Tag: Stupid people

France Goes Communist, Too

Elections, Marxists, Mocking Furriners

As always, whenever there’s the slightest chance that the Frogs will vote for anything other than Lefty government, the normally-fractious Socialists (of which there are many, to cater to all the flavors of Big Brother) suddenly close ranks, declare “Nous sommes tous de gauche!”  and the “Rightwing” party is put back in its place.

Which is what happened yesterday.  Andrew Neil explains:

The traditional French fallback when Marine Le Pen’s populist National Rally does well in the first round of elections as it did last Sunday – of ganging up against it in the second round – was more effective yesterday than anybody expected.

Far from making the hard Right the biggest party in parliament, as was widely expected, the French people gave first place, according to the exit polls, to the hard Left. Almost nobody saw it coming.

Nobody, that is. except people who understand the Frogs and their love of socialism.

Instead of coming first but without an overall majority the National Rally came a poor third.

So, what next?

For all the celebrations on the Left…

 

…France now has a hung parliament, which condemns it to political paralysis or worse for the foreseeable future – a lame duck president and a parliament that will be so consumed by battles between hard Left and Right that coalition government will probably be impossible.

Welcome to Back to the Future, French style. The Fourth Republic, cobbled together in the aftermath of the Second World War, only lasted from 1946 until 1958. During its 12 years there were 21 governments.

Which is probably what we’re going to see in the foreseeable future.

General Charles de Gaulle changed all that in 1958 by creating the Fifth Republic, with a strong president and a diminished National Assembly. He had himself in mind as president when he designed it, though the Fifth Republic has endured to this day.

After yesterday’s elections, France is going to look a lot more like the weak and chaotic Fourth Republic than the stronger, more stable Fifth.

And so it goes.  Pass the vin rouge, Pierre.  Foutu alors.

Movin’ On Up

Politics, Resistance

…or rather, out.  Reader Brad (who lives there) sends me these headlines from Illinois:

“But where,”  you may ask, “is Headline #1?”

Well, you see, it deserves a place all by itself, because #2-5 are just the causes and consequences of #1.  So here it is:

More than 87,000 people moved out of Illinois taking with them nearly $10 billion in income, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service data. For the last six years, the total lost adjusted gross income is more than $47.5 billion.

While 14,486 people moved to Illinois from California in 2022, bringing with them $1.5 billion in income, the latest IRS data shows 31,600 of those who left Illinois went to Florida, taking with them $4.1 billion dollars.

Total lost income out of Illinois because of outmigration was $9.8 billion in 2022. Last year’s IRS migration report found 105,000 fewer individuals, taking with them $10.6 billion. The year before that, nearly 101,000 people left Illinois, taking with them $8.5 billion.

That’s the ticket, folks:  leave the poxy place and starve the bastards out.

Just remember, when you get to Florida, Texas etc., exactly why you bailed;  and don’t vote for the same shit — that would be socialist politicians — in your new place.

Clueless

Marketing / Advertising, Morons & Idiots, Travels

Also in my Inbox, this time from American Airlines:

Bearing in mind that I live in north Texas and have pretty much all the heat I can handle (and more), which garden spots can AA be pimping?

#1:

It’s also known for its crime and tourist ripoffs.  Also, isn’t hurricane season just around the corner?  Pass.  Next:

#2:


Ah yes… NYfC in the summer heat.  Always a pleasure, in a place whose crime and ripoffs make T&C look like a bunch of complete amateurs — and that was before all the recent silliness.  As they say there, fuggeddabahdit.  Next:

#3:

In Texas terms, going to Florida in summer is described as “out of the frying pan and onto the gas ring.”  Thanks, but if I want heat and humidity, I can just step out onto my patio.  And finally:

#4:

Yeah, thanks.  If I want Mex street food, we’ve got a couple taco trucks that can be found the apartment parking lot every Friday and Saturday.  And… Aztec ruins, in Mexico City?  I thought the conquistadores  kinda leveled them.  But I could be wrong, as I may be wrong about Mex City’s crime rate.

Great promotion, American.  You utter dicks.

Here Comes Another One

Advice, Freaks & Loonies

It will help if while reading this piece, you hum the tune to the above title (as recorded by Monty Python on their final album).

It was only last week when I slotted this little item into a News Roundup:

…and here’s an update, with a younger member of the Nostradamus Tribe being a little more cagey, timewise:

A man who has been dubbed the ‘living Nostradamus’ claims ‘the worst is yet to come’, suggesting the world is teetering on the edge of WWIII.  

Athos Salomé, 36, who is a trained parapsychologist from Brazil, is often referred to as a psychic due to the accuracy of his insights and predictions, after previously foreseeing the coronavirus pandemic, Elon Musk buying Twitter, now called X, and even Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Now, as people worry about the escalation of conflicts and humanitarian crises, he warns that ‘a small incident’ could set off a series of terrifying events. 

Key phrase:  “trained parapsychologist” (one could be snarky and add “Brazil”, but if we’ve learned anything, it’s that these loons can pop up anywhere).

If these Nostradami actually worked as advertised, they wouldn’t be hammering on about global catastrophes — at least, I wouldn’t, if endowed with these magical powers.

I certainly wouldn’t be blathering on vaguely about nonsense like “And there shall be a great pestilence come upon the land” [at some unmentioned date, in some unmentioned country].

No, I would be ensconced in the Presidential Suite at the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo, paying for my accommodation (not to mention more than a few unsavory indulgences) by plonking a grand or so on 27 at the Casino’s roulette wheel each night.  That’s at least a useful application of the magic power, and not providing fodder for some crappy newspaper’s This Week’s Things To Panic About! section.

But perhaps I’m being too dismissive.

Sarajevo, anyone?  As Bismarck once said, it will be just some damn thing in the Balkans… now that was an accurate prediction.