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Policy Change

Housekeeping

As all Readers know, I prefer that comments be more or less attached to the post topic, because otherwise things can get out of control, and I lack the patience and good humor to keep going back to the thing to fix it up.

But I suspect that a lot of you would like to get things off your collective chest, and sound off about something that has irritated / angered / pleased / aroused you, whatever.

This has become evident in the popularity of “Open Post” features (Insty can get thousands of comments in his free-for-all posts, for example).

So from now on, I am declaring my News Roundup posts to be open for all or any comments, regardless of topic.  As you know, they appear every Tuesday and Friday, so each week you get two whacks of the axe, so to speak.  (If you have trouble logging in to comment, let me know by email;  I’ll pass it on to TSII, and he will get to it as time permits.)

Enjoy — I’m not going to censor or delete anything, unless it’s completely horrible or egregious ad hominem  attacks on other Readers (my back porch, my judgment, no appeal).  I think you all know my limits by now, so it should be easy.

And FFS, please don’t use this freedom to try to fuck me over, because that will not end well (for you).

Today’s Earworm

Music

From old rock band Sweet, all about changes.

I actually met the vocalist/lead guitarist (with the long silver hair, can’t remember his name) at the King’s Arms in Wiltshire with The Englishman.

I think the song is about his dealing with cancer, because apparently he died of it not long ago.

Or it could be about his getting married to some hottie in Vegas immediately after hearing the diagnosis — it’s difficult to tell, because he had a fantastic sense of humor.  Lovely man:  quiet, unassuming, just an ordinary bloke whose band made it big and never let it get to his head.

Good News, For A Change

De Beers, Good Stuff, Two-Minute Hate

You seen me rant about those evil assholes before.  Now there’s this:

Diamonds were once a girl’s best friend, according to Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 classic film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

But the boom of lab-grown rocks has upset traditional mining firms such as Anglo American, the owner of De Beers, the world’s leading diamond company, according to The Times.

The FTSE 100 company’s shares dropped by 20 per cent after it announced production cuts at its mines. Meanwhile, De Beers sold just $80million of rough diamonds at the end of October, compared with $454million a year earlier, BNN Bloomberg reported.

In comparison, the lab-created variety – regarded as more ethical and sustainable than those from mines – appears to be on the up; 10 per cent of diamonds sold in 2022 were lab-grown compared to only 2 per cent in 2018.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of corporate assholes.

Not A Chance, Mate

Bad News

So you apply for a job, but they hire some chick because, in the boss’s actual words, they want to hire fewer White men.

Crystal-clear case of race- and sex discrimination.

So you sue the company on those grounds, and win bigly — millions of bucks which enable you to retire early and live in the South of France with a blonde nymphomaniac totty who has massive tatas.

Oh wait, I got that all wrong.

But the panel dismissed his claims – which the hearing heard had been branded ‘absurd’ – ruling it was not ‘indicative of an intention to discriminate’ when an employer mentioned its aim to improve diversity in an underrepresented workforce.

Slamming down his claims, an employment judge said that although a firm may aspire to be ‘less dominated by white men’, it does not mean there’s an ‘intention to achieve that objective by discriminating in recruitment against white men and in favour of women or minority ethnic candidates’.

I think the ruling was AI-generated.