Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Open Thread


Open Thread is about whatever we want to talk about.

403 comments:

1 – 200 of 403   Newer›   Newest»
rhhardin said...

Holder is cruising the neighborhood looking for a garage to rob.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I just deleted the bookmark I had for the Men's Health website.

Every once in a great while there was some useful information but I've gotten sick and tired of the images of shaven, bare-chested, photoshopped male bodies and article titles like "Six Ways to a Better Beach Body."

It's Cosmopolitan Magazine except it's aimed at humans with a Y chromosome.

Can't really call them men.

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Every now and then I mis-click with the mouse and I go to Althouse.

I should probably think about deleting that one, as well.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I'm waiting for his Amazon Portal.

I'll be able to show my appreciation at no cost to me.

Meade, you can help him set it up.

Be a pal!

Joe Schmoe said...

I'm stumped.

Matt Sablan said...

Is Lem on the stump for new blog hangout?

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eric the Fruit Bat said...

You know, it's funny.

It's well-established that you introduce commerce into a relationship based on friendship and things start to go sour. Everybody knows that.

Why would anybody try to inject commerce for somebody else?

It's not like there'd be some kind of ulterior motive or anything, right?

No angle being worked. Just pure altruism.

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Schmoe said...

Meade, you sound like a PBS telethon. Will Lem give us a tote bag and a Yanni CD in return for our $1/week?

chickelit said...

Stumpf

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I deleted the bookmark for Men's Fitness a while ago.

It's disturbing to be reminded that there are guys out there who want to read about how some movie star got into shape for his role in some action movie.

Personal trainer to the stars reveals his secrets!

Ignorance is Bliss said...

With all this Meade-promoting-Lem stuff going on, I'm beginning to wonder if Lem is actually a deep-cover Althouse sock puppet.

Has anyone ever seen them in the same room together?

caplight45 said...

Never having been a blogger, just a mere commenter, am I to understand that a site owner is charged if they have a certain number of comments? How does that work? And if so, does that means Lem has to pay extra for an "Inga Fest" like we had last night?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Meade is a master at sock-puppetry, as is Alhouse, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't speak Spanish.

Although he is a landscaper . . .

OH, SHIT!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Haz said...

Stumpf, the musical instrument.

Invented in 'Sconnie, of course.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

am I to understand that a site owner is charged if they have a certain number of comments?

There's no charge to establish or operate a blog on Blogger.

Well, opportunity cost, I suppose.

But that applies to us all.

harrogate said...

Hey y'all, what's shakin?

edutcher said...

We need to come up with something better than Open Thread.

No, not cafe.

Joe Schmoe said...

I'm stumped.

You took it.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

With all this Meade-promoting-Lem stuff going on, I'm beginning to wonder if Lem is actually a deep-cover Althouse sock puppet.

Now who's feeding?

(had to...)

caplight45 said...

Never having been a blogger, just a mere commenter, am I to understand that a site owner is charged if they have a certain number of comments? How does that work? And if so, does that means Lem has to pay extra for an "Inga Fest" like we had last night?

Rev (if you are the clergyman that came to Ann's aid a couple of years ago), you nailed it - "Inga Fest".

She made the post all about her with another demented kvetch. That would seem to be what Ann meant about bandwidth on Bloody Sunday.

If so, I don't want to cost Lem any money.

Anonymous said...

Bzzzz,bzzzzz.

Still at it I see.

Here is an opportunity to show you are humans, not insects. I doubt you can do it.

Icepick said...

Never having been a blogger, just a mere commenter, am I to understand that a site owner is charged if they have a certain number of comments? How does that work? And if so, does that means Lem has to pay extra for an "Inga Fest" like we had last night?

No charge for comments. Google doesn't worry about overloading their servers, because they're much bigger than the NSA. And the NSA collect data on everyone. Google is much bigger than that,so they give people ridiculous amounts of data storage on email, and essentially unlimited amounts on blogger. It's all part of their plan to buy the entire Universe and then rent it out to gods from other dimensions.

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hagar said...

I would think that the last thing in the world - well down toward the last anyway - that "Black people," as a class, would want is repeal of the "Stand your Ground" statutes.

Reality is that "Black neighborhoods" tend to be more dangerous, and the inhabitants there have more occasion to "stand their ground."

I think I also saw an article stating that this is indeed the case in Florida; twice as many Black defendants have invoked the "Stand your Ground" defense as Whites.

Swifty Quick said...

Now, after having totally screwed up the blog once known as Althouse, Meade's here to help out. What a guy.

Roger J. said...

It is not clear to me what team O is doing with Zimmerman case--the DOJ has opened up a web site where folks can put information out on Zimmerman--I find that a bit scary, but that's just me.

The cynic in me thinks this administration is just playing this thing out (don't let a good crisis go to waste) to deflect attention from some genuine wrong doing. They can keep it fanned so it glows but doesn't burst into flames.

OK--well maybe not cynic but tinfoil hat stuff.

Anyone remember fast and furious? Benghazi? IRS intrusion into records for political purposes? IRS use of tax exemption for political purposes? NSA spying?

That stuff has dropped from coverage altogether so we are left with "the media" interviewing TM's GF who is close to moron.

Oh well--just my .02 (you said we can talk about anything we like)

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bagoh20 said...

Meade, I realize you may be racked with guilt when you wake up every morning and realize there are no comments to worry about, and that Ann will be calm and happy, that lunch won't be hurried, and that the day is relaxing with a happy content and lovely Ann free of the abuse of us girly men, but just enjoy it. Don't assuage your guilt by trying to shame others into paying for your new found peace, just pay what you think that's worth to you. I can't believe $1 a week is all you would pay for Ann's peace and happiness. Lem should be able to quit his job.

Roger J. said...

I understand that this is not a legal blog, and if you were to bring this stuff up on Volokh you would be inundated with conflicting legal opinions complete with case citations.

Anyway: does not the Constitution of the United States specify (quoting from memory) the president will take care to ensure the laws are faithfully executed?

Seems to Mr Obama has done a pretty lousy job of that--Now I understand the only remedy is impeachment, and that isn't an option. A gutless Republican house isn't going to impeach the first half black president--and even if they mustered up the courage, the feckless Democrat controlled senate wouldn't act on it.

Would someone remind me again that we are a constitutional republic?

I would appreciate any lawyer's views on the "take care" clause of the constitution.

rhhardin said...

Lem is where the action is.

Just a priori I'd guess that Althouse made a mistake, having created a place.

She got rid of the people.

Creating a place tends to be what women enjoy. You can enjoy lots of things but this one is typical for women.

But if only people were better, as if creating a place were something purer than what you get when you get people.

Why are the people there? They like talking, is why.

Icons make listening possible.

It's like a cocktail party effect for the eye.

Joe Schmoe said...

Roger J, that's just what they are doing publicly. God knows what's going on behind the scenes at the FBI, IRS, ATF, etc.

edutcher said...

Roger J. said...

It is not clear to me what team O is doing with Zimmerman case--the DOJ has opened up a web site where folks can put information out on Zimmerman--I find that a bit scary, but that's just me.

The cynic in me thinks this administration is just playing this thing out (don't let a good crisis go to waste) to deflect attention from some genuine wrong doing.


Well, you could consider this little abuse of power.

Anyone remember fast and furious? Benghazi? IRS intrusion into records for political purposes? IRS use of tax exemption for political purposes? NSA spying?

That stuff has dropped from coverage altogether so we are left with "the media" interviewing TM's GF who is close to moron.


This is the summer replacement.

Wait for the fall and new episodes of your favorite shows.

Hagar said...

Albuquerque has had a problem with some folks getting teenagers to do petty thievery for them, stealing tools out of open garage doors, etc., and taking the stuff to sell at flea markets in other cities. They tell the teens that it is OK; being juveniles, they won't have to go to jail if they are caught; just a reprimand and a sealed record.

So, one day here, I see a couple of youngsters dressed in oversize basketball jerseys and long shorts come traipsing down the middle of the street and looking at the houses as they pass by. They then paused and went into the front patio of the second house down from me, which happened to have nobody home at the time, and stood there looking at the front door, talking to each other.

So, I crossed the street and just stood there on the sidewalk looking a these two, which seemed to bother them some, and they decided to just move on back the way they came.

Now, was I wrong to thus "profile" these two upstanding young men?
Should I have a bad conscience about it?

Roger J. said...

Ed--there are too many scandals to keep up with--the IRS thing with donor records is just the most recent. For the connect the dots crowd must have created overload.

Roger J. said...

Re "hoodies" interesting enough some liquor stores in Memphis do not let people in wearing hoodies--why? pull the hood down over your face so the security cams cant see your face--I suspect these establishments will soon be charged with profiling.

Michael Haz said...

@Hagar - You were looking for a pick-up game of horse, right?

bagoh20 said...

I loved the Althouse blog, but I haven't read a single post there for over a week. I must be avoiding it just to be jerk. Why am I such a petulant little homo hater?

Get this: I just found out I'm gonna be best man in a gay wedding soon. Me, the homo hater and opponent of gay marriage. Go figure. Now, that's grace, and not on my part.

Joe Schmoe said...

RH, your last comment made me think of nesting.

Maybe Lem's picture in this post is a not-so-subtle indication of the state of Althouse. Ann planted an acorn, and a large tree grew over time. In a fit of pique, she cut it down. The birds that nested there were temporarily homeless.

Now that the Althouse tree is no longer blocking the sun, Lem's acorn has grown to the point where the misplaced birds now have a new place to nest. Thank you Lem.

Anonymous said...

Alt-Fiona-House is Althouse, Meade, a friend or a group concoction of those.

How many Althouse commenters are still MIA? This isn't a stranger.

Credit where credit is due, Darcy, Dust Bunny, and Deborah (an alliterative troika) got to Alt-Fiona-House first.

Or maybe we should go back to Darcy's fionamccrabapple which has a nice ring to it.

I go with Occam's Razor. It's Althouse. Know her by her scoldings.

Joe Schmoe said...

Bagoh, what kind of bachelor party do you throw for a gay wedding? I'm not being snide; I'm genuinely curious. I haven't had the honor myself.

Roger J. said...

Second Creeley's observation re scolding.

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I've put in for adsence. So the site might change one of these days. Just thought you should know.

It's not irrevocable, if you guys don’t want it... although i didn’t read the fine print, so I don’t know if I can take it off at will.

bagoh20 said...

"Ed--there are too many scandals to keep up with--the IRS thing with donor records is just the most recent. For the connect the dots crowd must have created overload."

It's really amazing. Virtually every wild paranoid warning from the right about political overreach and big government has come true, and I bet a right winger still can't win the Presidency.

I'm not a scholar - I don't have the right socks - but it seems to me the Founders were more afraid of a stupid electorate than single ambitious men, and as usual they got that right.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I thought the idea was that Lem would link to (or cut and paste) Althouse's posts so the commenting could go on here. I thought the idea was to insulate her from responsibility and to save her (and Meade) the inconvenience of managing the comments section.

Looks like I was wrong about that.

A mere drop in the ocean of my ineptitude!

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
deborah said...

The Inga fest was my fault, I apologize again.

Caplight, there is no extra cost for long comment threads; Blogger is a free site.

Interesting how Althouse says her commenters hate her, and now hate her at Lem's, but fails to mention how her better half is over hear being a complete ass.

Ed, I was thinking 'Coffee House.' (rh and Lem are correct...please choose an avatar pic :)

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

what Rh said. i got to get back.

bagoh20 said...

Lem come home!

Lem come home!

Lem come home!

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

What is Lem working for?

5 - 6 - 7 - 8

To save Meadhouse from beta hate.

% of total value of this blog to others:

Meadehouse 80%
Inga 10%
All others 10%

That's how the donations should be coming in.

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ignorance is Bliss said...

creeley23 said...

Alt-Fiona-House is Althouse, Meade, a friend or a group concoction of those.

I'm still baffled as to why anyone cares. If fiona writes something interesting, respond to the content. If not, don't.

What does it matter whether it is Professor Althouse, Glenn Greenwald, Samuel Clemens, or Benjamin Franklin? ( Okay, it would matter a lot if it was either of the last two. )

edutcher said...

Roger J. said...

Ed--there are too many scandals to keep up with--the IRS thing with donor records is just the most recent

Congress is basically on summer break, so no big revelations until Fall, but, like a couple of other people, I find myself wondering why Big Sis chose to resign now and in such an odd way.

Lem said...

I've put in for adsence. So the site might change one of these days. Just thought you should know.

Nice to be treated like part of the family.

Mitchell the Bat said...

I thought the idea was that Lem would link to (or cut and paste) Althouse's posts so the commenting could go on here. I thought the idea was to insulate her from responsibility and to save her (and Meade) the inconvenience of managing the comments section.

That was Chip Ahoy's Althouse's Looking Glass.

He hasn't updated since Sunday and that was pretty much of a farewell post.

bagoh20 said...

It's really amazing. Virtually every wild paranoid warning from the right about political overreach and big government has come true, and I bet a right winger still can't win the Presidency.

As long as the RINOs are the Demos' "Republicans", it would be an uphill fight.

I'm not a scholar - I don't have the right socks - but it seems to me the Founders were more afraid of a stupid electorate than single ambitious men, and as usual they got that right.

Why do you think free public education was one of the first things the colonies instituted once they got established here?

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Valentine Smith said...

No offense to you Lem.

Meadehouse is simply attempting to hand off the commenters to someone whom they perceive to be zero threat to their suzerainty.

Do you really think they would demonstrate such "beneficence" to someone like Bagoh or Hardin or Roger or many others who could actually steal page views?

Think about it. It's positively Machiavellian.

Good faith indeed.

bagoh20 said...

Go for the Adsense, Lem, and any other way you can monetize. I'm not a blogger, but I wouldn't count on donations. They will probably be spotty. Commerce is the way. Get the Amazon portal up. You will make money regular, and do it painlessly to your commenters while helping the economy too.

I buy a lot through Amazon. I now buy individual sheets of toilet paper at various times during the day, and pay for the fastest delivery. That shit pays.

deborah said...

Creeley, you alerted me to fionacrab. (by your avatar we shall know you...may I suggest Gatsby ;)

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Damn!!! Valentine Smith brings the vocabulary, baby!

I had to go look that one up.

I'll bet I'm not the only one so I'll make it easy for everyone.

LINK.

The Crack Emcee said...

Ann Althouse & Meade Lawrence: Muddying The Waters...

deborah said...

Amazon box, Lem. Right at the top of the sidebar.

Valentine, it's turned out that out-sourced commenting h8ers are good copy. Serendipity?

Roger J. said...

There are so many things going bad in this country (or at least I see as bad) spending time down in the muck talking about commenters and their motives is a bit depressing. Since this was an open thread, I threw out some political topics for discussion--but we still continue to talk about motives of individuals rather than topics. I could throw out a whole lot more: eg; Mr Obama's fatuous remarks about sexual harassment in the military which places in jeapordy any courts martial. And I haven't even started on Mr Obama's foreign policy bluders: again--who are we supporting in Egypt? who are we supporting in Syria? There is no foreign policy.

And yet we continue to talk about commenters motives. Alas

Matt Sablan said...

Since this is an open thread: Apparently it is going to be dry and miserable in D.C. And I don't just mean that the bars are closing during a major policy speech from the president.

Meade said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beta Rube said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Yet the tree is twisted, stunted and infested with voracious insects. The birds in the nest are being eaten alive. The forester may soon grow weary of these creatures.

Sorun said...

Where does the saying, "No good deed goes unpunished" come from?

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Meade-

I have no interest in you going into permanent self-imposed exile. I believe you have valuable thoughts to contribute.

You can start any time now.

bagoh20 said...

Meade stays........ and pays.

"Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back In."


$100 penalty/tax for every thread he misses. Yes we can force you to do anything. The lawyer kings said so.

Joe Schmoe said...

Thanks for the link Mitchell. The phonetic spelling isn't entirely helpful, so I'll have to don the headphones and see if a dictionary site has an oral pronunciation.

bagoh20 said...

"Where does the saying, "No good deed goes unpunished" come from?"

That was first brought up by the flowers of Earth at the dawn of mankind.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

FRANK PANTANGELI: Mike, I don't understand, I don't -- look -- I don't have your brain -- uh -- for big deals -- but this is a street thing. That Hyman Roth in Miami -- he's backing up those son of a bitches.

MICHAEL CORLEONE: I know he is.

FRANK PANTANGELI: Why do you ask me to lay down to them Mike?

MICHAEL CORLEONE: It was Hyman Roth that tried to have me killed. I know it was him.

FRANK PANTANGELI: Now -- Jesus Christ, Mike, Jesus Christ. Look, let's get 'em all -- let's get 'em all now, while we got the muscle.

-- The Godfather, Part II

edutcher said...

Roger, if you want to do issues, check out Saint Croix'(s?) blog.

deborah said...

The Inga fest was my fault, I apologize again.

Some people need attention.

No apologies necessary.

Ed, I was thinking 'Coffee House.' (rh and Lem are correct...please choose an avatar pic :)

Coffee house is good.

Sydney said...

This dark energy thing has been weighing on my mind:

It turns out that roughly 68% of the Universe is dark energy. Dark matter makes up about 27%. The rest - everything on Earth, everything ever observed with all of our instruments, all normal matter - adds up to less than 5% of the Universe. Come to think of it, maybe it shouldn't be called "normal" matter at all, since it is such a small fraction of the Universe.

I know that Lem's blog doesn't believe in God, but I have to wonder, is the dark energy part of the universe where God lives? If we all learn to love each other as much as we love ourselves, will we get to pass over to the dark energy side?
Is the dark matter purgatory?
Are we really the dark matter part of the universe and everything else true light?
Just wondering.

chickelit said...

edutcher said...
Roger, if you want to do issues, check out Saint Croix'(s?) blog.

Roger that one

Pastafarian said...

Mitchell the Bat: "There's no charge to establish or operate a blog on Blogger. Well, opportunity cost, I suppose. But that applies to us all."

That's something that Althouse should bear in mind. She's done a prodigious amount of work over the years on that blog; but so have the commenters.

And it's something I would think Meade of all people should appreciate. Meade, you'll recall, was booted from the comments section of the execrable Lawyers Guns and Money site (a vanity project of 3 or 4 hard-left antisemitic academics) and had months, maybe years, of comments (many quite clever, all on topic, none very nasty) deleted.

Althouse didn't go that far -- she didn't run the tree through the chipper. But she did cut it down. Much to the delight, I'm sure, of shit-heels like those people at LG&M. One particular twat over there, a doughy preening French Canadian, has an obsession with Althouse. I'm sure he's ecstatic.

I've tried to figure out your angle here, Meade. It seems as though you're just trying to piss people off and drive them away with this passive-aggressive, self-righteous hit-the-tip-jar stuff.

Am I wrong?

And: Was the money (or lack of it) really a contributing factor to Althouse chopping down that tree? Is that what you're getting at here?

Matt Sablan said...

Meade should stay, if for no other reason than it looks like he wants to.

Joe Schmoe said...

Yet the tree is twisted, stunted and infested with voracious insects. The birds in the nest are being eaten alive. The forester may soon grow weary of these creatures.

Or is it? At a casual glance, the gnarled limbs might look ugly on the outside, especially to one so familiar with the tree, one who nurtured it from a sapling, one who can't help but be confronted with the contrast of its current condition to its simple, original purity; but a little inspection below the surface reveals burl wood that is beautiful and fascinating for its irregular grain patterns and shapes.

Anonymous said...

Hagar: A friend once told me about a nature show he saw about elephants.

In India young male elephants on their own form posses and start making dangerous trouble. The Indians bring in old male elephants. The elders whip the youngsters into shape -- problem solved.

Much of the trouble we are seeing is straight mammalian psychology. We've marginalized older male influence on the young. This is what you get.

Methadras said...

Meade said...

I also pledge to try to keep my comments here at Lem's to under 100/week. If I go over 100, I'll send him another buck. And so on.


So in other words, you are trying to take the thread crapping crown from Inga?

rcocean said...

You know what we need to do in Foreign Policy?

First, ask Johnny McCain and get his advice.

Then do the opposite.

Anonymous said...

Insects show no appetite for mere "issues". They much prefer plumb feathered birdies. When the birds are stripped to the bone, they will then gladly devour each other. Meanwhile the flesh of the tree itself grows weak. I will be watching with horrified fascination.

Pastafarian said...

Meade: "If anyone wants to weigh in here on this comment tread - ..."

I vote that Meade stays.

And my vote counts for at least 6 or 7 because I have this awesome loincloth.

chickelit said...

Was the money (or lack of it) really a contributing factor to Althouse chopping down that tree? Is that what you're getting at here?

Lawyers bill fees
Sawyers fell trees

A curtain sawmentor maimed need...

edutcher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bagoh20 said...

Hagar at 11:09 "Now, was I wrong to thus "profile" these two upstanding young men?
Should I have a bad conscience about it?"


I think that's now considered attempted murder. You better hide.

Sydney said...

What is the address to St Croix's blog?

edutcher said...

OK, if anybody wants to do issues, here's a quote from what, sadly, is America's living image of the average black woman, Rachel Jeantel:

"I am educated. Trust me, I have a 3.0 I’m good."

Is that a 3.0 of the sort they hand out at Haavahd so nobody's feelings get hurt?

Some of you may have read the exchange I had with bag:

I'm not a scholar - I don't have the right socks - but it seems to me the Founders were more afraid of a stupid electorate than single ambitious men, and as usual they got that right.

Why do you think free public education was one of the first things the colonies instituted once they got established here?


We all know William Ayers and those other "distinguished educators" at places like Columbia, as well as the teacher unions, have worked manfully (is that sexist?) to dumb down education, so question before the floor:

Is Ms Jeantel the poster child for their work?

deborah said...

Chick, you are so beautiful, to meeeeee.

edutcher said...

sydney said...

What is the address to St Croix's blog?

http://www.saintcroix.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

There. I have an avatar at last. It is deceptively cute, because I am the insect, being watched with horrified fascination.

I can handle it, though, even as my observer laughs in my puzzled face.

rhhardin said...

I know that Lem's blog doesn't believe in God, but I have to wonder, is the dark energy part of the universe where God lives? If we all learn to love each other as much as we love ourselves, will we get to pass over to the dark energy side?
Is the dark matter purgatory?
Are we really the dark matter part of the universe and everything else true light?


Dark just means it doesn't interact with photons, or apparently much of anything in the lab.

Quantum limits are stranger yet, but so far without a moral lesson.

Mechanism doesn't get you anywhere in explanation of consciousness no matter how deep you go. It's a language limit; no interest has developed the conventions to provide an answer.

For mechanism torn apart in readable historical form, still valid, see Coleridge's Biographia Literaria chapters 5-9, the motto taken being that matter has no inwards. You're not going to get to an inwards from matter.

I prefer Levinas on religion, that it's a poeticization of ethics, which leaves lots of room for appreciation yet avoids dogma.

There's the langauge you need : it's a kind of literary criticism, not a kind of science.

Anonymous said...

Some of the insects grow wings. They are swarming to fly off to yet another tree. That is how a forest is destroyed.

Joe Schmoe said...

Perhaps the forester should concern themself less with exerting control over the tree, and trust that the tree can develop and sustain itself. Over time the tree will die or fall over under its own weight, but another will grow in its place, replete with its warts and insects and imperfections.

Methadras said...

fionamcgee said...

Yet the tree is twisted, stunted and infested with voracious insects. The birds in the nest are being eaten alive. The forester may soon grow weary of these creatures.


The althouse blog got twisted and stunted by voracious insects (the commenters) and the birds in the nest (all the good and approved commenters) were eaten alive by those voracious insects (the commenters)and the forester (althouse and meade) may soon grow weary and either cut the tree down or fumigate it.

Gosh Althouse, how transparent can you be?

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Hagar said...

Now, was I wrong to thus "profile" these two upstanding young men?

I've read your post several times through yet I still can't find the one piece of information needed to answer that question.

Matt Sablan said...

Edutcher: Some of the dumbest people I know went to better colleges than me, on scholarships, with higher GPAs. The thing that frustrated me the most was that, in high school, I took courses that challenged me (AP courses, math, etc.), and essentially denied myself a 4.0. So, by doing what it took to get smarter, on paper, I look LESS smart than the people who took free rides through high school and college.

Methadras said...

Matthew Sablan said...

Meade should stay, if for no other reason than it looks like he wants to.


I have zero issue with meade doing whatever he wants, but you can clearly see what he is trying to do. He and Althouse are so obvious in this.

Anonymous said...

I am but an observer of insect politics. I exert no control, nor do I wish to.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Eileen Lurker said...

There. I have an avatar at last. It is deceptively cute...

What's so cute about a kid frying a bug with a magnifying glass?

Anonymous said...

I'm still baffled as to why anyone cares. If fiona writes something interesting, respond to the content. If not, don't.

Ignorance is Bliss: I'm baffled why someone who doesn't care needs to write about how he doesn't care.

It's interesting, that's why, to me at least and some others. That's obvious enough. A tiny little mystery in our bloggy backyard. Maybe mysteries aren't your thing.

It also changes how one reads Alt-Fiona-House and Meade. It adds a layer of deceit to their comments.

If there were any doubt, this morning Althouse made it clear that she follows these exchanges with interest and is still settling scores.

rhhardin said...

I couldn't watch television as akid until my grades improved.

I didn't watch television. That worked it out.

deborah said...

The althouse blog got twisted and stunted by voracious insects (the commenters) and the birds in the nest (all the good and approved commenters) were eaten alive by those voracious insects (the commenters)and the forester (althouse and meade) may soon grow weary and either cut the tree down or fumigate it.

She forgot to mention the huge asp slinking around.

bagoh20 said...

Joe Schmoe said...
"Bagoh, what kind of bachelor party do you throw for a gay wedding? I'm not being snide; I'm genuinely curious. I haven't had the honor myself."

That's a good question. The wedding party and friends are staying at my place, so I think there will just be a party. I hope nobody is expecting strippers. The guys getting married are in their 50s and pretty conservative, but lots of fun. They both have high security jobs in the government, big ex-marine types, so they will have whatever they want. I may be forced to embarrass myself ... again. I'm practicing my pole dancing routine at the local school playground.

chickelit said...

Insect politics, meaningless nouns.
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around.
Look at yourself, look at yourself,
Yeah, yeah.
Look at yourself, look at yourself,
Yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah.


The Strawberry Alarmed Clock

edutcher said...

Matthew Sablan said...

Some of the dumbest people I know went to better colleges than me, on scholarships, with higher GPAs. The thing that frustrated me the most was that, in high school, I took courses that challenged me (AP courses, math, etc.), and essentially denied myself a 4.0. So, by doing what it took to get smarter, on paper, I look LESS smart than the people who took free rides through high school and college.

Interesting you say that.

Ms Jeantel has been "offered multiple scholarship opportunities, including one from morning radio talk show host Tom Joyner, who has offered her a tutor to help her graduate and to prep for the SAT and four years of tuition to any Historically Black College or University."

PS Since we're here, what do we call ourselves?

Over there, we were Althousians and the Lefties called us Althouse Hillbillies.

I'm hoping we can do better than (arrggghhh!) Lemmings.

Maybe Levitators.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

bagoh20 said...

I'm practicing my pole dancing routine at the local school playground.

The Poles that I knew growing up usually danced the Polka. Is that your routine?

The Dude said...

I'd give Lem my wife's money for Meade to go away.

Unknown said...

Aw, gee, Ignorance, I thought I was being so clever, and you had to go and ruin it for me.

rhhardin said...

Lem is of course going to have an eventual unexplainable fall.

The Onion had a great video (still available?) of a porn scene, black guy screwing a white actress, and the actress eventually screams "You go, nigger"

The set falls silent.

Shame and vituperation descend. Her career is ruined. A Paula Deen process begins.

I don't know how to find the video - Onion videos stopped working for me years ago.

But you just never know when something will get you in trouble.

chickelit said...

Ann Althouse said...
Palladian is trying to reveal my "trade secret" tags.

I deliberately refrained from mentioning "insect politics."

Have you heard of insect politics? Neither have I. Insects don't have politics....

The first rule of insect politics is you don't talk about insect politics....

No shirts, no shoes.... Insect politics will go on as long as they have to....
link

ndspinelli said...

Folks, All the analysis of the dysfunctional duo is interesting. My job was to assess people and what they're real motivation was for doing or saying things. In our current culture, words are used as much to deceive than to enlighten. When people have no friends, this is as close as they can come to that friendship relationship that is, for us, like riding a bike.

The Crack Emcee said...

Deb suggested I move my Amazon portal, so I did.

Feel free to use it at your leisure,...

bagoh20 said...

They way he's handling it, and the way he seem to want it to be, if Lem's blog doesn't last then it's not his fault. He's making a commenter's blog. We are it, as some of us claim, so we either interest and compel ourselves or we don't.

It's not on Lem if it fails, but he does ironically deserve credit if it works. He's the George Washington of blogging.

Is the king still here?

Sydney said...

Rhhardin
For mechanism torn apart in readable historical form, still valid, see Coleridge's Biographia Literaria chapters 5-9, the motto taken being that matter has no inwards. You're not going to get to an inwards from matter.

But that assumes God is inward, like ethics. God isn't in us, he's outside us. At least, that is how I understand Christian theology. God isn't morality, he's a being.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Most blogs that don't allow comments suck. Insty is an exception and I just figured out that I liked Althouse mainly for the comments.

rhhardin said...

In our current culture, words are used as much to deceive than to enlighten.

Lux et Venalitas

Paddy O said...

So, I like fractals as a way of talking about society and religion and whatnot. Or is it ecology? Either way, scaled systems that interact in a complex way with the environment.

I probably got that crap reading Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently books.

Anyhoo, issues are symptoms more than root causes, that's why the present commenting stuff is a great, smaller-scale, representation of what really goes into interpersonal relationships at every scale.

Mutually exclusive expectations and sense of purpose running into a crisis point, one that is both downplayed and fixated on as being an issue itself.

Which, again, is why a national conversation never works. People talk past each other and diminish each other's perspective while magnifying their own perceived grievances.

Not everyone falls into this trap. Some in order to protect their own emotional vulnerability attempt to play the objective observer in an arena in which they have some perceived neutrality, oftentimes doing so in order to temporarily suspend engagement with crises which they do not and cannot seem to resolve. Ornithologists and entomologists pin their labels onto the gathered specimens, each one in its own tidy box. Perceived order provides a calming force.

Or something like that.

Somebody mentioned twinkies? Are they being sold in stores again?



rhhardin said...

But that assumes God is inward, like ethics. God isn't in us, he's outside us. At least, that is how I understand Christian theology. God isn't morality, he's a being.

You need to distinguish us from matter before you get to spirit in any form.

You can't get to us from matter.

The question of where language drives you is taken up by Cavell in this paragraph.

You may want to read a little back from that.

Language is a trap built of pictures that suffice for ordiniary interests but serve as markers dropped accounts, rather than scientific descriptions.

That's why dogma always ends badly.

deborah said...

Sydney, here are four delightful Bloggingheads. The first one discusses dark matter:

http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/2145

http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/2212

http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/1646

http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/1728

The Crack Emcee said...

"Actually, I'm finding that, when I click over [to] Althouse, the comments she's choosing to print are all self-serving..."

And you can fool some of the people some of the time,...

Sydney said...

Thank you, Deborah. I'll watch those after work tonight.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Lem is of course going to have an eventual unexplainable fall.

You are absolutely correct.

People have to be "led"... shepherded... ushered.

We can't do things w/o a director.

I was thinking we could have guest post from our own well of commenters.

If only we were willing to expose our egos just a little bit.

Anonymous said...

I'm hoping we can do better than (arrggghhh!) Lemmings.

Lemmings get a bad rap. Disney faked the cliff jumping:

Even more influential was the 1958 Disney film White Wilderness, which won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature, in which staged footage was shown with lemmings jumping into certain death after faked scenes of mass migration. A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary, Cruel Camera, found the lemmings used for White Wilderness were flown from Hudson Bay to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where they did not jump off the cliff, but were in fact launched off the cliff using a turntable.

-- Wiki


A turntable!

rhhardin said...

If possible, limit your outdoor activities to early morning or evening hours.

Avoid also outdoor activities in the early morning or evening.

Advice from experts.

Methadras said...

Lem said...

Lem is of course going to have an eventual unexplainable fall.

You are absolutely correct.

People have to be "led"... shepherded... ushered.

We can't do things w/o a director.

I was thinking we could have guest post from our own well of commenters.

If only we were willing to expose our egos just a little bit.


Or at least settle the ego down a little bit. Ones ego is tied directly to their sense of self or their sense of worth. However, those senses tend to be false or at least misrepresented. Sort of like self-esteem. You can have a high self-esteem but still produce low expectations. I think you might be feeling overwhelmed with all of this, Lem. I say don't be. It's just words, you don't need to dedicate yourself 24/7 to something that you set up as a hobby. Unless you are trying to monetize this adventure of course. :D I say to you good luck, you are doing a decent job so far.

Rabel said...

Meade's apparent transformation into a high school drama queen certainly is interesting.

Hard to understand, but interesting. However when you decide to shit on everybody because somebody shit on you, it's unavoidable that you also shit on your friends and supporters and soon they're gone and you end up all covered with shit yourself and isn't that a fine kettle of fish shit.

Jesus, Meade. What the fuck is your problem?

rcocean said...

"If only we were willing to expose our egos just a little bit."

Well, its a lot of work too. And its even harder when you have to figure out what other people find interesting.

Anonymous said...

Big locust talks down to grasshopper@1:03PM. Do you hear that big BZZZZZ from big locust? Hop away little grasshopper the locust wants to eat you.

Paddy O said...

"We can't do things w/o a director."

But the nature of the director can be different. In the US, for instance, we argue that the Constitution serves this purpose, that we are united by a shared theme of rights and expectations, and leaders are in charge of patrolling the boundaries of violations.

Ants have a queen, but the queen just lays the eggs, getting fat and laying more eggs. She's not creating a list of things the workers are to do, they just do it, a curiously natural organization in which each part plays a role that contributes to the whole.

Hierarchical leadership creates order but depresses creativity. Looser control engenders freedom, but risks order.

Althouse, for instance, sought the latter but finds more freedom in the former. As do almost all institutions. She celebrated the trolls to a fault, taking their side, for the sake of freedom, thus creating an environment in which only the trolls and discontents were the only protected and honored class, for amusement and free speech.

Then, it became all trolling all the time.

Free speech advocates clamp down when their ideals are confronted by the ramifications that people are often horrible little insects that buzz around your ears, rather than cute little insects who suggest jokes and ideas.

People would say, clean up those crumbs! No, no, was the response, we welcome all, the more grotesque the better, freedom for creepy crawlies! If they're getting into your bed and clothes, then it's your own problem.

Maybe it's true that everything from New York has bedbugs, maybe it's not, but the reality remains that encouraging the bugs that drove off the birds then complaining that the birds are being consumed by the bugs led to the whole situation.

When good directing could have kept the birds and the bees doing their thing in perfect accord.

Icepick said...

Now, was I wrong to thus "profile" these two upstanding young men?

Yes. NOTICING THINGS is the worst sin in modern America.

Should I have a bad conscience about it?

You should. As penance, you must go to a Trayvon Martin rally, buy a commemorative te-shirt, and then give to the Michelle Obama 2016 Presidential Campaign fund.

bagoh20 said...

"Lemmings get a bad rap. Disney faked the cliff jumping"

Jumping off a cliff is only feared by those who stay behind.

Let's go!

Trooper York said...

Lt. Mike Stone: This video came in the mail. I don't know how this new fangled gadget works.
Can you set it up Steve?
Inspector Steve Keller: Sure Mike. Where did it come from?
Lt. Mike Stone: I don't know. A concerned citizen mailed it in. The note says it looks like a hostage tape.
Inspector Stever Keller: Is it Patty Hearst?
Lt. Mike Stone: I don't think so. The note said it was an elderly shut-in.
(The Lonely Hearts Murders, The Streets of San Francisco 1973)

Icepick said...

I've put in for adsence. So the site might change one of these days. Just thought you should know.

It's not irrevocable, if you guys don’t want it... although i didn’t read the fine print, so I don’t know if I can take it off at will.


You never said you wouldn't try and make a buck, so go ahead.

Unknown said...

I was thinking we could have guest post from our own well of commenters.

I think this is a terrific idea. From time to time I have ideas for blog posts but don't want to get bogged down in trying to run a blog.

I would also like to read more from some of the Althouse commenters (the interesting ones, of course :-) )

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The only people that i know of that fly solo are AA frm the yelow pages. And even there they ask you to find a higher power somthing grater than your self. Which is not bad if you are trying to quit something. Not say something... go from the nside out..... if that makes sense.

Paddy O said...

Blogging is like standup.

Commenting is like improv theater.

Different skills. Different ideas.

Some folks are good at both, I suppose.

Instapundit is a blogging commenter. He very rarely writes substantive posts, but makes a huge amount of comments on a wide variety of other posts.

You get the occasional Eddie Murphy, who was a success at Saturday Night Live and in standup, but even he runs out of jokes and his movies start bombing.

Trooper York said...

Inspector Steve Keller: My God that tape is terrible. Worse than the Patty Hearst tapes. That poor woman. Did someone break her nose?
Lt. Mike Stone: I don't know it is hard to tell. She is awful jumpy though. And looking for approval. I didn't like how she was pushed in the face and asked for more. There is something not right there.
Inspector Steve Keller: We have to track down this tape Mike. This woman is crying out for help. Do
you think we can identify her or the man behind the curtian.
Lt. Mike Stone: We might find her. He might be harder. Snakes travel on their belly. Just like in the video.
Inspector Steve Keller: I feel dirty. I have to go out tonight and have a few drinks.
Lt. Mike Stone: Oh with that nice young girl. What is she an interperter for the court?
Inspector Steve Keller: Actually she is a cunning linquist.
Lt. Mike Stone: Well just be careful Steve. Don't catch anything.
Inspector Steve Keller: Catch anything? What can I possibly catch in San Francisco in the 1970's.
(The Lonely Hearts Murders, The Streets of San Francisco 1973)

Hagar said...

@Ignorance

The young gentlemen did not "look Black," but may well have been "White Hispanics." That is most of Albuquerque.

But they weere strangers, the oversize basketball get-ups stood out in this neighborhood, and their age, and walking slowly down the middle of the street while looking both ways, and just something about them that gave me a feeling that they were not "right."

That's the definition of "profiling."

caplight45 said...

I like the idea of guest posts. I hope they would be agreed to in advance so that one wouldn't waste one's time writing only to have it not posted.

Icepick said...

Mitchell the Bat wrote: thought the idea was that Lem would link to (or cut and paste) Althouse's posts so the commenting could go on here. I thought the idea was to insulate her from responsibility and to save her (and Meade) the inconvenience of managing the comments section.

That's what I was going to try and do. But almost no one was interested in that (at least when I was doing it) and everyone comes here for the open threads and the other postings.

Frankly, I'm relieved Lem's place took off and not mine. I don't think I made it clear enough that I eventually wanted a group of posters. Furthermore, I was going to be much more dictatorial about comments, and riding heard on a few hundred comments a day takes some effort.

I've done that last bit before, as a moderator of a board that got a few hundred posts a day. The idea was to elect three moderators every four months or so, and somehow I got one of the first three spots pretty much by acclamation. (Seriously, I have no idea who the fuck they thought they were getting.) It didn't last long though, when one of the moderators (not me, in case this isn't clear) started deleting every post by every body who had ever disagreed with him on any topic, and he even started deleting the comments of the other two moderators on the private moderator board.

At that point I decided "fuck it." The board wasn't mine, and I basically had responsibility without authority. I was willing to give it another go to try and preserve the old commenting community, but thinking about it I would really demand all moderation power be concentrated in myself, if I was running the thing. Split moderation is a nightmare, never again, and all that rot.

But, again, Lem got tapped, and that's a good thing for me! Herding one actual three year-old IRL is challenge enough.

Still, I miss the old community. I've looked at some of the older posts recently, looking at old dust-ups. It's depressing to see how many of the commenters I started with back in 2006 have disappeared. Eventually the comment boards are just too much interaction with people without any of the usual social lurication or the ability to walk away from people for a while.

I think that last is why I was still commenting. I'd disappear from commenting for a while at stretches, and then come back. It cleared my head a bit every time, and allowed me to let go of some of the agita.

Oh well, that's done, and now we're here at the refugee camp, and will probably disperse after a while. I got two friends in real life out of this (rcommal and amba), so that's actually pretty good.

Icepick said...

Ed, I was thinking 'Coffee House.' (rh and Lem are correct...please choose an avatar pic :)

Hey, I've been the same skull for years now!

bagoh20 said...

You are not just making a buck by monetizing. Besides it being a good thing for good people to have more money, it supports other people doing the same. they aren't paying you out of charity - it helps them.

The only reason to not monetize is if you think you might be evil and therefore use the money to build an annihilatrix.

Unknown said...

And its even harder when you have to figure out what other people find interesting.

Do you think Althouse made her postings based on what she thought her commenters would find interesting?

I got the impression she posted on what *she* found interesting, and she was pretty good at articulating why.

Since it was often a contrarian view, commenters were easily engaged, and the rest is history.

I still really like her take on the topics she chooses, but I immediately miss the commentary, and so I don't stick around. It was all of a piece to me, and it isn't the same without it. It's hard for me to imagine she doesn't miss it, too; but I hardly know her mind on this.

I really don't understand what happened. I didn't read every post or every comment on every subject, but it sure seemed to me that the environment rather suddenly became downright poisonous. To the point that Althouse's own comments seemed unrecognizeable. Meade's comments always seemed a little offbeat to me (sorry Meade, it's true), but his involvement here does seem kind of odd just the same.

I don't understand it. It's just sad.

On the other hand, it's silly to keep going over and over it, too. So that's all I'll say on the topic.

Probably. :)

Icepick said...

Congress is basically on summer break, so no big revelations until Fall, but, like a couple of other people, I find myself wondering why Big Sis chose to resign now and in such an odd way.

Come on, it was because she was offered the sinecure at the University of Lesbos, er, California system. This is good news for the rest of the country, as now poor schmucks like Bagoh are going to be paying for the bitch, letting the rest of us off the hook.

Icepick said...

And yet we continue to talk about commenters motives. Alas

Some do, some don't. It's an open thread, post what you want, and try to force things a given way.

pm317 said...

Hi ya, Lem! You were one of the nice guys on the other blog I liked, so stopped by to say hi.

Why is Meade here? Is he spying on people here so he can report to Althouse about what we are saying about her? You know how thin-skinned she is -- she must be dying of curiosity to see how she can respond to all the bad stuff people say here of her. Meade here, and her weird comment posts over there -- weirder, weirder..just get over it -- you shut the comments off; it is not the end of the world.

Icepick said...

Apparently it is going to be dry and miserable in D.C.

The more misery for the bastards in DC, the better.

When I get around to writing my own constitution, I'm going to put the new capitol in Death Valley. Or perhaps have it move from Death Valley in the hot months to somewhere within the arctic circle in the cold months. Make those fuckers suffer if they want to lead.

Basta! said...

Lem, thanks for setting this up and running (with) it.

But watch out for those scissors!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

What concerns me, deeply, is it's been far too long since Meade has found a comment dollar-worthy.

pm317 said...

It's hard for me to imagine she doesn't miss it, too; but I hardly know her mind on this.

You bet she is missing it, at least the good side of it. Most of her posts are one-liners which don't deserve a visit unless we have all the others chiming in on it. But I must acknowledge it got rough just before she shut it -- seemed like a lot of righty loons calling her names and stuff. That was not cool.

Joe Schmoe said...

I loves me some burritos and tacos from Chipotle. It's becoming my go-to lunch spot.

Joe Schmoe said...

Hey Lem? How about a baseball post? I know this isn't a big sports crowd, but there are some of us that enjoy them. Even Ann would indulge in an occasional baseball or football post. I remember the time she swooned over the thought of having Ryan Braun's pee in her refrigerator. Or at least that's the way I remember it.

yashu said...

Hey harrogate, nice to see you.

I do not believe, cannot believe, will not believe, fmg is Althouse.

That would just be too depressing.

It's inconceivable to me that she'd lower herself to that level. And it reminds me way too much of someone else. Who of course loves the attention.

Drama queens (of any gender/ orientation) get on my fucking nerves. So do those who feed them. So I'll do my best not to-- and just scroll past the annoying buzzing sound.

Like others, baffled by Meade's current persona. Don't understand it, won't try. Hope it's just a passing phase & he'll get over it soon.

I want to retain my gratitude to and affection for Althouse/ Meadehouse. This nonsense makes it a bit more difficult.

Swifty Quick said...

But I must acknowledge it got rough just before she shut it -- seemed like a lot of righty loons calling her names and stuff. That was not cool.

She brought most of that on herself by trolling her own blog.

Hazy Dave said...

"Eric Holder’s Department of Justice had solicited the public for information about George that could help a federal civil rights prosecution. The DOJ has even set up an email address for tips on Zimmerman."

Would a "No Snitch" Attorney General really do such a thing?

Icepick said...

Meade should stay, if for no other reason than it looks like he wants to.

Id' rather say he should go, as Althouse in the last week has gone from bitchily ditching commenters, to making half her posts what "readers" were sending her in email, to today's collection of "commenters suck balls" posts. All in a nice passive-aggressive manner of mostly quoting other people and sliding in the agreement somewhere along the line. ("If you really need a fix of the old stuff, you can see some of the my erstwhile commenters mixing it up on Lem's place. For the most part, they are demonstrating why it's better not to have that material here.")

If that's how they feel, and after a week that sure appears to be the case to me, I say fuck 'em, and don't warn them when someone tries to get the doorknobs jammed in their asses on the way out. (I hate those doorknobs anyway, and think they ought to be replaced.)

I was really trying to keep an even keel on things with this blow up, but today's collection of posts complaining about all the nasty little people that she and Meade sucked up to for years in an effort to suck some money out of the commenters ... well, to Hell with that noise.

Methadras said...

Hey Lem. Instead of saying Open Thread, how about you call it Belly Up To The Bar #1, #2, etc.

Icepick said...

Some of you may have read the exchange I had with bag:

Sweet Jeebus, ed, do you add every comment you ever make to a database for later retrieval? :)

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

It may have been cruelly neutral for God to have expelled Adam and Eve from the garden, but at least they knew His reason why.

Hagar said...

But, Icepick,
after the Boston bombing, I am sure I saw President Obama on TV urging us all to "notice" things, and call the authorities.

(Though I did not do call anyone; I just stood there looking at them and trying to make them as uncomfortable as I could.)

Anonymous said...

The buzzing became deafening, that's why.

pm317 said...

Icepick said...
----

Ditto. I like to think all the good ones are here, even Yashu made an appearance and for Althouse to diss Lem's crowd here was not cool.

Icepick said...

We are it, as some of us claim, so we either interest and compel ourselves or we don't.

You mean the success or failure of this place depends on how much IO play with myself?

WOOHOO! Paradise!

Oh, wait a minute. Damn. I can only do that when my daughter's asleep. Well, THAT'S going to kill the fun.

Karen of Texas said...

Do you know how territorial mockingbirds are? Because they are. And frigging aggressive about it, too. I have a nesting pair in my Bradford pear, and they tag teamed me earlier. Frontal assault with all kinds of chatter and posturing and then, out of the corner of my eye, I catch the other one diving bombing my head. They are relentless.

I think I'm going to take my tennis racquet outside.

Icepick said...

Most blogs that don't allow comments suck. Insty is an exception

THat's because Insty isn't blogging so much as he is Tweeting. Forget calling him the Blog Father, he's really the Godfather of Twitter.

Freeman Hunt said...

Anyone would want Meade as a commenter. He's an all-star commenter. This is obvious. Current events must have temporarily clouded that for some people.

Chennaul said...

It's well-established that you introduce commerce into a relationship based on friendship and things start to go sour. Everybody knows that.


*********

That's why I hate Mary Kay, Avon and Pink Cadillacs.

I apologize to the lipstick sellers in advance.

Freeman Hunt said...

On the rare occasion that I do blog nowadays, I do not, as a general rule, allow comments. I am very pleased with this, even as an avid commenter.

Blogging with and without comments are almost like two different genres.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

That's the problem with bug zappers.

Sometimes the bulb attracts insects even though the zapper part doesn't function.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Icepick said...

I would also like to read more from some of the Althouse commenters (the interesting ones, of course :-) )

Well, choosing which ones are interesting is the problem, isn't it!

;)

Chennaul said...

There's this thing called--

The Golden Cadillac from my bartending days--that thing isn't too bad--but I prefer the--

B-52--if you're gonna get sweet.

A good plane and a good drink.

Icepick said...

the oversize basketball get-ups stood out in this neighborhood, and their age, and walking slowly down the middle of the street while looking both ways, and just something about them that gave me a feeling that they were not "right."

That's a variation on the ghetto shuffle. We they holding their pants up with one hand?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Sometimes I can squeeze a comment from a computer at work and sometimes only from the phone.

But the reason why I said Rh is correct is because it is very apparent, and I think to Rh too, that Althouse did an impulsive thing one day, and now that it is obvious to her, she is having second thoughts.

But she doesn’t want to do the things she needs to do to get it back and restore what she did. She wants to just turn back on comments, not much different from when she turn them off, and have us magically and dutifully re-appear, w/o any fuzz, which may happen, eventually.

That’s what Rh is so keenly foreseeing, and that’s why I read his comments.

Icepick said...

(Though I did not do call anyone; I just stood there looking at them and trying to make them as uncomfortable as I could.)

Well, good for you!

But the President wanted people to notice pressure cookers, not behavioral patterns of people, or patterns about people that exhibit certain behavioral patterns, which you aren't supposed to notice in any event.

Hazy Dave said...

"I believe you have valuable thoughts to contribute. You can start any time now."

Ha!

Lemmings, eh? Seems somehow appropriate? Twas an engrossing puzzle-solving computer game, too...

Paddy O said...

"He's an all-star commenter. This is obvious."

I agree with this. That's a side benefit to the comments closing. He rarely commented over there for the last few years. He did all his commenting in person, which we couldn't hear. The NSA no doubt has records, but it'd take months to go through the FIA paperwork, and by that time the thread had long since died.

edutcher said...

OK, let me play Linda richman one more time and suggest some issues (this is at Roger's request, after all) and throw a couple of things out for those tired of the fiona show:

Choom says he "probably" couldn't grant Grahamnesty on his own.

But he's clearly thinking about it.

The Silver Haired Angel of Death says opposing ObamaTax is racist.

Because Her Daddy was a Congressman back then (notice how all the feminists are Daddy's girls?).

AG "my people" has opened a tip line to trump up, um..., gather evidence for a civil rights case against George Zimmerman.

Wages down 3% under Choom.

Guess who's hardest hit.

And Joker Tsarny gets the Dr Hook award with the Cover Of The Rollin' Stoone


Icepick said...

Some of you may have read the exchange I had with bag:

Sweet Jeebus, ed, do you add every comment you ever make to a database for later retrieval? :)


No, but even the soap operas give you a little background.

yashu said...

Hey pm317, nice to see you too!

creeley, if you're around:

I didn't comment on the recent Gandolfini/ Sopranos thread @ Althouse, but read it. Recall you linking an interesting piece on the ending.

Anyway, just last night came across this analysis of Tony's character (and in particular the killing of Chris), which I thought great and you might find interesting.

Hell of a show. Been catching some of the HBO reruns.

pm317 said...

fionamcgee said...
-------------

This is betamax..(don't remember the full handle), my 2 cents.

Anonymous said...

I do not believe, cannot believe, will not believe, fmg is Althouse.

That would just be too depressing.

It's inconceivable to me that she'd lower herself to that level. And it reminds me way too much of someone else. Who of course loves the attention.


yashu: But who else could it be? Inga doesn't have the gear for the Fiona comments we are reading. Who does and has the motivation?

Fiona sounds like pure Althouse to me. She's not even trying to conceal her identity and ill-will.

If she is not, who is Fiona? If she is, well, that's another couple points towards my sociopath theory of Althouse.

Beta Rube said...

Alright edutcher, I'll bite.

I think that a tip line sponsored by the DOJ to collect anecdotal evidence against a guy who is now a political enemy, to somehow assuage an angry base is one of the scariest things I've ever seen.

yashu said...

Nah pm317, don't think so.

betamax is too witty and fun and he never ever attacked other commenters.

Icepick said...

Freeman Hunt wrote: Current events must have temporarily clouded that for some people.

I'm mostly skipping his posts these days, as it is a lot of passive-aggressive bullshit.

Lem wrote: But the reason why I said Rh is correct is because it is very apparent, and I think to Rh too, that Althouse did an impulsive thing one day, and now that it is obvious to her, she is having second thoughts.

Today she has made it clear that she thinks the majority of the old the commenters should just fuck-off, Lem, and that she's happy your site is a garbage dump. That isn't exactly going to get people wanting to come back, and I've gone from trying to be neutral on this issue to thinking that the more harsh critics have been correct in their assessments of Althouse's and Meade's personalities.

She loves the attention, but she wants to shit all over everyone that gives it to her.

Clearly it has been a long time since I was single. I used to be pretty good at noticing that kind of behavior, and got to where I didn't even want to know people like that casually.

Anonymous said...

yashu: Howdy! Interesting Sopranos link. Will take it back to my cave for perusal.

I'm making the Sopranos Tour myself. I'm midway through Season 4.

Icepick said...

No, but even the soap operas give you a little background.

Well played, sir!

Icepick said...

yashu: But who else could it be? Inga doesn't have the gear for the Fiona comments we are reading. Who does and has the motivation?

What you mean "WE", Paleface? I skip all of those.

pm317 said...

betamax is too witty and fun and he never ever attacked other commenters.

I know. But I thought he may be impersonating Althouse for fun. Among all the commenters only he could write a one line zinger unless it is someone new.

Anonymous said...

[Fiona] is betamax..(don't remember the full handle), my 2 cents.

pm317: Good 2 cents.

My theory back at Althouse was that betamax was a friend of Althouse.

Now I'm wondering if betamax was Althouse, a persona she created in the Gatsby Project to illustrate her idea of the proper response to the Gatsby sentences. She did present betamax as a model for emulation.

Recall betamax's fascination with Dylan songs and all the betamax topics Althouse put up -- more than any other commenter during my time at the blog.

Chennaul said...

Some people have a personality that gets dependent on and needs the NPD.

They will not "see" anything.

Chennaul said...

So fiona

I am hearing you have escalated your persona--you started out pretty neutral and opaque.

What ails, ya?

The Dude said...

Hey, is Freder bugging fiona(I'm not Althouse)mcgee? If so, that's doesn't seem right.

Where is Freder?

The Dude said...

As for betamax, he was actually intelligent and witty.

Were he a drunken stooge, then I might have thought he was someone else.

pm317 said...

Now I'm wondering if betamax was Althouse,

Nah, she couldn't muster his quick tongue. And, (playing Sherlock Holmes), I remember his 'normal' conversational comments on one cafe thread indicating a wife and a few other details.

edutcher said...

And it's interesting Professor Jacobson posted this.

yashu said...

Well creeley, I myself will desist from further speculation on the sockpuppet's identity.

If (against my surmise) it's someone of whom I've thought (and still think) highly, prefer not to give them attention for this-- and just hope it's an aberration. So they snap out of it.

If it's someone of whom I don't think so highly, just prefer not to give them the attention.

pm317 said...

Fair enough, Yashu. It is a dead end street anyway.

Icepick said...

I think that a tip line sponsored by the DOJ to collect anecdotal evidence against a guy who is now a political enemy, to somehow assuage an angry base is one of the scariest things I've ever seen.

George Zimmerman has been the subject of the Two Minute Hate for months. Now he's getting promoted to the chief object of contempt for Hate Week.

George Zimmerman = Emmanuel Goldstein

Icepick said...

Emmanuel Goldstein

Chennaul said...

Sixty Grit said...
Hey, is Freder bugging fiona(I'm not Althouse)mcgee? If so, that's doesn't seem right.

Where is Freder?

July 17, 2013 at 2:42 PM


*****************

freder IIRC let it slip one time that he wasn't American.

He might have been on a bender or something and he went on a--

"You AMERICANS!" tirade.

Icepick said...

two-hundred and first?

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