August 3, 2017

At the Clear-Your-Desk Café...

P1140409

... you can show us whatever, if anything, you've got.

And think about shopping through The Althouse Amazon Portal, where you can get a completely clear glass desk for $385. That's a lot simpler — one continuous sheet — than the one I photographed at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which was designed by René Coulon, circa 1940.

65 comments:

tcrosse said...

Suitable for a mime.

mockturtle said...

Is that a toilet seat?

Bay Area Guy said...

I'm going to Santa Monica today. Staying on the beach. They call it the People's Republic of Santa Monica. It's very chic. Myself, I'm not so chic. But I do love LA. At least, the west side of LA. I'm trying an experiment in using short sentences. It's very choppy. I don't like it at all. I will stop.

bleh said...

You're fired!

Chuck said...

Trump, in a hole, keeps digging.

So yesterday, Althouse posts about the Trump quote published in the Golf Magazine/Sports Illustrated article by Alan Shipnuck and Michael Bamberger:

https://althouse.blogspot.com/2017/08/trump-said-that-white-house-is-real.html

Althouse headlines the post as, Trump said "That White House is a real dump..." supposedly.

I don't fault the headline; part and parcel of the article was the authors' acknowledgement that "a White House spokesperson" denied that Trump said it.

In 119 comments (so far) the Althouse commentariat offered a number of thoughts ranging from the idea that 'Trump was probably joking and it's really no big deal,' to 'the White House is a bit of a dump.'

That wasn't the big deal to me. To me, the big deal was that instead of keeping a one-day story as a one-day story by ignoring it, Trump and the White House denied the quote. (Personally, I believe that Trump said it exactly as it has been reported.)

So then, yesterday afternoon, defending their honor, Shipnuck did his usual Golf.com podcast and had Bamberger on with him. They both explained their background on the story for almost an hour. And not only made it clear that they found 8 or 9 Bedminster members and staff having heard Trump say it, there were a couple other members and staff who witnessed Trump repeating the comment.

And then (!) Trump goes on Twitter, doubling down, and calling the story FAKE NEWS.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/03/trump-denies-white-house-dump-golf-magazine-241279

A minor story about Trump calling the White House "a real dump" is now a consequential story about Trump's lying.

Next phase; someone from Bedminster -- a member, a staffer (soon-to-be-former-staffer) -- goes on the record to say that yes indeed Trump said it and Golf/SI reported accurately.

...And then, the Althouse blog can retire "supposedly" from the headline of the original story.

David said...

Eeek! For a moment I thought it was a toilet.

David said...

"I'm trying an experiment in using short sentences. It's very choppy. I don't like it at all. I will stop."

Good decision.

Chuck said...

Oh I forgot to post the link to the Shipnuck podcast. It's great, insofar as both writers detail their phone conversations with Trump communications staffer Hope Hicks, in which she gets hot and heavy with them (in separate conversations) denying the story.

http://www.golf.com/tour-news/2017/08/02/story-behind-our-trump-golf-story-and-certain-explosive-quote

Hope Hicks was, uh, unconvincing to them.

Unknown said...

Hey Chuck, did you ever pay Althouse a 1000 bucks to pontificate on your choice of subject? You seem insistent that this blog be "only bash Trump, all the time, no matter the subject." Perhaps you can start writing checks to Ann for the privilege of derailing the topics and ranting about Trump?

I mean, no one believes a word you write. You know that, I hope? You are so blinded, so biased, you are well past Baghdad Bob territory. Even Pravda praised the west once in a while. You are more biased and transparently so than Pravda.

So go peddle your wares at DailyKos. People there might be gullible enough to stroke your ego.

--Vance

Chuck said...

I'm gonna lean into this one, Vance. Grind on it. I think Trump is lying, and I think that Alan Shipnuck and Michael Bamberger are two really good guys and two of the best golf writers in the business.

They don't deserve this shit from Trump.

Bamberger has played a lot of golf with Trump, and has spent hours talking to Trump. Neither Shipnuck nor Bamberger ever wrote a political story. Personally, I have no doubt that Trump said what they reported. It sounds so like Trump. Catty, nasty, his own weird, twisted humor; designed to make himself look or sound good by diminishing something else.

And lying about it is also so like Trump. It was the White House's second lie of the day! The first one was about the President's role in drafting a press statement after the Don Trump Jr./Russia meeting story began to break.

Infinite Monkeys said...

Perhaps you can start writing checks to Ann for the privilege of derailing the topics and ranting about Trump?

Well, if you can't see the obvious connection between a clear desk and Trump, then there's no sense in explaining it to you. /s

To me, the big deal was that instead of keeping a one-day story as a one-day story by ignoring it, Trump and the White House denied the quote. (Personally, I believe that Trump said it exactly as it has been reported.)

Do you seriously believe that if the White House had ignored it, the story would have just dropped? The next day would have been nothing but "Trump refuses to deny" stories. (Personally, I believe you're not as naive as you seem from your comments, but we could both be wrong.)

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

That's the desk Hillary wanted installed in the Oval office when Bill was president. Might have saved them some trouble.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Neat.

This desk was invented by the late, deposed FOX News chairman Roger Ailes ;-)

Darrell said...

People who work at glass desks
should wear knickers
--Old Polish Proverb

FullMoon said...

Chuck said...

( I hate Trump and so should you because I am smarter than you but I voted for him because I have no principles or self respect)


Anyway, followed the donkeys link to politico The comments are pretty amazing. Mostly Chucklike, Trump is an ass and I am smarter than anyone who voted for him.

Fairly generic, with far less effort. At least titty twister Chuck spends a little time posting his stuff, as stupid as it is.


Big Mike said...

Can someone explain what's the point of a privacy panel made out of clear glass? Back in the day our firm had some miniskirt-wearing admins that would have necessitated additional portable defibrillators near their desks if the young women had worked at desks like that one.

Chuck said...

Well, if you can't see the obvious connection between a clear desk and Trump, then there's no sense in explaining it to you. /s


This is an Althouse "cafe" post. That is your tip that she is soliciting comments on what commenters want to discuss. Clear desks, or not.

Chuck said...

Full Moon; you actually went to the trouble to create a fake quote and then place it all in italics as if I had written it. That's an interesting sort of twistedness on your part.

Darrell said...

Chuck said...
I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump..I hate Trump....I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump...I hate Trump.


FullMoon said...

Chuck said...

Full Moon; you actually went to the trouble to create a fake quote and then place it all in italics as if I had written it. That's an interesting sort of twistedness on your part.

8/3/17, 1:39 PM

Was no trouble at all. 'tis a suitable nickname, none would deny.

Michael K said...

The more crap chuck posts, the faster I can scroll through the comments.

Thanks, chuck.

Chick fil-A has the highest per store revenue of any fast food business, and on only 6 days a week.

The article says "in spite of their 2012 anti-gay controversy." Whoever wrote that line is as smart as chuck.

jwl said...

This is one of my favourite weeks of the year - local grown tomatoes and corn have finally arrived at farmer's market. I grow my own basil and then eat a lot of field tomatoes this month and next while corn is super sweet and delicious.

Chuck said...

Can I trade five personal attacks on me for one substantive response that sensibly explains Trump's side of this story? Trump is claiming that two apolitical golf writers with no history of animus toward him, fabricated a quote out of thin air? Anybody care to explain that?

FullMoon said...

Chuck reasonably espoused in2016:
Fuck you, Full Moon. I am not going to "deny it." I say again; I propose to grab Greta exactly the way that Corey grabbed Michelle. I expect Greta to be surprised and offended, and maybe even a bit frightened. Good.


Bad boy Chuck, fantasizing, on a public forum, about frightening Greta in order to prove a point. SAD!

Ann Althouse said...

"I'm going to Santa Monica today. Staying on the beach. They call it the People's Republic of Santa Monica...."

From the Wikipedia entry for Stephen Miller (the subject of the previous post):

"Miller grew up in a liberal-leaning Jewish family in Santa Monica, California.... Though his parents were Democrats, Miller became a conservative after reading Guns, Crime, and Freedom, a book by National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre. While attending Santa Monica High School, Miller began appearing on conservative talk radio. In 2002, at the age of sixteen, Miller wrote a letter to the editor of the Santa Monica Lookout, criticizing his school's pacifist response to 9/11 in which he stated that "Osama Bin Laden would feel very welcome at Santa Monica High School." Miller invited conservative activist David Horowitz to speak, first at the high school and later at Duke University, and afterwards denounced the fact that neither of the centers would authorize the event. Miller was in the habit of "riling up his fellow [high school] classmates with controversial statements" and telling Latino students to speak only English."

Darrell said...

two apolitical golf writers

"C' students inculcated in a Lefty educational system.

FullMoon said...


Blogger Chuck said...

Can I trade five personal attacks on me for one substantive response that sensibly explains Trump's side of this story? Trump is claiming that two apolitical golf writers with no history of animus toward him, fabricated a quote out of thin air? Anybody care to explain that?

8/3/17, 1:51 PM


Good question, we will get back to that in a minute. The important thing to remember now is that Dow is up, employment is up, Clinton colluded with Ukraine and others, and that Trump destroyed all contenders to win the presidency.

Chuck said...

Bad boy Chuck, fantasizing, on a public forum, about frightening Greta in order to prove a point. SAD!

The point at that time being that Greta van Susteren had declared on the Fox News Channel that such contact was not criminal.

But since Greta then went to MSNBC, and shamelessly reversed herself to say that black woman heckler being physically removed from a Trump rally WAS an assault, I declared that I'd withdraw from any intent to touch Greta. If Greta can flip-flop on an issue like that, so can I.

Bay Area Guy said...

@Michael K,

Was in San Diego last week, teenage daughter insisted we go to Chick-Fil-et for dinner, I had only been there once. The line to get in was outside, the cars in the drive- thru were wrapped around the store, into the old San Diego Sports Arena lot (former home of the San Diego Clippers!)

I mean the $5.00 chicken sandwich was good as far as fast food goes, but my God they must be doing something right. The joint was packed.

Chuck said...

Darrell said...
two apolitical golf writers

"C' students inculcated in a Lefty educational system.


It is so funny to me, that you have no idea how stupid your comment is. Because I happen to know that Bamberger, whom I've met, went to Penn for his undergraduate degree. Like, uh, Donald J. Trump.

FullMoon said...

Chuck said...

Bad boy Chuck, fantasizing, on a public forum, about frightening Greta in order to prove a point. SAD!

The point at that time being that Greta van Susteren had declared on the Fox News Channel that such contact was not criminal.

But since Greta then went to MSNBC, and shamelessly reversed herself to say that black woman heckler being physically removed from a Trump rally WAS an assault, I declared that I'd withdraw from any intent to touch Greta. If Greta can flip-flop on an issue like that, so can I.

8/3/17, 2:00 PM


Nope. The point is, you have no problem threatening a woman on a public forum and you still do not see a problem with that. Over a year to reflect and you double down on your cowardly threat. Your frequent comments suggest a level of articulation and vocabulary which would make it easy to argue your point without threat of violence. Over a year later, the inability to do so suggests something deeper than simple disgust with Trump, who, btw, you voted for. Some sort of underlying psychosis, resentment towards women. Frequently seen in recently divorced men.

Bay Area Guy said...

Chuck + Trump = Chump

Trump + Chuck = Truck

Our poster friend Chuck is a Chump Truck (Say it 10 times fast)

FullMoon said...

Chuck says:
But since Greta then went to MSNBC, and shamelessly reversed herself to say that black woman heckler being physically removed from a Trump rally WAS an assault,


Provide a link to black woman so we might compare the two incidents. I triple dog dare 'ya!

Bad Lieutenant said...

Bamberger has played a lot of golf with Trump, and has spent hours talking to Trump. Neither Shipnuck nor Bamberger ever wrote a political story. Personally, I have no doubt that Trump said what they reported. It sounds so like Trump. Catty, nasty, his own weird, twisted humor; designed to make himself look or sound good by diminishing something else.


Chuck, why do you think the quote was published?

Ann Althouse said...

Chuck, you're doing clutter. You're causing me (and I presume others) to just have to scroll to get past your long and repetitive stuff. You need to change what you are doing or you will become one of the small group of people I call bad faith commenters, whose posts I delete without reading whenever I see them. I'm quite serious. You need to cut way back and keep it short. Stop repeating yourself. Everyone is bored and you are not cute. And don't argue with me in the comments. Stop doing clutter.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Nope. The point is, you have no problem threatening a woman on a public forum and you still do not see a problem with that. Over a year to reflect and you double down on your cowardly threat. Your frequent comments suggest a level of articulation and vocabulary which would make it easy to argue your point without threat of violence. Over a year later, the inability to do so suggests something deeper than simple disgust with Trump, who, btw, you voted for. Some sort of underlying psychosis, resentment towards women. Frequently seen in recently divorced men.



Not to mention...Barron Trump!

Darrell said...

I happen to know that Bamberger

That alone makes me suspect the cocksucker.

Bay Area Guy said...

From Althouse's Wiki article on Stephen Miller:

Miller was in the habit of "riling up his fellow [high school] classmates with controversial statements" and telling Latino students to speak only English."

I used to rile up my fellow Latino classmates by telling them to speak only Latin.

Michael K said...

Bay Area Guy, my comment was about my theory that, without the anti-gay slur, Chick fil-A would be just one more fast food joint.

This is what is killing ESPN, the NFL if they don't watch out and Kapernick's career, such as it was.

Nobody is organizing these things. It is the same thing that produced the 60% vote for Prop 8, that was overturned by the gay judge who then married his lover.

Passive but still effective because the traditional culture still is the majority culture even if "it cannot speak its name."

I like their chicken salad sandwiches but I haven't found one in Tucson.

Chuck said...

Here you go, Full Moon. The "MSNBC" Greta van Susteren says this is an assault. (The woman in this video was yelling at Trump and disrupting the rally, on private property, just to be clear.) So I tell you; I will never, ever think of doing this to Greta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ediBtKUPJ34

'TreHammer said...

...enough with the commercials...:-D

Chuck said...

Chuck, why do you think the quote was published?
1. Because it is true.
2. Because it is revelatory, of Trump-as-club-member, and Trump-as-president, and Trump-as-a-character.
3. Because it is interesting, and a lot of people would want to read about it.

Althouse herself found it interesting enough to do a blog post on it. It was one of the biggest stories of yesterday's news cycle.

I followed up on it because there was more useful information to post, following the original post. Most particularly, information that went directly to Althouse's use of "supposedly" to describe the provenance of the quote in her headline.

FullMoon said...


Blogger Chuck said...

Here you go, Full Moon. The "MSNBC" Greta van Susteren says this is an assault. (The woman in this video was yelling at Trump and disrupting the rally, on private property, just to be clear.) So I tell you; I will never, ever think of doing this to Greta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ediBtKUPJ34


You are a moron, That black woman was being pushed and shoved and roughed up.Nothing at all like your belle Michelle. You would have been better off not providing that link.
Like the difference between the lightning bug and lightning.

FullMoon said...

Jesus Chuck. I am sorely disappointed in you now. It was a catastrophic blunder to link that vid. You really have no choice but to find another way to apologize for your threat to Greta.

FullMoon said...

It was one of the biggest stories of yesterday's news cycle.

Sad, isn't it, how the trivial is so important to MSM?

Darrell said...

Kid Rock sent a message to Chuck.

http://tinyurl.com/y8qebo2a

FullMoon said...

Chuck, you're doing clutter. You're causing me (and I presume others) to just have to scroll to get past your long and repetitive stuff.

Chuck is the neighbors Chihuahua. Occasionally escapes, shits on lawns throughout the neighborhood. If seen roaming, we automatically get the hose out and give him a squirt, not only for crapping on the grass today, but for past transgressions also. Sometimes he will hold his ground and yap while soaking wet. Sometimes he gets sprayed while passing through, wondering, "why me"? Once in awhile, will bring newspaper from end of driveway to the porch, in order to curry favor with the lady of the house.

Chuck said...

You are a moron, That black woman was being pushed and shoved and roughed up.Nothing at all like your belle Michelle. You would have been better off not providing that link.
Like the difference between the lightning bug and lightning.

Don't be silly. I didn't opine on whether the black woman was being assaulted. I certainly never suggested that she wasn't being assaulted. (I did rather like the idea, of posting some violence aimed at an anti-Trump protester, on the Althouse blog.)

I would not want to defend the man, or men, who shoved that black woman.

So in no way can you label me as somehow "pro-assault." Which is why I found it so odd that Greta would have sided with the loathsome Cory Lewandowski versus Michelle Fields who at the time was a Breitbart reporter, fer cryin' out loud! That is how that bitter comment-war started. Cory Lewandowski, as proxy for "Trump," and Michelle Fields, as proxy for "Anti-Trump," and Greta van Susteren, then collecting her pay from Fox, doing Pro-Trump propaganda.

Remember all the other lies from that time? Lewandowski at first saying that he never met Michelle Fields? Trump's false claim that Michelle's story "changed" when security video was found? Trump suggesting that it couldn't have happened since Secret Service was all around him?

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/30/donald-trump/donald-trump-michelle-fields-changed-her-story-fir/

tcrosse said...

Chuck, you're doing clutter. You're causing me (and I presume others) to just have to scroll to get past your long and repetitive stuff.

Ann lets her Mean Girl out of the closet. Huzzah !

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Way to keep the next post crisp and on point, LLR.

Darrell said...

Michelle Fields
As Republican as Chuck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkLrr9Ydl9g

FullMoon said...

Chuck said...

You are a moron, That black woman was being pushed and shoved and roughed up.Nothing at all like your belle Michelle. You would have been better off not providing that link.
Like the difference between the lightning bug and lightning.

Don't be silly. I didn't opine on whether the black woman was being assaulted. I certainly never suggested that she wasn't being assaulted. (I did rather like the idea, of posting some violence aimed at an anti-Trump protester, on the Althouse blog.)



Disappointing again. You equated Michelles "hold on a darn second" with an actual push and shove situation. Reach into your bag of bullshit and come up with something
we can pretend is authentic.

Big Mike said...

Since this is, after all, a cafe thread, I note that Michelle Carter, who was found guilty of goading her boyfriend into suicide, has been sentenced to 30 months in jail. Normally I'd regard this as a pretty light sentence for causing a person to die, but I note that the three (of four) Sterling Hall bombers who were caught only served seven years, three years, and three years after killing a physics post-doc. Goes to show how lightly the life of a physics post-doc is held in Madison, WI.

Big Mike said...

@Michael K, I prefer Chik-fil-A chicken breast sandwiches myself.

tcrosse said...

@Michael K, I prefer Chik-fil-A chicken breast sandwiches myself.

I second that. It's a damn good sandwich, as plenty of other people seem to agree.

buwaya said...

The trouble with that desk is that if you put stuff in it that you would in an actual working desk it would look a mess.

Its not a desk anyone could actually use, unless you are fine with looking like you are sitting behind a pile of trash.

Among other things, all the half-empty liquor bottles, spare shirts and underwear.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

@buwaya, always finish your first liquor bottle before you start on the next.

buwaya said...

Not EVERYONE likes Scotch.

Whatyagonnado?

Marc in Eugene said...

Dennis Prager is causing them to take to their fainting couches in Santa Monica because his opinions are indecent and so therefore he ought not to be allowed to do his amateur conducting show/benefit act.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Clean Desk Award

tcrosse said...

It looks like the manicurist's table at the beauty parlor.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

It looks like the manicurist's table at the beauty parlor.

heyboom said...

Dr. K, Chick-fil-a was extremely popular and successful long before the controversy. That's why the gays went after them, they were too successful. I had my first Chick-fil-a sandwich in 1977 at a Florida mall.