Saturday: Hili dialogue

December 12, 2020 • 6:30 am

Good morning on Saturday December 12, 2020: National Cocoa Day. Get the thick, cinnamony Mexican variety if you can, especially with hot, freshly-made churros. It’s also Gingerbread House Day, National Poinsettia Day, and National Ambrosia Day, celebrating the fruit salad made with canned mandarin oranges, marshmallows, coconut, whipped cream and pineapple. My mom used to make it (it’s a real Fifties dish), but I never liked it much: I prefer her alternative salad: lime Jello made with Cool-Whip with halved grapes and marshmallows mixed in, an equally vile-sounding concoction, but one that I like.  Here’s “ambrosia”; a dessert served as a salad. That’s what they did in the Fifties:

News of the Day:

You already know this, but for the record the FDA gave approval for emergency use of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine yesterday evening.  The “emergency use” clause means this:

An emergency use authorization means what its name suggests: a medical product gets special authorization by the FDA to be used during an emergency — but it is short of a full approval. Pfizer would have to file a separate application for its vaccine to be fully licensed by the FDA.
I’m not sure what “full licensing” entails, but the NYT reports that the first shipment of 2.9 million doses will be shipped throughout America this coming week. Some of my friends in healthcare are already preparing for their jabs in the next week. I for one am looking forward to when I move to the head of the queue.

Trump got a big boot in the tuchas from the Supreme Court, which rejected Texas’s lawsuit to overturn the votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia—and on the expected grounds, lack of standing. Here’s the terse decision, which was unsigned:

The new height of Mount Everest has been jointly announced by the Chinese and Nepalese, each of whom had a high-tech way of measuring the mountain. It’s now a meter higher than the classic height of 29,028 feet, with the new height being 29,031.7 feet (8,848.9 m). This is unlikely to change any more until tectonic activity pushes the mountain a tad higher.  See my post of October 1 to learn about the ways they measured the mountain.

The Wall Street Journal reports that, with a rising death toll and one of the world’s highest per capita death rates, Sweden has abandoned its laissez-faire “herd immunity” experiment. (h/t: Enrico)

When the pathogen swept across Europe in March, Sweden broke with much of the continent and opted not to impose mask-wearing and left known avenues of viral transmission such as bars and nightclubs open. As late as last month, Swedes enjoyed mass sporting and cultural events and health-care officials insisted that the voluntary measures were enough to spare the country the resurgence in infections that was sweeping Europe.

Weeks later, with total Covid-19-related deaths reaching nearly 700 per million inhabitants, infections growing exponentially and hospital wards filling up, the government made a U-turn. In an emotional televised address on Nov. 22, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven pleaded with Swedes to cancel all nonessential meetings and announced a ban on gatherings of more than eight people.

“Authorities chose a strategy totally different to the rest of Europe, and because of it the country has suffered a lot,” said Piotr Nowak, a physician working with Covid-19 patients at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.

Finally, today’s reported Covid-19 death toll in the U.S. is 295,712, a big increase of about 3,000 from yesterday’s figure—more than 2 deaths per minute, and more people than were killed on 9/11. The world death toll is 1,603,482, another big increase of about 12,700 over yesterday’s report—about 9 people dying per minute.

Stuff that happened on December 12 was scant; it includes

  • 1901 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter “S” [***] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John’s, Newfoundland.
  • 1935 – Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.

What an odious project that was: it involved having unwed pregnant mothers give up their children to be raised Aryan, as well as kidnapping of children in occupied countries, killing the unwanted ones, and moving the others to Germany where they were brought up as Germans. Here’s an SS christening of a Lebensborn child in 1935 or 1936:

And a picture of people on the selection platform at Auschwitz, heading to the gas chamber:

If you’re 35 or older, I hope you remember the fracas about that one, with the court ruling 7-2 to stop the Florida recount, effectively handing the Presidency to Bush. I remember the reporters rushing out of the Court at night, waving the decision and trying to figure out what it mean. Let’s hope the Court no longer tries to intervene in legal counting procedures. It seems to be reluctant to do that now, judging by the decision yesterday. The decision can be seen here.

  • 2015 – The Paris Agreement relating to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted.

Births were also thin on the ground; notables born on this day include these two:

  • 1821 – Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (d. 1880)
  • 1915 – Frank Sinatra, American singer, actor, and producer (d. 1998)

Frank and Ava in 1951 (they were married from 1951-1957, and to call their relationship “tempestuous” would be an understatement):

And deaths were scarce, too. What’s with December 12? Those who passed to The Great Beyond on December 12 these two:

  • 1968 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (b. 1902)
  • 1999 – Joseph Heller, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1923)

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is praising herself and reluctantly, the other workers on Listy. As Malgorzata notes, “Hili works hard as a photomodel. Andrzej works hard as a photographer. Behind the window I’m sitting at my desk, typing. Hili just summarises the situation as she sees it.”

Hili: We are all working very hard.
A: Who is working hard?
Hili: I am, and you and Małgorzata.
In Polish:
Hili: Wszyscy ciężko pracujemy.
Ja: Kto ciężko pracuje?
Hili: Ja, ty, Małgorzata.

Little Kulka climbed up on the roof again! She’s clearly taking after Hili (who hates her). Photo by Paulina:

A meme from The Onion via reader Bruce:

From reader David, who notes, “Mystery solved!”

From Linda:

For once Titania says something that we might agree with:

After Glenn Loury went after Hannah Nikole-Smith on his Internet broadcast, the Glenn Show, this exchange ensued, retweeted by Andrew Sullivan (be sure to click on the black bit to see the whole conversation). h/t: cesar

Besides our affection for optical illusions, Matthew and I are both fascinated with murmurations. It’s not clear what this pre-roosting behavior is all about, but it forms some of the most stunning displays of group behavior on Earth. Here’s one  (all tweets below are from Dr. Cobb):

You didn’t think that rhinoceros beetles were this strong? The lower horn just pops that toy beetle apart.

There are two tweets in this thread, listing all the mushbrained GOP congresspeople who weighed in on the side of Texas in that state’s ridiculous attempt to cancel the votes in four states to swing the election to Trump.

This leucistic hummingbird is a mutant, but a gorgeous one:

There’s nothing cuter than a mother hen and her newborn ducklings. These are only a few days old at most:

I’m sorry, but this guy is insane:

44 thoughts on “Saturday: Hili dialogue”

  1. “Stuff that happened on December 12 was scant” – in 2019 Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party won the UK general election. Oh joy!

  2. Current definition of the Republican party. A conspiracy to retain power for the donor class.

    1. GOP: Guarantee Of Privilege. And the way they guarantee that privilege is by appealing to the Grumpy Old Pantsh*tters who make up their base.

  3. Re: Sinatra and tempestuousness: he was at a restaurant with Don Rickles. The waiter brought a bottle of ketchup to the table, which apparently offended Sinatra’s delicate aesthetic sensibilities. He hurled it against the wall, popping the bottle open and splattering it all directions. Rickles asked Sinatra, “Frank, would you pass the ketchup please?”

    1. Then there was Don’s classic comment when Sinatra arrived at one of Rickles’ shows: “Frank! Make yourself at home! Punch somebody!”

  4. Sweden has suffered 700 Covid deaths per million of the population — while Iowa has had 1,000/million. So Sweden’s “laissez-faire” response, though lethal, has still been a great deal less lethal than our (Republican, of course) governor’s.

    1. And Norway’s has been consistently more than 11 times less than Sweden’s, about 65/million now, which that Swedish government should be ashamed of, I’d say.

      So should mine in Canada, much better than Sweden, but way worse than all the other Scandinavian countries, looking at Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

      1. No, our government, and the rest of us, have nothing to be “ashamed” of – it is way to early to analyze what happened, and we may never be able to compare it. Sweden had an initial import that the other nations had not, and for instance lock down, mask wearing Belgium has much worse outcome [see links in my longer comment below].

        Sweden ranked #16 out of 53 nations in Bloombergs response assessment – US is #18 and Canada is #13 (and Belgium #50) – so it is only when you compare with the rest of Scandinavia it looks bad. And notably Canada doesn’t look “much better” – it has much higher fatality rate for instance.

        ADDED: It now looks like my other comment was held in moderation – had three links – so I’ll try a separate link: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/ .

  5. I had been wondering why I never see starling murmurations. So a quick look online to learn: They mainly do this while they overwinter. Places to see them are to be found further south. Makes sense.

    1. The most modest murmuration I ever saw was in Florida and involved about 20 birds. I guess it’s a decent place to spend the winter and certainly a good trek south from Michigan

  6. Birthdays: according to The (London) Times, singers Connie Francis (83) and Dionne Warwick (80), and tennis player Tracey Austin (58) were born on this day, and all are still going strong.

  8. … with the [Bush v. Gore] court ruling 7-2 to stop the Florida recount, effectively handing the Presidency to Bush.

    The Bush v. Gore Court issued two rulings that day. In the first, it ruled 7-2 to stop the recount because. in the manner it was then being conducted (in only some Florida counties) it violated the Equal Protection clause. In its second, more crucial ruling handed down at the same time, the Court held that the recount could not proceed statewide in ALL counties (consistent with the constitution’s Equal Protection clause). merely because there was insufficient time to conduct such a recount in time for Florida to meet the so-called “safe harbor” deadline for certifying its electoral votes. THAT was by far the more controversial decision, and it was decided 5-4, along strictly ideological conservative/liberal lines.

    Sandra Day O’Connor, one of the five justices who voted with the majority in that ruling, later expressed misgivings about her vote, after her retirement. When he was later questioned about his vote, Antonin Scalia (who most Court-watchers believe authored the majority’s unsigned per curiam decision), told everyone — in typical Nino Scalia fashion — to “get over it.”

    1. One thing about Scalia, he could be stupid and wrong at the same time. Giving this election to the wrong candidate in 2000 was the mistake America never got over. It lead to Bush and his neocons with war in Iraq and it was all down hill since then. Twenty years of disaster leading to now. The only good thing I can say of Scalia is, he is dead.

      1. Now your sampling Bette Davis. When she was informed that her bête noire Joan Crawford had died, her response was this: “They say you should never speak ill of the dead, only good. Joan Crawford is dead. Good.”

      2. That December 12, 2000 decision, to hand the presidency to Mr Bush, was the day my confidence in the US SC as an impartial body was shattered.
        It was so completely evident, with ‘hanging chads’ and a (purposefully?) confusing design of the ballot paper ( giving eg. a whole black ward to Mr Buchanan), that Mr Gore had won Florida. That was IMMO unquestionably a ‘stolen election’.
        How different our world would have been….. Well, 9/11 would probably still have happened, and the war in Afghanistan too. But no invasion in Iraq, no restrictions for the use of embryonal tissue for research, and probably 50% or more of the US electricity from solar. (just some speculations).
        Randall, I think you are a bit harsh on Scalia, but then, he really kinda deserves it.

  9. As to that guy with the crocs, he is crazy. But it makes me wonder if most creatures have an innate bit of understanding that it doesn’t pay to kill the guy that feeds you. Of course, it only takes one that is having a bad day or didn’t get the memo.

    1. I was thinking along similar lines. Crocodiles have been around for a LOOOOOONG time. Maybe they’ve evolved an ability to play the long game with respect to food.

      1. My guess is that evolution invented this trick even before the crocs came on the scene. Predation is a dangerous activity. Any creature that can feed itself without having to kill something, while still retaining the ability to do so when necessary, has a huge selective advantage. The guy feeding the crocs needs to remember that one of them may adopt a “use it or lose it” attitude and decide it’s time to hone its killing skills

    1. I think judges (and Justices) do not take kindly to those who come up wit frivolous -if not seditious- lawsuits.
      These lawsuits say to a Justice: “I take you for a gormless idiot” , what can they do but to summarily dismiss it contemptuously? Put yourself in the position of a SCJustice, even when you would like the plaintive to win, the complaint is sooo ridiculous.

  12. I love Adam Schiff’s tweet in the GOP traitor thread

    During impeachment, Republicans said “let the voters decide.”

    Now that the voters have decided and Trump has lost,

    Republicans are suing to overturn the election.

    It’s clear it was never about the voters, our constitution, or our democracy.

      1. Not quite sure what you’re talking about, but I’m going to assume it’s supreme court nominations.

        It gets worse. The Republicans managed to nominate and approve a new member of the FCC entirely within the lame duck period.

        https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/8/22163800/senate-trump-fcc-nominee-confirmed-nathan-simington-section-230-ajit-pai

        It shows up that everything Moscow Mitch said in 2016 were naked lies. It’s all about getting power and keeping power.

  15. I think Hili is envious of Kulka’s good looks. What a sweet kitten!

    The outgoing orange sludge is clearly flailing about in desperation. These frivolous law suits ought to be slapped down with some punitive admonishment. Is there nothing in existence that can deter this kind of contempt of law?

      1. From Cornell’s Law school:
        “When a lawsuit is dismissed with prejudice, the court is saying that it has made a final determination on the merits of the case, and that the plaintiff is therefore forbidden from filing another lawsuit based on the same grounds.”

        A lot of Trump’s cases have been dismissed with prejudice.

  17. The 40s through the 60s were a weird era in cooking, with lots of weird popular dinner dishes involving aspic, jello, marshmallows and other ingredients best restricted to junk food.

    If you have a weak stomach, stay away from these links:

    “21 Truly Upsetting Vintage Recipes”
    https://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannarebolini/truly-upsetting-vintage-recipes

    “25 Gross Old Fashioned Recipes You Won’t Believe People Actually Ate”
    https://www.liveabout.com/gross-old-fashioned-recipes-4153470

    “30 Recipes From The Past That Show How Everything Has Evolved, Even Our Taste”
    https://www.boredpanda.com/strange-vintage-food-cooking-recipes/

    “Gag-Worthy Retro Foods People Actually Ate”
    https://vocal.media/feast/gag-worthy-retro-foods-people-actually-ate

    If you made it through those without coating our keyboard in vomit, a website called Mid-Century menu features weekly vintage recipes. The brave webmistress actually tests each recipe! Her husband has an iron stomach.

    1. Hey, on behalf of aspic, let me point out there are dozens (maybe hundreds) of honest-to-Escoffier recipes that use it in Le Guide culinaire.

      1. Yep, I thought my mother’s Waldorf salad was abominable (apples, celery and walnuts mixed with mayo? Srsly?), but her tomato aspic was great!

  18. 1. I’ll at least TRY that Ambrosia stuff. I think there’s a link between 1950s and 1970s (when I grew up) food.
    2. Rhinoceros beetles are fantastic. They recently banned their importation into Japan (from Thailand mainly) b/c they are so popular there they’re effecting their natural populations.
    3. Gotta love that alligator feeding dude. He’s surely a bigger man than me, though I probably have more hands.

    D.A.
    NYC

  19. Sweden has bow been punked with the metallized pillar too, I believe.

    The Wall Street Journal reports that, with a rising death toll and one of the world’s highest per capita death rates, Sweden has abandoned its laissez-faire “herd immunity” experiment.

    The Wall Street Journal is not a reputable source on Sweden’s covid response – remember how it has erroneously characterized it in the past – and this looks no better. It is not hard to check with local media or government sites.

    And when you do that you find that Sweden did not have a laissez-faire approach – social distancing worked as well as other lock downs, with or without masks – and did not strategize “herd immunity”.

    But is herd immunity part of the official strategy?

    – No, the official strategy is to spread as slowly as possible, so that the health care system has time to take care of all those who become ill in a good way.

    [ https://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2020/04/04/nej-sveriges-strategi-ar-inte-flockimmunitet-men-flockimmunitet-ar-enda-sattet ]

    As late as last month, Swedes enjoyed mass sporting and cultural events and health-care officials insisted that the voluntary measures were enough to spare the country the resurgence in infections that was sweeping Europe.

    At that time Sweden had changed to differentiated local measures since the initial onslaught was over. It was a hope, which looked good for several weeks, that it would suffice.

    It did not, and we are back to national rules of social distancing. The new, tightened ban – decreasing from 50 to 8 person groups – has been widely discussed of course.

    Remember, Sweden ranks in top 20 out of 50 nations in regard covid response rankings, with for instance US below us.

    Pilloried initially for eschewing lockdowns, Sweden is now scored relatively highly on nearly all of Bloomberg’s metrics, ranking 16th overall. After an initial wave of deaths among older people, Sweden’s performance on the indicators reflect fewer cases, fatalities and less disruption than other parts of Europe.

    [ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/ ]

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