text:
High cholesterol has long been known to raise the risk of heart and blood vessel disease in people with diabetes and without. Unfortunately, it's very common among Americans generally, including those with diabetes. The good news is that there's a lot you can do to lower your cholesterol and, consequently, lower your risk of heart disease. Making the effort to lower blood cholesterol is especially important for people with diabetes — Type 1 or Type 2 — who have a higher risk of heart disease than the general public.
The bad guy: LDL
Your LDL, or "bad," cholesterol is the culprit when it comes to raising the risk of heart disease. LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein, and if you have too much of it in your blood, it can build up along the insides of your artery walls, leading to the formation of fatty deposits called plaque. Plaque makes it harder for blood to flow through your arteries, which means that less blood can get to vital organs, such as your heart and brain. Sometimes this can lead to a heart attack or a stroke. Plaque can also rupture, triggering the formation of blood clots, which can also block the arteries, leading to a heart attack or stroke.
So it makes sense to keep your LDL level low. The American Diabetes Association recommends that most adults with diabetes who are not taking cholesterol-lowering statins have a fasting lipid profile done at diagnosis, first medical evaluation, and thenevery five years after, while those taking statins should have the test done when they start the medication and periodically thereafter. This test measures HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol, as well as the level of triglycerides (a type of blood fat) in the blood. HDL cholesterol above 50 mg/dl, LDL cholesterol below 100 mg/dl, and triglycerides below 150 mg/dl are levels considered to pose a low risk of cardiovascular problems. If you're not sure what your LDL is or what your target is, ask your health-care provider, and make sure you get your LDL checked every year.
-- Learn More About Complications & Prevention >>
Some of the steps you can take to help lower your LDL cholesterol level include reducing your intake of saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, and trans fat (which is present in foods that contain partially hydrogenated oils), maintaining a healthy weight, and engaging in regular physical activity.
The good guy: HDL
HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, is known as "good" cholesterol. HDL is like the body's drain cleaner, scooping up the LDL-ridden plaque in the arteries and bringing it to the liver for disposal. The higher your HDL level, the greater your protection against heart disease. If you're a woman, aim for an HDL of 50 mg/dl or higher; men should keep their HDL at 40 mg/dl or higher. Quitting smoking, losing excess pounds, and getting regular exercise are proven ways to raise your HDL cholesterol.
Another player: triglycerides
There's another player to consider when it comes to heart health, and that's triglycerides. Triglycerides are a kind of fat found in your blood and also stored in the body for fuel. But, as with LDL cholesterol, if you have too high a level of triglycerides in your blood, your heart disease risk goes up. The goal for triglycerides is less than 150 mg/dl.
Lifestyle and dietary measures that can help to lower triglycerides include losing excess weight, exercising regularly, avoiding refined carbohydrates such as white flour, lowering saturated fat intake, and increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids and fiber.
Total cholesterol
When you have your cholesterol checked, your lab report may also have your total cholesterol number, which is made up of your LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. The goal for total cholesterol is a number less than 200 mg/dl.
Drug therapy
Many people with high cholesterol are prescribed one or more medicines to lower their LDL cholesterol and/or triglycerides or to raise their HDL cholesterol. Statins are one of the more common types of medicines used, but there are others that work well, too, including bile acid resins and niacin. Fibrates are a type of medicine that can help lower triglycerides and raise HDL cholesterol. There's also a medicine that blocks the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines.
However, as with all drugs, side effects can occur, although most are not usually serious. Statins, for example, may cause muscle pain and, of more concern, liver damage. Fibrates can cause gastrointestinal upset and may increase the risk of gallstones. If you experience side effects when taking a cholesterol drug, always call your health-care provider for advice, rather than stopping the medicine on your own.
Nature's cholesterol reducers
There's strong evidence that making dietary changes — including lowering saturated fat and dietary cholesterol intake — and staying physically active can help with cholesterol management and lower the risk of heart disease. For many people, though, these changes aren't enough to bring lipid levels into their target range. That's where medicines can help, but some people are reluctant to take medicines or wonder whether there is anything else they can do on their own before — or in addition to — starting medicines. And in fact, there may be.
Any number of magazine or online articles and advertisements tout supplements that can lower cholesterol without harmful or unpleasant side effects. Some of them may indeed work, while others remain unproven or appear to be ineffective.
Here are some of the more popular supplements and food items for which cholesterol-lowering claims have been made. Of those that may have a positive effect, some may help to lower LDL cholesterol more, while others may have more of an effect on triglycerides. Keep in mind that any decisions about taking cholesterol-lowering supplements or making significant dietary changes should be made with the knowledge of your health-care team, who can best guide you toward the therapies that are likely to help and caution you about any possible side effects.
Soluble fiber
When most people think of fiber, they think of a bowl of bran cereal or a slice of whole wheat bread. These foods are high in insoluble fiber, the type of fiber that helps to move food through the intestinal tract and prevent constipation. But insoluble fiber is not the only kind of fiber found in food.
Soluble fiber, or viscous fiber, is found in certain foods, including oatmeal, oat bran, and other oat products, dried beans and peas (black beans, chickpeas, lentils), barley, flaxseed, nuts, apples, oranges, prunes, carrots, Brussels sprouts, and psyllium (seed husks found in some fiber supplements and bran cereals). Soluble fiber works a little differently from insoluble fiber: It takes up water in the digestive tract, forming a gummy, gel-like substance. While it, too, may help prevent constipation, a unique feature of soluble fiber is that it can help lower LDL cholesterol by binding to cholesterol in the intestines. The evidence for soluble fiber's cholesterol-lowering abilities is pretty strong and is supported by fairly extensive research.
How much soluble fiber does one need to lower LDL? Aiming for 7–13 grams of soluble fiber each day helps. And consuming adequate insoluble fiber can help, too: Eating a total of 20–35 grams of fiber (both insoluble and soluble) each day can lower total cholesterol by 2% to 3% and LDL cholesterol by up to 7%. One way to get that much fiber in your meals is to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, as well as 6 servings of grains.
Taking psyllium-based fiber supplements or beta glucan supplements (beta glucan is found in barley and oats) may also help lower LDL, particularly if you're unable or unwilling to eat a lot of foods high in soluble fiber. But fiber supplements can cause gassiness, bloating, cramps, and diarrhea and may decrease the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Also, some people may be allergic to psyllium, so caution is necessary; the incidence of psyllium allergy appears to be higher among health-care workers. Signs of psyllium allergy may include rash, itching, and shortness of breath.
Distant cousins to cholesterol (they share a similar chemical structure), phytosterols, or plant stanols and sterols, are natural substances found in plant cell membranes that compete with cholesterol for absorption in the intestinal tract. What this means is that if you consume enough of them, your total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol may decrease (but not if you eat a double cheeseburger with fries along with them). In fact, you can lower your LDL cholesterol by up to 15% by consuming at least 2 grams of phytosterols every day.
The evidence for phytosterols is strong enough for the National Cholesterol Education Program to have added the recommendation to consume at least 2 grams per day if one's cholesterol is high. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also allows the following health claim on foods that meet the criteria:
"Foods containing at least 0.65 gram per serving of vegetable oil plant sterol esters, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 1.3 grams, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease."
Natural sources of plant stanols and sterols include fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, nuts, legumes, and whole grains. However, it would be difficult to consume much more than 500 milligrams (mg) of phytosterols daily from these food sources.
Food manufacturers have also fortified a number of foods with phytosterols, including certain brands of vegetable oil spread, juice, yogurt, soy milk, rice milk, snack bars, and even chocolate. Over-the-counter phytosterol supplements are also available.
Plant stanols and sterols are quite safe: There are no known harmful side effects of consuming them, and they can be taken or eaten along with a statin or a fibrate for an even greater LDL reduction.
Soy protein
Back in the 1990s, researchers thought that soy was another tool in the cholesterol-buster's arsenal. At the time, a meta-analysis of 38 studies appeared to show that consuming at least 25 grams of soy protein daily could help lower total and LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
But in 2006, a second look at the research cast doubt on the magnitude of soy's benefit in this area. The American Heart Association announced that eating soy had much less of an effect on LDL than previously thought, lowering it only by about 3%. The other catch is that most Americans don't eat that many soy foods on a daily basis, so few are likely to consume 25 grams of soy protein per day. However, the evidence of some benefit is still there, so if you're willing to eat a few soy-based meals a week, soy may be of some help in lowering your LDL.
Soy protein is found in tofu, tempeh, miso, edamame (green soybeans), soy nuts, soy milk, soy cheese, and soy-based meat substitutes (such as veggie burgers, soy hotdogs, and "bacon" strips).
Soy foods are generally considered to be safe, but another component of soy, called isoflavones, are natural, estrogen-like substances that may reduce thyroid function in some people (although these findings are not consistent). Women who have had estrogen-sensitive breast cancer and are taking either a selective estrogen receptor modulator (such as tamoxifen [brand name Nolvadex, Soltamox], raloxifene [Evista], ospemifene [Osphena], toremifene [Fareston], or toremifene [Fareston]) or an aromatase inhibitor (such as anastrozole [Arimidex], exemestane [Aromasin], or letrozole [Femara]) should probably not eat soy foods until treatment has been completed.
Niacin, or nicotinic acid, is a B vitamin that the body needs to help turn food into fuel. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for niacin for men is 16 mg per day, and for women, 14 mg per day. The Upper Tolerable Limit (UL) for niacin is 35 mg per day if niacin is consumed either in supplement form or in niacin-fortified foods. Key food sources of niacin include dairy foods, lean meat, poultry, fish, nuts, and eggs.
Niacin is also sometimes prescribed in much larger doses — up to 2,000 mg, or 2 grams, taken two to three times a day — to increase HDL cholesterol (by 15% to 35%), with secondary effects of lowering LDL and triglycerides. Prescription niacin can be taken along with a statin or a bile acid resin for further LDL reduction. Some common brand names of prescription niacin are Niacor, Niaspan, and Slo-Niacin.
While consuming the RDA for niacin in foods or vitamin supplements is safe (but will likely have no effect on your HDL cholesterol level), you should never take large doses of niacin on your own without checking first with your doctor. Side effects of prescription-strength niacin can include flushing (redness of the face and neck), stomach upset, itching, high blood glucose, and liver damage.
Red yeast rice
Red yeast rice is a fungus that grows on rice. It's been used in Asian countries both as a medicine (for various ailments) and as a food coloring (for Peking duck, for example) for hundreds of years.
Interest in red yeast rice in the United States has grown in recent years because of its ability to block the production of cholesterol by the liver. This ability is due, in part, to a substance called monacolin K, which is a "natural" form of lovastatin, a prescription drug used to lower LDL cholesterol. Red yeast rice is essentially a lower-dose type of statin. As a result, many people who either cannot tolerate the side effects of prescription statins or who do not want to take them for other reasons have turned to red yeast rice.
A study published in 2009 in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that people who were unable to tolerate statins because of muscle pain were able to tolerate 1800 mg of red yeast rice twice daily for 24 weeks, with an average drop in LDL of 35 mg/dl. A study done in China showed that red yeast rice lowered heart disease risk by 30% after study subjects took the supplement for about 4 1/2 years.
The catch is that red yeast rice is sold as a dietary supplement in the United States, not as a drug. That means that the FDA does not regulate it for quality, safety, or effectiveness. An analysis of 10 brands of red yeast rice capsules done by ConsumerLab.com in 2008 found that there was wide variation in red yeast rice content from brand to brand. And given the fact that red yeast rice is essentially a low-dose statin, possible side effects are similar to those of statins, including muscle pain or tenderness that can lead to kidney damage, flulike symptoms, dark-colored urine, difficulty with urination, upset stomach, bloating, and headache.
In 2007, the FDA asked the manufacturers of three red yeast rice supplements — Red Yeast Rice, Red Yeast Rice/Policosanol Complex, and Cholestrix — to withdraw their products from the U.S. market, citing them for containing "unauthorized" lovastatin. However, people are still able to obtain this supplement with smaller amounts of the "natural" lovastatin.
As tempting as it can be to take something that's natural and effective, it's wise not to take this supplement without first talking with your doctor. People who decide to take red yeast rice should have their liver enzymes checked about six weeks after starting it and then every six months thereafter. If any of the side effects listed above occur, anyone taking red yeast rice should call his doctor.
Policosanol is a fatty compound that can be derived from sugar cane, beeswax, wheat germ, and rice bran. Initial studies with this supplement indicated that it may be just as effective as statins at lowering LDL. But those studies were almost all conducted by a single research group in Cuba and were sponsored by a Cuban company that markets policosanol. A study conducted in Germany using Cuban sugar cane–derived policosanol at four different doses found no benefit to taking policosanol (results were published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2006). Subsequent studies by a variety of researchers similarly failed to show any lipid-lowering effect of policosanol.
Side effects of policosanol are mild and consist primarily of rash, fatigue, headache, weight loss, and insomnia. Policosanol may increase the blood-thinning effects of aspirin, warfarin (Coumadin) and clopidogrel (Plavix). It may also increase the effects of levodopa, a drug used for Parkinson disease.
Guggulipid is a supplement derived from the resin of the mukul myrrh tree. It contains compounds called guggulsterones, which initially were shown to lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in both human and animal studies done in India. In these studies, guggulipid lowered LDL cholesterol by 12% and triglycerides by 15%.
However, in another study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2003, 85 otherwise healthy men and women were given either a placebo, 1,000 mg of guggulipid three times a day, or 2,000 mg of guggulipid three times a day. At the end of the study, LDL cholesterol actually increased by 5% in the 1,000-mg group and by 7% in the 2,000-mg group. However, triglyceride levels dropped by about 14% in the subjects with the highest LDL levels. Additionally, C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, dropped by 28% in the group receiving the highest dose of guggulipid.
Since the study was published, there has been little enthusiasm to continue researching guggulipid. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. It is not recommended for people with liver disease, kidney disease, or inflammatory bowel disease.
Garlic has long been believed to help lower cholesterol. However, a study published in Archives of Internal Medicine in 2007 tested raw garlic and two brands of garlic supplements in adults with high LDL, and none of the forms lowered their cholesterol after six months. Previous research indicated that garlic did cause a drop in LDL, but only temporarily.
On the plus side, garlic may offer some benefit in reducing the risk of heart disease by means other than lowering cholesterol. For example, it's been shown to slightly lower blood pressure. It may also lower the risk of some types of cancer. Fortunately for garlic lovers, side effects are few. However, those who take blood-thinner medicines such as aspirin, warfarin, or clopidogrel are at increased risk for bleeding if they also take garlic.
Ginger has been used for centuries in traditional medicine in Asia and India, primarily to treat digestive disorders, arthritis, and heart conditions. It's currently used in modern medicine to treat nausea associated with chemotherapy, motion sickness, and even morning sickness during pregnancy. Ginger may also help fight heart disease and lower cholesterol.
A small study published in the journal Saudi Medical Journal in 2008 looked at the effects of taking 3,000 mg per day of ginger for 45 days in people with high cholesterol. The results were promising: Total cholesterol dropped by 13 mg/dl, and triglycerides dropped by 9.5 mg/dl. However, the authors of the study point out that this was a small study and that the effects of ginger on blood lipids should be confirmed in a larger study.
A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August 2009 may cast new light on flaxseed. Ground flaxseed has already earned its position as a plant source of omega-3 fatty acids, helping to lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and promoting healthy digestion. In the study, researchers in China analyzed results from more than 28 studies involving whole flaxseed and flaxseed oil. The findings? Eating one tablespoon per day of whole flaxseed lowered total and LDL cholesterol, but not HDL cholesterol, in postmenopausal women and men, especially in those who had higher cholesterol levels. Until now it's been thought that flaxseed must be ground up to be digested and yield health benefits, but it may be that the whole seed can also offer lipid-lowering benefits.
Flaxseed is quite safe, although nausea, bloating, and diarrhea are possible side effects. It's best to take flaxseed separately from any medicines to prevent drug absorption problems: Flaxseed can slow the movement of food (and medicines) from the stomach to the intestines.
Heart-healthy eating overall
Following a heart-healthy eating plan is one of the best ways to help you reach your blood lipid goals. A heart-healthy plan has the following characteristics:
- It is low in saturated and trans fat. This means limiting fats that are solid at room temperature such as butter, some stick margarines, shortening, and lard, and consuming less red meat, cheese, whole milk, and fast food.
- It contains heart-healthy fats, such as olive, peanut, canola, corn, and sunflower oils; trans-fat–free tub vegetable oil spread; nuts and seeds; and omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fatty fish, walnuts, and flaxseed.
- A heart-healthy plan is rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber from fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads, cereals, and pasta, and dried beans and peas.
- It contains no more than 2400 milligrams of sodium daily, primarily for blood pressure control. Canned or processed foods, such as canned soups and vegetables, frozen meals, fast foods, and lunch meats tend to be high in sodium. Eating less of such foods and seeking out low-sodium (containing no more than 140 mg sodium per serving) or "no salt added" varieties of them can help you cut back on your sodium intake.
(Click here for more information about choosing foods that can help you lower your cholesterol.)
A registered dietitian can help you develop an individualized eating plan that's good for both your heart and your blood glucose control. If you choose to try dietary supplements to lower your cholesterol — or for any other reason — tell your health-care provider, and keep him updated on your usage from one appointment to the next.
Want to learn more about improving your cholesterol profile? Read "HDL: Nine Ways to Raise Your Good Cholesterol" "Lifestyle Habits for Lipid Management," "Lowering Cholesterol: What Works and What Doesn't (Part 1)," and "Lowering Cholesterol: What Works and What Doesn't (Part 2)."


text:
February 10, 2007
Althouse Derangement Syndrome.
CLARIFICATION: I didn't invent the term "Althouse Derangement Syndrome." I found it in the comments section at little Scott's blog. If you want the sordid details, follow the link. And search the comments to find the really mean thing I said that is sure to send ADS sufferers into a frenzy of keyboarding.
102 comments:
- ASX said...
the reasons people believe you are a conservative Republican, which you repeatedly attempt to conceal, is because:
(1) You never show the kind of personal venom towards any republicans which you regularly sprew towards almost every Democrat.
(2) You regularly ignore the facts of the case and jump to the kind of damning, fact-free conclusions which typify Fox News and the Althouse blog.
- Bruce Hayden said...
Well, maybe Ann has changed her party affiliation, but my understanding is that she had spent most of her adult life as a Democrat.
Changing subjects a bit, I do like the concept of Althouse Derangement Syndrome (ADS). That makes a bit more sense than your tag of "anti-Althousiana", which, though cute, is maybe not as explanatory.
- vbspurs said...
ADS is the new BDS. We need some FDS to clear the stink.
- David53 said...
I think the majority of the people who visit this blog don't really care whether Ann is a Republican or Democrat.
Those who suffer from advanced ADS however will find fault with almost every post.
- Old Dad said...
Ann certainly eviscerated Senator Obama in the post below.
a real question. Are there any "conservative Republicans" on faculty at your law school?
- Jeff said...
Ann never uses the word "fuck" in her posts, so there's no way she can claim to be a left-leaning blogger!!!
- Simon said...
Jeff beat me to it. LOL.
- Maxine Weiss said...
Ann Althouse: A Conservative too tormented by Liberal guilt to admit it.
Peace, Maxine
- Doyle said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Joe Baby said...
It's an odd political movement that tells those with discerning eyes to only focus them elsewhere.
- dave said...
Glad to see you realize you have a problem. Acceptance is the first step.
Second step: a truckload of thorazine crammed down your throat. It'd be a start, anyway...
- reality check said...
\ /
- reality check said...
asx, you forgot
(3) You annually ask people to vote you conservative blog-diva.
- Palladian said...
Wow, is this an Althouse Derangement Syndrome sanitarium? All the most hopeless sufferers are in here. I hope it's not contagious...
- The Drill SGT said...
The problem is that you used to be Liberal. As with Islam, the greatest crime on the left is apostasy.
- P. Froward said...
Ann is pro-choice and sympathetic to gays. Is that characteristic of conservative Republicans? Hard to say. I know there's a conservative Republican in Paris, made out of a platinum-iridium alloy, which serves as an international standard. But I haven't yet had a chance to abduct Ann, whisk her away to Paris, and compare the two.
Ann, to conceal your conservative Republicanism by the naïve device of not actually being one is the most perfidious deceit of all. It is also very self-centered. Be fair: The only reason your critics look like idiots, aside from the misdirected animosity, the excess of emotion, and in some cases a surreal lack of taste, is that they're saying things that obviously aren't true. And whose fault is it that you're not a conservative Republican? Yours. You could very easily prevent ASX from looking like a moron; how heartless of you not to do him that small kindness.
But that's just the kind of heartlessness conservative Republicans are known for. Never mind if they give more to charity; that obviously means they're just compensating. Liberals are too good to settle for cheap, easy imitations of generosity like... doing generous things. All that costs is time and money. You need true greatness of spirit to vote for people like Walter Mondale.
- Jennifer said...
This is a great idea! It's like a containment cabinet.
- reality check said...
It's good to see guys agree Republicans are anti-gay and anti-choice authoritarians.
- Theo Boehm said...
It's real simple.
Professor A paddles around in the Lefty pond that is Madison. It's small and predictable.
I used to go kayaking on a pond in Concord that's small and predictable. I know every inch of the damn thing, and it's long since been more irritation than enjoyment. I enjoy kayaking, but I need a change of venue. I suspect Professor A's unwillingness to enthuse over every leftoid cause or candidate d'jour may stem from the same contempt of familiarity.
My wife is from the environs of Berkeley, and, although remaining liberal, her experiences growing up left her with a healthy skepticism tinged with humor about trendy leftish politics.
So, to me, Ann Althouse's outlook is perfectly understandable and rather sympathetic.
- Daryl Herbert said...
dave, if you have a throat-cramming fetish, there are easier ways to troll for sex partners online
It's funny how Ann starts a thread about deranged hatred of her, and her critics all treat it as if she's started a thread about why they think she's really a conservative at heart.
It's taken as a foregone conclusion that Republicans deserve abuse, obsessive hatred, misquoting, etc. I guess that's why it's called Althouse Derangement Syndrome.
- The Drill SGT said...
Theo Boehm said... .
My wife is from the environs of Berkeley, and, although remaining liberal, her experiences growing up left her with a healthy skepticism tinged with humor about trendy leftish politics.
that of course is another explanation at the personal level. To anyone in Madison, Ann appears to the right of Che, that makes her a conservative there.
As for the remote monitoring over the internet, I still hold to the apostasy theory.
- The Drill SGT said...
I should have added that I attended UC in the 60's
- Simon said...
The Drill SGT said...
"To anyone in Madison, Ann appears to the right of Che, that makes her a conservative there."
One hopes that it's a bit more than an appearance. ;)
- vbspurs said...
The problem is that you used to be Liberal. As with Islam, the greatest crime on the left is apostasy.
Republicans are used to newcomers.
This is probably because as everybody knows, many young people are liberal in their youth, and become more conservative as they age, once the heady pheromone of idealism wears off.
So, as people age, they come into our fold, and though there is no welcome basket, we're glad to have 'em.
No questions asked or needed.
We also know that they'll probably dip into more liberal waters once in a while, even though they're more conservative now.
That's fine too. Again, we're used to it.
Case in point, Ann votes for Russ Feingold, and George Bush.
(I voted for Kathy Fernandez-Rundle (D) as Miami District Attorney in 2004. Why not, she's great)
But liberals are different.
Those that stay liberal, cannot fathom leaving what is an ideology, with concrete tomes that guide their philosophy, not just attitudes and practical intentions which guide us.
It's not a state of mind. It's a state of being.
You can change your mind.
But changing your very being...that's on par with slamming the Church Doors of Liberalism in the face of the congregation left behind.
Poor Ann.
- Ross said...
This is all a little wierd. I don't understand why Ann is relinking to an old post where she was originally wrong (re: Pelosi, see Sergeantatarms letter) and then even more wrong in the update (defering to the "military jet" symantics was a red-herring). Then of course she is incredibly crude and this is taken by her and most of the commenters here as proof that liberals are mean and out of it?
You guys honestly scare me. There is certainly plenty of bad faith and low-level group think on both sides to go around, but this level of real derangement is the kind of stuff that demogogues and authoritarians thrive on.
There is a lot of talk about hatred towards Bush or reactionism, but it's time some folks took a look in the mirror. Hatred towards liberals is ten times more powerful and defines ten times as many elections in this country than the other way around. It's such a goddamned easy negative-platform that it's given Republicans a blank check to screw our country over.
Do you consider yourself conservative? If yes, let me ask you: Do you consider Bush or the last Congress to be/have been conservative?
Time to stop writing those blank checks.
- Peter Palladas said...
Statistical analysis reveals that there is a positive correlation between masculine critical posts of Prof. Alt. and a clear, if sublimated, desire for sexual union with the woman.
It's broadly comparable to the 'dip-your-pigtails-in-the-inkwell-because-I-have-unexplored-libidinous-issues' that Herr Freud used to bang on about.
Raw data is available upon application. 'Althouse Parasexual Paradigms - Movements in Conflictual Semiotics' to be published in the American Journal of Post-Adlerian Studies' - subject to peer review.
- Ann Althouse said...
Thanks, Victoria. "Republicans are used to newcomers.This is probably because as everybody knows, many young people are liberal in their youth..."
That's a good point. I don't think of myself as a Republican, but Democrats have made it so obvious to me that they can't accept me. But I'm not mad about it. Nearly everyone I know is a Democrat, and I'm used to how they think. Moreover, I'm past the point where I care if a group accepts me. And as this post shows, I'm amused at my strange power to upset people.
Aw, poor Rossy is upset by my sense of humor that has sexual content. Hey, look at this, it's so horrifyingly lewd: d
- Jeff said...
Conservatives and libertarians consider Bush to be almost a RINO.
I voted Dem while I lived in the South; years of life in Philadelphia and NYC have moved me to the center-right. Exposure to unthinking kneejerk liberalism has counterbalanced the years of kneejerk conservatism that I grew up hating.
I like Ann's blog because she threads a middle path that I don't always agree with but which I can respect. I feel the lefty wrath directed against her is for her break with bien pensant thinking on certain topics. She's certainly open to having her views challenged if the commenter is at least polite- a far cry from from the closed minds on both ends of the political spectrum.
- reality check said...
She's certainly open to having her views challenged if the commenter is at least polite
She's been completely pwned in the Pelosi thread, but she's still digging!
- Simon said...
vbspurs said...
"So, as people age, they come into our fold, and though there is no welcome basket, we're glad to have 'em."
What are you talking about? You didn't get the membership package? In addition to the pamphlet, monocle, and complimentary Halliburton stock, I got some ginger cookies, a bottle of Dom and a cat. ;)
- Simon said...
"Do you consider Bush or the last Congress to be/have been conservative?"
It'd be pretty hard to make a case for that proposition. Bush's conservative credentials thusfar amount to cutting taxes - necessary, but hardly sufficient.
- reality check said...
For six years Bush has been the conservatives' second cumming, and everything has been conservative, but with the war going abysmally, the rats flea the sinking ship and try to convince everyone that Bush is a Democrat.
This is the Party of Personal Responsibility.
- Simon said...
RealityCheck - which would you consider to be the more conservative Bush-driven measure, the massive increase in Federal entitlement spending embodied in the prescription drug benefit, or the massive increase in illegitimate Federal interference in a traditionally state-controlled area embodied in No Child Left Behind?
To be fair, I suppose that Bush has not just cut taxes, he has also appointed some very fine judges, and two excellent members of the Supreme Court - but it should be pointed out that in the latter case, he made his record greater than 50/50 only when he faced a massive rebellion over a spectacularly incompetant nominee that forced his hand. Sam Alito is a fine Justice (not a perfect one to be sure, as he showed in Zedner and Gonzales-Lopez), but Bush gets no credit for his nomination.
- reality check said...
As in that other thread, I am not playing your silly game.
You championed him, you voted for him, you defended him and his incompetency, his cronyism, his corruption, and his illegal war and now there is no way you are going to walk away from taking responsibility for him.
Once again, you do not get to post-facto set the rules of who is a pure enough conservative for you.
If you dislike his actions instead of disavowing him, you may want to consider your own personal culpability in his trashing of this country.
- P. Froward said...
reality check,
"It's good to see guys agree Republicans are anti-gay and anti-choice authoritarians."
Heh. Poor effort, even for a marginal specimen like you.
I said "conservative Republican". That's because I was kicking some poor dumb kid who called Ann one. Now, if we agree that words in English have customary meanings, we can conclude that when we call somebody a "conservative Republican" that's usually meant to suggest that he's a) conservative, and b) Republican. I hope I'm not going too fast for you here?
So, OK, the Republican party is a political party in the United States. People belong to it, or they don't. I happen to belong to it. That's what's usually meant by a "Republican": Somebody who belongs to, or at least has an emotional investment in, the Republican Party. I'm pro-choice and gays don't bug me a bit. For that reason, I usually consider myself a centrist Republican, or a libertarian-leaning Republican, or some such thing.
Conservative Republicans are far more likely to believe that it's wrong to kill unborn children, for example. They're also very frequently a lot less blasé about the gay thing. There are exceptions, lots of 'em; there always are. Those two issues don't define conservatism.
None of the above has anything whatsoever to do with "authoritarianism", obviously. The belief that human life begins at conception is slightly less preposterous than the belief that it begins at birth, and you'd have to be psychotic or mentally retarded to believe that opposition to killing people is "authoritarian". In fairness, I'm willing to allow that you might be both.
None of this stuff amounts to a belief that the government should control the media and dictate political content, for example. That's a view associated with people called "liberal Democrats", who generally favor considerable government interference pretty much everything except whether you have an abortion, and whether you marry somebody with chromosomes like your own. Nor do Republicans of any stripe tend to think that responsible, law-abiding citizens should be disarmed. That's another intensely authoritarian view liberal Democrats tend to cling to. Don't ask me why. They just like to have the government run everything. They think government can't make any mistakes. Again, though, they're not uniform. I know generally quite liberal people who nevertheless favor keeping the Bill of Rights intact, including the first and second amendments.
Lastly, lots of conservatives have been bitching about Bush's conservative credentials, particularly his dubious fiscal conservatism, since before he was elected. There's been constant complaint all along about his unwillingness to veto anything. But you're too incurious, and far too stupid, to bother getting the facts before you start squealing.
- Theo Boehm said...
Drill SGT: Good to run into another UC alum! I won't ask the exact years you were there out of an increasing delicacy on my part about age. If you were to volunteer the information I would be grateful, but I won't press you ;-)
I am also a UC alum, but I'll spare you the details, lest we get too off-topic. I will say we probably missed each other by a few years. Anyway, I was mostly hanging around the Buddhists on North Side, and avoided all the fun down on Telegraph Ave.
My wife was in the latter days of the thick of it, UC-wise, graduating in '73. She was admitted at age 16, but, growing up as she did on the streets of Berkeley, she was more ready for the experience than any prep school could have made her. She went directly from Berkeley to the Sorbonne, and so became a connoisseuse of riot. The streets of Paris were a graduate fellowship in direct action by the Left to her provincial but adequate preparatory work at Berkeley.
With apologies to Professor A, I'm sorry to say that when my wife has had occasion to visit Madison, she's found Lefty politics there grim, glum and small-potatoes compared to the real thing.
That's why we'll always have Paris.
And so, to return to the Althouse Derangement Syndrome: It seems mostly to be a manifestation of grim, glum and small-potato thinking. The Internet Left is not physically in Madison but they seem spiritually to be.
I submit that the grim, glum, small-minded, crude, other-directed, apostasy-inquisiting members of the Left who infest the Internet ought to, as the expression has it, get a life.
- Simon said...
RealityCheck - here's a reality check for you. Elections? They're about picking the lesser evil. I didn't support Bush in the primaries, and subsequently, your party put up people who would have been far more catastrophically ruinous to this country than Bush could ever have been. I don't have to defend his record, and have in fact frequently been highly critical of his record. But is he better than the alternatives? You betcha.
- P. Froward said...
"You both get dirty, but the pig enjoys it".
I should know better.
- The Drill SGT said...
My undergrad degree was from UCD,but I had a number of classes at UCB. 67-69 with a sabbatical to VN, then 72-74. started in Chem E and finished in econometrics
My MBA was from UCI (13 classes) with 10 at UCLA. I went 6 straight quarters (Army was paying). picked up 4 UCLA classes the first Summer, 2 the next Spring and 4 the second Summer. 78-79
So Yes, I was around when the Filmore and Avalon and Winterland were open. I know who Mario Salvio was, th Free Speech Movement (what a joke) and know what a sad piece of real estate "People's Park" was.
- dave said...
So Yes, I was around when the Filmore and Avalon and Winterland were open. I know who Mario Salvio was, th Free Speech Movement (what a joke) and know what a sad piece of real estate "People's Park" was.
Another brownshirt who couldn't get the hippie chicks to put out for him.
- Oenophile said...
You upset people because you insist on pointing out flaws in other people's reasoning and that the other side might actually have a semi-valid point.
Logic in the face of dogmatic ideology always throws people for a loop. It's fun to watch the fireworks in response to dry academic commentary. ;)
- reality check said...
Who was Mario Salvio?
- Theo Boehm said...
Wow, SGT, you managed to make it around to more UC campuses than I did! You and I were at UCB during one year of your '72-'74 stint. I was mostly hiding out in the Music Library though.
The Filmore! I just deleted a paragraph of Filmore reminiscence, because it has absolutely nothing to do with people going cukoo about Althouse. I just can't think of any way to work it in. Thanks for the places and dates, though. Reminds me of home.
- Theo Boehm said...
I think Mario Salvio was a typio.
- Ruth Anne Adams said...
Theo Boehm: Go ahead and reminisce about Berkley. It's connected. Don't you remember?
Althouse was once dubbed a "Berkley house whore."
- Naked Lunch said...
And so, to return to the Althouse Derangement Syndrome: It seems mostly to be a manifestation of grim, glum and small-potato thinking. The Internet Left is not physically in Madison but they seem spiritually to be.
Get real Theo. The city of Madison cannot be responsible for anything Ann writes. I've lived here longer than Ann, and I doubt you really know what you're talking about. If it's so bad, why not move? She tweaks liberals, they tweak back. I guess when they tweak back, name a derangement syndrome after yourself. No narcissism there.
- peter hoh said...
If Democrats think that they can win the next election by writing off all the swing voters who voted for Bush on 2000 and 2004, well, good luck with that. They can always watch reruns of the West Wing if they want to see a Democrat in the White House.
Conservative? Liberal? Those are pretty useless labels any more. What matters to me is how partisan a blogger is. The less partisan, the better, as far as I'm concerned.
- vbspurs said...
That's a good point. I don't think of myself as a Republican, but Democrats have made it so obvious to me that they can't accept me.
May I say, that phenomenon is one of the saddest things I've seen online.
That a moderate lady, not only you, but many other bloggers of my reading, can be dismissed and worse!, hounded, ridiculed, because many left-leaners are ossified about this topic.
And WE'RE supposed to be the "either you are with us, or against us" reactionaries. Please.
There's nothing more reactionary, than an old liberal.
But I'm not mad about it.
If I may be honest, publicly, I think you're not mad exactly, but it hurts some part of you.
I think at heart you are a true liberal, the kid who grew up imbibing the BEST of the ideals of the 60s and 70s -- and let's be honest, there was a lot of good about that generation.
The caring about others not like us. The democratic impulse. The inclusiveness. The energy to better, improve, and later, protect.
But somewhere along the line, these ideas became polluted by doctrinaire ones, where tolerance could only be forcible acceptance.
It became a generational zero-sum game for so many people, where your survival means our defeat.
Conservatives then reacted to in the 1980s, and there we all of us have been, ever since...
No one said life was easy, but sometimes, I wish people wouldn't complicate things so.
- Elliott said...
For me, it's AFS - Althouse Fascination Syndrome.
1. She's a cold-hearted b*tch who has a daddy complex thing.
2. She has wonderful friends in Madison that obviously see someone totally different than the person who writes this blog.
3. She claims to be independent, but writes and reasons like Fox News or the Washington Times.
4. She has (or at least had) artistic talent.
5. She is truly an idiot sometimes, but is well-respected in her field. Michael Froomkin and Eric Muller both tend to respect her even though I am sure they have gasped in horrer sometimes at some of her posts.
6. Brian Leiter hates her and Glenn Reynolds loves her and she still calls herself independent.
7. She has no sex life or at least doesn't share any hint of one with her readers even though she seems to share everything else.
8. She can never, ever admit a mistake and is so callous as to defend the killing of an innocent Britain (who did not wear a down coat and did not jump a turnstile) or the torture of Jose Padilla.
What a wonderful train wreck is what I always think when I come to this blog.
- XWL said...
"We live in a time when moderates are treated worse than extremists, being punished as if they were more fanatical than the actual fanatics."
"We live in a time when lies are preferred to the truth and truths are called lies, when opponents are assumed to have the worst conceivable motives and treated accordingly, and when we reach immediately for coercion without even bothering to find out what those who disagree with us are actually saying."
From Orson Scott Card's afterword to his recent novel Empire.
Much of what he says in response to criticism he received seems to resonate with the responses to Althouse hereabouts.
Of course that book has been attacked and dismissed as evil right wing propaganda.
This blog . . .
- Der Hahn said...
Peter Palladas said...
Statistical analysis reveals that there is a positive correlation between masculine critical posts of Prof. Alt. and a clear, if sublimated, desire for sexual union with the woman.
and then comes Elliot ....
7. She has no sex life or at least doesn't share any hint of one with her readers even though she seems to share everything else.
- Daryl Herbert said...
7. She has no sex life or at least doesn't share any hint of one with her readers even though she seems to share everything else.
Ann has said time and again that she won't compromise the privacy of her students.
(just kidding!)
- Theo Boehm said...
Naked Lunch:
The Left-leaning political environment at Madison is responsible for what Althouse writes only to the extent that she reacts to it. My sense is that her political views are well internalized, and no amount of crude external pressure would change them. But of course she lives and works in a certain political atmosphere, so she is bound to react to that atmosphere in her writing and comment. Althouse herself has said something like this. I'm sorry, it's late, and I don't have time to research the link, but I distinctly remember reading her on this subject.
And of course I don't live in Madison. A bit of poking around would reveal that I live in Boston, so I'm not quite sure what you're driving at with the "why not move?" remark, or the rest of the paragraph, for that matter.
I was trying to have a little fun at UW Madison's expense, comparing it to more sophisticated places, and reflecting back that lack of sophistication on Althouse's Lefty Internet critics. Sorry if that caused offense, but if it did, it proves some other of my Madison informant's points as well.
Perhaps "humorless" and "easily offended" could be included here somewhere.
Ruth Anne: Thanks for the reminder! You know, I could never feature Althouse living in Berkeley. Her critics often say she's crazy, but to me, she's always been a model of sanity and good sense. You can depend on it, though, if she lived in Berkeley, she's be really crazy. She might do well in a nice house in the Oakland/Berkeley hills, maybe near Montclair Village. I can see her zipping around those hills in her Audi on the way to campus. But living in the flatlands of Berkeley? Horrors!
- vbspurs said...
7. She has no sex life or at least doesn't share any hint of one with her readers even though she seems to share everything else.
Anyone have some Kleenex and a jar of KY-Jelly for our friend, Elliot?
- Daryl Herbert said...
1. She's a cold-hearted b*tch who has a daddy complex thing.
How many cold-hearted bitches do you know who voted for Jesse Jackson and John Edwards? If she had a daddy complex, wouldn't she have gone for older, whiter, sterner candidates? Like Kerry instead of Bush??? Like Bush 41 instead of Clinton??? Like Dole instead of Clinton??? How do you square her vote for Russ "Mommy" Feingold?
If anything, Althouse wants a Mommy with a pair: someone who can put on an apron and bake cookies for domestic policy, but won't abandon our allies in a way that will destroy America's credibility for the next 50 years, which is exactly what leftists want (they want America alienated, defeated and mistrusted).
(I thought it was better to start talking literally than to extend the metaphor)
Here's a diagnosis for you: you're an ignorant jackass. Why do people think dashing off a quick psychoanalysis makes their comment seem smarter?
3. She claims to be independent, but writes and reasons like Fox News or the Washington Times.
Except that Ann hasn't written for the Washington Times or Fox News, as far as I can tell, but she has written for the NYT and appeared very recently on public radio.
6. Brian Leiter hates her and Glenn Reynolds loves her and she still calls herself independent.
There are a lot more people loved by Glenn & hated by Brian than vice versa, because Brian Leiter is a disagreeable prick and Glenn Reynolds is a friendly guy.
8. She can never, ever admit a mistake and is so callous as to defend the killing of an innocent Britain (who did not wear a down coat and did not jump a turnstile) or the torture of Jose Padilla.
Unlike callous lefties who don't give a damn about the victims of suicide bombings or mortar attacks but have infinite compassion for the victims of law enforcement officers, without making distinctions between tragic accidents and successfully terrorist takedowns (like Padilla).
And how, pray tell, was Jose Padilla "tortured"?
- Ann Althouse said...
Thanks, Ruth Anne. Ruth Anne is the Althouse Blog Historian, you know. Clicking on that link makes me wish I could podcast like it was 2005. #21 looks really interesting. But those were dangerous times in the blogosphere, back when LGF and Atrios were attacking me at the same time. These days it's just the pathetic little man, Scott, sometimes mistaken for the icon "d." Can't get much traction on attacks like that. Consequently, I don't have the podcasty fire I once had. Not that I'm looking for more trouble.
- Ann Althouse said...
"name a derangement syndrome after yourself"
I didn't invent the name. I found it over on little Scott's blog. One of their own readers told icon d that he/she/it had it. They have some rant about me every other day over there, usually amounting to nothing. A typical Lawyers, Guns, and Money blog post is to quote something I wrote and then go on about how stupid and evil I am. If that's not ADS, what do you want to call it? They obviously have a thing specifically about me.
- Peter Palladas said...
and then comes Elliot ....
...which makes me realise that there is in fact - I never dreamt it possible - one, and just the one, facet of T. Blair's life that I admire and hold in high regard: not once in all the time that he has been sh1tting on our country has he ever referred to his sex life - public or private.
- tiggeril said...
Why is it only female bloggers that attract this kind of cracked-out commenters? It's like the Internet Males decided to leave WoW and toddle around the blogging world for a while to see if there was a way to level up.
- VICTOR said...
[I found it over on little Scott's blog. One of their own readers told icon d that he/she/it had it. They have some rant about me every other day over there, usually amounting to nothing. A typical Lawyers, Guns, and Money blog post is to quote something I wrote and then go on about how stupid and evil I am. If that's not ADS, what do you want to call it? They obviously have a thing specifically about me.]
I'm shocked after all this you don't just admit the errors in your original post and move on. And you continue to attack "little Scott". And then react by name calling when people point this out. Silly.
BTW I've met Scott and he's not so little.
- Freder Frederson said...
Okay, I have a full blown case of ADS. She has called me a lunatic and some other names I can't recall. All because I challenged her annoying habit of phrasing things in such a way that they can be read as extremely ignorant and outrageous statements but then again have enough "plausible deniabilty" in them that she can come back and say "I never said that."
Reference the recent polar bears on the ice picture post. When I questioned what the hell her point was, she called me a lunatic and said "she didn't deny" the existence of global warming (but of course never said she accepted the theory either). She has done the same thing time and time again. Say something ridiculous and claim, "I never said that, or that wasn't what I meant" (but never apologize).
It is also why I have VDS (Volokh Derangement Syndrome) and especially RDS (Reynolds Derangement Syndrome). Don't ever call them conservatives and they Glenn Reynolds would never advocate genocide, but heh, sometimes shit happens.
- Ann Althouse said...
Freder: You sound really deranged.
Victor: There are no errors. Deal with it.
- Freder Frederson said...
Why is it only female bloggers that attract this kind of cracked-out commenters?
Oh that's not fair. LGF, Redstate, and Instapundit would get the same "cracked out" commentors if they didn't ban people at the first hint of dissent (or if Instaidiot allowed comments at all). And go on over to Volokh when some of the nuttier ones (e.g. Dave Kopel) post over there. They get savaged pretty good too.
- Ruth Anne Adams said...
Professor A: You're welcome. I feel like I have to keep earning the title you so graciously conferred upon me. I must have the brain for it. I will google search one word or phrase and "Althouse" and it goes right to what I was recalling. Then I look at it and ask myself, "was that really two years ago?" and feel like I've been hanging around here forever.
Aah. Such is the life of the Althousestorian.
- Bruce Hayden said...
FDS - Freder Derangement Syndrome. Actually, though Ann suggests that he is deranged, it isn't the same - people don't start frothing at the mouth at everything he says, like they do for Ann Althouse and George W. Bush.
- Fatmouse said...
Ann Althouse wrote:
Ann! You, a law professor!
To follow-up Victoria's great summary of "liberal fundamentalism" above, there's also the issue of "liberal infallibility." To them, it's absolutely impossible for one of their own not only to be be wrong, but to even do wrong.
Whenever a lefty gets busted doing something stupid or illegal, a massive horde swarm of commenters spreads out across the net, loudly and repeatedly posting the same talking points about this is all a Right Wing Smear Job and how we're misunderstanding the fundamental issues, etc. If they get caught with something undeniable, like the whatshisface congressman who had bribe money stashed in his freezer, they break out the deadly tu quoque: "but you rethuglicans do it toooooo!"
I'd like one lefty, any lefty, to admit that someone in their crazy clan is a bad person. And no, Joe Lieberman doesn't count just because he's a filthy apostate.
- Freder Frederson said...
If they get caught with something undeniable, like the whatshisface congressman who had bribe money stashed in his freezer, they break out the deadly tu quoque: "but you rethuglicans do it toooooo!"
Come on, prove it. Who defended William Jefferson--the congressman in question (and mine, much to my shame). His committee assignments were pulled and he did not get the positions he was entitled to when the Democrats took over. The way he one this time around was because the his opponent in the run off ticked off the Republican sheriff of Jefferson Parish and he threw his support (although not formal endorsement) behind Jefferson.
He is a very bad person. I most certainly hope he ends up in jail. Remember it was the Republican Congress (and Hastert) that rallied behind him when his offices were searched--and probably the reason he has not been indicted yet.
- Simon said...
I've kind of got to agree (grudgingly) with Freder on Jefferson - after the last couple of Congresses, it's pretty hard as a Republican to criticize anyone's handling of corruption without alsopointing out what a piss-poor job our own team did of it. I'm losing no sleep over losing the House of Representatives after what Hastert and DeLay did with it.
- Fatmouse said...
"Remember it was the Republican Congress"
See what I mean? Have to get a dig in to the opposition, no matter what. It's in your blood.
Anyway, very courteous of you to finally admit a fault. If more in your mindset would do so, they might actually grow rather than stagnate.
- Daryl Herbert said...
Reference the recent polar bears on the ice picture post. When I questioned what the hell her point was, she called me a lunatic and said "she didn't deny" the existence of global warming (but of course never said she accepted the theory either). She has done the same thing time and time again. Say something ridiculous and claim, "I never said that, or that wasn't what I meant" (but never apologize).
The image was intended to elicit an emotional response at the idea of polar bears floating away to their deaths. That there were two, together, conjured ideas about romantic love and doomed couples in general. Romeo and Juliet, on ice.
But polar bears can swim.
So the image was misleading. In other words, it was bullshit.
There is nothing wrong with criticizing bullshit like that. Nobody has to take a Global Warming Loyalty Oath for the privilege of calling you on your bullshit.
- Freder Frederson said...
So the image was misleading. In other words, it was bullshit.
Well no, that is what I thought Ann was getting at, but when I asked her to clarify her point she called me a lunatic and claimed she never meant to imply such a thing. She wasn't commenting about global warming (she doesn't deny the existence of global warming after all) or the dishonesty of global warming advocates at all, she was just commenting on the emotional impact of the photograph. Only a "lunatic" like me could assume she was commenting on the politics or climate. The picture should have just included a caption that said "these polar bears did not really starve to death because of global warming".
I don't know how you can read these things into her postings. She would never do such a thing. You must be as much of a lunatic as me.
- Daryl Herbert said...
Well no, that is what I thought Ann was getting at, but when I asked her to clarify her point she called me a lunatic and claimed she never meant to imply such a thing.
Bullshit, Freder. Let's review. Ann wrote in her post--before you even started commenting--this:
And, no, I'm not denying that there's global warming, even as I sit here a double pane of glass away from minus 12° air. I'm just amused at human behavior, such as the way it is possible to feel arguments at us. In particular, we are susceptible to argument by animal. We love the animal, if it's pictured right, in a way that pulls our heartstrings.
(emphasis mine)
And then, after you accuse her of having a secret Polar Bear Holocaust Denialist Agenda, she wrote:
Freder: My point is obviously about the use of emotional argument through photography. I say nothing about the actual scientific research other than that I'm not talking about it.
So you said:
Of course not, Ann Althouse never talks about actual scientific research. She merely posts a picture that accompanies an article and report on global warming and implies (but doesn't outright state) that it is deceptive. Ask a question--"How many people think the poor wittle fuzzy bears are stuck?"--and follow it up with a science fact--"these ruthless killing machines can swim fifteen miles and rip your throat out"--and you can get away with anything.
You complained that Ann wasn't addressing the science, but was narrowly focused on debunking the image with "a science fact."
Ann was consistent the entire time that she was merely debunking a single image, and exploring how emotionalism finds its way into our political arguments.
What you seem to have trouble with is the idea that Ann was merely knocking down a single image, and not secretly targeting Global Warming as a whole. Disagreeing with any evidence or argument for global warming equals Heresy! Even if she did have serious doubts about global warming, that's not a crime. That wouldn't make it illegitimate to dispute the legitimacy of the polar bear photo.
Reasonable, responsible adults can compartmentalize when they discuss complicated issues. It's possible to analyze individual pieces of evidence by themselves, and possibly even reject them, without accepting or rejecting the larger issues. She expressed interest in discussing how peoples' emotions are manipulated, not in using the photo to bash warmenizers.
She wanted to talk about how we feel about bears (awww), and all you can see is an evil bitch dominatrix relentlessly cramming the rightwing agenda down our throats with secret messages that we're too stupid to decode but we buy into completely. That's not sane, Freder. Go get your tinfoil dunce cap.
- Theo Boehm said...
Not to beat this to death, but to set things straight RE Naked Lunch's comment far above:
Naked Lunch said...
Get real Theo. The city of Madison cannot be responsible for anything Ann writes. I've lived here longer than Ann, and I doubt you really know what you're talking about. If it's so bad, why not move? She tweaks liberals, they tweak back. I guess when they tweak back, name a derangement syndrome after yourself. No narcissism there.
It was unclear to me where NL stopped addressing me and started talking to Althouse. The "why not move?" question could go either way, assuming NL thought I was in Madison, so I responded accordingly. Upon re-reading, it's obvious he was really talking to/about Althouse. Geez! We don't need word verification here. We need having passed English 1a verification.
Anyway, thanks again to Ruth Anne. I completely forgot about the Berkeley House Whore thing. It's pretty funny, actually, having encountered such types in person all those years ago.
On second thought, perhaps I'm less amused. The reality was distinctly more creepy than funny. Having a high regard for Althouse, if I think of her in Berkeley, it would be as I suggested above, living in a nice house in the hills (preferably with a view of the Bay), and zipping in her Audi along the twisty roads to campus. Basically a transfer of what we know of her Madison lifestyle to a very pleasant spot on the Left Coast. She'd fit right in.
While we're talking about the varieties of Althouse Fascination Syndrome, I suppose I should explain my own case.
I was surfing blogs several years ago, and there was a woman who looked like my wife. I went in and found that she not only looked like my wife, but seemed to have similar political views. Hmmm....
I continued to read the blog, and found Althouse's take on politics and law were somewhere between mine and my wife's (My wife has had legal training, so she has informed opinions, unlike my own prejudices.). Althouse's views have been different enough, however, to provoke thought, which is something I actually enjoy. No one wants to be screamed at in blog comments, but the Internet is fantastic because of all the ideas and opinions right in front of you. At their best, Althouse commenters are an extraordinary group, and I've read some remarkable exchanges and debates here.
Now I'm certainly not hung up on Althouse in an unhealthy way. She presents an attractive persona, but it's a way of getting attention, and why not? If you can turn a nice face to the public, and you're interested in having some influence, that's half the battle, isn't it? Especially if you are a woman, a portion of creeps and nutcases will appear, but, sadly, that goes with exposure. Nothing astounding there. Althouse balances all this, in my opinion, nearly perfectly.
My wife, however, is distinctly not amused. I was working in the basement one evening listening to an Althouse podcast on my laptop, when my wife came down the stairs with a puzzled look. "You're listening to me? That's me? I never said that! Who is that?" Althouse's voice sounds just like my wife's except for Althouse's mid-Atlantic Pennsylvania/Delaware accent. I said, "That's Ann Althouse. Want to see a video of her?" There was something from YouTube handy on the blog. When Althouse's face came on, my wife's stare turned from icy to horrified. "She looks like me! She sounds like me! She's the more successful version of me!" Indeed, from all appearances, Althouse and my wife could be sisters.
Since then, the green-eyed monster has lurked around my blog activities. The surest way for me to ruin dinner is to unthinkingly say, "Oh, I read something on Althouse today...." We try to have lively family dinners with lots of talk and discussion, but this blog is distinctly a taboo subject.
So, while I regard Althouse as an interesting, stylish, intelligent person, my wife regards her with suspicion tinged with jealousy. I suppose this proves you can't please everybody, even those who agree with you.
As for those who don't, just look at the crap in previous comments on this thread.
- Freder Frederson said...
Disagreeing with any evidence or argument for global warming equals Heresy! Even if she did have serious doubts about global warming, that's not a crime. That wouldn't make it illegitimate to dispute the legitimacy of the polar bear photo.
Well see, here you are doing exactly what you and Ann are accusing me of doing. Refusing to comparmentalize. I wasn't criticizing Ann for her opinions about global warming (I distinctly pointed out that she didn't deny global warming). In fact I wasn't interested in arguing with Ann about global warming at all. (True, the rest of the thread turn into a debate about the validity of scientific theories).
This post in particular was merely illustrative of what Ann is so good at doing. Making a point about something without actually stating an opinion on it by positing questions and pondering things and throwing in a couple facts. But then if someone calls her on it and says "Hey, you think global warming is bullshit." She can say "I never said that." Which of course is 100% correct.
Of course if someone says "Hey, you said global warming is a well supported and valid scientific theory." She can also say "I never said that". Which is also 100% correct. Even if someone says "Ann said I don't know what the hell I'm talking about when it comes to global warming." Ann can still retort "I never said that."
And now she can criticize other people for sexualizing Anna Nicole even though she has had umpteen posts over the past couple days on her. But of course she will say, "I never criticized them".
So she can be all things to all people.
And I have the same problem with Reynolds and Volokh. They are constantly doing the same thing. Phrasing things in such a way as to make it sound as though they are advocating policies but allowing themselves wiggle room to deny they ever meant such a thing. The worst example is Reynolds reluctant but regrettable endorsement (or rather "I'm not endorsing this but if we don't fight them now, they won't give up and if five or ten years we'll have to exterminate them) of genocide.
It is incredibly dishonest.
- Theo Boehm said...
No, Fredder, it is not dishonest. What you're seeing and describing is the Socratic method. It's a well-known mode of discourse used in teaching. It's a classic way of provoking thought. And of course it got Socrates in trouble for almost the same reasons you're complaining of here.
If one wants bright lines and "correct" opinions, don't visit Althouse.
They gave Socrates hemlock to drink for asking all those pesky questions.
I think Althouse should get some chai tea or perhaps a cup of Kona coffee.
- reality check said...
That's crap Theo.
As you can see on the pelosi plane thread, Ann is too cowardly to state her complaint and stick with it.
Instead since she can't handle criticism or acknowledging she is wrong, she just moves the goalposts, shifting from one complaint to the next.
Not the Socratic method -- merely a bullshit way of claiming superiority.
Her normal form of cowardice is to claim she is meta. She's not really slamming Hillary/Kerry/Obama/Edwards/Pelosi/The Dems, she is merely remarking on issue and how people react to it.
Basically it's a series of smears with a thin veneer of plausible deniability and a refusal to take personal responsibility for her statements.
Not the Socratic Method.
But it is cowardice.
- Daryl Herbert said...
From the Pelosi thread, here's what Ann says at the top:
Can someone explain how Nancy Pelosi has the nerve to tell a group of veterans that her desire to avoid having her plane stop to refuel is all about security?
And here's what she says at the bottom:
I was disgusted by the claim that the preference not to have to refuel was characterized as a security matter
Goalposts did not move. She raised a simple point, and you wanted to discuss a much larger set of issues (the scandal as a whole). Just like in the polar bear post, you want to talk about global warming as a whole.
Ann didn't even state positions on either of those (whether she thought Pelosi was on balance in the wrong, and whether or not global warming is real). You just inferred them, and started arguing against these imagined positions, and then you rage at her for not getting sucked into your sideshow.
And for fuck's sake, Ann pulled this story out of the L.A. Times. The most liberal major newspaper on the West Coast if not the entire country. That doesn't stop you from saying she gets her marching orders from the Moonie Times and Faux News.
You care more about the source of a story than its substance. You care more about the alignment of a question than its obvious answer. That's some herd mentality bullshit right there.
- reality check said...
Bzzt, sorry wrong, nice try.
Her last stance was: To me, it was a little point about caring about global warming.
Please read a bit more carefully, otherwise you will be taken in by propagandists and charlatans.
- TMink said...
Reality check wrote: "It's good to see guys agree Republicans are anti-gay and anti-choice authoritarians."
Now step two. Will we see guys agree Democrats are pro-gay and pro-abortion authoritatians.
When you guys have an agenda, it is progressive. When we have an agenda, it is Neanderthal.
- TMink said...
VBS wrote: "This is probably because as everybody knows, many young people are liberal in their youth, and become more conservative as they age, once the heady pheromone of idealism wears off."
For me, I began the switch when I started to pay taxes. Nothing like a bill to trump ideology.
- Theo Boehm said...
First of all, it's evident that the Socratic method is in the eye of the beholder. It was in Socrates' day, too.
Secondly, it's also evident that Freder/reality check are possessed of an idée fixe, and no amount of discussion will dissuade them from the automatic generation of "sorry, wrong..." or "that's crap," etc, etc., no matter what the example.
The idée fixe is that Althouse should admit error and atone. We call it Reconciliation these days in the Catholic Church, but I've never seen any hint that Althouse has the slightest need to confess her sins. Curiously, the Communists took over this Catholic practice in the 20th century. How many stories have we read from the days of Stalin and Mao about admission of error, re-education, etc., leading to rehabilitation? I'm a traditionalist in most things, so it's nice to see that the modern Left keeping to the old ways. I just don't think Althouse wants to be admitted to the Party, hard as that may be to accept.
Daryl and Trey, we're wasting perfectly good electrons here, and I'm sorry for it. I should have just told my slightly disjointed story about Althouse Fascination Syndrome and left it at that. But nooo, I had to try to engage this crew, and so did you. More's the pity.
You know, I have a bit of an AI background from college, and another thing has occurred to me. That is, the most formulaic and rigid commenters might not be actual "commenters" at all, but bots. Modern software for inserting comments in chat rooms is remarkably good, so why not here? Althouse doesn't see any obvious spam comments after having turned off word verification. It may be that bot-generated comment is just not that obvious. What I'm seeing, though, is that our "interlocutors" might fail a Turing Test. Perhaps we'll have more of a clue after the next round of obscenity-laden venom aimed our way.
- Simon said...
Theo -
I admit it, you got me: I'm a bot. ;)
(I'm envisioning the end of Spartacus here).
- Freder Frederson said...
What you're seeing and describing is the Socratic method. It's a well-known mode of discourse used in teaching.
As I understand it the Socratic method involves asking questions to force the students to think about the correct answer.
I didn't realize that calling people lunatics and pricks was part of the Socratic method. Or that denying that you ever made a statement you made was either (e.g., that hooding Padilla may have been necessary to stop him from blinking messages).
But I guess you learn something new every day.
- TMink said...
Just a question: If Althouse is so underhanded and, well, wicked, why are you here? I do not go to the KKK website because I believe that organization to be wicked.
Why comment and read her if she is so despicable?
- reality check said...
I do not go to the KKK website because I believe that organization to be wicked
So I don't know if you're a physical coward or just a moral coward....
- TMink said...
Reality check, what does avoiding racist scum have to do with cowardice? This is a sincere question.
- Freder Frederson said...
If Althouse is so underhanded and, well, wicked, why are you here?
Are you addressing me. I don't think she's wicked. She amuses me.
I love how she refuses to take responsibility for anything she says or links to. How she fawns over Glenn Reynolds and George Bush and then claims she isn't a conservative. How she gets bent all out of shape when people call her on her bullshit. Mostly I love how brilliant some of her commentors think she is.
- TMink said...
Hey Freder, I was not addressing anyone in particular. It kind of sounds like you enjoy this blog as a freakshow. Is that about it?
- TMink said...
As an interesting aside, I am a conservative and do fawn over Glen but not the President who has deeply disappointed me.
Now I consider Glenn to be Libertarian with conservative suspiciousness about big government. He is pro choice, adamently so. Why do you consider him simply conservative?
- reality check said...
1. Evil by nature and in practice: "this wicked man Hitler, the repository and embodiment of many forms of soul-destroying hatred" (Winston S. Churchill).
2. Playfully malicious or mischievous: a wicked prank; a critic's wicked wit.
3. Severe and distressing: a wicked cough; a wicked gash; wicked driving conditions.
4. Highly offensive; obnoxious: a wicked stench.
5. Slang. Strikingly good, effective, or skillful: a wicked curve ball; a wicked imitation.
I am not sure which definition of wicked you are referring to.
No one here has suggested Althouse is any of those sorts of wicked. Well obnoxious perhaps.
Now, I didn't know there was a KKK site, but you not only know of it, but you find it wicked. I will assume that's definition 1 and not definition 2. But you don't engage them. That's cowardly and morally bankrupt of you.
In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.
- TMink said...
OK, first the snarky comment: Reality, I have been a practicing psychotherapist since 1991, and I am amazed that you know my failures of morality and fortitude having never met me! WOW! You have talent! It takes me at least a couple of sessions before I think I am starting to learn about someone.
But, how do you know I am a coward and morally bankrupt if you do not know what I meant by wicked? I guess it is not for small minds such as mine to understand the ways of the great such as yourself.
OK, snarkiness off.
Yes I have been to their website, a client was saying that he wanted to join the KKK despite the fact that I knew he was not a racist and had several minority friends. I took him to the website to show him who the Klan were. He decided that they were not the group for him. Score Trey 1, Klan 0. For the record, I meant the word wicked in terms of definitions 1 and 4.
But I am not seeing the Klan making any headway RC. In fact, I would call them a dying (thankfully) institution, so I do not worry about them.
Me, I worry more about parents who severely abuse their children getting them back to abuse them some more. I fight that in terms of legislation I am working on getting passed as well as helping the children to recover and personally standing up against the abusers in court and DCS meetings. It is a good fight, one I am happy to wage. Not without some threats and peril, but good fights always contain some risk.
I am sure that you too wage war against evil and injustice face to face. Right?
But why come to a blog written by a person you do not respect? What is the attraction?
- TMink said...
Also, here in the south we have a saying: "Don't wrestle with a pig. you just get dirty and the pig enjoys it."
I am referring to the KKK, not you Reality Check.
- reality check said...
OK, first the snarky comment: Reality, I have been a practicing psychotherapist since 1991, and I am amazed that you know my failures of morality and fortitude having never met me! WOW! You have talent! It takes me at least a couple of sessions before I think I am starting to learn about someone.
Oh, no secret there, your pretentious jerk vibes come through the intartubes very well.
- TMink said...
Now Reality Check, surely you can have a little mud thrown back at you! You threw it well, stand there and get a little dirt on ya! Surely my pretentious jerk vibes were not so devastating that you can't answer a few questions. Let us recap: You said I was a coward and morally bankrupt. I made fun of you for stating that you knew me well enough to judge me without meeting me. I think you got the better licks in.
You are not some liberal that calls a person names and then runs away are you? Really, why do you frequent a blog whose author you loathe? Or am I mistaken? Please feel free to insult me, I can take it, but I am sincerely interested in your answer.
- reality check said...
I am just doing my role as part of the self-correcting blogosphere.
- reality check said...
I could post the same stuff at "Kos", where the light is better, but this is where the keys were lost.
And where's the fun in participating in an echo chamber?
- TMink said...
So if I get your point Reality Check, you see yourself as helping the lost centrists get back in the fold of the left? Or am I politicizing it too much?
- reality check said...
way too much. the idea is to slow down the althouse self amplifying echo chamber of lies as in the pelosi thread. to leave a trail of links so that someone that wants to think for themselves can find the documentation.
once a day some former reichtard sends me an email explaining how i have helped them open their own eyes. it's very gratifying.
now you've had your three minutes to trace this call copper. leave the bags or the puppy gets it.
- TMink said...
Reality, how is what you said different from helping the lost centrists get back in the fold of the left?
My point is that you would be more persuasive if you were more civil. I think you are an intelligent person from your posts. It is my opinion that you have some flair as a writer as well. But your rhetoric, which is generally over the top (morally bankrupt coward etc,) demeans your ideas. The style over rides you substance, and your substance is your strength. You would get 5 emails a day.
Die hards like me are probably out of reach, but I appreciate a good argument that makes me think, and my ideas have been swayed by just that type of post here. I think you can do better by showing some respect to your readers and those with whom you disagree.
- TMink said...
I think ADS is more accurately conceptualized as Althouse Dissing Syndrome. It is not that people misunderstand our hostess, it is that they can's stand her and are not interested in addressing her ideas. They are interested in finding things to criticize in an effort to discredit her.
Trouble is, too many people on the blog read it for her (and her posters') IDEAS. Snarky comments about gloves, or being Secret Squirrel Republican (or Karl Rove in Drag) or not Kos (Thanks be to God) are not on the radar of people who are interested in substance. Oh sure, it is fun to smack them down on occasion, but eventually you learn to skip past the names of the usual suspects.
Cause they have ADS and are just going to lamely criticize what they cannot produce.
- reality check said...
Oh that's good. From three sentences I wrote, you have an entire DSM V essay about ADS and how it affects an entire class of people.
I bet that's three more sentences worth of evidence than you require when you analyze your victims, er, I mean, clients.
- TMink said...
Hey Reality, I was not writing about you in the ADS post. That was humor. It is a joke. See, there is no ADS in the DSM-IV TR. That is what makes it funny!
And I did not diagnose you with ADS. But, do you think you have it?
By the way, why no response to the LENGTHY post that WAS about you? I notice that the longer a post is about you, the shorter your post is in reply. How come?
(who did not "diagnose" reality as borderline personality disorder. Not even a little bit.)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- After a delayed start to trading Thursday from a technical glitch, the S&P/ASX 200 index XJO, -0.89% traded down 0.6% at 5,067.90 with miners and energy by far the worst performers. Metal and oil futures dropped in U.S. trading on Wednesday, with gold hit particularly hard after minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate meeting showed that members will consider policy changes as soon as March. Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. RIO, -0.94% RIO, +1.28% fell 2.7% while gold major Newcrest Mining Ltd. NCM, -0.85% NCMGF, -1.90% lost 3.5%. The energy sector came under additional pressure after Origin Energy Ltd. ORG, -1.80% OGFGY, -0.56% fell 7.8% following the release of its first-half earnings report.
Read the full story: Asia stocks fall after Fed minutes


text:
"Why do Catholics worship Mary and the Saints?" This is a question I´ve often heard from those who don´t understand exactly what Mary, the Blessed Virgin and the Saints mean to us - exactly what their role, if you will, is in our church.
First let´s look at Mary. What do we really believe about her? Though Mary herself is a saint, I will examine the role of saints in general in a future article.
She has been named "Mother of the Church." Mary said yes to God. In doing so, she gave birth to Jesus - our Savior. In doing so, she accepted her role of spiritual mother to all. By becoming the Jesus´ mother, she essentially became mother to all that he stood for - to the entire Church. Mary accepting this role of mother to the church is demonstrated in John´s Gospel by the words Jesus spoke from the cross: When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." (John 19:26-27)
Mary is also called "Mother of God." Mary is mother of Jesus - all of him, not just his human side. Though one person, Jesus is both human and divine. Thus, Mary is Mother of God. This is really the highest honor and the greatest title the Church can give to her.
Through infallible statements the Church has proclaimed that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven and that she is the Immaculate Conception. This simply means Mary was taken into complete eternal happiness and through the gift of redemption God freed her from sin within her life. We Christians receive this gift of redemption through the Sacrament of Baptism. Mary, being chosen as the Mother of God, did not need baptism to receive this most precious gift.
We do not worship Mary - God is the only one who may be worshipped - but we do honor Mary through prayer and by setting aside certain days in her honor based on special mysteries within her life. For example, we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, her Assumption on August 15, her birth on September 8, and the Solemnity of Mary as the Mother of God on January 1.
The popular prayer The Hail Mary* is rooted back to the time when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant. As Scripture says it best: When Elizabeth heard Mary´s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." (Luke 1:41-42)
We can also pray to her, asking her to intercede for us. To pray for us - much in the same way we might ask a friend to pray for us or someone we love. What better person to ask for help in praying for our intentions than Jesus´ Mother? The Mother of God? The Mother of our Church?
Peace in Christ,
Melissa Knoblett-Aman
*Hail Mary, full of grace: the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
© Melissa Knoblett-Aman


text: As graphical user interfaces replaced text-based systems in the 1980s and '90s, computers often came with one or two games, such as Microsoft's Solitaire (above right), intended to help people become comfortable with the technology. Today, games are playing a similar role for augmented reality, which overlays digital data on the physical world (as in 2009 TR35 honoree Pranav Mistry's Sixth Sense system (above left). A number of new games, which take advantage of the dramatic improvements in consumer-grade computing and vision hardware, are demonstrating the potential of the technology to new users and helping create a demand for even better hardware and software, especially for mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets.