Althouse: At the Wednesday Night Cafe...

May 14, 2019

At the Wednesday Night Cafe...

... you can talk about what you like.

103 comments:

Churchy LaFemme: said...: Tim Conway As Prison Warden"; 5/14/19, 9:25 PM
Michael K said...: Romney voted with the Democrats against a judge today. Chuck must be so proud.; 5/14/19, 9:34 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: I like talking about talking about what I don't like.; 5/14/19, 9:36 PM
wild chicken said...: MT gov Bullock announced today and couldn't name his biggest accomplishments but mumbled about being a good daddy or something. Now he's today's Twitter joke.

It almost worse than de Blasio's rollout but not near as funny.; 5/14/19, 9:39 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: My imagining; 5/14/19, 9:39 PM
Chuck said...: Oh this is so rich; I hate to give Kos any clicks but since we now know that statistics suggest that precisely 56% of Americans are slack-jawed yokels, maybe it doesn’t matter...

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2019/5/13/1857360/-Poll-says-that-56-of-Americans-don-t-want-kids-taught-Arabic-numerals-We-have-some-bad-news

The question was ”Should schools in America teach Arabic numerals as part of their curriculum?”

29% said “Yes”.
56% said “No”.
15% had no opinion.; 5/14/19, 9:52 PM
jerpod said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/14/19, 9:55 PM
Narr said...: Here in the Volunteer State, the cause celebre is the guy on death row, time growing short, and will newly elected governor Lee (R) reprieve him? After all, though he murdered his wife in an extraordinarily gruesome way he has become a Seventh Day Adventist in prison and a changed man.

Leaving aside whether or not the death penalty is just or not, or works or not, or this or that (I personally can see a justification for a death penalty in a justice system, but I have to ask myself if I personally could throw a switch to take a life--Eddard Stark anyone?)

My question to the assembled multitude: does the religious conversion per se make a difference to you? If so, why? If not, why not?

Narr
No difference to me--not a relevant category in the situation; 5/14/19, 9:57 PM
jerpod said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/14/19, 10:00 PM
narciso said...: Like carla Faye tucker some 20 years ago, what Is the line, 'those who try to save their life will lose it'; 5/14/19, 10:00 PM
jerpod said...: My favorite Tim Conway moment is Hitler puppet interrogating the captured prisoner:

Link text; 5/14/19, 10:02 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: OK, the Hitler Puppet thing which somehow keeps vanishing is laugh out loud funny!; 5/14/19, 10:02 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: The toughest imagining is it already came true.

So no comes the imagining bad.

That's tough.

You gotta be tough, is what I say, a lot.; 5/14/19, 10:02 PM
robother said...: Wow. Rockies strike out 17 times against Chris Sales, Nolan makes 2 errors. But the Rockies beat the Red Sox at Fenway in extra innings, 5-4.; 5/14/19, 10:04 PM
jerpod said...: OK, the Hitler Puppet thing which somehow keeps vanishing is laugh out loud funny!
*******************

It really is! I had all sort with the link, sorry. Anyway, that clip (there’s more to it, but that’s the funniest bit) always cracks me up.; 5/14/19, 10:07 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: so... any fallout from that DCMetro imbroglio,

other than nascent anarchy? Good Times.; 5/14/19, 10:08 PM
RK said...: 56% of Americans are slack-jawed yokels

Which explains how Hillary won the popular vote.; 5/14/19, 10:08 PM
Michael McNeil said...: Since I can talk about whatever I like, I'd like to talk about Clarence Thomas as the “Frodo Baggins of the right” — metaphorically throwing the key (or controlling ring) to America's “Blue Empire” into the lava lake. (In this regard, I'll pull forward a posting from another thread earlier today.)

I'd refer folks (except perhaps Inga, Ritmo and their ilk) to a fascinating view from 2011 of historian and academic Walter Russell Mead concerning Clarence Thomas's (together with what might be called “Thomism's”) huge real impact already thus far, and also — potentially, enormously — upon a future Supreme Court (whose time is, perhaps, soon — or even now).

In so doing Mead dissects (liberal!) Jeffrey Toobin’s earlier (as Mead puts it) “gripping, must-read profile of Clarence and Virginia Thomas in the New Yorker.”

Walter Russell Mead writes: [quoting…]

Toobin argues that the only Black man in public life that liberals could safely mock and despise may be on the point of bringing the Blue Empire down.

In fact, Toobin suggests, Clarence Thomas may be the Frodo Baggins of the right; his lonely and obscure struggle has led him to the point from which he may be able to overthrow the entire edifice of the modern progressive state.

Writes Toobin: [quoting…]

In several of the most important areas of constitutional law, Thomas has emerged as an intellectual leader of the Supreme Court. Since the arrival of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., in 2005, and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., in 2006, the Court has moved to the right when it comes to the free-speech rights of corporations, the rights of gun owners, and, potentially, the powers of the federal government; in each of these areas, the majority has followed where Thomas has been leading for a decade or more. Rarely has a Supreme Court Justice enjoyed such broad or significant vindication.

[/unQuote] [Still quoting WRM…]

This is one of the most startling reappraisals to appear in The New Yorker for many years. It is hard to think of other revisions as radical as the declownification of Clarence Thomas […]. There are few articles of faith as firmly fixed in the liberal canon as the belief that Clarence Thomas is, to put it as bluntly as many liberals do, a dunce and a worm. […] Not only does the liberal mind perceive him as a disgusting lump of ungoverned sexual impulse; he is seen as an intellectual cipher. […]

At most liberals have long seen Thomas as the Sancho Panza to Justice Antonin Scalia’s Don Quixote, Tonto to his Lone Ranger. No, says Toobin: the intellectual influence runs the other way. Thomas is the consistently clear and purposeful theorist that history will remember as an intellectual pioneer; Scalia the less clear-minded colleague who is gradually following in Thomas’ tracks.

If Toobin’s revionist take is correct, (and I defer to his knowledge of the direction of modern constitutional thought) it means that liberal America has spent a generation mocking a Black man as an ignorant fool, even as constitutional scholars stand in growing amazement at the intellectual audacity, philosophical coherence and historical reflection embedded in his judicial work. […]

Back in Pundit High, they used to teach a fair amount about constitutional history in the US history course […]. The way we learned them, the Second and Tenth amendments were as dead as the three fifths clause: so dead that there was no point in asking why they died or what they were doing there. […]

{Continued on next page: page 2}; 5/14/19, 10:12 PM
Michael McNeil said...: {Continued from previous page: page 2}

Still quoting Walter Russell Mead: [quoting…]

Those were the operating assumptions my generation took with us to college and beyond; they are still the conventional wisdom among most American intellectuals and journalists today.

What we didn’t know, and what the world at large didn’t know until very recently, was that the New Deal constitution was not as permanent or unalterable as it looked. Intellectually its foundations were shaky, and after two decades of a Clarence Thomas-led assault, the constitutional doctrines that permitted the rise of the powerful federal government could be close to collapse.

In the case of the Second Amendment, the collapse has already come. Back in my Pundit High days, anyone who dared to suggest that the Bill of Rights gave individuals the right to bear arms would have been laughed out of the class as an ignorant yahoo. These days, that is the accepted view of the US Supreme Court and most of the legal profession. The resurrection of the Second Amendment proves that the “dead letter” clauses of the Constitution can come back to life — and suggests that Clarence Thomas understands how this can be done. […]

The real problem will come if Thomas can figure out how to get the Tenth Amendment back into constitutional thought in a serious way. The Second Amendment was a constitutional landmine for the left; the Tenth is a nuclear bomb. […]

As Toobin tells the story, the revival of the Second Amendment was the first great triumph of the new approach. Thomas and others assembled a mountain of evidence that convinced increasing numbers of legal scholars that the Second Amendment must be read as conferring an individual right to bear arms — not merely a generic endorsement of the right of each state to maintain a militia. More, this right was intended as political: to check the power of the state to overawe and crush the people. As a result, the once seemingly unstoppable movement toward gun control has gone into reverse gear.

The startling possibility now beginning to dawn on some observers is that these same methods applied to the Tenth Amendment would lead to a much more far reaching revision to constitutional doctrine. […]

Unleashing the Tenth Amendment would move the constitutional status quo back towards the early 1930s when the “Nine Old Men” struck down one New Deal law after another. For Toobin and most New Yorker readers, it is hard to imagine an idea that more radically and totally runs against everything they believe. […]

It’s hard to argue with Toobin that Thomas has moved the ball down field in his quest for a new era of constitutional jurisprudence. […] Jeffrey Toobin is announcing to the liberal world that Clarence Thomas has morphed from a comic figure of fun to a determined super-villain who might reverse seventy years of liberal dominance of the federal bench and turn the clock back to 1930 if not 1789.

The fantasy is still far fetched, and it is notoriously hard for political movements to get and hold power long enough to shift the balance on the Supreme Court, but that Thomas has accomplished as much as he has shows how far the country has drifted from the old days when liberals were confident that the Supreme Court would find new ways to fit its judicial philosophy to the demands of the blue social model.

[/unQuote]

Walter Russell Mead goes on to suggest:

“With a couple more allies on the Supreme Court” [such as Neil Gorsuch perhaps is proving to be] “Justice Thomas could get pretty close to the lava pits of Mount Doom”!

Thus: Walter Russell Mead.

____
(This is the gist of Mead's piece, I'd say… but do read the whole thing!); 5/14/19, 10:13 PM
Karen of Texas said...: Wednesday?

Damn it. Did I lose a day again?; 5/14/19, 10:18 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Narr-

The ultimate disposition of the convicted man's soul is between him and the Almighty.

How long he lives on Earth is between him and the state of Tennessee.; 5/14/19, 10:19 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Anyone have an opinion on the opinion in Hyatt? I know the professor already mentioned the dissent's motivation for arguing stare decisis, and if you are going to argue that, you at least have to argue that the original case was not way off base.

And I understand that the conservatives would have motivation to argue that stare decisis is weak, and should never be used to prop up an incorrect precedent.

But what about the underlying majority opinion? I generally like Justice Thomas, but in this case he seems to miss the mark. The dissent seems to have the better, more solidly originalist argument.

And I can't think of any underlying motivation that would bias Thomas or any other conservative's reasoning. Both sides have similar state's rights claims, there is no federal overreach. The is no second amendment angle, nor any Republican party supporting reason. ( I'm not saying the conservatives generally engage in such motivated reasoning, just that if you wanted to make that argument, there is no there there in this case)

So am I missing something? I don't see how Thomas reaches his conclusion on originalist (of an flavor) grounds, and don't see why every other conservative justice followed him down this wrong path.; 5/14/19, 10:23 PM
Narayanan said...: Americans-don-t-want-kids-taught-Arabic-numerals-

Perfectly all right.
Arab don't teach them to their kids either.

Arab call them Hindi numerals.; 5/14/19, 10:24 PM
narciso said...: The dissent seems confusing

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.scotusblog.com/2019/05/opinion-analysis-hyatt-fulfills-expectations-in-a-surprising-way/amp/; 5/14/19, 10:30 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "My question to the assembled multitude: does the religious conversion per se make a difference to you? If so, why? If not, why not?"

Well, it's dangerous karmic ground, but I'd say, in itself, no. The threat of death, illness, and hardship has inspired many a come-to-Jessus moment. That doesn't mean the moment is opportunistic or insincere but, perhaps paradoxically, if it is sincere then death, illness, and hardship should have no bearing on it.
It isn't a get out of jail free card.; 5/14/19, 10:34 PM
narciso said...: Heh, who was the last one with the neuraluzer.; 5/14/19, 10:34 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Blogger Guildofcannonballs said...
I like talking about talking about what I don't like.

5/14/19, 9:36 PM; 5/14/19, 10:40 PM
mockturtle said...: John Lynch writes: The ultimate disposition of the convicted man's soul is between him and the Almighty.

How long he lives on Earth is between him and the state of Tennessee.

Well said, John. Which is why it used to be the judge would say, prior to execution, "May God have mercy on your soul".; 5/14/19, 10:43 PM
narciso said...: I was being a little glib, who moi, the sentence was for that this person did, if he was not guilty then of course let him gom; 5/14/19, 10:43 PM
Ann Althouse said...: It’s almost Wednesday.

Anyway, Wednesday Night is the name of this cafe. I never asserted that it’s Wednesday Night.; 5/14/19, 10:47 PM
Fen said...: "Romney voted with the Democrats against a judge today."

And he said his reasoning is because the judge said some disparaging things about Obama.

What a cuck.; 5/14/19, 10:49 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Anyway, Wednesday Night is the name of this cafe. I never asserted that it’s Wednesday Night.

‘You are sad,’ the Knight said in an anxious tone: ‘let me sing you a song to comfort you.’

‘Is it very long?’ Alice asked, for she had heard a good deal of poetry that day.

‘It’s long,’ said the Knight, ‘but very, very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing it—either it brings the tears into their eyes, or else—’

‘Or else what?’ said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.

‘Or else it doesn’t, you know. The name of the song is called “Haddocks’ Eyes.”’

‘Oh, that’s the name of the song, is it?’ Alice said, trying to feel interested.

‘No, you don’t understand,’ the Knight said, looking a little vexed. ‘That’s what the name is called. The name really is “The Aged Aged Man.”’

‘Then I ought to have said “That’s what the song is called”?’ Alice corrected herself.

‘No, you oughtn’t: that’s quite another thing! The song is called “Ways and Means”: but that’s only what it’s called, you know!’

‘Well, what is the song, then?’ said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.

‘I was coming to that,’ the Knight said. ‘The song really is “A-sitting On A Gate”: and the tune’s my own invention.’

So saying, he stopped his horse and let the reins fall on its neck: then, slowly beating time with one hand, and with a faint smile lighting up his gentle foolish face, as if he enjoyed the music of his song, he began.

Of all the strange things that Alice saw in her journey Through The Looking-Glass, this was the one that she always remembered most clearly. Years afterwards she could bring the whole scene back again, as if it had been only yesterday—the mild blue eyes and kindly smile of the Knight—the setting sun gleaming through his hair, and shining on his armour in a blaze of light that quite dazzled her—the horse quietly moving about, with the reins hanging loose on his neck, cropping the grass at her feet—and the black shadows of the forest behind—all this she took in like a picture, as, with one hand shading her eyes, she leant against a tree, watching the strange pair, and listening, in a half dream, to the melancholy music of the song.; 5/14/19, 10:55 PM
Original Mike said...: It's Wednesday in Oz.; 5/14/19, 10:59 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: "It’s almost Wednesday."

White men made you believe that. We will extinguish them so no further faults lie within that cromosome's cromosone.; 5/14/19, 11:03 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: It is impossible to consider .... without white men.

Ergo they (we) must be exterminated.

It is easy to see.; 5/14/19, 11:06 PM
wildswan said...: I'm still reading on the Noah Carl case. This young man is follower of Charles Murray. He got his PhD from Oxford in 2017 and then won a Fellowship. It was then revealed that he had attended the London Conference on Intelligence, a Conference held secretly so that those academics who hold that persons of African descent have a genetic IQ deficit could discuss their views with like-minded idiots. This led to a controversy and, after a struggle, Noah Carl lost his fellowship. It should be understood that the accusation against Noah Carl, that he was associated with racists and advancing their viewpoint is true. In his PhD thesis he uses the work of Richard Lynn, the editor of the Mankind Quarterly. This journal was founded to oppose desegregation and it has remained true to its origin. So that while we might say that an academic should be challenged by other academics, it is not being PC to say that Noah Carl was using racist research and associating with racists. But what is interesting is that he is applying this research which was originally developed to support segregation of African Americans to white Americans: to Trump supporters, to those who hold religious beliefs and to Republicans. It turns out that that those groups have a genetic IQ deficiency as compared to Democrats and those who hold left political views. And, further, the reason for the left domination of the academic world is this same IQ gap. Piquant. Perhaps if the English had realized what Noah Carl was saying he'd still have his position.

But maybe not. There are problems with this man's work. When you read his PhD thesis, it simply looks and feels like shoddy work. Capitalization is erratic. The statistical tables look messy. The assumption is made that wealthy people join the Republican party. This is no longer the case and the error makes you wonder about how sharp an observer Noah Carl is. And, finally, one of the big problems with Carl's research is that in assessing the median IQ for Democrats he excluded the African-Americans. African-Americans have always gotten low scores on IQ tests (which, I have always maintained, are not really a fair measure of their intelligence.) But Richard Lynn and the other IQ racists have always said that IQ tests are a fair measure of intelligence. So how can Noah Carl use Richard Lynn's data and conclusions and yet exclude African-Americans, the strongest supporters of the Democratic party, when he decides on the average mean IQ of Democrats and Republicans?

Noah Carl's supporters are trying to turn him into the latest PC martyr on the right because the left got him kicked out of Oxford. That's why I have been reading about him. But understand - Noah Carl regards Republicans as dolts, Trump voters as low IQ voters, religious people as thickies, and the leftist dominance in the academies as based on the high IQs prevalent on the left. But the high IQ left did not realize what the man was actually saying because it only looked at his associates and the past statements of said associates (which were, I repeat, the ugliness of racism of the "scientific" racism variety) The ironic result of this lack of understanding is that this man was kicked out of Oxford by the left for saying that Trump voters have a genetic IQ deficit and Oxford lefties have a genetic IQ surplus.; 5/14/19, 11:06 PM
narciso said...: A Michael mann by another name:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7025759/Sri-Lankan-suicide-bomber-radicalised-Anjem-Choudary.html?ito=social-facebook&fbclid=IwAR3_TE3pTURm_mukU7kQ9D7JfCqWu9pEe29B-d79zfn2pDS4jM5OXIWUdo4; 5/14/19, 11:09 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: this is wednesday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz-sSr6WPp8; 5/14/19, 11:09 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: If Althouse unfucks herself she could be Reagan's WFB. RE Trump natch.

Doubt I offered enough WI sincerity for Big Ann to care though.; 5/14/19, 11:10 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Wednesday Morning 3AM; 5/14/19, 11:12 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Guess Rich Mellon Scaife grave had bad timing.

BEcause that evil, everyone with a lick of sense, could just know was coming to take decency down.
Rich Scaife.

He sure wrecked America, with his speech and ideas.

Why don't folks just know Joe Biden has the ideas and just needs power to implement 'em?; 5/14/19, 11:17 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Wednesday's child is full of woe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u68iT0DPYdM; 5/14/19, 11:18 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly; 5/14/19, 11:23 PM
narciso said...: Como,
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/443710-state-departments-red-flag-on-steele-went-to-a-senior-fbi-man-well-before#.XNtJ-Pn_-4g.twitter; 5/14/19, 11:23 PM
Gahrie said...: And, finally, one of the big problems with Carl's research is that in assessing the median IQ for Democrats he excluded the African-Americans. African-Americans have always gotten low scores on IQ tests (which, I have always maintained, are not really a fair measure of their intelligence.)

1) IQ is the most valid part of social science there is. It has been researched and studied for over 100 years, and has proven to be the most accurate assessment of intelligence there is. It has also been proven effective in predicting success.

2) It is not just American Blacks who score low on IQ tests. Black people around the world score significantly lower than other races/ethnicities. IQ tests at universities in South Africa have identical results to tests at U.S. universities.

3) IQ tests have been designed to eliminate cultural bias.

4) Why would White racists design tests and produce results that place Asians and Jews higher than them?; 5/14/19, 11:27 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Thank God I am no rat cunt. God bless you Sitting Sadist Andiide Hating space.; 5/14/19, 11:34 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: The Mueller case is closed. The Dems aren't going to impeach Trump. They will have to be satisfied with wrecking Mike Flynn's career, Paul Manafort's life and holding AG Barr in contempt.

And now the worm turns on the plotters:
1. IG Report by Horowitz
2. Grand juries by US Attorney Durham
3. Senate investigation by Sen. Graham
4. Whatever the hell Huber is doing.

The "Get Trump" Squad has shot their collective wad - all over each other.

And now the crooked hunters become the hunted.; 5/14/19, 11:35 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: China has lost murder as a tool so they have nothing.

America would respond 100,000 fold if China started their stupid killing again, like the dumb slant-eyes have committed themselves to for centuries.

America has grown, superceded, and, by their will and their will alone, America will now humiliate China.

Don't make us nuke you, China.

We could make you Japan in a heartbeat. You know.; 5/14/19, 11:39 PM
narciso said...: Well the taiping rebellion argues against that, it was such a great catastrophe that it led the way to European colonization; 5/14/19, 11:49 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: @mockturtle

how goes the journey so far?
are u reflecting? connecting? genuflecting?
vaya con Dios; 5/14/19, 11:56 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Ignorance is Bliss,

"And I can't think of any underlying motivation that would bias Thomas or any other conservative's reasoning. Both sides have similar state's rights claims, there is no federal overreach."

I was also trying to puzzle out the motivations of the two sides, and late in the thread someone pointed out something I had completely forgotten- states cannot be sued in federal court because of the 11th amendment. Then it all made sense- which side most likes to take cases to courts when they can't get legislation passed? With the 11th amendment preventing the suing of states in federal court, and sovereign immunity mostly preventing the suing of states in their own state courts, then all that remains is suing states in other states courts. That is why the Left went to the mat on this one, and why the Right was happy to overturn the 1979 decision- it keeps suits from being filed against states.

On the merits, I think the majority was the correct decision simply because there is no way to enforce a judgment in such a suit as a practical matter.; 5/15/19, 12:23 AM
Joe said...: Governor Bullock

The clip of him is hilariously bizarre. When interviewing for a new job, the first and arguably most important question is, what did you accomplish at your last (or current) job? This is really basic stuff. What did he think he would be asked?; 5/15/19, 12:31 AM
narciso said...: Well did they ask any of the 22 about their accomplishments really now.; 5/15/19, 12:48 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: It would be unwise to place too much confidence in the investigations of IG Horowitz and AG Barr. These investigations will likely produce documentation that describes potential criminal activity w/o explicitly judging particular individuals. That should be left to a judicial or political process.
Look at what happened to McCabe. He was found guilty in a star chamber proceeding, and dismissed and fined the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars be denying him full retirement benefits. With luck we might see more of that, but I doubt if we will see anything more substantial.; 5/15/19, 1:19 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: I don't expect anything other than at best the truth will out and some hands get slapped.

But remember that river the EPA ruined and nobody got fired? It will be the same thing.

The whole Huber thing seems weird. Hopefully we will eventually know the backstory to that non-event as well.; 5/15/19, 1:25 AM
Quaestor said...: A group of likely Hillary voters demanding a ban of water.

As most slack-jawed yokels realized, but not LLR Chuck evidently, almost any desired result can be extracted from a cleverly presented "survey".; 5/15/19, 1:41 AM
Crazy World said...: Bay Areq Guy 1135 Excellent; 5/15/19, 2:12 AM
Crazy World said...: Area; 5/15/19, 2:13 AM
rehajm said...: I like to think the investigations will put names to the felonies that we know occurred, but...wake me for the first perp walk.; 5/15/19, 4:29 AM
Breezy said...: Will those intelligence folks go after each other six ways from Sunday?; 5/15/19, 5:57 AM
Karen of Texas said...: "It’s almost Wednesday.

Anyway, Wednesday Night is the name of this cafe. I never asserted that it’s Wednesday Night."

Damn it. I lost an assumption again.

Point taken, Althouse. I bow to your lawyeresque clarification of my mistaken assumption.; 5/15/19, 6:07 AM
tim in vermont said...: Oh this is so rich; I hate to give Kos any clicks.....

We believe you, really we do.; 5/15/19, 6:16 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: What I think was missed by the majority in Hyatt, is that the remedy to overreach by states to their overreach and refusal to be sued by failing to waive sovereign immunity was, until this decision, to vote with their feet. But in this case, Hyatt had voted with his feet, and moved from CA to NV before the torts against him were committed by agents of CA, under CA supervision, completely within the state of NV. If NV had done to Hyatt what CA did, he could have sued them, because in this sort of situation, NV has waived sovereign immunity. CA has not, so is now in a privileged position in NV over NV in committing torts against NV residents.

I should add a couple things here. I spent almost five years in a law firm that had been located very close to the border between the two states. The border there, by Lake Tahoe, is fairly distinctive, because the buildings are mostly single story in CA, and casinos start right at the NV line.

My boss had built a pretty good book of business while in Silicon Valley. Good enough that the CA income tax was significant for him (but insignificant in comparison to Hyatt’s CA tax bill if CA had won an earlier case). For awhile, the firm was a couple blocks inside the NV state line by Lake Tahoe. Finally though we moved down from the lake because only the attorneys could afford to live there, and in bad weather (e.g. eight feet of snow overnight), the staff couldn’t get to work. Down from the lake, we had the best of both worlds - mostly mild weather, a beautiful bucolic setting, with Tahoe a half hour away.

Also, as for bias, I know a guy who does some of Hyatt’s patent work. Plus, I am on the IP committee of an engineering society that he belongs to. But have never met him.; 5/15/19, 6:18 AM
Paco Wové said...: That's quite the hatchet job you've got there, wildswan. Alternatively, one could read this article as a more grounded rebuttal, or even read some of the controversial work oneself.; 5/15/19, 6:27 AM
iowan2 said...: Hat Tip to Insty

Durham has been on the job since early October. This is a part of the transcript of Bakers Testimony from Oct 3rd.

When the microphones were back on, Levin declared he would “not let [Baker] answer these questions right now. You may or may not know, he’s been the subject of a leak investigation which is still – a criminal leak investigation that’s still active at the Justice Department.” And so Levin concluded, “I’m sorry. I’m cutting off any discussion about conversations with reporters.”

North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows wanted to make clear what Baker’s lawyer was claiming: “You’re saying he’s under criminal investigation? That’s why you’re not letting him answer?”

“Yes.”
Levin and the lawmakers sparred a bit over whether Baker was invoking his Fifth Amendment rights, and the congressmen finally got around to asking who was leading this criminal probe:

“There is an ongoing investigation by whom?” Jordan said.

“The Justice Department,” Levin responded.

“I mean, is the inspector general looking at this or is this—”

“No,” said Levin, “it’s Mr. John Durham, a prosecutor.”; 5/15/19, 6:29 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: @Wetzel - you may be correct that nothing comes from these investigations. IG Horowitz did pretty much all he legally could to McCabe. He has no power to indict or try people it finds to probably have committed criminal acts. All that he can do is refer them for prosecution. And that was partially blocked by the Mueller investigation.

Financially, I don’t feel bad for McCabe. Most of the #Resistance in the FBI appears to have been plotted around his $70k conference room table. He had actual knowledge of the weaknesses of the Steele Dossier, including that Steele was working for Clinton, and yet preapproved the initial FISA warrant against Carter Page, causing the staff preparing it to cut corners to make the deadline occasioned by Adm Rogers going to the FISC to reveal rampant FISA 702 abuse by the FBI and its contractors. Plus, his wife took $700k or so from long time Clinton bagman Terry McAuliffe as a campaign contribution. Also, as I understand it, McCabe didn’t lose his entire pension, but only early retirement pay and top executive pension add ons. He is back where he would have been with the GS ranks, as if he had never been promoted to top management.

CT USA John Durham has a reputation of being a bulldog prosecutor, and esp when FBI and CIA criminality in involved. He seems to be the best man for the job of cleaning up the top of the agency, and probably Spygate in its entirety. We shall see. Keep in mind that until the Mueller investigation was finally shut down, two months ago, little was going to be done to clean up the mess and hold the perps responsible for their criminal act. Probably it’s primary purpose, even beyond attacking Trump, was to delay, hopefully until after Trump left the WH, the investigation that Durham has been brought in to help with. They were at least able to keep it going through the 2018 elections, helping to some extent to flip the House, which under Republican control had been getting uncomfortably close to revealing much of the inner workings of the Spygate scandal.; 5/15/19, 6:48 AM
tim in vermont said...: You have to hand it to the left for making it all but illegal to say “illegal immigrant.” That way they can claim that Republicans are "attacking immigrants” and let it imply one thing, but legalistically mean another. It’s one more word that the left has gutted and skinned and now wears like a shaman’s robe.; 5/15/19, 6:56 AM
tim in vermont said...: By saying that the funders of the report “likely” had an interest in digging dirt on Trump, they lied to the FISA court, because Hillary Clinton certainly had an extremely strong interest, and overriding interest in digging dirt on Trump.

The Democrats all warned us about the Patriot Act because they knew full well how they would use it if they were in power. They were right.; 5/15/19, 6:59 AM
Lezer said...: The smart-alecky Kos Kids should have specified whether they meant Western Arabic or Eastern Arabic numerals. By the way, our “Western Arabic” numerals were developed in India, not by Arabs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabic_numerals#Numerals; 5/15/19, 7:08 AM
MadisonMan said...: Boy the birds are getting up early now. I'm thinking "Dudes! It's 4:15 AM!!"; 5/15/19, 7:15 AM
Birkel said...: Smear merchant Chuck, fopdoodle extraordinaire, needn't have worried about giving DailyKos any clicks.

Nobody cares enough about Chuck to click a link he provides.
The jig is up; all bridges are burnt.
No good will ever existed.; 5/15/19, 7:23 AM
I Callahan said...: By the way, our “Western Arabic” numerals were developed in India, not by Arabs.

So the slack-jawed yokel here is Chuck, apparently.; 5/15/19, 7:36 AM
tim in vermont said...: I used to think that Chuck was just a butt hurt Republican like gaffy, but he gets his material from CNN, MSNBC, and Kos, I have to believe that he is exactly what everybody here says he is. I mean I thought for a long time that it was just desperation to smear Trump that led him to use Democrat talking points day after day after day, right in lockstep with them.

I was foolish to give him any kind of benefit of the doubt.; 5/15/19, 8:00 AM
wildswan said...: 1) IQ is the most valid part of social science there is. It has been researched and studied for over 100 years, and has proven to be the most accurate assessment of intelligence there is. It has also been proven effective in predicting success.

I would not deny that IQ tests predict success in the school system (as it was before PC). They do not measure intelligence.

"2) It is not just American Blacks who score low on IQ tests."

It is not just American Blacks who score low on IQ tests, it's also Republicans and religious people, says Carl. I'm making a new point in this old battle which is that Noah Carl is applying these results and techniques to white people and the point of his PhD thesis was that Republicans and religious people in America have lower scores than Dems and liberals. And my further point is that the Oxford left did not deal with what the man said and neither did Gahrie. They fought the last war. And, as a ironic result, this man was kicked out of Oxford by the left for saying that Trump voters and Republicans have low IQs.

And the same applies to the points 3 and 4; 5/15/19, 8:06 AM
Unknown said...: Trump Derangement Syndrome at its best/worst

https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1126875161125253120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1126875161125253120&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycaller.com%2F2019%2F05%2F10%2Fbetsy-klein-donald-melania-trump-letter%2F; 5/15/19, 8:08 AM
tim in vermont said...: They do not measure intelligence.

Just like place of birth does not define a true Scotsman.; 5/15/19, 8:11 AM
Fernandinande said...: I would not deny that IQ tests predict success in the school system (as it was before PC). They do not measure intelligence.

Predicting success in school (and life) is probably more interesting than measuring your own personal definition of intelligence, which, BTW, how do you measure intelligence if not by IQ tests, and how does your measurement of intelligence correlate with IQ test measurements?

Noah Carl says (breaks added):

"Research has consistently shown that intelligence is positively correlated with socially liberal beliefs and negatively correlated with religious beliefs. This should lead one to expect that Republicans are less intelligent than Democrats.

However, I find that individuals who identify as Republican have slightly higher verbal intelligence than those who identify as Democrat (2–5 IQ points), and that individuals who supported the Republican Party in elections have slightly higher verbal intelligence than those who supported the Democratic Party (2 IQ points).

I reconcile these findings with the previous literature by showing that verbal intelligence is correlated with both socially and economically liberal beliefs (β=.10–.32). My findings suggest that higher intelligence among classically liberal Republicans compensates for lower intelligence among socially conservative Republicans."; 5/15/19, 8:17 AM
Michael McNeil said...: The so-called “Arabic numerals” (which indeed originated in India) after arriving in the West after transiting those two lands were basically crippled for the first millennium of their existence (i.e., the totality of the medieval period) due to: a) lack of a (column placeholding) zero symbol (originally — and until about 1000 AD — the “base-10” system consisted of nine symbols only), together with b) the fact that even after the foregoing debility was remedied (by the addition of a zero symbol), the system still could not be used to express decimal (positional) fractions — e.g., writing 3.14… for π — until Western mathematicians extended the system during the late 16th century AD.

As a result, for the totality of the (Classical) ancient + medieval period, scientists and mathematicians employed, not (even after it was invented) the newfangled decimal system, but rather (from before Ptolemy to after Copernicus) the already-ancient, originally Babylonian, so-called “sexagesimal”, base-60 system, which — more than a millennium before Mohammad — already possessed a zero symbol along with the ancient ability to express positional (sexagesimal) fractions.

For instance, here's what 2π in sexagesimal (as computed to 9 sexagesimal places by the Arabic mathematician al-Kashi sometime prior to the year 1436 AD) looks like: 6;16,59,28,34,51,46,15,50. (A semicolon marks the sexagesimal point; commas separate decimally-expressed sexagesimal digits.) He also did it (to a similar degree of precision) in decimal, to wit: 6.2831853071795865. In this regard, al-Kashi's results (as really the last-gasp of medieval Arabic mathematics) foreshadowed the work of Western mathematicians, most particularly François Viète, during the 16th century.

Mathematical historian Carl B. Boyer puts the historical evolution of decimals versus sexagesimals into proper historical context: [quoting…]

It is one of the ironies of history that the chief advantage of positional notation — its applicability to fractions — almost entirely escaped the users of the Hindu-Arabic numerals [that is, decimal notation] for the first thousand years of their existence.

[/unQuote]; 5/15/19, 8:18 AM
Michael K said...: Financially, I don’t feel bad for McCabe

I've been reading Papadopoulis book and it made me so angry that I had trouble sleeping last night.

I understand him better and he was a climber but so is everyone in a political campaign. He had pretty good credentials.

What the FBI and their foreign agents did to him is outrageous. I'm going to suggest my FBI daughter read it.; 5/15/19, 8:28 AM
wildswan said...: Paco Wové said...
That's quite the hatchet job you've got there, wildswan. Alternatively, one could read this article as a more grounded rebuttal, or even read some of the controversial work oneself."

I did read Noah Carl's thesis. And I contend that he was not fired by lefties for what he was saying but for what Richard Lynn and other "scientific" racists who were used in the thesis said in the past. They said blacks had a genetically based IQ gap and Noah Carl said Republicans and Trump voters have a genetically based IQ gap.

The Title of the thesis was COGNITIVE ABILITY AND SOCIO-POLITICAL BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES. The preface said: The contribution of this thesis is to demonstrate the importance of cognitive ability (and psychometric traits in general) for understanding the distribution of socio-political beliefs and attitudes within society....

Carl (2014) analysed data from the GSS, and found that individuals who identify as Republican have slightly higher verbal intelligence than those who identify as Democrat. Consistent with this result, the present study finds that individuals who identify as Republican score slightly
higher than those who identify as Democrat on three other measures of cognitive ability from the GSS:"

But his thesis explains this away. Most Republicans are thickies but the country club Republicans drag the overall score higher.

"Previous studies have documented that cognitive ability is positively correlated with socially liberal beliefs (Deary et al., 2008a; Deary et al., 2008b; Stankov, 2009; Kanazawa, 2010; Schoon et al., 2010; Pesta et al., 2010; Heaven et al., 2011; Hodson & Busseri, 2012; Pesta & McDaniel, 2014), and negatively correlated with religious beliefs (Bell, 2002; Lynn et al., 2009; Nyborg, 2009; Ganzach et al., 2013; Zuckerman et al., 2013; Pesta & McDaniel, 2014). The Republican advantage is therefore somewhat unexpected. However, cognitive ability is associated with both socially and economically liberal beliefs, which suggests that higher cognitive ability among classically liberal Republicans may compensate for lower cognitive ability among socially conservative Republicans (Carl, 2014); 5/15/19, 8:28 AM
iowan2 said...: By the way, our “Western Arabic” numerals were developed in India, not by Arabs.

So the slack-jawed yokel here is Chuck, apparently.

This is all this LLR has to work with. He picks some small bit of factoid, not a whole factoid, just a small bit of it. Assigns a value to it, Orange man bad, then hammers it until he starts bleeding from his ears. Never understanding that this bit of factoid, is of so little import, it is impossible to explain how infinitesimaly small and inconsequential purpose it serves.

On this point, I am not surprised people are unaware of "Arabic Numerals" It is something that may have been brought up in school, specifically when they teach Roman Numerals, but after that, most people are going to forget. Especially if it comes up on a not so serious opinion poll. I know what it means, but, as my adult children will attest, I know volumes of worthless trivia that will never earn me enough to by a piece of penny candy.

This just explains how our local LLR so badly misjudges what bits of information prove his assertion that, Orange Man bad.; 5/15/19, 8:33 AM
wildswan said...: Fernandistein said...
I would not deny that IQ tests predict success in the school system (as it was before PC). They do not measure intelligence.

Predicting success in school (and life) is probably more interesting than measuring your own personal definition of intelligence, which, BTW, how do you measure intelligence if not by IQ tests, and how does your measurement of intelligence correlate with IQ test measurements?

Standard IQ tests show that African Americans have an average IQ of 85. This is just a few points above the level at which a student is considered cognitively disabled and must by law get special help. It is a matter of observation with me that African Americans are not as group that stupid. Most are just as sharp as anyone else. And I know for certain that the field of IQ testing was completeky dominated by members of the eugenic societies in England and America and I know they used Cyril Burt but missed the signs of his fraud.; 5/15/19, 8:37 AM
wildswan said...: Noah Carl says (breaks added):

"Research has consistently shown that intelligence is positively correlated with socially liberal beliefs and negatively correlated with religious beliefs. This should lead one to expect that Republicans are less intelligent than Democrats.

However, I find that individuals who identify as Republican have slightly higher verbal intelligence than those who identify as Democrat (2–5 IQ points), and that individuals who supported the Republican Party in elections have slightly higher verbal intelligence than those who supported the Democratic Party (2 IQ points).

I reconcile these findings with the previous literature by showing that verbal intelligence is correlated with both socially and economically liberal beliefs (β=.10–.32). My findings suggest that higher intelligence among classically liberal Republicans compensates for lower intelligence among socially conservative Republicans."

Yes, exactly. That is what Noah Carl said. But do you think he was put out of Oxford for saying that Trump voters and anti-abortion Republicans have a genetic IQ gap as compared to liberals and lefties? That's my point. They didn't read what the man was saying.; 5/15/19, 8:42 AM
wildswan said...: Oops, in the comment just above I was quoting Fernandistein down to the long break.; 5/15/19, 8:44 AM
wildswan said...: Double oops. The comment at 8:37 should read

"Fernandistein said...'
Predicting success in school (and life) is probably more interesting than measuring your own personal definition of intelligence, which, BTW, how do you measure intelligence if not by IQ tests, and how does your measurement of intelligence correlate with IQ test measurements?"

Then Wild Swan says:
I would not deny that IQ tests predict success in the school system (as it was before PC). They do not measure intelligence.

Standard IQ tests show that African Americans have an average IQ of 85. This is just a few points above the level at which a student is considered cognitively disabled and must by law get special help. It is a matter of observation with me that African Americans are not as group that stupid. Most are just as sharp as anyone else. And I know for certain that the field of IQ testing was completely dominated by members of the eugenic societies in England and America and I know they used Cyril Burt but missed the signs of his fraud.

5/15/19, 8:37 AM; 5/15/19, 8:50 AM
wildswan said...: Fernandistein,
Let me ask you this:
Since you've found Noah Carl's PhD thesis, wouldn't you say that it was not about African-Americans but that it used research results which previously concentrated on African-Americans and applied those results to Trump voters and anti-abortion Republicans? that it slammed those voters as having a genetic IQ gap? And that it is ironic that the lefties at Oxford took away the man's fellowship for saying that Trump voters are low IQ voters because the high IQ lefties didn't realize that Noah Carl was talking about Trump voters having low IQs, not about standard minorities having low IQs?; 5/15/19, 9:02 AM
tim in vermont said...: Predicting success in school (and life) is probably more interesting than measuring your own personal definition of intelligence,

That’s called a "clue by four,” I guess I was too subtle.; 5/15/19, 9:33 AM
tim in vermont said...: And I know for certain that the field of IQ testing was completely dominated by members of the eugenic societies in England and America and I know they used Cyril Burt but missed the signs of his fraud.

And the Nazis still managed to build some amazing weapons that worked extremely well under the laws of physics obtaining in this world. That’s not an endorsement of the Nazis, it’s just the banal observation that even a blind squirrel finds the occasional nut.; 5/15/19, 9:36 AM
Big Mike said...: I'm going to suggest my FBI daughter read it.

Tell her if she doesn’t read it she’s out of your will and you’re going to donate her share to whatever charity she hates most (the RNC?); 5/15/19, 9:51 AM
tastid212 said...: AA, I was just at the Audi dealer for service and using the dealership's customer WiFi. Sad to report that your site was blocked for being "porn."; 5/15/19, 9:51 AM
wildswan said...: "Nobody said...
And I know for certain that the field of IQ testing was completely dominated by members of the eugenic societies in England and America and I know they used Cyril Burt but missed the signs of his fraud.

And the Nazis still managed to build some amazing weapons that worked extremely well under the laws of physics obtaining in this world. That’s not an endorsement of the Nazis, it’s just the banal observation that even a blind squirrel finds the occasional nut."

The IQ field built the falsified data which was the foundation of Cyril Burt's research and his fame into everything they did. They were all in agreement and shown to be all wrong when the fraud was exposed. The Nazis did not build the results from field of homeopathy or some other unscientific field into the weapons they built. They used standard math and physics. That's why the weapons worked.; 5/15/19, 10:19 AM
Fen said...: And the Nazis still managed to build some amazing weapons that worked extremely well under the laws of physics obtaining in this world. That’s not an endorsement of the Nazis, it’s just the banal observation that even a blind squirrel finds the occasional nut.

And just to underscore your point - the Marines stole the infantry helmet design and some core principles of Maneuver Warfare and Combined Arms from the Nazi.; 5/15/19, 10:24 AM
Fen said...: Hey Wildswan, with respect, I think you will find Peterson's lecture on IQ to have some meat you can sink your teeth into.; 5/15/19, 10:33 AM
wildswan said...: "Fen said
And just to underscore your point - the Marines stole the infantry helmet design and some core principles of Maneuver Warfare and Combined Arms from the Nazi."

I think many members the German High Command of the Army such as Rommel and the members of the July 20 plot were actually opposed to the Nazis. Behind the conquests made by the German Army came the SS and the Gestapo who were committed Nazis and they committed the atrocities called for by eugenics - the death camps, the ethnic cleansing. But you are missing my point which is the irony of the fact that Noah Carl was kicked out of Oxford by the lefties for saying that Trump voters have a genetic IQ deficit. His work was adjudged hurtful but to me it is ridiculous.; 5/15/19, 10:41 AM
Fen said...: But you are missing my point which is the irony of the fact that Noah Carl was kicked out of Oxford by the lefties for saying that Trump voters have a genetic IQ deficit. His work was adjudged hurtful but to me it is ridiculous.

Yah, I admit I'm not following you. Tried last night but I don't know the players enough to understand which direction you are coming from. Might be a lack of coffee.; 5/15/19, 10:47 AM
tim in vermont said...: he IQ field built the falsified data which was the foundation of Cyril Burt's research and his fame into everything they did.

Weird then that it still predicts success in life pretty well. My understanding is that Sir Isaac Newton fudged his data as well. We still managed to get to the moon using his work.; 5/15/19, 10:55 AM
wildswan said...: And I'll just say this once. I know Noah Carl is working against people like me. But I can still spare a sort of sigh for a young man unjustly treated. Why did they let him get so far, always saying the same thing, and then suddenly turn on him. This young man paid for an Oxford education. He got his BA at Oxford. He was awarded a PhD by Oxford in 2017 after being supervised by a member of the Sociology department at an Oxford College. All along he used Richard Lynn's and Charles Murray's research. It's right there in the footnotes. But after extracting all his time and money and after certifying him in 2017, then Oxford turned around in 2018 and told him and the world that his work was rubbish. Well, I think it was rubbish and I would have said so at the start and not let him go on. And if I let him go on, I would not turn on him. To do otherwise would seem like some kind of academic malpractice. Of course in a way I don't care how the rats fight amongst themselves; but in another way this is not a rat, this is a young man and I don't think the elders of the tribe at Oxford are behaving well toward one of their own.; 5/15/19, 10:59 AM
Narr said...: Sooner or later someone brings up Nazis. I'll just stick to the heinie-helmet.

It was known by 1918 to everyone who bothered to test them, that the German coal-scuttle helmet was the best of the big three designs: Tommy Atkins' steel dish, the poilus' fireman's helmet, and the German.

It had flaws--it was heavy and could make hearing difficult--but it worked better than the others at protecting from head wounds. It inspired some curvier imitators (Russian, Swiss, etc) but I'm surprised it took the US so long to adopt it--it's not like we aren't world-beating copiers of good design when we need to be.

Narr
Military fashionista; 5/15/19, 11:54 AM
Fernandinande said...: that it slammed those voters as having a genetic IQ gap?

It's a complete fantasy that all groups of people have the same average IQ.

The fact that some groups are dumber or smarter than others is just a fact, not a slam. If you actually thought that IQ didn't measure intelligence you wouldn't care about it.

In the west (US, Europe, etc) IQ is almost entirely based on genetics.

Some groups, like Africans, are missing the genetic components for high IQs, e.g. Predicting group intelligence averages by polygenic risk scores alone.

Life's not fair, and neither is biology.; 5/15/19, 2:29 PM
Big Mike said...: @wildswan, outstanding analysis of the situation.; 5/15/19, 2:50 PM
Michael K said...: core principles of Maneuver Warfare and Combined Arms from the Nazi.<

Who stole it from Sherman in the Civil War, Mainly maneuver war. The Germans in WWI did not figure not out,.; 5/15/19, 4:56 PM
wildswan said...: Fen
You ask: What direction am I coming from on Noah Carl. This: He is an follower of Charles Murray who used data on IQ collected by eugenic society members. I regard the data as fraudulent and the purpose as racist. But Noah Carl is doing something different than Burt-Jensen-Murray. Noah Carl is using the Burt-Jensen-Murray-Lynn data to slam white people instead of black people as having a genetic IQ deficit. Specifically he slams Trump voters, most Republicans, social conservatives (that's you Fen) and religious believers. Yet he was kicked out of Oxford by indignant lefties. Why did they kick him out if he was saying something they think and say? I think they did not read his thesis and did not know what he was saying, only who he was citing and associating with, i.e. Burt-Jensen-Murray-Lynn. That is why I say that, ironically, the lefties kicked Noah Carl out of Oxford for saying that Trump voters have an IQ deficit which is something that lefties say all the time.

And, yes, this morning I was distracted while I was commenting, more distracted than I realized. Sorry about that.; 5/15/19, 8:10 PM
Narr said...: OK guys, "Maneuver Warfare" is a ridiculous coinage. What is it opposed to, "Non-Maneuver Warfare"? Sherman was good at applying both new and old methods to his particular problems,
but he didn't invent anything new (BL-H notwithstanding). And Combined Arms, again, because it gets reified with CAPS in current doctrine doesn't mean it's anything warriors haven't used since the first skirmish.

And FWIW I get what wildswan is saying at 810p.

Narr
Outta here; 5/15/19, 10:55 PM