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Aw, Diddums

Freaks & Loonies

OMG it must be so difficult to be a vegan these days…

British vegans claim they have been mocked, derided and snubbed by waiters because of their lifestyle choices.
MailOnline spoke to three women about their experiences of adopting a plant-based lifestyle and all three said they had encountered problems when dining out – from milk in their coffee to salad containing eggs.
It comes after a study found that well over half of vegans (61 per cent) have faced difficulties and been ‘snubbed’ by waiters when eating out at restaurants because of their choice of diet.
A further 41 per cent claimed that waiters have accidentally served them food excluded from their diet, with a third (35 per cent) said they struggle to find the right foods when eating out.

Listen to this tale of horror:

‘On another occasion when ordering a vegan salad from the menu – I was brought the wrong food – a salad with anchovies and egg on it. When I pointed out that this isn’t my order, in response I got: “No, this is vegetarian, just what you asked for!” I then embarked on a long conversation explaining the difference.’

I can just imagine the tone of the “long conversation”.  And by the way, a “study” of a sample of a splinter section of society isn’t going to yield credible data, so take your 41% and 61% and eat it — provided the numbers are plant-based, of course.

Let’s see if I’ve got this right:  you assume behavior that sets you apart from the mainstream of society, then try to make everyone change to fit your freakish choice.  Ergo:

Oy.  Nothing like an evangelist, eh?

Veganism is not a lifestyle choice, it’s a religion.  And I’m an atheist.  The same, by the way, goes for bullshit eating restrictions like halaal and kosher.

All this talk of food has done the usual to me.  Time for brekkie.

And I apologize for the “vegetable” part of the meal, but it was  cooked in beef fat.

Unexpectedly

Gummint, Politics

Looks like the People’s Soviet of New York is running out of other people’s money:

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday announced a dramatic drop in state income tax revenue of $2.8 billion, which he says will prompt him to revise his 2019-20 budget and reconsider spending on schools, health care and repairs to roads and bridges.
“At this point there is no doubt that the budget we put forward is not supported by the revenues,” Cuomo said at a State Capitol news conference. “It’s as serious as a heart attack.”
Cuomo said he’s not certain what areas might need to be cut, but said the biggest spending areas now are education, health care, infrastructure and another phase-in of a previously approved middle-class tax cut.

Of course, it’s not his fault or the fault of NY’s bloated social policies, benefits obligations and union payouts, oh no.  Guess whose fault it really is?

Cuomo, a Democrat, blamed the shortfall on a federal tax plan backed by Republican President Donald Trump. Cuomo said the law’s cap on deductions for state and local taxes at $10,000 was to blame and suggested it is, anecdotally, triggering high-earners to leave New York.

Any time a politician has to resort to anecdotal data, then he’s the one to blame.

Mega Weapons

Military

Apparently, the Russians have a new weapon:

The Russian Navy reportedly has a new weapon that can disrupt the eyesight of targets as well as make them hallucinate and vomit.

Oh yeah?  Well, we have a couple of those too:

 

…except that common decency (and probably the Geneva Convention) would prevent us from using them — even against Russians.

Snow Scene

Travels

The area where The Englishman lives (the Vale of Pewsey) is indescribably gorgeous:  green fields, woodlands, endless rolling hills, and through the middle runs the Kennet & Avon Canal.

Now I often poke fun at Teh Brits for going into a DefCon1 Panic Attack when a few flakes of snow float down and render their roads “impassable” (in Wisconsin, these conditions would be known as “late September”).

But when snow falls on the Vale of Pewsey’s Kennet & Avon Canal, you get views like this:

Compare and contrast the same canal in summer (this pic taken near Devizes, not Pewsey itself):

No trip to Britishland should be considered complete without a drive through Wiltshire.