August 2, 2019

At the Friday Night Cafe...

... talk about whatever you want.

120 comments:

Lucien said...

Asking seriously and not rhetorically, if the President runs the executive branch, the AG runs DOJ and the FBI Director runs the FBI, which is part of the DOJ, then why do we keep hearing about the FBI refusing to turn over documents (e.g., Strzok or Page texts) ? Why don’t Director Wray and every lawyer working for the FBI get fired for withholding these documents?

Ignorance is Bliss said...

We had my son's funeral today.

If I could pass on one message to everyone, this song would sum it up pretty well:

Be More Kind, by Frank Turner

narciso said...

The short answer Is wray has been a swamp dweller, at least going back to 2004, and the very critical incident covered up by another event when he revealed his bonafides

Scott Patton said...

So, no commemorative Baltimore rat. Would be in bad taste?

narciso said...

Words fail iib, can you say his name so I can pray for him at mass?

Ignorance is Bliss said...

His name is Ben.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

@Ignorance is Bliss
we're giving it a listen
Hope you are holding up ok.
Feel free to vent, and our online shoulders are available

mccullough said...

Very sorry about your son, Ignorance is Bliss

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Sending you, your wife and your other son love tonight IiB.

heyboom said...

@Ignorance is Bliss

Deepest condolences. Try to hold on to the good memories.

YoungHegelian said...

@Ignorance is Bliss,

My deepest condolences. May your son rest in peace.

Big Mike said...

@Ignorance is Bliss, my heart breaks for you.

Oso Negro said...

I cannot imagine outliving one of my children. I do not want such a fate and I greatly sorry for you, IIB.

Fen said...

I'm so sorry. I don't often pray but tonight I'll ask Him to help you and your family.

Michael McNeil said...

It was only a few days ago that Althouse specifically requested that commenters include hot links rather than text URL links when one posts, also noting what's patently obvious: that few people will bother to go through the rigamarole — of selecting, copying, opening a new browser window, and then pasting the URL into the window's address line — in order to follow a (not obviously critically important) text link.

She also showed in that particular instance that she will delete comments that she finds particularly everybody's time-wasting in this regard.

There was much moping around afterwards — with some folks making patently false assertions: such as that anybody can easily follow a text link (wrong), and that text links are supposedly safer — because one can't see where one is going following hot links (wrong).

After Althouse's polite (with teeth) request, what do we see now (in comments to postings earlier today)? Hardly anybody using hot links. It's as if you all are thumbing your nose at her.

Why is that?

Michael McNeil said...

Putting in a hot link rather than text link requires all of:

• type: 9 additional characters at the start of the link
• type: 2 additional characters separating URL from name or info. about it
• type: at least 1 character supplying name or info. about the link
• type: 4 additional characters at the end of the link

None of those additional characters are just random or hard to comprehend what's going on.

Is anybody going to really tell me that that's too hard to learn, even in just a single sitting of (say) 2 minutes attention?

narciso said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
walter said...

Are you gonna tell us Blogger is inherently dumber than Disqus that handles that automagically?

narciso said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
walter said...

(and be honest, the majority of commenting forums)

Michael McNeil said...

I'm unaware of any commenting forum that allows (e.g.) iPhones to follow at pure-text link.

Just make the hot link already! It's not hard.

narciso said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
walter said...

wtf is "pure-text link."?
Auto activated links are all over the place.
I-phones can't read?
Dunno...
But this freakin' blog requires I copy all before posting in case its brain loses track of it..

Michael McNeil said...

Sheesh. A “pure-text link” (which is not a technical term) is a bare URL as text — no html code to make it a hot link.

Anything else obvious you need explained?

Michael McNeil said...

Yes! If you don't copy your posting to the clipboard (or a notes app) before posting it, you may lose it.

Why don't you meep more about things that you don't control.

Michael McNeil said...

And narciso: I certainly don't believe you any more when you assert that you tried it and somehow can't get making hot html links to work — not since I posted maybe four times recently the tutorial that I wrote up for you and the Althouse blog — which others immediately got to work, first try, no problem — while I've seen no evidence that you even ever made the attempt.

walter said...

Geek out, Michael.
We will bow down.
G'night.

narciso said...

I have, why do you think I've deleted the other attempts, anyways despite all the pressure the EU has imposed on the league its still popular twice as much as its former coalition partner the five stars, that was the point

Fen said...

not since I posted maybe four times recently the tutorial that I wrote up for you and the Althouse blog — which others immediately got to work, first try, no problem — while I've seen no evidence that you even ever made the attempt.

Why is any of this your fucking business? I use hotlinks all the time, and like you, have routinely posted this helpful guide for anyone who needs help. But I haven't demanded the use it. Not my place.

And I really don't understand the constant hectoring directed at the one guy who gives us the most interesting links to discussion points. You're just going to run him off. It's like Narciso is cooking up free hamburgers, and you're pissed he doesn't deliver to your front door and hand feed you.

If you don't want to take the trouble to copy his link, open a new tab, the paste and read... then don't do it. You're demanding he make an effort that you aren't willing to. WTH?

Fen said...

Micheal: I've seen no evidence that you even ever made the attempt.

I mean seriously, who the fuck do you think you are? The Link Nazi? LOL.

narciso said...

Thanks fen, they would rather long drawn out paragraphs griping about nothing in particular.
I cant get past one short block. One cant imagine losing some one so young so soon. We are all sojourners in this world, but this was all too brief.
.

Fen said...

It was only a few days ago that Althouse specifically requested -

And William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection requested we all dial down our ad blockers because our selfish attempts to keep baby pics of our grandkids from being eaten by malware was gimping his advertising revenue.

Guess how that went down?

narciso said...

This is usually when Stephen cooper pipes in.

Because this world which sees itself too 'sophisticated' for christianity, aell with alm the current forms of depravity that masquerade as sophistication, maybe we need a little primitive fairh,

Michael McNeil said...

Constant hectoring? I've addressed narciso maybe 3 times in all the time I've been on this blog. Nor is it me who is demanding in this case, but Althouse who is requesting. Did you miss her posting, together with the enforcement, a deleted comment?

I agree with Althouse that it wastes everybody's time (a lot of time, added up) by folks posting links — sometimes many of them — all text, no explanation beyond the bare URL. One time narciso proudly claimed he spent a half-hour finding some link — but then is completely unwilling to put in an extra 30 seconds making it accessible to the readership.

As a result (and because following such a non-link is a relative pain on the iPhone at least), I almost uniformly don't follow his links — or anybody else's — an experience common I'm sure to a large proportion of the commentariat, iPhone users or no.

Get mad at me and blast me all you want, it doesn't eliminate the problem, but fixing it is within easy reach of commenters who post links. All it takes is a few minutes attention to learn it, then a modicum of consideration for the readers.

narciso said...

Faith, it was what the authors of the Psalms and proverbs fell back when all their vaunted accomplishments were for naught. Great wisdom only found by eschewing pride and avarice and all other grasping for things and power

Ray - SoCal said...

Very nice - thanks!

>Frank Turner - Be More Kind

Within the past few months I've had 2 close relatives die, and it's changed my world. One of the deaths was unexpected, which was hard, and other I feel was preventable, and was just heart breaking.

My best wishes to you, and your family.

Ray - SoCal said...

On the linking, when it's important I will make an active link. I don't have it memorized yet on the code, I should. I have been doing links for 20 years, so it's about time.

Blogger should make a hot link, but Google does little to no updates on it, unfortunately. It's amazing they even keep it around.

narciso said...

Even saul of tarsus when his eyes were opened by his experience on the road to Damascus, saw it was for naught. This world is cursed with blood and pain and every firm of savagery that Benioff and Tarantino and every other auteur see as refreshing.

Quayle said...

IIB, I will pray for you and your wife and family today and this week. We send our love to you.

Fen said...

Link Nazi: All it takes is a few minutes attention to learn it, then a modicum of consideration for the readers.

If you want the free hamburger, get off your ass, go down to the grill and grab a plate.

Maybe even say "thanks" too.

Fen said...

If you DONT want the free hamburger, that's fine too. But quit whinging about it. Geez.

No one is forcing you to follow a text link.

Michael McNeil said...

Fen: I'd love to be able to easily follow narciso's links; it's frustrating that he just blithely leaves such easily-solved roadblocks in the way.

Also: tell that to Althouse while you're at it.

narciso said...

If the world were informed by christianity or even the genuine abrahamic faith, how much of these ridiculous arguments over dr. Seyss for Pete's sake would be avoided

Michael McNeil said...

Here yet another time is a short tutorial on how to introduce a hot link in one's posting:

• type the text which precedes the link
• type: <a href="
• paste or type the URL: https://althouse.blogspot.com/
• type: ">
• type: the intended name or information about the link e.g.: Althouse (or paste the URL here again)
• type: </a>
• type the text which follows the link

Which then comes out (in one's posting) looking like this (notice that the link works):

text which precedes the link Althouse text which follows the link

Fen said...

it's frustrating that he just blithely leaves such easily-solved roadblocks in the way.

Really? Put up or shut up - I used to format his best ones into hyperlinks just for people like you. If you care so much, why don't you do the same for a spell?

Unless this is really all just about how lazy you are.

mockturtle said...

If I highlight the text of the link and right-click it, I can opt to 'open in new tab'. Not much more trouble than a hyperlink.

narciso said...

But art and music and television even Netflix hulu and Amazon, is about breaking boundaries, but these boundaries were put in for a reason.

narciso said...

The handmaids tale (whose lesson seems to be modesty and discretion: let me show you how)
Has even gotten a bad rap from some of its strongest supporters.

narciso said...

Are evil and repressive, up is down, down is up.

Enlighten-NewJersey said...

Ignorance is Bliss, I am so sorry for loss. I’ve been thinking about you and your son since you told us the sad news. I think it’s an important message - be more kind. I shall try harder.

Michael McNeil said...

If I highlight the text of the link and right-click it, I can opt to 'open in new tab'. Not much more trouble than a hyperlink.

mockturtle: Why do you assume that what works for you on your computer also works for everybody else on theirs? In particular, that method does not work on iPhones running Safari. Beyond that, merely selecting arbitrary swathes of text is alone a relative pain on the iPhone (and I suspect Androids as well), much less opening up a new window, et al.

mockturtle said...

Michael M: I didn't make that assumption but merely stated what works for me. That said, I always include hyperlinks in my posts.

Breezy said...

Ignorance is Bliss, my condolences to you and your family on the loss of your son. May he Rest In Peace.

Jimmy said...

Ignorance is Bliss, heartfelt condolences for you and your family.

Crazy World said...

IIB my heart goes out you and yours. Big beautiful Aloha, I cannot imagine. Hugs

Fen said...

Micheal: Why do you assume that what works for you on your computer also works for everybody else on theirs?

Do you not hear yourself? Do you no understand that your situation also applies to others?

1) You are not the first person to harass the guy over not posting links. And you're not the only person who has posted html guides. So.... MAYBE consider he has issues just like yours? That we are all on different devices using different softare? You claim that what is easy for us is hard or impossible for you... then perhaps what is easy for you is hard or impossible for him? Hello?

2) You are like the 5th person to make a fuss over this. What do you think is going to happen? You are trying to shame a person who clearly can't do what you want. If he could, I'm sure he would have by now just to get people like you to leave him alone. So what's going to happen is "Micheal was so frustrated that he couldn't read the links he drove Narciso off and now NOBODY gets to read the links. Gee thanks Micheal..."

3) And again, it takes more effort to create a link that it does to copy that link into a browser. People are complaining somone won't spend energy doing something that they won't spend energy doing. There's a word for that.

Bruce Hayden said...

“mockturtle: Why do you assume that what works for you on your computer also works for everybody else on theirs? In particular, that method does not work on iPhones running Safari. Beyond that, merely selecting arbitrary swathes of text is alone a relative pain on the iPhone (and I suspect Androids as well), much less opening up a new window, et al.”

In Michael’s defense there, IOS devices are weird. I still mostly run Chrome (though keep vowing to move off it due to privacy issues), and doing the select/copy/open trick ultimately gets me to a search engine page in Safari, and the top link there usually gets you to the article you want. Except when it mysteriously does not. There there is some hit or miss until you get what you want. So, for awhile after that, I will select and copy the URL, open a new tab, and usually find a “paste and go” message. But then, when I am done with the tab, I have to find my way back to the tab I was reading. Not easy - this browser on this iPad has 85 tabs currently open.

Inga pointed this out the other day - IOS has the bad habit of automatically switching straight quotes for angled (in) quotes, because, I suspect, Steve Jobs thought it looked better. (I used to run into this with Word, but there used to be a switch to turn it off - not so with IOS). The important point is that URLs require matching delimiters (typically double quotes), and paired angled quotes do not match, as far as being a URL. IF Blogger keeps choking on the Anchor (A) HTML elements (your hot links), in IOS, it is almost always a result of IOS having prettied up those straight quotes you typed, into angled quotes, therefore making the perfectly good HTML you typed invalid.

Oh, and while we are on IOS problems with HTML in Blogger, IOS automatically capitalizes single I’s. An I between two angle brackets will get capitalized. Not so with one following a forward slash (/). And, of course, Blogger will then reject them as not matched. Turns out that they are legal HTML, but satisfying Blogger is the goal, and not participating in an HTML writing contest.

Because of all these problems, anymore I tend to use the Notes application for HTML. I have a global (shared on all my IOS devices) Note titled, coincidentally, “HTML”. I have A, B, I, and Blockquote HTML elements in their entirety, and broken up into pieces (as was suggested above with Anchor (A) elements). At least with IPads running the latest versions of IOS, I can use a four fingered right or left drag to flip back and forth between a browser and my HTML Note. Usually, I will move the entire HTML element, including opening and closing sequences, into the Blogger window, then paste into it. That usually works better than building an Anchor (A) Hot Link from its five constituent parts.

I tend to use Firefox on PCs, and inevitably have an HTML editor plug in installed. That makes creating HTML a breeze. But Firefox on IOS doesn’t support plug ins, so....

Bruce Hayden said...

Oh, and thanks to those who told me that reCAPTCHA isn’t really required anymore. It still works. You can still spend 10 minutes trying to decipher grainy photographs identifying crosswalks or traffic lights, before you post your comment. Or you can just hit “Publish” (I should “Preview” my longer posts, given the vagaries of the IOS automatic spell correcting, but never do), and skip the entire frustrating reCAPTCHA time sink.

You would think that all that it would take was discovering that reCAPTCHA was turned off, or broken. But I am a person of habit, and it took better than a week to train myself not to automatically hit that button before Publishing. Every time I would the button, I would immediately go “whoops”, but still have to go through the pain of identifying crosswalks and traffic lights in grainy photographs before I got to Publish. I seem to mostly be broken of the habit. Mostly.

Bruce Hayden said...

And, after my last comment, I had reCAPTCHA on the brain, and hit that button, instead of just “Publish”. Hence the “mostly” at the end of my last comment.

rehajm said...

I’m going to defend Michael here. He’s not attacking anyone he’s pointing out the challenges some of us have with copying and pasting, with the simplicity of the solution and the request of the blog host to not clutter the flow of the threads with code.

tim in vermont said...

Michael McNeil, that method won’t work on my macbook, You have to leave out the double quotes. At this point when I want to link something, I have typed the HTML so many times it’s like a keyboard macro, then I paste in my link.

“because one can't see where one is going following hot links (wrong).”

I can’t see where a hot link goes with my macbook. I paste the ink in in both locations in the HTML because I always feel like it’s more important that people know where the link takes them then some little text I might put in the description. Still it’s on the honor system.

rehajm said...

One for the against camp, too: Since Chuck is so well behaved when he’s drinking free booze I accidentally read one of his posts and followed his hyperlink what led me to a malware-y pop up page.

I’ll leave it to the special counsel of subversive shenanigans and wager police to investigate.

rehajm said...

...and I need single quotes too...

For you Apple device users: something about the URLs in Safari mobile breaks my hyperlinks. I thought it had to do with https but manual input of a URL that works in regular Safari doesn’t help. Any ideas?

rhhardin said...

I never click hot links. I'll triple click a text link and right click open in private window, if it looks safe. The idea is keep third party malware from running on my browser as far as possible.

stevew said...

IIB, my condolences to you and your family on the loss of your son. RIP.

Birkel said...

narciso is one of the most interesting posters on these boards.
You don't like his style? Your loss.
You don't cut and paste his links? Your loss.

I'm sure there is no pleasing everybody.

Howard said...

I am glad narisco doesn't post his nutter conspiracy in hot links. I might actually be tempted to click through... after being infected, I would need to Clorox my brain pan.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Without narciso's postings this blog is just right of center Better Homes and Gardens.

Fen said...

he’s pointing out the challenges some of us have with copying and pasting, with the simplicity of (posting html links)

And we're pointing out the challenges some of us have with posting html links, with the simplicity of copying and pasting.

The difference is, we aren't telling anyone they need to do it our way.

AllenS said...

I have my link info in my email account under "Drafts". When I open another window to copy the URL from another site, I enter it into the Althouse Comment box, then open my email account, copy the link info and insert it in the Comment box, then move the URL into the link info. I may view a URL entered on the site about once for every 30-40 entries. I provide a link instead of a URL for the readers ease at looking at the information that I feel someone might want to see.

Fen said...

Howard: I am glad narisco doesn't post his nutter conspiracy in hot links. I might actually be tempted to click through... after being infected, I would need to Clorox my brain pan.

I'm glad I never find Howard taking my side of an argument. :)

Hagar said...

Richard Engel of NBC News reporting on the current negotiations in Afghanistan said there is some doubt that the Taliban will keep any of their promises, and the Afghan government may just collapse when the US pulls out as happened when Obama pulled out of Iraq.

This is the first time I have heard a MSM reporter casually admit that Obama is responsible for the current situation in the Middle East.

alanc709 said...

mockturtle said...
'If I highlight the text of the link and right-click it, I can opt to 'open in new tab'. Not much more trouble than a hyperlink.'

Precisely. I don't see the big deal either, and it certainly isn't any harder than opening a hyperlink. Maybe you need a better browser. Or learn to code.

Fen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fen said...

there is some doubt that the Taliban will keep any of their promises, and the Afghan government may just collapse when the US pulls out as happened when Obama pulled out of Iraq.

That's the smart move. The word of America is based on 120 million voters with the attention span of a gnat. It is foolish to put your future in their hands.

When Obama pulled us out of Iraq without a SOFA, we left behind good Iraqi men and women who risked everything because they believed they could trust us. They are all probably dead now.

Imagine Washington, Jefferson and Adams hanged because France decided to pull it's support at Yorktown and sail back home. That is what America did to Iraq.

Hagar said...

Abandoning the budding Iraqi government to the Iranian Shia also gave us the rise of ISIS and made the mess in Syria into a real disaster.

Jersey Fled said...

Remember when Obama told us that Iraq was the "bad war" but Afghanistan was the "good war"?

narciso said...

His lips were moving then:

https://spectator.org/grand-jury-secrecy-and-jerry-nadler/

Robert Cook said...

"Remember when Obama told us that Iraq was the 'bad war' but Afghanistan was the 'good war'?"

The truth is, they're both bad wars.

Jersey Fled said...

Per recent Rasmussen poll, 41% of black voters think Trump voters are racist compared to 49% of Democrats overall.

Interesting.

Black people are not stupid. They know Baltimore is a shithole.

iowan2 said...

I thank Micheal for posting the directions for hotlinks. I am slowly learning. I was cutting and pasting the text, and that works. For me. I do most of my surfing on windows10 so its not a problem. I understand what others are saying about iOS. Saying all of that, I'm in my sixth decade, and I can still learn stuff. The idea about saving the model in my email draft folder sounds interesting and I'll give it try.
Everyone should quit sniping with each other. We are in great times, so great that something this meaningless, stirs people to take sides, so that makes me smile.

Anonymous said...

alanc709: Precisely. I don't see the big deal either...

No big deal, just mystifying. If people tell me that making a clickable link is just too hard for them to figure out, or too onerous a chore on their device, I'll take their word for it, but I really don't understand how that can be.

Paco Wové said...

'If I highlight the text of the link and right-click it, I can opt to 'open in new tab'.

It all depends on the browser. Some browsers behave as you say, others don't. The one I'm using at the moment (Brave) offers to open the link, but only in the current tab, where I'm in the middle of reading something else. So it's arguably a deficiency of the browsing software; conversely, it's how courteous do you want to be to potential readers.

Robert Cook said...

"When Obama pulled us out of Iraq without a SOFA, we left behind good Iraqi men and women who risked everything because they believed they could trust us."


"...in 2008 George W. Bush signed the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. It included a deadline of 31 December 2011, before which 'all the United States Forces shall withdraw from all Iraqi territory'.[11][12][13] The last U.S. troops left Iraq on 18 December 2011, in accordance with this agreement.[1][11][12]" (Wikipedia)

That said, we invaded Iraq, illegally. We destroyed a functioning government. From this stems all other catastrophic post-invasion circumstances in Iraq.

AllenS said...

Robert Cook said...
We destroyed a functioning government. From this stems all other catastrophic post-invasion circumstances in Iraq.

I agree with that Mr Cook. I was against invading Iraq. I was against "regime change" for Afghanistan, or whatever Bush called it. The problem wasn't bin Laden or Sadam Hussein, or Afghanistan or Iraq. The problem is/was Islam.

Michael K said...

Then "conspiracy theories" that Howard does not want to know about.

Supposedly, Woodward sweet-talked the Clerk of Court out of the names and addresses of Watergate grand jurors, and then he and Bernstein sought them out for interviews. As the story goes, one of the grand jurors complained to prosecutors and Washington Post counsel Edward Bennett Williams was dispatched to make a personal call on Judge John Sirica to set things right. The task was made easier because Williams was Sirica’s career mentor and Williams and his wife were godparents to Sirica’s daughter. Williams assured Sirica that the duo had not been successful in gaining any interviews.

How the Swamp works,

Fen said...

The problem is/was Islam.

The idea is we need to reform Islam before it destroys us. Regime change in Iraq, making it a democratic model for the Middle East was the best way to get there.

AfPak, for a variety of reasons, is FUBARed.

From what I see, our choices are:
1) reform Islam
2) destroy Islam
3) be destroyed by Islam

Did you see other choices?

Fen said...

That said, we invaded Iraq, illegally.

No, we didn't.

narciso said...

The Iraqi govt was much more rotten and the society more sectarian then anyone knew, it began with the security services extending feelers to various Sunni and even Shia extremists

narciso said...

Wahhabism is the reformation, Ahmadi and Sufi really are outliers

Fen said...

Therefore, in the absence of an armed attack against the US or the coalition members, any legal use of force, or any legal threat of the use of force, had to be supported by a UN security Council resolution authorizing member states to use force against Iraq.[14] However, the US government stated that an armed attack by Iraq did occur against the US and its coalition partners as demonstrated by the assassination attempt on former US President George H. W. Bush in 1993 and firing on coalition aircraft enforcing the no-fly zones over Northern and Southern Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War ceasefire agreement. Under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the US reserved the right to self-defense, even without a UN mandate, as were the cases in the bombing of Iraq in June 1993 in retaliation for Hussein's attempt on former President Bush's life and again in 1996 in retaliation for Hussein's targeting of American aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones over Northern and Southern Iraq and the launching of a major offensive against the city of Irbil in Iraqi Kurdistan in violation of UNSC Resolution 688 prohibiting repression of Iraq's ethnic minorities.[17][18]

The U.S. and UK governments, along with others, also stated (as is detailed in the first four paragraphs of the joint resolution)[19] that the invasion was entirely legal because it was already authorized by existing United Nations Security Council resolutions and a resumption of previously temporarily suspended hostilities, and not a war of aggression as the United States and UK were acting as agents for the defense of Kuwait in response to Iraq's 1990 invasion.[20][21]


And I'm not having this stupid debate again with revisionists like Cook.

Robert Cook said...

The idea is we need to reform Islam before it destroys us. Regime change in Iraq, making it a democratic model for the Middle East was the best way to get there.

1. Iraq was a secular state under Hussein.

2. We do not have any legal right or basis to decide we are going to effect regime change (i.e., overthrowing an existing government) in other countries.

3. The only way for "democracy" to assert itself in any country is by the efforts of the citizens of that country. We--and no other nation--can "bring democracy" to other nations, and neither is it our prerogative to make that choice for other nations.

4. We did not invade Iraq to "bring democracy" to the Iraqis, (despite whatever tangential talking point among several were thrown out to make our invasion appear legitimate). We were told we had to invade Iraq based primarily on the lie Hussein had violent designs on the U.S. and that he would soon have the WMD to destroy us if we didn't get him first, and the paired lie that he was somehow aligned with or a confederate of those who had taken down the World Trade Towers. This was the cover story. The real reason had to do with asserting our geopolitical dominance in the region, and to lock up western control of Iraq's oil fields.

In short, our illegal invasion was a based on lies and criminal intent.

Robert Cook said...

The idea is we need to reform Islam before it destroys us. Regime change in Iraq, making it a democratic model for the Middle East was the best way to get there.

1. Iraq was a secular state under Hussein.

2. We do not have any legal right or basis to decide we are going to effect regime change (i.e., overthrowing an existing government) in other countries.

3. The only way for "democracy" to assert itself in any country is by the efforts of the citizens of that country. We--and no other nation--can "bring democracy" to other nations, and neither is it our prerogative to make that choice for other nations.

4. We did not invade Iraq to "bring democracy" to the Iraqis, (despite whatever tangential talking point among several were thrown out to make our invasion appear legitimate). We were told we had to invade Iraq based primarily on the lie Hussein had violent designs on the U.S. and that he would soon have the WMD to destroy us if we didn't get him first, and the paired lie that he was somehow aligned with or a confederate of those who had taken down the World Trade Towers. This was the cover story. The real reason had to do with asserting our geopolitical dominance in the region, and to lock up western control of Iraq's oil fields.

In short, our illegal invasion was a based on lies and criminal intent.

Michael McNeil said...

Michael McNeil, that method won’t work on my macbook, You have to leave out the double quotes.

Really? I've borrowed my partner's MacBook Air (running OS X 10.11.6) and Safari. Here's my example hot-link to the Althouse blog — using double quotes to bracket the URL. I'm so confident that it will work, I'm not even testing it first (which isn't like me…).


At this point when I want to link something, I have typed the HTML so many times it’s like a keyboard macro, then I paste in my link.

Me too! Exactly.

I can’t see where a hot link goes with my macbook.

In Safari, pull down the View menu, then select Show Status Bar (or type Cmd-/). After you do this, whenever you “hover” your mouse over a hot-link, the URL will be displayed down in the Status Bar (at the bottom of your Safari window).

I paste the ink in in both locations in the HTML because I always feel like it’s more important that people know where the link takes them then some little text I might put in the description. Still it’s on the honor system.

Agreed; but as indicated above, one can see where the URL is going to take you without tying up the “hover-over” text just repeating the URL.

Robert Cook said...

"However, the US government stated that an armed attack by Iraq did occur against the US and its coalition partners as demonstrated by the assassination attempt on former US President George H. W. Bush in 1993 and firing on coalition aircraft enforcing the no-fly zones over Northern and Southern Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War ceasefire agreement."

The alleged assassination attempt was planned to occur in 1993. In response, Clinton fired a missle into Iraq. That was our response. A supposed assassination attempt that didn't come off does not in any way legally support an invasion a decade later on a country whose ties to the alleged plot are uncertain.

Who says Iraq didn't have the right to fire back at aircraft bombing them? That isn't an attack on the U.S., but Iraq self-defense.

These are self-serving excuses to make our illegal invasion appear legal.

Michael McNeil said...

Maybe you need a better browser.

Like Chrome? No thanks. Nor, last time I looked, does Mozilla allow this (though I might check again).

Michael K said...

The real reason had to do with asserting our geopolitical dominance in the region, and to lock up western control of Iraq's oil fields.

Standard leftist dogma. In retrospect, it was a mistake to take out Hussein. He threatened the world oil source with his invasion of Kuwait. Fortunately, with Trump and fracking, that is no longer a primary threat to us although it is to Europe and Asia.
The second war/invasion was because of two factors. One, the Saudis wanted us out what with US women military refusing to wear burkhas off base. Second, the OBL motive for 9/11 was our presence in Saudi. So, we moved our big base to Qatar, a worse place if possible. Another problem was that Hussein was shooting at our planes that were enforcing the armistice. Schwartzkopf made a mistake with the armistice, allowing the Iraqis use of their helicopters.

I was sort of in favor of the invasion because I thought it was worth a try to see if Arabs could rule themselves without tyrants. They can't. The experiment was a failure. It was made worse when Bush put Bremer in charge. He is a swamp dweller, first class. Jay Garner was a general who had done well with the Kurds. I never figured out why Bush put Bremer in over Garner.

Michael McNeil said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael McNeil said...

I'm sure there is no pleasing everybody.

Maybe not. But one person in particular folks here should be interested in pleasing, and that is: Althouse.

Once again, she has now weighed in in favor of commenters posting hot links, and is at least sometimes deleting comments that do not include such.

Michael McNeil said...

For you Apple device users: something about the URLs in Safari mobile breaks my hyperlinks. I thought it had to do with https but manual input of a URL that works in regular Safari doesn’t help. Any ideas?

My idea is that you bracket the URL in hot-links with double (non-curly) quotes. The reason why is because certain characters are allowed in URL's but disallowed in HTML code — unless it's quoted.

Rusty said...

Having cataract surgery in Sept., Althouse. Any tips you can give me?

Michael McNeil said...

You are not the first person to harass the guy over not posting links. And you're not the only person who has posted html guides. So…. MAYBE consider he has issues just like yours? That we are all on different devices using different softare? You claim that what is easy for us is hard or impossible for you... then perhaps what is easy for you is hard or impossible for him? Hello?

I don't assume everybody has a posting environment exactly like mine. I've already discussed in earlier postings (not on this thread) issues like how automatically inserted “curly-quotes” totally screwed up many folks' hot-links for a considerable period of time several years back on Apple iPhones, iPads — and (I think) Macs as well — unless one knew or figured out how to cope with it, until Apple undid that change. There certainly could be other such environmental factors that people are still facing.

But the point is: tell us, ask for help in what's wrong, don't just throw up your hands and refuse to even try. Many people here, including me, would gladly help someone who's having an issue — and I expect whatever it is would have short shrift afterwards. I invite narciso and others here to do so.

Robert Cook said...

HTML code is independent of computing platform. The HTML code that allows one to create live links works on Windows as well as Mac environments. I have a Mac at home and work on Windows at work and I have used the same code to create live links in each environment. There is no difference. I suspect the person having difficulty is doing something wrong. It took me a few tries to learn how to use the code correctly.

Jon said...

In Android (Samsung Galaxy 8s), if you touch and hold a text url, you get the entire url highlighted with "chrome" instead of "paste" in the choices. Click chrome and you get Chrome with the selected url.

narciso said...

Actually it wasnt baathism had corrodes into acceptance of salafism in the security services and in the wider public sphere, certainly in places like Fallujah and Ramadi it had become predominant

Ray - SoCal said...

I have very mixed feelings on the Iraqi invasion, and the continued mess in Afghanistan. Iraq was a festering mess, and WMD was just one reason to invade. The reconstruction was a huge mess. The good news, I believe, is Iraq is in a lot better shape than it was under Hussein. But at a huge cost to the US, which I question if it was worth it. And removing Hussein helped Iran a huge amount.

With Afghanistan the real issue is Iran and Pakistan, and probably some Russian. If the external support for the insurgents was removed, the Taliban would be gone fast. It's 18 years now. What a mess.

I don't like the US invading a country, without a declaration of war. If the US is attacked, yes. Libya is even worse, and Europe is paying the price for their stupidity.

The US is not the world's police man. The world does not pay our taxes. Commerce is different, and that benefits the US, so keeping the sea lanes safe makes sense. The War on Terror is something we need to keep on fighting, till it finally burns itself out.

Trump is having an American first focus, and I appreciate he has not involved the US in any new wars so far.

narciso said...

The head of the Republican guard was a nasquabandi Sufi, but he made common cause with the salafis, like the frog and the scorpion.

Michael K said...

Trump is having an American first focus, and I appreciate he has not involved the US in any new wars so far.

Yes and he seems to be doing the right thing. Even China seems less stable than when Democrats ran things,

Marc in Eugene said...

IiB, Sincere condolences. No idea if the comforts of religion can mean much to you in this time of great loss but have arranged for Masses to be said for your son and for you and your family.

rehajm said...

My idea is that you bracket the URL in hot-links with double (non-curly) quotes.

Didn't work. Reference "https:" not allowed or Reference "http:" not allowed

Michael McNeil said...

Jon: that doesn't work on an iPhone (and no doubt an iPad) running Safari.

Michael McNeil said...

rehajm: Next, let's investigate if it's the curly-quotes problem. Try entering the html link again, zooming in on the characters so you can make sure (by looking at the quotes you've typed) that they're actually straight quotes and not curly quotes.

Also, what computer, OS, and browser are you running? Thanks.

rehajm said...

iPhone, iOS...

rehajm said...

Safari...

rehajm said...

(read the original post...)

Michael McNeil said...

rehajm: it does sound like the curly-quotes problem; moreover, the issue occurring on an iPhone certainly fits in this regard. What version of iOS are you running? An older version, right?

Without waiting for your reply, presuming my diagnosis is correct, the ideal solution, I suppose, would be to upgrade your iOS. I appreciate, though, that older iPhones are no longer supported by Apple and you can't upgrade its iOS.

The solution, however, even while still running the problematic older iOS version — at the exact moment when you're ready to type the double (straight) quotes — is (using the iPhone's crappy on-screen keyboard) to hold down the double-quotes key (rather than just tapping it) for a few seconds; then, when the subsidiary menu opens up (showing various kinds of double-quotes you can choose to enter), select the straight quotes (far right in the list).

rehajm said...

Its the latest iOS. Why would you assume otherwise?

rehajm said...

link to drudge

rehajm said...

It works. Thanks!

Michael McNeil said...

It works. Thanks!

Great! Glad to hear it.

Its the latest iOS. Why would you assume otherwise?

Because as far as my experience has led me to believe, the "curly-quotes" problem (the OS automatically substituting curly-quotes whenever you type either of the quotes keys on the iPhone's on-screen keyboard) had ceased to be an issue at least a couple of years back. (Unfortunately, I failed to record when that fix occurred, nor the new iOS version number at the time.)

Notice the quotes bracketing the "curly-quotes" phrase in the foregoing paragraph? They're straight quotes; thus, no substitution was made by iOS as I typed the quotes key on my iPhone's on-screen keyboard. Thus the curly-quotes issue is not occurring on my iPhone 8+ running iOS v. 12.3.2. (I see that iOS v. 12.4 is now out, but I haven't upgraded as yet.)

The foregoing, however, makes me think that perhaps (contrary to your belief) you really aren't running (even approximately) the latest iOS version. One might note that when an older iPhone reaches the end of its support at Apple — and you go down into Settings / General / Software Update — it will tell you that you're running the latest version, when it really isn't. (It's actually the latest version supported for your phone.)

Thus, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like for you to go into Settings / General / About on your iPhone, and tell me what the Software Version displayed there actually is. (Also, what is the model of your iPhone?) I really would like to find out why the problem is still happening on your phone, and what the version no. for that is. Thanks!