Althouse: At the Thursday Night Cafe...

January 27, 2021

At the Thursday Night Cafe...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

115 comments:

Mark said...: Who killed the unarmed Ashli Babbitt?

Reveal his name.; 1/27/21, 8:54 PM
Mark said...: Three weeks later.

Reveal his name.; 1/27/21, 8:54 PM
David Begley said...: Mark:

The acting Capitol Police Chief apologized. That’s all that is needed. The Fake News has forgotten that already.; 1/27/21, 8:58 PM
narciso said...: Following up from last night

https://jamesbondauthenticus.blogspot.com/2012/04/ian-fleming-and-kim-philby.html?m=1; 1/27/21, 8:59 PM
mockturtle said...: Interesting morning on Wall Street. Reddit bettors sent Gamestop to amazing heights, confounding the Melvin Capital hedge fund managers.; 1/27/21, 9:02 PM
robother said...: I take it that Ann's extreme position against shorts saved Mead and her from shorting Gamestop. Even a stopped clock....; 1/27/21, 9:05 PM
Unknown said...: Did I miss a day, or am I missing something else?; 1/27/21, 9:05 PM
Ken B said...: That Reddit was bounced by its host with the transparent lie that it had nothing to do with GameStop, and that they were always close to bouncing them!
Just complete bullshit.
And Nasdaq stepped in to stop the trades and to protect the hedge funds. The hedge funds have publicly announced short bets but apparently it’s improper to react rationally to their buy offers!; 1/27/21, 9:06 PM
Ken B said...: What’s it like living in a country with no constitution? I never have. I lived in the USA for 20 years, but that was before, when you still had one.

You guys might want to read Walter Bagehot. It’s an old book, but it gives you a place to start.; 1/27/21, 9:08 PM
Humperdink said...: > Lyme disease (Lyme, Connecticut)
> Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (Rocky Mountains)
> Lassa Fever (Lassa, Nigeria)
> Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (Ebola River, Zaire)
> German Measles (The Fatherland)
> West Nile Virus (West Nile District, Uganda)
> Wuhan Virus (Wuhan, China)*

*We regret to inform you that President Joe Biden has issued an executive order banning the use of terms such as “China virus” and “Wuhan virus” when referring to COVID-19.

Further, the Biden order instructs federal agencies to take appropriate action to scrub and edit references to the virus’ origins.; 1/27/21, 9:08 PM
narciso said...: Focus on problems that dont matter like skydragons ignore the source of malicious interference from china which has swept through the world; 1/27/21, 9:17 PM
Ken B said...: Hump
Wait until he learns about “French tickler” and “Spanish fly”.; 1/27/21, 9:19 PM
Whiskeybum said...: Wow - Wednesday was so bad that we skipped right to Thursday!; 1/27/21, 9:20 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: I'm confused. If Wisconsin ends their mask mandate, the brave firefighters in the media assure me that huge numbers of Wisconsinites are sure to die. They say its the dumbest decision in the history of mankind. Maybe even dumber than electing Tony Evers. Then they immediately turn around and mock Republicans by stating that masks will still be required in most places.

It's like they don't even read the dreck they write.; 1/27/21, 9:20 PM
Humperdink said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/27/21, 9:21 PM
mockturtle said...: Ken B observes: And Nasdaq stepped in to stop the trades and to protect the hedge funds.

Yep. Fine for me but not for thee.; 1/27/21, 9:22 PM
Mark said...: Crazy Mark still asking who framed Roger Rabbit. SAD!; 1/27/21, 9:22 PM
D.D. Driver said...: Interesting morning on Wall Street. Reddit bettors sent Gamestop to amazing heights, confounding the Melvin Capital hedge fund managers.

Now Koss, too.

I can't lie: it's fun watching the Smarter-Than-The-Market short investors take it in the pee hole from a bunch of reddit punks. That's just good clean fun.; 1/27/21, 9:23 PM
Big Mike said...: Well I was going to post this in the Wednesday night cafe, but ...

Today the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a domestic terrorism bulletin warning about “ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority.”

This frightens me. Lots of people object to actions taken by the US government (including Democrats, prior to January 20th). Who decides what the threshold for calling someone "violent extremists"?; 1/27/21, 9:23 PM
DavidUW said...: Don't hold shorts you can't cover.; 1/27/21, 9:24 PM
narciso said...: Its worse than you think

https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2021/01/27/dhss-unintelligible-threat-bulletin/; 1/27/21, 9:26 PM
DavidUW said...: Who decides what the threshold for calling someone "violent extremists"?
>>
That's easy.

Being a member of the Republican party.
Voting Republican.
Supporting any Republican and/or any Republican related cause
Speaking in any public forum about the above.
Speaking in any private forum about the above.
Speaking in any foreign forum about the above.; 1/27/21, 9:27 PM
mockturtle said...: D.D. Driver muses: I can't lie: it's fun watching the Smarter-Than-The-Market short investors take it in the pee hole from a bunch of reddit punks. That's just good clean fun.

Probably the first time I've ever agreed with you. ;-); 1/27/21, 9:27 PM
Ken B said...: Mockturtle
I can imagine that redpilling a few folks. I saw a lot of shock in comments about how naked it was.

It’s important to realize that the hedge funds' buy offers were public information. They had publicly known offers committing them to buy at the market price. So the Reddit and other investors were just taking advantage of that stupidity. They were taking a risk, and the hedges were taking a rusk. But the SEC and the exchange decided who wins. Completely corrupt. This is worse than the kind of thing that led to the establishment of the SEC.

On top of that, tech cartels deplatformed them with clearly false excuses.

Wish I owned redpill stock!; 1/27/21, 9:28 PM
rhhardin said...: It would be classically time for GameStop to pile on and buy up stodgy but profitable companies for stock. That produces a high rate of earnings growth, and earnings growth is highly valued by the market.; 1/27/21, 9:29 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: Humperdink said...

Can't make this shit up. Also can't make this up.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/01/27/china-deploys-anal-swab-tests-to-detect-high-risk-covid-19-cases/?sh=4b34b2c96e81

Within a month, we'll all be wearing two masks and submitting to weekly anal probes. For our own good.; 1/27/21, 9:29 PM
mockturtle said...: Big Mike: Yep, we are not only deplorable but now officially on the DHS hit list. Though none of this surprises me in its content, the speed with which it's taking place is astounding.; 1/27/21, 9:30 PM
DavidUW said...: The SEC never should have been formed. Another idiot idea from the second-worst president, FDR. (the worst obviously being Woodrow Wilson, the third worst being LBJ).

Literally just a bunch of nepots masturbating 8 hours a day on taxpayers money.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/23/sec.p0rn/index.html

(substitue a letter in for the word after sec); 1/27/21, 9:32 PM
narciso said...: 'Itll be fine'

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1354197332196274177; 1/27/21, 9:32 PM
Humperdink said...: After one week, President Joe * has 22 executive orders. If he keeps up the pace, he is on track to sign over 4,000 executive orders. To his benefit, it keeps him from speaking a lot, other than to ask "What I am signing again?".; 1/27/21, 9:32 PM
Ken B said...: Big Mike
“ This frightens me.”

It should. You are gonna need every senate vote you can find. Even RINOs. Some of us have been warning of something like this. You are a bit slow so you have been ranting about anyone but (insert long list of republicans whose vote you need). Glad you are waking up, finally. (If you are.); 1/27/21, 9:32 PM
narciso said...: The first two nominees were crook joe kennedy replaced by flaky william douglas; 1/27/21, 9:33 PM
Humperdink said...: Of the list of RINOs, my senator Pat Toomey (R-Worm) is my biggest disappointment. I had high hopes for him. I have emailed him twice to complain about his Trump stance and got boilerplate responses. Tried calling him - a complete waste of time. They are unreachable. He'll reside on K-Street in 2 years.; 1/27/21, 9:40 PM
Ken B said...: What bullshit story will come out to more to make everyone in America completely forget what they saw happen today in the stock market? Something will; CNN and the NYT are working on it right now.; 1/27/21, 9:41 PM
narciso said...: Heck you cant clean it up,,so fleming did have a better than average of what was up, casino royale outlined the money behind the soviets by the time of thunderball it had devolved into spectre.; 1/27/21, 9:41 PM
320Busdriver said...: For all that is good and Holy, open your schools. The damage being done to children in our most vulnerable communities is criminal and unrecoverable.; 1/27/21, 9:41 PM
320Busdriver said...: Blogger robother said...
I take it that Ann's extreme position against shorts saved Mead and her from shorting Gamestop. Even a stopped clock....

Now THATS funny.. bravo; 1/27/21, 9:42 PM
Ken B said...: Mockturtle “ the speed with which it's taking place is astounding.”

They are getting inside the OODA loop. Read the biography Boyd, it’s about 15 years old.; 1/27/21, 9:43 PM
Narr said...: This Interwebby thing can really use up your time if you let it. When I saw the Thursday night title I thought, yes, it's Thursday isn't it? But now I'm back on track.

Did you guys know it's Wolfie's 256th (?) birthday?

Somebody mentioned Yul Brynner the other day, and he always reminds me of his King and I understudy and replacement Leonard Graves, who was from Memphis. Graves is best known of course as the voice of Victory at Sea, probably the greatest documentary series of all time.

I had not realized that Graves had been in several movies too, even Pork Chop Hill, which I must have watched a hundred times. And then, an edited short version of Victory at Sea was narrated by Alexander Scourby . . . who was the go-to reader for the ambitious English teacher in HS who wanted the kids to hear poetry done right; that he was a star of soaps blew me away (shows what I know!).

Anyway, today's online research project is Laurel and Hardy. I'll let you know what I find out.

Narr
Hindemith--Matthis on the rundfunk. Later; 1/27/21, 9:45 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: @320Busdriver

Fortunately, the teacher's unions are also damaging their own reputation and showing everyone what they really care about. The damage that they do to themselves now, in the long run, may outweigh the damage they do to children now.; 1/27/21, 9:48 PM
320Busdriver said...: On top of that, tech cartels deplatformed them with clearly false excuses.

Someone, can’t remember who actually referred to the wsb crowd as a cartel..

Best analysis I saw all day was Charles Payne on Varneys show after Varney called for intervention.. Payne rocked it out of the park.; 1/27/21, 9:48 PM
320Busdriver said...: Today I bought some AMC...probably better than a lotto ticket.; 1/27/21, 9:50 PM
Humperdink said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/27/21, 9:51 PM
narciso said...: Where is nod, and the other one.; 1/27/21, 9:55 PM
320Busdriver said...: @Rt41Rebel

Every day we get lectured about equality, equity, diversity, from this admin. But the most damaging thing we could ever do is to keep these kids out of school. Can’t believe more are not shouting from the rooftops to end this insanity..; 1/27/21, 9:55 PM
320Busdriver said...: Here we go

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/27/biden-supreme-court-reform-463126; 1/27/21, 10:02 PM
Lawrence Person said...: Joe Biden: Stop all deportations! Federal judge: Not so fast.; 1/27/21, 10:04 PM
narciso said...: Well the Court committed seppuku enabling this fraud.; 1/27/21, 10:06 PM
Ken B said...: You need the strongest intervention, nationalization. It’s important to remove the power to act the way they have acted, and to do it promptly. Antitrust was a good idea years ago, it’s too late now.; 1/27/21, 10:07 PM
narciso said...: No interest in this:

https://mobile.twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1354466951058378754; 1/27/21, 10:08 PM
narciso said...: From these very agencies who bought total immunity with this election?; 1/27/21, 10:09 PM
doctrev said...: Ken B said...
What’s it like living in a country with no constitution?

You guys might want to read Walter Bagehot. It’s an old book, but it gives you a place to start.

1/27/21, 9:08 PM

Ah, Ken. Been meaning to ask you- have all the Canadian provinces actually signed the Constitution you've had for less than half a century?

No? Ah, it's not actually a Constitution that includes your second largest province. Just a convenient legal fiction.; 1/27/21, 10:10 PM
Ken B said...: Actually doctrev, I opposed the new constitution. But it’s the law nonetheless.
Kinda like you opposed the election of Biden, but it’s the law nonetheless. (He was elected before monopolistic terms of service replaced your constitution.); 1/27/21, 10:19 PM
William said...: Like many here, my heart rejoices when I see a hedge fund trader go belly up. But, also like many here, I'm not in favor of flash mobs. Short trading, despite its shady reputation, does serve a useful purpose in adding liquidity to the market. I can''t think of any useful purpose that flash mobs serve. The market tanked 600 points today. I think part of it was the fresh new fear that this flash mob has created. I think this will probably end badly and not just for hedge fund managers. But maybe not. I've never been able to predict uncertain outcomes with any degree of certainty.; 1/27/21, 10:23 PM
narciso said...: The flash mob is just a cover for all the spanners being thrown into the undercarriage of the economy.; 1/27/21, 10:25 PM
narciso said...: Race quotas frozen oil and gas leases, its like every way you can smash this behenoth they are going with and stapling a digital muzzle over all of this.; 1/27/21, 10:27 PM
Ken B said...: If you have no constitution anymore then you can pass Liz Warren's wealth tax. The Democrats say they are the party of the poor. I bet they are actually the party of the super rich. So there will be no billionaire wealth tax.; 1/27/21, 10:34 PM
William said...: There's a movie playing on Amazon Prime called Mathilde. It's a Russian movie that portrays the love affair that Czar Nicholas II had with a ballerina before assuming the crown. The movie takes considerable liberties with the actual facts. The ballerina was not, as the movie proposes, the true great love of Nicholas's life. She was a side piece. The great love of his life was, in fact, his wife. Too bad that. The Czarina gave him bad advice at every crucial point of his reign, and her cultish devotion to Rasputin was key to shortening that reign... The movie is pretty ripe, but the settings and costumes are impressive. It was filmed in several Russian palaces and on several estates. Those Czars lived well. Hunting estates the size of small countries, and the Bolshoi Ballet at your disposal.....At what point can you make a fairy tale out of history? The earlier Hollywood movie about him, Nicholas and Alexandra, was reasonably accurate, but not surprisingly bombed at the box office. There's not much of a market for accurate history, especially when it involves the murder of children. It's more fun to watch a movie about a love affair with a ballerina, especially if, as in this movie, there's a certain amount of nudity.; 1/27/21, 10:42 PM
narciso said...: They needed to steal the election to blackmail election officials in order to do all of this, kevorkian the economy.

And what has the basenghi opposition done in a week, crickets.; 1/27/21, 10:43 PM
narciso said...: I read a novel about her, she was referenced in 1974s fall of eagles among other places. Yes it doesnt really count.; 1/27/21, 10:47 PM
D.D. Driver said...: If you have no constitution anymore then you can pass Liz Warren's wealth tax. The Democrats say they are the party of the poor. I bet they are actually the party of the super rich. So there will be no billionaire wealth tax.

Remember the democrats whining that millionaires couldn't claim a mortgage interest deduction on their mansions? Pepperidge Farms remembers.; 1/27/21, 10:49 PM
Ken B said...: William
Murder no, sexual exploitation, yes. Cuties, big hit.; 1/27/21, 10:51 PM
narciso said...: No one wanted to watch cuties, as netflix found out.; 1/27/21, 10:54 PM
D.D. Driver said...: The reddit site is back up. I genuinely laughed out loud at the punchline to this.; 1/27/21, 10:55 PM
Yancey Ward said...: 'Itll be fine'

LOL! I literally can't read that phrase any longer without hearing Will Jordan's voice saying it.; 1/27/21, 10:58 PM
narciso said...: I mean it, he has just the right level of disdain. At all these pretenses. Sanctioned violence against political opponents is ignored and some stupid stunt is made 'the worst thing evarr'; 1/27/21, 11:00 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Did I miss a day, or am I missing something else?"

China Joe Xiden issued an executive order eliminating Wednesdays.; 1/27/21, 11:04 PM
narciso said...: Also tyrion lannisters unique feedback.; 1/27/21, 11:04 PM
narciso said...: Underwear checks on the outsiden try to keep up, have the fish.; 1/27/21, 11:05 PM
William said...: The daughters of the Czar were exceptionally good looking. There was some sexual tension during their captivity. They were made to keep the doors of their rooms open at night. The soldiers would peer in and sometimes make lewd remarks....There were soldiers sent to guard the perimeter of where the Czar and his family were to be secretly buried. Those soldiers were disappointed when a pile of dead bodies were delivered to them. They had been given to understand that they would be the ones to kill the family and that they would be allowed to rape the daughters before their execution. This was a common occurrence during the Civil War in Russia, but the Czar's family was spared this last horror......What's the opposite of a fairy tale? This wasn't quite a tragedy. There's pity and terror but no catharsis. It's just a ghastly story.; 1/27/21, 11:06 PM
Mark said...: China Joe Xiden issued an executive order eliminating Wednesdays.

I doubt that. It's probably his and the left's favorite day. It describes what they want to do to all of us. Repeatedly.

In the same way that China is now promoting a new kind of COVID test swab.; 1/27/21, 11:07 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Who knew it was against the law to lie to Hillary Clinton voters, but not Trump voters? I mean, I do understand the situations aren't quite the same- Hillary and Biden voters are definitely dumb enough to think you can vote with a text message.; 1/27/21, 11:07 PM
chuck said...: It's more fun to watch a movie about a love affair with a ballerina

I'd be happy to see Nicholas II bending a horse shoe. IIRC from high school, he could do that.; 1/27/21, 11:08 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It was Dr. Jill Xiden who wanted Wednesdays eliminated, for obvious reasons.; 1/27/21, 11:10 PM
narciso said...: Into thar abbatoir would follow 30-40 million others. Ayers thought 25 million dead would suffice, this was 1973?; 1/27/21, 11:11 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Of course, China Joe thinks every day is hump day, at least according to the dog's vet.; 1/27/21, 11:11 PM
Mark said...: It was Dr. Jill Xiden who wanted Wednesdays eliminated, for obvious reasons.

Kamela wants to keep it though, for obvious reasons.; 1/27/21, 11:11 PM
narciso said...: This is why there was all that commotion about princess anastasia. Which came out to be nothing.; 1/27/21, 11:13 PM
narciso said...: But it was necessary to do ashley babbitt what waa anathema to the murderers of police by the mountains of bodies, to burn out whole sections of cities as if they had been napalmed billions of dollars in damages predicated on the floyd lies; 1/27/21, 11:17 PM
narciso said...: Because it was deemed a public health duty to do the latter, but to challenge the theft the birthright of every americqn and those he choze their adopted land we can kill you and make you an unperson.; 1/27/21, 11:22 PM
narciso said...: Thats where im at, were in hunger games teritory, they havent avoxed us yet but thFs coming the worse people possible are being put in charge of health policy. The Court seems to have neutered themselves; 1/27/21, 11:40 PM
gadfly said...: (Wall Street Journal) Toyota Motor Corp.’s leader criticized what he described as excessive hype over electric vehicles, saying advocates failed to consider the carbon emitted by generating electricity and the costs of an EV transition.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda said Japan would run out of electricity in the summer if all cars were running on electric power. The infrastructure needed to support a fleet consisting entirely of EVs would cost Japan . . . $135 billion to $358 billion, he said.

He said if Japan is too hasty in banning gasoline-powered cars, “the current business model of the car industry is going to collapse,” causing the loss of millions of jobs.

Somebody needs to 'splain all this and how much larger the American problem is to President Biden, Governor Newsome and the environmental Dem nutcases. Carbon dioxide is not a polluter, it is life-giving and the human body is 4/5 carbon. Lot of people will end up too hot, too cold, too wet and too dry (and definitely poorer) because of this solution to nonexistent global warming. Declaring something "scientific" doesn't make it so and man-made air pollution is far, far less serious than natural conditions wrought by our sun and cows.; 1/28/21, 12:42 AM
n.n said...: Murder no, sexual exploitation, yes. Cuties, big hit.

Abortion, yes. In privacy, behind a wall, at the Twilight Fringe.

Sexual exploitation, yes. Social progress. #MeToo #NoJudgment #NoLabels

No one wanted to watch cuties, as netflix found out.

Pedophilia and child exploitation are a step too liberal. Perhaps the next generation, or a consultation in China etc. where diversity is the forward-looking dogmatic belief.; 1/28/21, 1:05 AM
daskol said...: Reddit bettors sent Gamestop to amazing heights, confounding the Melvin Capital hedge fund managers.

They were confounded like Athenians attacking Sicily. One for the ages.; 1/28/21, 1:16 AM
daskol said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/28/21, 1:18 AM
daskol said...: God only knows what the redditors are doing to their wives and daughters tonight. It's a good thing DeepFuckingValue seems like a nice guy.; 1/28/21, 1:19 AM
daskol said...: His other name is roaringkittens; 1/28/21, 1:20 AM
Crazy World said...: Biden and his puppets are insane, this is no longer America. Unreal how quick that happened. I weep for my country.; 1/28/21, 1:35 AM
pacwest said...: It just keeps on getting better! Troops in Syria, funding Palistainan terrorists, looking to make sure Iran gets nuclear arms. Get ready for flames in the Middle East. The Biden/Harris staff is at the ready.

An Adam Schiff aide, Maher Bati, is now in charge of intelligence for the National Security Council and is someone who a) has never worked in the Intelligence Community, b) who has worked for a UN organization actively involved in fomenting violence against Israel, and c) who was actively involved in an anti-Israel and anti-Semitic organization in college.; 1/28/21, 2:27 AM
Mutaman said...: "Oklahoma trying to return its $2m stockpile of hydroxychloroquine"

https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/oklahoma-trying-to-return-its-2m-stockpile-of-hydroxychloroquine/; 1/28/21, 4:45 AM
Anonymous said...: Patrick Byrne has been writing up his election experiences (which he will clean up and revise later), at his website deepcapture.com

The following is from what he posted yesterday:

How DJT Lost the White House, November 3 – December 23: All the President’s Team(s)
January 27, 2021 31 min read

https://www.deepcapture.com/2021/01/november-3-december-23-all-the-presidents-teams/

This post is highly critical of Rudy, talks some of the Antrim County audit, and at the end, alludes to the meeting Byrne, Powell, and Flynn would have with Trump at the Whitehouse.

*****

. . . Nine hours later, Monday morning at 10 AM, Rudy Giuliani took the stage at a joint press conference held with Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellison. Rudy was meant give a synopsis of where things stood, and then introduce Sidney Powell, who was going to discuss the possibility of mass election fraud on a scale no one was yet comprehending. That it was not about a couple hundred dead people voting here, or a few hundred people who had moved away there, but about something deeper, systemic….. Unprecedented.

Instead of going to plan, Rudy Giuliani got distracted, got carried away, and huffed and puffed his way around the stage for 40 minutes about how many hundreds of dead people had voted here and how illegal people had voted there….. As he worked himself up like Grandpa, repeating all the same points he had been making for days, hair die ran down both sides of his face, unnoticed.

Nine hours earlier, he had had nine shots of whiskey in under 90 minutes.

———

Another story that came to me from those times within Rudy’s offices: One Pennsylvania lawyer, a female, had taken on the job of a filing in Pennsylvania. She received a message from opposing Kirkland & Ellis counsel that was so threatening, so unprofessional, that the Kirkland later had to withdraw from the case INSERT CLIPe. Shaken, the female Pennsylvania lawyer turned in a draft filing but withdrew her representation. Rudy had had to find a firm, overnight, that would finish the Pennsylvania filing. He finally found a lawyer in Texas with election experience who finished it, and got it filed in Pennsylvania. It made no mention of election fraud, and was instead focused on the procedural Equal Protection arguments. Rudy only read it on his way driving to the Pennsylvania court where he was to defend it: upon reading it, he apparently told his companions, This is the worst piece of shit filing I’ve ever had to stand up in a courtroom and defend. He went into that Pennsylvania courtroom and was destroyed. . . .; 1/28/21, 5:21 AM
Fernandinande said...: china-deploys-anal-swab-tests-to-detect-high-risk-covid-19-cases

No pictures.; 1/28/21, 5:53 AM
dreams said...: Kobe Bryant and his daughter's death was a big shock, especially after local news that he and his daughter were mentoring a Louisville recruit Hailey Van Lith. Some Louisville fans were even hoping that Kobe's daughter Gianna would eventually play basketball at Louisville. Here is a nice article about their relationship.

"Hailey Van Lith, the superstar basketball recruit and rising high school senior, was playing a series of one-on-one matchups against eighth graders. Predictably, the 17-year-old who had just represented the USA on a U19 squad, was dominating the younger girls, scoring a dozen times in a row against girl, after girl, after girl.

She finally missed a shot, and once she got the ball again, her intensity eased. On one possession, she made a soft move — still making the shot, but prompting the father of one of the younger girls to stand up, raise his voice, and criticize Van Lith’s effort.

“What, are you tired of winning?” Gianna Bryant’s father asked, as Van Lith’s father Corey recalls. “You just get tired of beating people? Is that what it is?”"

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/basketball/louisville/2021/01/26/kobe-bryants-influence-louisville-standout-hailey-van-lith/4253561001/; 1/28/21, 6:07 AM
Humperdink said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/28/21, 6:13 AM
Humperdink said...: "They've taken the judgments of God, the law of God, and they've turned it into wickedness. Look at our nation today, how we have taken the laws of God and turned them into wickedness. How that the laws today are supporting wickedness. It's exactly what they had done. God's judgment is coming forth upon them. God's judgment will surely come upon our land just as sure as God's judgment came upon Israel. God's judgment is coming upon our land because of taking the laws and making them support evil, wickedness." (Chuck Smith 1982 Commentary Ezekiel 5)

It began in earnest on January 22, 1973.; 1/28/21, 6:16 AM
stevew said...: At a certain level it is amusing to be lectured to about diversity, equality, equity, racism, homophobia, and transphobia by the most white, patriarchal, heterosexual, and corrupt, guy ever. And he doesn't seem to get that lecturing and scolding are not leading. Sounds a lot like Charlie Brown's teacher.; 1/28/21, 6:23 AM
Fernandinande said...: Speaking of "cringe"...; 1/28/21, 6:38 AM
Humperdink said...: Biden has had some interesting staff choices, but the one I am curious about is Susan Rice, documented liar regarding the killing of Ambassador Chris Stevens.; 1/28/21, 7:13 AM
mockturtle said...: Humperdink, Susan Rice is indeed a known liar, but IMO she was just carrying water for the Queen of Lies.; 1/28/21, 7:19 AM
MadisonMan said...: Frau Blucher.

(whinny)

I knew Cloris Leachman was old, but I regret to read that she has died. Outstanding actress.; 1/28/21, 7:25 AM
Tina Trent said...: Hilariously, the nonprofit foundation all the hedge fund guys, Bloomberg, et. al. created is called the Robin Hood Foundation.

The board included both Epstein and Weinberg for years. Plus everyone on Wall Street. Plus starlets who now say they were forced to do gross stuff with Weinstein decades before they sat on a nonprofit board with him, saying nothing. See Gwenyth Paltrow.

They “worked on” education, and E and W toured numerous K-12 schools as ambassadors of RHF. Paltrow said nothing.

After buying up every other nonprofit in NYC, RHF decided the best way to “maximize benefits” to the “ disadvantaged” was to set up what they called flooding centers, where a relative few well-paid employees would sign people up for every available program and the ones that dared deny them, crashing the system and using deceit to force middle-class taxpayers to provide more and more to the indigent poor they trotted out. Meanwhile, most of their board was quietly opposing tax reform that would harm billionaires versus guys who make 100K a year, or half that much.

So, end result: Robin Hood Foundation is the rich stealing from the middle class to give to the indigent poor, through the vehicle of Social Security/Medicaid/Medicare, which a bunch of dumb libertarians and the staff of National Review still refuse to call “taxes.”

Enjoy your success, as they say.; 1/28/21, 7:26 AM
Tina Trent said...: And Robin Hood Foundation’s rise perfectly mirrors the fleeing of the middle-class from New York City. They are an ironic metaphor for everything that is coming.; 1/28/21, 7:29 AM
MadTownGuy said...: From the NYT:

"Good morning. Virus cases are falling more sharply in the U.S. than at any previous point.

The United States has never experienced a sharp and sustained decline in new coronavirus cases — until, perhaps, now.

Last year, new cases in the U.S. went through cycles of rising rapidly and then leveling off or falling only modestly. That was different from the situation in many other countries, where sharp drops sometimes occurred. Look at how much bigger the declines were in Western Europe last spring and last fall than in the U.S.:

[Chart not copyable]

But now the situation may be changing.

New cases in the U.S. have fallen 35 percent over the past three weeks. Hospitalizations have dropped, as well. Deaths have not, but they have stabilized — and the death trend typically lags the cases trend by a few weeks.

“I like the trends we are seeing, and I am personally hopeful that things are going to get better,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, told me. “But there are a number of things that could also wrong.”

The good news
Let’s start with two possible explanations for the recent improvement:

1. We may be in the very early stages of herd immunity. Roughly 100 million Americans seem to have had the virus. (For every person who tests positive, three more have had it without being diagnosed, studies suggest.) Another 24 million people have received a vaccine shot.

Put those two groups together, and you realize that about one-third of all Americans have at least some degree of immunity from the virus. That may be enough to begin — begin — slowing the spread, as my colleague Donald G. McNeil Jr. explained on “The Daily.”

2. More Americans may be wearing masks and staying socially distant. Many still are not, as I saw on my recent 1,600-mile road trip. But any increase in safe behavior matters.

And there are signs of change. Multiple states tightened restrictions late last year. The country just elected a president who echoes scientific advice rather than flouting it. Some Americans may also be inspired by light at the end of the tunnel.

“I’m hearing from a lot of people that one of the reasons why they’re really hunkering down now is that it would be a shame to get a severe Covid case while waiting to get the vaccine,” Dr. Lee Harrison, the chairman of a local health board, told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week.

Dr. Mark Escott, who runs the a local health agency around Austin, Texas, told the CBS affiliate there: “Folks are changing behavior. Folks are wearing masks, folks are staying home, and that is resulting in these decreasing cases.”

Dr. Alex Garza, a member of a pandemic task force in St. Louis, told The Associated Press: “The fact that this is happening in the winter when respiratory viruses typically spread the most shows us just how effective all the preventative measures actually are when we use them.”

It could get worse again
I want to emphasize that the pandemic has not entered an inexorable decline.

The biggest reason for concern is the newly infectious variants that could cause case numbers to surge again, especially if people become blasé about masks and distancing — or the Biden administration fails to accelerate vaccinations. And the current rate of death from Covid-19 remains horrific.

But the U.S. has it within its power to make this month a true turning point."

Full of subtle warnings that compliance is expected. Never mind the author's 1,600 mile road trip.; 1/28/21, 7:39 AM
mockturtle said...: I knew Cloris Leachman was old, but I regret to read that she has died. Outstanding actress.

Sad to hear. Frau Blucher [whinny] will always hold a special place in my heart. RIP.; 1/28/21, 7:49 AM
I Callahan said...: Somebody needs to 'splain all this and how much larger the American problem is to President Biden, Governor Newsome and the environmental Dem nutcases. Carbon dioxide is not a polluter, it is life-giving and the human body is 4/5 carbon.

This is rich, coming from Gadfly. If you and your compatriots weren't so anti-Trump, we wouldn't have to explain this to the current president, because the current president wouldn't BE Joseph Biden.

You made the bed - you have to lie in with the rest of us...; 1/28/21, 8:05 AM
Kai Akker said...: ---Put those two groups together, and you realize that about one-third of all Americans have at least some degree of immunity from the virus.

Not to mention the 30-50% of the population who have had immunity all along, from sources unknown but visible on that Princess cruise ship right from the start.; 1/28/21, 8:19 AM
Michael K said...: I was amused, too, by gadfly ranting about the guy he supported screwing up. The global warming hoax is discovered by then leftist nut case.; 1/28/21, 8:48 AM
Ralph L said...: I'd be happy to see Nicholas II bending a horse shoe. IIRC from high school, he could do that.

That was his father, Alexander III, a big bull of a man, who lifted part of a train car off his family after a wreck. Nicky was short and thin, like his mother Dagmar.; 1/28/21, 8:51 AM
TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...: Reading Simon Schama's 'Citizens'. Keep seeing fleeting references to the French Revolution in other writings these days. Interesting parallels but I will stick with my idea that the civil war we're about see will reflect the English civil war from the mid-17th century.

Related historical thought: The US is the "Western English Empire", analogous to the "Eastern Roman Empire" (aka Byzantium) that arose in power after the decline of its western antecedent. Perhaps in a thousand years that's how "historians" will view the rise and decline of the US.

And Canada to the US is much like the Parthians to Byzantium. A bit of a pain but of no real import to the life of the empire. Nice to trade with but not particularly essential. Occasional punitive military intrusions are fought off with no particular impact to the course of history other than making the subject of the intrusions undeservedly proud of its theoretical military prowess.; 1/28/21, 9:54 AM
Michael K said...: I will stick with my idea that the civil war we're about see will reflect the English civil war from the mid-17th century.

Are you referring to Cromwell or The House of Orange ? The "Glorious Revolution of 1688" involved inviting a Protestant prince to take control. James and Parliament had been at war. The invitation to William and his invasion, made Parliament supreme. I see little similarity to the incompetent Congress in this. The US Congress has not passed a budget in years. Legislation is now a matter of executive orders. To me, it resembles 1789 France more than 1688 England.; 1/28/21, 10:12 AM
TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...: In view is the English Civil War that broke out in 1642, particular things that parallel to our own time are the geographically diverse split between elites and non-elites, the loss of support for the Crown from Parliament, the jockeying for position among elite factions that hamstrung any meaningful government outside of executive authority, the retrenchment of executive authority in non-representative appointees...etc.

It was the first birth pangs of our Republic, maybe a false labor but eventually the baby would come. It's easy to see the rise of oligarchy in our times as being an echo of the French Revolution, but the same problems with oligarchy, vast wealth supporting the non-representative government to the exclusion of the citizenry, etc. were just as strong before 1642 in England as they were in pre-Revolutionary France.

The big difference between pre-Revolution France and pre-1642 England (and the US now) is that the failing Bourbon regime was not using its power to force citizens to violate their consciences. In England the match was put to the tinder when the Crown pushed specific religious reforms and threatened dire punishment of dissenters who would not bow to them. While France used the Church to uphold the Crown, in England the Crown used their power to crush conscience. My thinking is that this is what will set us off - the Progressive obsession with forcing conscience at the point of a gun.

The language and lessons of the English civil war resonate throughout the Declaration and the Constitution, not to mention our body of laws based on English Common Law. One of the things the Founders were working for as they built our Republic is to ensure we would not go through another civil war such as England had.

The first English civil war was in 1642, the second was in 1776 (with a small echo in 1812), and the third is on its way.; 1/28/21, 1:36 PM
Narr said...: Sounds like someone has been reading "The Cousins' Wars" by Phillips?

If I had to find a historical analogy to our situation, it would be, not 1642 or 1789 or 1848 but 1905, 1911 or 1917-- years when historic empires and hegemons fractured internally and failed to master external challenges from more vigorous rivals. Certainly we're more like formally semi-quasi-para-democratic Russia in '17 than senile China in 1911, but our very mediocre elites live in dream palaces like theirs did, and we'll soon know the precise limits of our hegemony.

Narr
And some people will be surprised; 1/28/21, 2:48 PM
TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...: Yes, I read Phillips but that was years ago. I'm not looking for analogy so much as teasing out the philosophical and historical antecedent. I see the English Civil War as the original antecedent because our political system grew out of the blood of that period (bills of attainder, anyone?) and the questions that reigned then are in many ways similar to those we are facing now. And since our system of law and government is rooted in the customs and laws of England, we're going to wind up with a similar answer to those intractable problems.

The US founding looked back hard at the English Civil War, and I fear the Federalists didn't take the warnings of the anti-Federalists to heart enough to prevent the future consolidation and centralization of power in DC. And that centralization is creating intractable problems and questions with no solution. Other than war, of course.; 1/28/21, 3:04 PM
wildswan said...: Every day, Joe Biden is led into the Oval Office room and signs executive orders for half an hour. But where is the room where he studies situations and decides on which orders to sign?; 1/28/21, 3:34 PM
Narr said...: TOWINO@304pm-- fair points and good ones. I guess I see the crisis from the POV of a sprawling multi-ethnic empire in its relations to other states; the outer expression of what many early Americans feared would be one result of a strong centralized state.

Narr
Doomed, coming and going; 1/28/21, 6:37 PM