Author: Kim du Toit

Toolbelts Over Titles

Good Stuff

…the titles being useless shit like “PhD in Gender Studies”, “Vice-President of DEI”, etc.  Of course, Mike Rowe, bless his dirty, calloused hands, has noted this trend:

Kilmeade asked Rowe to comment on the data, which comes from the National Student Clearinghouse. It showed a 16% increase in overall enrollment for vocational-focused community colleges compared to 2022. The Journal also noted an increase of 23% for students pursuing construction jobs and a 7% rise in students enrolled in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and vehicle repair.

While the “Dirty Jobs” star said he wasn’t “ready for the victory lap” after seeing the data, he said that he believes Gen Z is more willing to consider trades, which he believes is positive.

“The color of collars is no longer the thing it used to be,” Rowe said, referencing the classification of blue-collar versus white-collar workers. “I just don’t think it matters.”

However, in his usual forthright fashion, Rowe noted also:

“The idea that the generation that has become the biggest target for entitlements and a lack of work ethic… I mean, these guys are an easy target. They’re snowflakes, essentially. But… we’re the clouds from which the snowflakes fell.”

Which is uncomfortably true.  (My own kids are Millennials, and despite my best efforts they’re only a shade away from having Gen Z values, alas, but that’s a story for another time.)

And let’s be honest:  there will come a time when “learn to code” will be as obsolete a piece of advice to future youngsters as “get a degree” advice has become to the current crop.  Why?

Because at some point, “coding” will be left to the sardonically-named “artificial intelligence” — in fact, unless I miss my guess, most technological work will be performed by A.I.

But there will always be a need for guys with toolbelts, because A.I. can’t build houses — design them, maybe, but not actually hammer nails and pour concrete — and believe me on this, the Baltimore bridge rebuild will never be accomplished by A.I.

And once again, from Rowe:

“They’re seeing all of the craziness… Brown and Dartmouth and Harvard. They’re seeing a $52 billion endowment at Harvard. They’re seeing all the craziness that’s constantly in the headlines. And they’re just saying, ‘Look, why do I want to start a career in a major I haven’t even declared yet and go that far into debt to pursue a job that probably doesn’t even exist, when we got 10,000 other jobs over here… that don’t require a four-year degree?’ “

Maybe, just maybe, a future generation will see the inherent value in and the pride engendered by those “dirty jobs” that Mike Rowe supports, and eschew the dubious values of what non-STEM university degrees have degenerated into.

Random Totty

Gratuitous Chick Pics

I see that Brit totty Keeley Hazell has written her memoirs — at the ripe old age of 37, no less — but the title thereof is wonderful:

“Everyone’s Seen My Tits”

…and it’s being released later this summer.

Anyway, on the off-chance that some of my Readers haven’t seen the aforementioned, here’s a sample:

A fore-and-aft shot:

Today, at 37:

And in the flesh, so to speak:

Read more

News Roundup

Bad News

They’ll never catch on.   Anyway, speaking of lies:

Global Cooling Climate Warming Change© News:


...because if all they spoke was the truth, there’d be no “climate change” doctrine, period.


...for “planet” read “Catholic Church”.


…


...and the Taiwanese yawn.  Also, F- for the fucking awful puns.

In the Dept. of Irony:


...black pot, meet kettle.  (Vince Foster and Jeffrey Epstein were unavailable for comment.)

In Technology News:


...[yawn] let me know when they come in .45 ACP.

From the Tourism Bureau:


...thus making Europe’s most expensive hotels now stratospheric.

In Political News:


...and yet, amazingly, in that 11-day period he’s still managed to vote fifteen times, three times each per bill.
#TypicalDemocratVoting


...I’m hoping for a higher death toll, myself.  (no link because PPV)


...I’m just amazed that there’s a Target still open in St. Louis.

From the Dept. of Health:


...and he was related to her.
#ScourgeThenExecute

And from the Dept. of Education:


...because grades are so, like, rayciss.


...in which we play our ever-popular game of “Guess The Race”.


...or even with young boys.

In the department known as 

     

Finally. on Paige Three:


...let’s see what’s so bad about this bikini, shall we, that FecesBook is getting agitated:

Nope;  not much more to see here (other than the usual).  And from the recently-finished tournament at Augusta National:

You most certainly can, sweetheart.  And that’s the news.

“Dear Dr. Kim”

Advice

“Dear Dr. Kim,

“I have a son aged 38. He has a partner and three children. My husband and I feel as though we’ve been cut off because we haven’t seen any of them since Christmas 2019. One of his sons was born in 2021, so we haven’t even met him.

“There hasn’t been a falling out – it seems that we have just drifted into this situation. The main problem is his partner. She used to claim that we never made the effort to see them, even though we were always the ones who messaged and made plans.

“In fact they never once came to us. It always felt like we did all the running – but this wasn’t good enough for her. The longer the situation has gone on, the harder it is to see a way out.

“Our daughter and my elderly father have also heard nothing from our son. He has cut himself off from the whole family. But I know that as soon as someone dies he will want his share of any inheritance.

“Dr. Kim, I’m at a loss as to what to do.”

 — Cut Loose

Dear Loose:

It sounds very much like you’ve come across the dreaded “Poontang Over Parents” situation.  In these situations, it’s often a terrible thing when your son chooses the former option, but as much as I make light of the problem, it’s not at all a nice thing.

The part of your letter that bothers me is this:  “I know that as soon as someone dies he will want his share of any inheritance.”

Right now, you’re being stiffed from the love and joy one should expect from grandchildren — fucking hell, it’s the only upside of having your own kids in the first place — and there’s only one way to head off this little bit of avaricious spite.

Actions have consequences, and your asshole of a son (and the bitch he’s hooked up with) will need to learn this lesson ASAP.

You and your husband should prepare a joint Last Will & Testament now (I’ll explain the “now” in a moment).  In it, make sure to specify that Loving Son will get nothing, nada, bupkes  from your estate, ever, and your daughter and her family (whom you love and who loves you back) will get it all.  Be sure to explain why, in as scathing or hurt tones as you can manage (your lawyer will doubtless be able to offer good advice thereon).

Then send him a copy (with receipt signature required, to prove that he actually got it).  Don’t put a cover letter with the will;  just let the thing stand all by itself.

Yes, this may exacerbate the situation, but let’s be honest here:  how much worse can it get?

And why should you do this now?  Simply put, if you do it later, the little shit may contest the will, claiming that you and your husband were “mentally impaired by advanced age” or whatever the legal term is, so it’s in your best interests to make that a non-issue.

I am truly sorry that you are being put through this, but right now there’s not much else you can do.  Pleading with him to change his behavior will just give the Bitch Girlfriend satisfaction.

By the way, I’m accepting your assertion that their behavior is indeed unwarranted.  If it turns out that you or your husband said or did something unpleasant to the girlfriend, then you are the ones seeing the consequences of your actions.

 —

Strong Medicine

Perverts, Psychos

Here’s a story which got my teeth on edge:

A Dublin singer has allegedly been sexually assaulted for the second time while on tour with her band.

Karla Chubb, the lead singer of Dublin-based grunge band Sprints, was allegedly groped and harassed while performing at one of the band’s recent gigs.

Sprints posted a statement revealing that Karla had been assaulted for the second time on Saturday.

The statement said: “Yesterday, Karla was sexually assaulted for the second time while on the Letter To Self tour. The fact that this has occurred twice is abhorrent, the fact it still happens at all is disgusting. We will not stand for it and we will not stay silent about it. Female performers should be able to engage with their audience, step off the stage or perform without fear of groping, unwanted touching, cat-calling and harassment. The fact that this is still an every day occurrence for most women is beyond reprehensible. To those who noticed and called out the behaviour yesterday, thank you. To those of you responsible for the behaviour, shame on you. Do better.”

Actually, the last bit is what got me reaching for another gin.

You see, this is a common thing, and I don;t know why some assholes think that just because the girl looks sexy or whatever, that they can cop a quick feel or worse.

I have spoken before of Gilly, our band’s vocalist, and her skirts:

Needless to say, she got a lot of attention, but we looked after her and made sure that there was always one of us with her at all times before, during and after a gig.

Here’s a little story about that.

We once played a 6-month gig as the house band at a seedy nightclub in Johannesburg, and such was our popularity that the room always exceeded the Fire Department’s maximum occupancy limit.

One example of this popularity was that we became favorites of a motorcycle band (can’t remember the name, but it was something like The Devils).  Even though they were a rough-‘n-tough crowd, they always behaved themselves in the club during their weekly visit, dancing with their ladies and drinking up a storm (which is why the management allowed them in — their bar bill was the equivalent of the GDP of a small country).  We sometimes invited someone in the gang to perform a song with us, and Long John — a tall, skinny guy with long, greasy black hair and the worst teeth in the Western Hemisphere — would enthrall the audience with his version of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall  (“We don’t need no sex education!” delivered in a hoarse bellow) which always brought the house down.  It became a weekly fixture.

Anyway, one night I became aware of a guy wearing a red shirt who was intent on reaching up to the stage and getting his hand up Gilly’s skirt while she was singing.  I growled at him once and he went away, but came back after a while and tried again.  Gilly managed to avoid his groping, and unfortunately for him, he chose the last song of the set to play his little game.

During our break, I went over to the Devils’ tables and sat down next to the gang leader, a guy named Pete.

“Pete,” I said, “do you see that guy over there in the red shirt?”
“Yeah.”
“Man, that bastard’s been trying to finger Gilly, right there on the stage while we’re playing.  I can’t deal with it because we’re employees here and I don’t want us to get fired.  Can you do something to help her out?”

Pete scowled, beckoned to two of his guys and whispered something to them.  They stood up, pulled on their gang colors, walked over to Mr. Redshirt Groper and dragged him out of the club.

I have no idea what they said (or did) to him, but I never saw him again.  when I asked Pete what had happened — I mean, these were serious biker tough guys, and they might have killed him — he just grinned and muttered something about “teaching him a lesson”.

And that is the kind of thing that needs to happen to these assholes, not some mealy-mouthed statement like begging the assholes to “Do better”  — don’t beg them to behave themselves, just fuck them up.

It’s all they deserve.