Althouse: At the Cold Winter’s Night Café…

February 28, 2024

At the Cold Winter’s Night Café…

… you can write about whatever you want.

34 comments:

Kai Akker said...: Now the local police have dropped the "not-trauma" angle on teenager Nex Benedict's cause of death, and advise not jumping to any conclusions.

Could well turn out to be a bad case of teenagers with limited or no judgment doing stupid things and ending up with a tragic result. Falling on a school bathroom floor and blacking out sounds like head trauma to me, and a fatal hematoma could have followed. There might be less politics than adolescence at work in Nex's fate.

https://news.yahoo.com/fight-hasn-t-ruled-cause-004719135.html; 2/28/24, 7:36 PM
Dave Begley said...: With millions of illegal aliens voting in Nov., how can the Dems lose?; 2/28/24, 7:50 PM
Jaq said...: I have been worrying about all of this Russian disinformation floating around. I wonder of Rich could give some examples of things that aren't true that people are saying, not knowing that they have been fed to us by PuTIn.

I read somewhere that even if something is factually true, it could be considered "disinformation" if the wrong interpretation is put on it, or if it leads to an incorrect conclusion.

Who are these conclusion police?; 2/28/24, 7:52 PM
Jaq said...: Another thing I am curious about is if we are. so certain Russia is lying about the flight Ukraine has admittedly shot down, that contained those 65 prisoners, why did the West deny Russia's request to the Security Council for a UN investigation?; 2/28/24, 8:05 PM
Iman said...: Attorney Phil Holloway got access to the Merchant-Bradley text messages and reviewed them with Meagain Kelly. All I can say is Friday’s court session may be very consequential.; 2/28/24, 8:32 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Colorado and Denver in particular are run exclusively by democrats.
They are pro-illegal immigrant, anti-ICE, and filled with anti-Trump rage - and make all of their decisions based on anti-Trump rage.
Denver is a Sanctuary City based solely on Democratic decisions.

Now that illegal immigration is hurting democrats- they are all lying and back-pedaling like crazy.

Biden opened the border to illegals with a stoke of his pen - thru an Executive Order. The left are lying when they claim that congress must step in. No. Wrong. Not True. Biden is to blame.

A reminder that Biden invited illegals to "swarm the border" using the Asylum system. (Abusing the asylum system - in reality)

Now that illegal immigration is hurting democrats- they are out full force with lies. The latest is that because Trump perhaps might have called Denver a Sanctuary City once, - he is to blame. LOL!
Such chutzpah.; 2/28/24, 8:39 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: If the GOP were smart - this would be something they should use - over and over.

and this.; 2/28/24, 8:50 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Yard sign idea for Athens, Georgia.

Trump closed it
&
Biden opened it; 2/28/24, 9:04 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Headline: "Illinois judge rules Donald Trump is disqualified from the state's 2024 election ballot."

Is getting a ruling overturned by the Supremes like a badge of honor?

I don't think that's the way it is supposed to work. Like, maybe you should make rulings that stand a chance to stand scrutiny? 🤔

Maybe it's like a "right side of history" stand or something.; 2/28/24, 9:10 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: "surge the border" (not swarm); 2/28/24, 9:21 PM
Ampersand said...: Word of the century: Anosognosia

None of us is immune. But awareness of the concept can make us less likely to be a victim.; 2/28/24, 9:29 PM
ceowens said...: Tim,

I think it is "malinformation". True, but not advantage to the narrative.; 2/28/24, 9:54 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Elon Musk: “Put “Never Went to Therapy” on my gravestone“; 2/28/24, 10:16 PM
wendybar said...: When I got asked to look into Letitia James’ financials last week, I really wasn’t expecting to find much.
——————–
The first thing you’ll notice when you download and sort the expenditures of any politician running for reelection in a safe seat is how they use their campaign funds to supplement their lifestyles to a degree middle America could never dream of.
What do I mean? Well, in 2023 alone, James spent over $28,500 on hotels. Over $15,000 of that was spent on luxury hotels in Puerto Rico.

Then there’s the airfare. In the 5 years she’s been the New York State AG, James’ has spent over $84,000 on airfare to fly herself all over the country.

This includes private jet rentals.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1762544911205724618.html; 2/29/24, 4:31 AM
Humperdink said...: Every now and then my US senator, Bob Casey (D-Coma), awakes from his years long slumber to make some noise.

"The Pennsylvania Democrat introduced a bill Wednesday that opposes the practice of shrinking everyday consumer goods such as cereal, potato chips, laundry detergent and toilet paper. The Shrinkflation Prevention Act targets corporations .. ". (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

He conveniently forgets to mention the term Bidenonimcs.; 2/29/24, 5:28 AM
Humperdink said...: Waiting for the day when Letitia James gets the Big Fani treatment. Every hack pol has some financial skeletons.

A side note: Trump may have an ally former governor Andrew Cuomo. AG James led the charge to depose him. I suspect Cuomo has some interesting information on her.; 2/29/24, 5:40 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/29/24, 6:14 AM
Saint Croix said...: Aside from its woke sensibilities, Google's AI "tool" has a really serious problem in that it doesn't know the difference between reality and fiction.

Matt Taibbi asked the robot, "What are some controversies involving Matt Taibbi?"

And the AI sent him down a really insane rathole.; 2/29/24, 6:24 AM
Jaq said...: So this is from the finding of the Dutch court on MH17

The question as to why the crew of the Buk TELAR aimed the Buk missile at Flight MH17 remains unanswered. This does not change the fact that the Buk missile was intentionally fired and aimed at an aircraft.

Um, because the people who seized control from the democratically elected government in Kiev, the Maidan coup plotters, were flying bombers into the area and there was a hot conflict going on? This is like finding the mountain guilty for blocking the flight of an airliner, rather than those responsible for directing the aircraft into danger. Who should have been sentenced to life in prison is whoever OK'd the path of that bomber.

The whole basis if the verdict is that the ethnic Russians, who Dr Weevil will tell you don't exist, there are just "Russian speaking Ukrainians," and yet for a decade these same "Russian speaking Ukrainians" have been volunteering and fighting bravely to keep Kiev's forces at bay, but be that as it may, the whole verdict is based on the idea that their resistance to the government we installed in Kiev was "illegal."

Oh, BTW, that story that the Russians had tampered with the flight recorders? Ukrainian disinformation. Makes you wonder what the Ukrainians were afraid that the investigators would find.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2702653/MH17s-black-box-flight-recorders-delivered-Farnborough-analysis-British-crash-investigators.html

And much of the "evidence" proving Russia's guilt was provided was provided by the CIA operation, "Bellingcat" which has published a *lot* of stuff re the current conflict that has turned out to be simply wrong, and whose only value is as propaganda. It appears that the militias fighting agains the overthrow of their democratically elected government by the US had recently shot down a Soviet made bomber, and the "voice intercept" provided by the CIA linked Ukrainian intelligence looks suspiciously like it related to that shoot down, but regardless, planes were being shot down, bombers were flying into the area, and no civilian aircraft should have been operating there.

It's impossible not to see that the same legal techniques used against Putin, which five years ago, I would have supported without question, have now been brought home, and are being used against Trump. Kangaroo courts, like the ICC case against Putin for the "war crime" of removing orphans from a war zone being shelled by Kiev's forces. Neither Russia, nor the US has ever agreed to the authority of the ICC, and this indictment was, like so many of the cases against Trump, unprecedented. Nevertheless, when Putin travels abroad now, his plane has to be escorted by fully armed, weapons ready, fighter aircraft to keep the US from forcing it down and arresting him, based on a bizarre legal finding by a single judge in a country heavily invested in this conflict, with no opportunity for Russia to respond without surrendering Putin to the court. Does any of this sound familiar?

Joe Biden is the most reckless US President I can remember, or even think of.; 2/29/24, 7:11 AM
Jaq said...: Regarding the apology of the anti-aircraft crews and MH17. Many, many, many men have done stuff prosecuting open and lawful warfare who have deeply regretted having done it. I imagine the US Navy crew that shot down that Iranian passenger jet might feel a little guilt from time to time. At least I hope so. Warriors are not monsters, after all.

BTW, did anybody prosecute them? No. Under the "rules based order" only America's enemies are prosecuted in "international" courts that seem to be made up solely of our allies.

Compare how the American shootdown of a passenger jet is explained

OSTOVAR: Well, the Iranians are told that an airplane flying from Bander Abbas to Dubai on a pre-scheduled flight was shot down by the United States military. And the United States military should have known better. The Navy should have known better. A civilian aircraft doesn't look like a fighter plane. So it's just part of sort of the cruelty of the United States. There's always the subtext that the United States did this on purpose, right? This wasn't an accident.

SHAPIRO: Even though there's no evidence that it was intentional.

OSTOVAR: There's no evidence at all. I mean, it was clearly a mistake and an accident. The problem in war is when accidents happen, civilians are often caught in the middle, and they're the ones that pay the brunt of it.. - NPR

Now look at the judgement f the Dutch court:

The question as to why the crew of the Buk TELAR aimed the Buk missile at Flight MH17 remains unanswered. This does not change the fact that the Buk missile was intentionally fired and aimed at an aircraft.

The bolded sentences describe the exact same scenario, but one crew is "guilty" and one crew is "innocent." This is the kind of stuff we are supposed to just accept. The "rules based order" is "Calvinball"; 2/29/24, 7:25 AM
Rusty said...: Lem the artificially intelligent said...
Well. She's a Cook County Circuit Court judge Tracy Porter. She's a traffic court judge. She can be reached by calling 312-325-9500 and follow the prompts. I tried calling at 6:30 and her voicemail was full. I'm pretty sure that a nice fat envelope over the transome will get that reversed.; 2/29/24, 7:32 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Updated 8:29EST to include actual link included (original post deleted above):

The Reuters article on Illinois banning Trump from the ballot that Insty linked to this morning is a masterwork of modern propaganda, furnishing conclusions, omitting facts and exaggerating others, cherry picking Trump’s speech and truncating the quote to make it say the opposite of what he was saying. It proves that journalism is indeed dead and that the mainstream media is wholly incapable of presenting facts and letting the public draw their own conclusions.; 2/29/24, 7:32 AM
Jaq said...: I would also like an explanation of how the US invasion of Syria, and Israel's bombing of Syria differs in legal justification from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The reason I care so much about this is not that I am somehow being "paid by Putin," but because our government arbitrarily justifies whatever it wants to do, both abroad, and at home. The lies about the pandemic, the fact that it was US Government funded research, that Fauci specifically exempted from a legal ban, that led to the lab leak, and the evidence is as plain as day, and it is denied, and then cases against Trump, based on the thinnest gruel of bizarre novel legal theories are viewed as steel-trap dead certain proof of his being a criminal.

Trump took out a loan and repaid it and everybody made money.

Fauci bypassed a law on "gain of function" research, and his action led to the deaths of millions, and millions more will die in the future from it, since it is never going away, but he is celebrated.

It's not a double standard, it's hierarchy. It's the "rules based order" come to supplant our legal system.; 2/29/24, 7:40 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: My wife's return to Seattle via Amtrak's Empire Builder train has been delayed. There's a freight train derailment at Wenatchee, so the Amtrak is putting everyone on the Portland-bound Empire Builder. Instead of arriving to Seattle at 11:29 a.m., she'll arrive at 5:37 p.m.; 2/29/24, 7:49 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: My wife's return to Seattle via Amtrak's Empire Builder train has been delayed. There's a freight train derailment at Wenatchee, so the Amtrak is putting everyone on the Portland-bound Empire Builder. Instead of arriving to Seattle at 11:29 a.m., she'll arrive at 5:37 p.m.; 2/29/24, 7:49 AM
MadTownGuy said...: License plate cameras are coming to these bridges in PA (Actually, into NJ)

"If you travel frequently between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, you’ll want to be even more careful about your driving than usual.

High-speed digital cameras that can capture images of license plates are going to be installed at four Delaware River Port Authority bridges later this year, according to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

New Jersey police will install and operate these cameras along the Betsy Ross, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman and Commodore Barry bridges under a 10-year agreement, the news site said.

But these new cameras aren’t actually meant to catch speeders but instead help police track cars that are connected to suspected crimes or investigations.

“They will be able to read and identify license plates that may be of interest to law enforcement — whether they’re wanted for certain crimes, whether they’re part of a homeland security concern,” said Robert Finnegan, DRPA chief security and safety officer, said to KYW Newsradio.

The cameras will cover both lanes, but officials did not say where they would be placed.

Automatic license plate scanners are becoming popular in law enforcement, and can often be found on police cars, road signs, and other structures, the Inquirer said.

The devices can capture images of thousands of plates quickly. That information is then matched against police lists of vehicles reported stolen or wanted."; 2/29/24, 7:58 AM
Jaq said...: They sell that license plate data to anybody who wants it and will pay, and law enforcement is allowed to buy it without any requirement for a warrant, BTW.; 2/29/24, 8:40 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Here's 'tim in vermont' again, complaining that people think he's paid by Putin (7:40am) while writing exactly as a paid propagandist would write, and nothing like how an honest man would write.

Yesterday, he insisted that Ukraine murdered 298 civilians on Malaysian Flight 17 and tried to blame it on the Russians. He linked to a BBC article about tampering with the evidence, and implied that Ukrainians or Americans had done the tampering. I pointed out that in the story it was Russians and their DonBass puppets who did the tampering, and that we know who shot it down, a Russian from Russia named Igor Girkin.

Now he admits I was right (7:25am), without actually saying so. An honest man would have written "You were right, I was wrong, Girkin did it", and "I should have done my homework, instead of believing the likes of Kim Dot Comm or Zero Hedge or Seymour Hersh", and (most important) "Ukraine had nothing to do with it, that was a vile slander on my part".

Why doesn't 'tim in vermont' write anything like that? Why does he try to change the subject by equating the event to a parallel but not "exact same" thing done by the U.S.? There may be more than one possible explanation, but the most obvious logical conclusion is that he is paid to repeat Putinite propaganda and needs the money. That if he wrote anything like what he should have written, his checks would stop.

His first two comments on this thread (7:52 and 8:05pm) point the same way. It's easy to imagine the nasty little smirk on his face as he demanded that Rich provide evidence of "Russian disinformation" when that was exactly what he ('tim') was providing yesterday. His line (8:05pm) about "the flight Ukraine has admittedly shot down, that contained those 65 prisoners" is a minor masterpiece of lying. An honest man would have written that it was a military flight, a cargo jet full of weapons and ammunition, and a perfectly legitimate target, but 'tim' wants to make it sound more like the Malaysian airliner, so he leaves out "military". And it did not in fact contain 65 prisoners: that was a Russian lie. For a few days, it had its intended effect of depressing Ukrainians and cheering up sadistic Russians and their sick-minded foreign supporters, but even at the time it was obvious that it was a lie. Russians claimed 74 dead: 9 crewmen and 65 prisoners, and people asked "What? No armed guards for 65 prisoners? That can't be right!" The number of bodies at the scene was in fact around 9 and nowhere near 74. But 'tim in vermont' just can't stop repeating Putinite propaganda. As I wrote yesterday, if he's not being paid to do what he does, that makes him even stupider, but just as evil: giving his soul away instead of selling it.

He really needs to bugger off back to Volgograd.; 2/29/24, 11:51 AM
Jaq said...: "He really needs to bugger off back to Volgograd."

I notice that you don't answer any of my points, but instead just attacked me as some kind of criminal. I think that the trial was a kangaroo court, and I showed you why by quoting the very court that held it.

"An honest man would have written that it was a military flight, a cargo jet full of weapons and ammunition, and a perfectly legitimate target,"

And yet the prisoner exchange never took place, and the UN Security Counsel refused Russia's request for a UN investigation.; 2/29/24, 4:04 PM
Jaq said...: What is your "proof" that the Russians are lying? I would really like to know and would appreciate it if you could give me a steer on this one to a reliable source that can refute Russia's claims. With actual evidence, not just claims that Russia always lies and everything Russia says is a lie.

The Russian Investigative Committee earlier said that all those killed in the crash of the Ilyushin-76 in Belgorod Region, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, had been identified. According to the IC, more than 670 body fragments, as well as partially preserved personal IDs, were found near the site of the incident.; 2/29/24, 4:23 PM
Rusty said...: LOL! The judge has put it on hold for the time being. Ya gotta love the internet.; 2/29/24, 5:17 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Of course, I didn't attack 'tim in vermont' "as some kind of criminal". I attacked him a liar who takes good care never to say anything that would offend a hypothetical paymaster working for Putin. It's amazing how consistent he is.

I also pointed out that he's saying exactly the opposite today about Malaysian Flight 17 of what he said yesterday. Now he admits the Russians did it, but immediately adds that the U.S. has done just as bad and what about the 65 prisoners? He seems to be incapable of writing: "You were right, I was wrong. The Ukrainians didn't shoot down the Malaysian airliner: it was Igor Girkin. I slandered them when I said they did." Why can't he do that?

And why can't he give a damned link? He seems to be quoting Tass from almost a month ago (link) which indeed claims to have identified the bodies, but not returned them. Have they been returned since? It's been almost a month. Have the Ukrainians confirmed that any remains returned include DNA of named Ukrainian prisoners? Have they even shown the IDs? No word from 'tim', who always says that 90% of what both sides says is lies, but then believes 100% of what the Russians say.

Here's another lie "And yet the prisoner exchange never took place". An LA Times story one week later (1/31) is headlined "Ukraine and Russia swap scores of POWs despite tension over a plane crash last week". Are these the same prisoners or different ones? I don't know, but neither does 'tim'.; 2/29/24, 6:19 PM
Jaq said...: "I also pointed out that he's saying exactly the opposite today about Malaysian Flight 17 of what he said yesterday."

What I said yesterday was that the Ukrainian SBU submitted false evidence. I never said who I think shot down the plane, because I DON'T KNOW. That was a kangaroo court, I don't accept their verdict given their prejudice. That plane should not have been routed into a zone where military aircraft and AD were operating. What the Dutch court found was that the ethnic Russians in the Donbas had no legal right to resist the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Ukraine, and therefore their actions amounted to "murder." Well, they are still resisting the coup ten years later.

That BBC article about the black box being altered by the Russians? The court said that the black box was intact. The article was disinformation.

"And yet the prisoner exchange never took place"

The prisoner exchange scheduled for that day never took place on that day. Are you a native speaker of English? Some of the subtleties of idiomatic English seem to be lost on you. Are you an American? Canadian? Why would Putin pay me to comment on this out of the way blog where I had been commenting for free for a couple of decades? I just want to understand what is going on.

I may stop responding to you here. I don't respond to convince you, you obviously have deep hatred for Russians, which makes me wonder what would happen to all of the Russians living in Ukrainian territory if your side won, I respond to you so that others can see that you just spout Ukrainian propaganda, even the disinformation, as if it were Holy Writ.

This whole war is because Kiev could not accept a deal like the Canadian Federation, where Quebec is allowed to conduct its affairs in its own language, even while paying taxes to, and serving in the armed forces of Canada, itself. Why was that so much to ask that this war was necessary? Hatred. You even deny that there is such a thing as an "ethnic Russian."; 3/1/24, 10:45 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Of course I'm a native speaker of American English. Are you mentally retarded? Words have meanings. You said the prisoner exchange "never" took place. I pointed out that a prisoner exchange took place a week later, and it may well have included the prisoners who were supposed to be exchanged that day, since the Russians seem to be lying about 65 of them being killed in the shoot-down. A week later is NOT "never"! If you meant "did not take place on schedule" you should have said that, instead of saying "never". So, are YOU a native speaker?

Here's the latest (5:00am today Eastern time) on the Russian claim (link): 5+ weeks later, they still don't have any remains to hand over. Why not? Most likely because they never had any. They routinely claim to have shot down their own planes when they were shot down by Ukraine: apparently it's less embarrassing to look murderously incompetent than to admit that Ukrainians are militarily competent.

Again, you claim not to believe 90% of what both sides say, but in fact you believe everything the Russians say, except when Russian Igor Girkin admits guilt in the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner, and then you refuse to believe. You have never said anything that would offend a hypothetical paymaster giving you money for propaganda. Why is that?

And why is not OK for Ukraine to exert control over Donbass, which voted to join Ukraine by 6:1, but it is OK for Russia to invade Ukraine, slaughter civilians by the hundreds, and more? Anyone who thinks Russia has more right to rule Ukraine than Ukraine has to rule Donbas is Putin stooge, and a fool.; 3/1/24, 6:01 PM