Althouse: At the Drainage Café...

March 9, 2019

At the Drainage Café...

... get out there (or get in here).

158 comments:

Phil 314 said...: Did you see the clown?; 3/9/19, 7:51 AM
traditionalguy said...: Thank God I am not a north country snowed in resident.; 3/9/19, 7:53 AM
Ralph L said...: Zinger Boots; 3/9/19, 7:54 AM
traditionalguy said...: Spring is here in Georgia. The Azaleas and dogwoods will soon decorate Callaway Gardens and Augusta National. And not a flake of snow is coming.; 3/9/19, 7:59 AM
Tank said...: Been there, done that, moved to NC.; 3/9/19, 8:03 AM
Oso Negro said...: It looks like the next thing you citizens of Madison can do is adopt a street sign. Has someone been taking target practice at the one in your photo?; 3/9/19, 8:03 AM
Wince said...: You need a fat rat to get stuck in the sewer cover.

When's the next school board meeting?; 3/9/19, 8:08 AM
MadisonMan said...: Melt Season, followed by Mud Season, followed by Mosquito Season.

3M.; 3/9/19, 8:09 AM
Ralph L said...: moved to NC
My shoveling in December, the first in years, was done with my car to bust the dam from the city snow plow.; 3/9/19, 8:12 AM
madAsHell said...: Alice contemplating WonderLand.; 3/9/19, 8:12 AM
Meade said...: "followed by Mud Season"

Not that you of all people need a weatherman... but I'm predicting a spring drought for the upper midwest.; 3/9/19, 8:16 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Apropos of nothing:

I predict that within two generations video proof that you've engaged in homosexual acts will be required in public schools. This will be a required segment of your Diversity training.

Refusal to participate will land you in a psyche ward.; 3/9/19, 8:18 AM
Phil 314 said...: ST,

Was that like a confession or something?; 3/9/19, 8:22 AM
Ralph L said...: I'm predicting a spring drought

We had record rainfall in 2018 (and only 3 dry weeks in the Summer), and it hasn't slowed since. The Pendulum must swing, someday. Glad I'm not a farmer and there's floor drain in the cellar.; 3/9/19, 8:26 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: No, it's a prediction of things to come.

I suggest you take it seriously.; 3/9/19, 8:26 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Bob Hope, 1975: “I’ve just flown in from California, where they’ve made homosexuality legal. I thought I’d get out before they make it compulsory.”; 3/9/19, 8:28 AM
stevew said...: No spring yet in Beantown, though the day is lengthening nicely and the sun is higher in the sky.

Why are sewer, and manhole, covers round?

That question was the first on an end of term math exam my senior year in high school. Few of us gave the correct answer.

Have a good day, outside, wherever you are.; 3/9/19, 8:28 AM
Curious George said...: "Why are sewer, and manhole, covers round?"

So they can't fall through.; 3/9/19, 8:34 AM
Humperdink said...: So I just delivered a truckload of my ash logs to the local Louisville Slugger baseball bat mill. I had to cut the ash trees down so as to beat infestation from the emerald ash borer beetle.

The plant mills them into round blanks and then sends them off to the finishing plant, presumable to Louisville.

Every home run hit this year I am going to attribute to my trees. Well, maybe not all.; 3/9/19, 8:37 AM
MadisonMan said...: but I'm predicting a spring drought for the upper midwest

What does that mean? Half of normal rainfall? 1/3rd? What do you define as Upper Midwest? WI/MN/MI?

The Climate Prediction Center (which did terribly for this past winter, but ...) doesn't have much of a prediction for here in April/May/June. Wetter and warmer just south of here though.; 3/9/19, 8:43 AM
MadisonMan said...: So I just delivered a truckload of my ash logs to the local Louisville Slugger baseball bat mill.

That's really cool! Do they have to dry the wood out first before making the bats?; 3/9/19, 8:44 AM
Ralph L said...: Few of us gave the correct answer.
I can think of several reasons, but most likely because the lid can't fall through.; 3/9/19, 8:47 AM
Meade said...: "What does that mean? Half of normal rainfall? 1/3rd? What do you define as Upper Midwest? WI/MN/MI?"

It means dry, buff singletrack whenever I'm in Copper Harbor, Southern Kettle Moraine, or Brown County Indiana. :); 3/9/19, 8:51 AM
tcrosse said...: "Why are sewer, and manhole, covers round?"

It's easier for the dog to catch when you throw it.; 3/9/19, 8:54 AM
Original Mike said...: "had to cut the ash trees down so as to beat infestation from the emerald ash borer beetle."

We had to destroy the village in order to save it.; 3/9/19, 8:59 AM
tcrosse said...: It looks like Althouse has blurred the street sign, in order to keep her acolytes from flocking to her door for a heaping helping of cruel neutrality.; 3/9/19, 9:02 AM
Ralph L said...: We may have used the exact same words, but I swear I hadn't read Curious George's much quicker answer.; 3/9/19, 9:10 AM
cronus titan said...: Looks like someone took an ice pick o that sign. Are you guys the drug runners in Madison? Or is the street named after a white person and the students rioted against the sign?; 3/9/19, 9:16 AM
gilbar said...: I predict that within two generations video proof that you've engaged in homosexual acts will be required in public schools.

HOW can you know that you're not if you haven't tried it at least a few times?
Same with Abortion, until you've aborted your first male child as a sacrifice to BAAL,
who are You to say it's Wrong?; 3/9/19, 9:26 AM
MadisonMan said...: Meade, Brown County Indiana is *not* Upper Midwest.; 3/9/19, 9:27 AM
rehajm said...: That's some quality snrit. Mabye a little snit mixed in there, too if the dogs walk by that drain...; 3/9/19, 9:32 AM
rehajm said...: Can you tell me how to get, how to get to (NAME REDACTED) Street?; 3/9/19, 9:34 AM
Josephbleau said...: If you drop a non round manhole cover on your foot with the corner down the stress concentration will cut into your bones, unlike a round one, which would merely mash you.; 3/9/19, 9:46 AM
rehajm said...: Round manhole covers are easier to move.; 3/9/19, 9:51 AM
Big Mike said...: @Meade, looks like you did a good job. Did your lady love make you a cup of hot chocolate when you were through?; 3/9/19, 9:53 AM
tcrosse said...: Round manhole covers fit round manholes.; 3/9/19, 9:56 AM
Hagar said...: The most likely reason is that manhole covers come in matched frame and cover sets, both made with cast iron, a brittle material.

"Can't fall through" is silly. The cover rests on a sill within in the frame and the edge of the cover to frame surfaces are also cast slightly conical, so that the cover can be lifted off when access is needed.; 3/9/19, 9:57 AM
Josephbleau said...: Hagar the square root of two is greater than 1. It will fall thru.; 3/9/19, 10:03 AM
tim in vermont said...: Thank God I am not a north country snowed in resident.

I miss it, thinking of moving back.; 3/9/19, 10:04 AM
Hagar said...: And yes, also because round manhole walls mean the walls are subjected to uniform compression all around and is easily tapered in at the top to allow for the minimum access hole diameter required for a man to enter and exit.; 3/9/19, 10:05 AM
Humperdink said...: "That's really cool! Do they have to dry the wood out first before making the bats?"

Yes.

https://oldhickorybats.com/pages/wood-bats-wood-species; 3/9/19, 10:05 AM
Hagar said...: Hagar the square root of two is greater than 1. It will fall thru
????; 3/9/19, 10:08 AM
Lyle Sanford, RMT said...: That first pic is weirdly great - vibrant color - textures - and the Rorschach drain cover; 3/9/19, 10:11 AM
Humperdink said...: The round blanks in the video are what the local plant does before shipping them to the Hillerich and Bradsby plant (aka Louisville Slugger). Cool video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7XbuwUWLLI; 3/9/19, 10:11 AM
Josephbleau said...: A 1 foot square plate will pass thru a 1 foot square hole if you hold it vertically and pass thru on the diagonal, right?; 3/9/19, 10:13 AM
Humperdink said...: "A 1 foot square plate will pass thru a 1 foot square hole if you hold it vertically and pass thru on the diagonal, right?"

Yes it will, but a large manhole rat stuck in one of the vent holes makes it difficult.; 3/9/19, 10:17 AM
Hagar said...: Yes, and the idiot who does that can also be sent down the manhole to fish it back out and put in place properly.

Actually, you have a strong point, but the structural considerations are the more important.; 3/9/19, 10:32 AM
Big Mike said...: Since the corner to corner diagonal is longer than the side to opposite side for any regular polygon with an even number of sides, a polygonal manhole cover held on its side can be twisted so that it can fall through the opening. As the number of sides goes up, the difference between the corner to corner measure and side to opposite side measure goes down, until one gets to a circle, which can be thought of as a regular polygon with an infinite number of sides, and the difference goes to zero.

Note that if the number of sides is odd (and greater than 3) then the argument is only slightly more complex — directly opposite a corner is a side and there are two corners (not quite directly) opposite any corner.; 3/9/19, 10:41 AM
Hagar said...: PhD.; 3/9/19, 10:44 AM
gilbar said...: None of which changes the facts that:
A) manhole covers are SO HEAVY that it's VERY UNLIKELY you would 'unintentionally' lift one vertical
B) pipes are made round for completely other reasons; seems very likely (to me) that any 'can't drop through the hole'ness is gravy ("how the HELL are we supposed to get these covers down the hole? It's not a bug, it's a feature!"); 3/9/19, 11:05 AM
cubanbob said...: The second photo reminds me why I'm joyful to live in Florida.; 3/9/19, 11:14 AM
tcrosse said...: There's no wrong way to put a round manhole cover into a round manhole, except upside down.; 3/9/19, 11:19 AM
walter said...: It's an outrage to call them "manholes"...; 3/9/19, 11:32 AM
Phil 314 said...: Big Mike,
They promised me there would be no math on this blog.; 3/9/19, 11:50 AM
Phil 314 said...: Don't know much about geography,
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra,
Don't know what a slide rule is for
But I do know that one and one is two,
And if this one could be with you,
What a wonderful world this would be; 3/9/19, 11:54 AM
rehajm said...: Draiiiiiiinage, Eli!!!!; 3/9/19, 12:01 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: BEWARE OF SNOIDS!!!!!; 3/9/19, 12:16 PM
Big Mike said...: @Phil, they lied; 3/9/19, 12:25 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "It's an outrage to call them "manholes"..."

Manvagina is better.

But that still leaves out the other 71 genders.; 3/9/19, 12:27 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: tcrosse said...
There's no wrong way to put a round manhole cover into a round manhole, except upside down.

Also, no way it can fall into the hole as any rectagular cover could.; 3/9/19, 12:28 PM
Howard said...: Shouting Thomas homophobia is rooted in the classic fear that he secretly craves Titus Hog; 3/9/19, 12:32 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Shouting Thomas homophobia is rooted in the classic fear that he secretly craves Titus Hog”

The icy snow getting stuck over the grates are the fault of those gay snowflakes.; 3/9/19, 12:36 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: Is the fault...; 3/9/19, 12:37 PM
Howard said...: It's just a catch basin. Like how Big Math is making an overeducated mountain out of common Sense; 3/9/19, 12:51 PM
Quaestor said...: Shouting Thomas homophobia...

Whereas Howard's craving for Titus is open, desperate, but unrequited.

Poor Howard, not fab enough by a country mile. Try shedding a few score pounds, then get a real toupé, i.e. one made of actual hair.; 3/9/19, 12:53 PM
Quaestor said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/9/19, 12:55 PM
Quaestor said...: Howard's sputtering rejoinder due in 10... 9... 8...; 3/9/19, 12:56 PM
walter said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/9/19, 1:01 PM
walter said...: Adopt a Drain slogan: Drain The ...Street!

Hey..AOC gets the comic treatment; 3/9/19, 1:02 PM
Ralph L said...: It also uses the least material for a given minimum width, which should have been an engineering exam's answer, though IANAE.; 3/9/19, 1:06 PM
Not Sure said...: Look! Black swans!; 3/9/19, 1:13 PM
Ralph L said...: In my town, they seem to intentionally put manholes where you have to drive over them. There's one fifty feet from my bedroom that's quite tiresome.; 3/9/19, 1:30 PM
Howard said...: Overcompensate much word boy?; 3/9/19, 1:37 PM
walter said...: Ruh roh.."word boy".
Shit's about to get real.; 3/9/19, 1:50 PM
Hagar said...: "It's an outrage to call them "manholes".

30-40 years ago the sisterhood insisted they should be called "personholes" and some official agencies actually fell for this, but now all that seems to have been forgotten.; 3/9/19, 1:55 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: In my town, they seem to intentionally put manholes where you have to drive over them.

When I was young, the city seemed to make some effort to make the manholes the same elevation as the rest of the street. That kind of quality control is long gone, and now they are either recessed so far you can throw a hubcap, or hiked up so far that it's like running into a curb.; 3/9/19, 1:59 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Overcompensate much word boy?”

I noticed. He comes up short.; 3/9/19, 2:14 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Actually, homophobia is that voice in a gay’s head telling him his parents want grandchildren.; 3/9/19, 2:43 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: In other words, like sexism, homophobia is a nonsense term.

Nobody’s really afraid of women or hates women.

Nobody’s really afraid of gays or hates them.

Those are terms of Marxist construction designed for the political purpose of shutting people up.

There is no reality to either term.

It’s all bullshit.; 3/9/19, 2:45 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Since I lived in San Francisco as the AIDS epidemic broke out of the bathhouses, and in NYC during the days when the great die-off transpired, I assure you that I thank God that I didn’t want to fuck men.

I watched dozens of friends and fellow artists die shitting themselves to death.

This did not inspire sexual cravings in me. Had Howard been correct about me, I would have long since been dead.

It’s interesting, however, that Howard the Dummy plays the game of homophobic taunting while complaining about homophobia.

Howard the Dummy is one mixed up dunce.; 3/9/19, 2:51 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Inga, on the other hand, really has no political views and ideals.

She’s just a vengeful, vicious, idle and pathetic women with nothing to do but to ponder her various vendettas.

That’s her entire life.; 3/9/19, 2:58 PM
Michael McNeil said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/9/19, 3:07 PM
Mr. Forward said...: Although many theories abound
About these holes in the ground
We would have to refrain
From circling the drain
If manhole covers weren’t round.; 3/9/19, 3:07 PM
Michael McNeil said...: But I do know that one and one is two,
And if this one could be with you,
What a wonderful world this would be

So if two similar cars, similar speeds, are racing down the highway going in opposite directions and they collide head-on, their combined velocity will be twice as much?

The fact is that a great many things in this real, physical world of ours do not (naively) obey the 1 + 1 = 2 rule. In this particular case, the rule is more like 1 + 1 = 0!

Problems like this are why physicists have invented more complex entities than just simple, so-called “scalar” numbers — such as (e.g.) complex numbers and vectors — to describe real-world phenomena.

The lesson, basically, for most real problems is that 1 + 1 ≠ 2.; 3/9/19, 3:10 PM
Mark said...: I've got nowhere to go, nowhere to be.

I'm springing forward early.

And suddenly, just like that . . . . . I've lost an hour of my life.; 3/9/19, 3:15 PM
gilbar said...: In this particular case, the rule is more like 1 + (-1) = 0!
fixed it for you!; 3/9/19, 3:17 PM
Michael McNeil said...: For human beings, too, the rule is often 1 + 1 = 0!; 3/9/19, 3:22 PM
Quaestor said...: So if two similar cars, similar speeds, are racing down the highway going in opposite directions and they collide head-on, their combined velocity will be twice as much?

Notice that Michael McNeil does not confuse speed with velocity. Speed has only magnitude, much like Howard's ass.; 3/9/19, 3:25 PM
Michael McNeil said...: Gilbar: Who says some velocities should be ‘–’ and some ‘+’ and what's the rule to do so? In fact, you're already part-way to vectors when you say that — but not far enough. And when you're doing vectors, you're no longer applying the 1 + 1 = anything rule.; 3/9/19, 3:27 PM
Drago said...: If you look very very closely at the picture you can just make out the faint image of Max Boot's face deep within the drain...and receding....; 3/9/19, 3:28 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Jabber about matrices is probably going to be born in this thread.; 3/9/19, 3:40 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Let me know when yur gettin' off w/ bras.; 3/9/19, 3:42 PM
Big Mike said...: @Phil, see what I mean?; 3/9/19, 3:42 PM
Big Mike said...: @Phil, BTW, I am old enough to know "what a slide rule is for," but I haven't seen one in action for scores of years, and I doubt I'd remember how to use it myself anymore. Times change.; 3/9/19, 3:44 PM
Quaestor said...: Of course, the word manhole refers not to a hole in a man, but to a hole which admits a man. (Or a woman, but not too many of those I've noticed. Jobs involving manholes do not include a corner office with a Wegner chair.) Which is why comments about Howard's ass are not off-topic.; 3/9/19, 3:45 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Ingachuck'stoothlessARM were at Mar-a-lago for a dinner event--met Our Favorite President, First Lady, Ivanka, Candace Owens and fiancé, Mike My Pillow Lindel (we challenged him to a pillow fight)
POTUS skin tone: normal- (his MUA must be a lib for tv appearances)
Hands:normal size
His off-the-cuff speech was very upbeat--he loves what he does, and he loves to love those who love him.
pics or it didn't happen
We have the official pic . Cellphones were locked for event; 3/9/19, 3:57 PM
Big Mike said...: @Shouting Thomas, Howard is not a dummy. Howard is an educated fool. Back during the Camp Fire he grandly informed us peons that heat rises, which is why the homes burned in Paradise, California, but not the trees above those homes. Howard knows lots about physics. Uh huh.; 3/9/19, 4:00 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Ingachuck'stoothlessARM were at Mar-a-lago for a dinner event--met Our Favorite President, First Lady, Ivanka, Candace Owens and fiancé, Mike My Pillow Lindel (we challenged him to a pillow fight)
POTUS skin tone: normal- (his MUA must be a lib for tv appearances)
Hands:normal size
His off-the-cuff speech was very upbeat--he loves what he does, and he loves to love those who love him.
pics or it didn't happen
We have the official pic . Cellphones were locked for event”

Did you get to meet the Chinese madam, er I mean massage parlor lady.; 3/9/19, 4:02 PM
Drago said...: "So if two similar cars, similar speeds, are racing down the highway going in opposite directions and they collide head-on, their combined velocity will be twice as much?"

You are using "speed" (a scalar quantity, magnitude only) in the same sentence as "velocity" (a vector quantity, magnitude and direction).

Your scalar equation 1 + 1 = 2 remains true, calculating the exit vectors after a collision between projectiles is quite different.; 3/9/19, 4:05 PM
tim in vermont said...: In his testimony, Ohr revealed that former British spy Christopher Steele was simultaneously paid by both the FBI and the Democrat opposition research firm Fusion GPS during the 2016 election.

Say it ain’t so! Tell me that the FBI wasn’t getting their “dirt" on Trump from the Clinton campaign. Couldn’t be true.; 3/9/19, 4:26 PM
stevew said...: As to my earlier post of the manhole shape question: all of those answers above would have been judged correct by my high school teacher. His simplest correct answer is this: a round manhole cover cannot be dropped into the hole.

I correctly answered the question on the test, not because I'm wicked smaht but because I remembered he had mentioned the question and answer earlier in the term.; 3/9/19, 4:46 PM
Charlie Currie said...: The current episode of The Grand Tour has one of the best, no, greatest presentations on the Apollo moon mission you'll ever see. And, you certainly won't seen done by an American program. You would think James May was a red blooded, MAGA American. I was choking up at the end. We, they, were really great, once.; 3/9/19, 4:50 PM
Quaestor said...: Did you get to meet the Chinese madam, er I mean massage parlor lady.

I would have not assumed Inga would accept an invitation to Trump's winter palace. However, the "masseuse" calling is rather slow in the depths of a Wisconsin winter.; 3/9/19, 5:22 PM
Big Mike said...: BTW, in Boolean Algebra 1 + 1 = 1. You can look it up if you’d like.; 3/9/19, 5:22 PM
Mark said...: CNN has an excellent documentary movie in theaters now -- Apollo 11 -- utilizing HD remastered NASA footage and other previously unseen film, including high quality color film on the moon. No annoying narration, no interrupting interviews, just mission footage as it happened.

I saw it in IMAX at the Air and Space Museum last week.; 3/9/19, 5:27 PM
effinayright said...: Charlie Currie said...
The current episode of The Grand Tour has one of the best, no, greatest presentations on the Apollo moon mission you'll ever see. And, you certainly won't seen done by an American program. You would think James May was a red blooded, MAGA American. I was choking up at the end. We, they, were really great, once.
***************

Erm...foreign channel/venue/episode of what?; 3/9/19, 5:27 PM
Charlie Currie said...: wholelottasplainin

Sorry. Amazon Prime. Season 3, Ep9; 3/9/19, 5:46 PM
Be said...: Excellent work. We are doing similar in Somerville, MA.

By the way, Mr. Meade: after having taken your advice for watering the Tropical Trees, I've noted a far less level of leaf-leaving. Thank You.; 3/9/19, 6:00 PM
Humperdink said...: "By the way, Mr. Meade: after having taken your advice for watering the Tropical Trees, I've noted a far less level of leaf-leaving. Thank You. "

I missed it. Meade, would you mind repeating it. My banana trees are driving me crazy.; 3/9/19, 7:05 PM
Ralph L said...: Apollo 11 -- utilizing HD remastered NASA footage

They can fake it a lot more believably with modern CGI.; 3/9/19, 7:56 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: "Kamala Harris calls Manafort’s relatively light sentence unfair"
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/08/kamala-harris-manafort-sentence-1213341
Just like when trump called Bowe Bergdhal's sentence too light, putting the press into their JUDICIAL SYSTEM IS IN CRISIS mode. Politico does not mention the parallel.; 3/9/19, 8:12 PM
Be said...: Humperdink:

There is a café thread from a couple-few months ago, where Mr. Meade recommended not watering plants left in a cold room for two-three weeks at a time. I just have these silly avocados grown from seeds, up in New England, that I've grown to love. In any event, and I might be incorrectly interpreting Mr. Meade's directions, but: I water them copiously every 2-3 weeks, or when I see that their water's turned to sand. It seems to be working.

Best wishes with your banana plant. (By the way - I've tried growing both bananas and pineapples, but cannot seem to get either to take.); 3/9/19, 8:31 PM
Big Mike said...: @Charlie Curry, much obliged for the tip. Excellent bit. Anyone driving near Huntsville, AL, can see both a mockup of the Saturn rocket in the outside part of the NASA museum, and the real thing in an adjacent building.

The US could think big once upon a time -- and achieve it.; 3/9/19, 8:59 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "The US could think big once upon a time"

Now: just bigly.

But, isn't that a good thing for y'all? Now that the usurper is gone.; 3/9/19, 9:04 PM
Quaestor said...: BTW, in Boolean Algebra 1 + 1 = 1. You can look it up if you’d like.

True.

However, 1 ∙ 0 = 0 is a fucking lie!; 3/9/19, 9:18 PM
Big Mike said...: @anti de-Sitter, who is “the usurper”?; 3/9/19, 9:22 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Big M,

The anti-colonialist from Kenya.; 3/9/19, 9:36 PM
Quaestor said...: anti-de Sitter wrote: "The US could think big once upon a time"

Think requires an adverb.; 3/9/19, 9:37 PM
Sprezzatura said...: BTW,

as far as conspiracy theorizing goes, it does seem that the Russia collusion thing seems more grounded than the BHO-is-not-a-US-dude thing.

I mean, nobody disputes that the Russians did help DJT. Likewise, DJT folks did meet w/ Russians re getting dirt on HRC.

All they got on BHO is that his skin is black.

OTOH, that was the point. Duh.; 3/9/19, 9:40 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Q,

Ha. I thought the same thing re I typed out 'bigly.' Efficient bird assassination.

Duh.; 3/9/19, 9:42 PM
Quaestor said...: So you, too, are happy to throw calumnies at Obama? Ilhan Omar may be grateful for the company.

Obama was no usurper.; 3/9/19, 9:45 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "Obama was no usurper."

How about an anti-colonialist?; 3/9/19, 9:50 PM
Quaestor said...: I mean, nobody disputes that the Russians did help DJT.

You live a rather special world, don't you?; 3/9/19, 9:51 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "You live a rather special world, don't you?"

Only for the last ten, or so, years. Before that I was retarded.; 3/9/19, 9:53 PM
Quaestor said...: How about an anti-colonialist?

An anti-colonialist is someone who objects to being colonized. Trump is more anti-colonial than Obama ever was.; 3/9/19, 9:54 PM
Quaestor said...: anti-de Sitter wrote: Only for the last ten years...

Why am I not surprised the reference alluded you?; 3/9/19, 9:56 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "Why am I not surprised the reference alluded you?"

Better question: why did you come to this conclusion.

Carry on.; 3/9/19, 10:02 PM
Big Mike said...: @anti de-Sitter, you’re just trying to get me to run to an argument with you. To me, Barack Obama will always be the doofus who couldn’t stand up a simple working web site even though his administration had two years to work on it and a huge budget to accomplish the task.

But it would be nice to figure out what sort of man you think Vlad Putin is. Is he a crafty genius who swayed an American Presidential election for peanuts? Or is he the dumber than a bucket of dirt idiot who knew that Trump’s support for fracking and the Keystone Xl and Dakota pipelines would cost him tens of millions of dollars in personal wealth? A conundrum. And now Trump’s deal to sell liquid natural gas (LNG) to Europe will take more business away from Gazprom and more millions out of the Russian economy.; 3/9/19, 10:04 PM
Quaestor said...: Better question: why did you come to this conclusion.

Why? Because of your flippant use of language.

A logical mind is more concerned with how than why.; 3/9/19, 10:13 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Big M,

You think yur playin’ w/ folks F-in w/ tens of millions?

Even DJT tossed that to the swindled of TU.

OTOH, a good question would be tens (hundreds?) of billions.

DC swamp is for losers.; 3/9/19, 10:14 PM
Josephbleau said...: The XKCD comic strip had a nice proof that the moon landings were not fake. To outline: If NASA was able to produce a fake great world success that was never discovered, they certainly would have done it again in another event.; 3/9/19, 10:14 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Ha, I’m here for flippant.

Duh.; 3/9/19, 10:15 PM
Sprezzatura said...: And, cause I’m working late Saturday; 3/9/19, 10:17 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Capital accumulation.; 3/9/19, 10:17 PM
Quaestor said...: Speaking of adverbs and other modifiers, "Before that I was retarded." seems to be missing one.; 3/9/19, 10:19 PM
Quaestor said...: Capital accumulation late on a Saturday night.

Trying to defraud ATMs again, are we?; 3/9/19, 10:25 PM
Sprezzatura said...: My IQ = the temperature at Meadehouse.; 3/9/19, 10:28 PM
Sprezzatura said...: (I only need my diaper for three out of seven bowl movements. Successful P-P-Ing = 3/13.); 3/9/19, 10:29 PM
tim in vermont said...: they certainly would have done it again in another event.

You use that word “certainly,” I am not sure you know what it really means. They could have said “That was close! Let’s never do that again!"; 3/9/19, 10:41 PM
tim in vermont said...: mean, nobody disputes that the Russians did help DJT.

Does anybody dispute that the Russians helped the Clintons, with direct payments of cash, donations of scores of millions to their foundation from which they paid political operatives, and with which they held out the promise of cushy jobs for the loyal.

Oh yeah, and somehow Putin inveigled 75K shares of Gazprom related stock into Hillary’s campaign manager’s hands, stock that was worth millions when Hillary was a 95% lead pipe cinch to win the election, and was worthless two days after the election.

But none of that happened because CNN never splashed it across the chryon.; 3/9/19, 10:46 PM
Josephbleau said...: Aunty, no, knowing the management at NASA they would have tried again.; 3/9/19, 10:54 PM
narciso said...: Not to mention the javelin missiles supplied to the Ukraine, or the decimation of their top military contractor Wagner group.; 3/9/19, 10:59 PM
tim in vermont said...: OK, “You used that word ‘proof,’ I am not certain you know what it means."; 3/9/19, 10:59 PM
narciso said...: More to the point:
https://apelbaum.wordpress.com/; 3/9/19, 11:04 PM
tim in vermont said...: I agree that it’s more likely a leak than a hack, narciso, for a lot of the reasons laid out in the blog post, but also because Donna Brazille’s book documents all the motives a leaker would need. There were a lot of pissed of Bernie supporters at the DNC.; 3/9/19, 11:13 PM
Michael McNeil said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/9/19, 11:13 PM
Drago said...: mean, nobody disputes that the Russians did help DJT

This is not a surprise coming from the Kurt-Eichenwald-is-a-reputable-source crew.; 3/9/19, 11:14 PM
Drago said...: MN: "The “scalar equation 1 + 1 - 2 remains true” — absolutely true — only in the realm of abstract mathematics...."

You got me, as that's where I spent the bulk of my time in my undergraduate studies.; 3/9/19, 11:15 PM
Michael McNeil said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/9/19, 11:17 PM
narciso said...: Then you add practically every Assange data dump except possibly Stratfor was from an exfil not a external hack.; 3/9/19, 11:18 PM
Michael McNeil said...: You are using "speed" (a scalar quantity, magnitude only) in the same sentence as "velocity" (a vector quantity, magnitude and direction).

Yes I am. So what? The former was being applied to simply describe the magnitude of the velocity of each of the opposite-moving cars — then the latter was used to describe the resulting motion, if any. Thus, they aren't apples vs. oranges at all.

Furthermore, your raising the scalar vs. vectors distinction only reemphasizes my point: one cannot describe phenomena such as physical motion (velocity, acceleration, et al.) with “scalars” — that is, simple numbers having magnitude but no more-involved complexity. For that you need vectors, or at least complex numbers — and neither of these behave like simple numbers. For instance, one cannot order either complex numbers or vectors by greater-lesser.

Thus, it is not true, in this application (along with many, many others) that “1 + 1 = 2”.

Your scalar equation 1 + 1 = 2 remains true, calculating the exit vectors after a collision between projectiles is quite different.

The “scalar equation 1 + 1 - 2 remains true” — absolutely true — only in the realm of abstract mathematics (like all abstract number theory), and relatively true (if it is) only insofar as it actually applies to aspects of the real world. Those as it happens are quite limited for simple numbers.; 3/9/19, 11:22 PM
stlcdr said...: These are two distinct drains, rectangular and round.

What did the square drain say to the round drain?

You’re unhinged!; 3/10/19, 4:47 AM
tim maguire said...: Spring has finally sprung in Toronto. It’s raining, the ground is frozen, and there is about 3” of ice on the ground. I fear for my basement.; 3/10/19, 5:14 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: "So if two similar cars, similar speeds, are racing down the highway going in opposite directions and they collide head-on, their combined velocity will be twice as much?"

My thought was relativity, where 1+1<2. Or maybe 1/2+1/2<1. In our Newtonian space, we can pretend that 1+1=2, because the difference is not really measurable until V gets significant. But continuing those thoughts, Newtonian space is effectively Euclidian. One of the most fun classes I had in college was Non Euclidian Geometries. The northern and southern borders for CO and WY are not the same length, while the east and west borders are the same length, because the surface of the earth is non Euclidian. There, parallel lines do intersect (notably at the poles, but for any set of opposite points - we just select those opposite points to coincide with the axis of rotation for convenience).; 3/10/19, 6:57 AM
Rory said...: For anyone who actually wants to bring the country back together: Russian meddling is expected. It's been going on for 100 years. If there are culprits here, it is the people in our government who directed our intelligence forces not to defend us against that meddling. It was the same thing as leaving the gate open with knowledge that the enemy was launching an attack.

Again, if you want to convince anyone of your sincerity, your targets should begin with those people. Purge them from public life, from the government and from their book deals and their soft bounce jobs in media and academia. Until that task has been completed, there's really no reason to think that complaints of Russian meddling are anything more than a political tactic.; 3/10/19, 7:27 AM
Humperdink said...: @be. Thx for the watering tips; 3/10/19, 7:42 AM
Fernandinande said...: Britannic fake news:

Blindness MIRACLE cure: Experts in huge breakthrough with 'God molecule' psychedelic drug

1 - No treatment or cure for blindness.
2 - No breakthrough of any type.
3 - "God molecule" is not a molecule.; 3/10/19, 9:54 AM
Meade said...: @be, Thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear all is well and all will be well... in the garden.
https://youtu.be/YgGvd1UPZ88; 3/10/19, 1:13 PM