Sunday Afternoon

We hit the ground running. Eventually.

Here is a great tribute to the great Elmore Leonard.

Comments

[4JackisBack!2 (On His iPhone)]

At S'Mac having a nosh of Mac 'n Cheese!

[Bela1]

What a great tribute indeed!

[Danube on iPad]

I think Leonard had the best ear for dialogue of any writer in my lifetime.

[narciso]

I saw that Barbara Mertz, the author of the Amelia Peabody egyptology mysteries also passed recently.

[narciso]

And from the last thread

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/08/obamacare_when_socialist_theory_meets_practice.html

[narciso]

Sometimes they break the knob, when they dial to eleven;

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/efforts-to-repeal-stand-your-ground-falter-fail-backfire/

[narciso]

Well what does he know, sarc;

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/08/aqap_official_commen.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LongWarJournal+%28The+Long+War+Journal%29

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

Stupid question alert: How do you empty a flash drive after you have imported what you want, so you can fill it again?

Or can you?

[daddy]

Good Morning!

Rare pushback in the comments to a Walter Russell Mead piece over at the WSJ: The Failed Grand Strategy in the Middle East

Mead put in this line:

President Obama now faces a moment similar to the one President Carter faced when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. The assumptions that shaped key elements of his foreign policy have not held up; times have changed radically and policy must shift. The president is a talented leader; the world will be watching what he does.”

Comment number 727 says this:

try reading all 725 (so far) comments. I did. And I've never seen such a consistent & visceral reaction to a single line in an otherwise lucid WSJ article. The bit about our leader being "talented" was like watching my daughter blow the last chord in an otherwise flawless musical recital.

could someone, anyone at all, point to some foreign-policy accomplishment that resulted from this man's talent?

[henry]

Delete the files, same as any other drive.

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

Where do I find that on a MAC Henry? Wait, let me look.

Daddy, I am convinced that everyone is taking cover for potential IRS audit, including Mead. I will say that phrase pissed me off too.

[narciso]

Vandweleun and his commenters are not as tactful;

http://www.americandigest.org/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=23157

[matt]

I loved the line about how Meade voted for Obama as well. All of this is done to prove Party loyalty, of course.

"I mean to say, with the greatest of respect, that I voted for the man and everything but he's just, well, not up to the job." would have been more succinct.

[narciso]

Well they call it Londonistan for a reason;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10264408/Muslim-Brotherhood-leader-Gomaa-Amin-is-in-hiding-in-London.html

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Has anybody seen "Blue Jasmine"? I enjoyed it a great deal (although good luck finding any decent human beings in it with the possible exception of Andrew Dice Clay's characte; ponder that for a second) although I want to ask a JOMer's opinion about something in it.

[daddy]

Kudlow's mind was destroyed by blow and he's become an ersatz Costanza in discussions since them; ie if he agrees with one point the opposite is the correct one.

Captain,

Another point that gets me about him is his inability to call somebody doing bad stuff a bad guy. For instance, yesterday Kudlow went on a small rant about Julian Bond at the MLK Rally yesterday hollering that White racism is alive and it's the fault of the Republicans. Kudlow refutes that but then says that Julian Bond is a good man, a nice man whom I've met and I like him etc, but what he says is wrong.

Same with Obama, and same also with Tim Geitner, who Kudlow now thinks will be appointed as head of the Fed over Larry Summers and that other gal. They are all "good people, nice people," just incorrect in some of their views.

I think Kudlow's continual fall back to the "I think they are nice guys, good guys" position, prevents him from honestly evaluating the aims and motivations from his opponents. They are all just good guys trying to do good stuff for our American Republic, just a tad wrong in their thinking about how to do that.

Kudlow strikes me as a guy who would walk into Rick's Cafe in Casablanca and would be honest to goodness "shocked, shocked" to discover that gambling is going on.

[Porchlight]

They are not nice guys and they are not good guys. Nor are they incompetent. They are quite competently and quickly destroying the country.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Kudlow doubtlessly was part of a drug treatment procedure in which he became far too nonjudgmental of his fellow man. Some people deserve to be smacked hard for what they do.

[daddy]

Good game going on between Japan and the California kids in the final of the Little League World Series.

I am very impressed at the young Japanese kids standing in and making contact against the great California pitcher who the announcers say is 6 feet 4 inches tall and brings the heat. (75 MPH)

The pitcher has already thrown a no hitter and struck out tons of kids during the Tournament, so excellent courage from the young Japaners standing in there.

BTW, the Jap pitcher has already hit 3 batters.

2 -2 in the 2nd.

[daddy]

Captain that makes sense. Perhaps part of the therapy is to tell yourself something like:

I am a good person who was doing bad stuff (drugs) so there really aren't bad people doing bad stuff, they are all at heart good folks who happen to be doing bad stuff because they aren't thinking clearly.

[Danube on iPad]

They are quite willing to screw up everyone else's health care in order to privide it - supposedly - for 15% of the populace.

[rse]

narciso-did not know that. Love the Amelia Peabody books. I used to read them at the beach.

Introduced them to Red. So far the Diva is not biting. I did overhear that a classmate called her a grammar nazi because she actually does know and get grammar. In the very way that has been disallowed as promoting Axemaker Minds.

While Red was packing to return to college I told her she knew everything that ed was trying to shut down in her generation. So she should make sure she was strong in those areas. We will see.

[narciso]

So when I when I went to see World's End, which frankly dragged, for the first hour, they showed previews of that film about Assange, apparently based on his former dissapointed German associate, which opens up with that rather belabored incident in Iraq, and yet another Tom Hanks vehicle 'Captain Phillips' about the Maersk Alabama.

[daddy]

Here's Chris Christy as a Little Leaguer in 1970.

Tall kid, second from the right in the 2nd row.

He and one of his old teammates, author Harlan Coban, just got inducted into the Little League Hall of Excellence.

I don't know why.

[sbwaters]

Jane, a flash drive is like any other folder or disk. Drag the files to the trash, empty it, and the drive is ready to . . .

. . . no, I am not going to say store tons of secret government files.

[Caro's iPad]

The Kudlow podcast ends after 34 minutes of the 3 hour show so I can only hear opinion one, delay, and sadly no JimmyP. Conspiracy?

Terrific Pieces, C. And happy day to all the birthday boys and girls.

[[email protected]_89]

can I post? 20 minutes since last post.

[Clarice]

CH, Everyone I know who saw Blue Jasmine raves about it.

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

Jane, a flash drive is like any other folder or disk. Drag the files to the trash, empty it, and the drive is ready to . . .

Yeah well I figured out that I can't open it. I tell you, I'm a moron.

[daddy]

Clarice,

Great link to Victor Davis Hanson. For anybody who missed it, here it is again: Obama Bets Against Human Nature — and Usually Loses

[Clarice]

It is good, I think. Very accurate. next time round let's staff the Dept of State with rug salesmen.

[daddy]

I would also, as part of my Campaign platform, state that if elected as president, I would declare that there would be a moratorium of IRS audits on any average private American citizen, until each and every member of the IRS, the EPA, the DOE, the NEA, the BLM, HUD, etc and all the other Bureaucracies in Washington, had each and every one of their employees audited. The only problem is I still haven't figured out is who to have do the Audits since I don't trust the current employees at the IRS.

So couple that campaign promise with my previous Campaign promise (to make everyone currently waived from ObamaCare having to immediately comply with ObamaCare, and everyone currently having to comply with ObamaCare instantly given a waiver to not have to comply with ObamaCare), and I think I'm pretty much heading for a landslide victory at the polls.

Who wouldn't vote for that?

[[email protected]_89]

how does daddy get to post > 1 line?

[Danube on iPad]

From VDH:

"At the very time the president made it in the material and psychological self-interest of the employer to pull back from hiring, he gave equally negative incentives for people to scramble for work by vastly expanding food stamps, unemployment and disability benefits, and health care entitlements. The result is that a part-time job in Obama’s new economy is either no better, or often worse, than receiving government benefits while sitting at home. Why would most — human nature being what it is — take a break from watching daytime television to take a pay cut to pick peaches or mop floors?"

Do we really expect that any future president and congress will roll back any of those beneftis? Once they are bestowed, any effort to reduce them is "cruel."

[Danube on iPad]

"Upon the anniversary of the March on Washington, John Lewis spoke to Meet the Press’ David Gregory about the legacy of the civil rights movement Sunday morning, encouraging America to embrace, not fear, the shifting demographics of the electorate that would put minorities in a place of political power. 'I think some forces want to create this sense of fear,' Lewis said. 'They think that the country is moving too fast, or maybe becoming too progressive. The country’s not the same country. People are coming together. And in a short time, the minority will be the majority.'"

Won't that be grand? Let us gaze about the world and reflect on the prosperity, and the state of human liberty, in places having black or Hispanic majorities. (A number of American cities would furnish an object lesson with respect to the former.)

[daddy]

Cathy f,

Beats me. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't . Last 2 weeks I've had no problem posting anything. I have never registered with typepad, and the e-mail addy I use in block 2 below my name has been inoperative for a couple years now. I frequently erase history and cookies, but I don't know if that has an effect.

6 -4 now Japan in the lead, with the US coming up for their last at bat. And momma just texted from the State Fair that she'll be coming home shortly with a big BBQ Turkey leg for me, still warm and wrapped up in silver foil. Yum!

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Clarice, likewise I enjoyed it a great deal but it's not an up with people type of movie. I've been thinking of it a lot since leaving the theater.

[narciso]

Why do they insist on it still being 1963, the degree of advancement, since then, is incalculable, but there are some real problems,
a good deal of them, fostered by the culture, which discourages learning, and encourages misogyny and violence, off course they don't came with a parsec of that.

[sbwaters]

Jane, if you have a Mac, I'll help. If a PC, call louder for someone else.

[daddy]

Terrific game Japan. 6 to 4 Victory over California.

Hope you guys had a chance to watch that. Interesting that the Japanese hero who hit 2 home runs today is actually a slender, fairly short kid.

And now Drudge is headlining a story that we have bugged UN Headquarters. I'm looking on the bright side---maybe that'll make the UN decide on their own to get the heck out of America.

[narciso]

I was being rhetorical, as with the story of the earwig and the doctor,there is a method to their madness,

[narciso]

Douthat, who we do tease, does touch on this;

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2013/08/25/a-different-kind-of-racial-division/

[Steve]

Video: George Will: Single Moms 'Biggest Impediment' to Black Progress

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/08/video-george-will-single-moms-biggest.html

[narciso]

Why would they care,

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/der-spiegel-snowden-docs-reveal-u-s-intelligence-operations-against-u-n-e-u/

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

SBW,

It's a MAC. I think the flashdrive is the problem. I won it in a contest from our sleazy ex LT gov, and it would be just like him to send something that doesn't work. It told me I needed to find something that could access it, and I have no idea where to start.

The flashdrive had a "DOS" reference. I'm assuming I just need a better flashdrive. And all of this because my MAC cloud refuses to get my pix off of my IPAD cloud, even tho I think they are the same cloud.

[narciso]

Maybe this will help;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ww4KQXcGBk

[matt]

Visions of DP Moynihan dancing in my head. Trillions spent on social welfare programs and they ghettos except where they have been foced out by the Mexicans are still filled with AA's. Even the Mexican neighborhoods are beginning to gentrify a la LA's Boyle Heights.

Hint. It isn't about money or access. It's about culture.

[daddy]

You guys may get to see me and the dogs on TV!

According to the local rag the FAA has just given permission to Conoco-Phillips Oil company to operate 2 drones in Alaska for their Arctic ops. Apparently it "will lead to the first approved commercial UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) operations later this summer," the FAA said.

FAA clears way for use of drones by oil industry off Alaska

In the comments is already the first call to "shoot down a drone if you see one." Will be interesting to see what political bedfellows get together in opposition to Big Oil's drones. I'm guessing Libertarian's, GreenPeace, The Aryan Nation, and maybe the ACLU.

[narciso]

And the cultural patterns have extended into newer areas, where Charles Murray has noticed them, Murray wasn't all that enthused with the behavior of those on the right side of the Bell Curve.

[Secondarily Motivated Youth]

'I think some forces want to create this sense of fear,' Lewis said.

He should know.

I love these has-been racist lying scumbags from back in the day. They've cashed in on their supposed civil rights cred for entire lifetimes of power and luxury. And for all their heartrending tales of Selma, there's nothing they fear more than racial harmony. In a just world, John Lewis would be driving a cab or selling insurance.

[Sue]

I wanted to say thank you to everyone on an active thread for wishing me happy 29th birthday.

And Iggy, you are my favorite Iggy ever. So sorry. I know they say God never gives us more than we can bear, but in my humble opinion, he is really pushing overload on you and yours.

[Secondarily Motivated Youth]

Ooops. How can I say that about a brother.

Ayeee I knocced out 5 woods since Zimmerman court!:) lol shit ima keep sleepin shit!

[Danube on iPad]

Ever wonder how Jesse Jackson's clothes and housing are paid for?

[Extraneus]

THE WEEK: Has global warming hit a plateau?

And what would that mean for the threat of catastrophic climate change?

That was the actual subtitle.

[Extraneus]

Ever wonder how Jesse Jackson's clothes and housing are paid for?

Tax-exempt social-justice non-profits?

Just kidding. No, I never wondered.

[narciso]

The fiery breath of a skydragon, is so powerful, it sometimes cannot be detected at all.

[laura white]

Was just today at daughter's quiz bowl competition at the Nebraska State Fair. The Quiz Bowl catechism had two questions on the Articles of Confederation, one on Robert Heinlein, and none on the usual--Toni Morrison, MLK Jr., Cesar Chavez, Margaret Sanger, etc. There was even a question on Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer (now that one went completely unanswered). Sadly, also, none of the teens knew that Truman fired Douglas MacArthur. They probably had never heard of MacArthur. What they were good at were math problems and problems on geography and cosmology; bright students can learn what they are taught. No one is teaching history, of course.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

I've never wondered about the cash flows of Shakedown Inc.

[Clarice]

I loved the link to NRO about Elmore. I've never read anything by him to my knowledge but I ordered three of his books on kindle and look forward to reading them.

[rse]

Technical question-

I just got an email from the other side of the world telling me that I had downloaded something last week and that the credits were wrong and to please not use it.

Well I had downloaded it but I was not aware someone could track like that. It was a juicy, telling graphic on a poorly appreciated point.

And we have acknowledged I am a hunt and peck typist with limited tech skills. But how did that turn into contacting me by email. The email just said colleague. Not my name.

[narciso]

What do they mean the credits are wrong, the sourcing,

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

When you download something you leave a trail.

[narciso]

I suppose so, they really don't like interfering with teh Narrative over at the Week,

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/egypt-atty-gen-says-muslim-brotherhood-leaders-received-850k-from-us-embassy/

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

To amplify on my prior point, whoever has the site where the file was located which you downloaded has the ability to know that your IP received that file and you have an email associated with the IP.

[narciso]

All right I used one of those analytic tools they swear by, and one gets this;

http://www.woodfortrees.org/plot/rss/from:1997/plot/rss/from:2008/trend/plot/esrl-co2/from:1997.9/normalise/offset:0.68/plot/esrl-co2/from:1997.9/normalise/offset:0.68/trend

[rse]

Thank you ch.

Interesting. Not as cool as getting bumped in the middle of reading a unesco doc on taking over higher ed but still fascinating.

[DrJ]

Confidence in the value of a BA/BS (WSJ):

Next spring, seniors at about 200 U.S. colleges will take a new test that could prove more important to their future than final exams: an SAT-like assessment that aims to cut through grade-point averages and judge students' real value to employers.

The test, called the Collegiate Learning Assessment, "provides an objective, benchmarked report card for critical thinking skills," said David Pate, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at St. John Fisher College, a small liberal-arts school near Rochester, N.Y. "The students will be able to use it to go out and market themselves."

[[email protected]]

DrJ-

damn it another test.

and another tool to get around the prohibition of iq tests and another level of credentialism to make finding a decent job harder.

[[email protected]]

catching up on prior threads...

Iggy sorry to hear that your property burned. Hope it works out as best that it can.

Happy birthday everyone. Sue, you are stunning for 29!!!

yea!!! classes start tomorrow.

[narciso]

Surprise, more kindling for the mind arson;

http://www.collegiatelearningassessment.org/files/ccssva.pdf

[[email protected]]

awesome, a test I don't have to take.

[DrJ]

rich, I don't know how you cope with all the tests. I could never be a student again -- I'd much prefer to be on the other side of the classroom. Even then I'd still prefer to be in (or manage!) the lab.

[[email protected]]

everyone must be watching football. quiet in here tonight.

Great column Clarice. Forgot that bit about the WHO study. What a 5 star screw up Obamacare is going to turn out to be.

[[email protected]]

DrJ-

I ask myself the same question! Overall, I am still in the eval phase of the project (a year to look at the costs, expected benefits, other commitments should be good enough, although I haven't taken some really hard classes as of yet). It is also plan b because I am not certain I'll have a job in a few months. A few things have been going on at the company that don't make much sense unless they are shopping it.

[DrJ]

rich,

Back in the day undergrad education got a lot more interesting in the junior year, at least for me. Yes, the courses were harder, but you learned really good stuff. (Dare I mention Physical Chemistry and Transport Phenomena?)

[Beasts of England]

@JIB - Sept. 20th, 2014. I certainly hope to be mixin' you up a couple of Bloody Mary's as we gaze at Bryant-Denny Stadium before a fine match-up!

(Just don't go all Texas A&M on us, ok?)

[Sue]

Thank you Rich. ::batting eyelashes::

[Ignatz]

Thanks Sue. Hope you had a great birthday, old lady, hah!:)

[Sue]

I had a great birthday weekend. Spent with the ones I love and was spoiled by all of them. I am blessed.

[[email protected]]

good to hear sue.

my other comment to DrJ seems to have disappeared...

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

I had 60 minutes on tonite and was barely listening. Leslie-whoever had a story about facial recognition and how if you have ever been on facebook everyone knows everything about you EXCEPT FOR THE GOVERNMENT. Leslie made it abundantly clear that the government is subject to rules so they can never ever ever get the info that The Gap has, for example.

Perhaps the people watching 60 minutes are that stupid.

[Ignatz]

I think Kudlow's refusal to recognize the mendacity of obviously corrupt pols is related to his conversion to Catholicism.

It's common for converts to remember all the talk about 'neither do I condemn you' and 'judge not lest ye be judged' and forget the 'white washed sepulchers' and 'brood of vipers' end of things.

I don't know how else to account for his years of toadying to the likes of Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and Charles Rangel; a more revolting nest of hypocritical Pharisees infesting our latter day Sanhedrin it being hard to imagine.

[[email protected]]

DrJ-

yikes, I was a lousy chemistry student.

anyway, I am thinking of sticking it out, although I am skeptical of the value of doing so at this point. If I do, I'll graduate sometime in 2016 and the course work should be more interesting as I move through the curriculum. I also have a pretty good idea already for a senior design project, and at the institution I go to, it is a year long effort.

[Jim Eagle]

Test

[666_cathyf_says_typepad_sucks_333]

ND march out: youtube.com/watch?v=6Hur-rPMjwk

[DrJ]

rich,

What one enjoys certainly is personal. FWIW I was a pretty good coder too, but those days are long gone.

I've no opinion on the value of a degree, but the delightful and charming MrsJ the recruiter notes that a BA/BS is required for every position she gets. And she places mostly sales and field service people in the life sciences research marketplace.

Sales people!

[666_cathyf_says_typepad_sucks_333]

WonderBoy marches in just before the 4-minute mark, and marches off at 4:23

[[email protected]]

ha. I was reading something the other day talking about the credential inflation problem...a 4 year degree as a substitute for a battery of iq and behavioral tests for employers. Although with sales, I'd be hard pressed to sell the sizzle or the steak.

[rse]

It's called Qualifications Frameworks.

Getting the degree or other certificate opens eligibility for job. Employers are not to question knowledge if paper is possessed. And it gives govt ability to regulate who gets hired and monitor all workplaces.

South Africa and Australia will give you the flavor but the US is putting it in place without calling it formally a QF.

[anonamom]

Just sent the link TM showcased to my family before checking in here, after reading it via Instapundit,

Clearly this is where I was meant to be.
So, do with that information what you will, NSA.

[Account Deleted]

Rich,

Polishing up a company for sale and preparing for a contraction can look very similar. There appears to be quite a bit of preparation for a contraction occurring across a very wide front.

[DrJ]

Employers are not to question knowledge if paper is possessed.

The preponderance of employers do question knowledge even if is paper is possessed. Most have their own tests to determine employment suitability (even the smallest ones), and will always have a way around what the regulations purport to regulate.

[The Pirhana Bros in c/o of the NSA]

Nice little practice you got der anonamom. Be a shame what anything should 'appen to it.
'ave you ever 'ad your 'ead nailed to da floor?

[[email protected]]

rse-

thanks I had no idea. wouldn't it just be more honest to call it a union card? feel like I've been suckered these last few years.

Rick-

It could be, between attrition and rifs, the head count has come down quiet nicely. Also, a lot of what we do is foreign commercial so financing might be a bit slow. It is probably my paranoia getting to me to. I couldn't do anything about it whether it were to happen or not, so I might as well just focus on making myself useful and productive and have plan b ready to roll out just-in-case.

[DrJ]

focus on making myself useful and productive

Exactly. You will likely have to reinvent yourself a few times whichever course you choose.

[anonamom]

What is very funny pirhana bro is that my closest neighbor here in the northern wilderness was the head of the Detroit mob--and have those poor fellows fallen on hard times.

The brothers were in prison for a decade or so, sold the lake house two summers ago, and I just learned last week that their woodland property behind me is in arrears for back taxes, and will
auctioned off next spring if the taxes are not paid.

I guess the garbage business downstate ain't what it used to be.

[Beasts of England]

Purgatory again? Ugh...

[DrJ]

wouldn't it just be more honest to call it a union card?

Not really. The UG degree these days is necessary but not sufficient. There still are lots of "IDIs" who are useless. ("IDI" == "I Deserve It." There are lots of IDIs.)

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

Clarice just posted a Washington Examiner article on Facebook that says the rebels not Assad are using the gas.

[Danube on iPad]

Where is Clarice's link?