January 28, 2021

At the Thursday Night Café...

 ... it's another bitterly cold night, so snuggle in.

101 comments:

Joe Smith said...

A 3-dog night?

NCMoss said...

Coldest Night of the Year
Bruce Cockburn

stevew said...

Properly snuggled. Thankful we are in the new house with full central heating rather than the rental with the single room space heater. Steady snow for the last few days but only minor accumulation. There will be some woodworking this weekend. Custom shelves in mrs. stevew's closet and some basement storage racks.

Covid New cases continue to decline nationally, locally our governor is rolling back the restrictions on restaurants and other outside the home activities. Slo' Joe's Covid mitigation plan is working beautifully! -sarc-

Michael K said...

Big storm heading for southern California. Ships taking shelter under the lee of San Clemente Island. 62 mile an hour wind and 17 foot seas. Tucson next week. Snow behind our house two days ago.

Iman said...

I remember a colleague of mine who lives in Waukesha County answering my question “how cold has it been there?” by telling me about boiling a pan of water, throwing it in the air off her back porch and seeing it turn to ice crystals.

Sounds cold to me!

rcocean said...

You want cold? Go read Jack London's "To build a fire". Now, that's cold.

Ken B said...

The Wall Street boondoggle is so blatant, so dishonest, and the covering lies so transparent that there is suddenly a chance to really change the national politics here, and to loosen slightly the grip of the swamp. This could crack the Democrats.

Trumpkins will throw it away.

They will need to work with lefties like AOC and Tlaib. Tlaib has even called out Feinstein. They will need to work with lots of people who don’t think Trump wuz robbed. And they won’t. Trumpkins don’t care about anything anymore, except wailing “we wuz robbed” and feeling like victims. So they won’t work with anyone. (Expect some “bruh, Trudeau” responses).

rcocean said...

Bora bora
that's the place to be
Trade winds are a delight to me
Sand spreading so far and wide
Keep Wisconsin just give me that water slide.

Scott Adams

rcocean said...

Althouse you need to ban the left-wing scum trolls who ruin your blog

Ken B said...

Let me be the first to ask. Who stopped Ashli Babbitt from terrorizing octogenarians?

narciso said...


Another offering

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UR2hvCnehAA

narciso said...


Hes slow on the take

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/exclusive-independent-journalist-tayler-hansen-riot-turned-deadly-witnessed-us-capitol-riot/

rcocean said...

Only 12 foot waves at half moon bay. No surfing contest today. Oahu north shore 26 MPH winds but they're off-shore, so surf is only 2-3 feet high. Don't know about SoCal but expect high surf in Orange County.

Narr said...

Cold enough here--33* right now. I tolerate it less and less well, and can't conceive living in a colder clime.

Got my new glasses today--I had been seeing the world through a scrim of lens scratches and abrasions; much better this way.

Narr
One dog suffices here

rcocean said...

You often wonder about Left-wing Trolls. Most of them turn out to be freaks in mom's basement. Or people with mental problems. That's why they show up at a moments notice. Its sorta sad really.

Ken B said...

When I visited Washington I was impressed by how open and accessible it was (I didn’t try crashing through barriers to terrorize octogenarians). Now Biden, who insists fences don’t work, will have permanent fences.

You fuckwits have completely lost the plot. America was once admired around the world, and was seen as an aspirational nation. But you are throwing that away with symbolism like this. Symbols matter. The marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima understood that, but you people no longer do.

rcocean said...

"Got my new glasses today--I had been seeing the world through a scrim of lens scratches and abrasions; much better this way."

that reminds me that I need to get a new scuba mask, with corrective lenses, for a trip to Hawaii. Assuming it ever opens up again.

Ken B said...

The fucking Kremlin never had fencing.

rcocean said...

See ken B, is a pathetic left-wing freak who'll hang around because he has no life. Mom's basement. Me I got a life. And a wife.

Adios.

Michael K said...

But you are throwing that away with symbolism like this.

Speak to Biden and his lunatic voters.

320Busdriver said...

Why are Milwaukee and Madison’s kids not in school?

It’s been a full year of child abuse.


What happened to equity....equality....seriously

Howard said...

Yes, please ban all the trolls Althouse. This august salon has no place for riff-raff of any stripe or caliber. Canadians too, always giving the high hat. I only wished I think of it first.

narciso said...

It was called the Fortress, literally.

Daniel said...

Ken B is remarkably similar to our old friend Chuck. Same need for attention. Same girlish smugness. I don’t give two fucks what country he’s from. He’s an Asshole.

Ken B said...

Ah Daniel, you are wrong. I'm a prick. And don’t you forget it!

So tell me I'm wrong that it won’t do permanent damage to America's prestige to put up a permanent fence around the capitol. A fence to keep your own citizens away.

Tell me I’m wrong that even Stalin never allowed such a sight around his capitol.

Mutaman said...

"The rebellion on the populist right against the results of the 2020 election was partly a cynical, knowing effort by political operators and their hype men in the media to steal an election or at least get rich trying. But it was also the tragic consequence of the informational malnourishment so badly afflicting the nation."

Chris Stirewalt

Achilles said...

So lets try to download robin hood.

Ken B said...

Howard
I have a lovely big hat, a Stetson made of beaver felt. You, alone of the Althouse regulars, may touch it!

Original Mike said...

"Why are Milwaukee and Madison’s kids not in school?"

Grandkids had their first day of school today. Verona (suburb of Madison). They were excited when they got home! School is fun!

narciso said...


Apres le deluge


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vwvOQ1b6nes

Ken B said...

Yellen signed an ethics agreement not to get involved in any decision involving these funds. But did she do so already?

I mean, it’s ridiculous. She took almost a million from the owner of Robinhood, now the biggest holder of GameStop shorts, so it’s obvious she’s an influence peddler there to give them aid and comfort. But this us a technicality she might be nailed on. Anyone opposed to Biden should want that.

Howard said...

Calgary Ken B

Yancey Ward said...

Been a fairly typical Winter here in Oak Ridge. Most days are in the mid to upper 40s for highs, and most nights are around 30. We had one significant snowfall back on Christmas Day, but that was only about an inch of snow. The 10 day forecast shows mid 50s all of next week- yippee!

Are W said...

Well, it is 60°, and the moon is hanging out with a few clouds so I can't complain.

Yancey Ward said...

I can hear "The Magnificent Seven" or one of its sequels playing in other room. The music is unmistakeable.

chuck said...

throwing it in the air off her back porch and seeing it turn to ice crystals.

The story I like is the guy going out to toss a bag of shit in a crevasse and wrapping it around a guy wire on the back swing, whereupon it instantly froze solid.

Achilles said...

rcocean said...

Althouse you need to ban the left-wing scum trolls who ruin your blog

You shouldn't get banned for being left wing.

You shouldn't be banned for being a liberal. I don't want to be banned for being a liberal.

The only thing you should get banned for is bad faith posting.

Ken B is a bad faith poster.

stephen cooper said...

February is almost upon us.

When I was young, before I learned how to be powerful and beloved in this world (not that I am either of those things ---- but I know how to be those things, and if I wanted to be either or both of them I could) --- when I was young, I used to accompany my Aunt Margery, a couple times a year, on her shopping trips (at the time, she was in her 60s, unmarried, and she told me she was very very thankful to my parents for "lending their wonderful son to her for a day".)

Sometimes, a couple of weeks before Valentine's Day, we would be at Walgreen's, and she would literally gaze, lost in those sad adult lonely thoughts that most children do not understand (but I did) at the rack of Valentine's Day cards, and I,standing next to her, would explain (I was a kind person when I was young) that some of the cards had beautiful pictures, some had really funny phrases printed on the front, and some of them were EXACTLY what anyone would want to receive on Valentine's Day, if someone wanted to receive a Valentine's Day card from someone who loved them.

Trust me, my Aunt Margery may have been loved before I was born, by some guy whose name nobody in the universe remembers, but at the time that she and me stood in that Walgreen's, looking at the Valentine's Day cards, there was no chance at all she would get a loving Valentine's Day card from a man she loved, from a man she wanted to be loved by.

NO CHANCE AT ALL.

I have my faults, and there are many many people - lots of them have told me, on this website, that they felt contempt for me, oh well, I guess I will have to live with that - in short, there are many people who look at me without respect, but that being said, I can tell you this.

My Aunt Margery was always nice to me, and EVERY VALENTINES DAY that passed, it it was a Valentine's Day on which I was 12 years or older, she got a kind and friendly Valentine Day card from me.

This one time, a woman stood next to us while we were talking, friend to friend, about the Valentine's Day cards, and she said ---- "These are nice, but they have nicer cards at Hallmark."


Aunt Margery looked at her and said "these would be good enough for me", and I, Aunt Margery's best friend in the world, smiled, knowing things that very very few people know about how much God loves us all.

Ken B said...

Howard
Calgary can be colder than a denialist's heart.

stephen cooper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

There are 18 “moderate” Democrats belonging to the Blue Dog Coalition. Can Pelosi and Hoyer keep them in line? She only has a 10 vote margin (8 if Republicans hold their thin leads in the 2 elections that are still undecided). If Kevin McCarthy can peel half of the Blue Dogs off on any vote, the GOP wins that vote handily.

Why might the Blue Dogs desert their party on any particular vote? Because moderates who vote for extreme bills are vulnerable to Republicans in the next election. 2010 was not that long ago. And a lot of Democrats who lost or had a tight race last November blame Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez.

Achilles said...

Ken B said...

Yellen signed an ethics agreement not to get involved in any decision involving these funds. But did she do so already?

I mean, it’s ridiculous. She took almost a million from the owner of Robinhood, now the biggest holder of GameStop shorts, so it’s obvious she’s an influence peddler there to give them aid and comfort. But this us a technicality she might be nailed on. Anyone opposed to Biden should want that.


We have known this for years.

They are all corrupt. Everyone in Washington DC is corrupt. If you started doing investigations into corruption 100 people in Washington DC might be clean. Every "think tank" and lobbying institution. Every bureaucrat. National Review. AEI. All of them are corrupt.

That is why we sent Trump.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

The fucking Kremlin never had fencing.

No, they just had the Berlin Wall to keep everyone from leaving, no one wanted to enter.

Ken B said...

Mike of Snobrain
And you think that pictures of that wall *improved* their image? You really need to think harder about symbols.

walter said...

Blogger Ken B said...
Trumpkins will throw it away.
They will need to work with lefties like AOC and Tlaib.
--
Gee Ken,
That might be possible if folks like AOC and Pelosi weren't accusing R's like Cruz of trying to kill them.
Think they're serious about this "unity" schtick?

stephen cooper said...

My Aunt Margery was always kind to me, and EVERY VALENTINE's DAY THAT PASSED, if it was a Valentine's Day on which I was 12 years or older (every year, 12 and on, I could easily afford the cost of the card and the cost of the postage), she got a kind and friendly Valentine's Day card from me.

I have met kings in this world, I have shared pitchers of beers or legendary glasses of wine with great geniuses or rulers, and with legendary generals, but all I want to be remembered for is this:
I was a friend to someone who was kind to me.

Mark said...

There are 18 “moderate” Democrats belonging to the Blue Dog Coalition.

And they ALWAYS vote in lockstep with Pelosi. On everything. Not a single one of them have any integrity. They are, in fact, bad faith posters who should be banned.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

stevew: Congrats on your new home. After all the hard work to get the permits and then get it built, I know it must be glorious to actually be in it.

We're expecting permit approval about mid-March. I've been getting quotes for concrete pours. There's a bridge with a 23T load limit on the way to our site. That means the concrete trucks can only carry a half-load, so we're going to need twice the number of trips then we'd need without the load limit. King County is designing and getting permits for a new 80T limit bridge, but it won't be replaced until 2023 or 2024. The building department has to comply with the same permit hell that we do.

I'm also getting quotes for exterior plumbing and electrical work. The builder (Adair) will take care of all the interior work.

Ken B said...

Walter
No they are deeply unserious about unity. But right now they hate the people propping up the Democrats, and so do you. A sensible person would work with them on this issue.

walter said...

(and oh..that minor detail of impeaching an ex-president)

Ken B said...

Catechist, a question. What is the church position on buggering 8 year olds? Don’t say “Doggy style”!

walter said...

Ken,
That was AOC's response to Cruz extending offer to join forces. She would except he wants to kill her.
"work with them"
Yeahhhhhhh.

walter said...

Pelosi says there are enemies inside, R's threatening Dems with being shot.

narciso said...

She has to stop listening to the voices in her head.

The Godfather said...

Suggestion: Instead of urging Prof. Althouse to ban the left-wing trolls, just try ignoring them. Don't read them, don't engage them. They'll probably go away, and even if they don't, you'll live longer.

walter said...

AOC also told Cruz he should resign.
Maybe Cruz could do the "Ok. What I hear you saying is..."

stephen cooper said...

I softened it a little bit --- not "these would be good enough for me," but "any of these would be good for me", which is much sadder ...... it was 1967, Walgreen's, and this fairly pretty lady (I could tell you how expensive the clothes she was wearing were (between 18 and 20 dollars, in 1967 dollars, in case you care)), I could tell you how much hairspray she had on her brown locks and exactly how much lipstick she was using ---- (I notice these things, not because I want to but because I can) anyway, she was one of those good-looking people who so many people think of as the people who matter most in this world ---- she walked up next to me and Aunt Margery, and said "the cards are nicer at Hallmarks" --- and my aunt, saying one of the saddest things I have ever heard anyone say (and I have heard better tenors than Caruso sing sadder songs that Caruso ever sang), wistfully looked at the cheap cards on that rack at Walgreens for a moment, listening to the beautiful lady with expensive clothes, and then looked at her right in the eyes and said "any of these would be nice enough for me."

Either you care about other people or you don't. I cared, and that poor woman, regardless of any other details in her life, always had the joy of knowing her nephew thought she was one of the most wonderful people who ever lived, for the next half of a century after that late January afternoon at Walgreens.

Ken B said...

Trumpkins, completely vindicating what I said, think they are scoring points!

walter said...

Yes, yes..you sly one, Ken.
Good grief.

PB said...

Thursday, again?

FullMoon said...

Mis-information correction (via CNN) regarding Chinese anal swab testing.
The efficiency is not testing the swab for virus. The freshly removed and coated swab is used to test sense of smell for a lineup of 20 to 25 people at a time.

Quick, easy, inexpensive.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Saw the CEO of Robinhood on Fredo's show tonight. I was stunned, Fredo asked some the kid some good questions. Kid gave some badly spun answers. You could hear the flush as his career went down the toilet live on TV.

JML said...

I belong to an RV Facebook group that has a fair number of Canadian's in it. Before the chinese covid, they were usually polite and helpful. Now, most of them have become snarky, ugly little shits like the one who posts on this blog. I don't know if the chinese covid affected them or if they were always this way but hid it well.

Big Mike said...

No, they just had the Berlin Wall to keep everyone from leaving, no one wanted to enter.

Then they don’t need a wall around the Capitol building -/ none of the 435 Congresscritters or 100 senators ever want to leave.

walter said...

Wait till you see the size of the "swab".
Side effects include..

Ken B said...

So, covid is much worse in parts of Europe now than here or in the USA. The daily death rate in Portugal works out to 11,000 deaths a day in the US.
Most of us think 11,000 a day would be a lot. The denialists here consider it a rounding error.

stephen cooper said...

TLDR - one of my first memories is going to Walgreen's with my aunt, who seemed sad to look at the Valentine's Day's cards for sale on the greeting card rack ---- I now know she was sad because she knew that nobody - well, nobody, at least, who a woman really wants to get a Valentine Day's card from -
would ever send her one.

walter said...

Portugese are famous for their anti-mask Trumpism.

stephen cooper said...

I knew it back then too but she did not know I knew.

Very few people understand other people even just a little bit.

Treasure the moments, my friends, when you understand another human creature.

sterlingblue said...

Thank you, Stephen Cooper, for sharing that memory.

I had an awesome single aunt. She was always doing things for other people and had probably the greatest character of anyone I've ever known.

For Christmas one year, she got me an official Aaron Rodgers jersey that must have cost a lot of money -- and she didn't have a lot. I still wear it proudly every Packers game day.

She died of cancer 5 years ago this month.

stephen cooper said...

My aunt was a huge Brett Favre fan.

Lawrence Person said...

The Great GameStop Short Squeeze

Corrupt Establishment Moves To Screw Retail Investors, Bail Out Hedge Funds

Ken B said...

The hedge funds must, in the general course of things, being colluding, right? Otherwise fund A would exploit fund B when they were shorting a stock. But somehow Reddit users discussing things in public is an issue?

Ken B said...

Lawrence Person
Wow, that screen shot of the involuntary order is incredible. If that is really the case, and it sure looks like it is, it’s game over for RH, and the crooks running it. Hopefully for the hack politicians covering for them.

Rt41Rebel said...

The corrupt elite don't like it when outsiders beat them at their own games. We already saw what happened to Trump.

eddie willers said...

I can hear "The Magnificent Seven" or one of its sequels playing in other room. The music is unmistakeable.

Could be a Marlboro commercial.

walter said...

Y'all should be more concerned about Boebert shooting Pelosi's head off.

Yancey Ward said...

"Y'all should be more concerned about Boebert shooting Pelosi's head off."

Does Boebert have bad aim?

Yancey Ward said...

Oh, FBI guys- that was joke by the way. I would in no way be happy if Boebert were a good shot and succeeded in blowing Pelosi's head off.

Yancey Ward said...

I know I have been accused of wanting old people to die, but not Nancy Pelosi- she is the only thing holding the country together right now- without her we are lost, lost I tell you!

Yancey Ward said...

Also, all those times I told Clinton and Biden voters to go fuck themselves- that was also just a joke. In no way was I really advocating that such people commit sexual assault against themselves.

The Crack Emcee said...

Boom-Shakalaka-Boom Mothafuckas:

After seeing a video someone made, I've been contacted by the Utah Tourism Board and - beginning in a week or so - they will be featuring "My Utah Car" by The Crack Emcee on their official website.

gadfly said...

General Motors said Thursday that it would phase out petroleum-powered cars and trucks and sell only vehicles that have zero tailpipe emissions by 2035. GM only sells a few EVs now with the sparse production of the Chevy Bolt, which replaced the biggest car line failure in history - the Chevy Volt - that cost taxpayers $7,000 for each one sold and millions upon millions of dollars developing the Volt's battery which successfully burned down houses. This fall GMC will bring out the ultra-expensive GMC Hummer EV priced at about $75 gees.

So we now have 14 years before taxpayers finance the next GM bankruptcy and spend umpteen trillions of cash dollars equipping the vast 48 contiguous states with a network of battery charging and repair stations. Additionally, we will need more dependable fossil-based electric generating plants (oops) to backup the worthless, sometimes operating wind and sun renewables which will kill off our birds and bats faster than cats.

But EVs are not zippy unless you spend big bucks and autonomous driverless vehicles wouldn't be any fun - so 2035 will come and go with tailpipe vehicles leading U.S sales. This assumes that new social demands for turning the sun on and off as needed and vaccinating the world while handing out spending money to everyone doesn't finally end the Great American experiment.

stevew said...

Thanks Mike. Best wishes for you, your project has a lot more challenges than mine. Sounds like it is moving well, albeit slowly.

Gov Mills has, according to some, joined the ranks of Covid denialists by rolling back restrictions on dining establishments, retailers, and other public activities. I mean, there were 280 new cases reported yesterday. Unbelievable.

Is now the time to short GM stock? This move to all EVs is not a sound business decision, especially when they have so far demonstrated a complete lack of engineering excellence in developing an quality EV.

Gahrie said...

and spend umpteen trillions of cash dollars equipping the vast 48 contiguous states with a network of battery charging and repair stations.

1) Tesla and other private entities are already solving the charging problem, plus unlike ICE cars, you can refuel an electric car at night, at home, while you are sleeping. ICE repair shops will quickly and easily shift over to EV vehicles. The only problem will be that EV vehicles require much less maintenance, so many repair shops will go out of business.

Additionally, we will need more dependable fossil-based electric generating plants (oops) to backup the worthless, sometimes operating wind and sun renewables which will kill off our birds and bats faster than cats.

This is true. The left is caught in an (il)logical trap here. They are simultaneously mandating an extreme increase in the use of electricity, while at the same time enacting laws and regulations that are making electricity more expensive and less available. The Left should be building dams to increase available water and electricity, instead they are tearing dams down. The Left should be endorsing clean nuclear power, but won't. If California would start exploiting its abundant energy resources they would lower the cost of energy and create a huge source of income to the state. So of course they don't.

It's hard to see how wind every becomes a significant factor, but solar done right can make a huge impact. Solar won't replace fossil fuels, but combined with ever improving storage technology it can be effective on a retail level. At this point what is needed is for economies of scale to kick in, to bring the price of installation down. It is entirely probable than within twenty years, new homes in the sunbelt will have solar installations as a standard. (Likely to be driven by government mandate as well as the market)

Jersey Fled said...

Point:

General Motors said Thursday that it would phase out petroleum-powered cars and trucks and sell only vehicles that have zero tailpipe emissions by 2035.

Counterpoint:

Dec 01, 2020 · In an interview with Berlin-based publisher Axel Springer, hosted by Germany’s Bild am Sonntag, (Elon) Musk said sourcing the energy necessary to power EVs would become the biggest obstacle over the next two decades.

Rusty said...

Daniel said...
"Ken B is remarkably similar to our old friend Chuck. Same need for attention. Same girlish smugness. I don’t give two fucks what country he’s from. He’s an Asshole."
They couldn't stand him either that's why he's here.

Largo said...

rcocean said...
//Althouse you need to ban the left-wing scum trolls who ruin your blog//

We need to stop feeding them.

Humperdink said...

Ken B Insecure.

No surprise owing to where he hails from.

The Crack Emcee said...

Gee, thanks guys. Yeah, it's quite an honor.

Jeez.

Francisco D said...

When did Karen B turn into an attention whore?

She is losing it because the WuFlu didn't kill 2 million people.

Rusty said...

gadfly said,
"So we now have 14 years before taxpayers finance the next GM bankruptcy...."
Did gadfly just say something that made sense? Somebody mark the calendar.
It's funny because we only have, at current production, only about 10 years of lithium left in the ground.
So somebody better think of something quick.
me? I'm gonna buy a 70s pickup. One with as great big dead dino burner.

MadisonMan said...

Does it not remain the case that the most recent US Representative shot was a Republican -- by some Democrat nutcase? Perhaps the current Democratic Representatives should remember that. Is Steve Scalise still in office?

Calypso Facto said...

Congrats, Crack! Hope it pays well too, and gets you some follow-on interest.

Fernandinande said...

"The Black Sleep", starring Sherlock Holmes as a mad scientist, Dracula as his mute servant, The Wolfman as a brain-damaged mad scientist named "Mungo", "Jim Casy" as a crazed Saracen hunter chained in the basement along with an equally crazed Tor, was released in 1956.

JML said...

Congrats, Crack!

Yancey Ward said...

Congratulations, Crack! That actually is pretty cool. No snark at all, I promise.

Michael K said...

I'm gonna buy a 70s pickup. One with as great big dead dino burner.

Good idea. Make sure it is pre-electronic ignition so when the EMP comes, it will still run.

Michael K said...

They are all corrupt. Everyone in Washington DC is corrupt. If you started doing investigations into corruption 100 people in Washington DC might be clean. Every "think tank" and lobbying institution. Every bureaucrat. National Review. AEI. All of them are corrupt.

That is why we sent Trump.


Yup, and they still didn't get it. I think they suspect the next time might not be as friendly. Hence the 26,000 troops. And the faked Capitol riot/"insurrection."

Iman said...

I don't often read Ken B’s comments. But when I do, I think of Ed Grimley.

stephen cooper said...

Congrats, Crack, I never said you did not have lots of good ideas, and I happy for you.