blogger narciso said...
He was an autodidact and quite a raconteur he knew of much I only know from books. He was bitter at the Church that he had grown up in.

Yes and no. He reserved his deepest cuts for Islam. More so after the fatwa against his close friend Salmon Rushdie. For more, read “God Is Not Great”.

For all the Clinton haters here, I’m surprised more haven’t read his “No One Left To Lie To”.; 2/28/19, 4:40 AM
Titus said...: I just did a college student from Egypt who lives in the back bay. I asked how a college student affords the back bay and he said papa, His parents don't know about him and his father works in Dubai and Saudis Arabia. So exotic and not Wisconsin. I fucked his brains out. So fun. How are you. I would never get that kind of pussy in Wisconsin. He is seeing a therapist for sex addiction and did bdsm in Prague. I found out after we did it. The rare clumber cleaned up the splooge.; 2/28/19, 4:50 AM
sodal_ye said...: I suspect Hitchens would have been pro-Trump. Mostly because of his loathing of the Clintons. It would have separated him from his closest friends, but I guess many of us have been through that.

I went through a very heated argument here with a Brit/Indian friend here in Botswana a few days ago. For such a pragmatic and well travelled man, I was shocked at his TDS. He was almost foaming with hatred. It took me repeatedly imploring him to drop Trump for him to pull himself together. Fortunately we resumed our friendship over beers the following night, but I wasn’t at all sure it was salvageable, he was so angry at my Trump support.; 2/28/19, 4:56 AM
Rory said...: Hugh Hewitt asked Hitchens in early 2008 who would win the Democratic nomination:

"CH: Hillary Clinton.

HH: Oh…because of yesterday?

CH: No, no, I’ve feared it for a long time, and there’s something horrible and undefeatable about people who have no life except the worship of power.

HH: The Mummy is back.

CH: …people who don’t want the meeting to end, the people who just are unstoppable, who only have one focus, no humanity, no character, nothing but the worship of money and power. They win in the end.

HH: Mordor."

http://www.hughhewitt.com/christopher-hitchens-analyzes-the-problems-with-both-hillary-clinton-and-barack-obama/; 2/28/19, 5:27 AM
sodal_ye said...: Then again seeing how Hitchens... wonder what his earned atheism amounted to in the end?

Yes, I’ve wondered that about him myself, and now I’m wondering again. I like your phrase “earned atheism” a lot.; 2/28/19, 5:32 AM
Ralph L said...: Hitchens' mother committed suicide with her lover when he was in uni. That's got to leave a mark. Odd that Peter is on the other side of the fence.; 2/28/19, 5:57 AM
gilbar said...: in other fun news:
The Pew Research Center reported Wednesday that the response rate for its phone polls last year fell to just 6 percent — meaning pollsters could only complete interviews with 6 percent of the households in their samples.

SIX PERCENT!!!!!!
They're basing their 'samples' on testing that BEGINS by excluding %94 of possible cases.
Hmmm, I wonder, of the NINETY-FOUR PERCENT that they do NOT sample (because they refuse to respond), how many of them vote? I wonder if That %94 have ANY affect on election returns?

So, when they say that 'Trump has an approval rating of %41.6 (with an error rate +- %3), what they Really mean is %41.6 (+-%3(+-%94))? That's reassuring!
they call 200 people
188 hang up on on them
5 say they're pro trump
7 say they're anti trump

wouldn't sound very 'Scientific' to say %2.5 pro, %3.5 anti, %94 no response; 2/28/19, 6:09 AM
Humperdink said...: I remain curious as to what the endgame is for the atheists?; 2/28/19, 6:16 AM
rehajm said...: I’m surprised poll response is as high as 6%. There are marketing strategies where 1% response is considered successful.; 2/28/19, 6:19 AM
stevew said...: Kim has misread Trump as being similar or the same as all the previous presidents in this way: Trump wanted a deal, any deal, so badly that he would concede on the most extreme demands and lift the sanctions without a guarantee to end the conflict and denuclearize. The domestic political attacks on Trump and the coming election further emboldened Kim by making him think Trump is wounded, unsure of being reelected, and so willing to do almost anything for the appearance of a deal with NK. Kim read him wrong.; 2/28/19, 6:22 AM
Trumpit said...: North Korea is building up its nukes under cover of "bromance." The meeting in Vietnam was predictably a failure. Who wants to befriend Schlump anyway? Kim took Obama seriously. Kim recognizes Schlump as a fool to be played.; 2/28/19, 6:42 AM
Temujin said...: Kim took Obama seriously? Which is why he was testing nukes weekly in every conceivable fashion. Testing them so much he literally destroyed mountains in his own country.

He understood Obama, but he did not take him seriously. Neither did Putin. Or the Chinese. Or Assad. Or Khomeini. Or Chavez/Maduro. Or the Castro Brothers. Or the Libyans. Or 1/2 of the American public.

But the Nobel awarding committee- they took him seriously.; 2/28/19, 6:57 AM
mccullough said...: Kim took Obama’s ESPN-televised March Madness brackets seriously. Kim likes basketball.; 2/28/19, 7:01 AM
Robert Cook said...: "I remain curious as to what the endgame is for the atheists?"

The same as for the deists: we die. The end.; 2/28/19, 7:09 AM
Trumpit said...: You right-wing trolls caused the Schlump phenomenon, and history won't kind. Your misogyny gave us the worst president in U.S. history. Let's hope WWIII isn't the end result. Putin makes no bones about targeting the U.S. for destruction with nuclear hypersonic missiles for ending the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), and putting new missiles in Europe. I predict WWIII under Schlump. Sad!; 2/28/19, 7:15 AM
sodal_ye said...: Blogger Humperdink said...
I remain curious as to what the endgame is for the atheists?

For some, last minute conversion.

I had a Guatemalan girlfriend when I passed through 5 years ago. Wise, and Catholic of course.

She asked me if my kids prayed for me as I travelled on my enduro through sketchy places. I said, no, and questioned her on prayer. Her response was she prayed as a last ditch thing, when no other help was coming. Her argument was, “why not? It’s something, rather than accepting total loss”.

Same as dying I guess. Might as well go for it.; 2/28/19, 7:20 AM
Michael McNeil said...: A ‘deist’ is not the opposite of an ‘atheist’. To (Nicene) Christians, deists are the same as atheists.; 2/28/19, 7:21 AM
alanc709 said...: Harper isn't bad, but Trumpit is a 5-tool poster. He can lie for average and lie for power. He can lie to all fields. He can be stupid at the drop of a hat, and he has no idea what's actually happening in the world.

Trumpit said...
I predict Schlump will seek asylum in Russia on coming back from Vietnam. He will be arrested if he steps foot in the U.S. again for treason.

Trumpit will be proven wrong on that idiotic prediction as soon as Air Force One returns. Only the great ones can show such foolishness.; 2/28/19, 7:36 AM
Fernandinande said...: Humperdink said...I remain curious as to what the endgame is for the atheists?

What's your endgame for not believing in the divinity of Zeus?

Personally, my endgame for not believing in the divinity of Zeus is to achieve an optimum launch angel for my eventual trip to Happyland.; 2/28/19, 7:39 AM
Chuck said...: From the "You can't make this stuff up" file...

Giovanni Gambino, son of mobster "Ciccio" Gambino and cousin of mob boss Carlo Gambino, says about Cohen that "Inmates love Trump, and hate rats. If he wants to get out alive, he better keep his mouth shut about Trump."

Inmates love Trump. Maybe Republicans should back off their opposition to restoring felons' right to vote. Lololol.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6752221/Gambino-mob-heir-predicts-Michael-Cohen-WHACKED-prison.html; 2/28/19, 7:40 AM
Michael McNeil said...: Yesterday George Mason University law professor David Bernstein posted this on Facebook (quoting…):

“Donald Trump is a man of low character. But he's apparently quite careful in avoiding doing things that are obviously illegal. Or, at least, that's what I surmise from the fact that his personal lawyer of 10 years really can't come up with anything he did that was obviously illegal.”; 2/28/19, 7:42 AM
rhhardin said...: Did Kim take a train to Hanoi? I wonder how the gauge problem worked out. Vietnam has meter-gauge rails, China standard gauge. They could trans-ship Kim as cargo, they have a way to do that.; 2/28/19, 7:43 AM
Mrs. X said...: When I read the news about the failed NK talks this morning, it occurred to me that the Democrats held this dog and pony show during the talks specifically to engineer this result. “Trump’s going to be impeached!” think Kim (and Xi). “We don’t need to concede anything, cuz Trump will be so anxious to walk away with a deal he’ll agree to anything!” Glad it didn’t work. Wishing these assholes in Congress could shut up. Someone in my office was gleefully watching the shitshow yesterday at work, sound blasting.; 2/28/19, 7:49 AM
Michael K said...: it occurred to me that the Democrats held this dog and pony show during the talks specifically to engineer this result.

I agree with you. That, at least, was one goal.; 2/28/19, 7:52 AM
rhhardin said...: Vietnam has some dual-gauge track out of Dong Dang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2waXfbC5TE4

The switches are complicated. see 5 minutes in.

I don't think they go to Hanoi.; 2/28/19, 7:55 AM
Michael K said...: The domestic political attacks on Trump and the coming election further emboldened Kim by making him think Trump is wounded,

I also agree with this. An agreement will not come until the second term for this very reason.; 2/28/19, 7:55 AM
Dave Begley said...: Sodal:

It's called Pascal's Wager.; 2/28/19, 8:04 AM
Humperdink said...: "Personally, my endgame for not believing in the divinity of Zeus is to achieve an optimum launch angel for my eventual trip to Happyland."

And your evidence is?; 2/28/19, 8:09 AM
Gahrie said...: The same as for the deists: we die. The end.

A ‘deist’ is not the opposite of an ‘atheist’. To (Nicene) Christians, deists are the same as atheists.

I think he meant "theists", not deists. Deists are not the same thing as atheists, although it might appear that way to a theist.; 2/28/19, 8:09 AM
Drago said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/28/19, 8:11 AM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Inmates love Trump”

Not surprising.; 2/28/19, 8:12 AM
Drago said...: "Lifelong Mathew Yglesias-lying republican" Chuck: "From the "You can't make this stuff up" file..."

Our LLR "Eddie Haskell-ish" Chuck who proudly declared his only purpose here is to lie about and smear Trump has now adopted a very warm amd cozy link arrangement with Juicebox-VOXer lefty hack Mathew Yglesias who famously bragged that it is perfectly acceptable for lefty media types to lie to advance the leftist cause.

It is entirely natural that a self-described smear merchant like Chuck would find common cause sharing common tactics with a far left self-admitted liar for the left.

Peas in a pod really.

I am pleased that LLR Chuck, like all of his completely exposed Fake Tru-Con liars, has decided to completely drop the mask in order to better serve Team Left.

Its healthier this way.

I cant wait to see what new nuggets of lefty talking point wisdom admitted liar Yglesias and admitted Smear merchant Chuck come up with!!

Good luck Chuck!!

I suspect you will only embarrass yourself today to the tune of 4 or less Althouse Suckup Postings To Try And Make Everyone Forget You Were Asked To Leave.

So, thats like, good news in terms of posting workload, right?; 2/28/19, 8:12 AM
Drago said...: Its nice to see lefties like Inga and Chuck working so chummily together.

And why not, I say.....

When its right its right.; 2/28/19, 8:14 AM
Drago said...: Its really a lesson for all of us.

Try to find life and work partners who share, deeply, your own values and beliefs, like LLR Chuck and loony lefty Inga.; 2/28/19, 8:16 AM
narciso said...: Atheism is about arrogance they look at the universe and think they are the master.

I was referring to my friend. Hitchens the ex trotskyist was properly credentialed that's why he gave a pass for the Cuban revolution.; 2/28/19, 8:17 AM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “He tells me he didn’t know about it and I’ll take him at his word.”
Donald Trump on Otto Warmbier

“President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be.”
Donald Trump on election meddling; 2/28/19, 8:18 AM
Humperdink said...: “Inmates love Trump”

That may or may not be true. But we do know one thing, inmates hate rats. That is indisputable.

As some point in his life, Cohen may realize hitching his horse to the LLR party may have been a mistake.; 2/28/19, 8:18 AM
Drago said...: I wonder if Sydney Blumenthal and Cody Shearer have a newsletter?

Sort of a lefty hack dem operative take on things.

We could all chip in and get LLR Chuck a subscription.

I think he's earned it.; 2/28/19, 8:19 AM
rhhardin said...: Outside of Hanoi, meter-gauge train switches to mix-gauge track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC0I4F9WUr0&t=810s

Train cars on the right are standard gauge and not Vietnam railway cars.; 2/28/19, 8:21 AM
Humperdink said...: Cohen may want to request entry into the Witness Protection Program. You know the one administered by the Justice Dept. Trump's Justice Dept.; 2/28/19, 8:24 AM
Hagar said...: The news reports said Kim traveled the last 100 miles by limousine.; 2/28/19, 8:24 AM
Lucien said...: One trouble with Pascal’s wager is that it’s monotheistic. For all the people who believe inYaweh, the question is what if Kali, or Quatzecoatl, or Odin, or whoever, turns out to be the true deity? Logically, Pascal would have us believing in whoever the meanest mother out there is, who promises to do the worst things to nonbelievers in the afterlife.

Of course, you could argue that it’s not possible to imagine a more cruel and psychopathic deity than Yahweh, and that’s why you believe in him. I haven’t taken the time to look for a counter-example.; 2/28/19, 8:26 AM
Hagar said...: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

The MSM loves Cohen's words, i.e, name calling, and will insist on having them while ignoring that the Democrats' problem is that he also undermined all their potential "sticks and stones," i.e. charges that might stick in court.; 2/28/19, 8:32 AM
Dave Begley said...: Pascal was educated by the Jesuits in France.; 2/28/19, 8:35 AM
Meade said...: "The rare clumber cleaned up the splooge."

And who cleaned up the splooge pooch's vomit? Or is it still sitting in your shoes?; 2/28/19, 8:36 AM
Drago said...: Hagar: "The news reports said Kim traveled the last 100 miles by limousine."

He rode the CA "bullet" train?; 2/28/19, 8:46 AM
Big Mike said...: Atheism is about arrogance they look at the universe and think they are the master.

@narcisco, that’s offensive. Some of us look at the universe and conclude that the universe makes no sense mathematically if there is a personal God who cares about single individuals.; 2/28/19, 8:54 AM
narciso said...: Here's something interesting
https://mobile.twitter.com/DawsonSField/status/1101102661959647232

Bear in mind, Manafort doesn't actually lobby he hired others; 2/28/19, 8:54 AM
narciso said...: Correction, you think such a great edifice happened by chance.; 2/28/19, 8:57 AM
Original Mike said...: "Atheism is about arrogance they look at the universe and think they are the master."

That's stupid. Who thinks they are the master of the universe?

Theism is about arrogance; they look at the universe and think its all about them.; 2/28/19, 9:13 AM
Michael McNeil said...: I think he meant "theists", not deists. Deists are not the same thing as atheists, although it might appear that way to a theist.

With regard to the former, I agree. Concerning the latter, I'm fully cognizant of the fact.

Amusingly, the pagan Romans used to call the contemporary Christians “atheists.”; 2/28/19, 9:30 AM
Meade said...: "That's stupid. Who thinks they are the master of the universe? Theism is about arrogance; they look at the universe and think its all about them."

Ah but pantheism. Pantheists look and say, "You are both right, my precious brothers and sisters of stardust. Be thankful. Be cheerful. Behave!"; 2/28/19, 9:31 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Atheism is about arrogance they look at the universe and think they are the master."

This is a foolish view. We who do not believe there is a god do--cannot--think of ourselves as "the master." The master of what? An endless void filled with stars and planets beyond our capacity to imagine, at distances from us that will never be crossed.

We realize how tiny and insignificant we are in the vastness of the cosmos. We are less than microbes.; 2/28/19, 9:32 AM
Original Mike said...: narciso should go back to unintelligible typing. At least then you could imagine he was offering something intelligent.; 2/28/19, 9:35 AM
Michael McNeil said...: I think that Trumpit is the same troll as American Politico.; 2/28/19, 9:43 AM
readering said...: RC speak for yourself. Microbes look up to me.; 2/28/19, 11:58 AM
Known Unknown said...: "In a happy angle to this story, Arenado could have gotten a 10 year contract on the open market instead of the 8 year deal with the Rockies, but Arenado wanted to stay here with his family and he let about $64 Million go by the wayside for that outcome."

Arenado was already under contract. His new one is an extension.; 2/28/19, 1:03 PM
Jim at said...: This is something all new patients are asked nowadays. Some new protocol.

Bullshit. I've been to the ER three times in the last five years ... including recently as a patient.

Not once - not even once - did anybody ask if anybody was suicidal.; 2/28/19, 4:54 PM
Drago said...: Big Mike: "Some of us look at the universe and conclude that the universe makes no sense mathematically if there is a personal God who cares about single individuals."

Why would a personal God who cares about single individuals and wants a relationship with each of us create a universe without the very "rules" necessary to negate the chaos that would preclude life?; 2/28/19, 6:36 PM
Drago said...: Robert Cook: "We who do not believe there is a god do--cannot--think of ourselves as "the master."

LOL

Every leftist movement that has ever existed has sought to create their own version of the New Soviet Man.

Which, of course, ALWAYS results in the Peace of the Mass Grave when those darn humans don't play along.

But next time, NEXT TIME, the "right" lefties with the "right" lefty ideas will do it the "right" way and we will indeed create our People's Paradise on Earth.

At long last......

But always the next time...; 2/28/19, 6:39 PM
Drago said...: Known Unknown: "Arenado was already under contract. His new one is an extension."

He could have hit the open market if he so chose.; 2/28/19, 6:40 PM
rcocean said...: Ah, hasn't atheism been proved right. Scientifically?

IRC, there's a DVD or something.; 2/28/19, 8:23 PM