Gift Idea 1

December 3, 2019 Kim du Toit The Gun Thing

OR this:

Remington R10 7.62 NATO AR-308 Semi Auto Rifle 16″ Barrel

It Ain’t That

December 2, 2019 Kim du Toit Drive Time

Jeremy Clarkson blames “idiot” climate change activist Greta Thunberg for killing the car show.
The former Top Gear presenter, who is returning with another series of Amazon Prime motor series The Grand Tour, claimed young people have been turned against cars by the 16-year-old environmental campaigner.
Clarkson, 59, told The Sun: “Everyone I know under 25 isn’t the slightest bit interested in cars – Greta Thunberg has killed the car show.”

Most of the time, I agree with Clarkson, but I’m not so sure about this one.

My opinion is that young people aren’t interested in cars for two reasons:

They all look the same. (I’ve ranted and raved about this situation so many times, I’m starting to bore myself.)
New cars cost too much, and youngins don’t have the cash to buy them — hence the popularity of the “no-car” ownership and Uber.

Much as I detest her and her ilk, neither of the above is the fault of that little bint Thunberg. The real fault lies with government — our government, European governments, all governments — who have mandated expensive changes to cars in the name of SAFETY and CLIMATE. The first is arguably a good thing, but the second a lot more questionable.

But when an “entry-level” (i.e. modest) secondhand car like this one costs nearly 20 grand…

I’m not sure that many under-25s are going to want to spend this much even if they have it. College loan repayments, ObamaCare medical insurance, under-25 auto insurance rates… even if they’re filling the stereotype and living with Mom and Dad, money is going to be tight, assuming they’re pulling in the typical youngin annual salary of $24k – $36k.

(Yeah, I know you can get cheaper cars — the Son&Heir scrimped and saved out of his paltry waiter’s income until he could afford to buy a twelve-year-old Oldsmobile Beater from a friend for $1,500, but his maintenance costs almost killed him. If he’d had more money, it would have saved him money to buy a Honda like the above; but he didn’t have the money. I don’t think today’s kids are any better off — they may even be worse off, come to think of it.)

Of course, adding the Blame Game onto all that via Thunberg and the other EarthFirsters doesn’t help — nor does it help that the under-25 group are malleable and vulnerable thanks to their crap secondary education and foul neo-socialist tertiary education, so they’ll believe anything and hope that Mommy and Daddy (or Big Brother Gummint) will bail them out. But that’s not the primary reason for their lassitude in matters automotive.

In my day, boys had wall posters on their bedroom walls which featured supercars (and supermodels). Nowadays? They can’t afford the fucking posters. They can’t even afford the ticket price for the car show.

And that’s because their priorities have changed. Why spend money on a four-wheeled money pit when they can spend as much or more each month on a money pit which can fit in the hand?

And why drag-race your buddy down Main Street (à la American Graffiti ) when you can play Grand Theft Auto? Or pick up your girlfriend and take her to the movies, when she can catch a Lyft over to your place and the two of you can “Netflix and chill”?

It’s not just the money. Times and priorities have changed. And as with all this stuff, it’s not just one thing (like Greta Thunberg) that has caused the change; it’s everything. Our kids live in a different world; and in that world, the car isn’t important anymore. Too bad. Here’s a pic of my teenage dream car:

In today’s dollars, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT would have cost about $14,000 — brand new.

Here’s #2 Son’s dream car:

Brand new, the Honda Fit costs about $17,000. He has less chance of getting this econobox than I did the Alfa Romeo.

Undecided

December 2, 2019 Kim du Toit Freaks & Loonies, Veggies & Vegans

There are things that are crimes (e.g. murder, acting like a Clinton etc.) which carry penalties and punishments. Then there are things that are sorta-crimes (like spitting on the sidewalk, or voting for a Socialist) which carry few if any penalties. Then there are things that are technically non-crimes, but which should carry a penalty. Like this one:

PARENTS were left furious after a nursery [preschool daycare] banned meat and dairy and instead force children to eat from a completely vegan menu.
Mums and dads have blasted the controversial move to switch their kids to an entirely plant-based diet which they claim was done without consulting them first.
Meat, fish, eggs and dairy products will be completely off the menu from January for 260 children, aged 0-4, at Jigsaw Day Nurseries in Chester.
Instead, staff at their two nurseries will offer the likes of a lentil-based “Shepherdless Pie”, coconut rice pudding desserts and cereal served with soy or oat milk.
Some parents say they are fuming at the decision to “impose a lifestyle choice” which “discriminates” against their meat-eating children.

Here’s the loony boss’s opinion:

Claire Taylor, founder of the nurseries, which is Chester’s largest private childcare provider, defended the decision which she says was “made with the children and the planet’s future in mind.”
She added: “We appreciate that this is a decision that comes with a business risk associated, however we feel passionately that a sustainable path is the one we wish to follow for the benefit of our children’s future.
“The food that the children eat within our nurseries not only has an impact on everyone in the setting but also on the health of our planet.”
…
She cited the “overwhelming” evidence published over the past few years highlighting the impact of animal farming on the planet.

So my question, O Gentle Readers, is this: what this stupid bitch is doing is clearly not illegal. But other than withering scorn, what should the penalty be for this kind of idiocy? (And don’t say, “Just pull the kids out of the school” because some parents have no choice in the matter. Myself, I’d just feed my kids steak every night and give them biltong to take to school to make up for the nutritional shortfall, but that’s not the matter under discussion.)

It’s not an infringement worthy of scourging or suchlike; but I feel that it should be punished in some way.

I welcome suggestions in Comments.