Friday: Hili dialogue

July 19, 2024 • 6:45 am

Welcome to Friday July 19, 2024, and National Daiquiri Day, one of Hemingway’s favorite drinks when he stayed in Cuba.  Here are two pictures of Hem in Cuba with his drink (daiquiri on right), taken from the from the Post Prohibition site. It gives a bit of background (below), and includes (not shown) a recipe for Hemingway’s daiquiris.

In the moments he took a break from writing, Hemingway whiled away much of the 30s and 40s sitting at the bar of the famous Cuban haunt El Floridita, where they fixed his preferred drink, El Papa Doble, one after another. The Doble is a large drink, and Hemingway was quick to brag that he could put back quite a few. And by a few.. I mean many. Hemingway is famously known to have consumed six of his namesake Daiquiris on the average afternoon, but as many as twelve Papa Dobles in one sitting when he was really looking to let loose. A Papa Doble was compounded of two and a half jiggers [or 3 3/4 ounces] of Bacardi White Label Rum, the juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, and six drops of maraschino, all placed in an electric mixer over shaved ice, whirled vigorously and served foaming in large goblets. Hemingway said these drinks “had no taste of alcohol and felt, as you drank them, the way downhill glacier skiing feels running through powder snow.”

It’s also National Raspberry Cake Day, National Flitch Day (celebrating bacon), and Stick Out Your Tongue Day.  Here’s a famous example of lingual extrusion: 

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the July 19 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*Obituaries first: Beloved comedian Bob Newhart died at the ripe old age of 94.  Variety reports:

Bob Newhart, the genteel but sharply satirical comic whose TV series “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart” were huge hits throughout the 1970s and ’80s, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 94.

Newhart’s publicist Jerry Digney said he died after a series of short illnesses.

Newhart was also known to younger audiences as Papa Elf in the 2003 Christmas classic “Elf,” his guest spots on “The Big Bang Theory” (for which he won his only Emmy, as a guest star in 2013) and most recently appeared in three episodes of “Young Sheldon.”

Before his TV success, Newhart’s comedy albums were wildly popular for their at-the-time new approach of observational humor. He ruled TV for the better part of two decades, first with “The Bob Newhart Show” as a befuddled Chicago psychologist and then on “Newhart” as an equally at-a-loss New England innkeeper. He drew Emmy nominations for actor in a comedy three years running from 1985-87. Both shows were major successes for CBS, and they ran for a total of 16 years between 1972 and 1990.

Perhaps if you’re of a certain age you’ll remember the last episode of “Newhart”,  when he wakes up next to his wife (Suzanne Pleshette) from his first series to realize that the entire second series was all a dream. Most of us who watched both series recognized the bedroom immediately. It was the greatest ending ever for an American sitcom. Here’s that scene:

*The NYT reports that Biden is becoming more receptive to people telling him that he should step down as the Democratic Presidential candidate:

President Biden has become more receptive in the last several days to hearing arguments about why he should drop his re-election bid, Democrats briefed on his conversations said on Wednesday, after his party’s two top leaders in Congress privately told him they were deeply concerned about his prospects.

Mr. Biden has not given any indication that he is changing his mind about staying in the race, the Democrats said, but has been willing to listen to rundowns of new and worrying polling data and has asked questions about how Vice President Kamala Harris could win.

The accounts suggest that Mr. Biden, privately at least, is striking a more open-minded posture than he did last week when he lashed out at a number of House Democrats who pressed him to step aside.

One person close to the president said that it would be wrong to call him receptive to the idea of dropping out but that he “is willing to listen.” But this person emphasized there was no sign that Mr. Biden was changing course at this point.

The descriptions emerged after Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the two top Democrats in Congress, each told Mr. Biden privately over the past week that their members were deeply concerned about his chances in November and the fates of House and Senate candidates should he remain at the top of the ticket, according to two people briefed on the conversations.

The separate exchanges between Mr. Biden and the congressional leaders, described on the condition of anonymity because they were confidential discussions on an exceedingly sensitive topic, came to light as Democrats’ rebellion against Mr. Biden intensified on Wednesday.

Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries, both of New York, privately prevailed upon party officials to delay the start of Mr. Biden’s nomination by a week, prolonging the debate over the viability of his candidacy.

. . .Democratic leaders have come to their conversations with Mr. Biden armed with grim new data. According to a poll from Blue Rose Research, a firm that formed from but is no longer affiliated with Future Forward, the super PAC supporting Mr. Biden, just 18 percent of voters and only 36 percent of people who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020 believe he is mentally fit and up to the job of being president.

Mr. Schumer, according to the Democrat close to him, was also given data from a leading Democratic super PAC showing Mr. Biden’s deficit growing to 5 percentage points or more in the must-win states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, and his deficit in three other key states — Nevada, Georgia and Arizona — outside the margin of sampling error.

Check the polls here at FiveThirtyEight. Of 28 polls pitting Biden against Trump, Trump was the winner in all but one, which was dead even.  Of 12 polls pitting Harris against Trump, Trump won 11, and the other was dead even. But even looking at other candidates like Newsom, Whitmer (my favorite), and even Michelle Obma, Trump takes all of them. Well, the non-candidates haven’t yet been introduced to the public, so we can still hope. . .

*According to the WaPo, even former President Obama has lost enthusiasm for Biden.

Former president Barack Obama has told allies in recent days that President Biden’s path to victory has greatly diminished and he thinks the president needs to seriously consider the viability of his candidacy, according to multiple people briefed on his thinking.

Obama has spoken with Biden only once since the debate, and he has been clear in his conversations with others that the future of Biden’s candidacy is a decision for the president to make. He has emphasized that his concern is protecting Biden and his legacy, and has pushed back against the idea that he alone can influence Biden’s decision-making process.

Behind the scenes, Obama has been deeply engaged in conversations about the future of Biden’s campaign, taking calls from many anxious Democrats, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and has shared his views about the president’s challenges, according to people with knowledge of the calls, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

A spokesperson for Obama declined to comment.

When you’ve lost Barack, you’ve lost America. I should add that the AP reports that Nancy Pelosi warned Biden in private that if he didn’t withdraw, Democrats could lose the House. It’s pretty much over for Joe now, though he had a good run.

*The AP, however, says that Trump is exaggerating when he claims he’s been “totally exonerated” by the courts.

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday misrepresented in a social media post what the U.S. Supreme Court’s Monday ruling on presidential immunity means for his civil and criminal cases.

“TOTAL EXONERATION!” he wrote in the post on his Truth Social platform. “It is clear that the Supreme Court’s Brilliantly Written and Historic Decision ENDS all of Crooked Joe Biden’s Witch Hunts against me, including the WHITE HOUSE AND DOJ INSPIRED CIVIL HOAXES in New York.”

But none of Trump’s pending cases have been dismissed as a result of the ruling, nor have the verdicts already reached against him been overturned. The ruling does amount to a major victory for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, whose legal strategy has focused on delaying court proceedings until after the 2024 election.

CLAIM: The Supreme Court’s ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution means “total exoneration” for former President Donald Trump.

THE FACTS: Although the historic 6-3 ruling is a win for Trump, he has not been exonerated and his legal troubles are far from over. A delay of his Washington trial on charges of election interference has been indefinitely extended as a result. Also, he still faces charges in two other criminal cases, and the verdicts already reached against him in a criminal and a civil case have not been overturned.

Barbara McQuade, a law professor at the University of Michigan and former U.S. attorney for the state’s Eastern District, told The Associated Press that Trump’s claim is “inaccurate for a number of reasons.”

“The court found immunity from prosecution, not exoneration,” she wrote in an email. “The court did not say that Trump’s conduct did not amount to criminal behavior. Just that prosecutors are not allowed to prosecute him for it because of the special role of a president and the need to permit him to make ‘bold’ and ‘fearless’ decisions without concern for criminal consequences.”

McQuade wrote that Trump’s case over classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate won’t be affected, as it arose from conduct committed after he left the White House. She added that any impact on his New York hush money trial “seems unlikely” since the crimes were committed in a personal capacity.

“In addition, the Court’s opinion is solely focused on immunity for criminal conduct,” McQuade continued, explaining that it will not protect him from civil liability in his cases regarding defamatory statements about advice columnist E. Jean Carroll or fraudulent business practices conducted at the Trump Organization.

As for the January 6 case:

The case has not been dismissed. It was instead sent back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who must now “carefully analyze” whether other allegations involve official conduct for which the president would be immune from prosecution. The trial was supposed to have begun in March, but has been on hold since December to allow Trump to pursue his Supreme Court appeal.

However, the justices did knock out one aspect of the indictment, finding that Trump is “absolutely immune” from prosecution for alleged conduct involving discussions with the Justice Department.

The opinion also stated that Trump is “at least presumptively immune” from allegations that he tried to pressure Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, to reject certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral vote win. But prosecutors can try to make the case that Trump’s pressure on Pence can still be part of the case against him, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

It is all but certain that the ruling means Trump will not face trial in Washington ahead of the 2024 election, as the need for further analysis is expected to tie up the case for months with legal wrangling over whether actions in the indictment were official or unofficial, the AP has reported.

The man has luck, I tell you. I wonder if he could really shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose any support. His lawyers would probably find a way to show that that was part of his official duty as President. . .

*The Knesset (the parliament of Israel) has voted overwhelmingly against giving Palestinians their own state.

The Knesset early Thursday voted overwhelmingly to pass a resolution rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The resolution was co-sponsored by parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition together with right-wing parties from the opposition and even received support from Benny Gantz’s centrist National Unity party.

Lawmakers from Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s center-left Yesh Atid party left the plenum to avoid backing the measure, even though he has spoken in favor of a two-state solution. The only ones to oppose the resolution were lawmakers from the Labor, Ra’am and Hadash-Ta’al parties.

The initiative was passed just days before Netanyahu’s visit to the US to address a joint session of Congress and meet with President Joe Biden at the White House. The move was likely to further irk Democrats uncomfortable with embracing an Israeli government that increasingly rejects a two-state solution.

Already in February, the Knesset passed a resolution sponsored by Netanyahu rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, but that motion specifically addressed the unilateral establishment of such a state amid reports that countries abroad were considering recognizing a Palestinian state absent a peace agreement with Israel.

This resolution — passed 68-9 — altogether rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state, even as part of a negotiated settlement with Israel.

“The Knesset of Israel firmly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of Jordan. The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel will pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region,” the resolution stated.

“It will only be a matter of a short time until Hamas takes over the Palestinian state and turns it into a radical Islamic terror base, working in coordination with the Iranian-led axis to eliminate the State of Israel,” it continued. “Promoting the idea of ​​a Palestinian state at this time will be a reward for terrorism and will only encourage Hamas and its supporters to see this as a victory, thanks to the massacre of October 7, 2023, and a prelude to the takeover of jihadist Islam in the Middle East.”

Given that the proportion of both women and blacks have increased substantially at the company since 2019, it’s not clear why they’re deep-sixing the program.  Could it be legal issues? Regardless, it now seems that DEI is withering almost everywhere, including academia.  I’m wondering again whether fears of lawsuits is the reason. Note, though, that the first two companies to deep-six DEI were tractor companies: companies squarely representing Middle America.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili got scared—by gentle Szaron!

Hili: You frightened me.
Szaron: Sorry, I didn’t mean to.
In Polish:
Hili: Wystraszyłeś mnie.
Szaron: Przepraszam, nie chciałem.

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

From Cat Memes (how true!):

A badly affixed sticker from Jesus of the Day. What do you think the name is?

From Strange, Stupid, or Silly Signs, a mean store:

From Masih: a woman speaks who is about to go to prison for 6 years. The video shows women burning their hijabs while crying “Woman, life, freedom!”

From my feed: kitten versus duck. I give duckling the edge:

Marmots from Malcolm. Is this two males battling over an observing female?

This is the last scene from Ricky Gervais’s fantastic series “After Life”, and to my mind is the best series ending ever. But it’s ineffably sad and always makes me tear up.

From Pinkah, pointing out an excellent piece, with a good lesson, by Sally Satel in the Washington Monthly. Read at the link.

From the Auschwitz Memorial, one that I retweeted:

Two tweets from Doctor Cobb. Look at those names! Raygun Steele, Cash Sweat, and so on. One might almost think they were made up. . .

And Republicans are wearing ear bandages! The reference on the right is to a related scene in The Life of Brian (see video here):

42 thoughts on “Friday: Hili dialogue”

  1. … it’s not clear why they’re deep-sixing the program. Could it be legal issues?

    They have stuck a wetted finger in the air and discerned which way the wind of popular opinion is blowing. They went all-in on woke DEI when they feared opprobrium from the public and their junior employees if they didn’t. They no longer fear that.

    1. Given that the proportion of both women and blacks have increased substantially at the company since 2019, it’s not clear why they’re deep-sixing the program.

      Perhaps the work is done – if the culture is changed to the point where there is no longer any bias preventing minority groups from being treated unfairly, then why continue spending on an initiative that has accomplished it’s stated goal?

      1. Is there any evidence that anyone was being unfairly treated in 2019?

        (Women are under-represented in some industries, such as computer coding and lumberjacks, and over-represented in others, such as elementary-school teacher and veterinarians, but that in itself doesn’t imply unfair treatment.)

        2. Coel, I agree with your point. Thomas Sowell has made the same point time and again that variances between percent of population vs. percent of representation in any particular field does not mean unfair treatment or discrimination. I’m on board with that completely.

          My comment was more to say that if a particular department or activity is formed to fix a problem, and the problem then becomes fixed by meeting some predefined quantifiable objective, such as improving the percent of hirings / promotions for certain selected groups, then that activity should be curtailed. It seems to me that too often these things take on a life of their own well after the concern is rectified.

          I think these types of activities within a company are easier to end than at the government level because the funding of such activities take resources away from other activities, whereas at the government level funding is endless and limitless (especially at the federal level).

    2. It would be interesting to learn. In this age of leaking, we may, yet. I’ve seen stories that attribute it to cost cutting. That may be so, especially if they found the payoff for inclusion wasn’t what was promised. They may also have found, as has been argued, that DEI is more divisive that inclusive.

      1. And it may simply be that DEI was causing the wrong sort of people to be hired, i.e., incompetent ones, and so it came time to end the experiment (once it become politically possible) before it caused further damage.

        It’s also possible that a competitive, profit-seeking company wants to be able to get rid of highly productive and collegial employees just because they are black women. Anything is possible, I guess.

  2. I haven’t seen “After Life”, so can’t comment on the ending (but after your endorsement I’ll keep an eye out for reruns). But does it beat the ending of “Blackadder Goes Forth.”?

    And in another context, sad to see Bob Newhart go. He was popular in the UK as well as the US; we all found his sketches entertaining: “Bringing tobacco to England”; “The Driving Instructor”, “Bomb Disposal” (or whatever the title was) etc.
    And didn’t he play Major Major in Mike Nichols’ “Catch-22”?

    1. My nominee for best series final episode is Six Feet Under. The idea of giving sketches of the post-series lives (and deaths) of characters is not in itself new, but the execution is phenomenal! They show future family assemblages for funerals and weddings, with established characters aged in makeup, and assorted strangers that we understand are newer family members whose connection and stories we can only guess at. And those scenes are intercut with the progress of the youngest child of the family driving away, in the hearse she had reourposed from the family funeral business as just her station wagon. So much future and past.

  3. RIP Bob Newhart.

    I grew up with “The Bob Newhart Show,” and in later years often drove past the building that was the exterior for his apartment in the show’s opening credits. My wife and I just re-watched “Newhart” a couple years ago. Most people don’t know that Bob’s best friend was fellow-comedian Don Rickles. Thanks for all the laughs.

  4. “Given that the proportion of both women and blacks have increased substantially at the company since 2019, it’s not clear why they’re deep-sixing the program.”
    legal issues?
    fears of lawsuits?

    The realization world-wide that 1) it is morally wrong to deploy discrimination to counter discrimination; and 2) it is automatically damaging to profitability to not hire and sustain strictly on competence of an individual.

    1. “[I]t is automatically damaging to profitability to not hire and sustain strictly on competence.”

      This is why, contra Jerry’s hopeful assertion, DIEID (you have to include indigenization and decolonization now in the alphabet soup) is not withering in academia. The university doesn’t have to turn a profit or in any other way show its work to shareholders: no matter how stupidly woke we become, students continue to enrol and the university continues to turn out graduates and research product.

      Only a catastrophic failure of one of those processes would lead to consequences for admitting or hiring unqualified people based on their intersectionality. I like my university warts and all, so I don’t hope for that catastrophe. Instead the best we can hope for is a retrenchment of DIEID but no more advances. Many of the changes at universities during the Great Reckoning were structural not just personnel: universities created new senior administrator jobs for DIEID, and those offices and titles are not going to disappear (they are like housing developments and pavement – once built, they never revert to nature). Corporations can restructure but universities are much less nimble. Even after the woke fever has broken, somebody will still be vice-president for people, equity, and inclusion at my much-loved frumpy suburban university.

  6. It’s a P not an F – Pick Me Ups. It took me only a half hour or so to solve once I began thinking outside the box of soft oatmeal squares.

  7. Oy. Whistleblowers reportedly saying “that MOST of Trump’s security detail working the event last Saturday were not even Secret Service.” They were instead from DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). This wouls make sense if reports of the Secret Service being stretched thin over the NATO summit are correct.

  8. Another obituary: Lou Dobbs, who was a Financial Reporter on CNN before moving to Fox News where he promoted birtherism, climate change denial, etc. etc. He was let go by Fox after his claims that voting machine fraud stole the election from Trump got the network sued. Trump tweeted a tribute.

    1. Conspiracy theories are bipartisan.

      A new poll has laid bare how many voters believe the conspiracy theories swirling around the attempted assignation of Donald Trump over the weekend.

      One third of those who support Trump’s Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden said they believe the attack may have been staged and had never been intended to kill the former president. That equates to a little over 33 percent. And even some of Trump’s own supporters believe the same thing, with around 12 percent suspecting the event was planned, according to the poll conducted by Morning Consult, an American business intelligence company.

      https://www.newsweek.com/trump-shooting-assassination-conspiracy-theory-staged-biden-poll-1925723

      1. I’m willing to bet that if Trump wins a close election that there will be claims of election impropriety or voter fraud by the Democrats, as there was in 2016. Except then it won’t be a “conspiracy theory” it will be a well-reasoned discussion within mainstream media, maybe with a letter signed by former intelligence or election integrity officials. Neither party is immune to conspiracy theories; we’re all tribal humans.

      2. I agree. Neither side has a monopoly on conspiracy theories. I remember several of my co-workers who thought that it was obvious that Bush planned 9/11.

        1. Poor Bush.

          There was a chap going around claiming that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. I don’t know his political affiliations, but it made me wonder if he really believed it or if he was peddling it to the gullible for some other gain.

          1. Poor Bush?

            Bush is one of the luckiest people alive. Until fairly recently he was the leading contender for Worst US President Ever….

  9. Re: kid rodeo names. Am reminded of George Carlin’s rant on names (“TODDDDDD!”). He mentioned, “Chuck Steak.”

  11. Trump called again at last’s night acceptance speech for the dropping of all the cases against him. I think that is what he meant by unity.

    What a trip that convention was. Leading up to Trump: Hulk Hogan, of 1980s “wrestling” fame! Then a prayer by Franklin Graham. Kid Rock followed the evangelical plea, rapping his “American Bad Ass” with personalized lyrics nodding to the Man. (The PBS announcer was stymied, not sure whether she could note the title.) Son Eric seemed pure establishment in contrast. And then Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed martial arts organization, introduced Trump—who went on to speak for 90 minutes after appearing in front of glaring gold lights that spelled (what else?): T R U M P

    All of this followed a week that saw a fiery address by the Teamster’s president, reportedly the first union president to ever address an RNC, and a pitch to leftists by a social media influencer (and former stripper and current Only Fans girl) with a large face tattoo who is most known for bedding famous rappers. It is now truly Trump’s GOP! Nobody can declare he isn’t reaching across the aisle! I’ll give him this much: he is reaching out to people that most politicians ignore (and that many coastal elites disdain). Whether those people will vote is a different question.

    A country of over 300 million and this is the race we get. Oy!

    1. This is why my name is what it is. I suspect we are all older since “Doug” and “Mike” are not as popular now as they once were.

      2. Yup. I’m Douglas E, with the E for Edward You oldsters likely remember Douglas Edwards and the News 😄

  13. Tractor Supply is what I’d refer to as a hay and feed store outlet. I purchase dog food there. They sell outdoor style clothing, work boots, personal farming equipment (for small farms). They don’t actually sell tractors.

  14. The death of Bob Newhart really hit me in the feels. There’s a nice tribute to his artistry in The New York Times:

    People are always saying comedy is about timing, but no one tells you what the right speed is. Newhart talked about being born with a sense of time, and even used the metaphor of a metronome inside one’s head. But an art form (and Newhart is part of the reason it’s not pretentious to refer to comedy as one) cannot be broken down like a machine. It evolved in part because of the bold efforts of its greatest artists.

    Newhart’s legacy is changing the pace of comedy. To be sure, he was building on the work of Jack Benny, who also knew the value of a long pause and a simple gesture. There is as much music in his reticence as there is in Richard Pryor’s volubility….

    Not everyone understood. Newhart’s stammer was an incredible tool, but network executives for his TV show told him to stop using it. His response was that the stammer got him a house in Beverly Hills.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/18/arts/television/bob-newhart-standup-comedy.html

    An unforgettable turn on MadTV (“Stop it!”):

    https://youtu.be/mGYJmgsBF4E?feature=shared

    1. Thank you for “Stop it!” A message for our times, handwashing and all, as well as a lovely tribute to Mr. Newhart.

      1. You’re welcome. It’s a classic (and, yes, particularly apropos these days!)

  15. “Woman, life, freedom!” It’s a shame this needs to be said in this day an age. Men and Women are equals and both are deserving of life and freedom.

Comments are closed.