Althouse: At the 6 Feet Café...

April 3, 2020

At the 6 Feet Café...

4FD7DB40-F975-41B1-B212-DA3BFA47065D_1_201_a

... you can talk about whatever you like.

158 comments:

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I made a tortellini with cream sauce, prosciutto and peas plus a wedge salad with a nice tangy blue cheese for dinner tonight.

I had lost 30 pounds BCV and five of it is back. Oh well.; 4/3/20, 8:23 PM
Wince said...: Aren’t the people in those single file lines coming up behind each other closer than Joe Biden.; 4/3/20, 8:25 PM
whitney said...: I'm pretty sure we're experiencing the missing piece of the Bronze Age collapse. Everyone just hid under their beds until they died; 4/3/20, 8:31 PM
Kevin said...: They could add Chinese instructions to this sign but that would be racist.; 4/3/20, 8:32 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: Pants that sounds awesome. We were in Italy this time last year. Florence and Venice. Best eating vacation ever. White wine with lunch red wine with dinner. Very balanced diet. Walked everywhere, 8-9 miles a day, so did not feel like we were adding too many pounds. I want to go back, but not now.; 4/3/20, 8:32 PM
Whiskeybum said...: Today I was riding my bike through a golf course roadway eastward towards Lake Michigan. There was a good stiff wind blowing in my face from the east. I saw a couple walking on the edge of the road toward me (an older man and woman) and I moved to the center of the road to give them clearance. I suddenly caught a whiff of strong perfume and I realized that the woman up ahead and her husband were the only other people in sight, so the perfume was coming from her. I was a good 25 feet in front of them when I first smelled her perfume. I guess if she had been coughing or sneezing at that point in time, I may have well inhaled any virus she might have been shedding. So much for the 6 feet rule under windy conditions!; 4/3/20, 8:33 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I think the people in the single file lines are from a household unit that is walking together side by side. They need to know to get into single file so that other people can walk by with 6 feet of clearance. This is what I tried to talk to people on the trail about yesterday, and they treated me so badly I've decided I will not attempt to speak to people again about the single file issue. It makes me feel too bad to find out that some people are so ignorant/uncaring. But I'm really glad the signs are there making the point.; 4/3/20, 8:33 PM
Kevin said...: The sign outside Biden’s house includes no hair sniffing.

They’re trying to get him ready for the convention.; 4/3/20, 8:36 PM
rcocean said...: Tests for the anti-malaria drug are encouraging. There's one ray of hope. People are giving each other a wide berth on the walking trails except for some runners who race past everyone at a 5 minute/mile pace.; 4/3/20, 8:36 PM
Sebastian said...: Apropos of nothing, I want to thank Althouse for keeping this blog going in these hard times.; 4/3/20, 8:38 PM
Mark said...: Some people are obnoxious jerks when you ask them to conduct themselves properly.

Some people are obnoxious jerks even when you draw them a picture showing them how to conduct themselves properly.; 4/3/20, 8:40 PM
Mark said...: Blueberry chicken. Now tortellini with cream sauce.

Now Pants, if you're going to bring that to class, you need to bring enough for everyone to share.; 4/3/20, 8:42 PM
Ken B said...: Althouse: “ makes me feel too bad to find out that some people are so ignorant/uncaring.”

Better not read the comments any more.; 4/3/20, 8:42 PM
rcocean said...: Panic buying at the store seems to have subsided. People are loading up with food, but it seems to be just a weeks supply of groceries from the look of it. No more carts with 5 rolls of toilet paper and 4 cases of bottled water.; 4/3/20, 8:42 PM
walter said...: And as always, watch out for Slow Children.; 4/3/20, 8:44 PM
Mark said...: No more carts with 5 rolls of toilet paper and 4 cases of bottled water

Well, stores need to HAVE toilet paper before shoppers can fill their carts with it.

Alas, there is no more toilet paper. There are no more trees.

The Lorax warned us.; 4/3/20, 8:45 PM
Ken B said...: Culture is everything. What is your stereotype of Canada? It isn’t true, not of the country as a whole anymore, but it is true of middle class small town Ontario. Happily that is where I live. I hope it holds up when stuff gets worse.; 4/3/20, 8:46 PM
Mark said...: I also see that the Bug-Eyed Bastard is on the hunt again.; 4/3/20, 8:48 PM
John henry said...: So I guess that "Whatever" includes a Booka-Fay. Right Ann?

I finished reading Industrial Revolutionaries by Gav ion Weightman last week. I enjoy reading about industrial history and this is one of the better books I've read. It covered about 1776 and James Watt's invention of the Steam Engine (Portable power! Yay!) and Matthew Boulton's producting of it to the chemical industry of the early 1900s. Lots of interesting inventions and inventors were covered along the way. What I liked was that, unlike most books of this type, it focused more on the people than the inventions themselves. Still struck a good balance between both.

I then reread, for the 5th or 6th time Andrew Carnegie's biography of James Watt. It is an excellent bio written by a man that truly understood the importance of what Watt had done. The invention of the steam engine, and its producting by Boulton, is probably the most significant event ever. Everything we have and do stems from that steam engine.

What is even more amazing is how good a writer Carnegie is. I believe he had 3 months schooling total. Carnegie also wrote his autobiography which I've read several times and recently listened to on Librivox.

I also recommend those books.

John Henry; 4/3/20, 8:49 PM
Ken B said...: Small eggplants stuffed with ground peanut and sesame, turmeric, garlic, bit of sugar, cayenne, cilantro. Cut an X in the round end and stuff the filling in. Fry with water in the pan, covered, to steam. The steaming is important, it brings out the peanut flavor.; 4/3/20, 8:53 PM
John henry said...: A couple weeks ago Narciso recommended the Scorpion series. I've not gone far wrong with his recommendations so downloaded the sample.

I seemed very promising. I liked the writing style and the plot seemed like it might be interesting. After reading the sample, I didn't continue though. There was just something about the description of what the Arabs did to the girl that I found offputting. Not sure what. I've certainly read far worse and not been squeamish. Maybe I will try jumping to book 2.

Openlibrary.org, part of the Internet Archive/Wayback organization offers a lot of books that they have scanned and make available for "loan", like a regular library.

They have quite a few, perhaps most, of Elmore Leonard's books. I thought I would work my way through some old favorites. I "borrowed" Bandits but gave up about 5 pages in.

First they are scans, not OCR so when you try to expand the font, it gets fuzzy. The reader app is a bit cumbersome too.

I wanted to like it but could not. I'll stick with Gutenberg, except they don't have Elmore.

I had started reading "The Tragedy of Liberation" by Frank Dikotter a few weeks ago then got distracted. I have gone back to it. It is about the Chinese Revolution from 1945-1957 It's a trilogy.

It is really gruesome. If anyone has the temerity to wear a Mao t-shirt in public, someone should slap them silly.

So what's everybody else reading?

John Henry; 4/3/20, 9:00 PM
John henry said...: Blogger Mark said...

Blueberry chicken. Now tortellini with cream sauce.

Now Pants, if you're going to bring that to class, you need to bring enough for everyone to share.

I agree, Mark. Last time anyone brought food to one of my classes, it was MREs.

Surprisingly good, to someone who as eaten c-rations and LERPS. But still, MRE's and not blueberry chicken.

It was a packaging class and the student was an army supply officer demonstrating how the army was fed in the field. Very interesting demo and technology.

John Henry; 4/3/20, 9:04 PM
iowan2 said...: https://www.kwqc.com/content/misc/569299641.html
A neat story for our trying times. The link is to a story from a Quad City TV station. It involves my grand daughter, sad when she found out their church was not having Easter service. Also, no Palm Sunday service. She loved marching around the church on Palm Sunday waving Palm fronds, but now she was going to miss participating.
Short ending, my daughter. The community outreach director came up with the idea to have a car parade, with people waving their hand made palms out the windows. 4 other churches in town are joining in.
All because a 7 year old loves Palm Sunday.; 4/3/20, 9:09 PM
narciso said...: Yes bandits wasnt that good.; 4/3/20, 9:09 PM
Kensington said...: I have taken walks almost daily in the southwest suburbs of Chicago since the stay-at-home period began. I am constantly lurching off trails and sidewalks to put distance between me and others. So far, no one else I've encountered has made the slightest reciprocal effort, leaving me to wonder if they would do nothing if I also did nothing. I suspect so, and I don't want to take the chance.; 4/3/20, 9:12 PM
John henry said...: My problem wasn't the book, though as you note it wasn't his best.

My problem was the formatting and reader. It was just very clumsy.

John Henry; 4/3/20, 9:16 PM
narciso said...: Thats why i offered up the last one firsr, hes also novelized some of homelands befire that series went off the boards.

Kaplan is good in settimg a scene, using locations and snippets of language, this last one occurs largely in the ukraine, hunter bidens haunts.; 4/3/20, 9:17 PM
n.n said...: It is not a quantum virus, which is transported through teleportation. Think rational and practical, act prudent and bold. Even asymptomatic transmission requires a carrier, albeit under a veil of privacy.; 4/3/20, 9:17 PM
John henry said...: Sweet story, iowan2.

My dil and granddaughter (16) are doing an online "children's corner" for the Sabbath.

I'm not a children but I'll be watching.

John Henry; 4/3/20, 9:19 PM
Ralph L said...: We just finished watching Bizet's The Pearl Fishers on Met Opera on Demand for free (listed as a preview). It's available until 6:30pm tomorrow. Aida on Monday!; 4/3/20, 9:20 PM
John henry said...: Blogger Mark said...

Well, stores need to HAVE toilet paper before shoppers can fill their carts with it.

Insty had an interesting post this AM. It seems that there is plenty of toilet paper but in the worn supply chain.

Normallly people use a lot of bumf in the office, school etc and correspondingly less at home.

Now, with everyone at home, they use more at home, overloading the consumer supply chain and less at work, causing excess inventory.

The industrial/commercial bumf is a different animal from the residential/consumer stuff so it is not a simple matter of shifting the supply lines.

They need to ramp up consumer paper which is a differnt process.

Plenty of TP at Costco today. No paper towels or napkins but plenty of bumf.

John Henry; 4/3/20, 9:20 PM
Inga said...: “Althouse: “ makes me feel too bad to find out that some people are so ignorant/uncaring.”

“Better not read the comments any more.”

Ha, isn’t that the truth. No hurt feelings allowed here in these threads.; 4/3/20, 9:20 PM
Original Mike said...: "I had lost 30 pounds BCV and five of it is back. Oh well."

I've put on 5 lbs too.; 4/3/20, 9:20 PM
John henry said...: What's the name of the last one, Narciso?

I had trouble finding the sequential order on Amazon.

John Henry; 4/3/20, 9:22 PM
FullMoon said...: This is what I tried to talk to people on the trail about yesterday, and they treated me so badly I've decided I will not attempt to speak to people again about the single file issue.

Introduce yourself as Dr. Althouse.; 4/3/20, 9:23 PM
narciso said...: Scorpion winter, the character was first introduced in the 80s.; 4/3/20, 9:25 PM
FullMoon said...: Plenty of TP at Costco today. No paper towels or napkins but plenty of bumf.

John Henry

Oh, sure, but no flights from San Fran to Puerto Rico. Thanks anyway.; 4/3/20, 9:25 PM
Inga said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/3/20, 9:26 PM
Inga said...: “Culture is everything. What is your stereotype of Canada? It isn’t true, not of the country as a whole anymore, but it is true of middle class small town Ontario. Happily that is where I live. I hope it holds up when stuff gets worse.”

I spent many a happy summer in Leamington, Ontario, visiting my mother’s side of the family. We used to go on the truck with the migrant workers to pick green and wax beans in the fields to to earn spending money. We got a quarter for a small bushel. There were lots of daddy long leg spiders crawling on your legs as you sat down to pick the beans. As a city girl I was freaked out for the first several days.; 4/3/20, 9:27 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I wish I could cook for you guys. My picky kids don't appreciate it and Mr. Pants and I eat too much of it. Made chocolate peanut butter bars the other day and the kids did appreciate that, though. They lasted a couple of hours. Bunch of locusts, they are.

I am primarily reading Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy. I'm reading it now for plot and will reread it for insights. The judge and the expriest have interesting things to say about the human condition and our relationship to the Almighty, and the language is just beautiful. Just coincidentally I have read several books lately that make me think uncharitable things about the Native Americans. If you have a strong stomach, read The Son by Philipp Meyer. It's great but oh my God, they called them savages for a reason.; 4/3/20, 9:28 PM
Milwaukie guy said...: I'm doing the bandana mask, like for the bodega, the Safeway, the lumber yard and the hardware store.

I think there's some scientific merit but I also dig swanning around Portland looking like Antifa.; 4/3/20, 9:29 PM
Josephbleau said...: "Culture is everything. What is your stereotype of Canada?"

My stereotype of Canada is a place where they cut down a great lot of trees, dig oil tar from the ground, dig gold and diamonds from the fragile frozen earth, and snatch fish from their ocean homes, kill moose for fun... and look down their noses at the US for being out of tune with good EU morals.

I have regularly worked in Canada over a long career from BC to Brantford, to Toronto to Montreal to Halifax to Sidney to PEI and have many good friends there, and all agree that Canada can get away with anything, no one can blame them.

I was dining out in Napoleon's Restaurant in old Montreal with a work group and a young HR woman swore I was a liar because I told her that US citizens are not required to serve in the military.; 4/3/20, 9:29 PM
walter said...: If only we could go back to the civil days of Inga dropping her mask and calling Althouse a "dumb bitch".; 4/3/20, 9:31 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: How will Netflix and Amazon keep cranking out their original series?

What sort of acting can you do 6 feet from the other actors?

What about the obligatory sex scenes?; 4/3/20, 9:35 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: If only we could go back to the civil days of Inga dropping her mask and calling Althouse a "dumb bitch".

The moral I’ve drawn from two decades of internet battles is that there is only one thing you can say to some people:

“Thank God I’m not you!”; 4/3/20, 9:37 PM
walter said...: ST,
A helluvalotta green screen comping ;); 4/3/20, 9:38 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: So what's everybody else reading?

John Henry

4/3/20, 9:00 PM
_A Devil's guide to Hollywood: The Screenwriter as God_, Joe Ezsterhas.; 4/3/20, 9:38 PM
Original Mike said...: "If only we could go back to the civil days of Inga dropping her mask and calling Althouse a "dumb bitch"."

I like the new Inga.; 4/3/20, 9:38 PM
FullMoon said...: How will Netflix and Amazon keep cranking out their original series?

What sort of acting can you do 6 feet from the other actors?

What about the obligatory sex scenes?

Anticipating the Micheal Moore doc about how Trump tried to destroy life on earth by ignoring virus.; 4/3/20, 9:42 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: So what’s everybody else reading?

The liturgy for Palm Sunday.; 4/3/20, 9:42 PM
Josephbleau said...: When you depend on clients for your living you learn that you don't dislike people, you merely understand them.; 4/3/20, 9:42 PM
Inga said...: “If only we could go back to the civil days of Inga dropping her mask and calling Althouse a "dumb bitch"."

“I like the new Inga.”

Newsflash, no one is one dimensional.; 4/3/20, 9:43 PM
Sam L. said...: That's ADULT feet, not child feet.; 4/3/20, 9:46 PM
Mark said...: I did find four-packs of toilet paper at the dollar store.

For five dollars.; 4/3/20, 9:46 PM
Drago said...: Inga: "Newsflash, no one is one dimensional."

Indeed.

Even Carter Page has an entirely non-russian spy side to his personality!; 4/3/20, 9:46 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Psalm 31:9-16

In te, Domine, speravi

9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; *
my eye is consumed with sorrow,
and also my throat and my belly.
10 For my life is wasted with grief,
and my years with sighing; *
my strength fails me because of affliction,
and my bones are consumed.
11 I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbors,
a dismay to those of my acquaintance; *
when they see me in the street they avoid me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; *
I am as useless as a broken pot.
13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd;
fear is all around; *
they put their heads together against me;
they plot to take my life.
14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord. *
I have said, "You are my God.
15 My times are in your hand; *
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, *
and in your loving-kindness save me."; 4/3/20, 9:47 PM
Mark said...: I got through the first page of The Plague.

I wonder if there is a better translation.; 4/3/20, 9:47 PM
Inga said...: I made cinnamon rolls today with cream cheese frosting. I haven’t weighed myself and I don’t plan to.; 4/3/20, 9:48 PM
Mark said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/3/20, 9:48 PM
Original Mike said...: "I haven’t weighed myself and I don’t plan to."

Knowledge is power.; 4/3/20, 9:51 PM
Bruce Gee said...: Just reread THE LIVING by Annie Dillard, about the migration to California and the coast.
There is a funny story about a German boy who was advised once he got to California to learn English.
Once there he travelled north to Oregon and joined a lumbering crew, intent on learning thenew language.
In the Spring, he sauntered into San Francisco, swaggered into a bar, and ordered a beer in his new language.
He was met by puzzled looks. He repeated the order. A German standing at the bar asked him what he was about. "I'm ordering a beer in English!" he replied.
"Son, that isn't English. That's Finnish."
Well, that's a summary anyway.; 4/3/20, 9:52 PM
Smerdyakov said...: Ran across two women in the park. They were abreast of each other, on the opposite sides of the road close to the grass, and yapping to each other loudly from the moment I spotted them. They did not want to spray each other. They didn't care that I had to pass in the middle and be sprayed by both.; 4/3/20, 9:57 PM
Josephbleau said...: "So what's everybody else reading?"

I am reading Camilla Townsend's "Fifth Sun." I always wondered what happened 30 years after Cortes won Tenochtitlan. This is not the usual Aztec Human Sacrifice Holocaust Denial. The thing that really makes me love it is that the author teaches you to pronounce the Nahuatl names of people and places that still dot Mexico. I can now say Xculhuacatlpopocatepital with ease.; 4/3/20, 10:03 PM
narciso said...: i mentioned this in the crime thread; 4/3/20, 10:04 PM
Ken B said...: Josephbleau
I am near Branford. And yes, Canadian stereotypes of Americans are pervasive, and Canadians are confident they are true.

BUT you do have the NFL draft.; 4/3/20, 10:05 PM
walter said...: Smerdyakov,
How close were you to either of them?

Local store has a cluster of about 20 single rolls of TP (Scott brand)
A couple signs at either end say Limit (#? scratched out) 1.
I imagined someone repurchasing in various disguises.
More likely, families sending in members sequentially.; 4/3/20, 10:06 PM
John henry said...: Son, that isn't English. That's Finnish."
Well, that's a summary anyway.

That made me laugh, Bruce. Thanks. I needed it.

I've heard of Annie Dillard. Never felt an inclination to read her.

Now I'm going to download the sample of the living

John Henry; 4/3/20, 10:08 PM
wild chicken said...: I'm jumping around in four books, 1491, Conquest of New Spain, Sapiens, and Who We Re and How We Got Here (again). Trying to put it all together.

I had the thought that Bishop Ussher's calculation of 4004 BC as the year of "creation" was actually a pretty fair guess for the beginning of civilization. Mesopotamia was beginning to stir by then.

Maybe I'll switch to Carnegie.; 4/3/20, 10:09 PM
Milwaukie guy said...: I'm going down to the basement to find my copy of W. MacNeils's Plagues and Peoples. Tomorrow, maybe. If you haven't read it yet, now is the time.; 4/3/20, 10:09 PM
Josephbleau said...: Did you know that Cortes' dead body was carried to Spain, then returned to Mexico, and now lies in an obscure corner of a Church south of the Zocallo in Mexico City?; 4/3/20, 10:12 PM
Drago said...: Inga: "I made cinnamon rolls today with cream cheese frosting. I haven’t weighed myself and I don’t plan to."

It figures you would be the one to mention my kryptonite.

Curse You Cinnabon! Why do you have to be so good?!

By the way, if anyone is ever close to Northfield MN, pop on in to the Ole Store Restaurant at St Olaf College and order their Cinnamon Pecan Roll.

Might just be the best ever.; 4/3/20, 10:13 PM
Charlie Currie said...: Trump should wear a full face Hillary mask with an n95 over it.; 4/3/20, 10:15 PM
Josephbleau said...: Thanks Ken, we British seedlings need to stick together. God Save the Queen! As to sports, I agree with the Cape Breton folk that curling is the best judge of character.; 4/3/20, 10:18 PM
FullMoon said...: C'mon, man!
Bad decision by Trump; 4/3/20, 10:22 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Anyone who says one person can't change the world never ate an undercooked bat.; 4/3/20, 10:23 PM
JAORE said...: Interesting articles out about how viral load is largely determinate on whether you get sick, or how sick you get. So get a few viruses intake and you may not get sick at all, but your body will begin to develop resistance. Perhaps biking by people at 4 feet gives you the Goldilocks viral load. And perhaps staying under your bed for six weeks then re-entering the world will give you a mega dose.

Or not.; 4/3/20, 10:25 PM
Ken B said...: Josephbleau
I hadn’t thought about it, but I wonder what will happen to the monarchy in Canada as a result of the virus. As for me, I am a republican in theory, but will resist any quick impulse to constitutional change for some time. Defense against opportunists.; 4/3/20, 10:27 PM
BlackjohnX said...: At Misplaced Pants - The Son was made into an AMC TV series with Pierce Brosnan. Saw it on one of the streaming channels about a year ago. Really well done. Recommend it highly.; 4/3/20, 10:28 PM
Gahrie said...: A new book was delivered today.The Pursuit of the Pankera. It's a "discovered" novel by Heinlein. It is his first pass at a book that would later become The Number of the Beast The books begin the same, but quickly diverge into different stories. This version is supposed to be heavily influenced by his early work, while the Number version is much more similar to his late work.

I'll let you guys know if I like it as I read it.; 4/3/20, 10:28 PM
Narr said...: I'm walking more, and indulging less sweets, and have shaved a bit off the morning weigh-in--all within the daily variation, but the trend is south.

I have a pile of bandannas in my drawer (if I'm wearing pants, I have a bandanna in the pocket) that I'm starting to try on. The older soft ones feel better, but the newer ones can be folded up to a sort of Darth Vader jawline.

If I have to look like an idiot, I'll look like a stylish idiot.

Reading. Here's an interesting bit of eerie linkage. One of the books I got from my sick friend's house is a paperback from about 1965 by Andrew Tully (a reporter I had not heard of) entitled Berlin: Story of a Battle. It's actually quite good, like a more narrowly focused Cornelius Ryan book.

Anyway, the very first incident in the book is a bomb dropping among the queue at a butcher's. The location is the very same block I walked to twice from our hotel in Berlin in November (to the zinnfiguren shop). That was a strange reading moment.

Of course, once you've been to a place of conflict--even one as changed as Berlin--any story about it takes on some heft. Near the end of the book now, and the Red Army has just battled across the Koenigsplatz to engage in room-to-room combat inside the Reichstag. In November that open space was crammed with barricades, stages, news trucks, and good-natured strollers and partiers where a battle had been just one lifetime before.

I only wish I'd known the book before the trip.

Narr
Gute Nacht; 4/3/20, 10:31 PM
Bob Boyd said...: But I'm really glad the signs are there making the point.

Hopefully you will see the same couple again at the trailhead one of these first days. You can gesture toward the sign and say, "Suck on it, bitches!"; 4/3/20, 10:34 PM
iowan2 said...: After a review of 29 FISA applications, from eight FBI field offices, the OIG informed the FBI and DOJ that none of the surveillance applications were compliant with the Woods procedures. Meaning zero applications had FBI evidence to support the validity of the claims within the FISA warrants. That’s a very big problem if those FISA warrants were used to gather evidence used to prosecute the 29 targets of the applications.

The DoJ and FBI are corrupt,

But rest well. Pelosi and Schiff, will write a strongly worded memo after President Trump is acquitted the second time they impeach him. Important things always take priority.; 4/3/20, 10:35 PM
Josephbleau said...: Ken:

I heard that many Canadians supported Trudeau last year because they did not want divided government. I think the parliamentary system is flawed, especially when the PM himself went on the floor and bitched out the bench.

I have to believe that there is an in between style of government available. Political Science is nothing but lessons in how to win elections.; 4/3/20, 10:35 PM
mockturtle said...: Original Mike reports: I like the new Inga.

So do I. At least for now before the political season resumes. ;-) If it does.

Funny how our original 'alliances' have been broken and new ones formed based on the virus. It is what it is right now and there's not a helluva lot we can do about it, so let's at least be civil. Yes?; 4/3/20, 10:37 PM
mockturtle said...: I know, Althouse would say 'civility bullshit'. I've been a guilty as anyone of occasional bouts of mean-spiritedness and for that I am sorry.; 4/3/20, 10:40 PM
Michael said...: Pants
Harold Bloom called Blood Meridian a better novel than Moby Dick. Blood Meridian is in my top ten novels. It is also the only book I ever listened to being read. Years after I read the book I got it on audible and listened while I walked.; 4/3/20, 10:40 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Newsflash, no one is one dimensional."

You haven't met Chuck?????; 4/3/20, 10:40 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "I wonder if there is a better translation."

To really understand the work, it has to be read in the original Klingon.; 4/3/20, 10:42 PM
Josephbleau said...: "A new book was delivered today.The Pursuit of the Pankera. It's a "discovered" novel by Heinlein. It is his first pass at a book that would later become The Number of the Beast The books begin the same, but quickly diverge into different stories. This version is supposed to be heavily influenced by his early work, while the Number version is much more similar to his late work.

I'll let you guys know if I like it as I read it."

Good advice is, "always avoid the late Heinlein"

Disclosure Warning!

I read the book and it is old style sexy and promotes the classes of men between high testosterone vs intellectual. But I liked it, I loved Deety and Glenda from OZ. And the reference to the lensmen.; 4/3/20, 10:42 PM
Josephbleau said...: "it has to be read in the original Klingon."

nuqDaq ‘oH puchpa’’e’

Why does spell check say that is wrong?; 4/3/20, 10:48 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Some YouTube humor for our dark times.; 4/3/20, 10:48 PM
Sebastian said...: "So get a few viruses intake and you may not get sick at all, but your body will begin to develop resistance. Perhaps biking by people at 4 feet gives you the Goldilocks viral load."

Wait, so those rude people on the trail who did not move out of the way for Althouse might actually have been doing her a favor?; 4/3/20, 10:49 PM
Sebastian said...: Althouse! Check out the NYC subway picture at Instapundit.

Amazing! So here the country goes into lockdown to the tune of trillions but those New Yorkers in the hottest of hot spots just keep congregating in their trains? What are we doing?; 4/3/20, 10:53 PM
StephenFearby said...: Coronaviruses Similar to The COVID-19 One Have Just Been Found in Pangolins
27 MARCH 2020

A search for the 'missing link' in the chain of the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 has uncovered two close cousins of the new coronavirus in shipments of pangolins being smuggled into China.

It's important to note that the discovery by researchers from across Hong Kong and China falls well short of identifying these precious mammals as the source of the current pandemic. However, the similarity of the strains does suggest the nation's pangolin market is a time bomb that needs to be defused...

https://www.sciencealert.com/coronavirus-discovery-in-pangolins-shows-why-wildlife-markets-need-better-regulations

Without crediting:

Current Biology March 19, 2020 (Open Access)

Probable Pangolin [instead of bats] Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Associated with the COVID-19 Outbreak

• Pangolin-CoV is 91.02% identical to SARS-CoV-2 at the whole-genome level
• Pangolin-CoV is the second closest relative of SARS-CoV-2 behind RaTG13
• Five key amino acids in the RBD are consistent between Pangolin-CoV and SARS-CoV-2
• Only SARS-CoV-2 contains a potential cleavage site for furin proteases

"...On 24 October 2019, Liu and his colleagues from the Guangdong Wildlife Rescue Center of China [1] first detected the existence of a SARS-CoV-like CoV from lung samples of two dead Malayan pangolins with a frothy liquid in their lungs and pulmonary fibrosis, and this fact was discovered close to when the COVID-19 outbreak occurred."

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30360-2

The Telegraph (2015)

Pangolins: why this cute prehistoric mammal is facing extinction

"...Each year about 100,000 are snatched from the wild and shipped to China and Vietnam, where their meat is considered a delicacy, their scales allegedly ‘cure’ anything from acne to cancer, and they fetch several hundred dollars each. The demand has soared as those countries have boomed economically. Pangolins are being traded on an ‘epic scale’, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says. They are in ‘precipitous decline’, have been ‘extirpated from vast areas’ of south-east Asia and are increasingly being plundered in Africa."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11370277/Pangolins-why-this-cute-prehistoric-mammal-is-facing-extinction.html; 4/3/20, 10:58 PM
JaimeRoberto said...: If you have a strong stomach, read The Son by Philipp Meyer. It's great but oh my God, they called them savages for a reason.

The Comanches were bad mofos to other Indian tribes too. A buddy of mine is part Arapahoe. He says that when he was a kid, if someone had diarrhea, his grandmother would say, "What's the matter? You got the Comanches after you?"

Empire of the Summer Moon is a good book about them.; 4/3/20, 10:58 PM
mockturtle said...: I don't feel much sorrow for a city that elects De Blasio and Cuomo. But the MSM are all centered there so it always gets the attention. Someone did an undercover investigative video of the 'crowded' hospitals in NYC and there was no chaos and very little activity. There were no bodies in the refrigerated units. Are the numbers real?; 4/3/20, 11:05 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Just coincidentally I have read several books lately that make me think uncharitable things about the Native Americans. If you have a strong stomach, read The Son by Philipp Meyer. It's great but oh my God, they called them savages for a reason.

About a year and a half ago I was waiting for one son at the library and picked up a book on the West to pass the time. There were many reports of incidents with Native Americans. Yow! They didn't teach that in school.; 4/3/20, 11:10 PM
Christy said...: Downloaded The Pursuit of the Pankera when someone here told us about it. I put off reading this last ever Heinlein because I wanted to keep looking forward to it, but finally dived in. I remember liking Number very much. I'm still in the early part where the books are identical, but finding it hard going. It reads to me, now that I'm an old woman, like an old man's Mary Sue story. I shall keep going because it is Heinlein. My re-reads of his juveniles have been entirely satisfying.

The latest Mercy Thompson, Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs, dropped last week. Urban fantasy that feeds right into my love of myth and fairy tales. I've always been intrigued by Coyote, our protagonist. The books expand and explore more archetypes as the series continues. I enjoyed it. Highly recommend they be read in order.; 4/3/20, 11:15 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Yow! They didn't teach that in school.

Ma Ingalls was right to be deathly afraid of them. I read tons about Native Americans as a kid but I guess I wasn't reading the gory stuff.; 4/3/20, 11:16 PM
Josephbleau said...: At the risk of exceeding my post limit, the pangolins were the most unattractive culture in Star Trek deep space 9. The girl pangolins were not falling out of their outfits.; 4/3/20, 11:18 PM
walter said...: Sebastian said...
Althouse! Check out the NYC subway picture at Instapundit.
--
MTA reduced routes.
So..; 4/3/20, 11:21 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Reading The Pursuit of the Pankera now. I've just gotten past the divergence point with TNOTB (which happens when they reach Barsoom). You have to factor in the idea of a "liberated" book written by a man born in 1907, but so far I am liking it.

I am struck, as well, by something I totally missed when reading The Number Of The Beast back in the day. Despite all the invocations of Doc Smith, I somehow did not see that at least the first third of the book is a recapitulation of Smith's The Skylark of Space (the first space opera): Two bantering couples, a brilliant scientist and man of action, a deadly menace and a wonderful new conveyance to unimagined worlds. To take it even a bit further, Smith was to some extent lampooning Burroughs, with his naked, martial Martians, so that the Skylark's first destination "Osnome" is modeled on (and sounds like) "Barsoom". In Pankera Heinlein even has the Earth party do the doubletalk grandiose introducions to the natives that Smith pioneered. That's as far as I've gotten so far, but it's been fun, and so far we've avoided the tedious "lifeboat" & "who's in command" stuff from Beast.; 4/3/20, 11:28 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: "What's the matter? You got the Comanches after you?"

They were unbelievable. Funny such vicious brutes got a Jeep named after them.; 4/3/20, 11:30 PM
Josephbleau said...: Just wait for the lifeboat and who is in command effusion.; 4/3/20, 11:32 PM
Gahrie said...: About a year and a half ago I was waiting for one son at the library and picked up a book on the West to pass the time. There were many reports of incidents with Native Americans. Yow! They didn't teach that in school.

It was pretty brutal both ways. Both sides recognized it was a fight to the death for their cultures.

The Calif. curriculum basically treats Indians as noble and living peacefully in harmony with nature until the White man came along, who then preceded to oppress the Indians for the rest of history.

One of the things I discuss with my seniors in government is why does Mexico get away with having Aztec symbols on their flag, and why do they get to proudly claim to be Aztecs? (They'not...the Aztecs were wiped out, Mexicans are descended from the people brutalized by the Aztecs.) The Aztecs were the NAZIs of their time and place. They waged continual war on their neighbors to take captives for slavery and sacrifice.; 4/3/20, 11:32 PM
walter said...: Mock,
There are numerous purported(cell phone)video clips of bodies being lifted into the trucks filmed from/across streets.
But if you have a link to what you speak of, please post.; 4/3/20, 11:33 PM
Mark said...: Watching the score on our newest sport is frustrating.

The number of cases is wrong, we know, because we know that not everyone who has it gets tested for it. Trying to track the progression of daily deaths is tough because I'm sure the numbers sometime lag and then subsequently catch up. Thursday supposedly we saw a dip in deaths and then Friday spiked to the highest number yet -- or were those really Thursday numbers simply did not get put on the board until Friday?

I do see that Washington State is dropping further and further down the board.; 4/3/20, 11:33 PM
Josephbleau said...: I was told at a young age in school in Texas, that the Comanche are the reason that the US got Texas. The Mexicans did not have the power to keep it.; 4/3/20, 11:35 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: I was talking, peripherally, about Burroughs above, and the last time I read A Princess Of Mars I noticed something about his Mars I had not before. As much as Burroughs gets pilloried for his 19th century racial attitudes, when John Carter flees Earth (it's complicated, and never completely explained, but somehow he astrally projects while his body, trapped in an Arizona cave by marauding Apaches seems dead) he leaves behind a situation where the "red" men are evil and the "white" men are good and arrives in a situation where the "red" men are good and the "white" men are evil. If you want to take it a step further, on Barsoom, the whites have explicitly inculcated in the reds a religion that is entirely to the white's advantage...; 4/3/20, 11:45 PM
mockturtle said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/3/20, 11:54 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/3/20, 11:58 PM
mockturtle said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/3/20, 11:58 PM
rightguy said...: Thanks, Thomas. I needed to read that after a 12.5 hour day of work at the hospital.

I am listening to this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5W67uBRZCo; 4/4/20, 12:08 AM
heyboom said...: Last Saturday, one of my RN wife's coworkers wasn't feeling well with a fever and was disoriented. Turns out she tested positive for Covid-19 and is now in the hospital on a ventilator. Everyone in her unit is upset that she would come in to work while feeling sick. It's an example of how your precautions are only as strong as the weakest link. And a nurse of all people should know they're sick and take appropriate precautions!

So far, nobody who worked with her that day has shown any symptoms because they were masked and protected the whole time with the exception of one of her friends who ate lunch with the infected nurse. That friend had a fever a couple of days ago but felt better and was going to come into work today. Fortunately, she was put on call and stayed home.; 4/4/20, 12:11 AM
Drago said...: "What's the matter? You got the Comanches after you?"

I Have Misplaced My Pants: "They were unbelievable. Funny such vicious brutes got a Jeep named after them."

Most of our military helicopters and many missile systems are named after native american warrior tribes, and for good reason.; 4/4/20, 12:13 AM
narciso said...: We give our most resolute adversaries the honor of naming weapon systems after them; 4/4/20, 12:14 AM
mockturtle said...: And a nurse of all people should know they're sick and take appropriate precautions!

Unfortunately, health care workers are under considerable pressure to show up. Short staffing is a big problem. This is probably why that nursing facility in WA had so many cases. The staff, even though some were symptomatic, were never tested and it was a staff member who started the infection there. And many get no sick leave so can't afford to miss work for a few days.; 4/4/20, 12:24 AM
heyboom said...: They were told early on that if they felt they had been exposed to self-quarantine at home with pay. Then they realized that a lot of nurses would be staying home whether exposed or not.; 4/4/20, 12:33 AM
walter said...: Mock,
Something I should know about that deleted post?; 4/4/20, 12:39 AM
mockturtle said...: Taiwan officials are concerned about recent aggressive airspace incursion by the Chinese military and are concerned that China may use the pandemic to attempt to annex Taiwan as the US is absorbed by virus mitigation. If wonder if they think the US would really go stand up to China to ensure Taiwan's independence. I'd like to think so but China owns much of our debt and much of our economy. Sad. We've sold our soul to the Devil and now are paying the price.; 4/4/20, 12:42 AM
mockturtle said...: Walter, the source appears to have disappeared.; 4/4/20, 12:50 AM
walter said...: What?
Clip is here; 4/4/20, 12:55 AM
mockturtle said...: Oh. I was looking it up by title on Youtube and couldn't find it. Did you watch it? Very amateurish of course but makes me wonder. With everyone staying home, who is to find out what's going on?; 4/4/20, 12:58 AM
chickelit said...: 6 feet across is the new 6 feet under? I'm guessing that the fixation on "six feet" has to do with the average height of a man?; 4/4/20, 1:05 AM
walter said...: Yes. It's a compilation of various sources. The interaction with one of the clinic folk disturbed me. That part should be verifiable. She (previously in news and so name known) was filming the person filming her. Compare clips if in dispute.; 4/4/20, 1:06 AM
chickelit said...: In all this forthcoming sinophobia, I think it important to distinguish and emphasize the distinction between the Chinese people and the Chinese government. We acknowledge here same distinction here wrt our government. That being said, the current Chinese government is not, never has been, and never will be our ally. Period. The present Chinese government is in fact our enemy.; 4/4/20, 1:10 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: "The Calif. curriculum basically treats Indians as noble and living peacefully in harmony with nature until the White man came along, who then preceded to oppress the Indians for the rest of history."

That's how it was taught in Arkansas too.

"The Aztecs were the NAZIs of their time and place. They waged continual war on their neighbors to take captives for slavery and sacrifice. "

I've never understood why we are supposed to feel bad for the Aztecs. As John Stossel would say, "Give me a break."; 4/4/20, 1:24 AM
mockturtle said...: Noble Savage. Bunk.; 4/4/20, 1:29 AM
chickelit said...: Romancing the Stone Age.; 4/4/20, 1:43 AM
rhhardin said...: 6 feet is nice but makes zero sense outdoors where there's wind. Also if you're moving relative to each other, you're leaving a wake behind you much more than six feet long.; 4/4/20, 4:23 AM
brylun said...: New April 3, 2020 FISA Court Order:

"1. The government forthwith shall provide the Court with the names of the targets and
the docket numbers for the 29 applications reviewed by the OIG and specify which targets and docket numbers correspond to the four applications for which the FBI could not locate a Woods File and the three for which it could not say whether a Woods File ever existed;
2. The government shall:
(a) assess to what extent those 29 applications involved material misstatements or
omissions; and
(b) assess whether any such material misstatements and omissions render invalid, in
whole or in part, authorizations granted by the Court for that target in the reviewed
docket or other dockets.
In making those assessments, the government shall prioritize cases and targets for which the FBI was unable to locate a Woods File for the OIG's review;
3. By June 15, 2020, the government shall make a sworn submission reporting on the
conduct and results of the assessments required by paragraph 2 above , including the basis for assessing that particular misstatements or omissions were not material or otherwise did not render invalid any Court authorization;
4. Starting no later than June 15, 2020, and at two-month intervals thereafter, the
government shall report on the progress of efforts to account for and ensure the proper
maintenance of Woods Files for all dockets beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and, as
appropriate, take associated remedial steps. The government undertook such efforts in response to one of the recommendation s in the OIG Memorandum. See OIG Memorandum at 9, 12; and
5. In its March 5, 2020, Corrected Opinion and Order, the Court required the
government, by May 22, 2020, to submit "a description of any audit, review, or compliance
mechanisms implemented or to be implemented by the FBI's Office of Integrity and Compliance
or Resource Planning Office that bear on the efficacy of any of the remedial measures discussed therein. See Opinion and Order at 18. Such submission shall also describe how the government will use the results of accuracy reviews to identify patterns or trends so that the FBI can enhance training to improve performance in following the Woods Procedures or improve policies to help ensure the accuracy of FISA applications, as it has undertaken to do in response to the other recommendation in the OIG Memorandum. See OIG Memorandum at 9, 12, 15."; 4/4/20, 5:03 AM
stevew said...: I think you're on to something rhhardin. The 6 foot rule, as applied outdoors, is just rationalization to make folks feel better, like they're doing something useful and positive.; 4/4/20, 5:31 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: "This is what I tried to talk to people on the trail about yesterday, and they treated me so badly I've decided I will not attempt to speak to people again about the single file issue."

No one likes a buttinski. MYOB.

THEOLDMAN

Stay safe!; 4/4/20, 6:05 AM
Jaq said...: "We used to go on the truck with the migrant workers to pick green and wax beans”

I did that as a teenager and I especially hated picking beans because, irrationally, it took so long to fill up a bushel. When you were picking tomatoes, you could fill one of those hand baskets in a couple of minutes, and it seemed like less work even though it wasn’t. I guess that was the first real sign I was ADD. Life worked out anyways.; 4/4/20, 6:23 AM
Smerdyakov said...: Waiter,
About four feet.; 4/4/20, 6:29 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: So glad they put it in metric! Whew!!; 4/4/20, 6:31 AM
Jaq said...: Tomorrow is my first day out of stir. Have been living in the RV for thirteen days, using the RV kitchen, so I have lost a little weight. But Sunday I will have fulfilled my obligations under the governor’s order to self isolate. State still locked down though.; 4/4/20, 6:47 AM
Fernandinande said...: The guy with the kid is only 3'9" tall.

I've decided I will not attempt to speak to people again about the single file issue.

The sign says to wait; it doesn't say to lecture.; 4/4/20, 6:48 AM
MayBee said...: Ann Althouse said...
I think the people in the single file lines are from a household unit that is walking together side by side. They need to know to get into single file so that other people can walk by with 6 feet of clearance. This is what I tried to talk to people on the trail about yesterday, and they treated me so badly I've decided I will not attempt to speak to people again about the single file issue. It makes me feel too bad to find out that some people are so ignorant/uncaring. But I'm really glad the signs are there making the point.

The signs make what they want people to do pretty clear. That's how you get people to understand the single file issue.; 4/4/20, 6:49 AM
Jaq said...: "Noble Savage. Bunk.”

I cut them a lot of slack because they were fighting for their homes. I would hope that we would fight as hard if a force came to round us up into concentration camps, err, I mean reservations, after having inflicted pandemic after pandemic on us, intentionally or not.

Nobody comes out of those times smelling like a rose.; 4/4/20, 6:52 AM
Jaq said...: When Henry Hudson sailed the Halfmoon up his famous river the first time, his men used the Indians, who gathered on the shore to see such a sight, for target practice.

When Cabot first visited where Montreal now stands, there were tens of thousands of Indians living in a city there. When he came back ten years later, they had all died off due to plague of some kind carried by Cabot’s ship, almost certainly, and there was a new bunch of Indians who spoke completely different languages.

There is an archeological site near that area, but in Vermont on Lake Champlain, that had been inhabited for thousands of years as a village that became uninhabited right about the time of Cabot’s visit. No new tribe came in and took over.

It wasn’t done on purpose, but Jeezum Crow, it’s hard to get too mad at the Indians in retrospect.; 4/4/20, 7:00 AM
Rick.T. said...: You bean pickers had it easy. Try walking through an Indiana cornfield in early August in long sleeves jerking the tops off corn stalks for 35 cents an hour! In those pre-equality days the girls got to ride on a modified combine and work from above for the same rate as we did.

For you city folks this was done so the hybrid seed people could fertilizer the silks with specific pollen to create what I assume now were F1 crosses for selling or further research. For you doubters about the name Cornjerkers, the good people of Hoopeston, Illinois would like a word with you.; 4/4/20, 8:21 AM
tcrosse said...: In the UK the standard is two metres, which is around 6'6".; 4/4/20, 8:41 AM
Ken B said...: Josephbleau
“ I heard that many Canadians supported Trudeau last year because they did not want divided government. I think the parliamentary system is flawed, especially when the PM himself went on the floor and bitched out the bench. ”

Well, they got divided ie minority government, alas. Canadians think we are more rational about politics than Americans. Trudeau proves we are too confident about that. I won’t go on. I am glad you know about that incident. For other readers, he physically assaulted two members on the floor of the House of Commons. And was re elected.; 4/4/20, 8:58 AM
Original Mike said...: "I'd like to think [we'd defend Taiwan] but China owns much of our debt and much of our economy."

If we were to get in a war with China, they ain't getting paid back.; 4/4/20, 9:13 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: I noticed that the other day Charles Cardinal Maung Bo, archbishop of Yangon in Myanmar/Burma, made a statement directly and unequivocally putting the blame for the plague etc on the Chinese regime. He rambles a bit and the quality of the sources cited is, perhaps, mixed, but he's very clear about the important things.

But there is one government that has primary responsibility, as a result of what it has done and what it has failed to do, and that is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime in Beijing. Let me be clear – it is the CCP that has been responsible, not the people of China, and no one should respond to this crisis with racial hatred towards the Chinese. Indeed, the Chinese people were the first victims of this virus and have long been the primary victims of their repressive regime. They deserve our sympathy, our solidarity and our support. But it is the repression, the lies and the corruption of the CCP that are responsible.; 4/4/20, 10:21 AM
Francisco D said...: I think everyone should check out Walter's YouTube link.

Once again, the media reports their agenda, but not the truth.; 4/4/20, 10:35 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “ It wasn’t done on purpose, but Jeezum Crow, it’s hard to get too mad at the Indians in retrospect”

I can’t fault the Indians. They were fighting for their lives, but were on the wrong side of history. Once the British got a decent foothold on the continent, it was all but over for the Indians. It would take a quarter of a century, but the demographics essentially necessitated that they ultimately were going to be wiped out, assimilated, or relegated to reservations. The key difference tweet how the British came to the New World was that they sent families, while the French and Spanish sent males almost exclusively. The Spanish came to conquer, the French to exploit, but the British came to settle the New World, which they proceeded to do. They farmed, had a lot of kids, who pushed further west, farming and having a lot of kids themselves. The Indians got a respite with our attention turned inward, during our Civil War, but after that, as we recovered from that, the end of the Indian way of life was inevitable. By then, the White population of the Continental US may have been as much as 100-1 over the Indian population. After Custer, the US just fielded larger and larger military commands, until the Indians were just overwhelmed. And they could do it because of their enormously larger population base, based on a farming, and not hunting, way of life (moreover, the farming became more and more productive allowing for the growth of cities, and even more potential soldiers).

Compounding this, of course, was the intentional destruction of the huge bison herds that used to flourish throughout the Great Plains. Esp during the earlier part of the 19th century, the plains tribes had flourished, growing as horses enabled them to follow the bison herds, and live almost full time on their bison hunting, instead of only killing bison when they came their way.

This wasn’t the first time that technology caused this sort of conquest. Much of the history of the world was driven by this, from the invention of farming, through the use of horses for transportation and war, the invention of chariots, stirrups, etc. and we may be seeing it again in action, in Europe, as it appears to be succumbing to a rising tide of Muslim invaders.

Sure, disease played a part, but I would suggest that it’s part was mostly at the time that Europeans first came to the New World. Looking back, if the Indians had been smart, and could have resisted the diseases that Europeans brought, they should have killed every Europeans who set foot here. Probably shouldn’t have taken that many European deaths to scare them off. The Indians didn’t know though about the existential threat that they faced, and our diseases effectively cleared beachheads for European settlements. It was effectively like the bombings and shellings that accompanied D-Day - Looking back, the Allied invasion of Europe looks inevitable, but Eisenhower, the mastermind behind D-Day, realized that they could fail, and could not conquer Germany until they had a good foothold in Europe.; 4/4/20, 10:38 AM
mockturtle said...: Francisco D suggests: I think everyone should check out Walter's YouTube link.

Once again, the media reports their agenda, but not the truth.

After receiving that video link from my daughter, I originally posted but later deleted it because of the amateurish nature of the production. But the content was very thought-provoking and got me to consider that if we're all staying home, how do we know for sure what's really happening? We certainly can't trust the MSM.; 4/4/20, 11:16 AM
Narr said...: Canada is a wonderful place--at least from my brief visit to Quebec City about 1974. I'd hate to see the Prince and Princess of Canada* suffer because of this crisis.

Noam Chomsky, and other lefties, like to think they make a point by criticizing the American habit of naming weapons for Indian tribes, rather than recognizing an instance of one of the world's oldest gestures of respect for a vanquished foe. (Respect for losers not really being a leftie thing.)

Chomsky chortles that it's like the Nazis naming a missile "The Jew." How profound, much like his opinion that the world's troubles and vexations almost all arise from unchecked corporate power--in his mind, and explicitly, governments are not a problem.

Anyway, the influence of First Nation peoples (thanks, Canucks!) on the US way of making war is deeper than a matter of names. Americans had to master small war (guerrilla) in their expansion, and the principles and practices developed on the frontier from the very beginning became part of the American way.

Looked at from the broadest perspective, the European conquest of North America is just another iteration of the age-old contest between settler/soldiers and nomad/raiders, and the scenario was playing out in Siberia at the same time.

Narr
*South Park; 4/4/20, 11:25 AM
Anthony said...: Sure, disease played a part, but I would suggest that it’s part was mostly at the time that Europeans first came to the New World. Looking back, if the Indians had been smart, and could have resisted the diseases that Europeans brought, they should have killed every Europeans who set foot here. Probably shouldn’t have taken that many European deaths to scare them off. The Indians didn’t know though about the existential threat that they faced, and our diseases effectively cleared beachheads for European settlements.

Actually, it pretty much cleared the continents, on the order of 85-90% depopulation, most of it before any of the inhabitants ever heard of Europeans. Once the diseases themselves got introduced they didn't need Europeans to disperse. There's been some disagreement over the timing and extent (see here for example, but for the most part it made the Black Death look like a piker.; 4/4/20, 11:31 AM
Ken B said...: So in walter's clip we see a cordoned off waiting area. Cordoned off, cannot be used. Keep out. And it’s ... empty. Which is supposed to mean the hospital isn’t stressed?

It’s a vast plot, a complete worldwide hoax, exposed by the cell phone video of .... the empty waiting room. The empty *cordoned off* waiting room.; 4/4/20, 11:38 AM
Gospace said...: Inga said...
“Culture is everything. What is your stereotype of Canada? It isn’t true, not of the country as a whole anymore, but it is true of middle class small town Ontario. Happily that is where I live. I hope it holds up when stuff gets worse.”

I spent many a happy summer in Leamington, Ontario, visiting my mother’s side of the family. We used to go on the truck with the migrant workers to pick green and wax beans in the fields to to earn spending money.

Migrant workers? In Canada? But, but, I've been told it's only in the evil United States where we don't pay people enough to do a job because we import migrants!; 4/4/20, 1:20 PM
walter said...: Well, I wasn't going to bat for that clip.
But Ken B's summary of it is ridiculous.
He is "lazy" and doesn't "care".; 4/4/20, 1:26 PM
Martin said...: In Europe, it's 1.5 meters which is only 5 feet.

Conspiracy theory time!!!; 4/4/20, 3:15 PM
Michael K said...: Looking back, if the Indians had been smart, and could have resisted the diseases that Europeans brought, they should have killed every Europeans who set foot here. Probably shouldn’t have taken that many European deaths to scare them off

Nope. The diseases arrived in the Caribbean and spread from there. When the Spanish got to the Southwest, where we now have Arizona, etc. they found empty villages. The smallpox beat them to it. The Spanish had Indian allies to beat the Aztecs because the Aztecs were such assholes, killing and enslaving the others.

It's all explained in "The 10,000 Year Explosion," which explains how 10,000 years of separation from the Old World changed the Indians' immune system. They had not been exposed to all those diseases and they also had reduced auto-immune diseases. They were more susceptible to alcohol since they had not been exposed to wheat and its fermented form.; 4/4/20, 4:52 PM
Narr said...: The depopulations of most of South America started long before the Spanish themselves reached the area on foot. Even J. Diamond knows that.

Narr
Azt-holes; 4/4/20, 8:01 PM
Fernandinande said...: "Looking back, if the Indians had been smart, and could have resisted the diseases that Europeans brought, ..."

Nope. The diseases arrived in the Caribbean and spread from there.

Michal K. gives us an excellent example of reading comprehension deficit. Sad.; 4/5/20, 7:14 AM