Althouse: At the Wednesday Night Cafe...

February 17, 2021

At the Wednesday Night Cafe...

.... you can talk about whatever you want.

137 comments:

Humperdink said...: The best and the brightest?

Headline from Pennlive today: "Pa. discovers big COVID-19 vaccine glitch — thousands of second doses given out by mistake"

"Acting (PA) Health Secretary Alison Beam announced providers since early January have been giving out second doses of the Moderna vaccine as first doses, characterizing it as a significant mistake. More than 100,000 people could be affected, Beam said."

Fortunately the problem appears fixable, but really????

It should be noted the previous Health Secretary Dr. Rachel (née Richard) Levine was nominated (read: promoted) on Jan 19, 2021 to work in the Biden administration.; 2/17/21, 8:22 PM
MadTownGuy said...: Biden Directs DOJ to Reinstate ‘Slush Fund’ Settlement Payments to Special Interest Groups

From National Review:

:One of the more prominent slush fund cases involved a DOJ investigation into Gibson Guitar Corp., alleging that the company illegally purchased and imported ebony wood from Madagascar and rosewood and ebony from India. The case was settled in 2011, when Gibson agreed to pay a penalty of $300,000, as well as $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for conservation efforts.

While Sessions forbade the practice, a Republican-backed bill to make it illegal—the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2017—was not passed into law.

Biden is planning a blitz of new executive orders to end various Trump administration policies. Besides calling to reinstate settlement payments to third-parties, Biden is expected to sign a mask mandate covering all federal property, and to rejoin the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords."; 2/17/21, 8:22 PM
Big Mike said...: I see that one of Trump’s impeachment lawyers is paying the price. He says that a class on civil rights law he had been scheduled to teach next semester has been cancelled by the university (he declines to identify the law school).; 2/17/21, 8:25 PM
Kathryn51 said...: I'm just now coming on-line, so I'm going to ignore the very, very long Rush L. post below and simply say that I disagree with the basic premise of the NYT spiel that RL came into prominence during the Obama years. How sad that history only began in 2008 and the "light bringer". Rush was the bridge - THE BRIDGE - that we all travelled to counter the pusillanimous/craven Bill and Hillary pairing. It was how conservatives kept faith and maintained connection. Rush was THE instrument for fighting HillaryCare.; 2/17/21, 8:26 PM
Narr said...: The snow and cold have been unlike anything we've had here since the '94, and though we have not lost power, as was widely anticipated, the water feed line to our hi-tech tankless water heater burst at some point. (It and the furnace are in a sort of closet way over on the SW corner of the house--exactly where the wind has been blowing from.)

I only found this out last night, waiting for some hot water to wash up before bed. I have to reflect that we've had worse, and that millions have it worse now.

The plumbing co has us on the list, and promise that they'll be running full-tilt starting Friday.

Apparently, the airport and some other areas of town are suffering from burst mains, and has been barely operating.

Narr
I wanted some real winter, and got it; 2/17/21, 8:26 PM
rcocean said...: Trump was on News-max and Hannity and says he's looking into starting his own social media/news outlet. Good for him. keeping his options open about 2024. Says he's the only President who's ratings have gone up AFTER he was impeached. Its Great to hear him again, after the Commissars enforced a media Blackout. Will not go back to twitter. Also a good thing.; 2/17/21, 8:27 PM
narciso said...: He said "he hopes he fails' sadly obama succeded too much.; 2/17/21, 8:28 PM
rcocean said...: Just a word about M.B. Dougherty. This goof had a column on Rush Limbaugh today in National Google Review. Dougherty says he "bought and enjoyed Al Franken’s book Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations." Honest to God. He loved Al Francken a nasty, left-wing Democrat's take on Limbaugh and yet stilled called himself a "Conservative" & pretended to be concerned about implementing them. What a Grifter!

I can remember the guy droning on about sports and current events on BHTV, and thinking, why is this guy calling himself Conservative? He never says anything conservative! Well, now I know why. He wasn't a Conservative. He was just playing one, for the greenbacks.; 2/17/21, 8:30 PM
rcocean said...: "He says that a class on civil rights law he had been scheduled to teach next semester has been cancelled by the university (he declines to identify the law school)."

WE need to add "Political Beliefs" to the list of things you can't discriminate against. WE have religious beliefs and sexual practices. Just make Political beliefs a civil right.; 2/17/21, 8:32 PM
narciso said...: That shooting in sunrise too weeks ago curiously they have presented no evidence from that raid.; 2/17/21, 8:33 PM
rcocean said...: Limbaugh usually ignored criticism from the goofs at the Weekly standard and national review for years. The worst he'd say about them was they were ineffectual intellectuals with no impact on the real world. But at the end, he attacked them a little more vigorously calling them out as closet liberals and grifters. But it was just a quick jab, and he moved on. Its astounding how they've all dropped the masks and are now Biden supporters and honest to god supporters of cancelling everyone who the NYT/Wapo dislikes.

They've come clean and dropped any pretense they're anything other than the "conservative wingman" of the left-wing media. The "fake Cons" who just show up on CNN or Meet the Press to squeak out a few peeps about "Smaller Government" and "Hey, maybe we should go that far left, so fast". Then Chuck Tood or Jack tapper can say "look, we're not an echo chamber, we have Jonah Goldberg or David French". LOL!; 2/17/21, 8:40 PM
rcocean said...: They've already made "the conservative case for reparations, abortion on demand, and open borders" along with applauding the de-platforming and cancellation of everyone on the Right. So, its hard to see how worse they can get. Maybe, "the conservative case for socialism" is being written right now.; 2/17/21, 8:42 PM
Gospace said...: Narr said...
The snow and cold have been unlike anything we've had here since the '94, and though we have not lost power, as was widely anticipated, the water feed line to our hi-tech tankless water heater burst at some point. (It and the furnace are in a sort of closet way over on the SW corner of the house--exactly where the wind has been blowing from.)

A tubing cutter, a few Sharkbite (or equivalent) fittings and a 10 foot length of the right size PEX tubing- you could fix that yourself in under a half hour.; 2/17/21, 8:48 PM
mezzrow said...: Glenn Loury and John McWhorter on the NYT and Donald McNeil

Do yourself a favor. Ten minutes well spent. Essential work from these great men.
NYT's "contemptible" treatment of Donald McNeil; 2/17/21, 8:49 PM
narciso said...: Yes there wasnt an malice to his statements but off with his head anyways.; 2/17/21, 8:54 PM
Narr said...: Tucker annoyed me tonight with his coverage of Russell "Don't Get Stuck on Stupid" Honore' and his politics. Not the politics part--the general's entitled to his wacky opinions the same as any retired gummint employee--but that Tucker didn't remember or couldn't be bothered to look the man up--he was the engineer general put in charge of the Katrina recovery.

Now La Pelosi has selected him and his opinions to investigate the Jan 6 Capitol Riot.

Narr
It just got creepier; 2/17/21, 8:55 PM
narciso said...: He seems to have gotten stupider in the inrervening 15 years; 2/17/21, 8:57 PM
n.n said...: They've already made "the conservative case for reparations, abortion on demand, and open borders"

An unprecedented hundreds of thousands of lives and more treasure in reparations. Decades of Americans standing up to diversity, social justice, and other classes of bigotry.

Civil rights for the People and our [unPlanned] Posterity.

Emigration reform to mitigate progress of [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] immigration reform and collateral damage at both ends of the bridge and throughout.

Pro-Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, without diversity, sexism, or ageism for all men, women, and children.; 2/17/21, 8:59 PM
Narr said...: Gospace, thanks, but I'll give the experts a few days to show up. I only described what I thought was the case and I'm not certain enough of the problem to screw with it unless as a last resort.

Narr
Not that handy; 2/17/21, 9:01 PM
Whiskeybum said...: Good Grammar rule for Feb. 17:

Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixed metaphors.; 2/17/21, 9:01 PM
n.n said...: NYT's "contemptible" treatment of Donald McNeil

Conservatives? Libertarians? A measure of principle, of proportion? Good for them.; 2/17/21, 9:03 PM
Humperdink said...: Mark Steyn's tribute to Rush. It's worth the read.

https://www.steynonline.com/11078/the-indispensable-man; 2/17/21, 9:04 PM
n.n said...: I wanted some real winter, and got it

Wishes do come true, but not quite the way you would expect.; 2/17/21, 9:06 PM
Original Mike said...: Narr: If a pipe did burst and it subsequently thaws out you may have a problem. Is there a valve upstream from the site you can turn off?; 2/17/21, 9:10 PM
Humperdink said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/17/21, 9:12 PM
rcommal said...: You, Althouse, always, since the early aughts, always made a point of your sharing a birthday date with Rush Limbaugh.; 2/17/21, 9:15 PM
n.n said...: Yes, the progressive (i.e. unqualified, monotonic prcess) slope.

In post-apartheid Progressive South Africa, they would lynch... cancel people for ideological offenses. Rwanda, too. They still do. One step forward, two steps backward.; 2/17/21, 9:16 PM
n.n said...: Mandarin? A few million have whiter than white skin color, but are Chinese white? Yellow? Orange, perhaps. From colored people (i.e. low information attributes) to people of color (i.e. blocs, identity defined by skin color), diversity breeds adversity and exclusion.; 2/17/21, 9:20 PM
n.n said...: re: progressive... slippery slope, Mandarin from "NYT's "contemptible" treatment of Donald McNeil"; 2/17/21, 9:21 PM
walter said...: Interesting.
Just starting to see Twitter slowly increasingly reverting its "you might like" suggestions to folks remotely related to profile I'm viewing.
Signs of comfort, unity.; 2/17/21, 9:47 PM
Ken B said...: Lesbians, almost half with penises, and one a dog. https://twitter.com/ripx4nutmeg/status/1362147429588611073

I thought the implied “you should really be willing to have sex with canines if you're lesbian” especially odd. But then I’m very speciesist about some things.; 2/17/21, 9:48 PM
Narr said...: Yes, I can shut it off upstream, but it'll be frozen until Friday, anyway.

Narr
Not THAT unhandy; 2/17/21, 9:49 PM
narciso said...: So pedro pascal who chews the scenery like a rottweiler has a trans sibling thats why he get away with calling everyone nazis; 2/17/21, 9:53 PM
The Godfather said...: I grew up in Connecticut. Every winter there were several days when we would wake up to find 10-15 inches of snow. So my father, my brother, and I would get the snow shovels and clear the driveway from the garage to the street. If we were lucky, the town snow plows had already cleared the street; but sometimes the plows came through late, and then we had to shovel out the driveway to the street again. School on those days started 1 hour late. AND ALL OF US WERE THERE. I understand that Texans don't expect this, and aren't ready for it. Their ancestors weren't ready for Santa Anna , either. But they dealt with it.; 2/17/21, 9:53 PM
Original Mike said...: "Not THAT unhandy"

Noted. No offense meant.; 2/17/21, 9:56 PM
Mark said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/17/21, 9:56 PM
Mark said...: Today, Ash Wednesday, is one of the most important on not only the Church calendar, but the secular one too.

It is the day of some much-needed sobriety and priority: Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return.

We are not self-creating or self-actuating. Despite all your hubris, you are not all that. And death comes for us all, death that can come at any time, so be prepared. Be prepared for that death and for what comes after. Death, a natural part of all life, so do not engage in this vain hubris that you can escape it or otherwise allow it to paralyze your life.; 2/17/21, 9:58 PM
Lawrence Person said...: A short interview on the Texas energy crisis.; 2/17/21, 10:08 PM
Mark said...: About Rush Limbaugh, one thing about him is that, as influential as he was, he was never an insider, never an Establishment guy.; 2/17/21, 10:09 PM
Mark said...: Another thing about Rush is that he was, in many ways, the original Twitter. Which is to say, his commentary was here one moment and gone the next, which is the nature of live radio, just like Twitter posts. The medium is very ephemeral, making a HUGE impact on the people exposed to him at the time, in the moment, but then it was over and done. There are recordings of his radio shows, but few people are ever going to go back and listen to them all.

So his lasting legacy will largely be what remains in people's memories. He did have a few books, which is a record that people can reference, but they are not the same.; 2/17/21, 10:14 PM
Lucien said...: Bill Gates can have my pastrami sandwich when he pries it from my cold, dead hand.; 2/17/21, 10:17 PM
MountainMan said...: rcocean said..."WE need to add "Political Beliefs" to the list of things you can't discriminate against. WE have religious beliefs and sexual practices. Just make Political beliefs a civil right."

I don't know how much impact this has but in 1992 the US Senate ratified the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It includes the following:

Article 2

1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The entire document can be found here.; 2/17/21, 10:21 PM
MountainMan said...: @rcocean: Also from the UN Covenant:

Article 19

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.; 2/17/21, 10:27 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Yep, sue Twatter, FacePlant, and Oogler at the International Court of Justice. The Europeans will if we won't.; 2/17/21, 10:35 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It has been hilarious watching the Left try to explain how the Texas disaster had nothing, literally nothing to do with the fact that Texas was relying too much on windmills. These people would argue dogshit smells better than roses if they had to.; 2/17/21, 10:38 PM
walter said...: twitter posts are re-tweetable and regularly come back to haunt.; 2/17/21, 10:39 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It is raining right now in Oak Ridge, TN. We are under a winter storm warning and predicted to get 3-5 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow morning. I drove by the local Food City on the way home from the gym this afternoon- packed with vehicles. Was glad I did the shopping a day early yesterday.; 2/17/21, 10:41 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: "Bill Gates has never discussed the catastrophic failures of his prized “health metrics” forecasting organization, and how it has contributed to the suffering of millions of Americans. Instead, he has seamlessly washed his hands of COVID mania, and has moved on to demanding that the western world sacrifice itself in the name of the latest 'crisis' that is climate change.

"In December, however, Melinda Gates acknowledged that 'we hadn’t really thought through the economic impacts' of demanding that people stay locked in their houses indefinitely, among other policy requests demanded by Gates Inc."

This from the American Institute for Economic Research.

I think we need to consider whether multi-billionaires like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg (who are clearly somewhere on the autism spectrum) constitute a clear and present danger to our society, given their inability to relate to normal human beings and their outsized wallets. Shouldn't they be encouraged to chase shiny toys rather than bothering the rest of us?; 2/17/21, 10:46 PM
Mark said...: Watching Perry Mason now. The original, not the porno remake. Anyway, Paul Drake always struck me as "funny," and not at all the tough guy he was supposed to be.; 2/17/21, 10:47 PM
walter said...: It's really unfortunate that such Green fails in CA and TX are happening as Biden attempts to usher in Green energy. Look at the sudden rush of car companies to EV.
Follow the $$$; 2/17/21, 10:48 PM
Ken B said...: The Texas disaster might turn the state Blue. It should not, but it very well might.; 2/17/21, 10:48 PM
Ken B said...: I get the sense that many here don’t understand that if California collapses then America will get *bluer* as Californians migrate but keep voting for Democrats. With that, and the power disaster, Texas could easily become a blue state by the end of summer.; 2/17/21, 10:52 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: If Bill Gates artificially induces the return of the glaciers, he'll probably say nothing, and Melinda will say, "This seemed like a good solution to global warming, and as you can see, it worked."; 2/17/21, 10:52 PM
walter said...: It would really be helpful to society if folks like Gates and Zucky fell headlong into more neuro-typical pursuits like sex and drugs.; 2/17/21, 10:52 PM
Yancey Ward said...: My most favorite music video. I have had a crush on Annie Lennox for 38 years.; 2/17/21, 10:53 PM
alfromchgo said...: Paul Drake played by the son of Hedda Hopper; 2/17/21, 10:54 PM
walter said...: Ken,
Have a solution to that which you predict?
Isn't your refrain "leave blue states"?; 2/17/21, 10:54 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: I don't see how the stupid GOP people in Texas can escape blame for this. They have been in charge since Bush 43 chased Ann Richards out of the governor's office. With the sun heading into a solar minimum, the winters are going to be colder for the next twenty to forty years, at best.

Here's a pro tip: windmill power generation is a toy, so you should not subsidize it. If you subsidize it, you'll get more of it (in this case 42% of power generation). It is going to be colder. Build nukes or use coal, or both.

Within two generations we are going to be pumping CO2 into the atmosphere so that the plants will grow.; 2/17/21, 11:00 PM
William said...: For some, their political beliefs are their religious beliefs and even sexual practices.....There are lots of things you can fix in a half an hour, if it's the second or third time you've fixed them......I just bought and installed a fire cube and a Sonos sound bar. I bought them because they were said to be easy to install. Plug in a few things, and there you are. I suppose the next time I have to install them, the process will go quicker and easier. I can only say the installation was not done in a half an hour. Lots of frustration and stupid mistakes....With some reluctance, I got rid of my old vinyl records and tapes years ago.. Now that I have Amazon Music Unlimited, all my cD's are obsolete. I wonder how long it will take me to part with all my old cds. I don't have a sentimental attachment to them, but there are so many and they cost so much.; 2/17/21, 11:03 PM
Mark said...: All I know is that when I was in Maui, I was stunned by the utter beauty of all those wind turbines prominently visible on the mountains.; 2/17/21, 11:05 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: "...but there are so many and they cost so much."

Sunk costs are largely irrelevant. You got use out of them, and now you have moved on. My new car doesn't have a CD player. But if storage costs are low, you can save them for when you tire of lining Jeff Bezos's pockets, or worse yet, when he insists on recording everything that goes on in your house as the price of continuing Amazon Music Unlimited.; 2/17/21, 11:10 PM
Yancey Ward said...: No, Amadeus, they can't escape most of the blame- they were in charge. The people who replace them will just double down on wind power.

Here are basic numbers I got from the WSJ editorial today- Texas at peak uses about 57 GW in the Winter. It has a rating of 83 GW of power "available", but 30 GW of that is wind power. So, 83-30 is 53 GW of power that the dispatchable sources, gas, coal, and nuclear are to supply. In other words, if the wind isn't blowing, or isn't blowing enough, all of Texas' other sources can't meet peak demand. And here is the thing- all those other sources are never all operating at the same time- some are down for repair and maintenance, and other just fail when you are trying to operate them flat out under peak conditions. Additionally, the gas fired plants are completely dependent on the gas mains operating without failure.

Texas is short about 20-30 GW of dispatchable power to cover situations like this week with a comfortable margin of error. And this was surely allowed to happen because everyone just buys that 30 GW rating for the windmills that exist today despite all the evidence that the windmills never operate even within 50% of that number in Texas or anywhere else.; 2/17/21, 11:11 PM
n.n said...: green, perhaps. Green, definitely. green, maybe. Greenbacks, laundered, renewable, redistributed, ocial inoculated? Yes.

It wasn't just windmills on the rocks. Photovoltaic panels were iced over. It was also gas lines.

So You Want Green Energy Eh?

At the same time on a national basis the natural gas pipeline operators, in service to the woke green mob, have replaced fuel-fired pumps (that run on the gas in the pipe, therefore are failsafe so long as the pipe has something in it and is intact) with electrically powered booster pumps

It's good to be Green. But, green, not so much.

That said, save a bird, a bat whack a wind turbine. Repurpose the photovoltaic panels and clear the Green Blight. Well, they thought they could abort the baby, cannibalize her profitable parts, sequester her carbon pollutants, and have her, too. They were wrong, and the direct, and collateral damage is progressive.; 2/17/21, 11:14 PM
Yancey Ward said...: And the Greentards are forced to lie about those windmill power ratings because, otherwise, the power output doesn't make sense on a cost basis.; 2/17/21, 11:15 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: "All I know is that when I was in Maui, I was stunned by the utter beauty of all those wind turbines prominently visible on the mountains."

You are joking, right? Drive from Chicago to Indianapolis and see what you think. Are you aware of the strobe effect on those who live near windmills? And you can't get rid of them when they wear out.

It is a bad, bad idea.

Follow the French. They have nuclear power generation. It is clean and CO2 free. Of course, we are going to want more CO2 in the air in about 40 years...probably the Chinese and the Indians are going to bail us out of that one.; 2/17/21, 11:15 PM
Joe Smith said...: "Watching Perry Mason now. The original, not the porno remake. Anyway, Paul Drake always struck me as "funny," and not at all the tough guy he was supposed to be."

Raymond Burr and William Hopper...two guys with the widest shoulders on earth.

Barbara Hale was a cutie.

Btw, saw a Perry Mason movie on TCM the other night. Filmed in 1935.

Not very good, but very weird as it was played as a comedy and Perry Mason was portrayed as a falling-down drunk.; 2/17/21, 11:18 PM
Mark said...: People smarter than you say that green power is the smarter answer.; 2/17/21, 11:18 PM
n.n said...: if the wind isn't blowing, or isn't blowing enough

Too little, but also too much, and they must secured for self-preservation. They are viable energy converters when the conditions are within operating range. The weakest link of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels is that they cannot be reasonably isolated from the environment.; 2/17/21, 11:19 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: "Texas is short about 20-30 GW of dispatchable power to cover situations like this week with a comfortable margin of error. And this was surely allowed to happen because everyone just buys that 30 GW rating for the windmills that exist today despite all the evidence that the windmills never operate even within 50% of that number in Texas or anywhere else."

Build nukes or use coal. Coal fired plants typically have three months of fuel reserves. Natural gas is delivered just in time.; 2/17/21, 11:19 PM
Kathryn51 said...: Mark said...
All I know is that when I was in Maui, I was stunned by the utter beauty of all those wind turbines prominently visible on the mountains.

Have you been to the Big Island? Kamaoa Wind Farm on South Point? Very depressing - wind turbines falling apart because no-one saw fit to maintain them. Or perhaps, they weren't worth it.

OTOH, South Point is one of most dramatic, beautiful sites in the USA. I want to go back before I die. Hope I make it.; 2/17/21, 11:20 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: "People smarter than you say that green power is the smarter answer."

Mark--your comment is an appeal to authority on a topic as to which there can be no authority: namely, the future. Green power has its place --in about 200 years from now.

I suggest you are long on hubris futures.; 2/17/21, 11:23 PM
Mark said...: It is time to turn the screws on you and break your will so you stop burning fuels and emitting carbon.; 2/17/21, 11:23 PM
Mark said...: What I thought when I saw them is, "they ruin everything."; 2/17/21, 11:26 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Mark--Flown in any jets since you first became concerned? I keep seeing all sorts of green types (Kerry, Gates, Pelosi, various muckety mucks) flying around the world in jet planes.

We know they dont take what they are saying seriously. Do you?; 2/17/21, 11:30 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Mark is tweaking you, Amadeus.; 2/17/21, 11:37 PM
Mutaman said...: "Says he's the only President who's ratings have gone up AFTER he was impeached."

yes, his ratings are through the roof. And of course he's wrong as usual- Clinton's ratings went up and were much higher than Trumps. 58.8-38.6

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/; 2/17/21, 11:38 PM
Jupiter said...: I was called to jury duty today. Of course, after a day of dicking around with face-masks and cumbersome protocols for moving jurors from place to place, I was excused. I was appalled by the general idiocy of my fellow jurors, and sickened by the clownish use, by the prosecutrix, of the phrase "unhoused community". Let's not forget the serial-killing community. Ted Bundy! Say His Name!

But I found myself pondering on the purpose of the legal system. Presumably, we would all, kind and generous citizens that we are, prefer to live in a system in which no one was punished, because no one has transgressed. But if the purpose of the legal system is to prevent transgressions, it must instill fear. If no one is ever punished, then the legal system is irrelevant. So, some must be punished.

But how far is this, from "show me the man"? Is the theory here, that the law should operate at precisely that level, determined, of course, by legal experts schooled in the finest academies, at which the number of its victims results in the optimal level of deterrence? By "deterrence", of course, I mean what Stalin meant by "terror".; 2/17/21, 11:41 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Yancy and Mark--Got it. And you got me.; 2/17/21, 11:49 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: I had a great head of steam going. My wife says I need to listen more carefully to others. She is on to something.; 2/17/21, 11:51 PM
Mark said...: I'm not tweaking Am. I was being sarcastic. To everyone. Rather obviously.

Some are too quick to take it seriously though.; 2/17/21, 11:55 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Kathryn51:

Rush was the bridge - THE BRIDGE - that we all travelled to counter the pusillanimous/craven Bill and Hillary pairing. It was how conservatives kept faith and maintained connection. Rush was THE instrument for fighting HillaryCare.

I think this is exactly right and exactly why the Republican Party is in the state it's in. Rush championed Reaganism and its neoliberal economic orientation. Lower taxes, deregulation, market liberalization, privatization, "free" trade, etc. The primary beneficiary of those policies are contemporary elites. Over the past 40 years, they have gotten much richer and control an even larger share of the nation's wealth. At the same time, the working class has been economically, socially, and culturally decimated.

Rush was adept at criticizing the excesses and absurdities of the cultural left and the condescension of the establishment. But, I don't think Rush was a positive influence on the cause of social conservatism. He encouraged a resentful, vituperative approach to the cultural left that amounted to preaching to the converted. It As with Reagan, Rush confused southern white evangelicalism for social conservatism.

The third plank of the Reagan revolution was a "strong defense" and more assertive foreign policy. In practice, this meant Rush supported wars that Republicans launch and criticizes wars when Democrats launch them. He also criticized Democrats for not launching wars.

Rush and the right-wing media ecosystem he inspired were a big part of the process that defined the Republican Party almost entirely in terms of opposing "the Left." He pushed a partisan narrative that explained the events and upheavals of the 60s and 70s as being the fault of "the Left." If people disagree with that narrative, it's because they're stupid or evil. The internal contradictions of the narrative are resolved by blaming "the Left." As maintaining the coherence of the narrative has gotten more difficult, "the Right" has had to rely on ever more convoluted explanations.

Rewriting that narrative requires repudiating Reaganism, but it seems Republicans would rather die than do that.; 2/17/21, 11:55 PM
Mark said...: Sarcastic, but serious too.

The "smart" people invariably eff everything up.

Certainly, for example, the "smart growth" around here, turning Arlington into a walkable urban village of hyper-density high-rises is turning this place into hell.; 2/17/21, 11:57 PM
Mark said...: Yeah, we got some "smart" people commenting here too.; 2/17/21, 11:59 PM
Mark said...: Apparently, "Filipinx" is now a thing.; 2/18/21, 12:06 AM
Joe Smith said...: "At the same time, the working class has been economically, socially, and culturally decimated."

Depends on your definition of 'working class.'

My wife and me do just fine. Before I retired I was working 50-60 hours a week (salary, alas) and my wife still puts in her 50+ hours despite battling serious illness.

Just because we're not blue collar doesn't mean we're not working class.

And speaking of blue collar...we're having our kitchen remodeled, and going off of the hourly rates, our plumber and electrician are doing at least as well as we are.

Our only advantage is stock options, which are hit or miss.; 2/18/21, 12:14 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Rewriting that narrative requires repudiating Reaganism, but it seems Republicans would rather die than do that."

Trump's 'America first' populism completely re-wrote Reaganism.

Where have you been?

Most republicans I know are all on board with that.; 2/18/21, 12:18 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Apparently, "Filipinx" is now a thing."

I am now officially 'Caucasix.'

My pronouns are 'Stud' and 'Your Hotness.'; 2/18/21, 12:19 AM
Lurker21 said...: Parties evolve. "Repudiation" sounds too much like purges and self-criticism campaigns and rectification movements. The Republicans have evolved away from GW Bush and have largely repudiated him. They have also evolved away from Reagan, but they'd be foolish to repudiate one of their more successful and charismatic presidents.; 2/18/21, 12:20 AM
narciso said...: 'Super easy barely an inconvenience' the Reagan administration did not intervene directly in many places, libya and grenada , beirut was of course a peace keeping operations there was support to proxy forces in central america afghanistan angola but it was a light footprint.; 2/18/21, 12:31 AM
narciso said...: Thats taking the long view, now progressive wars arent really about territory or other strategic goals, take the balkan wars or those in north africa; 2/18/21, 12:45 AM
narciso said...: So what other strawmen are you setting fire tonight. Cultural leftism should be allowed to flourish its like letting malware propagate or pouring sulfuric acid into a statuary.; 2/18/21, 12:48 AM
narciso said...: But you find nothing wrong with critical legal studies either as they hollow out our institutions sadly the stewart maher vision has won out over rush or steyns that excrement never ends.; 2/18/21, 12:51 AM
narciso said...: Steyn has been fighting the skydragon mirage than mann and oppenheimer cooked up thirty years ago, probably further back as they were pushing this in kinetkas secomd novel about global warming.; 2/18/21, 1:02 AM
narciso said...: But you see nothing wrong with this either as you bought the crazy logic of the lockdowns as well.; 2/18/21, 1:04 AM
narciso said...: As much as his health condition, ultimately i think rushs heart broke over what the left has wrought his 32 years in syndication seems to have been for nought

The craziness just spirals more out of control, he thought he could just ridicule the insanity but it was too much there is too much money too much educational rot that crowds out like greshams law in too many places; 2/18/21, 1:10 AM
narciso said...: Where did it begin i think driving God out of the public square was one of the elements the moral majority tried in their own way but a rat like norman lear had a lot of influence. From there the abolition of western culture in toto typified by jesse jackson 1988 stanford rant was typical.; 2/18/21, 1:13 AM
narciso said...: Of course the foundation ford carnegie rockefeller had much to rewriting the nations cultural dna; 2/18/21, 1:15 AM
narciso said...: And what replaced the foundations of our culture largely templates that arose first in the soviet union that priorotize feelinfs over fact emotion over logic because an individual needs to have the two latter standards.; 2/18/21, 1:21 AM
narciso said...: I scarcely recognize the nation thar was back 32 years ago, and not in any meritorious ways; 2/18/21, 1:27 AM
narciso said...: Just my opinion taking the long view now there will utter morons and knaves who will follow and pretend not to understand what ive stated or may not actually understand.; 2/18/21, 1:36 AM
Mutaman said...: When the going gets tough, .... Rightwingers fly to Cancun.

https://twitter.com/Trx1000/status/1362261395610468352?s=20; 2/18/21, 2:45 AM
J. Farmer said...: @ Joe Smith:

Depends on your definition of 'working class.'

My wife and me do just fine.

I'm happy to hear that, Joe, but I'm talking about the people who aren't doing just fine. I'm talking about the working class as a group. That doesn't mean it applies to every single member of the group.

And speaking of blue collar...we're having our kitchen remodeled, and going off of the hourly rates, our plumber and electrician are doing at least as well as we are.

Those hourly rates don't tell you much without knowing their overhead and what their billable hours are compared to hours actually worked.

Trump's 'America first' populism completely re-wrote Reaganism.

No, it didn't. The new NAFTA made small, incremental changes to the agreement. The Phase One China deal was mostly a cosmetic pander. On the domestic front, signature successes were a tax cut, deregulation, and more defense spending. Gee, that sounds familiar.

Where have you been?

Outside the right-wing media ecosystem.; 2/18/21, 4:35 AM
Big Mike said...: No, it didn't. The new NAFTA made small, incremental changes to the agreement.

You keep writing that, but you’re wrong. Small changes in the right places can have huge impacts; 2/18/21, 4:55 AM
J. Farmer said...: @narciso:

And what replaced the foundations of our culture largely templates that arose first in the soviet union that priorotize feelinfs over fact emotion over logic because an individual needs to have the two latter standards.

I am not sure what "templates" you're referring to, but prioritizing feelings over facts and emotion over logic is not something that arose first in the Soviet Union. It's how humans have operated for thousands of years. There has never been a human society based on facts and logic. Social interaction is driven by emotional systems, not by following rules of inference to derive conclusions from a set of premises.; 2/18/21, 4:59 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Big Mike:

You keep writing that, but you’re wrong. Small changes in the right places can have huge impacts

I agree generally with your second sentence. What in the USMCA do you think this applies to?; 2/18/21, 5:04 AM
Humperdink said...: Remarkable series of tweets by Tammy Bruce, former president of LA Now, on Rush Limbaugh.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1362128126273347586.html; 2/18/21, 5:42 AM
Chris N said...: Mark, you’ll find People enjoy ‘ecopodments,’ as what’s good for Gaia is good for the Community.

After a long day of picking beef, high on Progestyn, who wouldn’t clamor for Party funny man, Jilo?

***Ahem, the government will now be using ‘Testy Cool’, our beloved Reproductive Health mascot, free of charge. Peace Pavilion West is thinking about legal action.

This comment thread is like the La Brea tar pits. Full of carbon.

The Future!; 2/18/21, 5:43 AM
Chris N said...: ‘funny person’.

I want to apologize to Jilo, and his partners. I never intended to cause such harm.; 2/18/21, 5:45 AM
Humperdink said...: Headline from Zero Hedge: "Hong Kong Aiming For Legislation To Ban Insulting Public Officials"

Who would have thought Hong Kong was this far behind the US?; 2/18/21, 5:52 AM
stevew said...: “Let me say that again: 60% of our emissions that need to be reduced come from you, the person on your street, the senior on fixed-income. Right now, there is no bad guy left, at least in Massachusetts, to point the finger at and turn the screws on and now break their will, so they stop emitting. That’s you. We have to break your will.”

David Ismay, Massachusetts, undersecretary for climate change; 2/18/21, 6:01 AM
Humperdink said...: If watching the Savannah Guthrie/Kammy Harris interview doesn't twist your digestive system into knots, nothing will. The future POTUS is about as ready to replace the Big Guy as Rosie O'Donnell. The thought of Harris standing up to Xi Jinpingpong or other world tyrants is laughable.; 2/18/21, 6:13 AM
Breezy said...: @stevew — Baker fired Ismay (actually a forced resignation) for those remarks. Unfortunately those remarks represent a jaw-dropping arrogance that I’m sure persists in many govt agencies.; 2/18/21, 6:35 AM
stevew said...: Indeed Breezy, and among many people on the Climate Change bandwagon. See: The Green New Deal. AOC and Senator Markey leading the charge.; 2/18/21, 6:46 AM
Kai Akker said...: ---With some reluctance, I got rid of my old vinyl records and tapes years ago.. Now that I have Amazon Music Unlimited, all my cD's are obsolete. [William]

The record album jackets often make beautiful artistic statements. CDs cannot compare, can they? The psychedelic era produced a lot of eye-catching art for rock bands. The first records of the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish, and Led Zeppelin all have great cover art. And not just rock and roll; a Nonesuch label Bach Cantata record has a beautiful photo of an angel sculpture that fits right in with these others. I've put them up on display on some high bookshelves where books themselves would be out of reach and out of legible view. They work fantastically well, IMO.; 2/18/21, 6:50 AM
tim in vermont said...: I know the Democrats didn’t like Rush, and I know the Democrats own pretty much all of the media, so I am just going to tune out the hate fest for a couple of days and here and there enjoy a moment of quiet reflection on what that man has meant for my life.; 2/18/21, 6:51 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Any bets that the college kid who had the contract for dispensing Covid vaccine for the city of Philadelphia was involved in giving second dose vaccine to people instead of first dose?; 2/18/21, 6:55 AM
Jersey Fled said...: BTW Pennsylvania ranks 46th and 47th in doses given per capita and percent of doses delivered which were actually injected.

And this was before this latest screw up.

100,000 people were given the wrong dose.; 2/18/21, 7:00 AM
Humperdink said...: "BTW Pennsylvania ranks 46th and 47th in doses given per capita and percent of doses delivered which were actually injected."

And PA's former Sec'y of Health is now in DC dispensing expert advice.

The Peter Principle: You will continue to rise up the ladder until you reach the point where you can no longer perform well.*

*Does not apply to bureaucrats. You continue to rise up the ladder regardless of performance.; 2/18/21, 7:08 AM
iowan2 said...: Facebook has deplatformed an entire continent.

Australia has been digitally removed from all google maps.

Keep your paper people.; 2/18/21, 7:09 AM
Breezy said...: Why can’t these people actually be fired? The Ismay, Ducklo, etc. resignations are lies. They should have to bear the truth of a firing.; 2/18/21, 7:18 AM
wildswan said...: J Farmer said:
" Social interaction is driven by emotional systems, not by following rules of inference to derive conclusions from a set of premises."

Is there not an exception? an exceptional country, in fact?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
...
when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--
...
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
...
They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States

"self-evident," "necessity," "therefore"

Note also that "consanguinity" i.e., blood relationship, is being repudiated as a social foundation.; 2/18/21, 7:29 AM
rhhardin said...: Notice the "Me and Rush" stories about the author, turning up all over.; 2/18/21, 7:50 AM
mockturtle said...: Wildswan: Whenever I read those passages in these times of deep division I'm amazed at the courage and resolution of our founders. Let us pray we'll not drop the ball.; 2/18/21, 8:07 AM
wildswan said...: "mockturtle said...
Whenever I read those passages in these times of deep division I'm amazed at the courage and resolution of our founders. Let us pray we'll not drop the ball."

I feel that way too. I liked Washington's Crossing which was about the Christmas Eve attack on the British at Trenton. Washington and his men went across an icy river and then through the snow. It shows the effort that was made to found the country.

https://www.amazon.com/Washingtons-Crossing-Pivotal-Moments-American/dp/019518159X; 2/18/21, 8:21 AM
Zeke said...: Does Republican national leadership realize how many Hispanic voters could be found if they just got to know that market better? Generally, they are traditional, family and faith oriented people who I believe would recoil if they were made aware of the Democrats new extremism.; 2/18/21, 8:30 AM
Original Mike said...: Well, my covid shot got pushed back a month.

Heck of a job, Joe.; 2/18/21, 8:49 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Those hourly rates don't tell you much without knowing their overhead and what their billable hours are compared to hours actually worked."

My painter owns 3 rental properties in a very pricey area of the country. It's just him and his truck.; 2/18/21, 9:11 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Outside the right-wing media ecosystem."

I'm not in that ecosystem, thank you very much...; 2/18/21, 9:12 AM
J. Farmer said...: @wildswan:

Is there not an exception? an exceptional country, in fact?

No. And I have no idea what that excerpt from the Declaration has to do with "social interactions."

Note also that "consanguinity" i.e., blood relationship, is being repudiated as a social foundation.

No, it isn't. The entire point of that paragraph is to remind British citizens of their connection to the colonists and to hope for good relations in the future. Recall that among the purposes of the US Constitution was to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." 1st US Congress restricted naturalization to "free white persons."

The political philosophy of the founding fathers was a mishmash of social contract theory, liberalism, and civic republicanism. A commitment to abstract philosophical traditions is not what holds a nation together. It isn't why people tear up when they hear their anthem being performed. It isn't what makes people feel "proud" of their country or express "love" for it.; 2/18/21, 10:28 AM
Narr said...: No offense taken, Original Mike!

Son texted my wife last night. "Wow," he wrote. In his 34 years he's never been snowed in for so long, and it the weather is definitely setting records. We got very little ice, and the snow is dry powdery stuff.

Dog plunges through the six-inch snowfall--more in drifts--like a little icebreaker. We haven't taken any walks since Monday but he goes into the back yard, does his business quickly and is back inside in a moment. He's never seen the like either.

I think I've mentioned the sheer ugliness of the windmills that dotted the Saxon plain when we were touristing there in '19. One of our boatmates was a Canadian engineer who gave the best short critique of wind-power I've ever heard. I wish I could recall some details!

For that matter, my fellow coffee achievers on campus were largely hard sciences guys and to a man they couldn't understand why we don't nuke up.

Narr
Or rather, they did understand why; 2/18/21, 10:30 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Joe Smith:

My painter owns 3 rental properties in a very pricey area of the country. It's just him and his truck.

Again, so the hell what? That has fuck all to do with the point I was making about the working class. What point are you trying to make? What claim have I made that you wish to take exception with?; 2/18/21, 10:31 AM
Narr said...: Farmer, why quarantine with quotes pride in, and love of, country? Have they a special meaning or spin in our context? (I understand the usage in the previous paragraphs, of course.)

Farmer's argument parallels that of lawprof Kermit Roosevelt, who denies the "universalist" interpretation of the Founding documents and sees them strictly as efforts to carve out an
Anglo-American protestant empire--not a deliberate effort and pledge to liberate the planet from its ills.

That crusading interpretation and impulse came later and grew out of different historical circumstances.

Narr
But we all know texts have no fixed and immutable meaning, right?; 2/18/21, 10:48 AM
Narr said...: BTW, and it's easy enough to check, but the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, to which all UN member nations pledge themselves, already lists all the paper rights an intelligent species could desire.

So legally, whatever the mental reservations of the US Founders, the world has moved on and everyone has all the rights they wanted for themselves, and more.

Narr
On paper, of course; 2/18/21, 10:58 AM
rhhardin said...: Rush's show is unlistenable today. Todd Herman is their worst guest host, and going on about nothing.

"EIB isn't going anywhere" he said. I give it a couple weeks at this rate.

Something amusing had better happen pretty fast.; 2/18/21, 11:13 AM
rhhardin said...: Maybe I missed the joke. Tod means death in German.

They didn't have a guest host named Mort.; 2/18/21, 11:31 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Rush's show is unlistenable today. Todd Herman is their worst guest host, and going on about nothing."

He is one of the 'carnival barker,' slick, used-car salesman types I referenced in earlier comments.

Terrible.; 2/18/21, 11:37 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Again, so the hell what? That has fuck all to do with the point I was making about the working class. What point are you trying to make? What claim have I made that you wish to take exception with?"

I thought you'd be smart enough to understand the obvious point.

Painters are clearly 'working class' and can thrive in tough times with hard work and smarts.

If you want to classify restaurant workers as the only members of the 'working class' then you'd have an argument.

Want the working class to do better (along with blacks and hispanics)?

Keep the Trump policies.; 2/18/21, 12:02 PM