Month: December 2019

New Wrinkle

Elections, Politics

I remember listening many years ago to a discussion between Derek & Clive (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore respectively) about politics.  Margaret Thatcher was facing reelection, and Derek had a fairly novel suggestion:

“I think that Mrs. Thatcher should broaden her appeal to voters by giving us a brief — but tasteful — glimpse of her vag.”

Now it should be remembered that at the time, the BritPM was quite a babe (by politicians’ standards, anyway):

…and her wardrobe always managed to conceal a rather impressive bust, so Derek’s suggestion was not at all out of left field.

Now before I go any further, you may be thinking that I’m about to suggest that all  female politicians follow Derek’s suggestion, but of course, nothing could be further from the truth — as a simple illustration would show:

Clearly, this is not a vote-catching approach with universal application.

However:  if there is a reasonably-attractive female politician who, for various reasons cannot attract a significant number of voters for whatever reason, how could it hurt?

With that in mind, allow me to show you one such politician who, despite having some fairly decent policy positions (for a Democrat), is still trailing way back in the polls;  it’s the lady from Hawaii, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard:

 

Now granted, young Tulsi is of the Democrat persuasion, and their core constituency seems to be made up exclusively of rabid feminists and wizened lesbians (some overlap), Muslim sycophants if not actual Muslims (who would want the whore stoned if she revealed her pudenda), homosexual men (ergo immune to her charms) and political apparatchiks who, from all accounts, have no sex life outside the Party.  So maybe a quick vag-flash wouldn’t work with them.

Still, given that Rep. Gabbard has managed to garner maybe 1% support in the polls, my question remains:  how much could it hurt?

Or is the basement-dwelling neckbeard incel population too small to matter?

I think we should be told.

Ultimately, Margaret Thatcher didn’t take Derek’s advice but still managed a thumping victory in that election (largely because she organized a thorough thrashing of the Argies for invading the Falkland Islands — can’t go wrong, slaughtering Argies).

But Tulsi can’t even order a carrier battle group to launch attacks against a second-tier target such as, say, Honduras let alone a massive pounding of Iran — always a proven vote-getter (sadly among conservatives, not Democrats) — and in any event, she has gone on record as being against U.S. aggression in foreign lands, so all that’s a non-starter.

All the more reason, thinks I, for her to consider the Vag Option.

Next up:  Nikki Haley.

Cooking In Extremis

SHTF

I saw this pic over at CW’s yesterday, and I have to say that I recommend the concept (as opposed to the item itself, which I’m not familiar with).

I have two of these little cooker types (two in case one breaks or malfunctions), and a dozen or so butane cylinders.  Used sparingly (meaning a cooking session of about 15-20 minutes), each cylinder will deliver close to a dozen meals (including a small kettle of boiling water for coffee or tea).  When we had a 5-day power outage in the Dallas area about five years ago, it was a godsend to have these around — yes, I could have fired up the propane BBQ but it’s overkill if all you want to cook is a single skillet or a kettle.  Pop a cast-iron grill plate on top, and you can cook a meal for two quite comfortably (and grill plates are easier to clean than iron skillets, too).

My cookers look like this (i.e. not as swanky as the one above):

The reason I like this as a SHTF thing (i.e. when there’s no electrical power and you can’t or don’t want to build a cooking fire) is size:  the cooker is small and light, and the little butane cylinders are easily stowable.  Also, they can be found at any Asian store, where both the cookers and butane are way cheaper than at camping stores.  (At our local Yuk Fu market (not its real name), the stove costs about $25 and the butane less than a dollar per cylinder, which is unbeatable).

You’re not supposed to use this setup indoors, of course, but if you have a fireplace (as we did) it’s not a problem as long as you remember to open the flue.

What we also used to do was use it as an outdoors table-top cooker, with the grill plate in place.  Best was to grill thinly-sliced lamb, with a dash of rosemary and salt, or similarly-sliced beef with rubbing spice and/or Liquid Smoke sprinkled over it.  Many was the spring- or fall evening spent around the table on the deck, each family member responsible for cooking their own meat, with sides of pita bread, tomato slices and hummus (for the lamb) and crusty French bread and cole slaw (with the beef).

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the kitchen.

Snowflake Government

Mocking Furriners, Politics

Yeah, this is going to end well:

Fortunately, this little experiment is taking place in Finland, so the fallout won’t be too bad.  (And I always thought the Finns were the sensible  Scandinavians…)

Can you imagine this bunch of ingenues sitting down to negotiate anything  with Vladimir Putin or that Commie asshole from China?

World’s gone fucking crazy.

Appearances Matter

Grooming

Despite the “we’re all equal” trope that seems to be all the rage today, !Science! tells us that it just ain’t so (emphasis added):

People perceive a person’s competence partly based on subtle economic cues emanating from the person’s clothing, according to a study published in Nature Human Behaviour by Princeton University. These judgments are made in a matter of milliseconds, and are very hard to avoid.
In nine studies conducted by the researchers, people rated the competence of faces wearing different upper-body clothing. Clothing perceived as “richer” by an observer—whether it was a T-shirt, sweater, or other top—led to higher competence ratings of the person pictured than similar clothes judged as “poorer,” the researchers found.
Given that competence is often associated with social status, the findings suggest that low-income individuals may face hurdles in relation to how others perceive their abilities—simply from looking at their clothing.

I’ve banged on about this topic several times before, but now that I have !Science! to back me up, I’m going to say it again, with feeling:

Appearances matter.

Dress like a slob, get treated like one.  Even worse, if the above study is to be believed, is that if you dress like a slob your competence  is going to be dismissed, especially when compared with someone who doesn’t look (as I’ve said before) as though he’s just come from a beach party by way of working on his friend’s car.

It doesn’t matter, by the way, how unfair  you think this prejudice is;  it’s simply the way of the world, and bleating about the unfairness of it won’t change a thing.

Monday Funnies

Funny Stuff

Oh good grief.

So on we go, with a little humor to brighten the day:

(Thanks to Reader OldTexan for the pic)

And now that it’s all over, a couple of ideas for next year:

And speaking of red meat, it seems that the pics of young Miss Rafferty a few days back have sparked some interest among my Readers, so:

Now get outta here and hit those books.

Racing Beauty

Beauty, Drive Time

As all know, I am a huge fan of the Ferrari Dino 246 GT, but I love its successors with almost equal fervor.  Here’s a little discourse about the 288 GTO by Alain de Cadenet, who waxes rhapsodical about this magnificent beast, the last Ferrari made when old man Enzo was still alive.  Enjoy.  (Right-click to embiggen the pic in another window.)

It was a 1980s car, which meant it was more wedge-shaped and less curvy than the 246 GT from which it was derived (right-click away):

But the 288 was racier — duh, it was created for Group B racing — and a better car to drive than the entry-level Dino, I think.  (I’ve driven the Dino quite a bit, the 288 only once for a disappointingly-few minutes.)

But both cars thrill — that engine being mounted only a foot or so behind the driver… oooh, Mommy.

Want.  Either, or both.  Where’s that lottery ticket, again?