Althouse: A dreary sunrise...

January 15, 2021

A dreary sunrise...

... but it's a café nonetheless.

260 comments:

«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 260 of 260

Josephbleau said...: Some day we will look over our shoulder and see Trump in the distant past. I think it will be as Andrew Jackson. Jackson supported the common man. Antifa wants his statue broken; 1/15/21, 9:45 PM
daskol said...: Well, it would be good for a comedy movie.

would make good TV too; 1/15/21, 10:00 PM
boatbuilder said...: "Does Biden have some bad advisors?"

Is the Pope Catholic?

(OK, that doesn't work as well as it used to, but still...); 1/15/21, 10:05 PM
gadfly said...: @stephen cooper said...

Please do not be innumerate.

"Innumerate" as a noun, begins with an "article" (a, an, the, words); without an article, this math word becomes an adjective describing a noun - which doesn't work in your short confusing sentence.; 1/15/21, 10:06 PM
Michael K said...: Trump's "Operation Warp Speed" was, like most of his daydreams, a massive failure.

Inga goes to bed and another idiot surfaces. n Why not ask the Governors, like Fredo Cuomo and Hair Gel Newsom?

It bis amusing to see leftists unable to make connections in logic. Of course, if you could what would the Democrat Party do ?; 1/15/21, 10:14 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: gadfly said...
"Innumerate" as a noun, begins with an "article" (a, an, the, words); without an article, this math word becomes an adjective describing a noun - which doesn't work in your short confusing sentence.

Gadfly-

Please do not be stupid.

See how that works? "Stupid" is an adjective, and it works perfectly well as something someone should, or should not, be. Same with "innumerate"; 1/15/21, 10:15 PM
effinayright said...: The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...
“Fourteen million Modera doses shipped, fifteen million Pfizer doses shipped - but only 12.3 million arm sticks. Trump's "Operation Warp Speed" was, like most of his daydreams, a massive failure.”

Maybe Cuomo could explain it...
*******************

There's something about the idea of "federalism" that some people never get.; 1/15/21, 10:22 PM
Narr said...: "Innumerate" is perfectly cromulent as a descriptor for an individual who lacks understanding of mathematics. Or as a descriptor for an individual who lacks an understanding of mathematics.

Just as someone who lacks understanding of reading is illiterate.

If you're going to pedant, get it all proper-like.

Narr
Hey, when did Howard ever claim to be young?; 1/15/21, 10:22 PM
effinayright said...: gadfly said...
"Innumerate" as a noun, begins with an "article" (a, an, the, words); without an article, this math word becomes an adjective describing a noun - which doesn't work in your short confusing sentence.
***************************

innumerate ĭ-noo͞′mər-ĭt, ĭ-nyoo͞′-►
adj. Unfamiliar with mathematical concepts and methods.
n. A person who is unfamiliar with mathematical concepts and methods.
adj. Lacking knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts and methods; by analogy with illiterate. Opposite of numerate.

The third usage works, just fine.

Please don't be silly.; 1/15/21, 10:26 PM
iowan2 said...: @10:06

You kind of prove your innumeracy by ignoring the observation and correcting the grammar.; 1/15/21, 10:26 PM
LA_Bob said...: Michael K said, "He found a great help from Senator Russell Long, who could explain complicated legislation to him. Does anyone think there is a Senator who could do that today?"

In fairness, there was a lot less legislation to explain in those days.; 1/15/21, 10:31 PM
Ken B said...: Gadfly is asshole.; 1/15/21, 10:32 PM
effinayright said...: stephen cooper said...
SO .... if the Norwegian numbers are not an anomaly (and the Norwegian health authorities took the numbers very seriously), then you, as an individual, are taking the exact same risks by getting the vaccine as you would if you just French kissed someone who was shedding the viruses at a sufficient rate to ensure you would get infected (absent a presence of antibodies in your body).

>>>>and you know all this....how? You utterly MISSED that the 13 who died were over 80. The other ten died after getting the vaccine, but there's no claim that they died FROM it.

True, you may think you are "getting it over with" by taking the vaccine, but there is another twist. What if later this year you get a mutation which the vaccine does not cover? Then your entire risk (against the non-mutated vaccine) did you no good at all. It is not undisputed that the current vaccines cover the current rare mutations, and there is no way any scientist can claim that future mutations will be covered. That is not how science has ever worked (and that is why, historically, flu vaccines are much less than 90 percent effective in most flu seasons).

>>>>It seems you are arguing that people over a certain age or with certain-comorbidities shouldn't get the vaccine. Fine, that's what the Norskis are looking at.

>>>>but how is that any different from the situation where people under ten, for example, should not be given certain medicines, even OTCs? Or old people are considered...too old... to get a heart transplant?

>>>>if the doc tells you the vaccine is 90% effective, and you have half a brain, you will understand that covid is not necessarily behind you---which is what doc tells you when you get an ordinary flu shot.

>>>> So...What's yer point? If it's "the vaccine's not perfect, so NO ONE should get it"..you're really off the wall.

What would YOU do, genius?

Your unproductive negativity is very evident.; 1/15/21, 10:36 PM
Michael K said...: In fairness, there was a lot less legislation to explain in those days.<

And the Senators mostly wrote the legislation so they could explain it.; 1/15/21, 10:37 PM
iowan2 said...: There's something about the idea of "federalism" that some people never get.

good when the federal govt wants to shut down looting, rioting, seizing of police stations,etc. and you need to pander to your base.
Good when your a Dem Gov, and Trump is President.
Bad when your a Dem Gov and are too stupid to something simple like give life saving injections
Democrat Governors are about to discover they are no longer a fan of Federalism, when they realize its a bad look to blame Harris for all the ills afflicting them.; 1/15/21, 10:37 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Narr:

If you're going to pedant, get it all proper-like.

Indeed. One of my favorites is correcting people when they misuse "acronym" for "abbreviation." You don't get much opportunity, but correcting bemused and nonplussed are also fun. For counter-pedantry, blasting the bullshit claim about ending sentences in prepositions is a good one. Just the type of errant pedantry up with which I will not put.; 1/15/21, 10:50 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: "Hey, when did Howard ever claim to be young?"

It's pretty easy to predict, within 10 years, how old someone is with just their first name.; 1/15/21, 11:01 PM
DavidUW said...: Influenza passages through pigs and/or ducks and/or chickens to become a new strain to which you lack immunity in a given year.

You are not infected by a strain to which you’ve previously been exposed.

I am unaware of any virus that evades the immune system without passaging through a different host.

People who suffer from repeated infections of the same virus have a defective immune system.

This is why you have not gotten the chickenpox, measles, smallpox, rubella or polio virus more than once.

This is why the idea that effectively vaccinated or previously infected patients can transmit the virus or get reinfected to any real degree is utter crap. All of the above viruses, possibly except polio, are more infectious than the Rona. Yet you do not transmit chickenpox after the infection resolved. Indeed, you do not transmit chickenpox despite the virus continued presence in your body (reactivating to cause shingles). Indeed, you are not infectious even with shingles.

The idea that you are potentially infectious after ‘Rona infection or vaccination is so stupid I can’t believe idiots like fraudci even state it with a straight face and he’s quite possibly a flatworm.; 1/15/21, 11:02 PM
Narr said...: It's fun, kids, but I'm off for a quick snack and a long snooze -- or so I intend.

Narr
See you at morning posts; 1/15/21, 11:03 PM
J. Farmer said...: There's something about the idea of "federalism" that some people never get.

At this point we should seriously consider getting rid of it and going back to confederalism. Federalism made sense under the original constitutional order but starts getting pretty convoluted after the Civil War. The states were no longer the basic unit of membership in the federal government. The citizens were. We changed the constitutional order but not the mechanics.

I think that's why we're eventually going to have to move to popular vote for the presidency, though I understand the thinking behind the Electoral College. The whole thing should probably be chucked, but it's inconceivable we could agree on a replacement.; 1/15/21, 11:03 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: "I think that's why we're eventually going to have to move to popular vote for the presidency, though I understand the thinking behind the Electoral College. The whole thing should probably be chucked, but it's inconceivable we could agree on a replacement."

I don't think the Dems care about troubling with EC vs PV now that they have figured out how to win at will with the EC.; 1/15/21, 11:13 PM
stephen cooper said...: " What would I do" is a question whose answer is useless to 99.999 percent of the world.

I do have friends who I talk about this with, and the friends who are very overweight really should stay home, with people who also stay home.

I am not negative at all, the search for truth, or the attempt to figure out who in the media is a dangerous imbecile, and who is not, is sort of a positive endeavor.

People are carrying out the experiment of whether the vaccine will help or harm the rest of us.
Just as masking and social distancing may have saved some individuals while endangering others who might die from the mutations that eventually preyed on the maskers and social distancers whose immune systems were enervated by months of masking and distancing, even so vaccines may save some individuals while inexorably endangering others who might not have died in a world without mRNA vaccines.

Take vitamin D, stay strong. You can't go back in time and develop an immune system that has been exposed, to a much greater degree than average, year in and year out, to the sort of microbes and virus particles that teach and train your body to fight off the next infectious disease. If you could you would have little to worry about, assuming this is not a derailed 'gain of function' bio-disaster, which of course it might be.

But you can take vitamin D, stay strong, or get strong, and consult with people of wisdom whom you trust.; 1/15/21, 11:14 PM
Mikey NTH said...: Iowan2 said...

The problem with federalism is that at some point you end up responsible, something no politician likes.; 1/15/21, 11:15 PM
Narayanan said...: D.D. Driver said...
Can somebody with a military background tell me if it is standard protocol to have troops sleeping on marble floors to secure a building? Is this really how it's done? It looks like a church lock-in.-------------
===========

what about the currently reported 20,000 troops - how are they sleeping? on sidewalks? personnel carriers etc.? port-a-potty breaks?

has anybody enquired about what are the established Rules of Engagement?; 1/15/21, 11:31 PM
DarigoldVanilla said...: My Pillow guy, Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell pass away and go to heaven.
As they pass through the pearly gates, my pillow guy stops and says to St. Peter,
“Can we just get one vital question answered, before we ascend into the afterlife?”
St.Peter patiently nods and says, “ Yes, brothers and sister. What earthly concern is troubling you, here at the threshold of paradise?”
“Can you please explain how exactly the Democrats got away with stealing the election in 2020?”
St.Peter sighs, and explains that the election fraud idea was a cynical lie, perpetrated by conmen. And that the reason there wasn’t credible proof of fraud was that it did not, in fact happen.
The three are incredulous as they proceed to heaven.
They reach God and ask him the same question, “ God. Please tell us how the Democrats stole the election and got away with it?”
God says, “ My children, lift this concern from your heart and go forth, with love. The Democrats didn’t steal the election.
Giuliani elbows Sidney in the ribs and exclaims, this thing goes higher than we thought!”; 1/15/21, 11:37 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: The gaslighting will continue until morale improves.; 1/15/21, 11:39 PM
eddie willers said...: It's pretty easy to predict, within 10 years, how old someone is with just their first name.

Explains why there aren't many "Elvis"s around.; 1/15/21, 11:55 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Rt41Rebel:

I don't think the Dems care about troubling with EC vs PV now that they have figured out how to win at will with the EC.

I've noticed something peculiar about the white working class core of Trump supporters and their reaction to the election results. Many of them express a kind of learned helplessness. A notion of futility, that the system is arrayed against them, that they are the victims of sinister machinations by nefarious forces, and even a preference for conspiratorial explanations over more mundane ones.

There is another demographic group in the US that exhibits a lot of these same characteristics: the black working class. The white working class and black working class share another important characteristic, which I suspect is related to the others. They're both minorities. Unless they unite politically.

Come to think of it, the white working class also shares a similarity with another racial minority group. When you consider the crisis of "deaths of despair" that have befallen the white working class over the past decade, the most obvious parallel is with Native Americans, a defeated people.; 1/15/21, 11:56 PM
Narayanan said...: DarigoldVanilla said...
My Pillow guy, Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell pass away and go to heaven.
---------==========
now tell me about what happens when they go to hell and talk to devil!; 1/16/21, 12:29 AM
Rt41Rebel said...: @J Farmer

If you are somehow suggesting that the white and black working class, which together probably defines at least 70% of our populous, feels defeated, outnumbered, disenfranchised, why do you think that could be? By design, or accident?; 1/16/21, 12:35 AM
Narayanan said...: What does ruat caelum mean?

Definition of fiat justitia, ruat caelum. : let justice be done, though the heavens fall.

-----------============
just now learned about this saying.

since Democratic and Rino think justice has been done - will heaven be falling?; 1/16/21, 12:40 AM
DarigoldVanilla said...: now tell me about what happens when they go to hell and talk to devil!

He says thanks guys! You really carried a lot of water for the demon-pig president I unleashed in the world.
You’re kraken awaits!; 1/16/21, 12:42 AM
DarigoldVanilla said...: *your; 1/16/21, 12:42 AM
Gospace said...: https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2021/01/14/a-domestic-terrorism-bill-only-antifa-could-love/

Apparently local law enforcement and the military are hotbeds of domestic right wing terrorism according to bills currently going through the Democrat congress.

All of you who voted Democrat are directly responsible for this idiocy. But hey, at least Trump won't be sending out mean tweets! Accusing the defenders of the nation of being white supremacists and vigilantly investigating them over and over is a small price to pay for getting rid of mean tweets.

Just wait until gas prices double and triple. All because Trump was uncouth and had to be done away with. But I'm sure none of you will complain.

BTW, have you notices the MSM is suddenly posting studies that show lockdowns really don't stop the dreaded covid? Something that people with common sense knew about at the start of the covidiocy? I'm sure it has nothing to do with Democrats totally taking over the ederal government, nothing at all to do with it. Next thing you know, they'll start publishing the studies that show mask wearing by the general public doesn't do any good either. And- causes blockages in storm drains as carelessly discarded masks which don't dissolve congregate in traditional blockage areas.; 1/16/21, 12:55 AM
DarigoldVanilla said...: But hey, at least Trump won't be sending out mean tweets!

And as president he won’t be:

Degrading the constitution
Stoking hatred and encouraging the very worst aspects in his followers.
Spreading conspiracies and peddling lies.
Enriching himself, his cronies and his family.
Almost ignoring the pandemic and in every way botching the the federal response and as a result...
tanking an inherited roaring economy; 1/16/21, 1:09 AM
Gospace said...: Spreading conspiracies and lies seems to be something Democrats are really good at. Years of investigation to find the Russian collusion that never existed. 60 or so Democrats who were former intelligence agency personnel- "Oh, Hunter's laptop is nothing but Russian disinformation!" So the news media suppressed real news because of Democrat lies, after spending yers breathlessly covering every lie that Mueller, Comey, et al leaked.

Stoking hatred? Prove it with quotes from Trump. I could list pages of Democrats inciting hatred. You can only hear dog whistles from Trump- and you know who can hear the dog whistles?

Enriching himself? How exactly? Seems he's lost money during his presidency while the Bidens increased their personal fortune with money from China and Ukraine..

Ignoring the pandemic? You mean leaving the response up to the states? And being condemned or racism- probably by you- for stopping international flights from hotbed areas at the beginning? Just what exactly do you think the federal government should have done? It's a f-----g virus- it's gonna do what a virus does regardless of what a federal bureaucracy does and regardless of what government orders are given.

An inherited roaring economy? Oops, don't know why I bothered replying at all. You are 100% completely delusional.; 1/16/21, 1:25 AM
DarigoldVanilla said...: You are flat out incorrect on all of your points.
The whataboutism of Trumpers is breathtaking.
The conspiracy theories you site, are the very things I’m talking about. If there was even a cunts hair of evidence against hunter B,
Trump’s lapdog Barr would have barked.

Trump peddles in nonsense like your “example” and you drink it like a kook-aid; 1/16/21, 1:39 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Rt41Rebel:

If you are somehow suggesting that the white and black working class, which together probably defines at least 70% of our populous, feels defeated, outnumbered, disenfranchised, why do you think that could be? By design, or accident?

The entire black population of the US, regardless of class, is about 13%. The white working class are about 40% of the population. So, the 70% figure is way too high. For comparison, the white working class was abut 70% of the US population in 1980.

There are a number of reasons for the decline. For one, more whites have obtained university degrees and gone into white-collar and professional jobs. For another, since the 1965 immigration reform, a much larger share of the US population is made up of immigrants. Non-white births have exceeded white births annually for several years now, and the K-12 population is already majority non-white.

Along with the demographic decline of the white working class over the last several decades, they have suffered economic stagnation, structural disruption from globalization, and decreased life expectancy due to alcoholism, drug overdose, and suicide. The so called "white death." Over the past 40 years, the white working class has experienced a sharp decline in its social, political, and cultural power. In essence, they're becoming strangers in their own country.

And sitting on top of all that like a perched vulture is the race issue. Mass black enfranchisement following the Voting Rights Act further redistributed political power away from whites. And even with the power of the white working class at its nadir, they're increasingly told that they're too blame for the underperformance of blacks. That they are white supremacists and have white privilege.

The short answer to your question, "By design, or accident?" is both.; 1/16/21, 2:14 AM
gadfly said...: “‘We the people’ have a responsibility to be the masters of our courts and Congress and not their servants as we’ve been lately. They are there to serve us and maintain our liberties and if they fail to do so, they need to be removed.” ~Jim Murphy, member of the Brown County Wisc Board of Supervisors, only 73 and a Black Robe Regiment numbskull, attended the January 6 Coup but surely is now aware of his totally wrong worldview.; 1/16/21, 4:03 AM
Mark said...: DavidUW, now apply your same logic to another coronavirus type ... like the common cold.

Your pat theory falls apart once you get to the same family as covid.

Its like you are knowingly comparing apples and oranges.; 1/16/21, 4:32 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Why are the Trump haters on this thread so unhappy & hate filled?
Didn't they win?
I guess that the internet just brings out the worst in some people.; 1/16/21, 4:49 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: For the record, BLM protesters besieged the White House last May.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/politics/trump-protests-george-floyd.html

This is what the NY times had to say about the BLM mob that burned down historic buildings & clashed with police (about 90 cops were injured):
By targeting antifa, however, Mr. Trump effectively paints all the protests with the brush of violent radicalism without addressing the underlying conditions that have driven many people to the streets.; 1/16/21, 4:55 AM
Humperdink said...: Darigold Vanilla attributed the following to Trump:

"Degrading the constitution
Stoking hatred and encouraging the very worst aspects in his followers.
Spreading conspiracies and peddling lies.
Enriching himself, his cronies and his family.
Almost ignoring the pandemic and in every way botching the the federal response and as a result...
tanking an inherited roaring economy"

Where to begin? One can't. One cannot debate an individual who operates outside of reality.; 1/16/21, 5:31 AM
Humperdink said...: Played pickleball the other day with three others, including a TDS afflicted Brit. After the game, the Brit wanted to know what we Yanks thought of Trump's insurrection. I suggested this was not the venue. He persisted. I asked him if heard Trumps speech. He affirmed. I asked him if he heard Trump say: "Go and have a peaceful protest"? He looked stunned. Another player stated: "Yeah, Trump said that". The Brit looked down and said: "I did not know that".

Baby steps.; 1/16/21, 5:38 AM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: CNN Tweet: Justice Department prosecutors walk back their assertion that Capitol rioters wanted to "capture and assassinate" elected officials cnn.it/3ig8mkI; 1/16/21, 5:59 AM
tim maguire said...: Blogger Lewis Wetzel said...Why are the Trump haters on this thread so unhappy & hate filled?
Didn't they win?

They are unhappy and hate filled by nature. Politics us just the most visible way it expresses itself. Trump may be the best lightening rod they’ve had since Vietnam, but Trump and politics have nothing to do with why they are such miserable people.; 1/16/21, 6:02 AM
Tina Trent said...: Ann, American Thinker, which publishes amateurs and professionals, was just informed they may no longer have comments.

How long do you think you would last without comments?

Does free speech matter to you?

Not asking for a friend. Asking you.; 1/16/21, 6:08 AM
Tina Trent said...: Blogger just removed the number of comments people have made, making it impossible to discern, say, who is a new Russian or Chinese bot and who is a real person.

Does anyone wonder why they did this? Why Steve Gates did this? Ann, what do you think this has done to the credibility of your commenters?

Now? Just now? Does anyone else smell fear?; 1/16/21, 6:14 AM
Tina Trent said...: Bill Gates. Steve Whatever. I've got a degree in liberal arts,.; 1/16/21, 6:16 AM
Tina Trent said...: Raheem Kassam caused a lot of this trouble by associating himself with Steve Bannon, who is in it for Chinese billionaire cash, of all possible ironies.

Sure, he still deserves free speech. But Chinese billionaires will pay for his rights.

While we go to camps and pay the price.; 1/16/21, 6:42 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Althouse should have titled this cafe' "A Dreory Sunrise."
The Miltonian spelling and pronunciation has more melodrama.; 1/16/21, 7:41 AM
Rusty said...: Blogger gadfly said...
"“‘We the people’ have a responsibility to be the masters of our courts and Congress and not their servants as we’ve been lately. They are there to serve us and maintain our liberties and if they fail to do so, they need to be removed.” ~Jim Murphy, member of the Brown County Wisc Board of Supervisors, only 73 and a Black Robe Regiment numbskull, attended the January 6 Coup but surely is now aware of his totally wrong worldview."
Care to go into detail about why you think he's wrong.; 1/16/21, 7:53 AM
Lurker21 said...: Today's ad tells me "Stop wiping your butt."

Is this now official blog policy?; 1/16/21, 8:22 AM
DavidUW said...: Mark. The common cold is caused by dozens if not hundreds of viruses so no.; 1/16/21, 8:33 AM
Michael K said...: that the system is arrayed against them, that they are the victims of sinister machinations by nefarious forces, and even a preference for conspiratorial explanations over more mundane ones.

Mundane like vote fraud ? Come on, man !; 1/16/21, 10:15 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Howard is a genius
I knew Howard when we were shipmates together on the Pequod. Good harpoon arm, for a white guy.; 1/16/21, 10:30 AM
Narr said...: Good morning Althousers!

How do we know Howard isn't really Edmund, or Albert? What then?

I have only known one person named Elvis for real-- he's a B/black guy about 55 or 60 now, assistant manager I think at one of the big Krogers here.

Narr
I guess I'll check the new posts now; 1/16/21, 11:13 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Micahel K:

Mundane like vote fraud ? Come on, man !

Forget even recent events. There has been a cottage industry of right-conspiracy mongering for the last few decades. See, for example, the career of Alex Jones.; 1/16/21, 11:20 AM
Narayanan said...: Humperdink said...
Played pickleball the other day with three others, including a TDS afflicted Brit. After the game, the Brit wanted to know what we Yanks thought of Trump's insurrection. I suggested this was not the venue. He persisted. I asked him if heard Trumps speech. He affirmed. I asked him if he heard Trump say: "Go and have a peaceful protest"? He looked stunned. Another player stated: "Yeah, Trump said that". The Brit looked down and said: "I did not know that".

Baby steps.
------------================
could be for the media - even though they blacked it out Trump say: "Go and have a peaceful protest"? by their own Orwellian newspeak doublethink dogwhistle becomes /riots/ which they have been calling peaceful protest all through summer and beyond.

careless language causes cognitive inertia.; 1/16/21, 1:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Progressives don't care about anyone living today. They have the US Dept of Education. They took over the States' Teacher Colleges first. A Teacher cannot get a certificate unless she drinks a gallon of Prog Koolaid and can demonstrate she will not vomit it up. Then they went for the local School Districts.

Progressives don't care about anyone living today. Like Satan, they think long term. They have the children. Hitler had his Hitler Youth. Stalin had his New Soviet Man.

Progressives have their Progkids. There is nothing new under the Sun.

BTW...if you have kids, or grandkids...get them out of Government schools.; 1/16/21, 7:08 PM