She started off as a ballet dancer, but during the Swinging Sixties Ingrid Boulting found her niche as one of the miniskirted models in the Twiggy/Jean Shrimpton genre:
Note the period’s dramatic style:
She’s often described as “South African”, but that’s just an accident of birth. Her parents were both Brits, and went back to Britishland soon after she was born.
Apparently, she’s now a yoga teacher in Southern California.
This sad tale is quite thought-provoking:
Internet stars Jesse Ridgway, 33, and Ashley Ridgway, 31, announced that they had made the ‘difficult decision’ to terminate their pregnancy earlier this week, two months after learning their unborn child had Down syndrome.
“As for us, we made a difficult decision that we believe in the long-run will be beneficial for our family,” Jesse wrote in a series of Instagram Story. “Thankfully, we had a choice. “It will take a little time to move on, but we are excited to try again in the future and hopefully have a better outcome,” he added.
Just a week earlier, the pair had shared a YouTube video showing the results of an amniocentesis test, which screens for birth defects and chromosomal conditions. In the clip, the couple sat on the floor and viewed the test results in real time, which revealed markers consistent with Trisomy 21, medically known as Down syndrome.
Ashley broke into tears as Jesse explained that the couple had previously discussed terminating the pregnancy if faced with such a scenario, a decision they later confirmed on Wednesday.
Jesse, posted a series of emotional Instagram stories saying the couple had decided to have an abortion, describing the decision as “not made lightly” and “extremely traumatic.”
I’ll say it is. I can’t actually think of anything more gut-wrenching than this one, but when all is said and done, given what they were going to face, I can’t say I disagree with what they did.
And before I start getting screamed at, I note the many similarities between this decision and the decision to turn off life support for a terminally-ill relative — the latter of which does not seem to engender much of a response from the All Life Is Precious Brigade.
Remember too that I am a bitter foe of abortion-on-demand, except in cases like this.
I once knew a guy — back in South Africa, where abortion was very much illegal — whose wife had had a Downs Syndrome baby. The poor little tyke lived until age 10, and then died from the usual issues associated with this unhappy circumstance. Several years later, I asked him about his feelings on the topic, and his response was blunt and to the point.
“It was hell,” he stated bluntly. “Absolute bloody hell: for my wife, for me, and for little Eric. Ten years of exhausting hell. As much as we tried to put a cheerful face on it, I think my wife cried herself to sleep every night for five years. And when Eric finally went into the hospital for the last time — we knew his condition was terminal — we crucified ourselves with our guilt because we were feeling nothing but relief that his, hers and my hell were finally coming to an end.”
Of course, in the case of our unhappy couple in New Jersey, there have been the usual issues from the lunatics:
The news immediately triggered a wave of online backlash. A day later, the pair revealed that their inboxes were being flooded with ‘hate and vitriol’ over their ‘impossible decision.’
Jesse, known online as McJuggerNuggets, said that since sharing their abortion, they have been exposed to a “deeply disturbing” side of humanity. One comment left under their YouTube video read: “Genuinely the most dystopian and disturbing video I’ve seen on YouTube. Truly evil. Four months.” Another said, “Hitler thought those with disabilities didn’t deserve to live either!!! You should be sterilized.”
All those comments, of course, are coming from people who’ve never had to face anything like the choice — if it can be called that — that these poor kids have had to deal with.
If I can fault the Ridgways with anything, it’s for putting the whole ghastly episode on the Internet. Had they just had the thing done, then put up a brief, sorrowful post that they had lost the unborn baby, nobody would have been any the wiser and everyone could just have carried on.
But this unhealthy urge to share with strangers the most intimate details of one’s life is total poison — as Jesse and Ashley Ridgway have discovered. I only hope that he never has to use the gun he keeps next to his bed, because that would just add to the tragedy; although getting rid of some screeching fanatic would not be that bad an outcome, because they live in Noo Joizee the consequences of ending that asshole’s life would be more punitive than ending the life of their unborn, unhealthy baby.
There are no winners in this horrible story, and the maniacs who insist on piling on are just adding to the tragedy.
I see that the U.S. is finally going to get serious about our energy infrastructure:
One announcement Trump is set to make is the allocation of $425 million in Defense Production Act (DPA) funds to aid 13 coal plants in Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, per the official. Funding will also support coal mines in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The official noted that funding will enable coal plants to extend their operational life through investment in upgrades, strengthen grid reliability, and prevent electricity prices from surging with demand.
So because it’s being funded by the DPA (as it should be), there’s no haggling with Congress required. But the very next little addendum is what got me giggling:
The president is also expected to tell reporters that $75 million in DPA funding will help construct a coal-export terminal in Oakland, California, the official said.
One wonders what the Watermelons in California will think of their beloved Golden Shower State becoming a conduit for the EEEEVIL COLE to be sent out to pollute other nations’ air. Maybe their feelings will be assuaged by this:
The West Gateway project is anticipated to create 1,400 on-site jobs and support thousands more in the western states.
…not that California ever cared about those icky blue-collar jobs, though.
There’s a lot more good news, but read the rest of the thing to get it all.
I personally think that the coal-mining industry would be far better served by the elimination of most if not all of the tiresome Obama/Biden-era EPA restrictions, but that would involve Congress and we all know what horrors, foot-dragging and tantrums that would cause.
We’ve all seen stories about homeowners’ associations (HOAs) setting themselves up as mini-fiefdoms, and holding people accountable for stuff like “maintaining community standards” and “keeping property values healthy”. The stories are legion, and I can bear witness to some of them myself — the best one being that when we were encouraged by the Plano authorities to start collecting rainwater in large storage barrels (a Good Thing, in semi-desert north Texas), we went off and bought from the city one of said barrels — i.e. the thing was city-approved.
So I installed the blessed thing at the side of the house and attached a drip hose system so that the lawn at the side of the house could get watered. Two weeks later some dickless wonder knocked on my door and said that the barrel was “unsightly” and we had two days to remove it, or face “consequences”. When I asked if any of my neighbors had complained (they hadn’t), he said that their “inspection team” had made the determination.
My response should not be repeated in polite company, but it did contain the words “fuck” and “off”, as well as a few choice words of a personal nature and a warning that any attempt to force “consequences” on me would be met with, shall we say, strong opposition. He left, never to be seen again, and the barrel stayed (it’s still there, some twelve years later).
One could only imagine my response, then, if I lived in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and was faced with an HOA ruling that forbade carrying of guns.
And the local cops feel about the same way as I would:
Breitbart News reported on the HOA’s gun ban May 18, 2026, noting that the St. Lucie Police Department made clear they would not enforce it.
AG Uthmeier contacted the HOA and gave them a deadline to cease enforcement or face legal action.
In a post to X, Uthmeier wrote: “Enforcement of its discriminatory policy against anyone for exercising the constitutional right to keep and bear arms will be met with legal action by my office.”
Needless to say, the HOA has backed down.
And these little gauleiters thought they could get away with this bullshit… in Florida?
# Active accounts (starting): 47,244
# Active accounts (current): 27,290
That’s after twelve solid hours. Over 8,000 Russian bots, and 7,500 identified spam email addresses. I did get through all the “A” accounts, so there’s that.
Now to tackle the rest of the alphabet.
One last thing: Reader 0007 and Reader Paul W. (from our Powdered Wig Department), please email me because I inadvertently deleted your accounts, and I’ll reinstate them ASAP. Also, anyone whose username begins with A/a, please check in case I did likewise harm to you.
I’ll try to get a little blogging done today, just to escape the tedium of looking at lines and lines of code. How programmers do this all day every day for years without going postal is a mystery for the ages.
Your suggestions in Comments.