Overriding The Vote

Ordinarily, I have the same degree of interest in Democrat Party election processes as I do in, say, fungal growth [there are some similarities].  But if I read this right, it seems that the “candidates” can go to all the trouble and expense of running campaigns in the primaries, arrive at the convention center with all the state delegates they’ve acquired through their wins at the polls… and then get told to fuck off because the Democrats have something called “super delegates” who are not elected, but who appear to function as some kind of overriding process so that if the Democrat voters elect a fucking nutcase (like, say, Bernie Commie Bastard Sanders), these super-delegates can just put their collective thumb on the scales and elect someone else.

Did I get this right?

Wow… small wonder, then, that Hillary Bitch Clinton (who benefited from just this process in 2016) has essentially told Breadline Bernie that he is never going to get the nomination, despite the number of electoral delegates he might bring to the convention (again).

And this is the same party who wants to impose this bullshit on national elections.

All I can hope is that the Socialist convention in Milwaukee ends up as a furious melee between the Bernie fanatics and the “regular” [snort]  delegates.  Fistfights, tear gas, cops wading in with nightsticks — Chicago 1968 all over again — which might actually make me watch the thing.

My only problem is that I tend to clean my guns while I watch Democrats on TV, and gun oil doesn’t taste good with popcorn.

Conflicted

I read this news piece

Airlines Face Loss of Up to $30 Billion in Revenues in Wake of Coronavirus

….and I find myself torn between two emotions:

and

In the first place, I hate all airlines without regard to race, class, religion, nationality or gender.  [25,000 reasons omitted for brevity]

Secondly (according to the article), most of the losses are supposed to befall the Chinese airlines, but considering that they’re owned engines, wings and tails by the loathsome Commie Chinese government, who cares?

Of course, people are going to think that this disruption will mean lower fares and/or less-crowded flights for the rest of us… [pause for scornful laughter] …but the airlines will simply cancel most of their flights, cram the remaining planes to the brim and then (you heard it here first) raise their fares to make up for lost revenue.  You see, international  travel may feel an impact, especially for those fools who inexplicably visit China all the time, but most U.S. airlines get the bulk of their revenue from domestic flights (i.e. corporate passengers who are largely immune to fare increases anyway).  (And you can ignore bullshit articles like this one — I tested the claims, and couldn’t find ONE.)

I know that in a Black Swan scenario, the people most likely to be hurt are people like myself, but at the same time there’s something awfully appealing about watching corporations getting shafted by random events, kinda like what they do to us on a daily basis…

Great Moments In Bad Timing

Given how the Corona virus thing has completely knocked the pleasure-cruise industry off the shelf, one would think that this is a bad time to launch a new one, yes?

Step forward Sir Richard of Branson:

On the bright side, every dollar this Left tool drops into nonsense like this is one less dollar for the dozens of Lefty causes his company supports.

Even before the emergence of passenger liners as floating pox-palaces, you wouldn’t have got me on one of them at gunpoint.  Now… uh huh.  Hot needles, meet scrotum.

Bugout Bag Deficiencies

Because it’s been a while since last I checked, I went through Ye Olde Bugge Outte Bagge on Sunday, and found myself short of a couple of items, most notably paracord.  (How the hell did that happen?  I used to have a 500′ drum  of the stuff.  There is some thick rope in the bag, but only about 25′ of it.)  Also short were facemasks, but I do have a few of those so no panic there, really.  Also lacking was the supply of water-purification tablets, all duly remedied by a quick trip to Academy.

The nunya gun and ammo were fine, of course, as was the backup supply of .22 ammo.

One disturbing shortcoming was that neither of my walkie-talkies works anymore — no idea how that happened, but they were only Radio Shack 1-mile cheapies, and I haven’t used them since about 2007 anyway, so I’m probably due a new pair.  Which brings me to an RFI:  does anyone have any idea of the latest and greatest in walkie-talkies?  Caveat:  I don’t want to spend a boatload of $$$ on them;  I just want them reliable, with about 2-5 miles range.  Features etc. to a minimum, especially if those have an effect on the total price.  All personal experience welcome (as with all my RFIs).

Other than that, all is well.


Update:  I’ll be getting these radios unless someone warns me off.

Gratuitous Gun Pic – CZ Upland 20ga

Oh man… just saw this beauty at Collectors:

Last time I looked, CZ doesn’t make their shotguns, still outsourcing their manufacture to Huglu in Turkey.  That’s not a knock, by the way:  I’ve fired many actual Huglu-branded shotguns, and they’re excellent.

Just so everyone’s on the same page as I am, note Kim’s Must-Haves list:

  • side-by-side barrels no less than 28″ in length
  • double trigger
  • straight “English” stock (no revolver grip)
  • splinter forend
  • pretty wood

And all the above for quite a bit less than a grand… ooooh mommy, I hate being poor.


Afterthought:  compare the above to the Italian-made Weatherby for sale at the same shop.  The Weatherby may be a better shotgun than the CZ… but in no way is it nearly three times  better.

Staying Home II

It is, as they say, to LOL at our cousins in Britishland as they begin to panic:

Panic-buying Brits strip supermarket shelves of pasta, couscous and water: Shops are left bare of larder essentials as well as toilet roll, Berocca and disinfectant as coronavirus ‘preppers’ brace for meltdown

Couscous?  [exit, pissing myself laughing]

Sorry, had to clean up a little.  I do like the addition of Berocca (supposed hangover remedy, similar to Alka Seltzer) to the list of “emergency” supplies.

Just go ahead and read the article for more merriment.  Good grief, do these people keep anything in the house?

Followup:  of course, let’s not forget our own doomsayers here in Murka: