Althouse: At the Saturday Night Café…

January 13, 2024

At the Saturday Night Café…

… you can talk about whatever you want.

52 comments:

mccullough said...: I’m pissed the Chiefs-Dolphins game is on Peacock. The only thing I watch on NBC is sports.

I’m not paying for NBC streaming service to watch reruns of shows from 20 years ago to watch one playoff game; 1/13/24, 7:27 PM
Humperdink said...: Presidential immunity.

Judge Florence Pan asked Trump's lawyer if the president could order Seal Team Six to kill a political rival.

Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki* was a 16-year-old United States citizen who was killed by a drone strike on October 14, 2011, under a policy approved by U.S. President Barack Obama.

* To be fair, al-Awlaki's father was a terrorist and the prime target. OTOH, the son was not convicted of anything and was subsequently killed on orders from the Lightbringer.; 1/13/24, 7:29 PM
Josephbleau said...: I see that John Kerry is going to leave his work as climate tsar and go to work on the Beiden campaign. So by this one simple move the administration has raised the average IQ of both the climate change office AND the Beiden campaign.; 1/13/24, 7:55 PM
Narr said...: Since my cataract op last week and the mild nausea and slight cold that followed left me with little appetite for a few days, I lost some pounds. Seeing that, I decided not to return to my previous bad eating habits--too many sweets, too often.

The total so far is almost a stone lost--for the first time in almost a year I'm in the 220s, and look better without the large bay window.

Finished MacMillan's book "The War That Ended Peace" about the breakdown of the Concert of Europe in the early part of the 20th C. She traces the narrowing of options and choices that Europe's leaders and peoples thought were available over the few decades before 1914, and shows how even reasonable defensive and modernizing efforts on the part of one country could look (or be made to look) quite threatening to others. (Not that some threats weren't very real.)

Her sketches of the movers and shakers are extremely well done, empathetic if not always sympathetic, and give the lie to the notion that individuals and their choices don't matter.

Her last line is, "There are always choices."

Highly recommended.; 1/13/24, 8:10 PM
walter said...: Worked some news hits for the snowstorm Fri/Sa. Today, on the square at 6am, we waited for a coffee shop to open. Shortly after opening, a Latino with absolutely zero English is by the door making gestures and pointing to his thermos. If I wasn't freezing, I would have asked him "Biden?". How did he wind up there?
I blame Truuuump!!!!; 1/13/24, 8:29 PM
YoungHegelian said...: A belated Happy Birthday to you, Ann, and thanks to you for your decades of work that you have put into creating and maintaining this modern-day oasis of sanity!; 1/13/24, 8:42 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Another Palestinian uprising today in front of the White House.; 1/13/24, 8:43 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Another Palestinian uprising today in front of the White House.; 1/13/24, 8:44 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: By changing diet, using a more protein diet than carb, I went from 200 to 180. Then I changed how much cheese I was eating and went to 160. A pizza binge will raise my weight a few pounds, but resuming a protein-rich diet will get me back to 160. I have to limit my desserts to maintain that weight.; 1/13/24, 9:34 PM
walter said...: I should hasve said he spoke plenty of Spanish.; 1/13/24, 9:41 PM
effinayright said...: By far, the best dialog to come out of five seasons of "Yellowstone" occurs when the troubled and evil-but-wicked smart Beth (John Dutton's daughter) confronts a female enviro protestor.

They both detest each other at first sight.

Background:

Beth has what we Real Men call a "nice rack", which is on display (woo hoo!) in most episodes. The protestor is obviously not so well-endowed.

While the two are hurling catty invective at each other, the protestor makes the mistake of accusing Beth of having implants. Beth responds:

"Honey, God gave me 100 percent of these babies, and from what I can see, half of yours as well."

OUCH!!!!!; 1/13/24, 9:53 PM
effinayright said...: Humperdink said...
Presidential immunity.

Judge Florence Pan asked Trump's lawyer if the president could order Seal Team Six to kill a political rival.

Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki* was a 16-year-old United States citizen who was killed by a drone strike on October 14, 2011, under a policy approved by U.S. President Barack Obama.

* To be fair, al-Awlaki's father was a terrorist and the prime target. OTOH, the son was not convicted of anything and was subsequently killed on orders from the Lightbringer.
****************

The Atlantic article covering this says the kid was NOT a target, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In any event, what's the point of offering up a * hypothetical* involving Trump with an *actual occurence* under Obama.?; 1/13/24, 10:06 PM
gpm said...: Not entirely sure why, but I think I get Peacock for "free." Never watched it so far. Except for Jeopardy, I don't watch much but Turner Classic Movies.

--gpm; 1/13/24, 10:59 PM
Jupiter said...: It is appalling to consider that Merrick Garland was actually under consideration for a Supreme Court appointment. He's not fit to be processed by a sewage plant, he should be burned and then buried.; 1/13/24, 11:05 PM
Mary Beth said...: I was listening to the Bari Weiss interview with Dean Phillips on the Honestly podcast. At one point, he was talking about several congresspeople who were together, inside the building. He said that they were fearful of the people outside and believed them to be armed with guns.

I don't remember this kind of fearful reaction when the pussy hat people were mobbing the place or when the anti-Kavanaugh people were banging on the doors. Why now? It makes me wonder if there were people intentionally stoking fear. Suggesting that the protestors had guns. Suggesting that they intended violence. I really wish Bari had asked him what made him think they were armed this time.

He said that later, when Trump was on TV telling the protestors to disburse, Liz Chaney pointed at the TV and said it was all Trump's fault. This made no sense to me but it did make me wonder if she was part of the ones who tried to create an air of fear.

It's disappointing that it doesn't sound like there was a single level-headed one among them.A lot of frightened "what if's" instead of calmly monitoring the situation.; 1/13/24, 11:32 PM
Mutaman said...: Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski
·
6h
"I fully expect Trump tomorrow to demand to see Vivek’s birth certificate."; 1/14/24, 1:52 AM
Mutaman said...: @RonFilipkowski

·

7h

He looks like dog shit.

https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1746325477197754413?s=20; 1/14/24, 2:01 AM
wendybar said...: "The FBI is now putting out the word that anybody less than worshipful of Joe Biden is a domestic terrorist, violent extremist and so forth. Last August, an FBI squad gunned down Craig Robertson, a 75-year old woodworker, based on threats he allegedly made on line. Still no Inspector General report or congressional hearings on the FBI killing."

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/01/capitol-bomber-back-stories.php; 1/14/24, 4:03 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Huge difference in the way Reuters and the Associated Press report the protests at the White House. AP and Reuters used to be honest reporters of fact when you read past the headline...no more, I guess:

Reuters - Relatives recount Gaza deaths as protesters in Washington demand ceasefire

AP - A global day of protests draws thousands in Washington and other cities in pro-Palestinian marches

Breitbart - Pro-Palestinian Protesters Swarm White House Fence, Secret Service Deployed

Compare and contrast. Read all three articles.; 1/14/24, 4:05 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Added - video on X:
Protestors have breached the reinforced gate and riot police have confronted them - other protestors began scaling the fence

AP & Reuters left out that part.; 1/14/24, 4:09 AM
Rusty said...: It is -8 here in the Fox Valley. I ain't goin' nowhere.; 1/14/24, 4:37 AM
Clyde said...: Yesterday marked 35 years since I got out of the Army and came to Florida. This song seems appropriate:

Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where The Time Goes (with Sandy Denny); 1/14/24, 4:50 AM
wendybar said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/14/24, 4:59 AM
wendybar said...: "You just might be a Democrat if"

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/01/you_just_might_be_a_democrat_if__part_ii.html

Don't know where part 1 is, but this is spot on.; 1/14/24, 4:59 AM
Humperdink said...: Conservatives want to keep minors from reading/ viewing pornographic books. Commie-Pinkos label this as book banning even though they can look at this vile material all day long. Ironically when conservatives tried to read from the books verbatim at school board meetings, they were stifled.

Commie-Pinkos can't tell the truth about anything.; 1/14/24, 5:06 AM
wendybar said...: "I’ll tell you one reason Ray didn’t get, like, twenty years, nor two years of pre-trial detention in the reeking, roach-infested DC lockup, or massive fines, like other J-6 defendants: Because he told his handlers in no uncertain terms that he would blow their cover and vivisect them publicly on the whole fed J-6 operation if they so much as made him show up in person for any proceeding — and, of course, he “attended” his sentencing by phone, in a Zoom meeting from a remote location."

https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/poison-spiders-at-the-center-of-the-web/; 1/14/24, 5:14 AM
Humperdink said...: @effinayright. What's the point, you ask? Obambi was undoubtedly was made aware there would be collateral damage with the drone strike. Was the Peace Prize winner made aware there was a teenage US citizen? Who knows? But there was no fallout for the Anointed One.

The point: Trump is held to account by the legal system for a hypothetical, while the Commie-Pinkos go scot-free for an actual occurrences. Maybe I'm wrong.; 1/14/24, 5:29 AM
Clyde said...: Oops, screwed up the link. Not gonna try to fix it on my phone. Will repost the song link later.; 1/14/24, 5:50 AM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: Hillary would probably go first if we are talking about birth certificate questions, Mutaman, then Vivek would have to refuse to show it even as old articles about him appeared claiming that he was born overseas, and maybe a passage in his autobiography describing the exotic nature of his birth certificate, but he could settle the whole matter by presenting a PDF facsimile of the document.

My personal opinion is that Obama’s American mother settles the issue, wherever he was born, but Obama brought that one on himself, and Hillary’s oppo research brought it to life. It was never about his skin color, but keep repeating the lie as directed by Goebbels, maybe you can get somebody who is not already pro Biden to believe it.; 1/14/24, 5:54 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Rusty said...

"It is -8 here in the Fox Valley. I ain't goin' nowhere."

During our first full Wisconsin winter, after having moved from SoCal, the Missus' minivan was parked at a hotel off John Nolens Drive and wouldn't start. I drove there to see what was what. Starter cranked OK, but the engine wouldn't catch, so I called for a tow and got back in my Honda to thaw out. It was bright, sunny, and minus twenty.

Found out from the repair shop that a little bitty key on the camshaft had sheared off. Got off easy at just over $300.; 1/14/24, 6:03 AM
Leland said...: I really wish Bari had asked him what made him think they were armed this time.

Stuff like this is why I quit listening to Bari’s podcast after a dozen or so episodes. She would have guest that would make what I found to be very bias statements that she wouldn’t even touch. Usually it would be something like “Trump is bad” without explanation. The Triggernometry comedians won’t let that pass without at least an inquiry, yet the “journalist” is not curious at all.; 1/14/24, 6:22 AM
Enigma said...: Fresh lava is on the edge of Grindavik, Iceland now:

https://www.ruv.is/

They spent all night (or days) building barricades to keep the flow a few hundred yards north of town, and it seems to have worked. But then, a new crack opened south of the barricades about 50 yards from town.

Best laid plans.; 1/14/24, 6:36 AM
Rocco said...: mccullough said...
“I’m pissed the Chiefs-Dolphins game is on Peacock. The only thing I watch on NBC is sports. I’m not paying for NBC streaming service to watch reruns of shows from 20 years ago to watch one playoff game.”

Sales of Windows 11 remain weaker than expected. Some have pointed to the fact that Windows 11 requires higher spec hardware to run on, and that Microsoft did this to induce consumers to upgrade their hardware. Instead they have stayed on Windows 10 on their older machines.

There’s a business lesson in this that the NFL ought to be paying attention to.; 1/14/24, 6:45 AM
Rocco said...: Blogger Enigma said...
“They spent all night (or days) building barricades to keep the flow a few hundred yards north of town, and it seems to have worked. But then, a new crack opened south of the barricades about 50 yards from town.”

This comment is about Grindavik, Iceland, but applies surprisingly well to the protestors at the White House, too.; 1/14/24, 6:51 AM
iowan2 said...: In any event, what's the point of offering up a * hypothetical* involving Trump with an *actual occurence* under Obama.?

AG Holder, when asked, said that given the right Circumstances, The President would have the power to kill Americans on American soil. WWIII, Pearl Harbor, "emergency" circumstances. In short, in the opinion of the Executive.

Just to note. Dems in Congress are in an uproar because Biden(Obama) Bombed Yeman? without asking congress. Meaning the above mentioned "emergency is what any Dem prez says, but will get any Republican Prez impeached. . . then a dem DoJ will indict on leaving office; 1/14/24, 7:02 AM
iowan2 said...: Others have given their weather report

-17 now. 7am, 2 degrees colder that 2 hours ago.

We are going into town, get some breakfast. Got all the snowed moved yesterday. Not much drifting last night, so we're good to go, We are in a protective bowl and get a fraction on the wind than the people just a half mile up the hill.
So why go into town? Because that's what Iowans do. Get the snow moved around, then go out to see what others are up to. Its a cultural thing, I dont expect any normies to understand.; 1/14/24, 7:20 AM
William50 said...: Rocco said;

Sales of Windows 11 remain weaker than expected. Some have pointed to the fact that Windows 11 requires higher spec hardware to run on, and that Microsoft did this to induce consumers to upgrade their hardware. Instead they have stayed on Windows 10 on their older machines.

***********

My wife's computer (with Windows 7) bit the dust about a year ago so I bought her an AIO with touch screen and of course Widows 11. She doesn't really care for it and misses her Windows 7.

I'm still using my old laptop with Windows 8.5. If it ain't broke don't fix it.; 1/14/24, 7:36 AM
Jamie said...: Happy Blogiversary - to all, but especially to our hard-working host!; 1/14/24, 8:03 AM
rhhardin said...: Watch lava swallow Iceland town live.; 1/14/24, 8:10 AM
rhhardin said...: I'm running Windows XP. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Also apps that won't work on newer systems, what used to be called failure of upward compatibility.; 1/14/24, 8:12 AM
Enemy Within said...: The structural differences between the US and Europe are wide and deep. Politically, the US is from Mars; it's a one god place. Europe is from Venus; there are a plethora of gods and goddesses crowded onto the mountain tops of power.

In the US, broad executive power is bested in one person who is only indirectly checked by the other collegial institutions of government, the Congress and judiciary. The executive person gains power through a first-past-the-post personality-based popular election. The executive is near impossible to overthrow; no votes of confidence in the US. Such an office as US president virtually invites demagogic candidates who can articulate a message amenable to mass adulation. And Donald Trump completely short-circuited any modulating function in the party nominating process by powerful emotional capture of the true believers. But it was Ronald Reagan who created the mould for the new Republican leader — the movement leader centered upon a charismatic personality rooted in fundamentalist beliefs with media star power.

Popular-based star-power attraction is hugely rewarded in the US.

In Europe, the three presidencies of the EU as an institution are all selected through indirect democratic process; other elected leaders select the top institutional leaders and executive power is divided up. Very difficult to concentrate executive power in one person in the EU. And most of the national leaders in the constituent countries are indirectly elected parliamentary leaders.

Inside political experience gained in parliamentary office among a peer group of politicians is rewarded in the EU.

In the US, migration and immigration are mostly fear of "people different from us." It's almost generic.

In Europe, there is a magnificent inconsistency. The Four Freedoms guarantees mobility of labor within the EU. So internal migration of EU citizens and residents is widely accepted. It is migration and immigration from outside the EU borders where pronounced cultural differences are perceived between European nationals — the new generic European — and migrants from impoverished regions who have been raised in distinctly different cultures. And there is a growing awareness that deep religious differences drive divergences on education, public comportment, ability to exercise free speech, and down to and including the forward trajectory of basic social evolution. Europeans have been moving along a fundamentally different social evolution vector than most members rooted in traditionalist Muslim and other non-European cultures. Women in particular wind up in different places in the two different cultural evolutions.

So far, European voters seem to be saying that they want more democratic input into setting the region's migration and immigration policies. That seems to be overall a very democratic aspiration beyond the ownership appeal of any one demagogue.; 1/14/24, 8:34 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Boeing woes.

I worked on the defense side for 35-years as an aero-engineer. You'd think that aero-engineers would have sign off-authority for Outer Mold Line (OML) changes, right? Nope. One example is the sparkies (radar subsystem) mounted a brick antenna just behind the cockpit windows. This is the worst spot to mount an antenna with square contours. The air is flowing fastest their and any little disturbance is going to generate turbulence behind. The sparkies put their antenna their, get the drawing approved, and then told us about it. Then they said "Too late. It's approved."

On the 767-tanker program and the new Air Force One program, the opinion of the aero-engineers were ignored. We told the programs we had to look at the changes to the OML, but program managements always said that's not necessary, everything will be fine. Guess what? Everything was not fine. What would have cost $1 in the wind tunnel to fix costs $100 in flight test.

Since St. Louis took over, the know-nothing executives have ignored the experts and proceeded with their over-optimistic plans and then they find out their plans don't work. The chief engineer position on 767-tanker was constantly changing - after finding out how bad things were, the CE would move on to finer pastures and the next sacrificial CE would be appointed.; 1/14/24, 9:07 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: The wife and I are still on Windows 10. First because our printer did not support W11. When the printer died, we bought one that did. So, we could have upgraded to W11, but nothing in W11 is compelling enough to make the change and the GUI changes look like changes just to be changes with no real improvements.

Microsoft is supposedly going to release Windows 12 this fall. We'll see if that's compelling.; 1/14/24, 9:14 AM
Iman said...: Now THERE was a voice, Clyde!; 1/14/24, 9:25 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: "Illinois Voters File Objections to Strike Biden From Primary Ballot"

As you sow, so shall you reap. Democrats hung on their own petard.; 1/14/24, 9:32 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: The climate hysterics dream of an all Emissions Elsewhere Vehicle fleet are going up in smoke, literally. A two-decker EEV bus went up in smoke on Wimbledon Hill Road in London. Now all the EEV busses produced by the firm Switch are parked.; 1/14/24, 10:32 AM
Candide said...: Narr,

My son gifted me “Six months that changed the world” by MacMillan few years ago and I finally read it last year. Also a good book. Wish I didn’t wait that long to read it.; 1/14/24, 10:56 AM
effinayright said...: Humperdink said...
@effinayright. What's the point, you ask? Obambi was undoubtedly was made aware there would be collateral damage with the drone strike. Was the Peace Prize winner made aware there was a teenage US citizen? Who knows? But there was no fallout for the Anointed One.

The point: Trump is held to account by the legal system for a hypothetical, while the Commie-Pinkos go scot-free for an actual occurrences. Maybe I'm wrong.
**********

Had you offered an apples-to-apples comparison, with Obama killing a political rival
rather than a terrorist's innocent family member as collateral damage, you might have had a point.

But you didn't.; 1/14/24, 1:49 PM
Narr said...: Candide, that one is on my list. Thanks for the recco.

If anyone is interested, it's her book about the Versailles Treaty of 1919--"six months" is from the subtitle. The title is "Peacemakers" IIRC.; 1/14/24, 2:53 PM
Mutaman said...: tim in vermont said...

"It was never about his skin color, but keep repeating the lie as directed by Goebbels, maybe you can get somebody who is not already pro Biden to believe it."

"By early 2012, dozens of lawsuits had been filed challenging Obama's eligibility in states including North Carolina,[1] Ohio,[2] Pennsylvania,[3] Hawaii,[4] Connecticut,[5] New Jersey, Texas and Washington.[4][6] No suit or challenge resulted in the grant of any relief to the plaintiffs by any court or other body. "
Wiki

Facts are stupid things.; 1/14/24, 3:19 PM
rp said...: wendybar at 4:59am posted "Part Two".
Here is "Part One":

December 4, 2020
You just might be a Democrat if... (with apologies to Jeff Foxworthy)
By Eric Utter

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/12/you_just_might_be_a_democrat_if_with_apologies_to_jeff_foxworthy.html; 1/14/24, 8:37 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: good day and night of football here.Loved seeing Dallas get whommped and DETROIT taking it to the end.Like to wager on Chiefs and Packers in the end,2 young guns throwing bombs.We had a nice break and temps cooled down to upper 60's instead of 80's so made for a good outdoor night with grandkids in between.; 1/15/24, 7:50 AM