Althouse: The western sky at sunrise.

August 18, 2022

The western sky at sunrise.

Open thread in the comments.

32 comments:

Iman said...: I want the USA to return to its former greatness and put this madness in the rearview mirror.; 8/18/22, 8:14 PM
Rabel said...: Pharmacy case.

In the link above, if you scroll down to the "Analysis" section on page 3, you'll get the rationale for the charges and the verdict.

If anyone here in this open thread is interested in the facts, they could take a gander.

Poor Quality Control over their systems for spotting illicit prescriptions. That those systems were in place as required by law but poorly executed was the biggest part of it.

Plus deep-pocketed defendants and a liberal judge.; 8/18/22, 8:34 PM
wildswan said...: The Ukrainians are launching a counter offensive In Kherson which might be the decisive moment in this war. Here's why.
The Kherson area is just above the Crimea. We can think of the whole area as three strips of territory.
1. North of the Dnipro River which in Kherson area is running from east to west.
The Russian Army in the north Kherson area is supplied from the Crimea by bridges which cross the Dnipro. The Ukrainians have blown up these bridges. The 49th Russian Army in northern Kherson may be trapped without sufficient re-supply and without a way to retreat back to the Crimea. It can't go east because the Dnipro is in the way there, too.
2. South of the Dnipro is territory which is connected on the south to the Crimea. This connection is not a solid landmass but rather a tiny little isthmus at the western end of the Crimean peninsula. A road crosses the isthmus going out of the Crimea north to Kherson city. Otherwise, Crimea is separated by water from the main Ukrainian land mass. Railroads in the east run on a chain of islands and causeways like the connection to Key West and they are the other link between Crimea and the Kherson area.
So if the Russians lost the north of Kherson and lost the 49th Army, as they might, and retreated into the south of Kherson, the same situation as is now going on might recur. The Russians would be supplied from Crimea by one road and two railroads which the Ukrainians might be able to close by bombing or sabotage Then another Russian Army could be lost or it might retreat to the Crimea
3. The Crimea has one road and two railroads connecting it in the north to the Ukraine. In the south there is one bridge, The Kerch, which connects the southern end of the Crimea with Russia by crossing the Sea of Azov at a narrow place. In a way the Crimea is a large island, not a peninsula.
The Ukrainians at very high levels have recently declared that the Kerch bridge is an ecological hazard upon which they were not consulted and that it should come down. The Kerch bridge is in the Crimea at one end and the Crimea was Ukrainian till 2014.
The Ukrainians might close off the Crimea as they have closed off northern Kherson and as they might close off southern Kherson and they might capture it.
This would be victory.
It might not happen or might not happen that way or might not be complete. But it is possible. It is the reason why the Ukrainians are bombing airfields and bridges in Kherson and Crimea and why they are asking for more more help for this fateful effort; and why the Russians are staging provocations to distract from this great possibility.
The Ukrainian people are struggling and suffering - and close to winning. They deserve assistance and should not be disregarded even though this is also crucial moment in American politics. The Ukrainian people want freedom from Russian meddling and from Communist suppression of free speech and of their nationality - don't we all?; 8/18/22, 8:37 PM
Rabel said...: Also, guilt was decided not on any individual examples of illicit prescriptions harming particular people, as none were presented, but on three determinations -

1. Laws and regulations were in place to prevent illegal and harmful use of opioid prescriptions sold in pharmacies.

2. The existence of the "opioid epidemic" shows that these laws and regulations failed.

3. Therefore the people who filled the prescriptions are the cause of the epidemic.

It has an Underpants Gnomes feel to it.

And there are a lot more huge awards in the pipeline if this stands.; 8/18/22, 9:06 PM
narciso said...: https://americanmind.org/salvo/rogue-agency/; 8/18/22, 9:48 PM
narciso said...: Of course those rules were put in place during the obama administration with imput from fmr purdue counsel eric holder; 8/18/22, 9:54 PM
narciso said...: Kherson was one of the first so called potemkin village the fruit of the first russo turkish war; 8/18/22, 10:03 PM
effinayright said...: Here's a response to those who pooh-pooh the claim that Obama didn't abscond with his presidential records:

https://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1316350/pg1

"WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration in its final year in office spent a record $36.2 million on legal costs defending its refusal to turn over federal records under the Freedom of Information Act, according to an Associated Press analysis of new U.S. data that also showed poor performance in other categories measuring transparency in government.

For a second consecutive year, the Obama administration set a record for times federal employees told citizens, journalists and others that despite searching they couldn’t find a single page of files that were requested.

And it set records for outright denial of access to files, refusing to quickly consider requests described as especially newsworthy, and forcing people to pay for records who had asked the government to waive search and copy fees."
...

https://www.archives.gov/findingaid/presidential-library-explorer/list/bho

Here's the number of records that Obama has digitized and released to the public:

"The progress bar provides an estimate of the percentage of textual pages in this Library’s holdings that are available online. Some Libraries have only one format while others have multiple formats.

About the Presidential Library Explorer Numbers

The Presidential Library Explorer data visualization is based on a count of the scans of textual pages available through the National Archives Catalog and an estimate of the total number of textual pages currently in Presidential Library holdings. Numbers will be updated monthly to reflect new additions to the Catalog and future iterations of the Explorer will provide additional data on records types other than textual records.

How Presidential Library Explorer Numbers are Calculated
The number of scans online uses file counts accessed via the National Archives Catalog API.

The estimated total pages in each Library is calculated by taking the volume of textual records (in cubic feet) and multiplying by an average of 2,500 pages of records per cubic foot. The 2,500 page average coming from historical capacity estimates for a Federal Records Center (FRC) box used to store archival documents.

39,713,750 estimated total textual pages in this Presidential Library’s holdings"

"The percent of scanned textual pages online equals scans online / estimated total pages."

0.00%

******************; 8/18/22, 10:04 PM
narciso said...: Only 60 billion dollars and kherson is liberated oh not yet you know how nuch the nicaraguan resistance had to beg in order to get a sliver of that during the cold war.; 8/18/22, 10:13 PM
Owen said...: Wildswan: thanks for the description of the Crimea-Kherson battlespace. Even after months of this horrible war, the mainstream media (AFAIK) have given precious little detail of the geography: where exactly the Dnipro rubs, how deep and fast it is, whether the Crimea is boggy or (as you point out) comprised of islands, etc. This is information on which an army lives or dies, but it’s hard to find.

Rabelais: thanks for the link. There’s a lot there, but I stopped after learning that CVS conduct in Florida mentioned in a DEA agreement is evidence from which an Ohio jury can conclude that CVS had been culpable in Ohio. …I know it is satisfying to consider a corporation as a monolith but in fact it is not, and to infer liability everywhere from any action anywhere is an impossible standard. Certainly this “logic” will, as you say, guarantee more and very large awards. At some point CVS (and the others?) may exit the opioid prescription business, and then what will people do? If you deliberately refuse to meet the legitimate medical needs of your community, should you be permitted to operate at all? If serving those needs will bankrupt your whole business because of jury awards like this, should you be required to serve them anyway?; 8/18/22, 10:55 PM
Owen said...: Typo alert in my last: Dnipro river “runs,” not “rubs,” and “Rabelais” should be “Rabel.” Apologies.; 8/18/22, 10:58 PM
Saint Croix said...: My proposal for Amendment XXVIII to the U.S. Constitution

Any Supreme Court Justice shall be removed from office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Failure to Follow the Oath of Office.

The House shall Impeach on a simple majority vote.

The Senate shall Convict on a simple majority vote.

If convicted in Congress, a Retention Election shall be held, and the People of the United States will decide the fate of the Justice, on a simple majority vote.; 8/19/22, 2:20 AM
Saint Croix said...: Is Liz Cheney a Republican? Find out on...

Republican or Not.

"I'll see you on MSNBC in about a week."

ha ha; 8/19/22, 2:57 AM
Baceseras said...: Get happy
One hundred ways; 8/19/22, 3:03 AM
Saint Croix said...: Neo-Conservative paradise in Vermont.

ha ha

Don't forget Ben and Jerry!; 8/19/22, 3:05 AM
Saint Croix said...: Axe-Assassin Albertson Part 1; 8/19/22, 3:14 AM
Saint Croix said...: Dude, the spit scene; 8/19/22, 3:22 AM
Saint Croix said...: Walking Dead music video; 8/19/22, 3:33 AM
wendybar said...: The Justice Dept released a statement condemning the alleged threats made to Boston's Childrens hospital. They have YET to release a statement condemning the actual FIREBOMBING of dozens of *actual attacks* on pro-life crisis pregnancy centers over the past couple months or about the threats to Justices of the Supreme Court, and the actual attack on one of them.

But no bias there, is there?? THIS is why Americans are turning on our government. We can SEE you.

https://twitter.com/jtLOL/status/1560371719487070208; 8/19/22, 5:32 AM
wendybar said...: Still think Progressives don't hate YOU?? They are labeling ANYBODY who disagrees with their indoctrination practices as extremists. THIS is NOT going to end they way they are expecting. Keep on calling parents terrorists. You haven't seen ANYTHING yet. https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/08/new-jersey-teachers-union-label-parents-as-extremists/; 8/19/22, 5:44 AM
Humperdink said...: Last year, in anticipation of beef prices going through the roof I bought an Angus heifer, had her bred and now have two Angus. The breeding bull on my Amish friend's went off to greener pastures (maybe ha), so I bought an Angus bull to share with his herd. The bull didn't like being separated from his former friends. Oh what fun. A lot to learn being a greenhorn. One thing struck me - they respond to a familiar voice. Who knew?; 8/19/22, 6:06 AM
wendybar said...: The violent thug who slugged a man outside of a restaurant in NYC is free again. The man he slugged is in a coma with brain bleeding injuries. The sex offender who has been set free every time he commits a crime was freed without bail.

I hope everybody enjoys Progressive policies. I know the thugs are!!; 8/19/22, 6:12 AM
wendybar said...: "When Trump said that “they’re not after me, they’re after you, I’m just in the way,” he was completely correct. And it appears to be moving at warp speed."

https://www.thenewneo.com/2022/08/18/the-drumming-up-of-hatred-against-republicans-is-escalating/; 8/19/22, 6:17 AM
wendybar said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/19/22, 6:21 AM
Humperdink said...: Any truth to the rumor that Liz Cheeney (R/D-Wyoming/Virginia) will kick her off presidential campaign in Gettysburg? Maybe at Little Round Top?; 8/19/22, 6:30 AM
wendybar said...: THIS is why we point and laugh at the left. Seriously. "How the loss of Roe directly serves white supremacists' horrifying plot" https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/how-anti-abortion-rights-white-supremacist-extremism-overlap-n1297896; 8/19/22, 7:11 AM
wendybar said...: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi has an 8.1% share in the restaurant business EDI Associates, according to The Daily Mail. Financial disclosures show the California couple has a net worth of between $43 million and $202 million. EDI Associates took out two loans, worth more than $1.7 million in total, which were both forgiven, including interest."
Must be nice to be rich, untouchable, and a lying thief taking money out of the mouths of poor people because you are greedy.; 8/19/22, 7:43 AM
tim in vermont said...: Thanks for the rundown of Ukrainian Nazi propaganda. What are the Ukrainians going to do with all of those ethnic Russians in Crimea, which they only annexed in the early nineties after the population voted overwhelmingly for independence? What’s the plan? Extermination? Expulsion and expropriation of their land? Massive collective punishment of Russian “collaborators”?

If the Ukrainians were on the cusp of victory, they would not be shelling nuclear power stations in Russian held territory, despite Nazi propaganda, I sincerely doubt that the Russians are shelling their own positions to create a crisis that could draw NATO into the war, that has been Zelensky’s goal.

Don’t believe a word out of either side, refer to similar situations in previous conflicts to examine motives, don’t believe anybody’s propaganda.; 8/19/22, 8:04 AM
gilbar said...: Saint Croix said...
My proposal for Amendment XXVIII to the U.S. Constitution
Any Supreme Court Justice shall be removed from office on Impeachment for
The House shall Impeach on a simple majority vote.
The Senate shall Convict on a simple majority vote.
If convicted in Congress, a Retention Election shall be held,on a simple majority vote.

so, your proposal is to remove ALL conservative Justices from the court?
Clarence Thomas.. How would the US House vote on him? The US Senate? a Simple majority of people?

i Realize that you are not capable of coherent thought; but TRY!!!
IF your wonderful idea became law; WHO would decide whether or not someone was guilty of not following their oath? That's right: The Democrats would.
And apparently you are so stupid; that you think the Democrats would vote the way you want them to?
Nancy Pelosi took an oath, so did Kamela Harris; look how well That works.
The simple majority of people don't even know what an oath IS
Seriously, have you thought about this.. At ALL?; 8/19/22, 8:08 AM
Rollo said...: If she doesn't mind going out West, Liz ought to kick off her campaign at Little Big Horn.

Constitutional changes? Would a multiparty parliamentary system really be worse than what we have now?; 8/19/22, 8:19 AM
tim in vermont said...: Here is a discussion of extermination of ethnic Russians on US funded Ukrainian TV after the coup in 2014:

https://twitter.com/ClimateAudit/status/1501055215482687492

In case you think that it's just something that the Russians made up. Never again.; 8/19/22, 8:23 AM
Saint Croix said...: so, your proposal is to remove ALL conservative Justices from the court?
Clarence Thomas.. How would the US House vote on him? The US Senate? a Simple majority of people?

You know Clarence Thomas got confirmed by a majority vote in the Senate, right?

They all did.

I'm not at all afraid of the American people or majority rule.

You are, apparently.

Sure, the Democrats could try to impeach every Republican on the Supreme Court. (Or they could single out the African-American as you suggest). I think that would backfire horribly on them.

I trust the American people to understand the truth. I also believe that tiny majorities on the Supreme Court have done some awful things. And there needs to be an oversight mechanism. Right now there isn't one.; 8/19/22, 10:50 AM