Althouse: At the Big Crack Café...

March 10, 2021

At the Big Crack Café...

... you can talk all night.

This morning the snow was gone and the ice on Lake Mendota had a massive crack. It was overcast, and the sunrise looked like this:

144 comments:

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Tucker Carlson is a treasure.

MSNBC is a pathetic pile of BlueAnon democrat party lies. They. LIE.; 3/10/21, 7:08 PM
NCMoss said...: I thought you had to call a plumber to get a massive crack.; 3/10/21, 7:10 PM
Jersey Fled said...: Two weeks from tomorrow I will be "fully vaccinated".; 3/10/21, 7:21 PM
Arashi said...: I wish I was a multi-millionaire so I could go on ther TV and claim my victim hood status and get a free car from Oper..

So my wife and I got the first dose of the pfizer vaccine yesterday. So far, no third arms or extra eyes. We get the second dose on the 31st. Maybe that is when the changes start?

Have the bidens gotten rid of the problematic dogs yet, or they still 'banished to Delaware'?; 3/10/21, 7:22 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I'm curious how people feel after the vaccine.

I know a few people who felt like crap 2-4 days after the first dose.; 3/10/21, 7:40 PM
Original Mike said...: Still lots of snow in my backyard and, of course, the driveway shoveling snow banks.

If the continental ice cap returns, it will start in my backyard.; 3/10/21, 7:42 PM
Original Mike said...: "I'm curious how people feel after the vaccine."

I had no symptoms following my first Pfizer dose.; 3/10/21, 7:43 PM
Arashi said...: So far, other than a sore arm where I got the shot (like most shots) nothing to report, same for the wife. If I start growing a third arm or additional eyes I'll post an update here.; 3/10/21, 7:44 PM
Original Mike said...: I did have a sore arm. Not bad, though.; 3/10/21, 7:45 PM
Jersey Fled said...: I'm curious how people feel after the vaccine.

After 1st dose of Moderna, slight headache for a day or so. A little soreness where I was injected.

Oh, and I can dunk a basketball now.; 3/10/21, 7:47 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Sore, tired and depressed for 2 days with Pfizer

Not looking forward to the second shot.; 3/10/21, 7:50 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: I had no side effects and my wife had just a sore shoulder from the needle.; 3/10/21, 7:50 PM
Assistant Village Idiot said...: We had someone on an ATV go through a hole in the river ice and drown this week.

Don't trust river ice, particularly when there are dams where they adjust the water levels.; 3/10/21, 7:57 PM
Fritz said...: Sore shoulder after Moderna, faded second day after. About the same reaction for most flu shots.; 3/10/21, 7:57 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: I foresee the U.S. headed toward an even worse breakdown and far more severe and widespread political violence than in 2020. I’m afraid for my grandkids. I don’t know what to tell their parents that doesn’t sound crazy.; 3/10/21, 8:04 PM
TickTock said...: Totally fine after first Moderna shot, sore arm and slightly off\tired for 36 hours after second.; 3/10/21, 8:08 PM
John henry said...: New Chinese Trump statue

I like it

https://social.quodverum.com/@GuyPPendleton/105867584936421472

John Henry; 3/10/21, 8:10 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Hilarious... check out a lost episode of Merv Griffin Link; 3/10/21, 8:14 PM
narciso said...: As bob dylan (and edie brickell later covered) a hard rains gonna fall.; 3/10/21, 8:15 PM
narciso said...: Back in the pleistocene era

https://youtu.be/TkqCEPHNo5M

That was my knowledge of spiderman; 3/10/21, 8:18 PM
Narr said...: Wife felt bad for a while after her shot, but it didn't affect me at all.

Her shot, I mean.

Narr
Well, she was a little cranky; 3/10/21, 8:18 PM
John henry said...: I asked if I would be able to play the fiddle after a kung flu shot

They told me yes so I signed up.

This sounds like a real wonder drug! I always wanted to play the fiddle but never had the time to learn.

John Henry; 3/10/21, 8:27 PM
Lawrence Person said...: Texas energy outage postmortem.; 3/10/21, 8:38 PM
J. Farmer said...: Tucker Carlson is a treasure.

Indeed. The whole reason the elite love wokeness is because it defines power and status in terms of identity traits rather than wealth and class. This allows people to assert with a straight face that white working-class men have more power and privilege in our society than rich Jewish lesbians. It's why the economic left is often very critical of the cultural left. They recognize that they're mainly rich BoBo's who don't want any actions taken to challenge their privileged, entrenched position. The cultural left hated the Bernie Bros and would've nominated a ham sandwich over Bernie Sanders.

Crossbreed Donald Trump with Bernie Sanders and you will have the path forward. The Deplorables and Bernie Bros will either find a way to work together or continue being divided and conquered.; 3/10/21, 8:39 PM
Michael K said...: Blogger Shouting Thomas said...
I foresee the U.S. headed toward an even worse breakdown and far more severe and widespread political violence than in 2020. I’m afraid for my grandkids. I don’t know what to tell their parents that doesn’t sound crazy.

My younger son is considering moving to Arkansas. They have friends there and like it a lot. Of course lefties think everyone there has half their teeth. His daughter is headed for U of Alabama. I will be happier to see them out of CA. The others are all lefties and probably immune to learning.; 3/10/21, 8:46 PM
DavidUW said...: I'm curious how people feel after the vaccine.
>>
First one, sore shoulder, 2-3 days, worse than flu shot.

second one, sore shoulder. next day muscle ache and chills for about 12 hours. next day back to sore shoulder.; 3/10/21, 8:47 PM
DavidUW said...: The Deplorables and Bernie Bros will either find a way to work together or continue being divided and conquered.
>>

People who work ("deplorable") will never work with lazy thieves (communists).

Give up on that particular fantasy.; 3/10/21, 8:49 PM
chuck said...: I foresee the U.S. headed toward an even worse breakdown

Certainly long term if not short term. The almost universal lack of decent education will have a long term effect as will the debt. Add in the Federal Government paying off the Blue state debts with taxes collected from us all, opening the borders to millions, while limiting free speech and banning individual contract work, and loyalty to the government is going to go into the toilet. The NG still in DC just adds to the weirdness.

I often think the Germans weren't all that bad in resisting the Nazi takeover because I'm not convinced we will do any better.; 3/10/21, 8:53 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Hi everyone! I got irritated at Althouse and was out for a while but thought I'd come say hELlø!

On vacation with Mr. Pants and all six kids in an AirBnB in the beautiful Ozarks this week, our spring break. We flew in our oldest from her university to join us. Her school cancelled spring break in order to mIniMizE tRavEl but suck it kollidge: if you make her do online classes you can't keep her from doing school from vacation, can you? We're gadding about town, spending money, eating out, being tourists, having a great time. I'm sure there are plenty of fraidy cats still holed up but everywhere we go is full of happy, connected people. Red America is fucking awesome.

Back home in Texas we are stuck with the mask kabuki I think through the end of the school year but this summer it'll be over. Everyone is sick of it but all our kids' activities, etc have said 'for now we'll keep doing masks' although no one bothers to observe distancing anymore. I noticed the other day there are no directional stickers on the floor at Walmart anymore.

Meanwhile we have friends on the coasts whose kids might not even go back to school this coming year. We feel bad for them but hey, you voted for those pantloads, gang. Our kids have been in school since October and are back at all their activities.

How are all you knuckleheads?; 3/10/21, 8:54 PM
Joe Smith said...: "This sounds like a real wonder drug! I always wanted to play the fiddle but never had the time to learn."

Take my wife, please!; 3/10/21, 8:58 PM
J. Farmer said...: Here's the GOP' litmus test for 2022: nominate someone who will raise taxes on top earners. If the right would've stopped shouting "communist" and actually listened to Bernie Sanders, they'd realize his critique of the elite class and their stranglehold on our society was accurate. Trump echoed a lot of this critique. Yet, one of his signature domestic accomplishments was to reduce their tax burden, and the most influential figures in the White House were a couple of wealthy Jewish Manhattanites.; 3/10/21, 9:01 PM
ex-madtown girl said...: Nice to see you back, Pants, I’ve liked your comments for some time and was wondering where you’d gone. I’m not sure what you were annoyed about, but hope you’ll keep chiming in.; 3/10/21, 9:03 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: I cannot really ascribe the political violence of 2020, or the violence I foresee coming, to economic distress.

We’re fat and rich. We were even fatter and richer during Trump’s first three years.

There’s something truly psychotic going on.

At times like this, I often think of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short story: “The Gentleman from Krakow.”

What’s going on here is not about finances or pragmatism or anything sane.; 3/10/21, 9:07 PM
MountainMan said...: @ BidenFamilyTaxPayerFundedCrackPipe said... "I'm curious how people feel after the vaccine."

My wife and I, both 69 at the time, got our first dose of Pfizer on Tue, Jan 12. We both had no side effects other than a slightly sore arm where we got the shot, much like our annual flu shot we got last Sept. We got our second shot on Tue, Feb 2. I had no effects from that one either, other than the slightly sore arm. My wife, though, felt a little achy and had a fever of about 99.5-100.0 for about 24 hours. After that she was perfectly fine. We continued to isolate for 2 more weeks and then re-entered society on Tue, Feb 16, with dinner out at our Texas Roadhouse to celebrate my 70th birthday, which occurred the previous day. We have been gradually getting out more and more, eating out about 3 times/week. So far, so good, we are returning to normal.; 3/10/21, 9:09 PM
J. Farmer said...: @DavidUW:

People who work ("deplorable") will never work with lazy thieves (communists).

Give up on that particular fantasy.

As I said, "or continue being divided and conquered." Millenials are actually working harder and earning less than previous generations you fucking dipshit. Just continue being a braindead, partisan megaphone spouting clichés that have been irrelevant for 30 years.; 3/10/21, 9:11 PM
narciso said...: Good to hear, pants, yes the argument clinic does get tiring after a while.; 3/10/21, 9:15 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Millenials are actually working harder and earning less than previous generations you fucking dipshit.

No, they’re not, although I know that they perceive this to be true.

I grew up in rural Illinois. I worked on farms from the time I was in grade school. Real physical labor. In high school, I worked in dirty, dangerous factories. This was common for my generation.

Life was very tough for my parents. They grew up during the Depression.

I can see that the millennial generation’s expectations were frustrated, and that’s a real thing. By the standards of the past, most young people have never worked at all. Most of the kids I know didn’t hold a job until they finished high school or college.; 3/10/21, 9:19 PM
Original Mike said...: Hi Pants!; 3/10/21, 9:20 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Now, the kids really do have a bitch with the way they got fleeced by the student loan program.

But, they are blaming the wrong people. It was college administrators who ripped them off.; 3/10/21, 9:22 PM
narciso said...: Convenient

https://freebeacon.com/campus/president-of-taxpayer-funded-antiracist-group-funneled-nearly-300k-to-husbands-law-firm/?utm_source=actengage&utm_campaign=FreedomMail&utm_medium=email; 3/10/21, 9:24 PM
Joe Smith said...: Where is Hunter 'Crack' Biden?*

Where is his laptop?

*Apologies to the real Crack.; 3/10/21, 9:38 PM
DavidUW said...: J. Farmer, the guy who thinks he's smart because he writes a lot:
>>
Here's the GOP' litmus test for 2022: nominate someone who will raise taxes on top earners. If the right would've stopped shouting "communist" and actually listened to Bernie Sanders, they'd realize his critique of the elite class and their stranglehold on our society was accurate. Trump echoed a lot of this critique. Yet, one of his signature domestic accomplishments was to reduce their tax burden, and the most influential figures in the White House were a couple of wealthy Jewish Manhattanites.
>>
1) The GOP acceded to raising taxes on higher income people in 2012 (or was it 2014) with Barry's "let the 'Bush' tax cuts lapse"
Don't see how that helped or hurt them.
2) Trump did not reduce my tax burden; he reduced millions of lower income Americans. I've been comfortably in the top 1% or better for the last 11 years. The difference between my taxes under Trump vs. Obama? about $2,000. Which is, well, not much for me.

>>
As I said, "or continue being divided and conquered." Millenials are actually working harder and earning less than previous generations you fucking dipshit. Just continue being a braindead, partisan megaphone spouting clichés that have been irrelevant for 30 years.
>>
Hey dipshit. I'm 45, and retired. I hired millennials. I know exactly how fucking lazy you shitheads are.
As ST stated, you never had a real fucking job in your life.
I had to search, and believe me, I made it a necessary criteria for my hires who were all in the prime millennial ages of 30-35, to have had a shit job. i.e. Burger King (mine, to be precise).
Very few of the "educated elite" I saw have had to work such a job.

Millennial bitches like you are a bunch of whiny, illiterate, innumerate, ignorant dipshits who don't know what they don't know they're so fucking stupid.

I'd get you fuckers whining about working on a weekend. I gave you shits a $200k/year job. You're going to work on the weekend or I'm going to fire your ass yesterday.

You're never going to get your little fantasy.

Now go get a real job and make some money, dipshit.; 3/10/21, 9:39 PM
Ken B said...: Glad you're alive Pants. I was asking about you a week or so ago. Even worthless trolls deserve to live.; 3/10/21, 9:47 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: RIP Norton Juster, who gave us a map to the Lands Beyond.

I suppose he'll be cancelled next.; 3/10/21, 9:54 PM
Francisco D said...: The Pfizer shot has been fine - no side effects. However I am still expected to wear a mask.

I can easily identify the Democrats in my area because they are hiking and social distancing and wearing masks. Perhaps, we have just created a generation of germaphobes who will never get over the WuFlu.; 3/10/21, 9:57 PM
narciso said...: Like jason voorhees

https://theweek.com/articles/970098/federal-labor-legislation-that-kill-livelihood; 3/10/21, 9:58 PM
narciso said...: So when even the crimson state of oklahoma senators vote for garland what the (redacted); 3/10/21, 10:04 PM
Original Mike said...: "Millenials are actually working harder and earning less than previous generations…."

The doctoral students I mentored until not too long ago worked hard. They didn't work harder than we did And they were well compensated when they left the nest. But then they had training in a field for which society has a need.; 3/10/21, 10:06 PM
Mark said...: Two weeks from tomorrow I will be "fully vaccinated".

According to CDC, "fully vaccinated" is two weeks after you are fully vaccinated. So you actually have a month to go.; 3/10/21, 10:11 PM
Mark said...: So far, no third arms or extra eyes.

You all do know that a week or four weeks or six months or a year is nothing?

There is a reason that drug trials usually go on for ten years or more.

AND, technically, these vaccines have NOT been approved by FDA. They have only been given authorization for emergency use.; 3/10/21, 10:15 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: "The cultural left hated the Bernie Bros and would've nominated a ham sandwich over Bernie Sanders."

What did you mean "would've?"; 3/10/21, 10:17 PM
Big Mike said...: Wife and I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine yesterday. I’m fine but wife had chills and needed to nap a lot. Her chills turned into one degree fever overnight, which persists, and she’s still lethargic. I had no reaction, feel fine except I couldn’t sleep on that shoulder, and I have been doing my best to help around the house while she rests.

@Misplaced Pants, welcome back.

If I was still an adjunct I would hate teaching via Zoom. I really want to be in the room and feel when the students aren’t getting the material I am covering. I guess Zoom would be okay for professors who don’t give a rat’s ass about whether or not their students learn anything (I think that’s called “learning despite the teacher).; 3/10/21, 10:20 PM
Mark said...: Are we done talking about the Duchess of Sussex (which my Brit friend reliably tells me is pronounced "Sucks")?

Actually, this is the first time I've talked about that H-list actress. She was moderately interesting as an obnoxious out-of-her-lane FBI agent in Fringe, but even they lost interest in her and her character just kind of quietly disappeared.; 3/10/21, 10:20 PM
narciso said...: I didnt remember her in that.

https://babalublog.com/2021/03/10/colombias-communist-terrrorist-group-continues-to-go-after-former-president-alvaro-uribe/

What i was referring to in the earlier thread; 3/10/21, 10:22 PM
Ken B said...: Bought Ahmad brand loose tea with cardamom. Very good indeed and dirt cheap ($6 US a pound — which is a big box of loose tea.; 3/10/21, 10:25 PM
Mark said...: Happy for you Homer. Good to see you back.

This was a good column --

The civilized life of the rural South's ‘Neanderthals’
BAKER COUNTY, FLORIDA — The biggest shock came Sunday morning at Mass. I sat in the back pew and looked around and saw something I’m not used to seeing at Mass: human faces.

Yes, every other pew was roped off. . . . But still, there were actual faces. . . . So, it felt liberating to be unmasked and be able to see unmasked faces. A baby two pews up stared at me. I smiled big. The baby smiled back. It was awesome.; 3/10/21, 10:26 PM
Ken B said...: No Mark, alas we are not. She is a sacred being and to question her gets you fired and investigated. Because, you see, she calls people racist.; 3/10/21, 10:27 PM
Joan said...: I got my second Moderna vaccination last Saturday (in-person teacher eligibility.) After the first shot, I had a sore arm for a few days, and it only really bothered me when I lifted it, like when reaching up for the garage door opener on the passenger-side visor. The second shot was much worse -- I was fine on Saturday but all day Sunday I was running a low grade fever complete with body aches and chills and general malaise. Finally felt better when I took ibuprofen after taking tylenol. Work Monday and Tuesday was kind of dicey and I was completely flattened by the end of the day (there was no way I was going to write sub plans, my 8th graders are doing labs...) I'm feeling so much better today, thank God.
I do think it's my fault as much as the vaccine's. I was well-rested when I got the first dose, but I've been running on empty for weeks before getting the second dose. Doesn't really surprise me that it kicked my ass so badly. What really sucks is I usually grade papers all day on Sunday and that didn't happen this week. Hand me a shovel, I have start digging out...; 3/10/21, 10:27 PM
narciso said...: They spent months carving their sinecures into the bill, just like with the stimulus a dozen years ago, what presence remained of that, now they want an infrastructure bull in addition, what is this ground hog day?; 3/10/21, 10:28 PM
StephenFearby said...: Entrails of the Election...

'The Wisconsin House of Representatives on Wednesday held a hearing to review election irregularities after newly revealed documents obtained by Wisconsin Spotlight revealed that Democrat activists, funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, were able to infiltrate the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin’s five largest cities.

In Green Bay, a Democrat activist was actually given keys to the room where absentee ballots were stored before the 2020 presidential election.'

'...According to the Spotlight’s report, the emails show that Green Bay’s “highly partisan” Democrat Mayor Eric Genrich and his staff usurped city Clerk Kris Teske’s authority and let the Zuckerberg-funded “grant team” take over in “a clear violation of Wisconsin election statutes.”...'

https://amgreatness.com/2021/03/10/newly-revealed-emails-show-green-bay-officials-gave-keys-to-2020-election-to-dem-operative-from-ny/; 3/10/21, 10:29 PM
narciso said...: Tim carney is a (redacted) who seems to have gotten a grip on what was really going on.; 3/10/21, 10:34 PM
WK said...: Welcome back Pants...
Got my first Pfizer shot today. Went for a 5k run after and a few glasses of wine tonight. No soreness. Will know more tomorrow.
Second shot will be delayed as we will be in Cabo for spring break.
Got the shot because wife and mom were on me. Keeping the peace. Had to acknowledge a lot of emergency/not approved/tested bs to get it. L; 3/10/21, 10:45 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: This 2021 $1.9T bailout has a provision that prevents the states from cutting taxes if they accept any bailout money. That's a nice provision, but it kind of infringes on the states' sovereignty to lay and collect tax. There's nothing in Article I that allows the Congress to put that into law. But, Democrats have never been concerned with following the law or the Constitution.; 3/10/21, 10:47 PM
Big Mike said...: @Dr. Michael K., what’s the story about your daughter who was planning to move to Idaho. I seem to recall she was having a baby? He’s she reconciled herself to the notion that there are animals in Idaho that regard humans as very edible: two species of bears, plus one each of timber Wolf and mountain lion.; 3/10/21, 10:48 PM
rightguy said...: My Moderna booster gave me the flu for 2 days-bone shaking chills, headache, arthralgias, hypersomnolence,etc. Good thing I had it on a Friday afternoon so that I could ride it out at home over the weekend.; 3/10/21, 10:55 PM
narciso said...: This is on top of penalizing states who have done better like florida,,; 3/10/21, 11:11 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Original Mike:

Boomers versus Millenials is a good example of why attributing outcomes solely, or primarily, to individual agency and personal responsibility is misleading. They don't take into account the differing environments in which individuals find themselves.

Boomers grew up in the era of the New Deal coalition. The country was much more ethnically and religiously homogenous. WWI provided a huge jolt to the economy. Global trade rules had practically been dictated by the United States. Global growth rates were high, and there was a long period of financial stability. The US accounted for 40% of the global economy. Huge amounts of public money went into research, infrastructure and industry to build a military defense industry. Government-fostered mortgage lending helped fuel a housing boom, which also coincided with a boom in the auto industry.

Millenials, by contrast, grew up in an era of relative global decline for the US economy, the emergence much lower economic growth, much more economic inequality, a much more divided and polarized society, mass immigration, outsourcing, deindustrialization, the decline of organized labor, the rise of financialization and financial instability, NAFTA, WTO, the dot-com crash, 9/11, the Global War on Terror, and the Great Recession.

And on top of all that, they get to listen to boomers shit on them and tell them their economic position is their own fault. Apparently, they should've just done what the boomers did and been born 30 years earlier.; 3/10/21, 11:12 PM
Ken B said...: I think the reason Biden doesn’t give press conferences is the creeping dementia. But even if so, I approve. Calvin Coolidge. We don’t need to hear from the president on every issue every day, or even much at all. If he has something that needs to be said he should say it. Otherwise, act like Calvin. Better than nothing is a high standard.; 3/10/21, 11:12 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: I fear a perfect storm this summer, although I'm actually a little encouraged that it hasn't happened already. The confluence of Covid fatigue and the power of it that will not be surrendered, the Chauvin trial, the growing regret and replacement of our Earpiece in Chief, and the effects of many months of border invasion are going to see to it that cities burn and many states take a divergent direction from federal control.; 3/10/21, 11:12 PM
Ken B said...: Farmer completely ignores that the Millennials were far richer than the Boomers. I'm upper middle class Boomer and I grew up on skim milk powder in a one car family.

And the Boomers were far richer than my grandparents, who were far richer than their grandparents.; 3/10/21, 11:16 PM
narciso said...: He's a blithering fool who is barely aware of his own surroundings day to day, but its turtles all the way down, we have let this swarm of locusts into the grainery.

Each is vile than the next, corrupt ignorant specimens of the worst of what could be considered covernance doesnt matter if they are white black latino or other.; 3/10/21, 11:17 PM
narciso said...: If they were merely the tools of enemy oower, that would be one thing; 3/10/21, 11:18 PM
Ken B said...: Rt41
I hope you are right about some states going their own way.

The covid crisis will be essentially over by the end of June in the US (later in Canada). But you are right about power grabs.

Biden is going for racial quotas in everything, and there will be a stunning difference between how anyone charged in the January 6 riot is treated vs how any antifa rioter is treated.; 3/10/21, 11:22 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster

There's a saying that a man can do any amount of work, as long as it's not the work he's supposed to do. Case in point: Norton Juster who had a Ford Foundation grant to write a book about architecture for children.

In the event, that book was never finished, and the result was 1961's The Phantom Toolbooth, one of my favorite books growing up. This is the story a bored young boy of indeterminate age named Milo:

There was once a boy named Milo who didn't know what to do with himself -- not just sometimes, but always.

When he was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, and coming home he thought about going. Wherever he was he wished he were somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered why he'd bothered. Nothing really interested him -- least of all the things that should have.

Then one day he returns from school to his apartment to find a mysterious
package:

"ONE GENUINE TURNPIKE TOLLBOOTH," it stated -- and then it went on:

"EASILY ASSEMBLED AT HOME, AND FOR USE BY THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER TRAVELED IN LANDS BEYOND".

"Beyond what?" thought Milo as he continued to read.

"THIS PACKAGE CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:

"One (1) genuine turnpike tollbooth to be erected according to directions.

"Three (3) precautionary signs to be used in a precautionary fashion.

"Assorted coins for use in paying tolls.

"One (1) map, up to date and carefully drawn by master cartographers, depicting natural and man-made features.

"One (1) book of rules and traffic regulations, which may not be bent or broken."

And in smaller letters at the bottom it concluded:

"RESULTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED, BUT IF NOT PERFECTLY SATISFIED, YOUR WASTED TIME WILL BE REFUNDED."

Having nothing better to do, Milo assembles the toolbooth, gets in a electric car he had long ago tired of and drives into one of childhood's greatest adventures.

Accompanyed by his stalwart companion Tock, the watch-dog, and the less than reliable Humbug, Milo gets stuck in The Doldrums, jumps to Conclusions, has to eat his words, is sentenced to the dungeon, battles demons and returns Rhyme & Reason to the kingdom of Wisdom.

Obviously it is an allegory of sorts, but I still find it a delightful one with many striking turns of phrase and leaps of logic. For instance:

Except for these, and the big brass cannon being pulled along behind, they all looked very much like the residents of any other small valley to which you've never been.

or:

Thick black clouds hung heavily overhead as they fled through the darkness, and Milo, looking back for just a moment, could see the awful shapes coming closer and closer. Just to the left, and not very far away, were the Triple Demons of Compromise -- one tall and thin, one short and fat, and the third exactly like the other two. As always, they moved in ominous circles, for if one said "here," the other said "there," and the third agreed perfectly with both of them. And, since they always settled their differences by doing what none of them really wanted, they rarely got anywhere at all -- and neither did anyone they met.

This edition has essays from Juster and others. I read Juster's (and now know that he was the model for The Wheather Man) but not the rest. Curiously, there is not one from Jules Feiffer who provided the famous illustrations, and who as far as I know is still alive and working.

It is often the case that old favorites can disappoint, especially when read from an older and more cynical perspective. That is not the true here, and _The Phantom Tollbooth_ remains a delightful book. If you have never read it, you should. If you have children, they should.; 3/10/21, 11:33 PM
Gospace said...: I didn't get a dreaded covid vaccine shot today- of before, nor will I get one, but I'm still drinking Malbec tonight.

Turns out the dreaded covid relief bill prohibits states from cutting taxes- or doing things like establishing tax credits so people have real school choice. Can you say Tenth Amendment violation?

In my internet wandering today I failed to find any more studies or references to Vitamin D. But saw several references to new studies that show mask wearing is and was, as I've said many times, a useless endeavor. I failed to copy the urls and save them, and I've wandered so much I don't feel like hunting them down, But they're out there.

I have 3 20' flagpoles out front. The extendable kind. Inexpensive, easy to put up, and as I have discovered, the inexpensive (read cheap) ones I've put up over time, the sections tend to collapse. So I installed hose clamps to prevent that. Which means I have to lift the very lightweight poles out of the ground to change the flags. After a windy winter, the snow was gone around the bases today. So replaced the 50 star flag with the Bennington 76 flag. Underneath is now the Gonzales Flag. The Navy flag is there, and underneath is the original Navy Jack, replacing the Gadsden Flag. Same message. The generic Christian Flag is still there, but the flag underneath which was the Moultrie Flag is now the Choctaw Battle Flag. The Choctaw Battle Flag? Why, isn't that obscure? Well, yes it is. It is the battle flag of the Choctaw Regiments that fought for the CSA during the great unpleasantness. Dictator Cuomo signed the law the DEMONCRAT legislature passed banning the display and sale of Confederate Battle Flags on public property. I cannot bring myself to display the Stars and Bars, AKA the Battle Flag of the Army of North Virginia. Which my better half wants me to do. Sort of a compromise and history lesson. (I had direct ancestors who fought for both sides. Her ancestors, as far as I can tell, fought for neither. But they were (the ones that were here and not in Bavaria) Marylanders. Both the Choctaw and Cherokee had regiments that fought for the South, with their own battle flags. The Chickasaw were incorporated into Choctaw regiments. Should anyone wonder and look the flag up, they'll get a history lesson. Native Americans. AKA as POCs in today's lexicon, owned slaves! And fought for the Confederacy! When the Choctaw flag wears out, I have a Cherokee Battle Flag ready to replace it.

I was going to fly a f--k Cuomo flag, but people want too much for one. Supply and demand at work....

The Bennington Flag is staying up until we have the next POTUS elected without fraudulent votes. The Navy Flag (21 years active duty) and Christian flags are staying up constantly. The Original Navy Jack and Gadsden Flag will be alternated. The Choctaw and Cherokee flags will be alternated for a while. There are lots of historic flags that may or may not replace the Gonzales Flag. I asked my better half about a 4th pole and an Army Flag since we have 3 sons who've served or are serving. She said if they buy the flag.... That would give me a 4th spot for another historic flag. There are many of them from which to choose. Note- no NY flag. In Texas, you rarely see a private hone, especially in the rural areas, without a Teas Flag flying. Sometimes, not often though, you'll see a Texas Flag without the national flag flying. In NY, you rarely see a state flag flying at a private residence. I see no reason to fly one. To be honest, those are the only two states in which I'm familiar with and have noted the private display of the state flag. For those of you in other states- do residents, not businesses, residents, fly the state flag?; 3/10/21, 11:33 PM
J. Farmer said...: @DavidUW:

Hey dipshit. I'm 45, and retired. I hired millennials. I know exactly how fucking lazy you shitheads are.

Because obviously the millenials you hired must be a representative sample of the 70,000,000+ millenials in the country.

Millennial bitches like you are a bunch of whiny, illiterate, innumerate, ignorant dipshits who don't know what they don't know they're so fucking stupid.

Sweet of you to say. So what was it about being born 5 years earlier that made you such much tougher, smarter, and harder working?

Now go get a real job and make some money, dipshit.

Thanks for the advice. I've owned my own business for 20 years and employee 27 people. Just imagine what I could have accomplished if I'd had your tremendous benefit of being born 5 years earlier!

Hugs and kisses.; 3/10/21, 11:36 PM
Joe Smith said...: One tiny little organism escapes a Chinese lab and our country gets royally fucked.

The Chinese are laughing their asses off...; 3/10/21, 11:38 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "The cultural left hated the Bernie Bros and would've nominated a ham sandwich over Bernie Sanders."

What did you mean "would've?"

Thread winner!; 3/10/21, 11:43 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Ken B:

Farmer completely ignores that the Millennials were far richer than the Boomers. I'm upper middle class Boomer and I grew up on skim milk powder in a one car family.

And the Boomers were far richer than my grandparents, who were far richer than their grandparents.

The Emerging Millennial Wealth Gap: Divergent Trajectories, Weak Balance Sheets, and Implications for Social Policy

The Millennial Wealth Gap: Smaller Wallets than Older Generations

Charting The Growing Generational Wealth Gap; 3/10/21, 11:51 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Welcome back, MisplacedPants. You have been missed.; 3/10/21, 11:52 PM
William said...: I still dislike DeBlasio more than Cuomo. So far as I know DeBlasio hasn't killed any old people or groped any on his staff, but I still dislike him more. Is this some weird, indefinable kind of prejudice? Any fair minded person would find Cuomo more objectionable......Weiner, in terms of pure entertainment value, had the best sex scandal of any of the NY pols. Plus no actual women were ever harmed in his pursuit of happiness. Weiner remains the beau ideal of sex scandals.; 3/10/21, 11:55 PM
wildswan said...: I had no effect from the first shot. I know someone who got a flu-like effect from the second shot - chills and fever. He finally took ibuprofen and went to bed, was fine the next day. So I'm going to be ready for bed when I get the next shot in a week or so. I have a CDC card with my name on it but others around me have the same CDC card but theirs has no name. Don't know why the difference; but they are going to try to get their name on the card when they get the second shot. Almost 20% of Wisconsin has had one dose of vaccine. As far as masks in this blue state, I think of the song "Slip sliding away, slip sliding away".

PS Great picture of the lake with a huge crack.; 3/10/21, 11:58 PM
Yancey Ward said...: The millenial "wealth gap" is 100% the result of college education loans, the lack of work experience as a teenager, and the fact that you can't buy houses on the coasts without borrowing $500,000+ dollars.

They started out deep in the debt hole when they get their first real job.; 3/11/21, 12:01 AM
wildswan said...: I think it's disgusting to see Meghan Markle talking about being a victim. Why doesn't she go talk to the mothers whose children are being excluded from schooling in minority areas in big Dem-run cities. She could tell them the sad story of how her son won't be called Prince Archie because of racism so evil that the law was passed long before Archie was born. How sneaky is that. Anyhow, she understands how they feel when they have no computer and no access for their children and no Oprah to interview them and no Prince Harry to speak for them. She felt the same in Windsor Palace when she realized that people thought Queen Elizabeth was Queen, not her.; 3/11/21, 12:11 AM
narciso said...: It saves time, it might have had something to do with the fact that the subways remained open and there were invitations to visit chinatown by the cities health commissioner, but cuomo probably retired the megadeath trophy.; 3/11/21, 12:12 AM
narciso said...: Heck the law was written before grandmother in law elizabeth and grandpa in law phillip were born, but thats not important right now.; 3/11/21, 12:14 AM
narciso said...: Fringe is another show thaf was briefly in sayndication at peculiar hours in the dawn; 3/11/21, 12:16 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I loved "Fringe", but I will watch anything with Anna Torv in it whether it is good or not.

I watched the first episode the night it aired for the first time, but I didn't continue to watch it. I binged the first 3 seasons and then started watching regularly during season 4, but it kind of petered out after that. I also didn't remember Meghan Markle in it, though did remember the character- just never connected it to her later on when she married into the royal family.; 3/11/21, 12:22 AM
narciso said...: It was in a fatal schedule fridays at 9, initially the first season was hard to figure out what exactly was going on, then once the multiverse started to manifest.; 3/11/21, 12:28 AM
Rt41Rebel said...: "The millenial "wealth gap" is 100% the result of college education loans"

If I'm gonna tax the fuck out of anybody on the basis of wealth and general principle, I'm going after college endowments.; 3/11/21, 12:41 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Sharyl Attkisson tweet:
Can you pinpoint the moment when you first saw something you disagreed with/didn't like and thought: "We should ban that and keep others from seeing it because I don't like it"?
Because that wasn't a typical reaction just a few years ago.
Ask yourself why.
#ThinkForYourself; 3/11/21, 2:04 AM
Ken B said...: All irrelevant bullshit Farmer. Everyone is much richer than 50 years ago. And people 50 years ago were much richer than those 50 years before that. Not to mention intangibles, like longer life expectancy, better jobs, less chance of going to war.

You let your ideology blind you to obvious facts.; 3/11/21, 2:29 AM
StephenFearby said...: NY Post Headline:

"Gov. Cuomo allegedly reached under aide’s blouse and groped her: report"

When low-life perverts grope women in the New York City subway system, as they are unfortunately wont to do, they don't aim for their blouses.

Methinks the Luv Gov's advances skipped first base and went directly to second base (fondling).

Urban Dictionary:

1st base: French kissing
2nd base: Above the waist
3rd base: Below the waist
Home Run: Sex; 3/11/21, 2:34 AM
Theranter said...: Hi Pants, I've missed reading your posts. (I do not post much, but read this blog every day.)

Happy to hear you and family are doing great!; 3/11/21, 2:37 AM
Ken B said...: “You have been missed.”

Well, by the let grandma die contingent perhaps.

I have been thinking Yancey Ward about which politician has most fully embraced your approach to Covid. It’s Bolsonaro. https://mobile.twitter.com/terrence_mccoy/status/1369655468386381824; 3/11/21, 2:38 AM
Ken B said...: Rt141
I too think endowments are a great target, especially since they are vulnerable to woke attacks. Glenn Reynolds has an idea about taxing them if they spend less than x% of the endowment on financial aid for students. I would add, for a greatly expanded cohort of students drawn by lottery. How could woke Harvard come out against a plan for 10000 new free ride students a year, chosen by lottery from underprivileged schools?; 3/11/21, 2:54 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: You idiots are HURTING AMERICA with your stubborn, determined ignorance.; 3/11/21, 3:23 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Lem said...
Sharyl Attkisson tweet:
Can you pinpoint the moment when you first saw something you disagreed with/didn't like and thought: "We should ban that and keep others from seeing it because I don't like it"?
Because that wasn't a typical reaction just a few years ago.
Ask yourself why.
#ThinkForYourself

Think about cults, Assholes.; 3/11/21, 3:25 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Ken B:

You let your ideology blind you to obvious facts.

Please explain to me how “millennials are richer than boomers“.; 3/11/21, 3:27 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: There has been nothing to keep this shit going, except y'all are racists, who don't listen to blacks, except to spit on us.; 3/11/21, 3:28 AM
rhhardin said...: "Even the most humdrum of electrical devices nowadays contains at least one computer;yet surprisingly few people are aware of their history, their form or function."

Lame introductions; 3/11/21, 5:06 AM
Big Mike said...: Think about cults, Assholes.

As good an explanation for Democrats as any other.; 3/11/21, 6:02 AM
stevew said...: Born in 1957 I am a Boomer (though I hate to admit it). Back then we all had to walk 5 miles to school, in three feet of snow, uphill both ways. My teen years were blessed with the Nixon Price Controls, and the resulting recession, the Middle East Oil Embargo (anyone remember gasoline lines), and wrapped up with the Carter Stagflation (which he tried to blame on Nixon). The mortgage interest rate on our first home was a bit over 12%. In HS I washed dishes at a local Friendly's, in college worked at a gas station pumping gas and changing oil and tires. Moved to working in a costume jewelry factory (Whiting & Davis) for an additional $.25/hour. Didn't know until after I started that the additional pay didn't cover the union dues. Got my big break into a white collar job as a Data Engineer working for a government defense contractor; spent my days verifying test data for the Polaris and Poseidon missile programs. My $180/week salary was great until I learned that I wasn't compensated for overtime - which was often required. I'm not complaining, those were great and exciting times for me and mrs. stevew.

But, yeah, Millennials have it tough.; 3/11/21, 6:38 AM
Original Mike said...: "The millenial "wealth gap" is 100% the result of college education loans, the lack of work experience as a teenager, and the fact that you can't buy houses on the coasts without borrowing $500,000+ dollars."

Debt is poison.

I will say this about the "plight" of the Millennials; college was cheaper in the 70s. If you have to borrow to go to college, make sure it's in a field that pays well when you get out.; 3/11/21, 6:49 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Fringe is the greatest sci-fi series ever. It even gets the ending right.

You can still see if free on Amazon Prime.; 3/11/21, 7:03 AM
Jaq said...: I looked at the CDC report on mask mandates and it didn’t say that it reduced infections by two percent, it said it reduced infections by two *percentage points” therefore if the infections were growing at a rate of 5% per time period, then without mask mandates, the growth would have been 7%, a 40% increase in cases over the time period in question. This is why I am so disappointed in Glenn Reynolds.

Add to this the fact htat even without the mandates, many people were still wearing them, the vast majority of people were wearing them in hard hit places where social distancing was difficult, So this 40% reduction came from recruiting a minority of the population to join the majority in wearing masks. If you live in rural areas where there are maybe three people in the general store when you stop in for coffee and a donut, this may not ring as true, but if you live in an urban area, it is very much true.

The point has been made that compliance was never 100%, that there exists a small number of people who, either to low IQ or stubbornness, fail to wear their masks properly, and so that somehow proves that mask mandates can’t possibly work, I can only say that they would have worked much better with 100% compliance, that is certainly true.

Most of the criticism of these studies here comes from a bedrock assumption that masks can’t work and therefor throws unprovable hypotheses up to create some unlikely scenario where all of the unaccounted for factors conspire perfectly to create the illusion that masks work when "we all know that it’s impossible, right?”

With four parameters I can fit an elephant, and with five I can make him wiggle his trunk John von Neuman

In other words, you can come up with a hypotheses as to why the studies are wrong, and you can then assign your own values to the numbers your hypothesis implies, and you can create whatever “reality” you want. This is a pitfall that is well known and discussed in advanced math classes. You can prove almost anything if you add extra variables to which you are able to assign your own values.

Anyway, I know that you are not really interested in the answers, which we can only know as best we can know them, since we can’t stop the pandemic while we work out the answers, and I know that’s not good enough for some. but to demand logistically impossible studies to justify an action as simple and low cost as mask wearing to achieve some theoretically higher degree of confidence? “You go to war with the army that you have, not the army that you wish you had.” Somebody said.; 3/11/21, 7:11 AM
stevew said...: Tim, the problem with the studies isn't the "bedrock assumption that masks can't work" it is that the studies are not a proper proxy for mask usage in the real world. Properly fitted and worn N95 masks are not the norm across the US. People wear homemade cloth versions, neck gaiters pulled up over their mouth and nose, and other ill-fitting appliances. The studies and real world actions are an apples & oranges comparison. That's what invalidates.; 3/11/21, 7:27 AM
DavidUW said...: Thanks for the advice. I've owned my own business for 20 years and employee 27 people. Just imagine what I could have accomplished if I'd had your tremendous benefit of being born 5 years earlier!

>>
Then what are you bitching about.

The plight of your lazy idiot peers?

Never mind. It's clear from your posts you just like to bloviate about bullshit.; 3/11/21, 8:17 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Think about cults, Assholes."

I draw the line at children, but if adults want to join a cult and get branded, I don't really care.; 3/11/21, 9:39 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Joe Smith said...
"Think about cults, Assholes."

I draw the line at children, but if adults want to join a cult and get branded, I don't really care.

That makes you and ST who have uttered the words "don't care" today - and y'all wonder what's wrong with the nation?; 3/11/21, 9:46 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: King George: "What do you think of the price of Tea?"

Founding Fathers: "Don't care."; 3/11/21, 9:48 AM
mockturtle said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/11/21, 9:54 AM
J. Farmer said...: @DavidUW:

The plight of your lazy idiot peers?

So what was it about being born in the mid-70s that made you so much smarter and harder working than people born in the early 80s? I don’t consider 70,000,000 Americans my peers, but what is your source calling these people “lazy” and “idiot”?

Never mind. It's clear from your posts you just like to bloviate about bullshit.

I’m afraid you’ve conflated “bullshit” your inability or unwillingness to understand something.; 3/11/21, 9:56 AM
mockturtle said...: And the Boomers were far richer than my grandparents, who were far richer than their grandparents.

This may be true in some families but not all. Wealth tends to be diluted as it is passed to the next generation. My great grandparents were richer than my grandparents who were richer than my parents who were richer than my generation. And my generation had no ambition for wealth.; 3/11/21, 9:58 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Had my 2nd Moderna jab two hours ago. So far so good.; 3/11/21, 10:06 AM
J. Farmer said...: @stevew:

But, yeah, Millennials have it tough.

“Boomers” and “Millennials” describe groups not individuals. It’s not a claim about every millennial versus every boomer, and it isn’t a competition over suffering. The point is that millennial economic conditions are often attributed to individual character traits rather than the much different social-economic environments they occupied.; 3/11/21, 10:09 AM
Narr said...: I see quite a few of my state's elegant banner around. Not as many as the school flags and other signs of cultism to be seen, but still. If I ever buy another flag to display it'll probably be the state flag.

Generational wealth. Whatever has been amassed by myself and my wife (and my bachelor youngest brother), including what we have inherited from families, will most likely funnel down to our only son (b. 1986). On my advice a number of years ago, he stopped pretending to be a college student and got a full time job.

Someday he may be a man of leisure, but for now he works.

Narr
No expensive useless degree for him!; 3/11/21, 10:59 AM
Joe Smith said...: "That makes you and ST who have uttered the words "don't care" today - and y'all wonder what's wrong with the nation?"

Adults are either responsible for their action or they aren't.

I've always given you credit for being a pretty smart guy...

But why the hell should I care about what adult strangers do if it's legal?

If it's a friend or family member I would care.

Your position on this is non-sensical.

I'm running low on empathy, and won't expend any on Darwin Award winners.; 3/11/21, 10:59 AM
Joe Smith said...: "King George: "What do you think of the price of Tea?"

Founding Fathers: "Don't care."

But the FF did care, and they did something about it because it affected them.

If an idiot cult members wants to let somebody brand them, that affects them, and they must live with the consequences.

Your holier-than-thou act is getting tiring.

Mother Teresa you ain't.; 3/11/21, 11:03 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Someday he may be a man of leisure, but for now he works."

My kids will most likely get a decent chunk of change when me and my wife kick it, but we don't have flashy wealth, and they really don't know how much is there.

So they both work hard and make good money on their own.

Besides, we might give it all away...you never know.; 3/11/21, 11:06 AM
Original Mike said...: "Besides, we might give it all away...you never know."

We've been thinking about this lately. There so few organizations I trust to do good with the money.; 3/11/21, 11:11 AM
DavidUW said...: So what was it about being born in the mid-70s that made you so much smarter and harder working than people born in the early 80s?
>>
I don't know. I don't do sociology.

But there are a few things that make our experience different than the 80's babies. And my younger brother is an 80's baby so I know the contrast with his experiences and these points.

1) Having a real memory of the USSR, and the Cold War and Reagan.
2) Being born before in the last few years before everyone had computers and the internet; i.e. enough of a childhood without those things to know what it was like.
3) the last few years of being educated by teachers who actually knew something and weren't 100% SJWs.
4) Sexual maturity with Fraudci's AIDS bullshit.
5) Teenage years spent at the absolute peak of urban violence in this country.; 3/11/21, 11:13 AM
DavidUW said...: I’m afraid you’ve conflated “bullshit” your inability or unwillingness to understand something.

>>
I understand plenty.

A typical post from you recycles the ancient "horseshoe" political theory I got taught in HS history class.
It's special that you think it's relevant, because there has never been a single instance of the far-left and far-right "united" against the "establishment" that I can recall from history.

As I stated, it's a fantasy.; 3/11/21, 11:18 AM
stevew said...: Farmer, the point is that blaming some externality like "social-economic" conditions, or Covid or the weather, is a cop out and a negative character trait. We come of age when we do, not when someone else did. How we choose to act, or not, is a function of our character and upbringing, not the social and economic environment we're living in.

In my job running a sales organization in the technology & services industry I have occasion to hire and work with several generations. Millennials, in my experience, are hard working, ambitious, and responsible. There are individuals in all age groups that do not act that way. They don't last long in my field.

And what generation ever thinks they've got it easy or substantially better than the previous ones?; 3/11/21, 11:22 AM
Narr said...: It was an alliance of far-right and far-left against the Weimar Republic establishment that helped bring the Nazis to power in the '30s. In parliamentary systems such arrangements are not unusual at all, and in times of societal and national crises they become very attractive. Which isn't to say they always turn out well, of course.

We're probably too far gone though--peoples' very identities are too enmeshed in their party affiliations and resentments in this country for a real alternative fusion party IMO). And we have seen the lengths the Permawar Uniparty that runs the country on behalf of its owners will go to, in order to silence and destroy their opponents.

Narr
I never doubted for a moment that us Boomers had it MUCH MUCH better than our parents; 3/11/21, 11:43 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Joe Smith said...

"Your position on this is non-sensical.

I'm running low on empathy, and won't expend any on Darwin Award winners."

This isn't about empathy - it's about Patriotism. You're either an American or you're not. If you are, you believe in Fair Play and Justice - those are American values. Football players are kneeling because YOU are violating the PATRIOTIC connection we have between each other with your "don't care" when YOU find it convenient - not us. The Republican Party Autopsy of 2012 said YOU have this race problem and I can attest you guys haven't changed one iota in response to it. You're monsters, parading around like you're intelligent, just because your racist ancestors cushioned you so well at our expense. You think continually putting off Justice and Fair Play will protect this nation from paying for your deceit, but there's no statute of limitations on this one.

Like I said, you're either an American or you ain't.; 3/11/21, 12:12 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Joe Smith said...

"Your holier-than-thou act is getting tiring.

Mother Teresa you ain't."

How many of you constantly flatter yourselves by missing the point? Show of hands.

Kamala Harris is now Vice President. She gave the pussy to Montel Williams. That's a step up from Oprah campaigning with Obama in my book. We got the NewAge actually in the White House now, not just being the help.

But, like ST constantly ranting about me and money (when it's HE who will do anything for a buck) YOU have decided I'm trying to be "Mother Teresa" and not merely someone rightfully concerned for my country.

Because I "do care".; 3/11/21, 12:18 PM
DavidUW said...: t was an alliance of far-right and far-left against the Weimar Republic establishment that helped bring the Nazis to power in the '30s.
>>

They were not allied. They were fighting each other AND Weimar separately.; 3/11/21, 12:19 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: You guys are simple-minded assholes who abandon your values to win arguments.; 3/11/21, 12:20 PM
Joe Smith said...: "This isn't about empathy - it's about Patriotism. You're either an American or you're not. If you are, you believe in Fair Play and Justice - those are American values. Football players are kneeling because YOU are violating the PATRIOTIC connection we have between each other with your "don't care" when YOU find it convenient - not us."

WTF does this have to do with adults joining cults and being branded?

You're losing it.

Abandoning values? How about letting adults live their lives. I don't want to take care of you, you're not my friend and you're not my family.

Too many people, mostly liberals, treat black people like children. I assume you are smart enough to take care of yourself, but your thirst for reparations money (which I am happy for you to have) kind of leads me to believe that your only principals involve cash.

As for simple-minded, I am comfortably on the far right side of the bell curve, but thanks for your concern.; 3/11/21, 12:53 PM
Narr said...: Alliance of convenience is alliance none the less. But it's just an historical observation, not a prediction, much less a proposal for action. As I said, I don't think anything like that
is likely here.

When I start caring about the political posturing of the likes of NFL ballers, check my blood sugar levels.

Narr
As American as violence itself; 3/11/21, 1:10 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Karen B once more full of shit. Bolsonaro didn't effect the outcome in Brazil, either, you dumbshit. Brazil has the outcome Brazil was always going to have even if its president were Mario Cuomo. That you continue to misrepresent my position marks you as a liar. Here, once again, was my position- the government mandates nowhere were ever going to change the outcomes. All we were doing was destroying the economy more than doing nothing would have done, and probably killing more people in the long run than the virus was going to kill.

You see it in the US- the states had different mandates across similar types of populations, but still end up in the exact same places as to cases and deaths. The virus doesn't care very much about our policies. The only intervention that might have stopped the virus in its tracks was a 24 hour/day lockdown of everyone for 3-6 months, but that policy was never going to be implemented in the US or Europe, and if it had been tried and succeeded, we would have been eating the pets this Winter.; 3/11/21, 1:11 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Just look at the rest of South America and compare it to Brazil- some of hte policies were strict long term lockdowns and mask mandates and pretty much all the countries are in the exact same place as Brazil with cases, deaths, and case fatality rates. The policies didn't have any real effect other than to destroy the economies more.; 3/11/21, 1:12 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Joe Smith said...

"WTF does this have to do with adults joining cults and being branded?"

You're too stupid to understand anything, so why bother? I'll talk to people who can read AND comprehend at the same time.; 3/11/21, 1:20 PM
Doug said...: Hey, Hostess! Did you miss the Burger King "Women Belong in the Kitchen" contretemps?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/burger-king-women-belong-in-the-kitchen_n_6046994dc5b6e6abac8214a3
I love it when feminist SJWs go after feminist SJWs.; 3/11/21, 2:21 PM
Joe Smith said...: Good luck there, Crack.

You seem to be on your own wavelength these days.

Do you ever wonder why you seem to be constantly swimming upstream?

It's because you always seem to take the opposite viewpoint of EVERYONE.

If there is a clearcut position A and an opposite position B, you will find a way to invent position C.

I can see how that would be exhausting.

It's got to be a terrible thing living life thinking you're the smartest person in the room when that's clearly not the case.

But I wish you well, paisan...good luck spending your guilty white people's cash...I hope you get it.; 3/11/21, 2:42 PM
J. Farmer said...: @DavidUW:

It's special that you think it's relevant, because there has never been a single instance of the far-left and far-right "united" against the "establishment" that I can recall from history.

I think it's certainly relevant descriptively in understanding the current fissures in both parties. Much more so than left/right, liberal/conservative, Democrat/Republican. I have very little expectation that it will happen, even as I believe it should happen. My general outlook on the USA is very pessimistic.

Setting aside the "far-left and far-right" labels, political parties have certainly undergone political realignments in response to changes in voting blocs and interests groups that alter their official ideology, leadership, bases of support, etc. There have been at least three in the 20th century, including the progressive era, the New Deal coalition, and the Reagan revolution. That's why ideological prefixes like new, neo, and paleo become useful. There are also political ideologies, like Christian Democracy, that aren't easily categorized as either left-wing or right-wing.; 3/11/21, 3:17 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Stevew:

Farmer, the point is that blaming some externality like "social-economic" conditions, or Covid or the weather, is a cop out and a negative character trait. We come of age when we do, not when someone else did. How we choose to act, or not, is a function of our character and upbringing, not the social and economic environment we're living in.

People don't choose their upbringing. It's part of their social and economic environment, and upbringing helps shape character. There's also genetic endowment, which we don't have control over.

Consider Jared Kushner and an average blue-collar worker. Do you think their difference in status is purely a reflection of Kushner possessing superior character? Are Chelsea Clinton's and Ivanka Trump's status merely a reflection of their merit and character, or might've family and social connections played a role? Does good character explain being a legacy admission at an elite institution? Is the share of wealth and power the top 0.1% have in this country justified by their exemplary character? I doubt you believe that everyone wealthier and more powerful than you got there by having that much better character than you.; 3/11/21, 3:42 PM
Joe Smith said...: "I doubt you believe that everyone wealthier and more powerful than you got there by having that much better character than you."

One of my father's favorite sayings: 'It's not always what you know, but who you know.'; 3/11/21, 5:03 PM
Narr said...: Joe says, "One of my father's favorite sayings: 'It's not always what you know, but who you know.'"

Or as our VeeVeeVeep says, "It's not what you do, but who you do."

Narr
True dat; 3/11/21, 5:11 PM
mockturtle said...: Farmer @3:42: Well said.; 3/11/21, 5:21 PM
Anonymous said...: BFTPFCP- "I'm curious how people feel after the vaccine."

So far, I feel pretty good. Gettin on in years, but hiked Higgens point today. Haven't gotten 'the vaccine' because I have an immune system. Haven't worn a mask, because I have an immune system. Haven't locked down because...well you know.
I hate to see my countrymen so full of fear, and so easily manipulated by the Panic porn of the News Media. Hate to see it.

Mock - "And my generation had no ambition for wealth."
Many of us rejected that, didn't we? At the time, I thought that was a righteous thing. Youthful exuberance.

stevew- "I am a Boomer (though I hate to admit it). Back then we all had to walk 5 miles to school, in three feet of snow, uphill both ways."

The worst part was doing it in bare feet. That's the part I disliked.

Millenials can't make change. Without a computer, they freeze like a deer in the headlights.

J. Farmer always brings the heat.

I like reading Pants. You know what I mean. Misplaced Pants. Geez, you know what I mean.

That's today's round-up boys and girls.; 3/12/21, 12:19 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Joe Smith said...

"Do you ever wonder why you seem to be constantly swimming upstream?

It's because you always seem to take the opposite viewpoint of EVERYONE."

And yet - with all you geniuses handling shit - IT NEVER GETS BETTER.

Maybe you should try LISTENING TO SOMEONE ELSE FOR A CHANGE.; 3/12/21, 4:33 AM
Doug said...: The worst part was doing it in bare feet. That's the part I disliked.
It got so danged ivy we had to wrap barbed wire around our bare feet for traction.; 3/12/21, 8:01 AM