Tag: Things that totally suck

Not As Advertised

Seen On Campus

It seems as though some over-achieving Brit students won a prize:

Three girls from an inner-city sixth form are heading to the US after securing the A-level results needed for their £1million Ivy League scholarships.

The bright trio passed their admissions tests with flying colours meaning Harvard and Princeton offered to fund the entire cost of their four-year education – for close to £350k each.

However, the final step of getting onto their courses rested on their A-level results – making for an anxious few months for the Newham Collegiate Sixth Form (NCS) pupils.

Yesterday it was confirmed that all three teenagers scored the grades necessary to study in the US – meaning they can now start preparing for the big move.

And the names of these hardworking girls?  Sally McKenzie, Julia Holbrooke and Heather Smith.

Nah, just kidding:

Tasneen Hossain, Feyisara Adeyemi, and Harmanpreet Garcha, all 18, were each awarded places at top universities in the States through a programme run by their East London school. 

You see, this is where the whole affirmative action thing poisons the well.  Yes I know, I have no doubt that these girls worked hard and got the results that enabled them to qualify.

But as any fule kno, the chances of Tasneen Hossain, Feyisara Adeyemi and Harmanpreet Garcha getting into an Ivy League university are going to be far better than if their names were Sally McKenzie, Julia Holbrooke and Heather Smith.

Because equity, you see, and Ivy Leagues are lousy with this foul pestilence.  So there’s always going to be that little niggle of doubt about whether they actually merited the scholarships over, say Sally McKenzie, Julia Holbrooke and Heather Smith (the latter automatically disqualified in the admissions process because White Privilege, you see).

Sadly, the joke is going to be on these girls, because Ivy League degrees aren’t worth a quarter of what they used to be.  As they will no doubt discover when they apply for any jobs outside academia.

Question Answered

Bureaucracy, Gummint, Health

A Reader asks:

“Why do you always diss the UK’s National Health Service in your news roundups?  It’s not like we have anything like it.”

He’s referring to this sardonic comment under some catastrophe involving the above institution:

Basically — and even among a few otherwise-levelheaded conservative Murkins — a lot of people seem to wish that we had a similar institution (nationalized “free” health care) Over Here.

All I’m doing is simply pointing out the many and varied ways that such a system — even one like the much-vaunted NHS — can fuck up your life.

And that we should never.

Checking Out The Options

Friends and Family

From a Concerned Reader (anonymous, for obvious reasons):

It seems our crazy Western governments are intent upon starting one or more wars.  If one has a teenage grandson and wanted to resettle him somewhere in the world to avoid his participation in one of these conflicts, do you have an opinion as to where he might go?

I have to tell y’all, that is a really good question.

I’m leaving aside the old-time “draft-dodger” discussion, because it’s clear that this is not a Vietnam-era situation where everybody knew that our kids were being sent off to die for a country which was eventually going to fall into enemy hands anyway.  (In other words, don’t go there in Comments.)

A lot depends on the grandson, of course.  Does he speak Spanish?  (In that case, places like Panama and Dominica are decent choices.)  Ditto any other foreign languages, which open up areas like Southeast Asia — Thailand especially seems to be becoming a destination of choice.

It also depends how much you’re willing to pay for this resettlement, as several countries offer one the opportunity to purchase residency or citizenship (CBI, it’s called), so if you have the spondulicks, there’s that.

However, I also think one could consider staying at home, so to speak, but simply going to a place where one would be outside the risk of any foreign entanglements:  the Coast Guard or a local police department, for example.

Comments on the topic are of course welcome.

Vote Of Confidence (Part Deux)

Elections, Marxists, Politics

The ascension of the Commies to the BritGov in Britishland caused people to start looking for places to get away from Commissar Starmer’s policies (as reported here). especially after when literally only a few hours into power, he unveiled all sorts of wickedness.

Over the Channel, then, there came this:

France’s leftwing parties have begun jockeying to lead the country’s next government after their unexpected parliamentary election victory thwarted Marine Le Pen’s efforts to bring the far right to power. Amid warnings from a former European Central Bank chief that their spending plans risked catastrophe, members of the hastily cobbled-together leftist Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) jousted with each other over who to back for prime minister. The NFP won the most seats in the National Assembly after the second-round vote on Sunday, but is far short of a majority, although it ended ahead of both President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance and Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (NR).

The results marked a success for centrist and leftist parties’ bid to form a common “front républicain” by pulling out of races to avoid splitting the anti-RN vote. It was also a stinging setback for Le Pen. But the leftist bloc — which ranges from the centre-left Socialists to Greens, communists and the far-left La France Insoumise, its biggest constituent party — will struggle to form a government.

“Within the week, we need to be in a position to present a candidate for prime minister and force the president to take this situation into account,” said Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialists, who made gains on Sunday. He also hit out at Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the LFI’s firebrand leftist leader, as “certainly the most divisive” figure within the NFP bloc and as lacking the consensus profile needed for the post of prime minister.

And to the surprise of absolutely nobody:

Prominent French Jews Urge Fellow Jews To Leave Following Left Dominating Elections

…because the Left in Europe (and especially in France) are virulently pro-Muslim and ant-Semitic (as are all French Muslims, almost by definition).

But even more telling is this:

Wealthy and Productive French Citizens Are Eyeing Escapes to Switzerland, Italy

…not all of whom are Jews, of course, but a good number must be.

Popcorn anyone?

Might as well sit and watch the bonfires Over There until the Socialists steal our own next election (again).

I was Going To Write This Article

Bad News, Marxists

…but Beege at Hot Air beat me to it.

The elections in England and France over the past week have been stellar examples of that, with surging populist parties echoing the concerns and voices of a good portion of the citizenry prior to the ballot box. But when vote push came to election shove, and parliamentary election rules being what they are in foreign countries, the feared and despised “right-wing” did make serious gains. But their hopes of election day triumphs were vanquished in both countries by simple math in one – England – and completely legal electioneering machinations by the Left in another – France.

Alas. The right has more seats at the table in both countries, but they do not control the head chair, and this leaves both countries under the sway of pretty liberal Leftist governments, with France being the vastly more radical of the two.

Read the rest for the gory — and I mean gory — details.

By the way:  I’m still feeling sick;  better than last week, but sick nevertheless.

Bad Additives

Health

…and I’m not talking about adding Diet Pepsi to Scotch, or a mistress into one’s marriage.  But some things, seemingly-innocuous things, when added to other things, are likely to be just as explosive.

Having grown up in South Africa which, despite all its faults, produces citrus fruits which make California/Florida oranges taste like dish soap, I have always loved me my citrus fruits:  oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit, eaten either by themselves (orange, grapefruit) or as additives to stuff like gin and vodka (lime, lemon).

Eating grapefruit with one’s daily statin, however, is Nazzo Guido, as explained in this article:

For instance, citrus fruits, particularly grapefruit, is known to disrupt the absorption of at least 85 different medicines, from statins to antidepressants.

Wait, what?  I take atorvastatin.

The problem with citrus fruits is that they contain compounds, called furanocoumarins, that can interfere with an enzyme in our body that breaks down these drugs, potentially leading to dangerously high levels in our bloodstream.

So much for that daily glass of vitamin C-rich grapefruit juice with my breakfast then, FFS.

Under normal conditions, this enzyme reduces the amount of the drug that enters your blood — and the quantities you are prescribed take this process into account, according to Simon Maxwell, a professor of student learning (clinical pharmacology and prescribing) at Edinburgh University.

‘This interaction partly occurs in the gut, enabling increased absorption, but also — significantly — in the liver, preventing it from progressively removing the drug in the hours after absorption. Together, this means that overall exposure to the drug can be significantly increased, resulting in toxic effects.’

‘Citrus fruits’ furanocoumarins stop CYP3A4 from doing its job — and they’re more concentrated in juice than the fruit [because a glass of juice contains more of the fruit].’

As a result, more of the drug is absorbed, making it more powerful than intended.

‘For example, a 240ml glass of grapefruit juice can increase blood levels [of the drug] by as much as 200 per cent, taking it from the therapeutic range to the potentially toxic range.

‘This can lead to side-effects such as extreme muscle damage for statins; priapism (excessively long-lasting erections) for sildenafil*; headaches, dizziness, fatigue and impaired sleep with sertraline; excessive sedation for midazolam; and excessive reduction in blood pressure, raised heart rate, dizziness, fatigue and blurred vision for those taking calcium channel blockers.’

And that’s just citrus.  Wait till you see what vitamin K-rich bananas can do to you.

Read the whole thing.

*It’s not all shitty news, by the way:  if you’re heading to an orgy, or want to make a decent first-time impression on your willing date, chug some grapefruit juice with your Viagra, preferably in a vodka cocktail [sic].

(Standard disclosure applies.)

Of course, you may end up with a 24-hour woody which may damage your member, but on the other hand, Madame will almost certainly be well satisfied, even if she requires the services of the paramedics as much as you do.  And if the fuzz have to be called to remove you from the orgy… well, there are always going to be spoilsports, aren’t there?

So take all the above with a grain of salt — just not that salt substitute crap, which is even worse for you than grapefruit juice, according to the article.

Be careful out there.