Amazing Coincidence

First, Iran’s largest ship mysteriously catches fire and is destroyed, and then a large oil refinery near Teheran mysteriously catches fire.

[T]he head of the company in charge of the refinery reportedly told Iranian state TV the possibility of sabotage had been ruled out.

He put it down to a “technical” issue. No doubt, the same technical issue which blew up their frigate.  And yeah, rather admit to a technical issue than saying it was sabotage.

If I were a paranoid Iranian mullah, however, I’d suspect that the Izzies have been up to their old tricks.

We’ll know that’s the case when President Braindead or his lickspittle State Department condemns the “accidents” for no apparent reason.

No More A Refugee

Yesterday we got news that our apartment is nearly finished, having had to be rebuilt from the studs up following that burst water main during the Big Freeze back in February.

Yes, we’ve been living in a hotel room since then.  But now, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, and we’ll be able to move back into our place over the next week or so…

…which is when I’ll be at Boomershoot.

Think kind thoughts and say a few good words for New Wife, as she struggles to rebuild the nest without me.

But before anyone gets any strange ideas, you have to know this about her:  she lives for this kind of thing, and I don’t.  In fact, I am the worst possible person during a move:  I rage at stuff, I slam fingers in doors, I drop boxes, I kick stuff, I throw things into the pool out of frustration — all that, because of one of my life’s guiding principles:

I refuse to take any shit from inanimate objects.

She, however, is the complete opposite:  nothing makes her happier than organizing stuff.  So she’s going to be puttering around, re-packing kitchen cabinets, hanging clothes, singing happy songs and bossing the movers around — yes, I’ll be arranging for a moving company to move all the heavy stuff from the garage back into the apartment (a distance of a few feet only, but there are doors to wrangle the sofas and beds through — and when they don’t go, that’s precisely when I see red, descend into rage and start to break things).

Had I not invested so much into Boomershoot already, I’d have canceled it — but it’s too late for that at this point, so there it is.

Just What We Needed

This is going to end well:

A UK technology company is inserting customised product placement into films and TV shows – even those that were originally released decades ago.
London-based firm Mirriad inserts products or signage, like a branded beer bottle on a table to a clothing advert on a giant billboard, into streaming content.

I know what you’re thinking.  But:

The company used its experience to make inserted ads look as realistic as possible – so viewers would never know they weren’t present in the original shoot.

Uh huh.  I can see it now:

Not to mention:

or:

And even in our favorite classics, like The Devil In Miss Jones :

Is nothing sacred anymore?

Check This, Assholes

Here’s something to brighten your day:

Miller was contacted following a complaint by an offended party about a poem he shared on social media which was deemed transphobic. The officer explained that, although not illegal, this nevertheless qualified as a ‘non-crime hate incident’.
Why, Miller asked, was the unnamed complainant described as a ‘victim’ if no crime had been committed? More to the point, why was he being investigated at all?
To which came that ominous response: ‘We need to check your thinking.’

So we’re all clear, this happened in Britishland, where the fuzz (I prefer the British term “filth”, myself) have been playing reindeer games like this:

Now I’m not one to advocate violence against the pigs (such as these);  I don’t believe in firebombing cop cars, or ambushing police officers, or anything like that.

But I would be hard-pressed to condemn an action where some free-speech-advocating malcontent might put a couple rounds of birdshot through this sign — as long as there weren’t any cops standing around, and nobody was hurt, or anything.

Note to the fascist Wokistas on this side of The Pond:  don’t even think about it [sic].  And if any of the local fuzz ever accuse me of an “offense” like this, they’d better have the relevant statute ready to quote, along with a large number of other cops.

I need to cut down my morning intake of gin, but bullshit like this doesn’t help.

Binary Option

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.