One of Ian Anderson’s best, off one of their best albums. I think Aqualung turned me on to progressive rock.
And I bet I’m not the only one.
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180 Degrees Wrong
I often comment sardonically that if today’s medical warnings make you fearful, all you have to do is wait a little and there’ll be a discovery that OOPS! salt isn’t all that bad for you after all.
That’s all very well. But what if the previous warning was not only wrong, but massively wrong — i.e. that something that was said to be bad for you (could even kill you) — in that it was not only wrong, but diametrically the opposite.
Say hello to our old friend caffeine:
Although people with heart conditions such as atrial fibrillation* (A-Fib) are often told to avoid caffeine because it might worsen symptoms, new research suggests the opposite may be true. A collaborative study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Adelaide found that drinking one cup of caffeinated coffee per day lowered the risk of A-Fib by 39%.
Let’s just extend that thought. People were warned off caffeine because it might kill them, but in fact drinking that daily cup of coffee might actually have saved their lives, but didn’t.
WTF? And people ask me why I’m such a supporter of the spirit of Hammurabic law, where the “experts” who originally proposed the anti-caffeine law could conceivably be executed for spreading dangerous, possibly deadly advice.
While I am grateful for doctors, generally speaking, it’s also true that they’re a bunch of interfering busybodies and utter killjoys, if we listen to them all the time.
*that’s irregular heartbeat, to those of us who prefer simple, comprehensible terminology instead of obscure medical jargon, don’t get me started.
Roost, Chickens Coming Home To
Gun control politicians, long in control in the Empire State, have passed so many restrictions on law-abiding New Yorkers to exercise their constitutional rights that far too many simply give up out of frustration. Those roadblocks, in essence, deny New Yorkers their ability to keep and bear arms and, at a time when many rush to licensed gun retailers, the backlogs and bottlenecks can be jarring— especially for first-time buyers. Erecting barriers to the exercise of Second Amendment rights to frustrate citizens into just giving up is the intent of this regulatory scheme.
And now?
Gun permit applications are skyrocketing. Prior to the Bruen decision, on average, fewer than 100 law-abiding New York City residents each month applied for a permission slip to carry a firearm in the city for self-protection. There was a surge during the coronavirus pandemic and a post-Bruen surge, with the monthly average reaching 600 before stabilizing at between 400 to 500 for a consistent stretch, according to data from the New York State Police Department. Following the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, the next month permit applications reached an all-time high at more than 1,270 — led by Jewish New Yorkers who decided to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Since then, an average of 700–800 permit applicants attempt the process each month, all just to exercise a God-given right enshrined in the Constitution.
But New York still has in place restrictions that make it overly burdensome, time-consuming and difficult for law-abiding New Yorkers to purchase a firearm — a process that can take up to a year or longer. That includes a rigorous firearm training and safety course despite the fact that “New York hasn’t standardized the classes beyond outlining a handful of topics to touch on.”
That makes it extremely difficult for would-be firearm purchasers to go to their neighborhood firearm retailer and go home with a safe and reliable self-defense tool.
Extremely difficult? Try impossible.
I can’t get worked up about this, because the people who are being inconvenienced are for the most part the people who voted for the politicians and bureaucrats who actively built and maintained this situation in the first place.
So fuck off, you New York assholes. You created this problem; now you get to live with the consequences. You don’t need a gun (you told us smugly for decades and decades) because you have the police to protect you.
Well, good luck with that.
Caption Competition #420
Your suggestions in Comments.
STFU FOP
Here’s one snippet guaranteed to raise my ire:
The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), together with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), sent a letter to Congress urging them to reject national reciprocity for concealed carry.
The legislation, H.R. 38, is sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson (R) and would treat the concealed carry license of any one state as valid in the other 49.
H.R. 38 is titled the “Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.”
According to the FOP/IACP, “The legislation exempts any person with a valid photographic identification from state or local firearms law who asserts that they are lawfully carrying a firearm under the laws of their own state of residence.”
They claimed that national reciprocity for concealed carry would impact officers’ safety, and it “jeopardizes qualified immunity.” Concerning the latter, they wrote, “Qualified immunity protects officers from civil liability unless they violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights. Any action the officer may take in reaction to the knowledge that the person they have encountered is armed could place that officer in very real legal peril.”
Yeah, well fuck you. If a state-issued driver’s license is valid (under the Constitution ahem), then so should firearms carriage, if it’s lawful in the traveler’s home state.
Basically, what your organizations are saying is that you cops should be the only ones carrying guns.
Sorry, but that’s not how it works. Under the same Constitution — which, lest you pricks have forgotten, is something you swore to uphold and protect, despite the possibility of personal danger — We The People have the right to keep and bear arms. Whether in their home state or not, and whether or not it frightens you.
The fact that some states (and their little minions) behave contrary to the Constitution is irrelevant, and your pathetic fear of armed citizens ditto.
As a general rule, I’m on the side of law and order, but not when it comes to my rights. So STFU cops, and your bosses likewise. (Just the word “International” in the chiefs’ organization title grates on me.)
And lastly, you bastards have been abusing your “qualified immunity” for too long anyway, and you deserve to lose it.
Mispronunciation
Just for the hell of it, I’m going to dive into the murky waters of proper pronunciation of words, using this stupid article as a kick-off:
Experts from Unscramblerer.com have revealed the UK’s most mispronounced words.
‘Our research about the most searched for mispronunciations gives an interesting insight into United Kingdom’s culture,’ a spokesperson for the site explained.
‘Exposure to new words through media, music, pop culture and social platforms drives curiosity.
‘People often look up pronunciations if there is a gap between how a word or name is spelled and how it sounds.’
Yeah, well if we’re talking about actual English, fair enough. But then the idiotic writer lists a few words that aren’t actually English but Gaelic, and they’re names withal — which means I don’t care if I’m mispronouncing them. (If people want to foist on their children names that contain more vowels than consonants, or vice-versa, they should either stay in their home country or accept the fact that outside fucking Ireland, nobody will know how to pronounce Naimh, Saoirse, Eowyn or Aoife.)
I think David Mitchell has the right idea.
Even better is that when it comes to foreign words used in English, the article contains one egregious example of silliness. I refer here to the word “gyro”, which according to the DM is supposed to be pronounced “yee-roh” — except that it isn’t. The proper pronunciation is “chee-ro”, the soft ch consonant pronounced as in the Scottish word for lake, loch (and not lock, either). I will confess to using yeeroh on occasion, but only because the person to whom I’m speaking may not know what the hell I’m talking about, and the essence of communication is that the other person can understand what you’re saying.
And I don’t want to talk about gyros anymore, because just the thought of that peppery grilled lamb meat stuck in a soft (never crispy — that’s Mexican) pita bread with tzatziki sauce and tomato makes me want to eat a dozen of them. (Back in my pro musician days in Johannesburg, there was a little Mediterranean snack bar called the Paradise Restaurant which sold said delicacies on a 24-hour basis and which were my staple after-gig food. Great Caesar’s aching stomach, how I miss them.)
Where was I? Oh yeah, pronunciation.
Until quite recently, I didn’t even know what this “acai” stuff was; I thought it was some kind of vegan shit. Also, “Qatar” is some oily Muzzie shithole that one flies through en route* to somewhere decent, so I don’t give a rat’s ass how it’s “properly” pronounced.
And if you don’t know how to say the word “spaghetti” then you shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
*that’s “ahn root” and not “ehn rowt”, you fucking peasants.