Althouse: At the Monday Night Café...

May 20, 2024

At the Monday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

(Photo by Meade)

56 comments:

narciso said...: https://x.com/StopAntisemites/status/1792708983960322474; 5/20/24, 8:07 PM
narciso said...: https://x.com/margommartin/status/1792676317877670394; 5/20/24, 8:07 PM
narciso said...: https://www.dossier.today/p/why-the-biden-admin-decided-to-honor; 5/20/24, 8:07 PM
Humperdink said...: Dr. Anthony Fauci showed up at Columbia University to give the commencement address to the Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons’ Class of 2024.

It was reported he turned down an invitation to give the commencement to the graduating class of the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science.; 5/20/24, 8:08 PM
narciso said...: Well that would be fitting

https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1792634655457370334; 5/20/24, 8:09 PM
narciso said...: Hes more of an undertaker thsn the wrestler by that name; 5/20/24, 8:10 PM
narciso said...: Oh noes
https://twitchy.com/brettt/2024/05/20/reuters-reports-that-aid-coming-through-bidens-pier-has-been-stolen-n2396442; 5/20/24, 8:15 PM
Will Cate said...: Have just finished the Nellie Bowles book, and very much enjoyed it.; 5/20/24, 8:17 PM
Humperdink said...: Judge Don Juan Merchan sure has a short fuse or maybe none at all. He lit into Trump's second witness for, among other things, giving him the stink eye. He cleared the courtroom. Decorum? We don't need no stinkin' decorum.; 5/20/24, 8:17 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Meditations makes a really great gift.

Remember to use the Althouse portal.; 5/20/24, 8:36 PM
gilbar said...: remember how bad things were during COVID? It turns out; they were worse than you thought!
NY Post:Biden bizarrely suggests he was VP during pandemic in latest blunder
President Biden declared Sunday that things got “kind of bad” when he was vice president during the COVID-19 pandemic — even though the virus hit more than three years after he left office.

The 81-year-old Biden, who finished his eight years as Barack Obama’s veep in January 2017, suggested he was still in post at the time of the outbreak during a campaign event with the NAACP.

“When I was vice president, things were kind of bad during the pandemic and what happened was, Barack said to me, ‘Go to Detroit! Help fix it,'” Biden said.; 5/20/24, 8:39 PM
BG said...: The WNBA sounds more like roller derby with a vendetta against Caitlin Clark. I would advise her to get out before she gets seriously injured. Let the WNBA sink into oblivion.; 5/20/24, 8:46 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: YouTube: Can you imagine a medical system in which the patient tells the doctor that he has strep throat, or pancreatic cancer, or a brain aneurism, and the doctor has no way to objectively confirm that assessment

"What people fail to understand about mental illness"

I've been meaning to post this and kept forgetting. The whole thing is only 13 and 1/2 minutes.

Video notes: "In this first episode of a two-part series, I discuss some of the uncomfortable realities about the West's epidemic of mental illness. First and foremost, it's important to understand the concept of reification, which is the process by which something that isn't really a thing becomes a thing in individual perception. Through reification, a constellation of symptoms becomes a mental disorder, and the sufferer of those symptoms is placed at further remove from individual responsibility."; 5/20/24, 8:51 PM
robother said...: Although, now that you mention it, Biden inhabiting Trump's vice presidency during 2020 would explain a lot. Perhaps Pence was too much the gentleman to object.; 5/20/24, 8:52 PM
Chuck said...: gilbar-

Biden misused the word "pandemic" for "recession." The trip happened as Biden described, as he had been dispatched by President Obama, in August of 2009.

Ryan Lizza did an essay on the Biden trip in the October 4, 2009 New Yorker.; 5/20/24, 8:56 PM
rhhardin said...: Seriously look at Scott Adams, a new genre of deep state mockery. You've never seen anything like it.

I'd suggest letting ChatGPT moderate Presidential debates, and whoever defeats it, wins.; 5/20/24, 9:00 PM
Nice said...: Your Midwestern Spring seems somehow more colorful this year than in the past. When I look at the photos I always think none of that color was there 2 months ago, or maybe even one month ago.

We need to before and after.; 5/20/24, 9:00 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: "Biden asks crowd what would Trump do if January 6 rioters were black?"

This is the same Biden who fought for the 3 strikes, and you are out for life laws.

Nothing put more black men in jail for life.; 5/20/24, 9:15 PM
rhhardin said...: Bill Maher is a guest on Gutfeld. The TDS seems to be a permanent thing.; 5/20/24, 9:25 PM
gilbar said...: Chuck thinks that "pandemic" is a synonym for "recession"
Okay Chuck.. WHAT EVER YOU SAY; 5/20/24, 9:40 PM
Chuck said...: gilbar said...
Chuck thinks that "pandemic" is a synonym for "recession"
Okay Chuck.. WHAT EVER YOU SAY

I did not say that. I said that the word "pandemic" was misused by Biden. I never suggested anything like a synonym. And then I showed, with a contemporaneous link, exactly how the "Biden dispatched to Detroit by Obama" story did happen as otherwise described.

But, yeah, whatever. I don't care "whatever" you think. "Whatever" any of you deplorable shit heads think. I don't care about convincing you, or helping you, or answering you. I just want to beat you at the polls. And keep beating you until it is well understood what a sad, sick, losing cause that Trumpism is.; 5/20/24, 10:04 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Why was pandemic misused by Biden, Chuck the Cunt? It isn't a normal kind of error one would make since the words have no real definitional connection in the brain- it would like me mistakenly calling a battle tank a giraffe. Biden used the word pandemic for recession (and I also think that is exactly what he did) because he is no longer able to distinguish the meanings of the two words- in his brain they are similar enough. My father at the end of his life made the exact same sorts of mistakes- mixing up words in ways that no mentally competent person would ever do; 5/20/24, 10:51 PM
Yancey Ward said...: And if Trump wins in November, Chuck the Cunt- what are you going to do then?; 5/20/24, 10:53 PM
gadfly said...: Israel was not involved in the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash that also killed several members of his entourage, an Israeli official told Reuters on Monday. "It wasn't us," said the official, who requested anonymity.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said “The United States had no part to play in that crash.”

Following the reports that emerged . . . regarding the helicopter crash . . . , social media users in Israel celebrated the death of the Iranian leader. One of the jokes that garnered success stated, "The pilot is a Mossad agent named Eli Kopter.”; 5/20/24, 11:22 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: If Israel says they're aren't involved in the helicopter crash, well that's that. They always tell the truth. Honest injun!

And Alger Hiss claimed he was innocent for 30 years. And that's that.And USA didn't assassinate Diem, and there were weapons of mass destruction. People just don't lie. Honest injun.

Anyway, I just got around to binge watching "True Detective" first season. Quite good, especially the acting by the two leads. Too bad we get the usual over-the-top violence and HBO degenerecy. At one point our two police detectives are shown smoking MJ, drinking, and snorting cocaine, because y'know that's what they all do. And of course, the "straight as an arrow" "Happily married" cop has to be shown to be an adulterer and liar.

And our two detectives have almost unlimited time and resources to solve the murder, and constantly charge into dangerous, unknown situations without any backup or plan. Because if there are booby traps in a murderous drug dealers/killers lair the safest thing to do is just charge straight in - because its TV.

Also, the usual TV tropes: Unhappy police wives, Black authority figures, creepy or pathetic Christian ministers, and trashy white people. For once, I'd like to see our liberal/leftist run media companies show us a noble, smart Christian minister or maybe a bad, evil Rabbi. But I won't hold my breath.; 5/21/24, 12:24 AM
Candide said...: RCOCEANI II said,
“For once, I'd like to see our liberal/leftist run media companies show us … a bad, evil Rabbi. “

Do you know of any “bad, evil Rabbi” in real life? If you do, what “bad, evil” things do they do?

Or you just imagine there simply must be “bad, evil Rabbi” out there? In that case, what “bad, evil” things you imagine them doing?; 5/21/24, 1:05 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Why answer low-energy comments? Amazing how *anything* that can be considered negative about Jews or related to Israel brings out the teenage snark and low energy pushback. Got an argument? Lets hear it.

Getting back to True Detective. I was hoping the show would have shown Harrelson character to be a positive one, but that's hard to write. Its easier to be "dark and gritty" and show Harrelson to be a hypocrite, who "Likes them wild". Or to have an unhappy stressed family life (cf: Police story and 1000 other cop shows).

These days, its almost unheard for the "loner with issues" to be brought around and redeemed by a postive, traditional character. Instead, we get the traditional character brought down by his flaws. And again, its an easy out.

But i suppose I should be happy we got two good actors, both white, and not a female partner or black partner with the usual racism and sexism. Maybe that's the only way the writer could have 2 cops with "issues" and focus on their personalities and character interactions; 5/21/24, 1:35 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: gadfly said... Eli Kopter.

I know I shouldn’t be talking when it comes to spelling… but what fell out of the sky was a Helicopter, or, Elicoptero in Spanish.

Not to worry. gadfly was not the only one to fall for the prank.

link to the NYPost story

Here is an earlier version of the same joke .; 5/21/24, 3:17 AM
wendybar said...: Steve Guest
@SteveGuest
·
Follow
This is worse than when Biden told a guy in a wheelchair to stand up.

Like 1,000,000 times worse.

RNC Research
@RNCResearch
BIDEN (slurring): "And here with us today is Hersh Goldberg-Polin..."

He's actually an American-Israeli still being held hostage by Hamas.; 5/21/24, 4:26 AM
wendybar said...: Hey chuck. What is Joe's excuse about slipping into the shower with Ashley over and over again? He thought she was Jill?? Always with the excuses.; 5/21/24, 4:34 AM
wendybar said...: NOW I get it!! Chuck was just spewing what the White House wants spewed out there. Joe has no clue what is going on, and they are covering it up...and Chuck is just doing his part.

https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2024/05/20/the-press-are-strangely-incurious-as-white-house-makes-another-troubling-correction-to-a-biden-transcript-n2174436; 5/21/24, 4:55 AM
Leland said...: Gadfly, after your foolish and idiotic comments about the M/V Dali and maritime navigation, perhaps you shouldn’t opine about aviation accidents on the other side of the world. Plenty of people have already commented on this blog about the weather conditions and terrain in which the helicopter went down. They have a better understanding of the risks involved with transportation.

If your point is about reactions on social media, ask yourself how your behavior here and now is any different from theirs.; 5/21/24, 5:55 AM
narciso said...: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-announces-interim-president-after-raisis-helicopter-hit-mountain-disintegrated; 5/21/24, 7:40 AM
narciso said...: https://x.com/BjornLomborg/status/1792878050419384662; 5/21/24, 7:54 AM
Humperdink said...: Chuck blathered: "Biden misused the word "pandemic" for "recession.'"

Your defense of Biden is outright laughable. If it was a "one of" it might be believable. But this idiot (Biden, not you) has repeatedly lost his mind in mid-sentence. Humorous to see you're all for him.; 5/21/24, 7:55 AM
narciso said...: Anyways alger hiss the diem coup curveball comes from the same disputed sources

Like the gaza health ministry; 5/21/24, 7:55 AM
narciso said...: A soviet agent planted in a senate committee then the state department a vietcong stringer who informed halberstams reporting a uncorrobated german asset who they continued to pay after his lies had been found out; 5/21/24, 8:00 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Spectacular!; 5/21/24, 8:20 AM
Big Mike said...: And USA didn't assassinate Diem,

We didn’t. Diem and his brother were assassinated by two subordinate officers who reported to General Minh, the leader of the coup. Minh tried to suggest that they killed themselves, but it’s tough to shoot yourself in the head when your hands are cuffed behind your back.

Jack Kennedy gave his personal go-ahead for Minh’s coup. The official story was that Kennedy’s permission was conditioned on the brothers being allowed to live and sent into exile. There are three variations on this story, the first being that two South Vietnamese officers who were in the APC with Diem and his brother free-lanced and killed them without orders. Variation number two is that Minh ordered the assassinations but mislead the stupid Americans. Variation number three is that the CIA gave Minh permission for the assassinations but didn’t tell Kennedy because they were still pissed off after Allen Dulles and other CIA leaders were forced out of the agency after the Bay of Pigs debacle. And then (variation number four) there’s the possibility (likelihood?) that Kennedy and his advisors knew damned well Diem and his brother would not survive the coup and were okay with that. FWIW I’m inclined to go with variation number three, but the whole thing happened in 1963 and I expect that whatever could be made public has been made public in the intervening six decades.

and there were weapons of mass destruction.

There were, but you believe what you’ve been taught to believe. (You will anyway.); 5/21/24, 8:23 AM
Big Mike said...: Well this is interesting;

Earlier this month, Hertz charged a customer almost $300 for not returning his rental car with a full tank. It's a standard practice with vehicle rentals and moving truck companies. However, in this case, the car was a Tesla.

No wonder Hertz was having trouble renting its fleet of EVs if news of that got around!; 5/21/24, 8:50 AM
Drago said...: LLR-democratical And Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck: "I said that the word "pandemic" was misused by Biden."

Ah yes.

The forever mindreading "tell" of a typical lifelong leftist.

"Unexpectedly".; 5/21/24, 9:09 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Earlier this month, Hertz charged a customer almost $300 for not returning his rental car with a full tank. It's a standard practice with vehicle rentals and moving truck companies. However, in this case, the car was a Tesla."

Perhaps the customer did not return the Tesla with a sufficient charge.

From Hertz:

"We ask you to return the EV with at least the same level of charge or 75% (whichever is lower). If you return the EV with a level of charge lower than this then we will recharge the EV for you. Recharging fees will apply and may be added to your invoice or billed separately."; 5/21/24, 9:15 AM
Original Mike said...: Most people have experienced the scramble to gas up and return the rental car in time to catch their flight. Now imagine it's an EV…; 5/21/24, 9:48 AM
Humperdink said...: @ Mr. Cook. Two things. $300 is a pretty steep penalty for an unfilled fuel system. 2) When I return a rental, I fill up as close as possible to the rental agency. In this case, maybe there was no charging close by, maybe not.; 5/21/24, 9:49 AM
Candide said...: ROCOCEAN II cannot provide examples of “bad, evil Rabbi” in real world, but longs to see one portrayed in the media.

I am sure ROCOCEAN II can satisfy his desires from some radical Muslim or Nazi outlets. Or obtain “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”.; 5/21/24, 9:51 AM
wendybar said...: Brought all my houseplants out 2 days ago, and while watering them today, found an egg the size of a bit smaller "large" chicken egg!! No idea what it could be, and pretty sure it wasn't there all Winter long!!
A mourning dove perhaps??; 5/21/24, 9:56 AM
Narayanan said...: However, in this case, the car was a Tesla.
==============
was the customer aghast or spry to ask for assistance to locate gas tank?; 5/21/24, 10:20 AM
gadfly said...: Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes that former President Donald Trump posted a video on his social media platform that uses language that mirrors that of Nazi Germany, suggesting there will be a “Unified Reich” if he wins the 2024 election. Neither Trump nor the media understand German.

Trump tried to overthrow the government by staying in power after losing the 2020 election, and there’s not even a word in American English for that - you have to use a Spanish word, autogolpe, because that’s what happens in banana republics, not in America.

Dictionary.com tells us that the word means self-coup - a coup d'état performed by the current, legitimate government or a duly elected head of state to retain or extend control over government, through an additional term, an extension of a term, an expansion of executive power, the dismantling of other government branches, or the declaration that an election won by an opponent is illegitimate.; 5/21/24, 10:26 AM
Joe Smith said...: 'Trump tried to overthrow the government by staying in power after losing the 2020 election, and there’s not even a word in American English for that - you have to use a Spanish word, autogolpe, because that’s what happens in banana republics, not in America.'

Dear fuckhead, he LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE.

You people are so fucking dumb.; 5/21/24, 11:40 AM
walter said...: " In a hotel conference room in Denver, Dallenis Martinez attended orientation with hundreds of other migrants Monday for the city's new, ambitious migrant support program, which includes six month apartment stays and intensive job preparation for those who can't yet legally work.

It's an about-face from strategies Denver, New York City and Chicago have used as the cities scrambled to support thousands of migrants and slashed budgets. The largely improvised support strategies have included days- to weeks-long shelter stays or bus tickets to send migrants elsewhere.

Now, Martinez, 28, and her two young kids, along with some 650 others in Denver, are being set up with an apartment with six months of rental, food and utility assistance, a free computer, a prepaid cell phone and metro bus passes.

Then, the city working in coordination with several nonprofits plan to provide courses on English language, computers, financial literacy, and workers rights, while also assisting migrants in getting credentialed in specific industries, like construction, retail, hospitality, healthcare and early childhood education. Martinez said she will take any job to support her kids.

The support will also include help with the paperwork for asylum applications, and eventually work authorization.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/denver-launches-ambitious-migrant-program-19469008.php; 5/21/24, 12:14 PM
Rabel said...: Be on the lookout for a dog named Sam.; 5/21/24, 12:35 PM
Aggie said...: ..."Then, the city working in coordination with several nonprofits plan to provide courses on English language, computers, financial literacy, and workers rights, while also assisting migrants in getting credentialed in specific industries, like construction, retail, hospitality, healthcare and early childhood education. Martinez said she will take any job to support her kids."

'Non-profit groups'. Funny, how these get their funding. If anyone is curious, they get their funding by the hundreds of millions of dollars - from the US Government. Their funding = your tax dollars. Isn't that pleasing to you?; 5/21/24, 12:45 PM
Rusty said...: Talking to someone who just got their instrument certification for helicopters, it isn't recommended that they fly in instrument conditions.; 5/21/24, 1:21 PM
Robin Goodfellow said...: Blogger Humperdink said...
@ Mr. Cook. Two things. $300 is a pretty steep penalty for an unfilled fuel system. 2) When I return a rental, I fill up as close as possible to the rental agency. In this case, maybe there was no charging close by, maybe not.

Or perhaps he forgot to leave 3 hours early so he’d have enough time to charge up.; 5/21/24, 5:58 PM
Big Mike said...: @Cookie, it’s my understanding that the Hertz recharging fee for an EV is $25. But in the case cited the $300 fee was for not refilling the gas tank. And there is no gas tank on a Tesla.

What seems to have happened is that Hertz started renting out EVs, but without updating their forms. So the form asked “did you refill the tank?” (or something along those lines) without adding a box for “N/A.” So the car renter checked “No.” The computer did the rest. The guy who rented the Tesla objected, but Hertz insisted on payment. The fellow tried getting his money back from the Hertz corporation, but they basically told him there was nothing they could do (meaning nothing they would do).

Then the guy went to the media, the PR flacks at Hertz were asked to comment on a story about them charging nearly $300 for not putting gas in his Tesla and by the way they’re going to play it up big time for laughs. And the guy got his refund at nearly the speed of light.

BTW, why is our resident left-of-Karl-Marx troll (that’s be you, Cookie) taking the side of a large corporation against the little guy? You are weird, Cookie.; 5/21/24, 10:21 PM
walter said...: 'Non-profit groups'. Funny, how these get their funding.
--
Spend it on staff, furnishings.
rinse, repeat, retire.; 5/21/24, 10:55 PM