January 24, 2020

At the Snowfall Café...

9BDFA9F2-A02E-43B1-B3AA-EF59A1D20C09_1_201_a

... you can talk all night.

85 comments:

stephen cooper said...

Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth, we cannot know it (Pascal).

Either God loves us all, or not.

Pleasant dreams to everyone who wonders if God loves them or not -
the wish for prayer is a prayer in itself (Bernanos)

madAsHell said...

I'm no longer surprised by Chinese voice mail from spoofed telephone numbers.

This afternoon I received a spoken list of numbers "8888850029". The computer generated voice (female, American accent) repeated the message, and disconnected.

I'm being drawn into an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

I'm sure operators are standing by at (888)885-0029, and willing to take my credit card number, but who in the world would return such a message??

madAsHell said...

Can Siri be spoofed into calling a random telephone number?

Milwaukie guy said...

A couple of days ago someone mentioned Luis Gutierrez and Doug Scofield. It brought a lot of memories back.

I lived in the IL 4th CD, gerrymandered like Mickey Mouse ears to link the Puerto Rican NW neighborhoods with the SW Mexican neighborhoods while avoiding West Side blacks. I was graphic designer and editor for many aldermanic and legislative campaigns with them.

Congressman Gutierrez was supporting his little machine in opposition to Daley, alderman and legislators, and often resorted to a lot of Puerto Rican nationalism in his stump speeches. I assume it was different on the SW side. He was PSP in his younger days. Scofield, the chief of staff, was a guy on the make from Freeport.

For his part over the years, Luis had many property tax problems and other minor corruption. He was forced to forgo re-election during the Obama years. Word was an embarrassing scandal, even for Chicago, was about to surface. I was always sure his wife was some kind of beard and I would record Luis as the first height-challenged, hispanic pederast in Congress, a real three-fer.

Doug was a key staffer in the Rod "The Mod" Blagovich gubernatorial victory and was for a couple of months an "Assistant Governor" which I had never heard of. I did some work for him in his early lobbyist days, him becoming a real player. But he did bail out real early on Blago so maybe he knew the big "selling the senate seat" scandal was in the works.

Now, why did Blago get like 14 years? As far as I remember he was wiretapped saying that Obama's senate seat was "a very valuable thing." Which, being Chicago especially, is simply a fact.

Did he ever ask for real money? Maybe a campaign contribution to show the nominee was on the Blago team. Should he have just drawn a name out of a fucking hat or pick someone truly "deserving?" Obviously, some shit went down.

His father-in-law was Alderman Dick Mell who had his tentacles into 5 or so wards, including mine. He was our local machine bad guy. But he had suburban supporters and somehow had fingers into city, county and state jobs. He was his own independent, albeit small, power center. But, with governor, things were looking up for Dick.

Did Michael Madigan, Ill. Senate Leader for Life, order the Obama DOJ hit on Blago? Did Mike say crush him/them? Was it an Illinois Democratic Party purge? Will it come out in the current Federal investigation?

Anyway, 14 fucking years. I hope Trump pardons him soon and notes that Hillary is still free.



rehajm said...

So you set up two entities. One is a telemarketing firm, the second controls the caller id service for a block of numbers. Telephone service providers pay your caller id company every time a number within your number block is called. So your telemarketing company dials all the numbers in your other company’s service area. You’re profitable from calling every number in your area a few times a day. Telemarketing/scam money is gravy.

Chuck said...

Secretary of State Pompeo loses it, under questioning from NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly. He claimed that he had actively defended all State Department staff, and when she called him on the example of Ambassador Marie Yovanovich, he wouldn’t answer and ended the interview. But he was still so pissed off, he said that Kelly couldn’t identify Ukraine on an unlabeled map. Pompeo told an aid to get them such a map, and the aide did it.

Kelly then correctly identified the position of Ukraine, as Pompeo predicted she couldn’t. Dropping repeated f-bombs throughout.

Pompeo then threatened her; saying, “People are going to hear about this.”

Well, yeah, Mr. Secretary. And now the steam is really pouring out of Mount Pompeo insofar as the State Department is claiming that part of this lovely little debacle was off the record and that Kelly violated those terms.

That is going to be one nasty fat bastard tonight.


narciso said...

For those who are wondering matthew 24 and mark 13 say the opposite of what one thinks there will be many signs including wars plagues calamities.

narciso said...

But the time of the lords return will not ne yet

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"Song for a Winter's Night" --G. Lightfoot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRIlTvYp0ok

Achilles said...

"THE PRESIDENT: And we love the Commonwealth of Virginia, but what is going on in Virginia? What is going on? The Governor stated that he would execute a baby after birth. You remember that."

And here we go....

rhhardin said...

You need truth because it makes jokes better.

pacwest said...

Cool Space Force logo. And why not?

stephen cooper said...

rhhardin - the funniest naturally unfunny person whose name you and I both know is probably either Bob Newhart or Phyllis Diller, were we much more aware of all the funny people throughout history we could probably come up with other names, but props to Bob and Phyllis

well props to Bob and as for Phyllis, I remember you, and I remember you with gratitude in my heart

pacwest said...

Coronavirus is going to dent the Chinese economy. They've been getting bad news all around lately.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

The Air Force's Space Command adopted this logo a long time ago.
When George W. Bush was President.
So YES, the Star Trek logo was 'borrowed' for an official military logo long ago.
It didn't happen today with Trump.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EPFCxPMXUAA--mt.jpg

per brian cates

pacwest said...

Ingachuck,
The new logo looks closer to startrek than the old space command one to me, although there are many similarities. Either way, I like it.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Wu Tang clan - -Winter warz

"Germs start to spread through your crew through lack of effort"

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

Mark said...

So I'm watching The Good Place and its take on heaven, hell, etc., and now its realization that if "the good place" is living in a paradise forever, regardless of all the amenities, the endless succession of days would end up making it a kind of hellish existence. And the show's answer to that is to create a door to a kind of nihilistic nonexistence -- and supposedly that would be the ultimate heaven.

It is often interesting when secularists, in their natural hunger for the truth of reality, try to imagine such things. Better when they stumble on to that truth, but interesting still when they cling to their false premises which lead to absurd results.

Mark said...

The major error of The Good Place's conception is their apparently complete nonunderstanding of the concept of eternity.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

@pacwest
yeah, it's ok but a little staid

...certainly not 'out of this world'--
they didnt boldly go where no graphic designer has gone before

Mark said...

The other error of The Good Place is the show's implication that paradise means hedonistic self-satisfaction.

Iman said...

This still cracks me up...

https://youtu.be/uSmbd00zsqQ

Mark said...

Then again, the show did hint at the right answer. And the characters have even recognized and voiced what that answer is in this latest episode and past episodes.

Andrew said...

The PBS special on country music is on again. Johnny Cash. The Bryants and other song writers. Willie Nelson. Just fantastic.

I bet Johnny Cash would be a Trump supporter.

Andrew said...

The PBS special on country music is on again. Johnny Cash. The Bryants and other song writers. Willie Nelson. Just fantastic.

I bet Johnny Cash would be a Trump supporter.

Seeing Red said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Seeing Red said...

Via Rantburg.

I’m wondering did the Palis get tired of sitting in the dark, or is this prepping for the ME plan Trump is going to release because that’s a lot of money owed.

IsraelTimes] Firm says it imposed power cuts of several hours a day in parts of Ramallah and other cities in bid to recover $500 million owed.

Israel’s state-owned electric company said Wednesday it was ending power cuts to the West Bank after the Palestinian Authority paid over half of its outstanding debt.

In September, the Israel Electric Corporation began cutting power in parts of the West Bank over the NIS 1.7 billion ($500 million) debt owed by the main Palestinian power distributor for the West Bank.

On Wednesday, the IEC said it had received NIS 920 million ($267 million) from the Palestinians.

"The electric company will cease the power cuts over the debts," a statement from the IEC said, adding it would hold further negotiations with the power distributor and the Palestinian Authority on the repayment of the remainder of the outstanding funds.

The IEC called the payment a "breakthrough" and "the basis to a comprehensive solution the sides strive to reach."...

There was no immediate confirmation from the Palestinian side.

IEC chairman Yiftah Ron-Tal called the payment "a significant step in reducing the debts," adding his company was working to "upgrade the quality of supply."

narciso said...



You can keep failing upwards

https://amp.dailycaller.com/2020/01/24/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-election?__twitter_impression=true

Mark said...

From an interview with The Good Place show creator Mike Schur: “A lot of the discussions we had over four years was about this inescapable truth that any version of eternity is bad; you cannot design an eternity that is satisfying because when things go on forever everything loses meaning."

Yep, I was right. They don't have a clue as to what eternity really is. What he describes is not eternity.

Milwaukie guy said...

True fact. At the beginning of WW1, there were only about 15 democratic nations in the world.

Anyone remember when the U.N. was supposed to be an organization of the democracies?

Inga said...

“VFW Expects Apology From POTUS
‘TBI is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly’
January 24, 2020


KANSAS CITY, Mo. – "In light of today's announcement from the defense department that 34 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of Iran's retaliatory strike and President Trump's remarks which minimized these troops’ injuries, the Veterans of Foreign Wars cannot stand idle on this matter.

TBI is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly. TBI is known to cause depression, memory loss, severe headaches, dizziness and fatigue — all injuries that come with both short- and long-term effects.

The VFW expects an apology from the president to our service men and women for his misguided remarks. And, we ask that he and the White House join with us in our efforts to educate Americans of the dangers TBI has on these heroes as they protect our great nation in these trying times. Our warriors require our full support more than ever in this challenging environment." — William “Doc” Schmitz, VFW National Commander”

https://www.vfw.org/media-and-events/latest-releases/archives/2020/1/vfw-expects-apology-from-potus

Original Mike said...

Eternity is a long time, especially towards the end.

narciso said...

It a expanse beyond imagining

narciso said...

We used to have some understanding of this, perhaps jonathan edwards painted too vivid a picture of hells eternal torment.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

****


"Napalm Girl": 'Forgiveness set my heart free'

A remarkable testimony is now emerging from the young child who was the subject of an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken almost 50 years ago

But at her darkest hour, in the capital city of a communist country, a miracle took place in her life: "I found the New Testament in the library in Saigon. In Christmas 1982, I became a Christian."

https://onenewsnow.com/culture/2020/01/23/forgiveness-set-my-heart-free

William said...

The Good Place was literate and, as sitcoms go, intelligent. I can think of no other sitcom that explored the comic potential of Kant's Categorical Imperative. I found it worth watching all the way through. There are so many shows where you're mildly interested for a few episodes and then the inanities get sucked into the plot holes and you're caught in the existential dilemma of having to decide whether to abandon the show or whether to continue in the hope that the show will gain traction. You have to factor in the sunk costs of your previous watching versus the cost of missing out on something good by continuing to watch. I'm sure I'm not the only person here who has had to face down the anguish of that predicament. I'm glad to report that, in my case at least, The Good Place never generated such anguish and existential dread.....I enjoyed all the shows, all the way through. I never had cause to regret my decision The switcheroo ending for the first season was just icing on the cake. Ted Danson and Kirsten Bell had a Sam and Diane vibe that was comforting. That's how I'd like to spend eternity--mild variations on a pleasant, familiar theme, forever and ever.

William said...

You know the light at the end of the tunnel. There was a theologian who claimed that maybe what you're experiencing is heaven. You always have that expectant joy of being just on the verge of seeing what you've always wanted to see. That moment doesn't pass. Moment don't pass in eternity. You just experience that moment for all eternity. Sure, why not. Go with whatever makes the theologians happy.

narciso said...

Theology has been the antithesis of true faith



https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wesh.com/amp/article/attorney-general-nicole-montalvo-case-should-not-be-handled-aramis-ayala/30616971

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

No Soup For You!! ...if it looks like this:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EO_U2qfWoAAL_xc.jpg

As we kick off this new Year Of The Rat
please remember to avoid consuming:
-marmots
-bat soup
-"rancid snake meat"

Narr said...

It has been eons since I felt as if I have the time to become engrossed in modern day sitdrams (if I may coin a phrase). OTOH, many other things, which many would consider puerile, pointless, or pernicious (or any and all) can make the hours pass quickly.

And let me be crystal clear: I have a very poor grasp of eternity. And Eternity.

Narr
Some things are best left to the experts

Mark said...

Theology is faith seeking understanding.

If that is the antithesis of "true faith," does that mean that true faith is a state of incomprehensible ignorance?

Francisco D said...

Chuckles said ... yawn

He is getting paid for this shit folks.

I have to give Inga credit. She may be a moron, but she is a generally honest moron.

narciso said...

No, faith is beyond the limited parameters of our understanding. And theology tries to bend to our narrow lense.

Seeing Red said...

Via Insty:

It looks like New York’s getting the crime uptick politicians have been asking for

Robbery is up almost 30% in New York City since the first of the year. Is this a statistical blip, a trend — or a New Year’s bail-reform gift from Albany, robbery now largely being a revolving-door offense in the Empire State?

Time will tell, but consider this as well: According to the latest NYPD stats, the number of shooting victims in the city is up 31% since New Year’s Day — so at the very least Gotham appears to be off to a rocky 2020 compared to last year....

Mark said...

So I ask again --

So "true faith" is essentially putting your head in the sand?

Churchy LaFemme: said...

This afternoon I received a spoken list of numbers "8888850029". The computer generated voice (female, American accent) repeated the message, and disconnected.

I'm being drawn into an Alfred Hitchcock movie.


Are you familiar with Welcome to Nightvale?

Lewis Wetzel said...


Blogger Inga said...

“VFW Expects Apology From POTUS
‘TBI is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly’
January 24, 2020

And we are supposed to be angry at Trump & not the Iranians for this?
Kind of funny that a person might think that way.

narciso said...

The reverse is true, considering that this is all there is is tunnel vision.

Inga said...

“And we are supposed to be angry at Trump & not the Iranians for this?
Kind of funny that a person might think that way.”
————————————————————-
“34 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of Iran's retaliatory strike and President Trump's remarks which minimized these troops’ injuries...”

“I heard they had headaches and a couple of other things ... and I can report it is not very serious.”
Trump

FullMoon said...

“34 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of Iran's retaliatory strike

Seems like a good reason to kill another Iranian General, or two.

traditionalguy said...

Faith is acting on the words in scripture as if they are true. Theology is taking a rational stance several human assumptions removed from the belief that the words in scripture are true.

God is talking over the theologians' heads.

Seeing Red said...

34 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries

What kind of brain injuries? That was very vague.

Francisco D said...

Inga bleated: “34 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of Iran's retaliatory strike and President Trump's remarks which minimized these troops’ injuries...”

“I heard they had headaches and a couple of other things ... and I can report it is not very serious.”
Trump


TBIs (concussions) are not necessarily serious. Most symptoms remit in a few weeks to a few months. Anyone who has played football or had a fender bender knows that.

Apparently our nursing professional Inga does not. She must have studied hand jobs a lot more than neurology.

Seeing Red said...

What are the Symptoms of TBI? Most people with a TBI recover well from symptoms experienced at the time of the injury. Most TBIs that occur each year are mild, commonly called concussions, which is a mild TBI. 1 But for some people, symptoms can last for days, weeks, or longer. In general, recovery may be slower among older adults, young children, and teens.


I guess we’d better ban gymnastics because my daughter got a TBI.

Big Mike said...

Of all the BS spread by the House impeachment managers, the notion that Donald Trump is a dictator has to be the most inadvertently hilarious of them all.

Hey, human bowling ball. If Trump really were a dictator you and Schiff and Nancy Pelosi would be at the bottom of the Potomac with your feet encased in cement. Or perhaps you'd be off to one of the gulags the Bernie Bros want to establish.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Where in the world is Masha Yovanovitch?

narciso said...

Georgetown center for something or other.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Good work, gumshoe!

Yancey Ward said...

In 1997, when I was 31, I passed out at a doctor's office and fell backwards and hit my head on the platform of the office scale. I had a severe concussion- no bleeding fortunately, but a serious concussion that had me in the hospital for a couple of days for observation. It was very unpleasant- a pounding headache for almost 2 weeks. I couldn't walk for about 3 days- nausea and vertigo was severe. After the first week, the vertigo started to relent, but quick changes head position would still set it off for the next two months, and I still suffered vertigo for several months afterwards if I tilted my head backwards. Eventually, this all passed, but it took 6 months at least.

Yancey Ward said...

The Left has become completely unhinged and immoral- everywhere today the tape of Trump asking that Yovanovich be fired was seriously discussed as a plan to assassinate her. To make such an assertion, you have to either be a complete imbecile or utterly dishonest.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I was once hit on the head with a frozen chicken kiev. I was knocked out cold, and spent three days in a coma. When I came to, I could speak fluent Ukrainian.

narciso said...

This is the same left that yelled 'squirrel' when ambassador stevens was deprived of security, kidnapped sofocated and sodomized.

Big Mike said...

It’s my understanding that either Zelensky or his immediate predecessor asked that Yovanovich be removed. The US is normally obliging when that happens.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

@Yancey

they "forgot" about "take the kill shot on Flynn"

narciso said...

Not poroskenko hes as think with zylochevakt as pena nieto was with el chapo.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

@traditionalguy
re: the 'State Funeral'-- could it be mr peanut is on ice,
and the national mourning is used as a distraction like Bush Sr.?

narciso said...

Zylochevsky is with zelensky

narciso said...

With poroshenko, ofcourse zelensky has had to relent.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

when Life gives you Lemons...

...squeeze them for all they're worth

Don Lemon is being sued by Florida man Dustin Hice, who claims he was assaulted by the CNN anchor at a Hamptons' bar

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7922961/Man-accused-Don-Lemon-assault-says-allegations-taken-seriously-woman.html

Crazy World said...

Big huge thank you to the Althouse Ohana for this wonderful place to share our thoughts. I really appreciate it. KAGA

tim in vermont said...

“34 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of Iran's retaliatory strike and President Trump's remarks which minimized these troops’ injuries...”

He cooled down a very hot situation that could have easily escalated into a war. But Democrats have been beating the war drums ever since Hillary lost. If it takes a war and a bunch of our children to die in it to get rid of Trump, so be it!

rehajm said...

“We expect this to be a long nomination fight and have built our campaign to sustain well past Super Tuesday and stay resilient no matter what breathless media narratives come when voting begins,” Lau writes. “The four early contests are just the beginning.”

Thats from Warren’s campaign. So much for it being over after New Hampshire...

Big Mike said...

... everywhere today the tape of Trump asking that Yovanovich be fired was seriously discussed as a plan to assassinate her. To make such an assertion, you have to either be a complete imbecile or utterly dishonest.

@Yancey Ward, embrace the power of “AND”.

Anonymous said...

Mark: "It is often interesting when secularists, in their natural hunger for the truth of reality, try to imagine such things. Better when they stumble on to that truth, but interesting still when they cling to their false premises which lead to absurd results."

...

"The major error of The Good Place's conception is their apparently complete nonunderstanding of the concept of eternity."


I suspect that a lot of non-secularists just don't think about it all that much and share a similar non-understanding.

'From an interview with The Good Place show creator Mike Schur: “A lot of the discussions we had over four years was about this inescapable truth that any version of eternity is bad; you cannot design an eternity that is satisfying because when things go on forever everything loses meaning."'

Though it is kinda notable that you could spend four years thinking around a concept and stay stuck in "stuff lasting a long, long time". I think most dorm-room philosophers with a bong could do better than that in 30-45 minutes.

Drago said...

Lewis Wetzel: "And we are supposed to be angry at Trump & not the Iranians for this?
Kind of funny that a person might think that way."

Admiral Inga never ever criticizes islamic supremacists for any reason.

In fact, the more people islamic supremacists butcher and maim, the more Inga blames republicans.

iowan2 said...

President Trump said the soldiers injuries were not serious.

What did Hillary say about the slaughtered Americans in Bengahzi? I forget, but it had to eloquent.

Fernandinande said...

What he describes is not eternity.

Philosopher Mark, we swinish masses are hungering to know the true and correct definition and description of eternity, and your coyness in the matter borders on cruelty. Do tell!

Michael K said...

Robbery is up almost 30% in New York City since the first of the year. Is this a statistical blip, a trend — or a New Year’s bail-reform gift from Albany, robbery now largely being a revolving-door offense in the Empire State?

A TV news crew were doing a show on smash and grab robberies in San Francisco. They set up a car with a purse visible from out side and waited to film the robbery.

While they were waiting, their own vehicle was robbed and their TV equipment, worth thousands, was stolen.

Is that sweet or not ?

Mark said...

Unlike our temporal linear experience of things, eternity transcends and is outside of time.

In time, we experience yesterday, today, tomorrow, etc. And in time, "forever" is an endless succession of days. To live like that for an expended period would indeed be insufferable.

But eternity is not like that. In eternity, all moments exist as a singularity. Past, present, future are not in succession, but are all "simultaneous." Furthermore, individual moments are not here and gone, but are everlasting. In eternity, all is perpetually new and fresh.

From the perspective of eternity, the universe which for us is 20 billion years old, is right now being created. From the perspective of eternity, the universe is also ending.

Since we are temporal beings (for now), eternity is a hard thing to grasp.

h said...

If your only analytical tool is a hammer, everything in the world looks like a nail.

Narr said...

Eternity: vast, incomprehensible, outside of time and transcendent. Got it.

Narr
On with life

Marc in Eugene said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FullMoon said...

TBI is another descriptionfor concussion, generally used to influence and excite simple minded.
.
Overview

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that affects your brain function. Effects are usually temporary but can include headaches and problems with concentration, memory, balance and coordination.

Concussions are usually caused by a blow to the head. Violently shaking the head and upper body also can cause concussions.

Some concussions cause you to lose consciousness, but most do not. It's possible to have a concussion and not realize it.

Concussions are particularly common if you play a contact sport, such as football. Most people usually recover fully after a concussion.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/concussion/symptoms-causes/syc-20355594

Josephbleau said...

Anyone who has read Joseph Campbell knows that eternity is not merely the everlasting. It is a sublime moment when time stops and everything in all time exists together in one shining moment. Then we experience everything and everyone in one instant, and time does not move us from that instant. OK?