Althouse: At the Marigold Café...

January 18, 2021

At the Marigold Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

180 comments:

DavidUW said...: It will be interesting to see how Israel deals with restoring liberty as they get to 2/3or so vaccinated by March/April; 1/18/21, 7:49 PM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: Here is a great food hack I just tried tonight and it was pretty darn good. Shake a little white cheddar popcorn flavor (2 calories) on a piece baked fish. That is all.; 1/18/21, 7:50 PM
Ken B said...: I want to correct a widespread misconception about the vaccine. It is about 95% effective at preventing infection but that understates it’s effectiveness in an important way. It is nearly 100% effective at preventing a serious, life threatening case. It’s important to remember that preventing serious cases is what matters. Preventing mild cases is far less important.; 1/18/21, 7:51 PM
YoungHegelian said...: I'm glad I'm not in the National Guard.

If I had been called to active duty, sent from God-knows-where to DC, put on the street with live ammo that I may have to use against my fellow citizens, and then to have my loyalty to my oath questioned by some political pimp in the Biden administration, my response to the question of "Have you ever considered shooting someone?" would be "Well, not until now".

Can you imagine how disrespected those troops feel now?

I swear, if they did this to me, I'd go AWOL.

We should all be glad I'm not in the National Guard.; 1/18/21, 7:51 PM
mandrewa said...: I've been enjoying PJ Harvey.

Send His Love To Me

Man-Size

Down by the Water; 1/18/21, 7:54 PM
Achilles said...: I am thinking about starting a 503 non profit and building an election system. I am going to talk to people at work and see if the company would support something like this. They match contributions to Philanthropic activities.

It would be a transparent election project.

Built on machines that could only connect to a specific intranet network framework. This would probably involve writing a new but fairly simple communication protocol that would take the place of UDP/TCPIP in the network hierarchy so that it was impossible for these machines to communicate with other machines.

It would also need an SQL management system that could use this communication protocol.

A cheap board with a touchscreen monitor.

Code for tabulation and archiving would be trivial.

Printing of receipts would be trivial.

Setting up a 3rd party token auth system for encryption so that a user could look up who the state recorded their vote for while keeping the state blind to individual votes would take some work but is easily doable.

Attaching a photo to each voter and keeping a complete searchable archive of each person who voted trivial once database is set up.

Just in the spitball phase right now.

I know that corrupt states would rather spend millions to pay for a non-open source election system for obvious reasons. But this would still force legislators to justify choosing open corruption.; 1/18/21, 8:00 PM
Ken B said...: Old Hegelian
Especially as the question is a cynical smear at all trump voters.

I picture Strother Martin holding his billy-club, intoning “What we have here is failure to unify.”; 1/18/21, 8:00 PM
Sally327 said...: I just read that Germany is planning on placing people who violate pandemic restrictions into camps. This seems odd to me as I perceive Germany as one of those countries where people are generally compliant with mandates from the authorities. Are there that many violators a special camp is needed?; 1/18/21, 8:02 PM
Achilles said...: Ken B said...

I want to correct a widespread misconception about the vaccine. It is about 95% effective at preventing infection but that understates it’s effectiveness in an important way. It is nearly 100% effective at preventing a serious, life threatening case. It’s important to remember that preventing serious cases is what matters. Preventing mild cases is far less important.

If you were under 70 you immune system did better than that.

If you were under 85 pneumonia had a far higher chance of killing you than COVID.

That is why they always lumped pneumonia and flu into "COVID deaths."; 1/18/21, 8:03 PM
DavidUW said...: I want to correct a widespread misconception about the vaccine. It is about 95% effective at preventing infection but that understates it’s effectiveness in an important way. It is nearly 100% effective at preventing a serious, life threatening case. It’s important to remember that preventing serious cases is what matters. Preventing mild cases is far less important.
>>
Not sure who was laboring under that misconception.

The more widespread misconception about the vaccine, and indeed of basic biology is that somehow people are going to remain capable of transmitting the virus after a successful vaccination (i.e. 95% of the time).

Yes there is a possibility that new strains will arise. unless those strains clearly evade the current vaccines, our so-called public health officials should stop lying about vaccinated people spreading virus and talk about what levels of infection etc "should be" in order to eliminated "mandates."; 1/18/21, 8:03 PM
Mark said...: Who killed the unarmed Ashli Babbitt?; 1/18/21, 8:04 PM
mandrewa said...: Achilles. What I don't understand is why we haven't done that all along.

Maybe it's just me, but I get a bad feeling every time I hear that a private company is doing the counting with non-public code. And I've always thought that.; 1/18/21, 8:07 PM
Mark said...: President Trump issues executive order opening U.S. to European travel.

Jen Psaki says Biden will issue decree slamming the door shut.

#BidensPrisonAmerica; 1/18/21, 8:07 PM
John henry said...: I'm with you, yh.

When I was in the navy I could not ever have imagined being asked how I voted or having my loyalty questioned.

As to the first I would have said it was none of their business, refused to answer and sent a letter up the chain of command.

As to the 2nd I would have reminded them that I took an oath to defend the Constitution and to obey all LEGAL orders and request a formal "mast" (hearing) if they felt they had some reason to question that.

This will do wonders for retention.

John Henry; 1/18/21, 8:12 PM
Achilles said...: mandrewa said...

Achilles. What I don't understand is why we haven't done that all along.

Maybe it's just me, but I get a bad feeling every time I hear that a private company is doing the counting with non-public code. And I've always thought that.

You know why we haven't.

The people that created the merry-go-round of corporate shells that run our election system are serving their customers. Their customers are corrupt politicians.

There are several reasons why congress has a 95% re-election rate and a 15% approval rate.

One of them is they support corrupt elections.

It is time we did something about that.; 1/18/21, 8:13 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Achilles: Built on machines that could only connect to a specific intranet network framework. This would probably involve writing a new but fairly simple communication protocol that would take the place of UDP/TCPIP in the network hierarchy so that it was impossible for these machines to communicate with other machines.

That describes almost to the crossed t and dotted i what Idaho started using this year. (I forget the name of the system, I think seven other states also use it.)

Astonishingly good.; 1/18/21, 8:14 PM
Sally327 said...: I've read that there's some caravan on its way here from central America, or possibly parts south, I'm not sure. We have a new administration coming in that will be far more welcoming to such new arrivals. But one thing I've always wondered about this sort of thing, if these people have so much to offer why aren't they making their home countries into a more desirable place to be. And why aren't we concerned that we're draining away all the smart, clever, talented people from those countries. It seems like an unacceptable appropriation of some kind.; 1/18/21, 8:15 PM
Rabel said...: Got my Covid vac appointment for Thursday.

I will survive!; 1/18/21, 8:16 PM
mockturtle said...: Tim in Vermont, I cooked fish tonight, too. Puerto Rican Fish Stew. It's very tasty and makes enough for me to have tomorrow, too. Made cornbread, too, as it goes well with it. Your tip sounds worth trying.; 1/18/21, 8:17 PM
John henry said...: Listening to Tim Pool's tim cast a bit ago he said that one of the people arrested at (inside?) the capital was an active duty soldier with a secret security clearance who was a known white supremecist

I have no idea what a white Supremecist is anymore. It seems to be anyone who isn't strongly opposed to pdjt.

But if he really was one, how the Hell does he have a security clearance? What is he even doing in the army?

Sad.

John Henry; 1/18/21, 8:18 PM
mockturtle said...: I picture Strother Martin holding his billy-club, intoning “What we have here is failure to unify.”
Heh. Good one, Ken B. ;-); 1/18/21, 8:20 PM
Rick.T. said...: Shake a little white cheddar popcorn flavor (2 calories) on a piece baked fish.
———————
Philistine! ;-0; 1/18/21, 8:21 PM
Ken B said...: Mockturtle
The secret to cornbread is to preheat a cast iron pan in the oven, then light layer of oil and pour batter into hot pan. Then back in the oven.
No stick, great crust.; 1/18/21, 8:22 PM
John henry said...: mockturtle said...

Tim in Vermont, I cooked fish tonight, too. Puerto Rican Fish Stew.

What's Puerto Rican fish are? Is that what we would call an asopao? sorta soup like fish in sauce served over rice or mofongo. I've never thought of it as a stew but I guess it sort is.

Fish for me too. Just came back from Bonefish Grill. I had the spicy tuna bowl and it was very good. I wanted calamari but they were out.

John Henry; 1/18/21, 8:24 PM
mockturtle said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/18/21, 8:26 PM
farmgirl said...: Melania put out a very gracious video/speech saying thank u- &goodbye; 1/18/21, 8:27 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Before looking at this link depicting the seven day moving averages of infections/100,000 people in the US, keep in mind two things:

1. The incubation period from infection to symptoms is between four and fourteen days.

2. There is a very wide variety of restrictions and mask mandates between the states.

Now, look at the link.

A couple things jump right out (to me, anyway): the striking similarity infection rate curves among the states, and the inability to determine from those curves which states added restrictions/mandates, never mind when.

Consequently, my hypothesis is that the empirical evidence shows restrictions and mandates have been completely useless.; 1/18/21, 8:27 PM
mockturtle said...: Ken B, I've always baked cornbread in a cast-iron skillet. I butter it generously and it never sticks. I don't add sugar, either.; 1/18/21, 8:28 PM
John henry said...: Achilles, I like your heart but you are making it way too complex.

Vote in person on election day in a short window (4-6 hours)

Voter id card (not drivers license. An ID specifically for voting.

Signature on the voter roll sheet.

Paper ballots counted by hand.

It's foolproof

John Henry; 1/18/21, 8:28 PM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: YoungHegelian said...

If I had been called to active duty, sent from God-knows-where to DC, put on the street with live ammo that I may have to use against my fellow citizens, and then to have my loyalty to my oath questioned by some political pimp in the Biden administration, my response to the question of "Have you ever considered shooting someone?" would be "Well, not until now".

I just keep shaking my head over this. I keep thinking about all the articles I've seen over the past few years about how Trump supporters were having to go "underground" with their support of Trump to keep from being pariahs. How do you vet someone in an atmosphere like that? And do you really want to be guarded by troops that you had to ensure weren't staunch supporters of the opposition? It's nuts. The whole "let them eat cake" vibe is astounding!; 1/18/21, 8:28 PM
Michael K said...: Blogger YoungHegelian said...
I'm glad I'm not in the National Guard.

If I had been called to active duty, sent from God-knows-where to DC, put on the street with live ammo

I understand that they will not be allowed to have live ammo. Too untrustworthy.

Also, they might shoot a BLM activist by mistake.; 1/18/21, 8:28 PM
mockturtle said...: Sally327 @ 8:02, I read Der Welt every day and haven't run across anything like that. I'd be surprised that Germany, of all places, would put anyone into 'camps'. That said, many in Germany as well as the rest of Europe are in rebellion against the lockdowns. Italians have liberated restaurants in many towns.; 1/18/21, 8:29 PM
Gahrie said...: And why aren't we concerned that we're draining away all the smart, clever, talented people from those countries. It seems like an unacceptable appropriation of some kind.

At one time people did worry about this. many times in US history Mexico has asked our government to round up illegal immigrants from Mexico and send them home.

Until remittances from illegals living in the United states to the families left behind in their home countries became a major source of income. In Mexico today, remittances from the United States are second only to petroleum as a source of income. The home country gets a double benefit: they export their poor to another country and they receive a valuable source of income. Believe me, if the home countries were making a killing off of illegal immigration they would be bitching about it.; 1/18/21, 8:30 PM
I'm Not Sure said...: "Consequently, my hypothesis is that the empirical evidence shows restrictions and mandates have been completely useless."

Useless? Depends on your goal.; 1/18/21, 8:32 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Melania is lovely.
She was treated like crap by our corrupt leftwing glossy assholes.; 1/18/21, 8:32 PM
Ken B said...: John Henry
What you describe is mostly what I described. But the Trumpkins would have none of it. Why? Because Trudeau!
They don’t actually care that much about transparent, fair elections. They are too lazy to do what is needed to get there. They prefer to feel persecuted.; 1/18/21, 8:32 PM
Clyde said...: Garth Brooks to play the Biden* inaugural. One of my friends on Facebook noted that he really DOES have friends in low places!; 1/18/21, 8:34 PM
stephen cooper said...: THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN:
Joe Biden repeatedly praised a Grand Wizard of the KKK ("Senator" Robert Byrd").
Not once, not twice, but year in and year out from his 30s until his 70s, when the Grand Wizard died. Creepy Joe gave a eulogy for the KKK wizard.
JFK was repeatedly complicit in the sexual abuse of underage females.

That being said, I am no fan of Obama's, but he sort of refrained, unlike poor old Joe, from sucking up to KKK Grand Wizards, and I feel certain that Obama, unlike JFK, was not repeatedly complicit in the sexual abuse of underage females.

The little Bush who was president for 8 long years probably is not that bad of a guy, either. But .... he is what he is.

CLINTON VISITED THE PRIVATE ISLAND OF THE BEST KNOWN PEDOPHILE IN THE WORLD. I hope I am wrong, but I think he visited that island in order to have illegal sex with underage females. THAT IS VERY WRONG, whether you are Frank Sinatra, Bill Clinton, Jeffrey Epstein (who killed himself, probably --- self-disgust can do that to even the most hardened of evil-doers), or JFK.

The little Bush did not do that, as far as I know.

My friends, maybe you remember the song from the 80s, MAMMAS PRAY YOUR SONS DON"T BECOME COWBOYS!!!!

Say that prayer tonight, pray to God that your son does not become a president, because except for Trump and little Bush, sort of, and Obama, sort of (leaving aside his pro-abortion evil) all our living ex-presidents are a disgrace. SAD!; 1/18/21, 8:34 PM
stevew said...: Melania is the most accomplished individual to be First Lady since, arguably, Eleanor Roosevelt. Change my mind.; 1/18/21, 8:34 PM
farmgirl said...: Be good-
Be better...
Be best.; 1/18/21, 8:34 PM
Sally327 said...: "Sally327 @ 8:02, I read Der Welt every day and haven't run across anything like that. I'd be surprised that Germany, of all places, would put anyone into 'camps'. That said, many in Germany as well as the rest of Europe are in rebellion against the lockdowns. Italians have liberated restaurants in many towns.

1/18/21, 8:29 PM"

Here is excerpt from article I read:

"Germans who repeatedly refuse to quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19 will be held in detention centers — and even under police guard, according to reports.

Officials in the state of Saxony — which is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks in the European nation — have already approved plans to hold quarantine-breakers in a fenced-off section of a refugee camp, the Telegraph said.

Another state, Brandenburg, also plans to use a section of a refugee camp.

In Schleswig-Holstein, repeat offenders will be kept in a special area in a juvenile detention center, the report said, citing Germany’s Welt newspaper."

https://nypost.com/2021/01/18/german-quarantine-breakers-to-be-held-in-refugee-camps/; 1/18/21, 8:35 PM
mockturtle said...: John Henry asks [somewhat cryptically]: What's Puerto Rican fish are? Is that what we would call an asopao?

No, it's a thin broth soup with tilapia, tomatoes, cilantro, sliced stuffed green olives, garlic, onion, oregano and poblano pepper. I always throw in some crushed nori, too [hardly Puerto Rican]. I put nori in almost everything.; 1/18/21, 8:37 PM
Flat Tire said...: Yes to using an iron skillet. Let it cool slightly, cut in wedges, split them and put under the broiler cut side up. Broil until toasty brown and drizzle generously with melted butter. Decadent and great for breakfast. Thank my grandmother.; 1/18/21, 8:38 PM
Humperdink said...: Daily Wire headline: "‘The View’ Co-Host Sunny Hostin Scolds Republicans Quoting MLK: ‘You Enabled A Racist President’"

You know, the president who received more black votes than any Republican presidential candidate in history.; 1/18/21, 8:40 PM
DavidUW said...: Consequently, my hypothesis is that the empirical evidence shows restrictions and mandates have been completely useless.
>>
Correct.

California has been masked up and locked down for 10 months.
FL has mostly been free (although plenty of "voluntary" restrictions but schools, restaurants are more open etc)

CA has more cumulative cases than FL.

the lockdowns in CA have done nothing to differentiate the state from free FL.; 1/18/21, 8:40 PM
mockturtle said...: Wow, Sally! That's scary. Maybe their MSM isn't any better than ours at reporting news. ;-); 1/18/21, 8:43 PM
Sally327 said...: I just read an article about a man from California who flew into Chicago's O'Hare airport back in October and has been hiding out there ever since because he was supposedly afraid to fly. Apparently he got his hands on a staff ID and has been surviving on food handouts from passengers. Some other airport employees finally noticed his ID didn't match up and he got arrested. Last few paragraphs of the article:

"It is not known why Singh, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Orange, had travelled to Chicago. The court heard that he is unemployed, and has no criminal background.

“The court finds these facts and circumstances quite shocking for the alleged period of time that this occurred,” said Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz.

“Being in a secured part of the airport under a fake ID badge allegedly, based upon the need for airports to be absolutely secure so that people feel safe to travel, I do find those alleged actions do make him a danger to the community.”

However, the Chicago Department of Aviation said in a statement: “While this incident remains under investigation, we have been able to determine that this gentleman did not pose a security risk to the airport or to the travelling public.”

I think I'm with the judge on this one.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/man-spent-three-months-squatting-121621830.html; 1/18/21, 8:46 PM
YoungHegelian said...: Humperdink,

The View’ Co-Host Sunny Hostin Scolds Republicans Quoting MLK:

MLK is a real embarrassment for the present crew of "identity" black activists. MLK had the "race men" vs the "integrationists" back in his day, too, and he and the race men loathed each other. Its not nice to discuss that in polite company nowadays, but dems the historical facts. So, basically, the modern activists have to distort MLK so that he's useful in their present struggle.

Always remember, MLK wrote his dissertation on Reinhold Neibuhr, not exactly the most radical of theological voices, to say the least.; 1/18/21, 8:51 PM
Achilles said...: John henry said...

Achilles, I like your heart but you are making it way too complex.

Vote in person on election day in a short window (4-6 hours)

Voter id card (not drivers license. An ID specifically for voting.

Signature on the voter roll sheet.

Paper ballots counted by hand.

It's foolproof

John Henry

I disagree. It isn't foolproof.

All they have to do is lock observers out and decide who the people really meant to vote for.

Those paper ballots need to be tied to a photo and an address.

Each voter needs to be able to take the receipt from their vote and their private token and go through a trusted 3rd party auth provider to query a database and find out exactly who the state recorded their vote for.

There needs to be an indestructible vote log that can rebuild an entire election vote by vote.

There needs to be a query able database for audits.; 1/18/21, 8:53 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Now I'd like some snapper of some sort. land-locked.; 1/18/21, 8:56 PM
Sally327 said...: Why do politicians and celebrities go to homeless shelters or food banks for photo ops. Are there no other worthy charities? I just saw a picture of Joe Biden in Philly somewhere putting food boxes together in honor of MLK day. It was reported to be Joe Biden, I can't really say for sure, with the mask and the baseball cap I couldn't tell who it was. And I'm not sure I see the connection to MLK. Homelessness and food handouts, that's not what I think of in relation to MLK.; 1/18/21, 8:58 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Greedy Bidens will be photoshopped to care.; 1/18/21, 9:04 PM
stephen cooper said...: for the record, the specific marigolds in this picture are called "Naughty Mariettas".; 1/18/21, 9:06 PM
Sally327 said...: Some people, you have to wonder if they've made some kind of deal with the devil. Tom Brady. Jennifer Lopez. Joe Biden.; 1/18/21, 9:06 PM
Ken B said...: Sally asks why they do these particular photo ops.
“ that's not what I think of in relation to MLK”
That’s why.

Seriously, if you want to leach all the significance of MLK away, leaving just a symbol you can lie about that’s what you do.; 1/18/21, 9:06 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: John henry said...

Paper ballots counted by hand.

It's foolproof

Only if you can trust that the poll workers won't swap out the real ballots for fake ones marked for their preferred candidate. We currently don't have that level of trust. (This is true whether you believe the lack of trust is deserved or not.)

The nice thing about what Achilles is proposing is that it is not based on trust. Any individual can check the public record to see how their own vote was recorded, and anyone can see the complete set of votes cast (without seeing who cast which vote) to check the tabulation.

That part does not solve the problem of people voting who are not entitled to, people voting in jurisdictions where they don't live, and people casting votes in other people's names.

That could pretty much be solved with voter I'd and requiring in-person voting, but I see no chance of the Democrats giving up mass mail-in voting.; 1/18/21, 9:08 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Ken B:

The secret to cornbread is to preheat a cast iron pan in the oven, then light layer of oil and pour batter into hot pan. Then back in the oven.
No stick, great crust.

Completely agree. I still use my grandmother's cast iron and her recipe, which calls for greasing the pan with lard before heating it up. I always remember when she would mix the wet and dry ingredients, she would spin the bowl and do a kind of figure eight motion with a wooden spoon, and everything would be combined in a few quick strokes. I've never been able to reproduce it. If anyone else did it, no matter how many times they did it, she would say just before, "don't overmix it."

My grandfather would crumble it into a mason jar, pour buttermilk over it, and eat it with a spoon. My grandmother jokingly described it as "country" and I remember thinking it was so gross. Now, occasionally folding creamed corn into the batter isn't too bad.; 1/18/21, 9:09 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: "Any individual can check the public record to see how their own vote was recorded, and anyone can see the complete set of votes cast (without seeing who cast which vote) to check the tabulation."

And any political machine can muscle their people into proving they voted as directed.; 1/18/21, 9:11 PM
Sally327 said...: I saw "The Night Manager" over the weekend on Amazon Prime Video. I can recommend it, very enjoyable and well acted/scripted. It stars Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman and is based on a book of the same name by John Le Carre. Not as virulently anti-American as a lot of his later work or maybe that was toned down for the mini-series. I saw it when it was on TV a few years ago but thought it might be worth a rewatch and it was.; 1/18/21, 9:13 PM
stephen cooper said...: "Naughty Marietta" is the name of a 1910 operetta by Victor Herbert, as well as the name of the marigolds in Meade's wonderful photograph.

My grandparents, middle aged at the time, did not go see it during its Manhattan premiere run,

but they had a few beers, late on a Saturday night, with one of the second clarinets (my great uncle ---- if you do not speak English as a native language , great uncle does not mean what you think - the word great is just a technical term denominating the fact that a relative is more closely related to your grand parents than your parents ---- And, confusingly, it is different than great grand parent, which means a parent of a grand parent. A great grand parent is a generation older than a great aunt or a great uncle. Trust me, English is my native langauge).; 1/18/21, 9:13 PM
Achilles said...: Ignorance is Bliss said...

That part does not solve the problem of people voting who are not entitled to, people voting in jurisdictions where they don't live, and people casting votes in other people's names.

That could pretty much be solved with voter I'd and requiring in-person voting, but I see no chance of the Democrats giving up mass mail-in voting.

The point of the effort would be to provide an option that is basically the cost of the hardware and completely transparent.

If there is a picture tied to every voter registration, which is trivial, it would also be trivial to find people who are multi-registered.

What it would really do is that when we bid an election package that cost $150 dollars per voting station and database hosting fees and they choose the multi-million dollar garbage system with non-open source software that cost 10-100 times as much it just makes it obvious they are corrupt shitheads manipulating election results and taking bribes from whatever corporate shell is housing Dominion.; 1/18/21, 9:14 PM
stephen cooper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/18/21, 9:15 PM
Achilles said...: Ken B said...

John Henry
What you describe is mostly what I described. But the Trumpkins would have none of it. Why? Because Trudeau!
They don’t actually care that much about transparent, fair elections. They are too lazy to do what is needed to get there. They prefer to feel persecuted.

No Ken B. You are a douchey shithead that lies about what other people argue and intend.

You put words in other people's mouth and attribute motivations to them that they never had.

All so you can make stupid posts like this.

Because you are a shitty person.; 1/18/21, 9:19 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Freeman Hunt said...

And any political machine can muscle their people into proving they voted as directed.

You are correct, this would open up the possibility of coercion and bribery. I think that is a tradeoff worth making, but it is a balance and I cannot prove that the upside outweighs the downside.; 1/18/21, 9:22 PM
Ken B said...: I am making bread a lot these days, never really done it before. I find that a baking stone is a good idea, even if using a bread pan.
I find a lot of breads can be made on the dough cycle of the bread machine, no need to use just bread machine recipes. But you cannot put leeks or large seeds in the dough cycle if you want detectable remnants, they just get obliterated. Can still taste them of course just not see them.; 1/18/21, 9:23 PM
Sally327 said...: Supposedly we don't have to worry that much about a 50/50 Senate, based on how the Senate operates it won't be that easy for Biden to push stuff through. Yeah, sure, and we were told Obamacare wouldn't get through when the GOP won the open senate seat from MA (after Teddy Kennedy died). That turned out to be not true.; 1/18/21, 9:28 PM
Ken B said...: In the past you could trust even people who disagreed with your politics. No Democrat ever had to fear that Michael K would deliberately botch their surgery, nor any republican had to fear a Democrat doctor.

Is that true now? I doubt it. Will pharmacists screw with prescriptions? Or vaccines? I think so. Will clerks deliberately screw up paperwork? I think so. Will waiters spit in your soup if they think you voted for Trump? We have seen it.; 1/18/21, 9:30 PM
Curious George said...: "Rabel said...
Got my Covid vac appointment for Thursday.

I will survive!"

Will you? Watch this https://www.facebook.com/502083074/videos/10158181125208075/

You are out of your mind.; 1/18/21, 9:33 PM
Sally327 said...: Lots of people are moving to South Dakota:

"Newcomers from California, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Texas, Michigan, Colorado and Virginia along with Minnesota, North Dakota and Wyoming are leading the trend of relocating to South Dakota, local realtors say,” the Rapid City Journal reported."

Yeah, they need to watch that. Lots of blue staters in that mix. Although I wonder about the accuracy of what I read, which is based on data from a moving company:

"“Idaho was the state with the highest percentage of inbound migration (70%) among states experiencing more than 250 moves* with United Van Lines for the second consecutive year. … Among the top inbound states were South Carolina (64%), Oregon (63%), South Dakota (62%) and Arizona (62%),” United Van Lines noted."

Oregon? Really?; 1/18/21, 9:35 PM
Narr said...: I need some cornbread.

Gamed with some old friends today, basically lefty-libs, talking about how it will be when the Trumpist crazies come out in force . . . I told them the whole thing is a farce, security theater by bedwetters. I had watched the 12:32 posted by Prof this morning, and if that's the worst the whole en-tire MSM could come up with after two weeks, then what happened was barely even a riot--more like a Happening!

Tucker featured my congresscritter Steve Cohen tonight. He's a nephew of my childhood allergist, not that it matters, and capable of almost any accusation against an opponent, which does matter.

NPR reports all the preparations as a reaction to the deadly mob violence by Trump supporters in the insurrection two weeks ago.

Narr
And all I get online when I search is week-old vagueness; 1/18/21, 9:36 PM
mockturtle said...: Ken B @ 9:30, The Left would be more likely than the Right. The Right is less apt to vent their hatred on individuals the way the Dems do with Trump supporters.; 1/18/21, 9:36 PM
mockturtle said...: I use unsweetened applesauce in my cornbread. Keeps it moist.; 1/18/21, 9:43 PM
The Godfather said...: I hope that the military brass running the Defense Of DC remember the Kent State Massacre. Just over 50 years ago the Ohio National Guard was called in to control an anti-Viet Nam War demonstration at the college, and shot and killed 4 students. It was a PR disaster, even among supporters of the VM War. I don't recall how many Guardsmen there were, but I'm sure it was less than than the 25,000 troops being sent to DC for the Inauguration of President Biden. Does anyone know how that number of troops compares to how many defended Lincoln when he was inaugurated in 1865 in the middle of a civil war?; 1/18/21, 9:45 PM
narciso said...: Yes the night manager was quite good (expensive about million pounds per episode) you see how insulated roper was against british and american investigative agencies (btw hiddleston is like the protagonist in lauries the gun seller); 1/18/21, 9:57 PM
iowan2 said...: Consequently, my hypothesis is that the empirical evidence shows restrictions and mandates have been completely useless.

Very good.
The question has always been, "what evidence to you have to require the shutdowns??"

Judges ignored plaintiffs that asked the question. Lots of businesses (and churches) went to the courts to get their rights restored. Judges refused to stick to the facts, and allowed the abuse of power...if it saves one life...right?; 1/18/21, 9:59 PM
Gahrie said...: Oregon? Really?

Lots of people from California retire there. I've had relatives do it. I bet that's where most of them are coming from.; 1/18/21, 10:01 PM
JPS said...: Ken B, 9:30:

"nor any republican had to fear a Democrat doctor."

In fact President Reagan, being wheeled in for emergency surgery, quipped "I hope you're all Republicans."

The leader of the trauma team, very much a Democrat, answered, "Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans."; 1/18/21, 10:03 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: "I hope that the military brass running the Defense Of DC remember the Kent State Massacre..."

I call feature. Blamed on Trump, sets up 3rd impeachment.; 1/18/21, 10:10 PM
mockturtle said...: BTW, Die Welt, not Der Welt. Mixed up with Der Spiegel.; 1/18/21, 10:13 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: The National Guard theater continues in Olympia despite there being virtually no protesters. My WNG son reports that Inslee has become a laughingstock among the Guard boys and girls.; 1/18/21, 10:13 PM
Mark said...: Singh isn't the security risk.

Chicago O'Hare airport management is the security risk.; 1/18/21, 10:13 PM
William said...: I live in NYC. Not much home cooking. I see all sorts of people bundled up against the cold, eating at the tables set outside of restaurants. Hardy bunch. Utterly committed to eating out, but it can't be such a great dining experience if you're wearing gloves and earmuffs. I can understand why they don't want to go to the bother of cooking their own meals, but why not just order the meals to go. I'm not sure if they're lazy or if it all serves some higher purpose..; 1/18/21, 10:15 PM
iowan2 said...: the fixes suggested here sound very reasonable.

I have been asking for 5 years to get a hard uneditable number of votes cast, within an hour of the polls closing. Not as fancy as the very reasonable suggestions tonite, but is a great place to start.; 1/18/21, 10:16 PM
n.n said...: Nothing says love like [irrational] fear. 17 trimesters and in progress.

In fact President Reagan... The leader of the trauma team, very much a Democrat, answered, "Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans."

When America was... better. A true, blue Republican.

Diversity of individuals, minority of one. Pro-Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.; 1/18/21, 10:19 PM
Mark said...: Wow. Ellen Burstyn was already 30 when she was on this 1962 episode of Gunsmoke. Quite cute though.; 1/18/21, 10:20 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Are there that many violators a special camp is needed?"

Impfung Macht Frei?; 1/18/21, 10:20 PM
I'm Not Sure said...: "I have been asking for 5 years to get a hard uneditable number of votes cast, within an hour of the polls closing."

Counting shouldn't start until polls are closed countrywide. Counting locations shouldn't report their totals until every location countrywide has completed counting.

This whole "figure out how far we're behind so we can find more votes" crap has to stop.; 1/18/21, 10:21 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "And why aren't we concerned that we're draining away all the smart, clever, talented people from those countries. It seems like an unacceptable appropriation of some kind."

Joe Biden's ancestors immigrated to the US......just sayin.; 1/18/21, 10:27 PM
J. Farmer said...: The GOP is ill-equipped to handle the various crises facing the country because they bear a good deal of the responsibility for causing them.

Contemporary American conservatism was born in the Reagan era and is defined by support for traditional social values, market liberalization, and a muscular foreign policy to advocate and advance our values globally. This was was the so called New Right, having vanquished the northeastern Republican establishment, which was considered too liberal, and that segment of the right that has since been called "paleoconservative," which was smeared as "isolationist" because of skepticism towards military interventionism and trade liberalization.

It was just over 20 years ago I cast my first vote for president. Like a lot of my friends, I hated Bush and Gore and went with a third-party option. Although they voted for Nader, I went with Pat Buchanan. Nearly everyone thought I was either lying about having voted for him or had done it just to be outrageous and contrarian. The latter accusation isn't entirely unfair.

Nonetheless, paleoconservatism seemed at its nadir in the first decade of the 2st century, but the 2016 election has given it a bit of a jolt. Because it was pushed to the side by contemporary conservatism, many people are not familiar with the critiques it makes of the New Right, particularly its fealty to market liberalization and militarism.

In other words, we need a neoconservatism that is paleoconservative.; 1/18/21, 10:28 PM
Hey Skipper said...: This is from today's New York Times evening briefing:

4. Los Angeles County became the first in the U.S. to surpass one million recorded coronavirus infections, and California is the first state to have more than three million cases. Much of the state is under a stay-at-home order.

The statistical idiocy among journalists, and their editors is appalling. Los Angeles county is also the nation's most populous.

Also, what should be noted, but isn't: why is it when lesser restrictions don't work, the assumption is that more of what didn't work will.; 1/18/21, 10:30 PM
chuck said...: Melania is the most accomplished individual to be First Lady since, arguably, Eleanor Roosevelt

Does Melania carry a pistol in her purse like Eleanor did?; 1/18/21, 10:31 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: “Everybody’s a kook!”

Courtesy of one of my best Facebook friends.

This is the political comment of the century, proven beyond all doubt today by Hillary.

She declared that Trump probably called Putin to plan the riot.

She actually believes her own crazy propaganda, the Russia collusion hoax.; 1/18/21, 10:34 PM
Yancey Ward said...: On Hey Skipper's link about the various states and COVID.

Keeping the spreadsheets I do, I am deeply immersed in the data on an ongoing basis. You just have to peruse the state data and one takeaway is irrefutable- all of the states except for Hawaii and Vermont, are converging into the exact same outcome- if the trends ran for another 6 months, every state would reach a 0.5-1.5% case fatality rate, every state would end up with about 10% of the population having received a positive test result, and the median cumulative positive rate would be 10%. There are, quite literally, no state mandated inititiatives that have made any detectable differences- the calender and a state's latitude could have been used to predict pretty much every single wave.

California, for example, could have followed the exact same policies as South Dakota, and it wouldn't have made any difference in California at all except that the unemployment rate would have been half of what it is today.; 1/18/21, 10:35 PM
narciso said...: She took 150 million from russian sources,although hunter took 300 million, so even in the corruption game she was small beer.; 1/18/21, 10:38 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "BTW, Die Welt, not Der Welt. Mixed up with Der Spiegel."

How do we know the world even identifies as feminine.; 1/18/21, 10:41 PM
mockturtle said...: How do we know the world even identifies as feminine.

Well, there's Le Monde, so it would seem the world has gender identity issues.; 1/18/21, 10:46 PM
John henry said...: Mock,

Hazards of commenting by phone. I meant what is Puerto Rican fish stew.

I've had all kinds of Puerto Rican fish dishes over the years. Your description sounds like a fish soup more than a stew but it sure does sound good.

You are making me hungry again. Best I can do in my hotel room at the moment is some gorton's fish sticks, though

John Henry; 1/18/21, 10:47 PM
narciso said...: Germany put the leading civil liberties atty in prison. At the start of the lockdoen so im not surprised at all; 1/18/21, 10:57 PM
Ken B said...: JPS
Yes, a nice example of what I meant.
I bet Democrats can still trust Republican pharmacists and waiters. Well, we already know about some of the Democrat waiters don’t we?
I think this is a real thing, and I wonder what Biden's teleprompter will have to say that might exacerbate or alleviate it.; 1/18/21, 10:58 PM
Unknown said...: I may be wrong looking at the link.

What I noticed is in states with high vaccinations rates, was a decrease in the death rate recently. The most at risk populations are being vaccinated in those states.

SD and West Virginia was the two I looked at.

CA on the other hand, much less Los Angeles, is SNAFU, or is FUBAR. And unfortunately I live here under the edicts of the Zombie Lady Heath Official (First Latina in that position!) and our French Laundry Governor, sigh.; 1/18/21, 10:59 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: And any political machine can muscle their people into proving they voted as directed.

Yes, but it would be even worse in families/clans.; 1/18/21, 11:04 PM
Gahrie said...: In other words, we need a neoconservatism that is paleoconservative.

I was initially a supporter of Pat Buchanan, but his foreign policy turned me off, and ironically was probably what was most attractive to you.

I always thought the accusations of racism were unfair, and par for the course for Republicans.; 1/18/21, 11:05 PM
John henry said...: Achilles,

Puerto Rico is proof that it is foolproof.

70+ years of voting and never even any allegations of fraud.

Complete results by 9pm election. Fully certified by 3-4 weeks later. Almost always matching the preliminary Tuesday results.

Until this year when we decided to do it Chicago style absentee ballots and dominion machines.

What a fiasco.

And tying my ballot to my name? NO NO NO NO NO!!!

we see now what the fascists a/k/a progressives would do with it. How would you like people to know you voted for PDJT? Now that they are talking about camps, hanging, driving out of society, denying employment and more?

I would much rather have the fraud than that.

What I would really like is to go back to the pre 2020 election law at least in pr. It sounds like we might.

I'm waiting to see before I turn in my voter ID card. I'll not vote in another election like this one.

John Henry; 1/18/21, 11:13 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: I think, in general, what would most improve the political situation is for more people to find something to obsess over besides politics.

A sort of “Go home and shut up!” campaign.

As is immediately obvious in a visit to any busy comments section, loneliness is driving people to social media. The only thing we all seem to have in common to talk about at any length is politics.

So, by default, we rant about politics endlessly day and night.

I’m good at analysis here, and short on solutions.; 1/18/21, 11:16 PM
stephen cooper said...: Shouting Thomas --- man up, read Proverbs 8, remember EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER LOVED YOU, AND VICE VERSA. and get back to me.

Thx.; 1/18/21, 11:18 PM
stephen cooper said...: narciso - when my grandparents were old people, Germans killed millions of people for murder reasons.

Don't expect them to be good people now.

That is too much to expect.; 1/18/21, 11:20 PM
stephen cooper said...: They have not changed as much as they should have.; 1/18/21, 11:21 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: My grandparents were Germans.

My father was among the liberators of Dachau.

Half a dozen of my uncles fought in the European theater.; 1/18/21, 11:28 PM
n.n said...: Germans killed millions of people for murder reasons.

Don't expect them to be good people now.

Arguments of diversity are logically and morally flawed.; 1/18/21, 11:30 PM
stephen cooper said...: So what?

Your father did not get shot or killed and he spent the rest of his life claiming to be a liberator. His virtues are not your virtues. Good for him, that was a tough 18 months he spent in Europe.

Talk like a man, little Thomas, stop shouting, talk like a man.; 1/18/21, 11:31 PM
stephen cooper said...: Don't expect any group of people to be good, n.n.

The best people who ever lived lived in Jerusalem, and when Jesus, one random afternoon, was sitting on a hillside looking over Jerusalem, Jesus wept.; 1/18/21, 11:33 PM
n.n said...: My grandparents were Germans.

My father was among the liberators of Dachau.

Exactly. Diversity of individuals, minority of one.

Individual dignity. Individual conscience. Intrinsic value. Inordinate worth.; 1/18/21, 11:33 PM
n.n said...: Don't expect any group of people to be good, n.n.

I don't. I'm not green. But I do favor reconciling moral imperatives, and a process, that is consistent with my religion.; 1/18/21, 11:37 PM
stephen cooper said...: Anti-semitism is strong in Germany.

German politicians on the right and left approve of abortion (murder of children).

Don't tell me I am making bad arguments.; 1/18/21, 11:37 PM
stephen cooper said...: "Individual dignity, Individual conscience, Intrinsic value, inordinate worth"

Now you are talking.

Every word you said in that comment is worth its weight in gold, and much more.; 1/18/21, 11:39 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: My father was a second Looie in artillery,

He spent four years suffering through the most hellish combat in human history, beginning with the campaigns in North Africa.

He lived in constant terror, not just from the enemy, but from the men under his command. Second Looies suffered the highest casualty rate of any rank in WWII. Part of the reason was that what we called “fragging” during the Vietnam War was common during WWII. Troops often killed their own commanders to try to escape combat.

My dad collapsed into Alzheimer’s in his early 60s, partly, I’m convinced, as the result of what was called “shell shock” during WWII, and the terror he lived through for four years of combat.

Actually, I have a rather different history than my father. I refused to be cannon fodder. My family sacrificed half a dozen men to various wars. When the Vietnam War came along, I decided (along with millions of others) that the real solution was to stop being cannon fodder.

Manning up is the last thing we need to do. Refusing to be cannon fodder is the solution.; 1/18/21, 11:42 PM
stephen cooper said...: Maybe I just comment here in order to make other commenters say what they really mean.

:INDIVIDUAL DIGNIRTY< INDIVIDUAL CONSCIENCE< INTRINSTIC VALUE<<<<< INORDINATE WORTH.

mock me all you want, but if I get people in a mood where they say something like that, my life has not been in vain,; 1/18/21, 11:42 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Hatred of one group for another is universal.

And there is always a somewhat sound basis for that hatred.

You’re afflicted with that too, stephen cooper.; 1/18/21, 11:43 PM
n.n said...: stephen cooper:

The best people who ever lived lived in Jerusalem, and when Jesus, one random afternoon, was sitting on a hillside looking over Jerusalem, Jesus wept.

He was well justified to weep, and nothing has changed. However, Earth is a proving ground for the diversity of human spirits, minority of one, where most will fail, some beyond redemption, and some will succeed with their first trial. What do you think? Close?; 1/18/21, 11:45 PM
stephen cooper said...: I was a second lieutenant once too.

Most of my fellow officers are now dead. Some from enemy action, some from friendly fire, some from other causes.

I am old, and because I am old, I can say this ----
I recognize a fellow human being when I see one, Thomas.
I am sorry I called you little Thomas.
I apologize.; 1/18/21, 11:45 PM
stephen cooper said...: One time a sergeant called me butter bars.

He was a civilian a month later.; 1/18/21, 11:46 PM
stephen cooper said...: n.n. : not close. Perfect.

That being said, the German politicians have a lot to answer for, not for what their parents did, but for what they are doing.; 1/18/21, 11:48 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: The suffering of Jews during WWII, horrible as it admittedly was, has been the common fate of many cultures.

My first wife’s grandparents were Ukrainian Jews. She heard the Cossacks coming in her nightmares.

My second wife was Filipino. You might want to read up on what the Japanese did to Filipinos.; 1/18/21, 11:48 PM
n.n said...: "Individual dignity. Individual conscience. Intrinsic value. Inordinate worth."

mock me all you want, but if I get people in a mood where they say something like that, my life has not been in vain,

In that case, welcome fellow traveler.; 1/18/21, 11:48 PM
Yancey Ward said...: On elections, I am fully in John Henry's camp here- one day of voting, in person, all paper ballots with photo ID and sign in logs. Registration only with proof of citizenship- full stop. All parties get equal representation in the counting of the ballots- no exceptions.

Also, I am particular to one of the comments above about getting an inviolable count of the ballots cast by the closing of the polls- no exceptions allowed- if your precinct doesn't have a count of the ballots cast by the closing- you get audited completely, top to bottom, before you even get to announce vote totals. One of the indications of massive fraud in the last election was the changing numbers of votes left to be counted in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.; 1/18/21, 11:48 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Thanks, stephen.; 1/18/21, 11:49 PM
stephen cooper said...: Shouting Thomas --- I love Germans.

You might not know this about me, but I am one of the most talented living translators of German lyric poetry.

I am not in a super good mood tonight, but if I were in a super good mood, I would regale you with amazing translations of Eichendorrf and Goethe.; 1/18/21, 11:51 PM
stephen cooper said...: Although to be fair, Novalis is my favorite German poet. Some day I hope to be able to translate a single one of his poems in a way they should be translated.; 1/18/21, 11:53 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Beethoven was German.

So was Bach.

Both lived before the modern German state was consolidated.; 1/18/21, 11:53 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Unknown: What I noticed is in states with high vaccinations rates, was a decrease in the death rate recently. The most at risk populations are being vaccinated in those states.

Per the WSJ, the states with the lowest vaccination percentage hover around 2%, and the highest, WV, is at 6.3%.

ID and WV each have about the same population, a bit over two million. Yesterday, ID had 767 new cases; WV, 1123. Likely not a statistically significant difference. It seems not enough people have yet been vaccinated for that to show up.

Also, deaths are a lagging indicator, as they typically happen about three weeks after symptom onset, which itself is roughly a week after infection. So, without looking, I'll bet the peak in deaths was reached about two weeks ago.

(Just now looked. One week ago. Search on "covid 19 deaths us".)

In the longer run, I don't think you are wrong. But there haven't been enough people vaccinated long enough to show up.

But the real point here is that it was certain, as Yancey Ward well knows, that when approx 65% of 50% of the population becomes infected, this thing will have run its course. (Herd immunity percentage of the susceptible portion of the population). Clearly, rates have to start slowing down well before reaching that number of people.

And total infections are probably 4-6 times cases. As of today, there are 24 million cases, so guesstimate 120 million infections, and 165 million Americans are susceptible.

The virus is starting to run out of targets, so case and death rates are going to plummet, no matter how many people get vaccinated.

The title of the set of charts I linked to: "AMERICA IS REOPENING. BUT HAVE WE FLATTENED THE CURVE?"

Johns Hopkins can't fathom the information that is staring them right in the face.

Yancey Ward: There are, quite literally, no state mandated initiatives that have made any detectable differences- the calender and a state's latitude could have been used to predict pretty much every single wave.

This needs re-emphasizing.

If state mandates had any effect at all, it would have to show up in these by-state charts. It doesn't. Anywhere. Not even the merest hint of it. No one could look at any state infection rate chart, and from it show when initiatives were implemented.

Which means, as clear as day, that none of them worked.; 1/18/21, 11:54 PM
stephen cooper said...: My uncle survived the Bataan Death March.

In his 50s (this was the early 60s), he moved to California.

The second day, after he had moved in, he was accosted by youths who tried to mug him.

He rejoiced at his good fortune, and this 50 year old man started to kill the youths, and was disappointed when they fled in fear.; 1/18/21, 11:57 PM
narciso said...: Yes the czars security service trepov ignatiev and uncle tolstoy have a lot to apologize for in thd black one hundreds as well as spreading the protocols; 1/18/21, 11:58 PM
narciso said...: Sure why not.
https://mobile.twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1351373603607113729; 1/18/21, 11:59 PM
n.n said...: What I noticed is in states with high vaccinations rates, was a decrease in the death rate recently. The most at risk populations are being vaccinated in those states.

We reached community suppression before vaccine administration, which will affect the outcome as immune systems develop a sufficient response. The spread ultimately followed the same distribution in all states, with glaring exceptions in several jurisdictions. The vaccines should, however, curb the tail of this pandemic, and reduce lagging hospitalizations and deaths.; 1/19/21, 12:04 AM
Yancey Ward said...: New cases of COVID in the US look to have peaked last week- the second derivative turned negative last week and the first did so yesterday, even with new tests reaccelerating last week. Looks like Biden's mask mandate is working even before it is implemented.; 1/19/21, 12:11 AM
narciso said...: Obviously time machine

https://nypost.com/2021/01/18/dozens-arrested-in-nyc-as-cops-protesters-clash-outside-city-hall-park; 1/19/21, 12:12 AM
Mark said...: BLM protests, shutdowns, and arrests in Seattle and NYC tonight.

Any place else?; 1/19/21, 12:16 AM
Ken B said...: What is America now?

Wet Ass Pussy.
Tear down statues of Lincoln.
Burn downtowns and paint fists everywhere.
Riot in the capitol.
Your teachers teach racist hate.
Potemkin armies with empty rifles forced to announce who they voted for.
A new war on your own population.
Rising murder rates.
Governors crippling vaccination efforts.
Wet Ass Pussy. Yes, I can list it twice.
Printing money to destroy savings.
Lockdown for thee but not for me.
Big tech censorship.

Wet Ass Pussy.; 1/19/21, 12:18 AM
Rt41Rebel said...: "New cases of COVID in the US look to have peaked last week- the second derivative turned negative last week and the first did so yesterday, even with new tests reaccelerating last week. Looks like Biden's mask mandate is working even before it is implemented."

So COVID is right on schedule to be declared *over* by Weds. Who could have predicted that?; 1/19/21, 12:18 AM
Mutaman said...: "So COVID is right on schedule to be declared *over* by Weds. Who could have predicted that?"

Trump did:

"We have it totally under control"

1/22/20

“Within a couple of days [they’re] going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done.”
2/26/20

"Just stay calm, it will go away"
3/10/20

et cetera et cetera; 1/19/21, 12:25 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: America is still wonderful.

Everybody wants to live here.

My late wife was Filipino. Every Filipino I met when I was in the Philippines asked me how they could get to the U.S.

They have a saying: “Last one to leave the island, be sure to turn out the lights.”

Even the chaotic political crazy stuff is mostly good. We do it without murdering one another en masse.

Over 40,000 Filipinos have been murdered by Duterte’s death squads.; 1/19/21, 12:26 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Yes, COVID appears to have peaked at the same point all cause mortality peaks every damned year- late December/early January.

The media, of course, will give Demented Joe Biden all the credit for the changing of the seasons.

One thing I have been following is the provisional death counts from the CDC and comparing those with the ones from the Spring and Summer. As of right now, excess mortality peaked during the week of April 11 at 42%, and repeaked again during the Sunbelt's first wave during the week of July 25th at 27%. So far, the Summer peak hasn't been reach again- the week of December 5th is at 125% of expected deaths. The numbers from December will increase, but not by very much at this point. This indicates to me that we are now overcounting COVID deaths by a significant amount, and I suspect the purpose is fully political- peak deaths just before Biden takes office, and then start counting correctly starting about the day after tomorrow. It would not surprise me if COVID deaths drop by 50% by the middle of next week.; 1/19/21, 12:30 AM
Ken B said...: If YW wants to say something and ST wants to hear it, then if FB tries to stop it FB is a censor. This has nothing to do with laws or constitutions.; 1/19/21, 12:32 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Gahrie:

I was initially a supporter of Pat Buchanan, but his foreign policy turned me off, and ironically was probably what was most attractive to you.

Actually, it was his opposition to NAFTA, GATT, and the WTO, but I liked his non-interventionism as well.

The neoliberal ideology that had become dominant in the Republican Party is based in 19th century classical liberal ideas and free trade and market liberalization. It isn't conservative. It's an extremely radical individualism that abhors traditionalism as irrational.

This tension has been present in the US since the founding, between Jefferson and Hamilton, merchant capitalists and agrarians, federalists and antifederalists, imperialists and republicans. The US has been a relentlessly expansionist and centralizing power. All efforts to restrain this internally have failed.; 1/19/21, 12:34 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Recently, I learned how wrong you can be in your own political assessments, or how fuzzy the distinction between the good and bad guys can be.

My initial reaction to Duterte was this: He was Mayor of Davao City in Mindanao. I have relatives there and they were big fans of Duterte because he waged a successful war against Islamist terrorists who were extorting businesses. So, I had a relatively favorable opinion of him.

I learned recently that Duterte is a stalking horse for the return of the Marcos family to power. The death squad campaign is in service of returning those cannibals to power.

Now, I don’t know what to think of him.; 1/19/21, 12:34 AM
Ken B said...: ST
Once, yes. And with the greater wealth still. But people used to admire America. It really was a beacon no matter what the leftists say. But that is fading, and it is fading faster than most of you realize.; 1/19/21, 12:35 AM
Ken B said...: Farmer is pro poverty.
Capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty in the past 20 years than every other system has ever.
Farmer will of course deny he is anti capitalism. He just wants “the community” to make the economic decisions and pick the winners and losers.; 1/19/21, 12:42 AM
Ken B said...: When countries agree things they should stick to them. America no longer does. Trumpkins cheered when Trump broke your country’s promise to the Kurds. It seems acceptable to Americans that you break your promises every time you have an election. Bit by bit you lose respect.; 1/19/21, 12:56 AM
Gospace said...: Voting should be easy and in person. The biggest problem with paper ballots filled in? Oh, look , a stray mark! it invalidates this Republican ballot! Look, a stray mark. Hey, it's not bad, that Democrat ballot counts.

I could design, vey easilt for every election, a simple basic program (or Qbasic) for a C-64 (or older cheap MS-DOS) which would_

1- Ask do you want to vote for Governor:
A. John Smith on the Republican line
B. Jenny Jones on the Democrat line
C. John Smith on the Conservative line
D. Jenny Jones on the Working Family line
E. Sam Spade on the Constitution Party Line
F. I wish to write someone else in
G. I do not wish to vote for governor.

and so on for each race. Last question:
This is your ballot:
(lists all races and who they're voting for)
Is this what you want? Press Y for Yes, N for No. No will start over. Y will print your ballot.

Y prints the ballot, not all the names running- but only who was voted for. With a randomly assigned unique ID. That the voter doesn't get, and isn't stored in the order of voting, but in alpha-numeric order. When the end of the day comes, the poll watchers open their sealed code envelopes, and on one of the write ins enters the end code, which then stops the program and prints out all the ballot codes in alpha-numeric order.

A ballot without a matching ballot code cannot be counted. No stray marks, no interpretation of a hanging chad, no maybe he meant the mark for another candidate. Like I said, I can do in basic or qbasic. It can be done in other more advanced languages, but it can be done- and cheaply. And- it can change the order of candidates on each runthrough so someone can't be told- "Vote for the first candidate each time."

In addition to other changes people above have mentioned- voting in states and the Capitol district should be in English only. Ballots in other languages are there by court orders. People in the United States who cannot read, speak, and comprehend English cannot follow nor understand the issues America faces. If you want say, "Why yes they can you bigot!" go ahead and lie and say it. America is an English speaking country. It never occurred to the Founders to establish English in the Constitution as the official language, because they never imagined courts decreeing ballots be printed in Mandarin. Like other things they assumed, like marriage was between one man and one woman... never imagined judges decreeing that wasn't so.

Cheap, easy, effective, and therefore, will never be done.

But what could be done and I think should be done- multiple ballots each election. One ballot for national offices and questions- POTUS, Senator, Representative and national referenda should there ever be any. One for state offices and questions and referenda. And one for local offices and questions and referenda. The state could issue the design for state and federal elections. And each municipality could design the local ballots. Or- the county could do it. Whatever the state legislature decides for local elections. They could all be dropped in one box, then separated quickly when polls close. First and fast- count the national elections. Give every polling station one hour to do it and submit votes to the state. Absentee ballots counted at the county level- within one hour after polls close. Shouldn't take more than one hour after polls close to have the votes totaled. Each polling station submits their count electronically- shouldn't take any time at all to add them up.; 1/19/21, 1:12 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Ken B:

Farmer is pro poverty.
Capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty in the past 20 years than every other system has ever.
Farmer will of course deny he is anti capitalism. He just wants “the community” to make the economic decisions and pick the winners and losers.

I'd much prefer "the community" to the 0.1% who are currently making the decisions. Over the last 40 years, we've pursued lower marginal tax rates, deregulation, market liberalization, and privatization. The result has been much more inequality and a working class that's being decimated. There is more to a society than just econometrics.

It's too simplistic to merely say you are "for" or "against" capitalism. Every society has an economic system that is a blend of private and public control, of markets and state intervention. The notion that we're going to ever elect a government that shrinks the state and pursues small government policies is ludicrous. The power of the state expanded right along with the spread of industrialization.; 1/19/21, 1:14 AM
Largo said...: @Achilles:

What advantage do you see in building a separate hardware layer rather that ul
using UDP packets over the Internet with robust encryption and appropriate checksums?

I don't yet see any that outweigh what I see as disadvantages. (It might avoid a DDOS attack, but it is more likely to simply lose many nodes due to unintendedfailure than the well tested Internet.); 1/19/21, 1:16 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Ken B:

When countries agree things they should stick to them. America no longer does. Trumpkins cheered when Trump broke your country’s promise to the Kurds. It seems acceptable to Americans that you break your promises every time you have an election. Bit by bit you lose respect.

No promises were ever made to "the Kurds." We funded and armed Kurds to be proxy fighters in Syria. Turkey, who we have made promises to, was never going to tolerate the Kurds creating an autonomous region in northern Syria on their border. Using the Kurds to advance our geostrategic interests in the region and then dumping them the second those interests change has been a habit of the US since the 1970s.

I agree with you about the effect of elections on US diplomatic efforts. It's horrible, but it's a sad symptom of a very, very divided society.; 1/19/21, 1:27 AM
Largo said...: @Achilles:

Perhaps encourage backbone providers to adopt and implement protocold for 'emergency UDP packets' e.g. packets whose source and dest fields both were on an 'emergency service' whitelist of IP addresses? Any packets which had the source ip address XOR the dest ip address in the whitelist would be considered suspect (whitelisted nodes may only talk to each other). Emergency packets would have TOPPRIORITY to be forwarded, and buffered configured so try to always maintain space for emergency packeysTjd amount of buffer space that nonemergenc traffic may use could be changed dynamically in response to the level of emergency and in response to DDOS attacks.(How effective it might be against the latter, I don't know.)

Such protocol might be equall useful for an electoral process and national disaster.

(I would be surprised if there was not already an INET RFCon this topic. It would be fun to draft one!)

What do you think?

[Forgive typos. I am on my phone.]

--Largo; 1/19/21, 1:40 AM
Largo said...: @Achilles

Forgive my simplified dichotomy, but if a good and;open system (piggy-nacking on the Inet or not) is adopted by, and is wildlt successful, among enough 'non-corrupt' stayes, that would push 'corrupt' states to adopt it too.

I like your mission!_; 1/19/21, 1:49 AM
Largo said...: //Sally327 @ 8:02, I read Der Welt every day and haven't run across anything like that. I'd be surprised that Germany, of all places, would put anyone into 'camps'//

Precedent cuts both ways!; 1/19/21, 1:55 AM
Largo said...: Ken B said...
//If YW wants to say something and ST wants to hear it, then if FB tries to stop it FB is a censor. This has nothing to do with laws or constitutions./

The quality of the censorship would turn significantly on whether FB tries to stop it *per se* or whether FB tries to stop a particular *means* of it -- and, if the latter, on the particular means it is trying to stop.

Admittedly, the quasi-monopoly of FB deserves consideration here, but nuance helps.

--Largo; 1/19/21, 5:10 AM
Largo said...: I'm Not Sure said...

/[Counting shouldn't start until polls are closed countrywide. Counting locations shouldn't report their totals until every location countrywide has completed counting.//

I agree with the 'should'. 'Must' would probably be a bridge too far.; 1/19/21, 5:20 AM
MadTownGuy said...: With Trump on the Way Out, Mayor Lightfoot Now Demanding Restaurants and Bars Reopen 'as Quickly as Possible'

"Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is now, a week before President-elect Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated, calling for an end to her own draconian lockdowns.

In fact, with the November election now in the rearview mirror, Democrats and academics everywhere suddenly want to see an end to their job-killing, mental health-ravaging mandates, which have made life a living hell for millions of Americans for nearly a year. It doesn’t make one a conspiracy theorist to question the odd timing of all this."; 1/19/21, 5:39 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Remember when Saccharin caused cancer? Me neither. Here's some science:

Saccharin deemed “not hazardous” in United States and abroad (Current Oncology)

"Banned in 1981, saccharin has long been considered carcinogenic because it produced bladder tumours in rats. Saccharin is now unbanned, with more than 100 countries worldwide legitimately allowing saccharin as a food sweetening additive1, a situation that warrants further comment.

Saccharin, being 300 times sweeter than sugar, is used in many foods and drinks, and compared with carbohydrate-rich, high-calorie sweetened foods, it ensures sustained organoleptic taste with minimal calories. Saccharin may be experimentally carcinogenic in animals, but the fact remains that many other carcinogenic molecules have long been known to be ubiquitously present in foods and drinks. But the cardinal principle affecting policy relating to all poisons—and their biologic consequences—is that their effects on vital tissue are dose-dependent. Selected putative examples include carcinogens such as trichloroethylene solvent (found in instant decaffeinated coffee), diethylstilbestrol [des (in beef liver)], secondary amines—nitrosamines—and benzopyrenes (in barbecued meats), aflatoxin (in agricultural products), tannins (in beverages, tea, and wine), thiourea (in cabbage), zearalenone (in corn), ethyl carbamate (in most fermented products including bread, wine, and beer), patulin (in flour, oranges, and apple sauce), and nitrates and nitrites (in vegetables, meats, fish, milk, and eggs)2"; 1/19/21, 5:43 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Let the virtue signaling begin:

Biden Picks Pa.'s Dr. Levine to Be Assistant Health Secretary, Would Make History If Confirmed

"President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.

Levine is a pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician general and was appointed to her current post by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in 2017.

Levine is one of the few transgender people serving in elected or appointed positions nationwide and has emerged as the public face of the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic."

I'm less concerned with her gender identity than I am with her (and the state's) response to the COVID.; 1/19/21, 5:49 AM
Rusty said...: "I'd much prefer "the community" to the 0.1% who are currently making the decisions."
The market makes those decisions. If the market seems skewed look for third parties manipulating the market. When left alone a free market always works.
Communities have a nasty reputation of doing what the "community" wants. Not what the individual wants.; 1/19/21, 5:50 AM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: It’s so cute that you guys are wasting your time thinking of ways to make future elections honest. The winners decide these things and there will never be an honest election again. What is of concern now is hunting down the Trump supporters

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1351400598885851137; 1/19/21, 5:50 AM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: "When left alone a free market always works.”

Simply not true. Monopolies develop because it's often worth more to a competitor to shut down a competitor than it is to buy a company to try to make a profit in a competitive market.; 1/19/21, 5:52 AM
MadTownGuy said...: App for Stasi informants:

See Something Send Something

"See Something Send Something (See Send) is the preeminent nationwide suspicious activity reporting (SAR) tool for citizens to help in the fight against terrorism. See Something Send Something has information to educate you on what to look for and when to submit suspicious activity reports along with how to receive important alerts. The SAR tool connects you to a nationwide network of Intelligence Centers by routing tips to the correct center for analysis.

On our morning news, one of the suspicious activities was "unusual photography." Like, perhaps, video or stills of Antifa activities?; 1/19/21, 6:17 AM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: It looks like Putin was directing the Capitol Hill riots through his puppet Trump directly. Hillary says so. First day of the Biden administration and Putin gets a huge gift, KeystoneXL is cancelled. This has been a foreign policy objective of Putin’s for a long time. Hillary even mentioned it in one of her private speeches to one of those big banks, a speech that got leaked.; 1/19/21, 6:36 AM
Achilles said...: John henry said...

Achilles,

Puerto Rico is proof that it is foolproof.

70+ years of voting and never even any allegations of fraud.

Complete results by 9pm election. Fully certified by 3-4 weeks later. Almost always matching the preliminary Tuesday results.

Until this year when we decided to do it Chicago style absentee ballots and dominion machines.

What a fiasco.

It will never go back. You have the option of doing something better or Dominion.

And tying my ballot to my name? NO NO NO NO NO!!!

I used to live in Washington State.

I have no idea who they actually counted my vote for. There is no way that prop 1639 got 70% of the vote.

If Detroit had paper ballots they would all be burned right now.

I believe that Trump won this election by 10-15 million votes. The math supports me on that.

It is time the government and the fascists were afraid of us. Not the other way around. My system provides more anonymity than yours does in some ways.; 1/19/21, 6:54 AM
Humperdink said...: "See Something Send Something"

I see PA Governor Wolf is behind this Stasi effort. I am tempted to report I saw Wolf marching in a protest, violating his anti-social distance protocols.; 1/19/21, 6:54 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Rusty:

The market makes those decisions. If the market seems skewed look for third parties manipulating the market. When left alone a free market always works.

There is no such as a market being "left alone" and there is no "free market." It's a theoretical construct that relies on an assumption of human behavior known as methodological individualism. A society's economic system and political system are intertwined in an extremely complex manner.

Corporations are legal entities created by the state to foster commercial activity. The reason there is a western half to the US is because the state conquered the territory. The US and the UK used gunboats to open foreign countries to trading. The state intervened in Latin America on numerous occasions on behalf of private US commercial interests.; 1/19/21, 7:04 AM
Largo said...: Gospace said...
//Voting should be easy and in person. //

Yes. And using a computer does tend to mark the ballot in precisely one of two distinguishable states for each choice on the ballot.

But perhaps better still (at least for the presidential vote) is for each voter entering the polling both to be given precisely one ballot for president, and to drop that ballot into one of two boxes. (Or three if there are three presidents running, etc.)

If we need to accommodate write-in ballots, allow the voter to write a name on the ballot and drop it into the 'write-in' box.

(There may be flaws to this that I do not foresee.); 1/19/21, 7:06 AM
Breezy said...: Is there even a hint of interest by Congress or State legislatures to overhaul our election procedures to remedy what happened in 2020? I’ve not seen it.; 1/19/21, 7:10 AM
Achilles said...: Largo said...

@Achilles:

Perhaps encourage backbone providers to adopt and implement protocold for 'emergency UDP packets' e.g. packets whose source and dest fields both were on an 'emergency service' whitelist of IP addresses? Any packets which had the source ip address XOR the dest ip address in the whitelist would be considered suspect (whitelisted nodes may only talk to each other). Emergency packets would have TOPPRIORITY to be forwarded, and buffered configured so try to always maintain space for emergency packeysTjd amount of buffer space that nonemergenc traffic may use could be changed dynamically in response to the level of emergency and in response to DDOS attacks.(How effective it might be against the latter, I don't know.)

Such protocol might be equall useful for an electoral process and national disaster.

(I would be surprised if there was not already an INET RFCon this topic. It would be fun to draft one!)

What do you think?

[Forgive typos. I am on my phone.]

--Largo

I am going to admit that you clearly know more than I about this subject right off the bat.

My goal with replacing TCP/IP in the network/transfer layers was to make them completely uncommunicative with any other machine on the internet. In order to do that the protocol would have to be proprietary which on one level destroys the open source concept. I was going to pitch it to my company as something they could build and maintain.

If we built the protocol as you suggest we could whitelist the entire known path and prevent detours. The only problem I see there is that there will be attacks. But they will be obvious and honeypots could be built.

I also think you could make all traffic within the system "announce" itself everywhere and let everyone in the world watch it real time. I like the idea of releasing another piece of monitoring software to the public allowing everyone in the world to keep a running count of votes tallied in real time. I almost see a Blockchain style reporting system forming from the poo. You could make it open source too and that would grow the number of contributors massively which is always positive.

The rest of the operating software running the system would be Python and set up in a way that was human readable. Each separate base station and each separate piece of hardware would keep a complete indestructible log of it's transmissions and it's recorded votes. So the transmissions getting intercepted/blocked would actually not be that big of a deal. You could rebuild the election at any time in the next 5 million years with an indestructible log with all of the machines.

All of this is at the fling poo at the white board stage. But it is growing on me.; 1/19/21, 7:20 AM
Achilles said...: I am going to create a discussion place for this on my blog.

I will start posting about it regularly.; 1/19/21, 7:28 AM
MadisonMan said...: I'd love it if Marigold Café would reopen on the square. Or Gates and Brovi for in-house eating. Or Sardine.; 1/19/21, 8:03 AM
John henry said...: Achilles the link doesn't work

John Henry; 1/19/21, 8:22 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: West Virginia is at 8.58% vaccinated per:
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/

And the death rate is much higher over age 65.

They are vaccinating the most at risk populations.

Not directly Covid related:

Nursing homes a 5 months stay is the median before death in general.
https://www.geripal.org/2010/08/length-of-stay-in-nursing-homes-at-end.html?m=1; 1/19/21, 9:27 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I'd love it if Marigold Café would reopen..."

Yes, there really is a restaurant in Madison called the Marigold Café, but the photograph shows our personal Meadhouse marigolds. It's quite something for them to be blooming in January.; 1/19/21, 9:58 AM
Michael K said...: It is time the government and the fascists were afraid of us. Not the other way around. My system provides more anonymity than yours does in some ways.

Do you think they would have 25,000 troops in DC if they were not afraid of us ?; 1/19/21, 10:08 AM
Michael K said...: Pardon me while I throw up.

The presidential inauguration Wednesday heralds a new era: the first time a shelter dog will live in the White House. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, adopted their pup Major, a German shepherd, from the Delaware Humane Assn. just over two years ago.

“It doesn’t get more of a Cinderella story for a dog,” said Kitty Block, president of the Humane Society of the United States. “And the timing couldn’t have been better.”

If only I had known, maybe I would have changed my vote. Kidding, of course.; 1/19/21, 10:27 AM
Achilles said...: John henry said...

Achilles the link doesn't work

John Henry

Thats cuz I am dumb and posted a link to the page where I was editing it.

Trying this one now.; 1/19/21, 6:06 PM
stephen cooper said...: 4xx BMW, Eight Air Force, app. 40 years ago (somewhere between 35 and 45 years ago).
The oldest NCOs (7, 8 or 9 stripes -anyone with 6 stripes of less had to retire at 26 years of service, typically in their mid-40s) were kids in the 30s, the oldest officers (doctors at the base hospital, natch) were also born in the 30s.
One or two of the the younger guys were killed in action,in later years, in the Gulf War and the post Twin Towers wars, several died from mechanical failures (Planes don't want to fall out of the sky but sometimes they do). "Friendly fire" encompasses more than artillery mistakes. The majority of those I knew best have died in the last 35-45 years, cancer, heart, Parkinsons, etc., this is a tough world.; 1/19/21, 8:38 PM