Author: Kim du Toit

News Roundup (Out-Of-Date Version)

Bad News, Funny Stuff

Just in case you missed it earlier.


…good grief:  is there anything statins can’t do?  Finally, a drug I’ve been taking for years may actually be worth the money.  Although next week we’ll find that statins probably cause hemorrhagic fever, or something.


…oooh, no wonder she’s been called a “wild child”, the feisty lil’ thang.  I think I did all that, and more, before I turned 17 — unless, that is, she did all that before she was 14, in which case, I salute her.


…just your everyday over-achiever.  Key word:  Leeds.


…finally, some ACTUAL good news.


…uuuhhhh, sweetie, when you hang around with a guy who looks like this, I think you can expect at least some behavior that’s a little off the beaten path:


…given the cost of Woody The Wonder Drug, it would be cheaper just to buy a fresh bunch of flowers.


…you have to know how low the Beeb has sunk when the Chinks can call them out.


…yeah, if it’s total indifference you’re seeking from your partner in a sexual experience, stay at home.


…wherein we finally learn the Scandi spelling for “homeboy”.  (HBC, as always, looks like a bag lady).


…not to be too cynical or anything, but wouldn’t his post-murder treatment of her body be somewhat irrelevant at this point?  Anyway, look on the bright side:  he could have called her a “dirty nigger”, in which case he’d now be in serious trouble.


…and I’m sure the UK’s NHS is just waiting to give him the free surgery he needs, just as soon as they’ve discharged the very last Chinkvirus patient, in 2045.


…which would be nice, if there was anything there we actually wanted to see.

Lessons Learned

SHTF

Now that the waters have receded (from our apartment) and the ice has melted (from the Great Texas Polar Event of 2021), here are a couple of things I’ve learned from the experience.

1.)  You cannot have too many flashlights, lanterns or batteries.  Seriously.  When our power went out, I was three lanterns short, and I kept misplacing my goddamn flashlight — you know, you put it down to carry a bucket of floodwater outside, then can’t find the thing when you come back into a darkened room.

Addendum:  You don’t need trillions of candlepower to get by.  Seriously, again.  In fact, my trusty Surefire was often too bright, its beam blinding me when bouncing off a mirror or white wall.

Next steps:  I’m going to get at least three more battery-operated lanterns like this one:


I already have one of these, and for long life and adequate lighting, it’s the best:  it saw me through the last Plano power outage (5 days) back in 2016.

As for flashlights, I’m going to get a bunch of these Maglite 3C bad boys:


I used to pack one on hunts and camping trips back in South Africa, and over about five years it never broke, flickered or burned out — and those were the days before LED bulbs, even.  (I can’t believe that I don’t own one now, come to think of it. ) There is going to be at least one in every room in the house, and in each car as well.  (Note:  I already own a sufficiency of “tactical” Surefire and Fenix flashlights, and also a couple headlight types as well.)

I’m also going to get a lanyard to hang a smaller Maglite around my neck, just in case.

2.)  My little butane cooking stove was completely inadequate to cook anything outside — the wind kept blowing the flame out, and even in calm conditions, it took over half an hour to boil a single pot of water, because butane sucks under frigid conditions.  Here’s the offending object:

Next steps:  what I’m going to get is a sturdy camp stove, like this one:

…which uses Coleman Fuel, white gas* or in a pinch, even gasoline (which I always have on hand in a spare fuel can).  Or I might just go crazy and get one of these:

I don’t care much about portability because it’s for in-home emergencies like we just endured.

Conclusion:  it doesn’t seem to matter how well prepared you think you are — I certainly wasn’t, even though I thought otherwise.  (I didn’t run out of batteries, which is the only good thing about the whole sorry business.)  Next time will be better, I hope.

*Coleman Fuel and white gas are almost the same, except that white gas, while cheaper, doesn’t have the extra stabilizers and corrosion-preventatives that the branded Coleman Fuel contains.  Even so, either will last up to ten years in an unopened container.

Binary Option

Two-Minute Hate

Here’s a situation worth reading about:

Ciara Nolan and Jean-Francois Bonnet found eight-year-old golden retriever Neesha near a summit in the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland, on February 6.
They wrapped the dog, who had been reported missing two weeks earlier, in a coat before Jean carried her on his back for six miles to reach level ground.

And a pic:

And:

One of Neesha’s owners, Erina O’Shea Goetelen, said they had started to give up hope before Ciara and Jean stumbled across the pooch by chance.
After being reunited Erina took Neesha to the vets who said the family pet had lost a third of her body weight during the two weeks away from home.

But the dog will be fine.  Her rescuers?  Not so much:

After the video went viral a member of the public reported the couple for breaching non-essential travel rules, and the Gardai – Ireland’s police force – is now making enquiries.

…which brings us to the binary question alluded to in the title of this post.

For that “member of the public”:

Public flogging, or lifetime shunning?

Your choice in Comments.

Style

Drive Time

From an earlier post:  “And in other news:  normal blogging service should resume tomorrow with the usual mixture of guns,  rants, booze, invective and boobs.”

I forgot cars.

This one appeared at C.W.’s place, and for its full story follow the link.

As Longtime Readers know, I am generally leery of American automotive styling, especially during the decades following WWII.  This Caddy, however, looks absolutely spectacular, in that “American Excess” fashion.  The purple slash on the sides is the only thing which makes me a tad nauseated — white would have been better, to give that “tuxedo” look — but the overall shape of the car is quite lovely.

Even New Wife, who is still more conservative than I in these matters, nodded with approval.

Early Days

Conservatism

Via GatewayPundit comes this survey result:

And what I think this means is that’s the Trump who got the Arabs and Izzies to talk nice to each other, who started to build a wall on our southern border, who got corporations to pull back from China, who lowered taxes, who got Keystone XL going, who caused the economy to boom, energized crowds and all that.  The Trump we’re not interested in is the poltroon who shot his mouth off on Twatter, let his mouth run away from him in important speeches and allowed the Left to demonize and attack him.

So just as a thought exercise, and realizing that it’s four years till the next election where we get to toss Kamala Harris out of the Oval Office, let’s talk about this a little.  I think we should forget about Trump ever running (or for that matter winning) for POTUS again.  For one thing, he’ll be too old in 2020 and for another, I think that while he showed the way, his race is run.  Time to move on.

I know it’s way premature and others may arise in years to come, but as I see it, the politicians who right now seem to be most like Trump (and without all those annoying little ego quirks) are as follows, in no specific order:

“Establishment” candidates:

Ron DeSantis (FloridaGov).  My Floriduh Readers may be able to shed a little more light on DeSantis, but from what I’ve seen so far, with the proper grooming he could be Trump’s heir apparent.  Most tellingly, from the depth and viciousness of the Left’s attacks on him right now, I think they see him as a dangerous opponent.  I prefer my presidents to have executive experience (unlike, say, Obama) in politics or even in business (like Trump), and DeSantis has that.

Mike Pompeo (ex-SecState and CIA Director under Trump).  Brilliant foreign policy formulator, always has America’s interests at heart, no-nonsense attitude, and has Congressional experience as a former Congressman.

Kristi Noem (SDGov).  I think I’d prefer to see her as the VP, simply because running a tiny state like South Dakota  isn’t comparable to the same job in Texas or Florida.  But she’s strong on values (conservative values) and she was also in Congress so she’ll know how that snakepit functions.

Richard Grenell (former ambassador and acting head of DNI).  I like this man’s attitude and my only concern is that he has had no executive experience — but I think he’d be a real quick learner.  I understand that if CalGov Newsom is recalled (I wish), Grenell wants to run against him in the follow-up election, and if he wins and gets any kind of success in pulling California away from the pit, he’d be a really string contender in 2024.

Rick Scott (R-FL senator and ex-FLGov).  On paper, he has it all:  executive experience in business and government, strong conservative credentials and he understands how Congress works.  He’s now 68 and would be 72 in 2024, if that matters.

Scott Walker (ex-WIGov).  He gets up the Left’s collective nose, and has actually had good conservative results despite rabid opposition from the Commies.  Also has executive experience, and is a full-blown Midwesterner.

Mike Pence (ex-VP under Trump, ex-INGov and congressman).   I think that Pence has the character aspect sewn up, and none of the Left’s attacks on him have worked.  Ordinarily, the VP is the heir apparent, but he’s definitely not Trump II — which is both good and bad.  He certainly has all the experience anyone could bring to the table.  Under any other president than Trump, Pence would be a shoo-in for the next election.  He still might be.

“Wild Card” candidate:

Dan Crenshaw (R-TX congressman, ex-SEAL Team 3).  He looks like a pirate, has few if any equals in terms of military cred, and his no-bullshit attitude is better than Trump’s.  He has little executive experience other than in the military.  Definitely a long-term prospect.

I don’t care about any of the associated characteristics of the above (DeSantis is Hispanic, Grenell is a homo, Noem has a vagina etc.) because none of that matters.  What matters is the next Republican candidate’s closeness to Trumpist philosophy and governing style (minus, as I said, the silly tweets and non-Presidential extemporaneous remarks).

As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.