Althouse: At the Friday Night Café...

March 11, 2022

At the Friday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

The photo was taken at 11:44 this morning. No sunrise picture today. It was too cold to go out!

45 comments:

Narayanan said...: make room in your wine racks; 3/11/22, 6:24 PM
rhhardin said...: I think you have to earn the Drudge hat.; 3/11/22, 6:25 PM
FleetUSA said...: Nice photo, but certainly was distracted by the hot blonde with the elegant chapeau.; 3/11/22, 6:26 PM
sharecropper said...: My truelove & I did 5 miles on the Ouachita Trail outside LR, AR this morning. Around 40 degrees when we started. In the past 7 days, we've logged 55 miles on the trail.

Whiteout conditions since noon. Strange for AR. Reminds me of a visit to MN years ago.; 3/11/22, 6:26 PM
rcocean said...: Send These MiGs... Enough Talk. People Are Dying. Send Them The Planes That They Need. They Say They Need MiGs... They Want MiGs. Get Them the MiGs."

Good Ol' Mitt Romney. Lindsey Graham - without the macho.

Fun fact: Not only did Mittens spend the Vietnam war eating crossiants in Paris, his father dodged the draft in WW2. Seems Georgie Romney never left Detroit during Ww2, he stayed there safe and sound making $$ as a high paid GM executive.

In fact, I can't find a single Mitt Romney close relative who ever served in any war. Clever men those Romney's. Let the cannon fodder do all the fighting. heh, heh.; 3/11/22, 6:27 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Biden is probably the most experienced politician in Washington right now, in terms of years there (certainly not wisdom).
But, what if Biden didn’t game out the ramifications of getting into a pissing contest with Putin?

Copy pasta to to browser for some interesting questions 👉🏽 https://twitter.com/thevivafrei/status/1502369125229867011?s=20&t=64c4THYLn-C3movXO6qHeA; 3/11/22, 6:39 PM
Joe Smith said...: I like the hat, but I kind of like the old photo better.

I guess I'm a no-change-nik...; 3/11/22, 7:29 PM
Iman said...: I guess there’s a shortage of Democrats to kick around, rcocean.; 3/11/22, 8:03 PM
Mr. Forward said...: Actually chewing on the hat might be more relevant.; 3/11/22, 8:12 PM
Lucien said...: DuckDuckGo seems to have screwed the pooch by announcing that it would rig search results against Russian sites.
Paraphrasing Tim Poole they have destroyed their value proposition in a single tweet.; 3/11/22, 8:14 PM
gadfly said...: rcocean said...
Fun fact: Not only did Mittens spend the Vietnam war eating croissants in Paris, his father dodged the draft in WW2. Seems Georgie Romney never left Detroit during Ww2, he stayed there safe and sound making $$ as a high paid GM executive.

In fact, I can't find a single Mitt Romney close relative who ever served in any war. Clever men those Romney's. Let the cannon fodder do all the fighting. heh, heh.

Have you conveniently forgotten the missing military service in the family of Donald Trump? Donald's grandfather, Frederick Trump, left Germany to come to the United States to avoid a mandatory military duty of two years to Bavaria. Later in life he returned to Germany and had his citizenship revoked for not fulfilling his military obligation. Fred Trump, Donald's father, also did not serve in any of the armed forces and discouraged his children from serving. The third Trump generation in America, Donald Trump and his male siblings, Robert and Fred Jr. did not serve either. The fourth generation, Donald’s children, also have never served, even though Don Jr. wanted to, but reportedly was threatened to be disowned by Donald, our former president, if he did.

During the Vietnam War, The Donald infamously dodged the draft by claiming to have “bone spurs” on his feet. The alleged bone spurs did not, however, keep him from playing football and tennis but Trump never lies about the small things.
3/11/22, 6:27 PM; 3/11/22, 8:29 PM
StephenFearby said...: Christo Grozev has a very active and informative Twitter account:

Bellingcat exec director. Emmy & Nannen Prize for investigative journalism 2021, European Prize for Investigative Journalism and London Press Club Prize 2019.

https://twitter.com/christogrozev

Wikipedia's impressive resume includes:

"...Bulgarian investigative journalist, media expert and media investor, the lead Russia investigator with Bellingcat, focusing on security threats, extraterritorial clandestine operations, and the weaponization of information.

His investigations into the identity of the suspects in the 2018 Novichok agent poisonings in the UK earned him and his team the European Press Prize for Investigative Journalism.

Grozev is known for using open-source, social media, other available data for investigations. Based in Vienna, Austria, he authored investigations identifying, among others, two senior Russian officers linked to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17[4][5] in 2014, GRU officers involved with the 2016 Montenegrin coup plot,[6][7] the three poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal[8] suspects in 2018[2] and poisoning of Alexei Navalny in 2020.[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_Grozev; 3/11/22, 8:39 PM
Scotty, beam me up... said...: I don’t care a whole lot for Biden and his administration politically. However, I am stunned that Biden’s staff allows him to look old, tired, and feeble EVERY TIME he does his quickie speeches where he comes out to a podium with reporters in attendance, speaks off of a script for 5 to 10 minutes, and then shuffles off while the reporters are yelling questions at him as he makes sure not to make eye contact with them. That makes our country’s current leader look weak and indifferent to the world. Dictators like Putin and Xi see that and interpret Biden as weak and push as much as they can. It used to be when a US President needed to give a quick speech to the country, he did it sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with no reporters present and when he was done, fade to black. Biden’s staff needs to go back to that type of speech. Especially if his mental faculties are in decline, which they appear to be to me. God help us with this incompetent leadership running our country.; 3/11/22, 8:40 PM
Mark said...: New photo is way too hipster poser.; 3/11/22, 8:56 PM
Maynard said...: Ann,

The hat makes you look like the sexiest 70 year-old on the planet.

Of course, it is only a hat.; 3/11/22, 9:05 PM
Narr said...: We have just had a few inches of snow in a couple of hours, with a little more possible. The same storm that sharecropper describes Unusual but not unheard of this late in the season.; 3/11/22, 9:05 PM
MadisonMan said...: It'll be too cold tomorrow morning too.

Fickle March.; 3/11/22, 9:13 PM
Butkus51 said...: Consider that the average democrat wanted Bernie. In fact he would have been the nominee except for the powers that be. Joe times 10 as far as monetary policy.

So, by that logic, we can consider ourselve lucky.

But still, the AVERAGE dem was all in on Bernie and more than likely still are. At least on his beliefs.

And the powers that be are still being.

You just know Antifa will be put into action late summer thru the elections.; 3/11/22, 9:23 PM
n.n said...: Ann "Oakley" Althouse

Sub-Zero

Ah hahaha...

Climate Kombat. Fight!; 3/11/22, 9:23 PM
Butkus51 said...: Consider that the average democrat wanted Bernie. In fact he would have been the nominee except for the powers that be. Joe times 10 as far as monetary policy.

So, by that logic, we can consider ourselve lucky.

But still, the AVERAGE dem was all in on Bernie and more than likely still are. At least on his beliefs.

And the powers that be are still being.

You just know Antifa will be put into action late summer thru the elections.; 3/11/22, 9:23 PM
n.n said...: The Second Hypothesis

Meeces. Hat. Chomp. A dearth of meeces.; 3/11/22, 9:25 PM
Owen said...: "...too cold to go out!" WHAT.

Really, Prof. A. This statement requires explanation. It's (a) categorical, thus implicitly referencing a fixed number (Temp) that was previously established (and agreed to, by you with us, your audience, in a contract of sorts); (b) presented as a fait accompli, where OF COURSE we would understand that T was < and probably <<< the agreed threshold (I say "<<<" because you wouldn't want to be a pettifogging quibbler, dancing around some tiny confidence interval of "too cold." NO: you'd want to declare that it was "WAY too EFFIN' cold" in a way that we would instantly and happily agree.

So: what was the threshold T? And what was the actual T? And how can you document that actual T was <<< threshold T?

Hmmm?; 3/11/22, 9:41 PM
gadfly said...: So Rudy's buddy Lev is going to blow the whistle on Rudy, Pompeo, and Trump when he goes to trial in the future.

The one known warrant that SDNY has covering Rudy Giuliani’s efforts — assisted by Lev Parnas — involves getting Maria Yovanovitch fired in 2019. Those charges were included on the original October 2019 indictment against Parnas, but removed when the charges against him were superseded in September 2020.

If DOJ is going to charge Rudy for ousting Yovanovich at the behest of Yuriy Lutsenko, the former Prosecutor General of Ukraine and others, they are probably preparing to do so now.

Which makes it interesting that yesterday, Parnas asked for a change of plea hearing on the remaining already-charged count for which he still has to stand trial. Back in March 2020, Parnas tried, unsuccessfully, to flip.

When Parnas was previously trying to flip, it wasn’t just the Yovanovitch plot he wanted to cooperate on. He also wanted to help SDNY prosecute obstruction of the investigation into that effort, including efforts to delete iCloud content as impeachment started. Parnas has receipts — not just against Rudy (and Mike Pompeo), but also videos implicating Trump.

Mikey can have half his stomach removed to permit a huge weight loss to make himself the #1 GOP presidential candidate but the announcement at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia is now likely to be out of the question.; 3/11/22, 9:43 PM
James K said...: I like the new pic, though it’s kind of Gwyneth Paltrow look.; 3/11/22, 10:27 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: If I may done my tin foil hat for a minute. I can’t afford no freaking fedora with these gas prices.

What the war against Russia needs right now is a Putin whistleblower. Stay with me now.

Can you just imagine, whoever the person is would become an instant media star.

We would have to sneak her out of Russia, of course. What a story that would be. A daring Clint Eastwood like piloting an SR71 to sneak out the whistleblower.; 3/11/22, 11:56 PM
CWJ said...: Thumbs up on the new photo.; 3/12/22, 3:10 AM
wendybar said...: gadfly, the difference is that Donald Trump avoided getting us involved in war, whilst Mitt wants to send YOUR kids to war, but not his family. You really need to get some help with that extreme case of TDS you have, because no matter what the subject is, YOU have a NEED to bring up Trump. I don't know if you could live WITHOUT him.; 3/12/22, 5:24 AM
jaydub said...: "I guess there’s a shortage of Democrats to kick around, rcocean."

To me, rcocean comes off as a miserable nihilist, not anti democrat or pro anyone or anything. Mostly just a bitter asshole.; 3/12/22, 6:04 AM
tim in vermont said...: "Emmy & Nannen Prize for investigative journalism 2021, European Prize for Investigative Journalism and London Press Club Prize 2019."

The more prizes, the closer the person is likely to hew to whatever propaganda line the regime requires. The Washington Post and New York Times received Pulitzer Prizes for relaying what we now know were regime lies on RussiaGate. Listing prizes is no way to build up the credibility of a source.; 3/12/22, 6:08 AM
Robert Cook said...: ”What the war against Russia needs right now is a Putin whistleblower.”

And…say what? He was KGB? He’s ruthless? He is a killer?

Maybe something to undermine his persona…that he adores the Harry Potter books?; 3/12/22, 6:28 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: https://youtu.be/XQ4-vqO0oQ4
Four Star Tucker.; 3/12/22, 7:04 AM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Putin is an J. K. Rowling supporter? 😳; 3/12/22, 7:07 AM
Gerda Sprinchorn said...: Maybe you could take a picture where you are pretending to take a big bite out of the hat.

Maybe make it a series. In another one, pose like the hillbilly in the old Mountain Dew ad who has a hole in his hat because the cork on his liquor jug shot through the hat. Kind of hard to describe; easier to just look at the original:

https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Mebane/97/591697/H2000-L99245313.jpg; 3/12/22, 7:08 AM
iowan2 said...: If DOJ is going to charge Rudy for ousting Yovanovich at the behest of Yuriy Lutsenko, the former Prosecutor General of Ukraine and others, they are probably preparing to do so now.

Exactly what crime are you babbling on about. I'm not aware that Rudy has the authority you claim he does.; 3/12/22, 7:43 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Putin is an J. K. Rowling supporter? 😳

No, Putin does:

I cut down trees, I skip and jump
I like to press wild flowers
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars

The Monty Python Lumberjack Song.

The FSB will then remove him and send him to a mental institute.

/sarc; 3/12/22, 8:44 AM
Jefferson's Revenge said...: Lem-What the war against Russia needs right now is a Putin whistleblower.”

What the world needs right now is a White House whistleblower. I for one would like to know who is actually running this country.; 3/12/22, 9:02 AM
MadTownGuy said...: This popped up in my email feed even though I don't (and won't) subscribe to the NYT. I was able to read the opinion piece before the subscription reminder popped up. Looks to me as though the writer is doubling down on lockdowns and restrictions- if only we'd come down harder, and earlier on, it would have worked!

How Millions of Lives Might Have Been Saved From Covid-19; 3/12/22, 9:16 AM
Michael K said...: Boy, gadfly does have a bad case of TDS.; 3/12/22, 9:51 AM
Narr said...: Biden avoided the draft of course. It's never brought up because of his image as a DC fixture, older than time and not subject to the normal scrutinies and critiques.

His sons tried to help the Big Guy by getting REMF jobs.

As for Opa Trump from Bavaria, good for him. This country has profited greatly from people with the good sense to stay out of German armies.; 3/12/22, 11:26 AM
rcocean said...: Fred Trump was born in 1905, and was too old to serve during WW II. He also had a family of small kids. Trump was 4F.

Trump is not a warmonger - Mitt Romney is. That's the difference. Of course, almost all Libtards want to start WW III and fight Russia, and almost all libtards would NEVER serve in the Military themselves.

LBJ - total warmonger. Went to the South Pacific in 1942 for one month, then went back to DC and served the rest of the war in Congress. Humphrey - 4F. Carter - spent WW II at the Naval Academy. Clinton - total draft dodger. Biden - played college football but was somehow 4F. Obama - haha. Hillary- tried to join the marines, later deplanned under sniper fire. haha. John Kerry - put in combat against his wishes, earned fake medals, threw them away, but then said they were someone elses, then said they were his "Ribbons", then said he forget what he really did.; 3/12/22, 11:33 AM
rcocean said...: Shorter Libtard - Me like Romney, me hate Trump. Someone attack Romney me upset. Need to attack Trump, he big enemy of left now.; 3/12/22, 11:34 AM
gadfly said...: "Russian soldiers were evidently carrying dress uniforms for their victory parade in Kyiv rather than extra ammo and rations." - Francis Fukuyama; 3/12/22, 3:16 PM
gadfly said...: wendybar said...
gadfly, the difference is that Donald Trump avoided getting us involved in war, whilst Mitt wants to send YOUR kids to war, but not his family. You really need to get some help with that extreme case of TDS you have, because no matter what the subject is, YOU have a NEED to bring up Trump. I don't know if you could live WITHOUT him.

First Mitt does not have the power to send my kids to war, since they are over 50 anyway.

I don't know anything about TDS, but I have researched Trump's illegal activities before he was elected and he has never stopped breaking the law, methinks spectacularly after he lost the election. Perhaps you should do some serious research and you will see what I already know to be true. Nobody should waste emotions on a grifter who lies and cheats repeatedly and is forever in love with himself.

And why was Mormon Mitt and his family's lack of military service somehow different from Donald Trump's family? Did you serve Wendy? I did.

And it occurs to me that Mittens has never been accused of not keeping his zipper closed.; 3/12/22, 3:54 PM
gadfly said...: rcocean said...
Shorter Libtard - Me like Romney, me hate Trump. Someone attack Romney me upset. Need to attack Trump, he big enemy of left now

Name calling! Such brilliant, well researched, comments [NOT]!

I am far more conservative than you could ever be RC. Trump was never a conservative; he is the finest kind of NY Liberal always, but it matters not when he was well-trained by Daddy Fred in the art of racketeering.; 3/12/22, 4:07 PM
iowan2 said...: If DOJ is going to charge Rudy for ousting Yovanovich at the behest of Yuriy Lutsenko, the former Prosecutor General of Ukraine and others, they are probably preparing to do so now.
Gadfly, I know you're lurking about, but you refuse to explain the "news" item you posted. I asked what crime Rudy could be charged with?; 3/12/22, 4:19 PM