Mississippi… because why should I be the only one to suffer?
Author: Kim du Toit
Oz Reich (1)
Intrastate travel within Australia is also severely restricted. And the government of South Australia, one of the country’s six states, developed and is now testing an app as Orwellian as any in the free world to enforce its quarantine rules. People in South Australia will be forced to download an app that combines facial recognition and geolocation. The state will text them at random times, and thereafter they will have 15 minutes to take a picture of their face in the location where they are supposed to be. Should they fail, the local police department will be sent to follow up in person. “We don’t tell them how often or when, on a random basis they have to reply within 15 minutes,” Premier Steven Marshall explained. “I think every South Australian should feel pretty proud that we are the national pilot for the home-based quarantine app.”
Holy shit. Frankly, the best response to something this awful is gunfire I mean mass disobedience. (Gunfire, of course, is not an option because the OzGov has all but disarmed their entire population already.)
Everyone could just refuse to follow instructions to download the app. But what if that was no longer an option because the app would be automatically downloaded when, say, they used Google (and don’t for a moment think that Gurgle wouldn’t cooperate in this)? But if everyone just refused to stay at home, how soon before the “local police forces” ran out of steam and just stopped chasing after these doubleplusungood citizens?
Wouldn’t ever happen, of course, because it appears that Australians long ago decided to lick the chains that enslave them.
Quote Of The Day
This follows on from the post above.
In responding to a question about whether he had gone too far with respect to imposing a curfew (avoiding the question of why a curfew was needed when no other state had one), Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews replied: ‘It is not about human rights. It is about human life.’
Just a quick question, O Fascist Motherfucker: What kind of human life exists without rights?
Oh yeah, silly me: it’s called “slavery”, and Australian government is forcing its citizens in that direction at a rate of knots.
Monday Funnies
So let’s walk that weekly tightrope:
Baby Kim:
(that’s only a minor exaggeration; .30-30 has gone AWOL)
And here’s some elderly ginger named Patsy Palmer, who’s a star on some obscure Brit TV show or other (no, I’ve never watched it either):
Freckled boooobs.
As Long As You Look Mahvelous…
Some time back, I was watching some EewwChoob thing about cars that looked good but were absolute rubbish, either to drive or because they were completely unreliable. I can’t find the video, of course, because Internet Confusion, but here’s a short list of cars that I wish had been made properly — i.e. with today’s machining, fit and electricals — so that one could drive them for a long distance or time without having to have a mechanic/towing service on speed dial, and drive them without impaling yourself on a tree at the very first kink in the road. I’ve left off the Usual Suspects (e.g. the E-type, Ferrari 246 and various Astons, because I’ve looked at them often enough). Also, because they’re mostly tourers, to be driven for long distances in comfort, I’ve set aside my normal disdain for cabrios and soft-tops.
They’re not in any specific order, pretty much just as they came to me.
Triumph Stag
One of the best-looking touring cars ever made, the Stag was uniformly horrible, not the least because of 
Both Mr. Free Market and Drummer Knob had a Stag; as I recall, Knob exchanged his for a Mini-Cooper (!), while Mr. Free Market’s memorable quote was:
“Dear boy, that Stag used so much oil that every time I put my foot down, I shifted BP’s share price two points.”
But…
As Jeremy Clarkson says, it still looks good, even today. With the Rover (a.k.a. Buick) 3.6-liter engine, it might have been a world-beater except for the fact that it would rust faster than a Lancia.
Jensen Interceptor
One of the best names ever for a car. The 1972 Jensen MkII is my favorite, with the Chrysler 7.2-liter (443 cubic inch) V8. Built properly, with today’s machining, finishing and wiring, I’d take one in a heartbeat.
Getting the cabrio would leave off that PITA big rear window, but in either guise the Interceptor just looks fantastic.
Maserati 350 Vignale (1964)
I think Maserati has always made superior tourers (as opposed to sports cars), and this one is no exception.
Alas, like all Italian cars of that era, they suffered from 
and Terminal Rust Condition, but if you could address those two problems as above, the idea of setting off across Europe or the U.S. behind that wonderful 3.5-liter straight six… oh, man.
Sunbeam Alpine MkI Drophead (1953)
Why would I want to drive this oldster with its silly 2.3-liter 95hp four-banger engine? Because it’s the car in which Cary Grant seduced Grace Kelly in To Catch A Thief, is why. Also:
Actually, being underpowered was the least of the Alpine’s problems. It suffered from post-war to such a degree that no two were ever wired the same way, and in some cases they used metals other than copper (Britain still suffering from post-WWII shortages of copper even though other nations e.g. Italy and Germany weren’t), with MTBF* often measured in hours. The steering was totally shit, and the suspension was given to breaking when going over so much as a driveway entrance.
The saloon version won several rally races, but that was because they were modified beyond recognition.
But the drophead looks mahvelous, hence its inclusion in this post.
Which old cars would you like to see, resto-modded / remanufactured? (Limit three per comment.)
*Mean Time Between Failures
Gratuitous Gun Pic: Manurhin MR 73 (.357 Mag)
Mentioned in Comments by Reader Motoguzzi on my Difficult Choices post on .357 Mag revolvers, and also in email from Longtime Reader Martin K.:
Please allow me a few questions: do you have any experience with the MR 73 revolver from the MANURHIN factory? Have you ever shot one? If yes, what is your opinion on this model?
Okay, I have to make a HUGE admission of guilt right up front. Because ‘Murka is the fountain of Fevolverdom (Sam Colt, Horace Wesson etc.), I’ve always looked upon European revolver offerings with something of a pitying smile — one exception being the non-Euro British Webley revolvers, of course. The source of my condescension can be seen in the Austrian Rast & Gasser Mod 1898:
…which has to be the ugliest revolver ever made.
And indeed, I’ve always known about Manurhin guns in general, but tended to dismiss them because, well, my American chauvinism coupled with the fact that one doesn’t see them that often Over Here — my logic being that if they were any good, there’d be a market for them in the U.S., but there isn’t.
Also, the older Manurhin guns were nothing special to write home about:
HOWEVER, as I delved more into these guns (prompted, it should be said, by Martin’s question and the fact that I respect Reader Motoguzzi’s opinion of guns), I came across this little article:
Interest in the historic Manurhin MR73 has increased since Beretta announced its plans to import several models to the US—and for good reason. It’s called the “best revolver in the world,” designed to endure several dozens of shots per day, every day, for the lifespan of the gun. As the first official GIGN revolver, it has never been officially retired after nearly fifty years of service.
Wait, what? How did I miss that last little snippet? (See above for reasons.)
And then the pictures:
And if that weren’t enough to make my trigger finger itch and my wallet tremble, there’s a stainless steel version, the MR88 SX Inox:
Are you kidding me?
And of all that weren’t enough, Gun Jesus Ian McCollum loves it.
I WANT ONE — that stainless Inox. Annnnnd it displaces the S&W 686 in my top three .357 revolver list. It’s going to be spendy, but I can always sell a couple guns of lesser quality, right?
Finally, to Manurhin-Chapuis: je suis désolé, messieurs.