Althouse: At the Saturday Night Café...

February 15, 2020

At the Saturday Night Café...

... I hope you can find some topics to talk about!

161 comments:

Achilles said...: The people who want to take my guns from me just determined that Kate Steinle’s murderer was not competent to stand trial for federal gun charges.

Democrats want us to be unable to defend ourselves from the criminals they are importing to vote for them.

They refuse to enforce already existing laws but demand we pass new ones.

Just terrible people.; 2/15/20, 6:50 PM
rcocean said...: This country will really suffer when the D's control all three branches again. We'll be lucky not to have a socialist dictatorship. But X percent of the USA, is mesmerized by the myth of the moderate Democrat. They only learn from experience. And then they forget the Jimmy Carter's or Obama's first two years, or Clinton's first two. And they pull the lever for the D's again.; 2/15/20, 6:56 PM
Howard said...: You people are not enjoying all the winning. I really feel sorry for you when your side starts losing again.; 2/15/20, 7:06 PM
stephen cooper said...: I feel bad for the Astros. With almost no exceptions, they were spoiled little men in their 20s or early 30s who never had to fight for what is right a single time in their life, and they all went along with the older cheaters, thinking that is what men do, follow cheaters. Even now, perfumed little men like Pedro Martinez are telling them they were right to "follow the clubhouse code". That is sad!

It would have been kinder if Manfred, not that much of a stand-up guy himself, had suspended every single one of those lying cheaters for a year, that way they could say they had paid for what they did, and could have come back a year from now with some self-respect.

Now, they have to field a team in all the cities where every one knows they were despicable lying cheaters, and they have to pretend that are not really cheaters and liars and thieves. That is a lot to put on a bunch of spoiled young men who never previously had any real challenges in life, for the most part. They have to pretend that there are not many baseball professionals who know they that stole that championship, and they will have to pretend, day in and day out, that they are the most disrespected team since the criminal White Sox started that 1917-2005 drought. Probably more disrespected, for obvious reasons. Particularly in real baseball towns like Los Angeles and New York.

That being said, there is not a single little Houston Astro cheater who is as much of a worm as all those guys who Trump hired, and who later "peddled a book" telling about how much they do not respect Trump., Including poor Kelly, who should have known better than to be the latest shameful turncoat who badmouthed a man who did so much for him. In a way, the blame is on Trump for hiring men with no loyalty - he should have known better. I hope he has learned.

I don't like bullies, and I don't like ungrateful little creeps.; 2/15/20, 7:06 PM
David Begley said...: Wisconsin beat Nebraska. Ten straight loses for the Corn.; 2/15/20, 7:07 PM
Ken B said...: The Hill says Warren had a “folksy demeanor”!
New levels of cluelessness are being explored here.
I'm gonna get me a beer.; 2/15/20, 7:11 PM
Ken B said...: That airplane woman is demanding that the flight attendant be fired.; 2/15/20, 7:13 PM
narciso said...: That dovere piece about bloombergs m.o., which i didnt introduce, really deserves its own thread.; 2/15/20, 7:15 PM
Ken B said...: Good moderate priced Tequillas
Centennario — especially the reposado
Hornitos Black Extra Anejo
Espolon Silver or Reposado — in some states this is quite inexpensive; 2/15/20, 7:20 PM
Spiros Pappas said...: I think Faye Swetlik was murdered by her neighbor. I then think the neighbor was murdered by Faye's father.; 2/15/20, 7:21 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: stephen cooper,

The Astros play in Anaheim against the A's on Opening Day.

I expect plenty of Dodgers fans will make the trip to Anaheim to express their feelings toward the team that cheated the Dodgers out of a WS title.

It won't be pretty - but the Astros have it coming.; 2/15/20, 7:23 PM
veni vidi vici said...: Tranny Me Elmo

Picture a cross between a furry plush and Mr. Potato-head.; 2/15/20, 7:23 PM
J. Farmer said...: Good moderate priced Tequillas

I think you meant good socialist priced Tequillas.; 2/15/20, 7:24 PM
Inga said...: “The people who want to take my guns from me just determined that Kate Steinle’s murderer was not competent to stand trial for federal gun charges.

Democrats want us to be unable to defend ourselves from the criminals they are importing to vote for them.

They refuse to enforce already existing laws but demand we pass new ones.

Just terrible people.“

This mean’s war! Wet work for the men! Burn down DC!

Some folks just can't enjoy a nice quiet Saturday with the family.; 2/15/20, 7:25 PM
narciso said...: wilson redux?; 2/15/20, 7:26 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: The L.A primary voting system will be run by a rebrand of Soros machines.

SMARTMATIC RE-NAMES TO VSAP FOR LA 2020
https://www.smartmatic.com/media/article/smartmatic-wraps-successful-2019-and-looks-toward-bigger-year-in-2020/

LA E-VOTING SYSTEM HIGHLY VULNERABLE TO TAMPERING
California OKs highly questioned LA County voting system -
"Their black-box touchscreen systems have been widely criticized by computer scientists as highly vulnerable to tampering."

https://apnews.com/7e8a976b9835a39786304118b0336c37; 2/15/20, 7:29 PM
NYC JournoList said...: The Astros new mascot is a the Cheeto’s cheetah.; 2/15/20, 7:29 PM
NYC JournoList said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/15/20, 7:29 PM
Jaq said...: Everybody taking sides in the seat reclining issue should list their height with their comments.; 2/15/20, 7:29 PM
stephen cooper said...: exliedonmainstreet ------ Manfred should have suspended them all, for their own good.
It is cruel to make them play in cities where they are despised.

I mean it is just a game, but they cheated, and lied, and stole a championship they did not deserve, and they made quite a few good pitchers on opposing teams look like ridiculously bad pitchers, and they did that by cheating, and they robbed several of those pitchers of any chance at a good contract the next year, and they continued to lie about it as long as they could.

They should all be banned for life, not for cheating, but for lying about the cheating, just like Pete Rose, a good man who never cheated, was, and just like the steroid boys who stole all those records should have been.

Still the worst of those cheating Astros has not done anything near as despicable as Kelly and Bolton and ungrateful creeps like that have recently done, ungratefully turning on a man who gave them so much, and who only asked for their trust and for their promise to follow the minimal rules of morality, the minimal rules of being a decent man.; 2/15/20, 7:32 PM
J. Farmer said...: The L.A primary voting system will be run by a rebrand of Soros machines.

Concerning. But if there is corruption, it will be intra-Democratic. They have no real need to steal votes from Republicans.; 2/15/20, 7:32 PM
J. Farmer said...: p.s. In California, I mean!; 2/15/20, 7:33 PM
Big Mike said...: I continue to take the position that the flight attendant was on the scene, observed what was going on, and consequently her response that the woman was in the wrong should be taken as correct. That the witch wants to sue is immaterial. Based on the previous post today, I infer that women deserve no special respect.; 2/15/20, 7:34 PM
stevew said...: The best solution to all these societal and political disputes is for each of us to mind our own business.; 2/15/20, 7:38 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Their black-box touchscreen systems have been widely criticized by computer scientists as highly vulnerable to tampering

Feature, not bug. Those votes won't steal themselves.; 2/15/20, 7:39 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: hey Ghislaine! You've got mail!!

Jeffrey Epstein crony Ghislaine Maxwell is so impossible to find that a Manhattan judge has taken the rare step of allowing her to be served with a new lawsuit — by email, according to a federal court filing Friday.

https://nypost.com/2020/02/14/judge-takes-rare-step-to-help-serve-elusive-ghislaine-maxwell-with-lawsuit/

ps-- will those machines be used in the primary only??; 2/15/20, 7:40 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "The best solution to all these societal and political disputes is for each of us to mind our own business."

That would be no fun for the busy-bodies of the world.

I predict the steward gets sacked.; 2/15/20, 7:41 PM
narciso said...: Use a drone, with a net like in running man.; 2/15/20, 7:41 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Jeffrey Epstein crony Ghislaine Maxwell is so impossible to find that a Manhattan judge has taken the rare step of allowing her to be served with a new lawsuit — by email, according to a federal court filing Friday."

Tulsi Gabbard could try this, but good luck finding a judge to do that to Shelob.; 2/15/20, 7:43 PM
stevew said...: So true Yancey, so true.; 2/15/20, 7:47 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: How dare you!!!

Child miners aged four living a hell on Earth so YOU can drive an electric car: Awful human cost in squalid Congo cobalt mine

"Picking through a mountain of huge rocks with his tiny bare hands, the exhausted little boy makes a pitiful sight.
His name is Dorsen and he is one of an army of children, some just four years old, working in the vast polluted mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where toxic red dust burns their eyes, and they run the risk of skin disease and a deadly lung condition."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4764208/Child-miners-aged-four-living-hell-Earth.html; 2/15/20, 7:48 PM
stephen cooper said...: Tulsi and Hillary agree on most issues.

Don't pretend they are not pals.; 2/15/20, 7:50 PM
narciso said...: Cobalt and koltan and a host of other critical materials controlled by war lords.; 2/15/20, 7:51 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: “Some folks just can't enjoy a nice quiet Saturday with the family.”

Not Kate Steinle and her family, certainly.; 2/15/20, 7:56 PM
narciso said...: Could you imagine predicting this bizarre world from the point of 1990, with she men, 'safe spaces' and the like. Theyd lock you up like bruce willis is 12 monkeys; 2/15/20, 7:57 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: narciso, imagine a returning WWII vet being transported from 1946 to 2020.

He'd wonder why the hell he fought.; 2/15/20, 8:05 PM
stephen cooper said...: and Betelgeuse has gone dark

and half of China is sitting home playing video games because of a virus

and the hottest First Lady ever is under a perma-ban from the front pages of the most popular women's magazines because liberal hatred

and the Colt 45s won the world series but everyone knows it was a fraud.

By the way, that was Jeff Daniels in 12 monkeys, it is an internet hoax that it was Bruce Willis.; 2/15/20, 8:05 PM
stephen cooper said...: Betelgeuse going dark is a big deal by the way.

One of the brightest stars in one of the best know constellations loses most of its brightness.

Orion we hardly knew ye!; 2/15/20, 8:07 PM
gilbar said...: Child miners aged four living a hell on Earth so YOU can drive an electric car: Awful human cost in squalid Congo cobalt mine

Who the hell Cares about people we don't see?
the IMPORTANT thing, is that WE FEEL GREAT ABOUT OURSELVES; 2/15/20, 8:09 PM
narciso said...: Well that would have happened 500 hundred years ago, a star the size of betelgeuse wpuld take a long time to burn out.; 2/15/20, 8:11 PM
Big Mike said...: This country will really suffer when the D's control all three branches again.

Certainly it’s true that having Democrats take over the governorship, state senate, and House of Delegates has certainly exposed the Hoax that there is anything moderate about any Democrat. Their election was bought and paid for by Mike Bloomberg, George Soros, and others, and the owners of the party call the tune.; 2/15/20, 8:12 PM
narciso said...: Im just using the back to the future meme, employed back in 2015 as comparison.; 2/15/20, 8:13 PM
J. Farmer said...: @stevew:

The best solution to all these societal and political disputes is for each of us to mind our own business.

Preface: I realize I'm taking this far afield, but here goes: That isn't possible in any human society. One of the more annoying trends in American conservatism in the 20th century is the way it has become infected with libertarian ideology. It is an ideology of high IQ nerds that would work splendidly in a world solely occupied by high IQ nerds.

The reason I get frustrated with all the socialist/communist/Soviet Union/Cuba/Venezuela talk is because it doesn't even crack the top 100 in terms of problems facing our society. These are completely anachronistic concerns. Nearly 60% of the US population hasn't even lived in a world in which the Soviet Union existed. We are as far from the 1980s as they were from the 1940s. The great ideological battle of the Cold War was won. The globe has pretty much settled on the mixed economy. Some places are better at managing this than others. The people of Northwest Eurasia and Northeast Eurasia and their diaspora are doing pretty well. The people of the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa and their diaspora are doing less well.

Identity is going to be the decisive factor in the 21st century, not economics. Clinton, Bush, and Obama were basically a unipresidency. They all supported and expanded globalization. Identity is the enemy of globalization. International capital does not like national borders. They are an obstacle to the maximization of profit. That is why Bernie was absolutely correct when he identified open borders as a Koch Brothers position. The ultimate goal of the progressive project is to dissolve national borders and identifies and melt us all into world citizens governed by a sprawling global, technocratic bureaucracy. Think of the EU as a regional trial run.

The ideology is, as Steve Sailer coined, "Invade the World, Invite the World." That is what the Establishment wants, and that's what the establishment has gotten nearly nonstop for the last 40 years. Any opposition to this project is immediately labeled a far-right fascist, a Nazi, a xenophobe, a reactionary, and isolationist and on and on. US military hegemony is devoted primarily to showing the world what happens to countries that don't get in line with US global ambitions. It's jihad vs. McWorld, as Benjamin Barber wrote back in the mid-90s. Trump has offered only minor resistance to this project, and the Establishment is in absolute hysterics. Their desperation to stop him is palpable. It literally oozes from every corner of this country, physically and digitally.

Now, I have to give it to the Establishment. I think they've pretty much won. Despite the histrionics, they've actually done a pretty good job at neutering Trump. They basically love his economic policy, which is hardly populist, except for some relatively minor concessions on managed trade. And they seem to have successfully convinced Trump that it's only illegal immigration that's a problem. As much as they love illegal immigration, they're willing to concede on that to still get lots and lots of mass legal immigration. Trump has provided some minor constraint on US military power, but he has still escalated all of the conflicts he inherited, and there are more US troops in the middle east now than there were when he took office. The Establishment loves military interventionism. It's the enforcer of globalization.

Ergo. We are doomed.

QED; 2/15/20, 8:18 PM
stephen cooper said...: so explain why Beetlejuice decided to go dark at the exact same time as half of China decided to stay home and play video games and at the same time the Colt 45s were humiliatingly stripped of their World Series triumph - neither of which has ever happened - and also at the same time as the prettiest first lady ever started year 4 of her ban from the front pages of the popular ladies magazines because Demokratz gonna Demokrat ....

I mean I could explain it but I ain't gonna, other people have explained it better than I could.; 2/15/20, 8:20 PM
stephen cooper said...: that was a reply to narciso not jFarmer

jFarmer deserves a longer answer; 2/15/20, 8:21 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: My hymn for the week:

How Can I Keep From Singing.; 2/15/20, 8:25 PM
narciso said...: The world is much larger than our little quadrant stephen cooper,

Marxism is not something that just manifested itself in 1917 and burned out in 1991, mostly in economic terms ot goes back 70 years, in social terms it goes back to the French revolution.; 2/15/20, 8:25 PM
Gahrie said...: Child miners aged four living a hell on Earth so YOU can drive an electric car: Awful human cost in squalid Congo cobalt mine

Child labor has been the default human condition for the last 300,000 years. Affluence produced by free markets is the only solution.; 2/15/20, 8:26 PM
narciso said...: You still insist farmer, that marxism cam work despite a butchers bill of 100 million dead.

Conservatism has a strain of classical liberalism otherwise its reactionary.; 2/15/20, 8:27 PM
narciso said...: You still want to expose your self to it, despite the main strain faded in 1990.; 2/15/20, 8:29 PM
rhhardin said...: Protect Yourself From The Deadly Coronavirus By Doing These Four Things. (Insty)

5. Involve yourself in a drama.; 2/15/20, 8:29 PM
FullMoon said...: That dovere piece about bloombergs m.o., which i didnt introduce, really deserves its own thread.

Here it is again, and credit to whoever posted it first.
Bloomberg will buy the nomination and maybe the presidency.

Here is how; 2/15/20, 8:30 PM
narciso said...: Now religious and ethnic outbreaks can be brutal the taiping rebelluons total starts at 20 million, it likely weakened resistance in the second opium war. And the outbreak of plague in the latter half of the 19th century probably helped collapse the manchu dynasty.; 2/15/20, 8:32 PM
narciso said...: How would the collapse manifest today like the directorate in 'ghost fleet' war lordism.; 2/15/20, 8:34 PM
narciso said...: North west eurasia the baltics central europe be clear. The world is unsatisfied with the mixed economy. There are certainly pluralities that want a total state, are the majority not yet.; 2/15/20, 8:39 PM
narciso said...: And bernie has raised little objection to thr globalist project, thats who youre ataking your claim on.; 2/15/20, 8:42 PM
FullMoon said...: Remember the Knitting Cult that murdered all Trump supporting members? This is a quick read by Dem woman who survived and attended Trump rally. Comments to her mild story are great. via The New Neo
this article; 2/15/20, 8:42 PM
stephen cooper said...: narciso ---- "our little quadrant" ---- ?????

I liked Shatner as Alyosha but that was a little much dude!; 2/15/20, 8:43 PM
narciso said...: Stars like betelgeuse likely arose long before our sun, and may already be a supernova. I dont think its momentous as that arthur c clarke tale.; 2/15/20, 8:46 PM
narciso said...: a counter argument; 2/15/20, 8:50 PM
FullMoon said...: Love , tolerance ,acceptance , peace on earth and goodwill to all..

Knitting Nazis; 2/15/20, 8:50 PM
FullMoon said...: Blogger narciso said...

a counter argument

C,mon man ! We all helped you with the link deal, share the secret of reading WSJ entire article without subscribing..; 2/15/20, 8:52 PM
narciso said...: Briefly that bloomberg had bought up most of the punditry like thomas friedman (hes a cheap date) but his causes dont have wider appeal.; 2/15/20, 8:54 PM
narciso said...: Indoctrination proceded demography. In particular the precursor to the celler/kennedy bill.; 2/15/20, 8:58 PM
narciso said...: And the educational templates which have of soviet design introduced since the 70s, which encourage collective decision making over the individual. Which requires appeals to race gender socio economic standings.; 2/15/20, 9:00 PM
FullMoon said...: Apology, the video plays and is only 1:30 and says it all.; 2/15/20, 9:02 PM
narciso said...: In italy you see how they are working over salvini, in austria they used a dubious tape to topple the populist coalition partner in norway the push for more islanic state migrants did much the same.; 2/15/20, 9:06 PM
narciso said...: In so far as that fool spencer became involved in the charlottesville fracas he only aided the left, 'the worse the better'; 2/15/20, 9:08 PM
narciso said...: walk the plank; 2/15/20, 9:17 PM
Mark said...: Tonight's Trek -- a young Teri Garr.; 2/15/20, 9:22 PM
narciso said...: With gary seven, a younger robert lansing, both play a part in the novelization of the eugenics wars, as a shadow war.; 2/15/20, 9:27 PM
narciso said...: see the difference; 2/15/20, 9:35 PM
narciso said...: They were genuinely creative now mind thers was 50 years of world building to go. They projected a global crisis some 25 years in the future, and the nuclear conflagration maybe a century down the road; 2/15/20, 9:39 PM
Narr said...: Massive die-off due to COVID-19 (or whatever) will of course mean labor shortages; just like the labor shortages following the epidemics of the 14th and 15th centuries (IIRC). More capital chasing fewer workers, the classic case for rising wages and affluence.

But these things take time; we can at least hope that the revelation of Red Chinese incompetence and corruption starts something overdue there.

Narr
Long-term, I'm an optimist; 2/15/20, 9:59 PM
Achilles said...: Inga said...

This mean’s war! Wet work for the men! Burn down DC!

Some folks just can't enjoy a nice quiet Saturday with the family.

Kate Steinle's blood is on your hands.

And anyone else who votes for democrats.

If you vote for people who explicitly state they are going to instantiate sanctuary cities then you are responsible for the law breakers you protect.

And yeah we know you don't give a shit about Kate Steinle's family or Kate Steinle. Just another dead political opponent on the road to Inga getting power over other people.

Democrats running these cities defying federal law are no different than democrats in the south that defended slavery defying federal law.; 2/15/20, 10:02 PM
narciso said...: Well its about electing another people, wcwrything else is secondary.; 2/15/20, 10:43 PM
Crazy World said...: I am enjoying all the winning Howard.; 2/15/20, 10:49 PM
Crazy World said...: Inga tell that to Kate’s Dad who watched her die on a beautiful day. Wtf; 2/15/20, 10:52 PM
gadfly said...: A NeverTrump conservative on how the Trump presidency changed her opinions of Republicans, Democrats, the media, and herself - as written by Sarah Quinlan.

And certainly there are professional NeverTrumpers who abandoned their former beliefs and pander to the left, who haven’t just changed their approach but have forsaken their actual principles and adopted big government policies. But in a way, they haven’t changed. They still treat things as black and white. The difference is they used to do so on behalf of Republicans and conservatism and now do so in opposition to President Trump.

But the registered Republicans who voted for Democrats in the 2018 midterms are not famous or professional NeverTrumpers. The female Republicans leaving the party are not famous or professional NeverTrumpers. They are simply Americans following their consciences. They do exist. And as one of them, it’s frustrating to be overlooked; to see my stances misrepresented or downplayed.

Because of Trump’s rise, I realized the dangers of reflexively defending “my team” — so unwilling to listen to criticism, so quick to assume good faith by “my team” and bad faith by “the other team.” That is the attitude that drags us into tribalism.; 2/15/20, 11:11 PM
Inga said...: So Crazy World, what should be done? Should there be a civil war, bloodshed, uprising, what should be done. Your complaining about it hasn’t done anything to alleviate the situation. Why hasn’t Trump remedied the situation? All the outrage hasn’t done a damn thing. How about Americans being killed by other Americans, that hasn’t stopped either. All the lip service you people do and your leader has not done anything to remedy the situation. People are still dying at each other’s hands.

People like Achilles want more bloodshed. He’s itching for war. I’ve been watching documentaries about Aleppo and if that’s what you Trump warriors are calling for then you are no better than the killers who walk the streets of America, legal or illegal.; 2/15/20, 11:13 PM
effinayright said...: stephen cooper said...
Betelgeuse going dark is a big deal by the way.

One of the brightest stars in one of the best know constellations loses most of its brightness.

Orion we hardly knew ye!
*************************************

As of tonight it hasn't gone dark. Its brightness has decreased by about 1.7 magnitude, noticeable and unusual---especially in such a short period---but is still bright, among the Top Twenty.

Betelgeuse is a variable star, a red supergiant (if it were our star, all the planets out to Jupiter would be inside it) near the end of its life. It expands and contracts, and as it does, its intrinsic brightness varies.

Lately, it has taken a sharp decrease in its brightness. Astronomers are hoping that it's in its death throes and that we will see it explode into a supernova as it runs out of its nuclear fuel.

If it does we will see it as bright as a full moon, visible even during the day. We haven't seen such a phenomenon since 1054, when the Chinese recorded a new "guest star" that shone for a year, day and night. You can see the remnants of that explosion with a small telescope; it's now called the Crab Nebula.

No harm will come to the Earth if the star explodes, but any stars with earth-like planets within about 30 to 50 light years will likely have their atmospheres stripped away.

For any living things on those planets: bummer.

Still, it's not clear that the dimming isn't due to dust passing in front of the star. We don't really know what's causing the dimming.

Net: it might explode tomorrow, or in the next 10,000 years.

(It's worth noting that Betelgeuse, an enormous star, is one one of the very few--Antares is another--that we can resolve into a disk. Think of a common pin. Almost all stars are seen as a point, while Betelgeuse can be resolved as a pinhead. ); 2/15/20, 11:14 PM
walter said...: Ingot is somehow way more butthurt over HEATHER HEYER! than oodles of victims of illegal immigrants/undocumented/migrants/highly mobile contributors.; 2/15/20, 11:21 PM
Mark said...: any stars with earth-like planets within about 30 to 50 light years will likely have their atmospheres stripped away

If we see that explosion in the sky tomorrow, those stars with earth-like planets will have had their atmospheres stripped away 600 years ago.

Whatever "happens" to Betelgeuse has happened already centuries ago.; 2/15/20, 11:28 PM
walter said...: By the way, Ingot might better concern herself with the actual actions on behalf of her side of the aisle vs vague ruminations of Achilles.
I.e. send a "Thinking of you" card to Scalise et al.; 2/15/20, 11:28 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It would be cool to live to see Betelgeuse go supernova, but I ain't expecting it. The star is a well known variable star and has dimmed in the past. This is the dimmest its been in recorded history, but that history is only a few hundred years, which is a small fraction of the star's life (estimated to be about 10-12 million years- yes million- big massive stars burn their fuel at an amazing rate compared to one the size of our Sun).; 2/15/20, 11:32 PM
narciso said...: The original planet of the apes, miscalculated betelgeuse by half that distance.; 2/15/20, 11:38 PM
Mark said...: Well, here is something that has not been seen in a LONG time.

On the Washington Post website, of the seven stories on the "first page," only two are anti-Trump stories.

On a typical day, any day of the week, all of those top stories are slams against Trump.; 2/15/20, 11:40 PM
walter said...: Inga said...Why hasn’t Trump remedied the situation?
--
She says as her peeps from House to MSM attck his very existence.
Yeah..in his spare time he should fix problems your folks have created!; 2/15/20, 11:41 PM
Inga said...: “By the way, Ingot might better concern herself with the actual actions on behalf of her side of the aisle vs vague ruminations of Achilles.”

If you think Achilles has expressed “vague ruminations” about a civil war, then you haven't been paying attention over the years that he’s been commenting here. Those of you who are so ready to point to the other side need to go watch some documentaries bout what happens in civil wars...nobody wins and hundreds of thousands die. Political divisions that started the civil war get tossed aside when the bombs are falling on live humans and people are then only concerned with their and their families survival.

You people need to stop with the sick dreams of civil war. Stop demonizing your fellow Americans if they don’t hold an identical political opinion as yourselves. You didn’t like being dubbed deplorables, but what I’ve seen expressed here by Achilles and others is far worse. He is attempting to dehumanize his fellow Americans with the constant drumbeat of “You are pieces of shit, you are bad, you are terrible people, you are Stalinists.” He speaks of “wet work’ against his fellow Americans, he talks of burning down DC. He’s spoken of hanging political enemies from lampposts.

Go watch some documentaries about the Syrian civil war.; 2/15/20, 11:47 PM
walter said...: "then you haven't been paying attention over the years that he’s been commenting here."
Years of ruminations from one internet commenter vs documented violence.
Get perspective Ingot.; 2/15/20, 11:50 PM
effinayright said...: Mark said...
any stars with earth-like planets within about 30 to 50 light years will likely have their atmospheres stripped away

If we see that explosion in the sky tomorrow, those stars with earth-like planets will have had their atmospheres stripped away 600 years ago.

Whatever "happens" to Betelgeuse has happened already centuries ago.
************

Of course. I should have used the conditional perfect tense. "Would have likely".

Almost EVERYTHING we observe outside our solar system happened long ago.

Reminds me of an old joke:

Guy in Boston jumps into a cab.

"Hey, do you know where I can get scrod around here?"

Cab driver: Buddy, I've been asked that question a million times ---but never in the pluperfect subjunctive".

baddabish; 2/15/20, 11:54 PM
effinayright said...: Inga said:

You people need to stop with the sick dreams of civil war. Stop demonizing your fellow Americans if they don’t hold an identical political opinion as yourselves.
*************

If a civil war starts, I KNOW I will be defending myself from the batshit-crazy Bernie bro who lives across the street.

My wife has shown me her Facebook page, and she would be happy to kill every Trump supporter she could get her hands on. She's shown me the comments of four other female friends, all of whom are rabid haters of conservatives.

(She just keeps quiet.)

So get off your fucking high horse.; 2/15/20, 11:59 PM
narciso said...: Or ciurse thats ford prefects home eighborhood so what does that tell you?; 2/16/20, 12:00 AM
narciso said...: Course, the funny thing is they dont know why. Thats how the 'two minute hate works' why your parents left east germany.; 2/16/20, 12:03 AM
buwaya said...: Its interesting to note the, what, blindspot? Of, in this case Inga.

But it is millions like her.

What you have in the US is a massive trans-institutional messaging machine that has dominated the ideological/ethical/philosophical messaging your society is blasting into the senses of your people.

This has gone on for decades. This is taught to little children in elementary schools, by young people who were taught in universities. This is fed to you straight from all newspapers, their internet sites, through most cable news, and moreover by commercial firms to their employees. And even your entertainment is loded with it, with more or less of a spoonful of sugar, perhaps.

The message, being driven into every innocent brain with a daily dose of a hundred painful blows, come in a great variety, but they resolve into a vector value of DIE EVIL SCUM.

It is a hurricane of hate against the American volk. No love. No comradeship. At best, if someone in that system is feeling generous, some condescension.

The comparison of scale is telling.

For every lone internet Achilles there are a team of media or education professionals with a budget of millions. CNN alone, note, the least of the major cable news sources, employs 4000 people. The education system employs perhaps 5 million teachers, most of whom, these days, have a role in pushing that message.

This massive, overwhelming, endless barrage of hammers on the head leads to a reaction. Hate.

It is notable that a man constantly beaten up like this is condemned for hating those that beat him up.; 2/16/20, 12:11 AM
Inga said...: “My wife has shown me her Facebook page, and she would be happy to kill every Trump supporter she could get her hands on.”

Your wife wants to kill Trump supporters?

“If a civil war starts, I KNOW I will be defending myself from the batshit-crazy Bernie bro who lives across the street.”

I’d be more concerned with your wife killing you than the Bernie Bros across the street, she has much closer proximity to you than they do.; 2/16/20, 12:11 AM
effinayright said...: Another thing, Inga, you fuckwit:

When you look at the news the past several years, how many violent actions have been carried out by Trump supporters, versus those who hate him and his supporters.

Not even close.

How many of your fellow fascisti have attacked Trump supporters? Lots.

How many of your fellow fascisti falsely claimed they were attacked Trump supporters? Quite a few, including Smollette.

How many Trump supporters have attacked your fellow fascisti? One. (Charlottesville, arguably)

How many Trump supporters have *faked* attacks by your fellow fascisti? None.

The score thus far:

Me: Infinity
You: Dick; 2/16/20, 12:11 AM
effinayright said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/16/20, 12:13 AM
Inga said...: “How many of your fellow fascisti have attacked Trump supporters? Lots.”

Does that include your wife?; 2/16/20, 12:14 AM
Yancey Ward said...: "any stars with earth-like planets within about 30 to 50 light years will likely have their atmospheres stripped away"

Fortunately for us, there are no such close massive stars.; 2/16/20, 12:15 AM
effinayright said...: Blogger Inga said...
“My wife has shown me her Facebook page, and she would be happy to kill every Trump supporter she could get her hands on.”

Your wife wants to kill Trump supporters?

“If a civil war starts, I KNOW I will be defending myself from the batshit-crazy Bernie bro who lives across the street.”

I’d be more concerned with your wife killing you than the Bernie Bros across the street, she has much closer proximity to you than they do.
*************

Very revealing that you left off my first sentence, the subject of which is the neighbor across the street.

I guess you also missed that "if".

Dull tools gotta dull tool, I guess.

Or maybe it's just drunk commenting.; 2/16/20, 12:16 AM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: back to the future?

Sam Donaldson's hairpiece looks like

the brushed stainless steel of a DeLorean; 2/16/20, 12:18 AM
effinayright said...: Yancey Ward said...
"any stars with earth-like planets within about 30 to 50 light years will likely have their atmospheres stripped away"

Fortunately for us, there are no such close massive stars.
**************

Yes, but I was talking about Betelgeuse. AFAIK there are "no stars with earth-like planets"
that near Betelgeuse, and none near us.; 2/16/20, 12:19 AM
Inga said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/16/20, 12:19 AM
narciso said...: Is it donaldson or kevin nealon, his dopple gangeron snl.; 2/16/20, 12:19 AM
Inga said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/16/20, 12:20 AM
buwaya said...: The side blasting that endless hate, on perceiving the reaction, now demands superhuman virtue and forbearance on the part of their victims.

One can wish that everyone in that victim pool have the character of a sainted martyr. But we are dealing with human beings here. Such a fantastic expectation is absurd. History says something has to give.

The best way out of this is to turn off those institutional Wurlitzers. Stop with the DIE EVIL SCUM. But thats not going to happen.; 2/16/20, 12:21 AM
Inga said...: “I guess you missed that "if".”

Where is the IF in this sentence, the one I quoted. Did you misspeak or did you really mean your wife would be wanting to kill Trump supporters IF a civil war broke out? If so, aren’t you afraid of her? Or will the civil war start in your own house with you and she trying to kill each other? YIKES.

“My wife has shown me her Facebook page, and she would be happy to kill every Trump supporter she could get her hands on.; 2/16/20, 12:21 AM
Inga said...: “Or maybe it's just drunk commenting.’

Speaking of which, are you sure it was such a good idea to say that your own wife would be happy to kill Trump supporters? Not a very normal husbandly thing to say about your own wife.; 2/16/20, 12:25 AM
buwaya said...: Interestingly there is only an echo of that array of Wurlitzers here on the Bay of Biscay.

There is much less of a divide between the intelligentsia and the volk. There is much less of a war between the cosmopolitans and the peasants.

I hope it stays that way.; 2/16/20, 12:27 AM
buwaya said...: This madness is already tearing families apart.

The urgent hysteria the media and education systems intend to create is breaking personal bonds. Fantasies can be very powerful.

The people, the professionals, that have created this are very evil.; 2/16/20, 12:31 AM
walter said...: Go to bed, Inga.
Tonight is not your night.; 2/16/20, 12:31 AM
Inga said...: Walter, why don’t you take your own advice? I’m still watching documentaries about Aleppo. The one I’m watching now is called “The White Helmets”. Another one is watched earlier was called “The Cave” about female doctor trying to care for victims of bombings, shelling, gas attacks, snipers. I think you folks need a reality check.; 2/16/20, 12:37 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: I am now siting on the lanai of my house in Volcano, Hawaii, enjoying a beer. Temp in the low 60s, listening to crickets and the breeze stirring the tree tops. I am hosting two of my siblings, their spouses, and their children, but they all went to Kona today to go kayaking & they have not yet returned. In their absence, I went out for a V-day+1 dinner earlier in the evening with a friend (she had the crab cakes, I had lamb chops). The 403B is doing quite well, I shall be retiring later this year. My wife passed away two and a half years ago, but nevertheless I am beginning to enjoy life again as a moderately successful American in late middle age.; 2/16/20, 12:38 AM
buwaya said...: You should burn down DC. Or someone will anyway. Best to do it in as orderly a manner as you can manage.

This is a regular requirement in imperial systems. They naturally centralize, bloat up with unaccountable and insular bureaucracies, and thereby lose the mandate of heaven.

Then you get a Yellow Turban rebellion or something along those lines, and out with the old palaces full of eunuchs and in with a whole new lot, after some considerable burning down, and often with setting up a new capital somwhere where there had formerly been nothing but peasants.; 2/16/20, 12:39 AM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Sam w/ a metallic hairpiece doing a spot for Bloombox

Donaldson w/metallic hair shilling4Mike

...and a bonus pic of Delorean. Separated at birth?

the real John DeLorean; 2/16/20, 12:40 AM
Inga said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/16/20, 12:48 AM
Inga said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/16/20, 12:49 AM
Inga said...: Another two documentaries to watch for you civil war fans are “The Last Men in Aleppo” and “Leaving Aleppo”. You big brave civil war mongers have NO idea what your fevered brains are calling for.; 2/16/20, 12:51 AM
buwaya said...: Civil wars are created by circumstances that predated the civil war.
They are not "monged" other than by the creators of the conditions that lead to them.
These things do not happen in a vacuum.

What turned Syrian unrest into a war was this -

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-deraa/fear-stalks-streets-of-syrias-deraa-say-residents-idUSTRE73R51Z20110428

"AMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian mother of six who opened the door to a secret policeman in the border town of Deraa just had time to scream “Israelis are more merciful than you” before he shot her dead, relatives said on Thursday.

Neighbours were then chilled by the hysterical cries of her 10-year-old daughter Sameeha after the killing on Wednesday.

Tanks rolled into Deraa, the cradle of protests against President Bashar al-Assad, on Monday. Residents say at least 50 bodies have been picked up, mainly from the town’s old quarter, since then. Dozens more corpses still rot in the streets.

Sameeha’s mother, 42, known as Um Omar, was buried in her own backyard — Muslim tradition barred putting her body among 22 male corpses kept in a refrigerator truck awaiting burial.

“They have no fear of God. As Um Omar said before she died, if we had Israelis besieging Deraa, they would be more merciful,” said her cousin Ibrahim, 52, from the Masalmah tribe."

The people who began the war in Syria were the Syrian government, through its viciousness and decades of economic failure. Some thing had to give after the regime started on its massacres in 2011. Everything else was either a natural consequence of violence begetting violence, and opportunism by every evil influence in the region and beyond.; 2/16/20, 1:08 AM
Inga said...: Buwaya,

I’m not saying that Assad wasn't and still isn’t a brutal dictator. What he and the Russians who mercilessly bombed the rebels strongholds which include almost the entire city of Aleppo did to the rebels and fellow citizens of their country was absolutely horrendous. If any of you want to start a civil war over political differences in THIS country, I’d say you should think again and not listen to foreigners like Buwaya who would love to see Americans killing each other.; 2/16/20, 1:19 AM
Quaestor said...: Stars like [B]etelgeuse likely arose long before our sun, and may already be a supernova.

Untrue if the standard astrophysical model is largely correct.

The mass of a star is difficult to estimate unless there is a nearby companion. Consequently, estimates of the mass of Betelgeuse, which has no known companion, vary from 10 to 40 solar masses, though most surveys favor an estimate on the lower end of that range. Stars that big do not live very long. Betelgeuse started life as either a hot Spectral Class B star or a cooler Class O star about 8.5 million years ago. Since then it exhausted its reserves of hydrogen and has been fusing helium into carbon for as long as humans have been able to record their observations.; 2/16/20, 2:21 AM
buwaya said...: Inga,

I do not point out this event in 2011 merely because Assad was "brutal", either in this case or in the prosecution of the war. And you leave out the Iranians btw, which provided much of the Syrian regimes allied manpower, and who treated their own with enormous inhumanity, as cannon fodder. And the fellow running the Iranian intervention in Syria was that Suleimani that got whacked a few weeks ago. The people destroying Aleppo? That was them.

I leave ethical judgements out of it.

The takeaways here are that:

- There is a CAUSE of this. The proximate cause of the Syrian civil war was that exact thing I showed you.
- There is an inevitability to this that is beyond human control. Once things deteriorate to that point such as in Syria there is no blaming Achilles. Achilles is a result, not a cause. There will always be an Achilles.

If you want to prevent a civil war you need to mitigate the cause. In the case of Syria the Assad regime was weak, inherently incompetent, and deranged by justified fear of their own people. In the case of the US, you have a chance, but this will require your institutions to BACK OFF.

As for the rest of your argument, you havent got one. You are unable to engage.; 2/16/20, 2:27 AM
buwaya said...: As for why Aleppo was destroyed, directly, it was because the revolutionary wave caused by the Deraa incident, which caused much of the regimes military to defect, and which should have succeeded in short order, failed.

The Assad regime was inherently weak and lacked manpower.

Assad was saved by Iranian-recruited manpower, and Russian assistance, and gross incompetence on the part of the rebels and of the US government. Note: That was the Obama administration and your wonderful Washington bureaucracy, that was repeatedly outmaneuvered by the Iranians, the Russians, the Turks, and every other bad actor in the region. It was truly ridiculous.

There should have never been a seige of Aleppo. It only happened because neither side was able to quickly overcome the other. The Assad forces because, even reinforced, they were inherently weak, and the rebels because the US massively screwed up.; 2/16/20, 2:42 AM
Original Mike said...: Blogger Yancey Ward said..."It would be cool to live to see Betelgeuse go supernova, but I ain't expecting it."

If it goes in the next two months I'll be pissed. I've spent a lot of money and more effort to observe in the southern hemisphere the next two dark windows and as bright as they predict it will be, it will ruin the observing.; 2/16/20, 2:48 AM
Achilles said...: Inga said...

You people need to stop with the sick dreams of civil war. Stop demonizing your fellow Americans if they don’t hold an identical political opinion as yourselves.

You have already declared civil war Inga.

There are daily attacks on Trump supporters. Your leaders were caught on video paying for these attacks and you still support them.

Your leaders in blue cities are declaring succession from federal law and constitutional order.

They have ordered the police to stop defending the civil rights of political opponents in numerous cities.

They are constantly trying to disarm and dispossess is.

You already started the war.

We are just waiting to see if you are defeated peacefully as we hope for, or if we have to put you down like the diseased animals you are.; 2/16/20, 2:58 AM
Seeing Red said...: I am really tempted to buy the “You first” T-shirt on cafepress.; 2/16/20, 4:33 AM
Seeing Red said...: Via Rantburg:

A New Hampshire man is facing assault and disorderly conduct charges after he attacked three people, including a minor, while leaving a polling location on Tuesday.

Patrick Bradley, 34, confronted a 15-year-old teenager wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat at a Trump campaign tent after voting at Wyndham High School and smacked him across the face, Fox News reported. He then hit two adults who attempted to intervene, and is also accused of trying to destroy the tent, according to Fox.

The boy’s mother, Cathy Cambell, told Fox that all her son did that apparently provoked Bradley was wish him a good night. "My son was standing outside on the sidewalk and he said ’Have a nice night,’ he said it to everyone. But this man was triggered," she told Fox.; 2/16/20, 4:35 AM
gilbar said...: apparently provoked Bradley was wish him a good night. "My son was standing outside on the sidewalk and he said ’Have a nice night,’ he said it to everyone

Can you Believe this MAGA crap is STILL going on?
Once again, an innocent middleaged (Probably part indian!) guy is Just trying to walk down the street, when a smirking teenaged THUG, in a MAGA hat confronts him; and won't let him pass with out being wished a "good night"!!!

Is that a Dog Whistle, OR WHAT???
Shades of Covington Catholic ALL OVER AGAIN!
WHEN will people realize that these Trump supporters are THE TRUE ENEMY????
</sarc; 2/16/20, 4:44 AM
J. Farmer said...: @narciso:

You still insist farmer, that marxism cam work despite a butchers bill of 100 million dead.

Conservatism has a strain of classical liberalism otherwise its reactionary.

Thank you for completely missing the point. "Marxism" is an irrelevancy in the modern world. Calling someone a "Marxist" tells you practically nothing about them. A "Marxist" can say smart, insightful things and stupid, insane things. Everybody can. It's what they say not who they are that matters.

No "classically liberal" society has ever existed. Terms like "Marxism," "liberalism," "Darwinianism," and "Freudianism" can fill up hours of door room bull sessions but have remarkably little to do with describing the world as it actually works. Though I consider myself broadly within the "alt-right," one popular area I disagree is "Cultural Marxism." I don't think has much analytical use and mostly relies on a very shallow understanding of the Frankfurt School.; 2/16/20, 5:27 AM
Chris N said...: Living in the Southern Hemisphere is a big win for observation. Alas.; 2/16/20, 5:33 AM
Big Mike said...: Those of you who are so ready to point to the other side need to go watch some documentaries bout what happens in civil wars...nobody wins and hundreds of thousands die.

Huh? The Roundheads won the English Civil War. Lincoln and the Republicans of the North won the American Civil War. The Bolsheviks won the Russian Civil War. These are well-known facts. In America the Southerners referred to the Civil War as the “War of Northern Aggression” — and some still do so to this day. This despite the first shots being fired by Southern troops at Union-held Fort Sumter. In the end the South was devastated and politically marginalized, the industrialized North prosperous.

You people need to stop with the sick dreams of civil war.

And you people need to stop with the “you people” crap. If you are too stupid and self-centered to examine why people voted for Trump and why his support is growing daily, then I can’t help you. Here in Virginia the Democrats, as a party, are ramming their ideology down everyone’s’ throats. Hopefully it can be fixed at the ballot box in November 2021.

Stop demonizing your fellow Americans if they don’t hold an identical political opinion as yourselves.

Good God Almighty, woman! Have you no self awareness at all? You demonize Trump and Trump supporters with damned near every comment you write.

You didn’t like being dubbed deplorables,

Damned right!!!

but what I’ve seen expressed here by Achilles and others is far worse.

Oh, I don’t know. It wasn’t Republicans who sent squads of people around to attack ordinary Americans at Trump rallies in 2016, was it? Did a Republican shoot a member of the Democrats’ House leadership, or was that a Bernie Bro. shooting Steve Scalise with an illegally-modified Russian rifle? In California an elderly man was sprayed in the face with pepper spray for wearing a plain, red, baseball cap. Not a MAGA hat, just a plain cal. It was red, that was enough for his assailant. Right now all of the violence has been initiated by your side, including counter demonstrators in Charlottesville trapping the neo-Nazi in his car and pounding on his car with clubs. Cosmic justice that the only person who died that day was a woman who worked for a Communist-front organization.

He is attempting to dehumanize his fellow Americans with the constant drumbeat of “You are pieces of shit, you are bad, you are terrible people, you are Stalinists.”

Well, you are, aren’t you? Certainly there is nothing I have seen in any of your comments that expresses a willingness to meet us halfway. We need to accommodate you but not you at least try to understand where we are coming from? Double standards much?; 2/16/20, 5:42 AM
Michael K said...: Another night of Inga crazy, I see.

I had/have a very good book about Syria, written by a young man who was living in Damascus before the civil war and who returned during a lull.

Everyone who has read history, not Inga for whom history begins each day, knows that the Assad family, who are Alawites, have ruled the largely Sunni population for many years. The father of the present leader was particularly brutal. Bush's adventure in Iraq was somewhat justified in my mined as an experiment to see if Arabs could rule themselves without tyrants. They can't. I have several friends who are Iraqis, One is an obstetrician who delivered my two younger daughters. They left Iraq many years ago. I guess all the middle class had left before Saddam and refused to return, which is why the Iraq thing failed. Syria is similar in that any sane Syrian got out.; 2/16/20, 5:47 AM
Michael K said...: Well said, Big Mike.; 2/16/20, 5:48 AM
gilbar said...: Look people!
The Fact of the Matter IS

If EVERYONE WOULD JUST GET ALONG, THERE WOULD BE NO PROBLEMS!

This is the basis of Ideal Economic Systems. It's true of Communism, it's true of Capitalism, it's true of "classically liberal" societies

Of course, IF everyone Doesn't get along; that's a fault with those people; not my wonderful economic system.; 2/16/20, 5:49 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: Judging by the comments here, the Demmies are broken.

If I got a “thinking of you” card from some of the folks here, I’d take it as a threat.; 2/16/20, 6:23 AM
Seeing Red said...: France

Marxism

Congo

I wonder what the unifying factor is?

Throw in the interference in Mexico....

And ya might wonder why things don’t work so well....; 2/16/20, 6:31 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Assad was saved by Iranian-recruited manpower, and Russian assistance, and gross incompetence on the part of the rebels and of the US government. Note: That was the Obama administration and your wonderful Washington bureaucracy, that was repeatedly outmaneuvered by the Iranians, the Russians, the Turks, and every other bad actor in the region. It was truly ridiculous.”

That should be reason#1 never to vote for a Democrat for President. They cannot use military or diplomatic power well. Indeed, they have screwed up using our military each and every time they have gotten power since Truman (who seems to have done a decently good job). JFK, LBJ, Carter, Clinton, and the worst probably since LBJ, Obama. Libya was turned into a failed state, that is still highly violent, exporting their refugees and terrorism to Europe. Then Egypt was given to the Muslim Brotherhood, parent organization for esp Sunni terrorism around the world. I expect that a lot of that was Crooked Hillary listening to her top aide, Huma Abdelin, whose family continues to this day to publish a paper that is a mouthpiece of the MB (and that she wrote for at one point). It’s just amazing that Huma ever got a security clearance - except that she worked directly for Clinton, so normal rules don’t, and never have, applied. Then, because the Arab Spring was going so well, they tried to effect regime change in Syria, causing hundreds of thousands deaths, and millions of immigrants into Europe. The result has been that Europe, as we have known it, may be dead, with the Muslim Jihad, temporary stopped at the gates of Vienna, now resurgent. Thank you Barack Hussein Obama II, Crooked Hillary Clinton, and the Democrats who voted for them.

The thing that may save us is that much of this country, as well as in other countries around this world, are increasingly rejecting the internationalism that has been tearing our countries apart over the last several decades. If you ask why do the Democrats screw up so badly, as well as their soul mates in power in Europe and the rest of the Anglosphere, I think that the answer is that they no longer put the good of our country above the narrow self interest of the powerful elites leading this internationalism. Allowing millions of uncivilized Muslims to move into Europe was idiotic, just as allowing, and even encouraging, millions of illiterate peasants to immigrate into this country is idiotic. We all know why the Democrats so desperately want the latter - and that is to relate a new dependency class that will guarantee them and electoral majority for the foreseeable future. That these new immigrants are incapable of contributing anywhere as much to our economy as they cost, due to their illiteracy, is a feature, and not a bug. They no longer really try to logically justify this (because they can’t) but instead just use that it is a good thing, destroying our country through this uncontrolled immigration, as their starting point. Almost every major Dem candidate for President has jumped onto this bandwagon, promising illiterate peasants all through Latin America that we will provide them with food, housing, and now healthcare, if they can just get here. And that they are essentially safe from consequences for violating our laws, regardless of how many women they rape, or people they kill.; 2/16/20, 6:39 AM
gilbar said...: promising illiterate peasants all through Latin America that we will provide them with food, housing, and now healthcare, if they can just get here. And that they are essentially safe from consequences for violating our laws, regardless of how many women they rape, or people they kill.

And If they can get it through, the New Way Forward Act
,among many things, calls for the decriminalization of illegal immigration, would make it more difficult to deport convicted criminal aliens, empower immigration judges to nullify deportation orders, and also calls for the return of previously deported illegal aliens.
Additionally, the legislation calls for the widespread return of criminal illegal aliens who have been previously deported from the country. Any illegal aliens deported since April 1996 — if they would have otherwise been considered undeportable under the terms of this bill — would be allowed to come back to the U.S.

Whoo Hoo! NO BORDER! NO WALL! NO USA AT ALL!!!; 2/16/20, 6:55 AM
Michael K said...: And that they are essentially safe from consequences for violating our laws, regardless of how many women they rape, or people they kill.

What 's interesting is that in California of all places, the goofy new law AB5 is creating a revolt among Democrat voters.

The stupid lefty Democrats may finally driven their voters to rebel.

Since AB5 took effect on January 1, hundreds of thousands of Californians are finding their businesses in tatters. Musicians can’t join bands for a one-night gig, chefs can’t join forces with caterers, nurses can’t work at various hospitals, and writers must cap their submissions per media outlet to 35 per year. Under the law, these freelancers can no longer conduct the same business-to-business transactions they have for years or even decades. Clients with whom they fostered valuable relationships are gone—as are their successful careers and incomes. An overwhelming majority of professionals in fields affected by AB5 identify as liberals and have generally voted along the blue line. Today, however, many are so disillusioned with their representatives that they’re changing political loyalties.

When Gloria Rivera, a San Diego-based, Peruvian-born translator and interpreter, achieved U.S. citizenship, the first thing she did was register as a Democrat. “Now I’m seeing a lot of people like me who are either going Independent or Republican,” she says, “myself included. The Democrats are not listening to us.”

It takes a really stupid party to pass a bill that destroys the occupations of thousands of its voters. Now, the national Democrat Party is trying to make the same law nation wide.

Apparently oblivious to the reaction in California, congressional Democrats have passed HR 2474, a national version of AB5, known as the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or “PRO Act.” The PRO Act, designed to boost union membership, will put 57 million independent contractors across the country out of work if it becomes law. These enterprising professionals will be forced into low-paying jobs—if they can find them—with none of the autonomy, flexibility, or opportunity that they currently enjoy. When the Trump administration denounced the bill, people who normally hiss at mention of the president’s name found themselves in a peculiar position: feeling grateful.

Trump is so lucky in his enemies. As we see here every day.; 2/16/20, 6:57 AM
donald said...: What would be More ironic than some illegal alien raping and murdering Inga? Worse (Better) yet her daughter?; 2/16/20, 7:04 AM
Seeing Red said...: There’s a video I saw I think at Reason which was amusing. The socialist writer explained why his industry should be or is exempt from the bill. They’re special, don’t ya know.; 2/16/20, 7:21 AM
Seeing Red said...: , promising illiterate peasants all through Latin America that we will provide them with food, housing, and now healthcare, if they can just get here

And schooling.

Can you supporters explain to me why after sacrificing and saving for retirement I have to do with less/pay more taxes to support them?

Cos why bother them getting here? It sounds like regime change to me.; 2/16/20, 7:26 AM
Seeing Red said...: —This country will really suffer when the D's control all three branches again. We'll be lucky not to have a socialist dictatorship—

They are going to make us pay big time For rejecting them.

They haven’t handled it well since 1994.; 2/16/20, 7:30 AM
Mr. Forward said...: "It's still a long way to the election..." Seeing that cliche less lately. Cause it's not a long way is it? I know the half that don't vote haven't decided who not to vote for, but the rest of us know, we even know the results, barring unforeseen events.; 2/16/20, 7:33 AM
Seeing Red said...: AB-5 is keep the money flowing bill, nothing more. Those union dues won’t collect themselves and flow into dem coffers ya know.

As that union rep said’ they’d rather have 50 union members working than 100 non-union members.

I wondered what her salary was when I heard that.; 2/16/20, 7:39 AM
narciso said...: the Syrian civil war, were hama rules writ large, that refers to the city on the Orontes river, that rebelled in 1982, the difference is the fire raged on fueled by Qatar the kingdom and turkey, which was the proximate sanctuary for the rebele, the future Islamic state, arose there, it resembles the night and fog techniques that georg fischer probably brought to the Syrian forces he helped train, and the soviet 'zachista' techniques first scene in Algeria in the 90s,; 2/16/20, 8:32 AM
Rory said...: "They haven’t handled it well since 1994."

They've never handled it well. Warm and fuzzy bipartisanship was a mirage created by nearly fifty years of the Democrats nearly always holding power.; 2/16/20, 8:41 AM
Seeing Red said...: Yup I was thinking I really should have said 1980. That’s when they really started the crackup.; 2/16/20, 8:56 AM
Mark said...: Sigh.

Anybody read any good books lately?; 2/16/20, 9:29 AM
FullMoon said...: Sigh.

Anybody read any good books lately?

http://ace.mu.nu/

(Sunday Morning Book Thread 02-16-2020); 2/16/20, 10:00 AM
Inga said...: BM
Michael K
Two old guys sitting in armchairs in their Depends longing for another war because they don’t care about their own children and grandchildren.

Achilles,
Thanks for proving my point. Keep commenting. Let’s see if even one Trumpist here calls you out on your violent daydreams. All the talk of the scary Bernie Bros when you have Achilles right here in your midst and you say nothing.; 2/16/20, 10:35 AM
Nichevo said...: J. Farmer said...
@narciso:

You still insist farmer, that marxism cam work despite a butchers bill of 100 million dead.

Conservatism has a strain of classical liberalism otherwise its reactionary.

Thank you for completely missing the point. "Marxism" is an irrelevancy in the modern world. Calling someone a "Marxist

Shorter, far shorter J. Farmer: No True Scotsman!; 2/16/20, 12:25 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: Karl Ove Knausgaard on Anselm Kiefer in the Times Magazine. I'd sell a leg, an arm, and a kidney to own one of Kiefer's great works. May even read some more Knausgaard.; 2/16/20, 1:09 PM
Michael K said...: I see Inga has lost the thread again. Trump is pulling us OUT of wars. McMasters and Kelly and Mattis are trying to pull us INTO them.

I know you have trouble with directions and geography. Try to keep up.; 2/16/20, 1:26 PM
Crazy World said...: Aloha Lewis 12:38, enjoy!; 2/16/20, 4:16 PM
Jim at said...: Stop demonizing your fellow Americans if they don’t hold an identical political opinion as yourselves. - Inga

I'm just going to let that sit there and age like a fine wine.; 2/16/20, 4:28 PM
Jaq said...: Children in politics

https://twitter.com/mad_liberals/status/1229072167582736390; 2/16/20, 5:12 PM
Jaq said...: "What 's interesting is that in California of all places, the goofy new law AB5 is creating a revolt among Democrat voters.”

I know somebody who left California because they wanted a job that allowed them to take care of their mother, a “gig” job, and the company that offered it wouldn’t take on any California residents.; 2/16/20, 5:14 PM
Narr said...: Mark asked about good books. I'm in the middle of Simon Winchester's Map That Changed The World-- I always enjoy and learn from Winchester, though I haven't read his whole list by any means. (Any John McPhee fans hereabouts?)

One of my tastes in WWII studies is personal accounts. Don Whitehead worked for the Associated Pres and his journal entries and later notes have been edited into a very fine account of the war first with the CW 8th Army and then the US forces in Sicily and beyond.

His gradual progress from Cairo to the battlefield and all the way across North Africa is fascinating--and he ends with the Big Red One and Darby's Rangers in Sicily. This is the war some might know from the perspective of Bill Mauldin, Ernie Pyle, or the first half of that Great War Movie, Patton.

I am halfway through Combat Reporter which ends in August 1943. I haven't yet gotten the earlier Beachhead Don (which covers a later period).

Narr
Happy reading; 2/16/20, 5:20 PM
Gahrie said...: You should burn down DC. Or someone will anyway. Best to do it in as orderly a manner as you can manage.

I'm predicting they're going to give it a try the second week of November. I expect most big cities to go up in flames this November.; 2/16/20, 9:47 PM