Althouse: No photos today. It's too cold!

January 16, 2024

No photos today. It's too cold!

Frankly, I haven't left the house in days.

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

32 comments:

tim in vermont said...: Biden’s approval 33%

Currently sending American soldiers to Iraq. Iran launched missiles at our pet terrorists in Iraq after those terrorists claimed responsibility for an attack in Iran that killed scores of people. Of course Iran is selling weapons to Russia, and the US wants a pretext for war. When the neocons need a reason to attack, ISIS is always there for us with a pretext. If you are wondering why people fund terrorists, getting pretexts for invasions that Americans would normally oppose is one reason.

But Trump will bring chaos.; 1/16/24, 8:05 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: What happened to the "Nicky Surge"?

She should get out before Trump beats her in her own state, that's coming up soon after NH and Nevada.; 1/16/24, 8:11 PM
Jupiter said...: When I was in grad school, I became aware of the very considerable power to direct science exercised by the people at federal funding agencies, who were, in most cases, not even second-rate. Even to be a second-rater, as I flattered myself I might be, meant that if you wanted to have a scientific career, you needed to bust your ass to get a post-doc, and then bust it some more after that. A person of my limited achievements had no real prospect of a tenured position at a high-quality institution. But I could easily have landed a desk job at a funding agency. It's not like there's a test.

There are boards and committees of prominent researchers whose charter is to direct funding into scientifically promising areas. But the inescapable reality is that part of getting funded is schmoozing the schmoos at the funding agencies. They have direct and immediate access to researchers, and no one corrects their idiotic misconceptions, or attempts to dissuade them from their addled enthusiasms. They are like trust-fund babies. Never having accomplished anything, they are not even aware that they are being humored by people who have. Modern science is government science, and it is every bit as high-quality as all the other things government produces.; 1/16/24, 8:16 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Trump lost only one county and he lost it by one vote.

Trump's overwhelming victory tells me Trump voters are very excited. They went out to vote in freezing temperatures. How do polls measure that kind of support? I don't think they do.; 1/16/24, 8:16 PM
Quaestor said...: The Oath Keepers trial was a frame-up. Somebody, probably Nancy Pelosi, suborned perjury from David Lazarus, her personal security chief.

https://twitter.com/theblaze/status/1746974003317579834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1746974003317579834%7Ctwgr%5E4ee1e8f5ac96d5792fcb1245730a8cd41013d6ea%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.powerlineblog.com%2Farchives%2F2024%2F01%2Fperjury-in-a-j6-trial.php; 1/16/24, 8:20 PM
Scott Patton said...: "I haven't left the house in days."
As an introvert, I aspire to emulate such excellent, if undue, exemplarity.; 1/16/24, 8:21 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Via TwitterX: Kamala impersonator; 1/16/24, 8:26 PM
Rabel said...: Whether I like him or not I gotta admit that the man DeSantis is snakebit. What the heck is wrong with his mouth tonight? Severe chapped lips? And I do believe one interrogator either consciously or not mimicked the way he keeps running his tongue out to moisten this lips.

I'm considering a pity vote at this point.; 1/16/24, 8:35 PM
Josephbleau said...: Worked a few emergency hours today to fix my furnace, a blown control board. Even fixed the attached humidifier, a burned out water solenoid valve. The quality of your life is directly proportional to the performance of your appliances. The only thing left is to find a couple of very old toilets I can put in that don’t require flushing 2 or 3 times to empty. The new ones don’t save water for me, I could be accused of being highly productive in that area, but the same problem occurs with all in the use of these congressionally mandated thrones.; 1/16/24, 8:48 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: We have a small pond in our neighborhood. It's been subfreezing for the last week or so, and the pond's frozen. Today, it was just above freezing and two boys were out on it this afternoon, and I told them to get off of the ice. They came off the ice, but I suspect they went back on it.

Snoqualmie is not like Madison. We get freezing spells, but I would never trust the ice to hold up with someone walking on it, even twelve-ish boys.; 1/16/24, 9:16 PM
Rusty said...: "I haven't left the house in days."
Today was the first day in a week. I needed to find out if the Element would start. It was -4 when I went outside. 215,000 miles. The damn thing popped right off. WTF. So I ran errands. I dont think it hurt that the sun was out and it helped warm up the interior.
Anyone else like 'Raising Cane's' chicken?; 1/16/24, 9:19 PM
Jupiter said...: I refrained from commenting on your blogiversary, as I could not find any thought in my mind that seemed worthy of the importance you placed upon it. What is the essence of Althouse blog? But upon reflection, I have to say that to me, your quest for the quintessential post is vain. It is not your posts that draw me. It is the opportunity to comment.

Is this abusive? Do I presume upon your hospitality -- upon your innocence? Your naivete? Would that I might. To me -- to me -- your blog is a salon. Our hostess sets the topic, and those in attendance presume to offer their thoughts on that topic. It might seem that this idea of your blog does you disservice, and I can readily see, that to you, the post is the thing, to which you devote your efforts, and of which you may rightly be proud. That this should be regarded as no more than a starting point, the mere dropping of a sheer, silken scarf, must needs rankle. Yet to be the muse of your own salon is no small thing. I'll not offer a dissertation on those attributes which make a muse. Wisdom and grace are chief among them. I'll say, that there is a reason that Justice is a woman. A beautiful woman.; 1/16/24, 9:31 PM
tim in vermont said...: Quaestor, You can delete the question mark and everything that follows it, and your link will still work for people. That other stuff is just for tracking purposes.

So the government just admitted in court that the Hunter Biden laptop was authentic, came from the repair shop, and matched the version that they got by subpoena from iCloud and was not altered. This makes Joe Biden a liar, of course. But then again, so do hundreds of other things, but today was a day when he was proven a liar in court.

It also makes Hunter guilty of crimes against minors that should put him in jail for decades, since that means that the videos on there are authentic.; 1/16/24, 9:40 PM
Rocco said...: Lem the artificially intelligent said...
“What happened to the "Nicky Surge"?

Apparently it froze its high heels off.; 1/16/24, 9:45 PM
tim in vermont said...: Remember when Gen Miley said that he was struggling to understand "white rage"? Well, he needn't worry, white enlistment has. since dropped in half. Good luck with your fresh Middle East wars without these 22,000 new troops per year. We can't even staff our latest, state of the art carrier, the Gerald R Ford. Most of the ships ar undermanned, and Joe Biden, who purged the military on taking office, is still out provoking fresh wars and rejecting diplomacy as humiliating to the Untied States.; 1/16/24, 9:52 PM
chickelit said...: Len @ 8:26: Most excellent link!; 1/16/24, 11:00 PM
Kate said...: I leave the house so infrequently I keep my car plugged into a trickle charger. Yesterday I discovered that a Baskin and Robbins had moved in next door to my dentist's office since my last cleaning. The juxtaposition of their two signs is charming.

It almost made leaving the house worthwhile.; 1/17/24, 2:16 AM
Tina Trent said...: Jupiter rising.; 1/17/24, 2:17 AM
wendybar said...: "In 2023, FBI investigators pulled sealed evidence from the state police vault to take photographs of the defendant’s firearm. After opening the evidence, FBI investigators observed a white powdery substance on the defendant’s brown leather pouch that had held the defendant’s firearm in October 2018. Based on their training and experience, investigators believed that this substance was likely cocaine and that this evidence would corroborate the messages that investigators had obtained which showed the defendant buying and using drugs in October 2018. An FBI chemist subsequently analyzed the residue and determined that it was cocaine. To be clear, investigators literally found drugs on the pouch where the defendant had kept his gun."

https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2024/01/16/heres-what-fbi-agents-found-when-they-removed-hunter-bidens-gun-from-the-evidence-vault-in-2023-n2168817; 1/17/24, 4:31 AM
Christopher B said...: After reading the comments on yesterday's postings across a number of blogs, whoever has the Interwabs concession for butthurt salve and copium is making a killing.; 1/17/24, 4:46 AM
wendybar said...: Between early 2020 and 2023, 158 companies that manage $993 billion in assets moved their headquarters out of New York City.

Despite all of the obstacles against business owners New York Attorney General Letitia James decided to start suing businesses based on their politics.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/wall-street-firms-are-leaving-new-york-taking-1-trillion-with-them/ar-AA1fC7d1#:~:text=; 1/17/24, 5:39 AM
Rich said...: "It's too cold"
I've been X-Country Skiing every one of these cold days. I competed in the Seeley Hills Classic this past weekend. This coming Sunday -- we'll be in Ironwood MI for the week, skiing on the ABR and Wolverine trails. Depending on snow conditions, we may run up to Houghton to ski the Michigan Tech trails.; 1/17/24, 6:03 AM
wendybar said...: "Voters who stand behind Trump aren’t necessarily saying they like Trump. What they’re saying is that they understand that a vote for Trump is their only way of pushing back against Deep State hoaxes, gamed elections, and civil and criminal lawfare. Supporting Trump is a stick in the eye of the Uniparty establishment that hates American values and voters."

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/01/two_takes_on_the_iowa_caucus_mine_and_tucker_carlsons.html; 1/17/24, 6:10 AM
wendybar said...: "For years, the Republican mantra has been that the federal government refuses to act on the border. However, this is a mischaracterization of the truth. In reality, the federal government is very willing to act on the border.

Back in October, the U.S. Border Patrol was ordered to cut razor wire that the State of Texas had installed. Thanks to the efforts of wrongly impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton, the State of Texas successfully sued and was granted a stay against the federal government removing the razor wire. Now, on Jan. 2, 2024, the federal government has gone back to the federal judge who granted the stay and is seeking permission to begin cutting wire again."

https://amgreatness.com/2024/01/17/combating-the-federal-governments-determination-to-allow-a-border-invasion/; 1/17/24, 6:42 AM
wendybar said...: "Immigration policy is an obvious example where the MAGA position—restoring control of who enters the nation and basing legal immigration on merit—has a clarity that is completely lacking in the current de facto policy. Since Biden took office, nearly 8 million people have illegally crossed into America. Cities are going bankrupt trying to support them with food, shelter, healthcare, and education. At the same time, drugs pour across the open border, a primary cause of over 110,000 drug overdose deaths in 2023.

There is a common thread in all of these mainstream, uniparty, establishment policies that MAGA threatens. Money. American corporations and American billionaires make more money when there is unrestricted immigration. It drives down wages."

https://amgreatness.com/2024/01/17/the-intellectual-foundations-of-maga/; 1/17/24, 6:53 AM
Iman said...: Ron DeSantis? Meet Clutch Cargo…; 1/17/24, 7:30 AM
Howard (not that Howard) said...: I'm really kind of mind-boggled that the Iowa results are being spun as a "yuge" win for Trump. Looks to me like it was 51 Trump, 49 not-Trump. He's benefitting from a fractured opposition.; 1/17/24, 8:35 AM
traditionalguy said...: Emergency! The Wisconsin folks need more Global Warming fast. And the poor Canadians are already frozen solid.

Time for a hot toddy. Then sit there and await the next glacier.; 1/17/24, 9:47 AM
Rusty said...: I'm gonna guess, Howard, you're mind boggled a lot.; 1/17/24, 10:30 AM
planetgeo said...: Yesterday the annual interest (just the interest) on the national debt hit $730,000,000,000. That's 730 billion for those that don't like to count zeros. In 2022 it was 459 billion, and in 2023 it was 659 billion. In effect, financially we are in a doom loop.

No matter who gets elected in 2024, our financial system (and the rest of the world's) is going to crash. It's only a matter of time and not who's in charge. And that may have been the ultimate goal of the "fundamental transformation" of the Liebringer.

If you think we're in a bad winter now, think again. Winter is coming.; 1/17/24, 12:37 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: We had freezing rain last night. The front walk, driveway, rear patio and grass were frozen off with a layer of slick ice. I've removed the ice on the front walk and part of the driveway. Raining now with snow forecast for this afternoon.

The plumber is coming this afternoon to change out our hot water tank.; 1/17/24, 1:28 PM
loudogblog said...: I'm spoiled living in Southern California. We rarely get temperatures below freezing. Of course that means no snow. It's noon and it's 61 degrees outside. (Which is very cold for us.); 1/17/24, 2:36 PM