January 11, 2022

At the Black Ice Café... you can talk about whatever you want.

It finally warmed up enough that I could take an afternoon walk. I hadn't seen the lake in 7 days, and those very cold days had transformed the lake:

IMG_8895

There's some beautiful glassy-clear ice on the lake. Look out there:

IMG_8901

2 ice skaters with 2 dogs:

IMG_8896

Higher up, the prairie and the sunset:

IMG_8906

65 comments:

David Begley said...

Ann’s birthday is tomorrow. Happy Birthday to the Greatest Blogger in the Universe!

FullMoon said...

So, I'm four or five cars back waiting for the light to turn green. Same amount of cars behind me. Cold , dark and drizzly.

Ragged homeless beggar shivering. Figure I'll give him five bucks.
He sees me make the move for my wallet, begins approaching my car.
Light turns green as I am looking in wallet for a fiver. Driver behind me honks,
I panic and pull a twenty out of my wallet and give to homeless guy.

Far as I'm concerned, he owes me $15.00 change.
Wife says forget about it.

Wa St Blogger said...

You can surmise a lot by what people do and do not say when truth is on the line.

For example, when ask if there were FBI agents at the Jan 6 kerfluffle and if Epps was working for the FBI, the Jill Sandborn, who had to take an oath could only respond I cannot answer that question.

If there was FBI involvement, there are several possibilities for her answer:

1. She is entirely without knowledge of what the FBI is doing
2. She is knowledgeable but was ordered not to answer
3. She is knowledgeable but also knows the impacts of what the truth might be and is using a dodge.

Now if there WERE truly no FBI involvement there are several possibilities for her answer.
1. She is entirely without knowledge of what the FBI is doing
2. They want to keep the divisions in the country going by maintaining doubt.

If the FBI wanted to close the book on this and assure everyone that this was not an inside job, the easiest answer would be to say No to both above questions.

She did not do that.

So we have:
1. She is ignorant -or-
2. The FBI wants to hide something

The question is, what do they want to hide?
1. Their involvement -or-
2. Their desire to stir divisiveness in the country.

Did I miss anything?

The FBI appears to be the enemy to half the nation, they might be the enemy to more than that. Who do they serve? What evidence would one need to confirm the answer?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Today i watched Jordan Peterson's podcast with the Darkhorse couple, Bret and Heather, about their book, "Guide to the 21st Century." (Use the Althouse Amazon Portal)

I usually start podcasts but most of the time i tune out. This one I watched and listened to the end. They talked for One hour and a half and I was fascinated. So much so, a few times as they approached what seemed like an end point of agreement, I experienced a tingling sensation like the ones from way back when i was in church and a great preacher was in a flow. Halleluiah!

Link to video

Scot said...

Happy Birthday Althaus!

Does the ice make clinky clanky noises?

Kathryn51 said...

I see that Bender has been commenting frequently in the evening "cafe/sunrise walk" post. Glad to see him back.

David Begley - thanks for the heads up on our hostess' BD.

Ann (Althouse), early birthday wishes. Your blog (and your family of commenters) continues to be a \pleasant event in my day.

BUMBLE BEE said...

She said "Not to my Knowledge". So the FBI is balls deep in 1/6/2020.

Gospace said...

So the link says "Immune-mediated hepatitis with the Moderna vaccine, no longer a coincidence but confirmed".

So, are all you pro-vaxxers still set on forcing everyone to get it?

gspencer said...

Lake Baikal has lots of clear ice freezes. It's sorta spooky just looking down into the blackness,

https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/lake-baikal-is-a-frosty-winter-day-largest-fresh-water-lake-lake-is-picture-id936808648?k=20&m=936808648&s=612x612&w=0&h=RC4nHMGq8ltm5f2y49fSUBm3UiU-jt33bYRc9gXi3qw=

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Happy Birthday, Ann! And many more!

Curious George said...

Milwaukee. I went out after work to run errands. It actually felt warm after the single digit/minus zero with wind temps we had. So far loving this weather. It's been cold, so hate that for the heating bill, but little snow and nothing for the next ten days for someone who does four drives and sidewalks (elderly neighbors) is awesome.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

The FBI is neck-deep in the January 6 riot. They planned it and executed it. The DOJ's failure to deny any FBI involvement proves the FBI led and executed the riot. With Nancy's blessing.

The Democrats are the enemy of civilization. Last year in Washington State, they passed many "police reform" bills that made it harder to enforce the rules of civilization. They passed "green energy" bills that will raise the cost of energy. They passed electric-truck bills that mandate the use of battery driven trucks, trucks were the batter will weigh more than the cargo.

Democrats are barbarians. Always undermining civilization.

Narr said...

Treacherous, deadly Black Ice! (H/t Key and Peale.)

In the last few days, I've seen diverse streetcorner beggars with cardboard signs reading "I want some beer and a blunt." Cute, but still no. Get a job.

Happy BD tomorrow to Prof, and congratulations on getting outside once again.

Narr said...

1/6/2020? It started earlier than we thought!

That FBI hussy is something else.

walter said...

Bah. Gotta be a fake.

"The gene-encoded, or “mRNA,” vaccines work poorly because they are synthetic replications of the already-synthetic SARSr-CoV-WIV synthetic spike proteins and possess no other epitopes. The mRNA instructs the cells to produce synthetic copies of the SARSr-CoV-WIV synthetic spike protein directly into the bloodstream, wherein they spread and produce the same ACE2 immune storm that the recombinant vaccine does. Many doctors in the country have identified that the symptoms of vaccine reactions mirror the symptoms of the disease, which corroborates with the similar synthetic nature and function of the respective spike proteins.
The vaccine recipient has no defense against the bloodstream entry, but their nose protects them from the recombinant spike protein quasispecies during “natural infection” (better termed as aerosolized inoculation).
<
Ivermectin (identified as curative in April 2020) works throughout all phases of illness because it both inhibits viral replication and modulates the immune response. Of note, chloroquine phosphate (Hydroxychloroquine, identified April 2020 as curative) is identified in the proposal as a SARSr-CoV inhibitor, as is interferon (identified May 2020 as curative)"

https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2022/01/11/new-us-military-report-states-covid-19-was-created-by-a-us-funded-ecohealth-alliance-program-at-wuhan-institute-of-virology-n504679?fbclid=IwAR27OzvEGKt9KDDTK4lKzwAYZ1DYPeyP4oYjt-GEfr7-wQ-jgCxovCR7pEo

Caroline said...

I join the well wishers for our hostess’s birthday!

BG said...

Ann’s birthday is tomorrow. Happy Birthday to the Greatest Blogger in the Universe!

Same day as a friend of mine.

Happy Birthday, Ann! Enjoy your day!

Mark said...

Excited for the warm weather and finally going lake skating tomorrow. Took a long time to freeze up this year, missed the usual December skating on the pond down tbe street and now it has snow.

Owen said...

FullMoon @ 7:39: Your extra good deed is duly noted. At current exchange rates, you've shortened your time in Purgatorio by 0.2744 seconds. Maybe more.

I have trouble with the panhandlers at stop lights. Should I show "tough love" and drive on? Or should I acknowledge that life is a bitch and a small kindness makes us both feel momentarily better?

rcocean said...

The Jan 6th committee including liar Adam Schiffhead, states it interviewed Epps and he denied being a FBI asset.

If you remember Trump-Russia you'll place zero trust in any general statement issued by a Democrats on a "Get Trump" committee. Adam Shits and others would regularly lie about who said what and what a witness said.

We need the transcript of any interview. We need to know WHY the committee interviewed him. We need to know if he was put under oath. And we need to know why the FBI has not been asked about Epps. Or maybe they have, and the Jan 6th committee is hiding it.

In any case, who cares if Epps said he was NOT a FBI asset. He would not admit to it unless given permission by the FBI. And Epps knows that if the FBI refuses to allow him to admit to be being a FBI asset, Congress is NEVER going to convict him of lying to Congress.

Furthermore, the Congress/DoJ has shown with McCabe and Comey that they don't care if FBI agents lie under oath to congress or the DoJ/FBI Inspector General.

Bender said...

(1) Carry some bills in your pocket.
(2) Listen to the tone of the FBI witness. She did not say, "I can't answer that" in the sense of not knowing, but in the sense of refusing to say.
(3) Thanks.
(4) There is an explosive story from Project Veritas, which has a leaked DARPA report, via RedState:

SARS-CoV-2 is an American-created recombinant bat vaccine, or its precursor virus. It was created by an EcoHealth Alliance program at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), as suggested by the reporting surrounding the lab leak hypothesis. The details of this program have been concealed since the pandemic began. These details can be found in the EcoHealth Alliance proposal...

The contents of the proposed program are extremely detailed. Peter Daszak lays out step-by-step what the organization intends to do by phase and by location. The primary scientists involved, their roles, and their institutions are indicated. The funding plan for the WIV work is its own document. The reasons why nonpharmaceutical interventions like masks and medical countermeasures like the mRNA vaccines do not work well can be extrapolated from the details. The reasons why the early treatment protocols work as curatives are apparent.

SARS-CoV-2’s form as it emerged is likely as a precursor, deliberately virulent, humanized recombinant SARSr-CoV that was to be reverse engineered into a live attenuated SARSr-CoV bat vaccine....

SARS-CoV-2, hereafter referred to as SARSR-CoV-WIV, is a synthetic spike protein chimera engineered to attach to human ACE2 receptors and inserted into a recombinant bat SARSr-COV backbone. It is likely a live vaccine, not yet engineered to a more attenuated state, that the program sought to create with its final version.

It leaked and spread rapidly because it was aerosolized so it could efficiently infect bats in caves, but it was not ready to infect bats yet, which is why it does not appear to infect bats. The reason the disease is so confusing is because it is less a virus than it is engineered spike proteins hitch-hiking a ride on a SARSr-CoV quasispecies swarm....

The gene-encoded, or “mRNA,” vaccines work poorly because they are synthetic replications of the already-synthetic SARSr-CoV-WIV synthetic spike proteins and possess no other epitopes.

Bender said...

I had wanted to go to the Kennedy Center in a few weeks for Beethoven's Ninth.

But I would have to show my papers. Nope.

I showed them when I drove up and went to the Met a couple of months ago because I already had tickets. I have tix also to see Lucia di Lammermoor, but now the Met is demanding that you be boosted too. Sorry, not getting the Pfizer again. Probably will get the Novavax though when it is authorized. It's not experimental, but is a more traditional vax.

Mary said...

I've missed your morning run sunrise photos, so this is a treat! It looks like they standing on water, weird! I'm seeing some happy birthday comments, so here I go... Happy Birthday Ann! I feel like you should get some kind of award for blogging all these years, it's truly impressive, but it's like you're in your own niche since so many bloggers dropped out. Who will give out the awards? Maybe the award should be made of ice! and only viewed in the winter! Best to you on your special day.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

We had our monthly lunch today in Renton, at Gene Coulan Park. Rather than eat inside at either Ivars (sea food) or Kidd Valley (hamburgers) and have to show our papers, we ate under the pavilion at one of the tables, just big enough to seat the six of us comfortably. Weather was heavy rain, but no wind and around 45-deg F. Nice winter day for lunch. We've ate there last year when half the tables were closed off for "socially distancing" in the open air, cold temperatures and the driving rain. Those were cold lunches.

Tim Wright said...

Some time back Ann talked about a divided sleep period. Interesting BBC story about that, along with a link to a NYT mag story from 1995 (before the Times went nuts) about sleep which I had remembered but could never find.https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220107-the-lost-medieval-habit-of-biphasic-sleep

Bender said...

If parents did to what teachers/administrators in the public schools are doing to kids, child protective services would be storming in to make the parents' lives hell.

Bender said...

Good news. The DOJ is creating a new Stasi unit:

Growing threat of domestic terrorism prompts new prosecutorial unit at Justice Dept.
The Justice Department and FBI have faced criticism for not focusing as intensely on domestic terrorism as they do international threats, especially after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Bender said...

Isn't United one of those airlines that is firing employees for not being vaxxed?

Well -- United Airlines says 3,000 employees have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Presumably these are all vaxxed employees.

Sebastian said...

Well, it's past midnight EST so: happy birthday, Althouse!

We all appreciate what you do here.

Joe Smith said...

'I had wanted to go to the Kennedy Center in a few weeks for Beethoven's Ninth.'

I would hold out for his Tenth.

It's one better...

Bender said...

Been watching lots of I Dream of Jeannie. A very talented Barbara Eden and slapstick from Larry Hagman every episode.

Thankfully (I know its odd for me to say), Jeannie is wearing more clothes now in these later episodes. It's not that I don't like seeing half-naked women. The problem is that I do.

Scot said...

@Tim Wright

A post about divided sleep made me interested in this blog. It mentioned neighbors visiting each other in the middle of the night, chatting on the front porch. Also (as I recall) a literary reference, maybe Shakespeare? I tried to find it via the "sleep" tag, failed. I looked at posts past Mike Nifong & gave up. Here is different divided sleep post that also points to another post:

https://althouse.blogspot.com/2013/09/ok-maybe-your-grandparents-probably.html

Rt41Rebel said...

"Jeannie is wearing more clothes now in these later episodes."

I believe she was pregnant at that time but I don't know that for fact. Hagman was OK, but Daily and Rorke turned in the true comedic performances of the series.

farmgirl said...

Happy Birthday, Althouse.
You’re appreciated in the NEK.
And Meade…
And this space you provide!

Clyde said...

Happy birthday, Althouse! May your sunrise be (relatively) warm and spectacular. 🙂🎂

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Happy birthday profesor.

Clyde said...

I got yesterday’s Wordle in 3:

AROSE
BRUIN
DRINK

Still experimenting with seed words.

Big Mike said...

“You are the lead architect for the response from the government and now 800,000 people have died. Do you think it’s a winning success what you’ve advocated for government?”

Said Rand Paul (R) to Anthony Fauci. And he’s quite correct. Let me know when Democrat senators care as much about we, the people of the United States.

Oh, yeah. Happy birthday, Althouse. Many more, I hope.

gadfly said...

I see that Tom Friedman over at the NY Fish Wrap is proposing a Biden -Cheney ticket for 2024. I think that the Republicans should run Dick's daughter Liz perhaps with Ben Sasse to rid the GOP of grifters now in control. Clinton will be the Demo Candidate because nobody else is stupid enough to want to be president without legislative support.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Happy Birthday Ann.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Yeah 1/6/2021. I wanna forget that whole year.

BUMBLE BEE said...

The old is new... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_M6lccMzek

gadfly said...

Lem said...
Happy birthday profesor.

Althouse certainly isn't Spanish and Septuagenarians may purposefully choose not to celebrate birthdays - but the real question is: Why do you pretend to be a Lunar Module?

Big Mike said...

Experts who knowingly allow mass child abuse because they don’t want to harm their careers are not experts, they are cowards. They deserve not one ounce of public trust or even to retain their jobs. They certainly should have no public funds nor authority over any portion of the upbringing of American children.

Written by Joy Pullman, “executive editor of The Federalist, a happy wife, and the mother of six children.”. Hat tip to Sarah Hoyt, posting on Instapundit.

Ann Althouse said...

"I got yesterday’s Wordle in 3: AROSE BRUIN DRINK Still experimenting with seed words."

The first word I came up with on my own is, I see, also a word many people are recommending: ADIEU.

I've been using STONY as my second word — to test the other 2 vowels and use 3 of the most common consonants.

With those first 2 words, I often get it in 3, and I got it yesterday in 3.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Lem is also short for a name found in the Old Testament and in Gulliver's Travels. My first employer gave it to me after mangling it; he said how about I just call you Lem. I started using it instead, ever since.

David Begley said...

The county health director imposed a mask mandate in Omaha with less than 12 hours’ notice. How reasonable!

wendybar said...

I am stuck in wordle this morning. I have all the letters in 2 tries....but so far the only way they make sense is the word in the second....nothing else is fitting......yet!!

Clyde said...

I don’t have a specific second word; I work off whatever letter hints show up in the first word. While I don’t have “hard mode” turned on, that’s how I play it.

rehajm said...

Wordle 207 5/6

🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟨🟨⬛
🟨🟩⬛🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

… not a good morning.

Chest Rockwell said...

Happy Birthday Professor!

Scott Patton said...

Happy Birthday Ann!

farmgirl said...

I’d rather do a puzzle that rewards me w/a picture for my troubles!! This Worddle thingie sounds like a pain in the: brain!

tim in vermont said...

I had a hell of a time with today's wordle too, I got yesterdays pretty easily in three.

SATED
DROOP
DRINK

DRINK was a lucky guess, as it could have been DRUNK just as easily, or DRILL...

This one I got in four, I had to walk away and come back, though.

I always figure that it's 'game on' once I hit enter the first time.

tim in vermont said...

I was just reading about a focus group of independents on J6, and guess what? They think it's a protest that got a little out of hand, like so many other protests did in 2021, it's only the Democrat Kool-Aide drinkers who have swallowed the "insurrection' story, and they are the clear minority of voters. Most independents want the Democrats to move on. Personally, the more they beat this dead nag to try to get it across the line, the better.

MadisonMan said...

I really do like black ice, but I find it very alarming to walk on, even though you can see the thickness!

wendybar said...

SEN. SCHUMER admits that nuking the Senate is just about Democrats winning elections:

"They're saying things like ‘I'll lose my election if the legislature is allowed to do this in my state’”

“We'll lose our majority"

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

Thought I read that there is no app for wordle. That's highly countercultural in these days and times.

I dare not go to play for fear I shall never escape. I already have enough distractions in life; I refuse to gain more. Hopefully that reflects wisdom rather than obstinacy.

wendybar said...

So WHO, the World Health Organization, has waved the white flag on Covid vaccine boosters too.
WHO released a statement about Covid vaccines yesterday. It’s filled with the usual public health jargon and ass-covering, but one line stands out:

a vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable.

It’s over, people.

https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/boosters-are-over

wendybar said...

Some truth for the Biden voters. https://issuesinsights.com/2022/01/12/bareshelvesbiden-saved-christmas-but-not-the-new-year/

wendybar said...

Nonstop dramatics about the GOP threat to democracy is part of an attempt to cement Democratic Party hegemony, not ensure election integrity https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/coups-all-the-way-down

wendybar said...

The idea that a member of the president’s cabinet secretly planted a political message in an outside organization, then acted on the request with the force of law under a pretense of neutrality, is scandalous.
https://thefederalist.com/2022/01/12/biden-education-secretary-planting-nsba-letter-takes-a-page-from-russia-collusion-hoax-playbook/

Joe Smith said...

'It's not that I don't like seeing half-naked women.'

Wait until you see fully-naked women.

You'll like that even more...

tim in vermont said...

"I really do like black ice, but I find it very alarming to walk on, even though you can see the thickness!"

It's stronger and safer to walk on than the white ice full of air bubbles and potential cracks, but the instinct is hard to overcome.

Narr said...

Wait till you see half-naked women on ice.