Althouse: At the Angel's Café...

April 16, 2019

At the Angel's Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

91 comments:

Ralph L said...: Looks like one of the faked fairy photos that fooled Conan Doyle in the 20's.; 4/16/19, 8:19 PM
stevew said...: Who besides his cadre of youthful true believers is supportive and working to nominate and elect Bernie Sanders? Which and how many of them will take the time to remember to vote?; 4/16/19, 8:23 PM
Big Mike said...: Ralph beat me to it.; 4/16/19, 8:27 PM
stephen cooper said...: There are billions of Christians in the world.
One of them prayed that the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris would not be completely destroyed and God listened.
Next time you are at the DMV, or in that big crowd every December when they light up the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, or down near Lake Michigan on one of those crowed days on the Chicago lakeside, you may see that person.

or maybe that person is you, not many people read my comments on this Blog, or any other blog, compared to the number of people who, well, pay attention to other things ..... but I know what I am talking about, trust me... maybe that one person whose prayers were what was needed is reading this ...... As always, thanks for reading. God listens to my prayers, humble as they are, and you read my comments, I am appreciative for both the one and the other.

Proverbs 8. I remember the first time I read Proverbs 8. Good times, good times ,,,,,; 4/16/19, 8:30 PM
stephen cooper said...: crowed was not a typo; 4/16/19, 8:32 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: convert it to black & white, and it will look like the fairy tale
version of Ansel Adams' El Capitan pics.; 4/16/19, 8:42 PM
Big Mike said...: I saw a clip the other day tying together CBS, "The Good Fight," and "Punch a Nazi." Anyone want to tell me what that's all about.; 4/16/19, 8:42 PM
Maillard Reactionary said...: That is a very nicely decomposing stump you have there, AA. I have one in my backyard as well. It is shorter, as close to the ground as the tree guys could make it when they were cutting that tree down. (It had to go, though it was a very nice tree, but it was getting into the septic tank...) I see there is some green stuff (algae? diatoms?) on the upper parts which adds to charm of the scene. Nature wastes nothing.

Mine has been at its best in the fall, when the myceliae of the fungi have had time to get a season's worth of nutrients from the wood, and produce fruiting bodies at that time, in great variety and profusion (at least 6 different kinds, to my untrained eye).

I have a reasonably good photograph of that stump from a few years back.; 4/16/19, 8:44 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: We get the Mueller Report in 2 days - Yippee!

AG Barr will enlist Peter Max to do the color-coded redactions.

The Folks at CNN and MSNBC will thoroughly parse it to explain to us why there really is overwhelming evidence of crimes. And if Mueller has been blackmailed or compromised by Trump and/or the Russians to decline to prosecute, well, by golly, Jerry Nadler will just have to impeach!

No man is above the law!

Plenty of men, however, are above 5'4 Nadler.; 4/16/19, 8:44 PM
Original Mike said...: My gawd, here is a scary, awful, disgusting idea. Hopefully I'll be dead before they actually start doing it.; 4/16/19, 8:51 PM
Maillard Reactionary said...: stephen cooper: I might well be that person whom you mention, but just the same, I am glad I was not on Flight 97 that day when some people did some things.

I have people whom I need to take care of, right now, who need things more immediate than what prayer offers.

However that may be, I share your joy in the outcome in France. I hope that those who participate in the reconstruction take their cue from those who went before them, many centuries ago, and do good work that does justice to their predecessors, and the tradition that they came from.; 4/16/19, 8:53 PM
Maillard Reactionary said...: Original Mike: Agreed. This is one of the reasons why we have a Second Amendment in this country. Of course, we'll need really big guns for that purpose.

I don't see a problem there.; 4/16/19, 8:56 PM
narciso said...: Flight 93, had one extra man made it on that flight the casualties might have been another 500 or a 1,000 in dc.; 4/16/19, 8:57 PM
Fen said...: "The Good Fight," and "Punch a Nazi." Anyone want to tell me what that's all about

The Left wants to initiate violence to suppress and silence Trump supporters, but they are wise enough to realize they should cloak it in something "righteous" to justify it to themselves and the public.

Nazis deserve to be punched > I deem Trump people to be Nazis > so now it's okay for me to attack you.

Problem is, by "nazi" they mean people like you and me.

And they really haven't thought it through. Hitler murdered 6 million, Marxism has murdered 120 million. So dure, punch a nazi, but kill a marxist.; 4/16/19, 8:57 PM
narciso said...: Oh sure then:

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/aoc-blew-amazon-out-of-new-york-in-2019-over-tax-breaks-but-demanded-one-for-herself-in-2012; 4/16/19, 8:58 PM
robother said...: What are the chances that the "Crown of Thorns" rescued from the Notre Dame fire is the actual crown of thorns placed on Jesus's head? Is it necessary to believe that it is to be a real Catholic? What about the crucifixion nails and pieces of the True Cross that may or may not have survived the fire? Did St. Louis really collect them in Jerusalem in the First Crusade, a thousand years after the fact?

I recognize that cult is a necessary part of preserving the spiritual tradition over thousands of years, the need most people have for something tangible to embody the spiritual teaching and even represent its power in this world. (This is not peculiar to Christians-- witness the temple of the Buddha's Tooth in Sri Lanka.) The architectural monuments and artworks, the pilgrimages, that humans have created around these artifacts represent civilization, a profound declaration hat human mind is more than getting and spending.

But, from my own consciousness, I still doubt. I still ask, is all this cult, really necessary to a true spiritual path?; 4/16/19, 9:00 PM
narciso said...: One night argue that:
https://social.quodverum.com/interact/101938603412672572?type=reblog

The nails and the crown were the tool for jesus to fulfill the covenant as set forth in isiah.; 4/16/19, 9:03 PM
Original Mike said...: "Of course, we'll need really big guns for that purpose."

The CEOs might be responsive to conventional guns.; 4/16/19, 9:10 PM
wild chicken said...: Yeah just drop all the smells and bells, hocus pocus...just have a Church Without God. Much easier on one's sense of rationality.

I'm feelin Spiritual!; 4/16/19, 9:13 PM
wild chicken said...: So I looked at bernies tax returns, and I didn't see how it shows he's a millionaire. He had a few years of high income from book sales. The rest is solid middle class.

Returns don't show assets. Campaign funds are separate.

So what's the point of releasing these things?; 4/16/19, 9:19 PM
John D said...: Un petit haïku français.....

Où est-elle allée,
La notre dame de Paris?
Elle revient bientôt!; 4/16/19, 9:22 PM
Sebastian said...: Yes, I offered my theory in another thread, but still, the question bugs me: Sure, the Dems and the deep state wanted to keep Trump out and then take him down, but why did Brennan, Comey, McCabe, et al., perpetrate the coup scam when they knew they had nothing? when they went at the king but knew it was unlikely they could kill him?

Rashness? Desperation? True-believer hope that something, anything would turn up? Trust that some sort of impeachment would happen even without actual evidence of "collusion," that MSM smears would suffice? Or that they simply had to try to run out the clock with Mueller since the sheer exposure of their dirty pre-election deeds would be too devastating? What scenario did they envision exactly?; 4/16/19, 9:24 PM
Henry said...: Never underestimate self-deception.; 4/16/19, 9:30 PM
n.n said...: Our garden cafe features a porcelain frog.

Returns don't show assets. Campaign funds are separate.

So what's the point of releasing these things?

It is done to create political leverage and fuel talking points, which invades select people's privacy, while leaving Bernie unmolested. Smart.; 4/16/19, 9:31 PM
stephen cooper said...: Phidippus,you are a better man than you think you are.; 4/16/19, 9:36 PM
narciso said...: The predicate was never supposed to be seen, fusion haklyut meaning Steele downer halper were supposed to stay in the cold that's why Dan Jones was set up with corporate funding. The trail from perkins and Coie was supposed to blotted out.; 4/16/19, 9:38 PM
n.n said...: What scenario did they envision exactly?

Perhaps they were playing the odds, knowing that they could lose big and remain viable. Not individually, although there are opportunities for placement, but collectively, and the 1%.

Speaking of gambling... The establishment doesn't always win.

Report: Roy Moore Leads Polling for Ala. GOP Senate Bid

I wonder what hunts, trials, and brews they would concoct for him this time.; 4/16/19, 9:42 PM
Fen said...: "Brennan et al. going for broke with a very weak hand. Why did they stake so much on so little?"

A President's first 100 days are his most effective as regards agenda setting. If the Deep State's goal was to simply wait-out the term of a swamp drainer, handicapping him with Mueller would be a good tactic.

Even moreso if the appearance of Trump being a Russian puppet threw the House to the Dems and created gridlock.

I hate to harp on it but to me this seems like another example of Republicans turning a rout into an orderly retreat and calling that a victory.

Fusion GPS should have been raided last week.; 4/16/19, 9:45 PM
Nichevo said...: narciso said...
Flight 93, had one extra man made it on that flight the casualties might have been another 500 or a 1,000 in dc.

Yes, but they would have been Congresspeople. If they just crashed three or four planes into Capitol Hill, especially if they didn't have any passengers on board, it would be hard to fault them.; 4/16/19, 9:52 PM
Molly said...: Washington Post comments section has some interesting thoughts about Barr's redactions. It turns out that there are exceptions to the rule against releasing grand jury testimony, and (some believe) Congress has the authority to incarcerate Barr until the full unredacted report is released. That would be fun.

I expect soon to hear that Congress has the authority to rewrite the full report so that it says what Congress wants it to say. And (I believe a congress person asked Barr last week) shouldn't Congressional committees be the ultimate federal law enforcement decision makers? Perhaps it is not even necessary to have an executive branch!; 4/16/19, 9:52 PM
Nichevo said...: No, not really.; 4/16/19, 9:52 PM
Fen said...: It also sends a message to anyone considering associating with this administration, and any future "Trumps" and associates. Sure, Trump weathered this (Flynn not so much). Who in their right mind wants to be bent over like this?

Which means we do NOT give them Moar Trump.

We give them Breitbart. "Fuck you. War."; 4/16/19, 10:00 PM
Clark said...: I went out today and had a go at a stump that is level with the ground and at least 4 years old, probably more. I tried out my new axe/mattock for the first time. Enough was thoroughly rotted that I succeeded at removing it, but it is amazing how much unrotted wood there is heading into the roots. I went after another stump, this one about 18 inches above the ground. It is so old and looks so rotten I thought it would just melt away, but no. The inside is rotted out, but the outside is practically petrified. I hit it and it sounded like iron. It will be necessary to employ more extreme methods. I may have to investigate state and county restrictions on explosives.; 4/16/19, 10:05 PM
Big Mike said...: @Clark, do you have a store around that rents heavy equipment? See if you can rent a stump chipper. When it's through you have a lot of mulch and no stump. You will remember where the stumps were, though, because of the shoots that come up from the old roots every year that have to be cut.; 4/16/19, 10:15 PM
iowan2 said...: but why did Brennan, Comey, McCabe, et al., perpetrate the coup scam when they knew they had nothing? when they went at the king but knew it was unlikely they could kill him?

The media template is always "Watergate!"

Evil Nixon was discovered, charged, tried, convicted, and hanged right? That's how 'they' got rid of evil Nixon. Well, not quite. The media blew up an inconsequential, 3rd rate burglary. Made it bigger than life itself. Then, the leadership went up to the White House. Told Nixon he lost the trust of the people. Explained he could no longer govern. The people don't support him, Republicans on the Hill could no longer support him. Resigning was his only option.

That was the template the media was using this time. Drive President Trumps poll numbers into the 20's. McConnell and Ryan would have been at the White House and carrying President Trumps bags down the front steps, with big smiles on their faces.

Except President Trump is not a politician, and does not respond to political stimulus.; 4/16/19, 10:16 PM
narciso said...: If the cogress hack been severely damaged perhaps they couldn't reach a quorum,
https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/378629-breitbart-editor-biden-and-kerrys-sons-inked-deal-with-chinese%3famp; 4/16/19, 10:25 PM
ndspinelli said...: After singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame @ the Twins game tonight they played Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone. If they didn't put the lyrics up on the scoreboard I think only a handful of fans would have known the lyrics. I do seem to remember Bobby Zimmerman is a baseball fan.; 4/16/19, 10:31 PM
Lawrence Person said...: LBJ didn't kill JFK.

Just in case anyone was unclear on that...; 4/16/19, 10:37 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Original Mike said...
My gawd, here is a scary, awful, disgusting idea. Hopefully I'll be dead before they actually start doing it.

Once again life finally catches up to Heinlein; 4/16/19, 10:39 PM
Michael K said...: why did Brennan, Comey, McCabe, et al., perpetrate the coup scam when they knew they had nothing? when they went at the king but knew it was unlikely they could kill him?

Hillary was supposed to win the election. The fix was in. At least Putin won his fixed election. Erdogan sounds no better than Hillary.

Had she won none of this would ever have been exposed. They violated the first rule of Machiavelli. Never strike a Prince unless you kill him.; 4/16/19, 11:03 PM
Clark said...: Thanks @Big Mike. I do believe that renting some stump destroying equipment is in my future.; 4/16/19, 11:06 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Heard Donna Brazile on the Five today say that she wanted to see Mueller's report so we might be able to learn how to prevent criminal's hacking. "We were under attack". Can't believe they let that dem Paki IT cartel leave the country. Trump seems to be the Responsible adult in D.C., warts and all.; 4/16/19, 11:07 PM
Anonymous said...: I read what, 40+ comments and end up stumped for an opening.

Per Ralph et. al. yeah, the photo looks like a colorized Doyle dream.

Clark, Big Mike: not all stumps are the same and be careful chipping or grinding (not to mention blasting!)-- you can go from stump to foxhole pretty quick if you don't know what you're doing. (Happened to a friend.)

Sebastian: Not sure I follow your question. You say Dems and the deep state, and then Brennan, Comey, and McCabe as separate actors; those three ARE the DS aren't they? Or at least among the most hapless and expendable DS smurfs we know about so far. I have to think that at every turn everyone involved was sure that whatever misgivings might trouble them about the legality or success of the plan, well hell, the guys over at [deleted] say they're solid. Slam dunk.

Classic groupthink. Can you say Dreyfuss?

Narr; 4/16/19, 11:08 PM
narciso said...: So who's buying the moon, neither Bezos nor Branson certainly not musk can swing it,; 4/16/19, 11:08 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Valerie Jarrett's book a Best Seller? Hope she got a LARGE advance wink wink. When did Al Franken get the time to "write books" as a senator?; 4/16/19, 11:12 PM
narciso said...: Yes some of these conspiracies were particularly whack like the three corsican hitmen who were in either in prison on on a far away deployment, the dead mute witness to the grassy knoll (I'm not making that up); 4/16/19, 11:14 PM
narciso said...: Remember Hillary was the smartest person in the world:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Nervana_1/status/1118099859507171329?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet; 4/16/19, 11:15 PM
effinayright said...: Molly said...
Washington Post comments section has some interesting thoughts about Barr's redactions. It turns out that there are exceptions to the rule against releasing grand jury testimony, and (some believe) Congress has the authority to incarcerate Barr until the full unredacted report is released. That would be fun.
************
So...what law enforcement agency does the Congress have that it could command to round up Barr and lock him up?; 4/16/19, 11:34 PM
narciso said...: That ergot has a strong kick, shirley the
Y xant be serious; 4/16/19, 11:41 PM
StephenFearby said...: GOP Fears Mueller's Collusion Bias Lives On in Final Report
By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations
April 15, 2019

"Although Republicans were pleased that Special Counsel Robert Mueller said he was unable to establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, they fear his practice of distorting facts during his investigation will color his final report, which Attorney General William Barr is expected to release to Congress in redacted form this week...."

One of the pertinent examples:

'...The following month, after Senate investigators had compared the emails quoted in the Papadopoulos filing with the full emails they had obtained separately from the Trump campaign, they called Mueller out on the omissions, arguing he took information out of context.

“In this matter, the public deserves to have the full context for the information the special counsel chooses to release,” then-Senate Judiciary chair Grassley wrote Mueller in a four-page letter. “The glaring lack of it feeds speculation and innuendo that distorts the facts."

Mueller objected to the committee releasing the full emails at the time.'

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2019/04/15/gop_muellers_collusion_bias_could_carry_through_to_final_report.html

Sounds right to me.; 4/16/19, 11:42 PM
effinayright said...: I'm not anti-Catholic or even anti-religion, but...

When I see that crown of thorns on Drudge I am reminded of a history prof I had who said:

"There are enough pieces of the True Cross scattered about Christendom to build a British man o'war."; 4/16/19, 11:43 PM
narciso said...: The important thing is what those thorns reoresent:

https://babalublog.com/2019/04/16/new-york-times-revitalizes-its-fervor-for-cuba-after-atypical-delay-in-its-fawning-and-drooling-over-castro-dictatorship/; 4/16/19, 11:52 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Sebastian asked:

"Yes, I offered my theory in another thread, but still, the question bugs me: Sure, the Dems and the deep state wanted to keep Trump out and then take him down, but why did Brennan, Comey, McCabe, et al., perpetrate the coup scam when they knew they had nothing?"

Them knowing they had nothing didn't preclude the possibility of hoodwinking certain people- like Electoral College electors in the 6 weeks after the election, then hoodwinking the Republicans in the Senate. It is entirely possible they planned to actually frame Trump before he fired Comey.; 4/17/19, 12:04 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: I'm wondering if they hadn't done similar things before (below the top level, obviously) with success and figured scaling it up to POTUS would work too.; 4/17/19, 12:09 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Excellent point, Unknown. If I ever serve on a federal jury, I will surely be extremely skeptical of the prosecutors.; 4/17/19, 12:13 AM
steve uhr said...: What the fuct. How about some coverage of the amazing Bucks and their nice guy superstar.; 4/17/19, 12:41 AM
readering said...: So I watched Conan interview Caro.yikes the man is deaf. Opened up to audience questions which I dreaded but the last one was one by a journalist\would be writer o'brien said he'd also been thinking of asking. Did Caro face doubt on the long-taking Power Broker and how did he deal with it. That resulted in a long, poignant answer about the financial difficulties he and his wife faced together. Things turned around when his original editor changed firms, he hired an agent, and she got him an editor who like her believed in his project (Bob gottlieb I think). He also said he hoped for a revised edition of the Power Broker restoring the cuts, but it would be a lot of work, implying it would have to await the completion of the last Johnson book. The most depressing question and answer related to Vietnam. Caro said he couldn't give an answer because he hasn't yet written that story. Yikes! Another answer implied he's on great society legislation. He came across as frail i have to say, although all there up there. Maybe it's the book tour. Flew in from Texas where he said at a dinner last night the director of the lBJ foundation expressed regret for its initial hostility after his first book.; 4/17/19, 12:56 AM
readering said...: O'Brien addressed him as Mr Caro throughout as did worshipful audience. Clearly the O'Brien household is offering daily incantations\sacrifices to appease the gods and keep the man in fair health.; 4/17/19, 1:00 AM
Ralph L said...: but it is amazing how much unrotted wood there is heading into the roots.

My grandfather had a wood-fenced hunting dog lot built in the 30's or 40's (with a small chicken coop for a dog house). I took the remains of the fence down 20 years ago but left one of the 4' Virginia Cedar (actually a juniper) posts that held it up. Ten years ago, a long, 6" diameter limb from a 100+ yo pecan tree (not a pie) fell directly on it in a storm. I cut off most of it, but about 15 feet is still balanced atop that indestructible post.

Last year, I had 3 yuge junipers (planted 1940 and once easily 40 by 10 by 8) cut down and the stumps ground up. I forgot they won't rot, or I'd have made them grind the whole area. I'm going to need a backhoe to remove the rest of the roots so I can plant some nice shrubbery to block some of the street view. Without warning me, the city hacked off the front of the plants to their property line when they replaced some sidewalk that wasn't even near it. The ugly underside was exposed, then the middle one died to a few fronds, so they all had to go.; 4/17/19, 2:26 AM
Ralph L said...: Maybe it's the book tour.

Let's hope it doesn't kill him. Perhaps Caro should have started with his presidency and then done prequels like Star Wars.; 4/17/19, 2:29 AM
Breezy said...: What Unknown said...
What else did these DSers actually do to unmask, badger and bend people to their will? Schumer certainly implied it’s a norm.; 4/17/19, 2:50 AM
Anonymous said...: I have been reading Althouse everyday since 2010. I enjoy her range, and lessons in sentence structure and clarity, as well as the variety of subjects. But I miss the back-and-forth commenting,which read more as a live discussion.The comments now remind me of posting 'required ten comments per week on-line on Blackboard' for homework, in college. Everyone trying to be clever, and get points and up-votes or approval from the professor. Here, I enjoyed flawed commentary, raw,inspired or even offensive, sometimes hilarious commentary.Despite some of you-know-who here who abused the page, (I would just skim and skip those comments anyway,)still it was better somehow, no?; 4/17/19, 3:00 AM
Ralph L said...: Kind of hard to drum up the energy for a live discussion with someone who doesn't bother to chose a name. Raw enough for you?

I'm wondering if they hadn't done similar things before (below the top level, obviously) with success and figured scaling it up to POTUS would work too.

You'd think the other presidential candidates would be curious if they were surveilled, too.; 4/17/19, 3:24 AM
Big Mike said...: If I ever serve on a federal jury, I will surely be extremely skeptical of the prosecutors.

It’s already happened down in Florida. Omar Mateen’s wife, charged with conspiracy to aid her husband n the nightclub attack.

Prosecutor: Here are the notes from the FBI’s interviews.

Jury: Can we see the tapes please?

Prosecutor: We’re just giving you the agents’ notes. No one has ever complained before! This is most unseemly.

Jury: When can we see the tapes?

Prosecutor: We aren’t giving you the effing tapes.

Jury: Not guilty.

I may have taken liberty with the precise back and forth, but that’s the gist of it.; 4/17/19, 5:44 AM
Big Mike said...: but why did Brennan, Comey, McCabe, et al., perpetrate the coup scam when they knew they had nothing?

Just as Bill and Hillary Clinton were investigated by Ken Starr over Whitewater but he was actually impeached over perjuring himself with respect to testimony over Paula Jones, perhaps they expected to find something sooner or later.; 4/17/19, 5:51 AM
Professional Lady said...: robother - no you don't have to believe the relics are genuine. Some of them are pretty amazing though. The evidence that the Shroud of Turin is Jesus's burial shroud is pretty compelling. That being said, if it was proven to be a fake, it should not affect a person's faith. Don't know much about the relics that were removed from Notre Dame though.; 4/17/19, 6:06 AM
Ralph L said...: I don't think the FBI ever records interviews, which I think is criminal.; 4/17/19, 6:06 AM
Ralph L said...: I thought they carbon dated the Shroud to the Middle Ages.; 4/17/19, 6:07 AM
stevew said...: Here is something I've been thinking about: why, after two plus years of Trump's presidency, do people still attack, besmirch, and malign him? I did not vote for Trump (long story but short version is because I live in MA) and wasn't a fan prior to the election, though I favored him over Clinton by a wide margin. Since he's been POTUS these things have happened (Scott Adams' list):

- Fewer wars, more peace
- Great economy, nobody without a job
- Prison reform
- A bit of sanity in the Dept of Education
- Calm with North Korea, heading in good direction
- Trade sanity with Mexico, and on the way with China
- Terrorism on the wane
- NATO nations headed towards paying their share
- Energy and climate issues close to being solved with Gen 4

Put more simply, Trump has turned out to be the positive influence his pre-election supporters claimed he would be, or, at minimum, not the negative influence and threat to our way of life that his detractors claimed and continue to claim. And yet he is still constantly under attack.

Why is that?; 4/17/19, 6:09 AM
Michael said...: Envy. Which turned to hate. Super-hate when some results appear positive.; 4/17/19, 6:44 AM
Fen said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/17/19, 6:56 AM
Darrell said...: I thought they carbon dated the Shroud to the Middle Ages.

A guy at JPL debunked that. It was well known that painters in the Middle Ages copied the Shroud's image--and they could only get the full visual effect from a distance. So they had assistants walk their paintings up to the shroud to compare side-by-side, and sometimes there was paint transfer. Those paint transfers are what carbon dated to the Middle Ages. The JPL guy dated pollen and and the material which makes up the image (not paint or pigment) to the First Century or slightly older. He contacted the guy who examined the paint and tried to give him a clue but the jerk wouldn't listen and kept repeating his "findings" (It's paint...lollollol!) That jerk happened to die shortly afterward, so it is now set in concrete.; 4/17/19, 7:00 AM
Fen said...: Trump still has an idealistic view of America. Something most of us share with him. A hope in the way the world, or at least America, is supposed to work.

We are witnessing a 21st century reboot of Mr Smith Goes To Washington. They hate Trump for the reasons they hated Jefferson Smith.; 4/17/19, 7:04 AM
Birches said...: @Sebastian

I've listened to three podcasts where Byron York interviews John Down, Trump's lawyer and Rep. Mark Meadows. I think they wanted to spook Republicans into their delusions for impeachment. If Trump had fired Sessions or Mueller, they probably would have gotten away with it. There were so many retirements in 2018 because they convinced many that Trump was guilty and it was better to jump ship. Mark Meadows said that Paul Ryan thought him and Nunes were nuts until about 6 months before the 2018 election. He prevented them from pursuing certain investigation leads.

Trump had to keep Sessions on to prevent hysteria, but he also needed him gone to get the Special Counsel over with since I think Rosenstein and Mueller would have kept it going indefinitely if he remained. He needed time for the conservative investigative media to convince enough of the GOPe that Brennan and Comey were dirty. And so that's what happened. I find it a miracle that this much has come out so far. I don't think they had any intention of getting caught.; 4/17/19, 7:09 AM
Fernandinande said...: Me: "There are billions of Christians in the world.
One of them prayed that the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris would not be completely destroyed and God listened."

She: Sounds like some guy from "Criminal Minds".; 4/17/19, 7:09 AM
Jersey Fled said...: "but why did Brennan, Comey, McCabe, et al., perpetrate the coup scam when they knew they had nothing?"

Brennan, Comey, McCabe et al saw themselves as heroic figures akin to the "good Germans" who opposed Hitler in the 1930's. They expected the eternal thanks and adoration of good people everywhere when their work was done and they could step forward and accept their due.

That and they didn't know Strozk and Page were busy documenting everything in their emails.; 4/17/19, 7:11 AM
Birches said...: Here's the link to the podcasts. I notice he has a new one with Papadopoulos I haven't listened to yet.; 4/17/19, 7:13 AM
rhhardin said...: I was in Paris for two days in 1960 and didn't visit Notre Dame. I'm more of a Monsieur Hulot's Holiday tourist.; 4/17/19, 7:18 AM
Fernandinande said...: I thought they carbon dated the Shroud to the Middle Ages.

It's actually the burial shroud of Piltdown Man.; 4/17/19, 7:20 AM
Fen said...: "Why is that?"

1) because the Left doesn't really believe in the things they lecture the rest of us about. You are taking them at their word when they claim they want less unemployment and less war. But they don't care either way. What they care about is power, and Trump's sucesses in these areas make it less likely Americans will give them more power. If you start with the premise that Democrats don't really believe in making life better for Americans, you won't find their behavior confusing.

They aren't interested in making America better, they are only interested in ruling over us. Authoritarians all. Notice how much much the Left gets off on telling us what we can and cannot do, what we can and cannot say. They don't give a damn about transsexuals, they are only interested in the issue because it gives them opportunity to force you to deny reality - pretend x is y or go to jail, lose your job, be cast out. Doing this is what gives them joy: owning you mind body and soul. It's no accident that Marxism considers Christianity its mortal enemy, they are competing philosophies.

2) Agencies like the Department of Education serve as their indoctrination centers. Reigning them in, marginalizing the Left's Red Guard, and restoring due process is seen by the Left as a direct attack upon one of their centers of power.

Same with Climate Change. They don't really care about the climate. They care about using a "crisis" to install Global Socialism. Whether it's to fight global warming or global cooling, their solution is conveniently the same thing - Global Socialism. That's why they oppose any other solution (like nuclear) that doesn't pimp socialism. And why they don't consider successes that don't include socialism to be a victory.

3) the rest of the hatred is from the Establishment (of both parties) at Trump for flipping over rocks and exposing just how corrupt and stupid the Deep State is. Much of their power was contingent on working in the shadows, a Shadow Government that pulls all the strings, including Republicans who were paid off to take a dive. Trump has flipped the table and exposed the rigged game.

You are assuming these people want America to be great. They don't. They want to be members of the Inner Party, a class of privileged elites who are above the rule of law. And for that to happen America must be "fundamentally transformed" into Venezuela.; 4/17/19, 7:21 AM
SayAahh said...: Per Drudge this morning, some believe they saw Jesus in the flames of the church. Pictures are posted to provide documentation.; 4/17/19, 7:30 AM
Fen said...: It all boils down to the bloody Marxists. And what has led me to violate my principles in calling for their extermination. It's what Cook and I were on about yesterday, the American ideal that we should tolerate political extremes.

For example, as a US Marine it greatly offends me to see the flag burned and defiled in some trivial protest. Part of me would enjoy seeing them catch fire. But I tolerate it because they are the Canary In The Coal Mine - freedom of expression must include the right to defile our most sacred symbols in protest. The day we shut them down is the day our own speech is put in jeapordy.

Same for Nazis. I think they are monsters. All 200 of them in America. But they have the right to march and stand in the public square and preach their ideas.

But Marxism is where I draw the line, where I violate my principles. I believe they should be shot on sight, because the Constitution is not a suicide pact.

Reminds me of a neighbor I knew. Big animal rights activists. Would literrally cry out if you swatted a fly. Well, they had a rat in the house (hole in roof, unknown to them). They tried to capture and release, but it was too smart for them. After a month it had become a chess match. And then their rat problem became a rat infestation. And they had to weigh their no-kill principles against the prospect of their baby getting bitten and forced to endure rabies shots. Or worse.

So they called an exterminator. That's where we should be with Marxists.; 4/17/19, 7:51 AM
Anonymous said...: robother: What are the chances that the "Crown of Thorns" rescued from the Notre Dame fire is the actual crown of thorns placed on Jesus's head?

0.

(I'm guessing that's about the same as the percent of Catholics who believe the above.)

Is it necessary to believe that it is to be a real Catholic?

No*.

What about the crucifixion nails and pieces of the True Cross that may or may not have survived the fire?

No*.

Did St. Louis really collect them in Jerusalem in the First Crusade, a thousand years after the fact?

He acquired some stuff from some guys who had acquired them from some guy. (Iirc, Venetian bankers and the Byzantine emperor, respectively.) Some other guys may have collected these relics in Jerusalem, like a lot of other travelers to the Holy Land who came back with items of purported mighty mojo. The local operators running the relic concessions were no doubt enjoying brisk trade and fine profits.

The history of the wild and woolly medieval relics-racket makes for interesting (often highly amusing) reading.

*Disclaimer: I am not a "real Catholic"; consulting someone who is is recommended prior to credulously accepting these assertions as fact.; 4/17/19, 7:57 AM
tcrosse said...: Christopher Buckley gives an amusing treatment of the Medieval relic racket in
The Relic Master, available you-know-where.; 4/17/19, 8:12 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: The 'there are so many relics of the True Cross that they could be used to build a ship' nonsense is just that-- there aren't, and there weren't. That John Calvin fellow is the source of it.; 4/17/19, 8:21 AM
narciso said...: Faith was at the center of that world what is ours?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-corruption/peru-ex-president-garcia-shoots-himself-as-police-try-to-arrest-him-idUSKCN1RT1K4; 4/17/19, 8:57 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: What are the seven principal vices? Cupiditas radix malorum est.; 4/17/19, 9:05 AM
Fen said...: I have a bias against the Catholic Church. I try to suppress it and remind myself of all the good she has done in the world. And John Paul II was as instrumental as Reagan and Thatcher for tearing down the Berlin wall.

But I've always felt that when the Roman Empire fell, they simply picked up all the trappings of their beurocracy and moved into the Catholic Church. If any Catholics could defend against that charge, I am open to having my mind changed.; 4/17/19, 9:22 AM
Unknown said...: That's a REALLY creepy photo.; 4/17/19, 12:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Fen: But I've always felt that when the Roman Empire fell, they simply picked up all the trappings of their beurocracy and moved into the Catholic Church. If any Catholics could defend against that charge, I am open to having my mind changed.

Whether that is a "charge" depends very much on point of view. Over time the Church became the great unifying temporal power of Europe, providing the structure for the re-establishment of the order and stability that had been lost with the decay of the Empire. ("Order" and "stability" being relative concepts here.) The hierarchy and bureaucracy maintained the Roman forms (right down to the titles and names used for regional divisions) - unsurprisingly, because they *were* Romans in the broad sense.

I don't think anybody is going to dispute the "charge" that the Church arose as a big player out of the disorder and power vacuums of Late Antiquity, as it's simply historical fact. (Of course, it wasn't the Roman Catholic Church at that time.)

What is disputable is whether that was good, bad, or irrelevant. Does being (or having been) an institutionalized temporal power make its dogma false? Was the Church the power that enabled Europe to get its shit together and rebuild civilization from the ruins of Empire, or were Church and Christianity itself retrograde forces that killed off whatever struggling shoots remained of sunlit, rational, open-minded, tolerant pagan classical culture? Etc., etc., etc....; 4/17/19, 12:25 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Sir Author Conan Doyle had some amusing reflections on the mideval relic trade in his cracking good The White Company, available from that link for free from Project Gutenberg.

He also gets in The Lollards, Scholasticism, The Jacquerie, true love & derring-do. I got the sense that he had as much fun writing TWC as The Lost World, something you don't always feel in the Holmes stories.; 4/17/19, 12:51 PM