Author: Kim du Toit

Confusion

Gratuitous Chick Pics

I have mentioned before about the confusion I have with actors’ or starlets’ or celebrities; names which are either the same, or close enough for my senior-level brain to grind to a halt.

Did I ever mention the Foxes:  Julia, Megan, Emilia and Samantha?

Truth be told, I’m a little more familiar with the last-named, but only because she’s been around forever, as a Page Three Girl, a singer and (more recently) a prominent lesbianist.

  

I’ve also seen Emilia (daughter of James and sister of Laurence) in a couple of good movies.

 

But the first two?  No chance.

 

Couldn’t tell them apart with a crib note.

So whenever I see mention of “______ Fox”, my brain tries to identify which one’s the topic under discussion, and then says, “Fuck it, I’ll go and watch Othias and Mae instead.”

Actually, not a bad outcome, all things considered.

News Roundup

Bad News

Today’s Roundup is sponsored (courtesy of a Reader) by the folks at:

So in that excellent school spirit, we see the following:


…next up:  dildos for gradeschoolers.  You heard it here first.


...amazingly, not in Scarsdale NY, but Pakistan.

In other news:


…eh, tell the old bitch to fuck off and MYOB.  She’ll be gone by December, anyway.

 
…and in a related item:


…so now most of the country is bizarro, according to President Braindead.


…gettin’ scary out there, folks.  Time To Carry (as if we need reminding).

From the International News Desk:


…


…for Princess Sourpuss, that’s hardly a new look.


…key words:  “alcohol”, “of no fixed abode”, and “Liverpool”.  I’m amazed that she was even arrested, given the circumstances.

And speaking of Matters Sexual:


…meh;  his dick, his choice of recipients.  As it should be.


…don’t all rush there at the same time, or you’ll crash the page.

And from the INSIGNIFICA Files:

   


…aaahhhh, I still can’t get used to RollerGirl being over 50:

 

At any age, Bubba.

And on that deep throat thought, we end the news.

Random Totty

Gratuitous Chick Pics

Longtime Readers will no doubt be aware of my fondness of statuesque / zaftig / full-figured women, so this discovery should come as no surprise to anybody.

Anyone heard of Rachel Bloom before?  Neither had I.

  

Yummy.  Also fairly intelligent, apparently.

Next: The Supremes

Legal Stuff, Rights

Oh, I like this kind of thing:

A federal appeals court upheld a Texas law that bans Big Tech from censoring speech based on political viewpoint on Friday.

House Bill 20 prevents social media companies with more than 50 million monthly users banning users simply based on their political viewpoints. The law also requires several consumer protection disclosures and processes related to content management on the social media sites to which the bill applies. These sites must disclose their content management and moderation policies and implement a complaint and appeals process for content they remove, providing a reason for the removal and a review of their decision. They also must review and remove illegal content within 48 hours. House Bill 20 also prohibits email service providers from impeding the transmission of email messages based on content.

Needless to say, the Left went into full hair-on-fire mode:

The law was promptly challenged by NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association. They argued that tech companies have a First Amendment right to select and curate the content people post on their platforms. They were able to get the new law blocked, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed that decision — and won.

Fortunately, common sense and Constitutionalism prevailed.  In the judgment of the 5th Circuit:

The implications of the platforms’ argument are staggering. In the platforms’ view, email providers, mobile phone companies, and banks* could cancel the accounts of anyone who sends an email, makes a phone call, or spends money in support of a disfavored political party, candidate, or business. What’s worse, the platforms argue that a business can acquire a dominant market position by holding itself out as open to everyone — as Twitter did in championing itself as “the free speech wing of the free speech party.”…Then, having cemented itself as the monopolist of “the modern public square,”…Twitter unapologetically argues that it could turn around and ban all pro-LGBT speech for no other reason than its employees want to pick on members of that community…

The 11th Court found differently, hence it’s off to the Supremes we go.  And they can’t punt it back, because two federal appeals courts have conflicting rulings.

Let’s see what happens.

*Note how banks were specifically mentioned, which should make this little episode interesting.

Fair Warning

Legal Stuff, Rights

Following on from the decision of credit card companies to “flag” sales made at gun stores, we have this development:

Twenty-four Republican attorneys general sent a letter to Visa, Mastercard, and American Express Tuesday warning them to drop plans to code and compile gun sales in America.

The new code will not protect public safety. Categorizing the constitutionally protected right to purchase firearms unfairly singles out law-abiding merchants and consumers alike. First, efforts to track and monitor sales at gun stores would only result in vague and misleading information. This categorization would not recognize the difference, for example, between the purchase of a gun safe and a firearm. Nor would it capture firearm purchases made at department stores, resulting in arbitrarily disparate treatment of “gun store” merchants and consumers.

More importantly, purposefully tracking this information can only result in its misuse, either unintentional or deliberate. Creating and tracking this data only matters if your institutions are considering using that information to take further, harmful action—like infringing upon consumer privacy, inhibiting constitutionally protected purchases by selectively restricting the use of your payment systems, or otherwise withholding your financial services from targeted “disfavored” merchants.

And my favorite part:

Social policy should be debated and determined within our political institutions. Americans are tired of seeing corporate leverage used to advance political goals that cannot muster basic democratic support. The Second Amendment is a fundamental right, but it’s also a fundamental American value. Our financial institutions should stop lending their market power to those who wish to attack that value.

Be advised that we will marshal the full scope of our lawful authority to protect our citizens and consumers from unlawful attempts to undermine their constitutional rights. Please keep that in mind as you consider whether to proceed with adopting and implementing this Merchant Category Code.

Give it to the bastards good and hard, boys and girls.  Make ’em sweat, and make ’em bleed if they ignore you.