The Year Reheated
In which we marvel at the mental contortions of our self-imagined betters.
The year began with a display of the Guardian’s famed sense of proportion, with the paper’s Barbara Ellen informing us, emphatically, that, “We’re nearly all vegan now” – we being the general population – before asking with equal confidence, “Who isn’t vegan in some way these days?” The Vegan Society, meanwhile, acknowledged that the demographic in question amounts to barely 1% of the British population. Hungry for more fearless and irrefutable leftwing journalism, we turned to the pages of Salon, where the chronically breathless Mr Chauncey DeVega declared that “The American people” – and not just Salon columnists – “are in a manic state because of Trump’s regime.” 300 million citizens are, we learned, living in fear of Mr Trump’s “fascism,” his allegedly annihilationist tendencies, and of course his “secret police.”
Meanwhile, Slate readers mulled the moral quandaries of progressive life, before being rewarded with somewhat peculiar and potentially disastrous advice, on subjects including sex tapes and prodigious weight gain. And via which, we learned that the best way for an insecure straight woman to find romantic and sexual satisfaction is for her to start dating polyamorists and gay people, on grounds that this will ease both her trust issues and her frequent panic attacks.
In February, we learned, via the Guardian, of the latest must-have status accessory – namely, dinner parties at which one pays $2,500 to be scolded as a racist, an upholder of “white supremacy,” based on nothing, by someone suitably brown and opportunist. Participants – “mostly Democrats” – are told to “own their racism,” however invisible, and are warned against having “unmonitored thoughts.” Elsewhere in the Guardian, we were assured by leader writer Susanna Rustin that a “reordering of society” is in order, to correct the apparently unendurable problem of some people having a standard of living not yet available to every single human being on the planet. “Lives of luxury” – defined by “weekly shopping sprees” – could be “replaced” – “painlessly” – with “artistic expression and creativity,” specifically, dance lessons.
While in Salon, Bay Area progressive Nicole Karlis wrote of the “heartache, tears and stress” brought on by the loss of one’s plastic water bottle. A sentiment echoed by fellow progressives and non-specific activists, who shared their wrenching tales of “water-bottle separation anxiety,” a phenomenon that can apparently induce fits of weeping and feelings of “falling into chaos.”
In March, readers of the Observer were invited to ponder the profound moral question, “Is it ever acceptable for a feminist to hire a cleaner?” Much fretting ensued regarding the acceptable sex and skin colour of the person doing the cleaning, with the paper’s Sally Howard deciding that the most feminist way to empower cleaning ladies – and to avoid the “structural devaluation of women’s work” – is to make said ladies unemployed. The views of Ms Howard’s former cleaners, fired in the name of feminism, were not deemed worthy of inclusion.
Meanwhile, in Salon, Ms Alex Dew, a woman for whom the word overwrought scarcely does justice, needed us to know that “My houseplant garden is a tiny national park that Donald Trump can never destroy.” We also marvelled at the thoughts of Ms Wendy Trevino, a communist poet and Antifa enthusiast, whose solution to “racism, misogyny and ableism” is to encourage shoplifting and the breakdown of social norms. Apparently, the collapse of trust and reciprocity will be of enormous benefit to the disabled.
As the coronavirus pandemic tightened its grip, we learned, via an immensely woke Brooklynite podcaster named Billy, “What it’s like to isolate with your girlfriend and her other boyfriend.” And in the pages of The Atlantic, we were told, by Natan Last, a Brooklynite and graduate of Columbia, that crossword puzzles are one of “the systemic forces that threaten women.”
The intersectional agonies of household cleaning returned to the fore in April, in Harper’s Bazaar, where Ms Gemma Hartley, a feminist and poet, bemoaned the “emotional labour” and “exhausting” chore of hiring someone else to clean her multiple bathrooms. A visit to the Guardian’s lifestyle section brought us assurances of the “really positive energy” of polyamory, despite an unfolding catalogue of unhappy complications, displays of selfishness and insecurity, and despite recurring use of the words “jealousy,” “resentment” and “anger.” We also met Ms Lynx Vilden, an enthusiast of egalitarianism, off-the-grid primitive living, and “complete self-sufficiency,” and who relieves the monotony of her Stone Age pretensions, in which twigs serve as a toothbrush, by flying between continents, to Sweden, and France’s Dordogne Valley, and back to the mountains of Washington, USA. In a totally prehistoric, self-sufficient fashion.
In May, our minds turned to matters artistic, specifically, the talc-hurling powers of Austrian performance artist Ms Doris Uhlich. While BBC-employed historian Dr Louise Raw asserted her leftist moral superiority by airing her racial disdain – namely, by laughing at the thought of white men dying in large numbers, complete with smiley face, and then disdaining those who objected to her comments as by definition “fascists,” “neo-Nazis” and “right-wing crayon-eaters.” We were also brought up to speed, thanks to Michigan State University’s Amy Bonomi, on the problematic nature of video conferencing – say, when a participant’s wedding photo – which is to say, evidence of a happy marriage – is visible in the background and therefore constitutes a “microaggression” against the touchily unwed. You see, resenting someone else’s wedding photo, and then publicly complaining about its presence in that same someone else’s home, is how one establishes one’s woke credentials.
June revealed the glorious end product of a progressive education, in the form of a Vice article by Ms Rachel Miller, for whom looting, arson and fits of sadistic thuggery – including the torture of animals and the destruction of entire neighbourhoods – are a basis for applause. And for whom, objections to such behaviour constitute “racism” and “white supremacy.” Readers who wish to behold eye-widening contortion and a triumphant contempt for reciprocity will find much to chew on. Ms Miller’s sentiments were of course echoed by several academics at statusful institutions, including NYU professor Arlene Dávila, a mistress of “Latinx Studies,” and an effortless liar, and who inadvertently demonstrated just how often wokeness, not least among leftist educators, is functionally indistinguishable from sociopathy.
We also encountered progressive journalist Ms Tahlea Aualiitia, for whom an accidental misspelling of her phonetically unobvious Samoan name amounts to a racist “attack” and a basis for both public weeping and personal career favours. Whether Ms Aualiitia is suitably punctilious in her spelling of strangers’ names, lest she do them permanent emotional harm, remains unclear.
We learned in July, via the medium of loud screeching, that when you’re bouncing a friend’s young nephew on your lap, you’re not in fact being affectionate or delighting in babyness, but are actually “exhibiting [your] power over people of colour,” and therefore require immediate “anti-racism training.” Not to be outdone, New York Times contributor David Kaufman demonstrated his own ability to detect racism at the subatomic scale by declaring himself oppressed by pedestrian-crossing traffic lights.
And Ami Horowitz mingled with the bedlamites of Portland Antifa, whose attempts to, and I quote, “create a world filled with love” entailed wrecking the livelihoods of random strangers, shooting people with pellet guns, and deliberately and permanently blinding people with lasers.
August brought us news of Laurie Penny’s latest ‘coming out’ – I believe this is the fourth such event – this time as a being of indeterminate gender. Living, as she does, in a hamster-wheel world of competitive self-definition, Ms Penny felt it necessary to issue a daunting menu of pronouns and convoluted instructions on their use, seemingly dependent on both whim and weather conditions, and thereby reminding us of just how fascinating and complicated she is.
A second visit to Portland offered further insights into the recreational sociopathy of Antifa, who expanded their activities into suburban neighbourhoods, and whose sadistic inclinations became even harder to ignore. Though much of the leftist media seemed determined to try.
We also witnessed the moral wasteland of “critical race theory” and its propagation at Sandia National Laboratories, a nuclear research lab, where, thanks to taxpayer funding, we learned that expectations of probity and competence are “devastating” to lesbians and “people of colour.” And where white male employees found themselves subjected to psychological abuse, before being told to issue hand-written apologies atoning for their maleness and the colour of their skin.
In September, Ms Kyl Myers wanted us to know that she has “a gender studies degree” and should therefore be deferred to in matters of parenting. Parenting being conceived as an elaborate look-at-me project, one designed to result in a child fashionably anomalous and somewhat confused. “Knowing the sex of a baby,” we were told, “does not tell us anything about the child’s… attitudes toward climate change.”
In the pages of Scary Mommy, a publication for leftist parents, and which is all about “empowerment,” we witnessed the self-induced panic attacks of Ms Michaela Brown, a woman for whom the existence of Donald Trump is a suffocating concept, a cause of sleep loss and apparent mental breakdowns. “It’s consuming my mind,” said she.
Leftist attitudes towards crime were another topic of interest, according to which, the law-abiding should not defend themselves against acts of predation and malevolence, lest this risk harming the person, or indeed the self-esteem, of those bent on our robbery, murder and general degradation. The wellbeing of burglars apparently being paramount.
The publication Scary Mommy caught our attention again in October, when Ms Christine Organ, another unhappy leftist woman, wished us to know that she, along with the rest of us, suffers from “internalised capitalism.” Ms Organ, for whom the shunning of capitalism entails the use of Xanax, also shared with us the “horrifying” trauma of discovering that family members may have voted differently. “It’s a complete and total mindfuck,” said she, one that will “mess with your emotional and mental wellbeing.” Differing views being so utterly inconceivable.
We also visited the schools of San Diego, where progressive “equity” policies require a practised disregard for certain academic and behavioural norms, on grounds that acknowledging tardiness, misbehaviour and a lack of diligence results in “racial imbalance.” Expectations of students “turning work in on time” are, it turns out, horribly oppressive and indeed racist. Expectations of probity are also deemed “not fair,” at least by school administrators, who now plan to “review” policies on cheating. Other “equity” measures, in San Francisco and Ohio, were also noted. In the latter, teachers, and by extension their pupils, were told that insofar as “white people” have any culture at all, it is “the culture of death.”
In November, Australia’s national science research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, prostrated itself before the wonders of aboriginal “ancient wisdom” and “astronomical knowledge,” while carefully omitting any specifics or any supposed relevance to modern astronomy. That Australia’s aboriginals were still mumbling about sky emus while Galileo Galilei was calculating the heights of lunar mountains and discovering the moons of Jupiter – subjects on which our aboriginal “astronomers” had little to contribute – is, it seems, something we aren’t supposed to think about.
And further visits were paid to the pages of Scary Mommy, a publication seemingly bent on demonstrating the neurotic tendencies of left-leaning ladies. Sa’iyda Shabazz, for instance, bemoaned her inability to monitor her friends around the clock for signs of racist activity, a measure entertained on grounds that, while said friends are not “actively racist,” they may encounter Trump supporters, who, being Trump supporters, must be making racist comments to all and sundry. Ms Shabazz, you see, is certain that her white friends, who are forever under suspicion, are not only hearing these hypothetical racist comments but are also not objecting, or objecting with sufficient vehemence, thereby betraying her, and, we’re told, endangering her life.
We also learned that the world of woke parenting is one in which nine-year-olds are not only naturally fascinated by politics but are also animated by the thought of doing violence to people who may dare to differ in their voting preferences. Such is progressive piety.
As the year drew to a close, the Socialism 101 Reddit brought us news that the list of class enemies, oppressors of the proletariat, now includes checkout assistants. While in Seattle, progressive lawmakers dismissed the widespread objection to being robbed, or seeing others being robbed, as merely “anti-poverty bias,” something to overcome; thereby reminding us that pretentious compassion for criminal predators is much more statusful – i.e., beneficial to the leftist – than compassion for the law-abiding victims of those predators.
In the Guardian, we were encouraged to fret about the awful “whiteness” of the British countryside, an oppressive and apparently lamentable phenomenon, along with the relative scarcity of brown-skinned rock-climbing instructors.
And former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger denounced the word woke as a “meaningless sneer,” one “designed to stand in the way of thought or discussion.” That the word in question is often used to denote a particular kind of contrivance, censoriousness – and above all, self-flattery – was apparently lost on Mr Rusbridger and his Twitter followers, who promptly equated wokeness, and thereby themselves, with “people who are thinking outward and forwards rather than inward and backwards.”
Will 2020 be remembered as the year we jumped off the cliff or the year we hit the canyon floor?
I shall be striving to see that it’s not remembered at all. At least by me.
Thank you, David. Your tip jar has been hit.
Your tip jar has been hit.
Bless you, sir. May you enjoy a reputation for sending high-quality Christmas cards. Punctually, of course.
“Heavens, a button. I wonder what it does.”
NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Oh. That button…
While in Salon, Bay Area progressive Nicole Karlis wrote of the “heartache, tears and stress” brought on by the loss of one’s plastic water bottle. A sentiment echoed by fellow progressives and non-specific activists, who shared their wrenching tales of “water-bottle separation anxiety,” a phenomenon that can apparently induce fits of weeping and feelings of “falling into chaos.”
This one is no longer a joke to me. In 2018 my son was killed by a leftist woman who lost control of her car while reaching for her water bottle.
Instalanche!
Instalanche!
We’re going to need snacks.
We’ll say it’s pâté.
So sorry, Cloudbuster.
David, your remark about sending out Xmas cards reminded me that not only did I forget to do so this year, but so did everyone I know! What about the rest of you? Did you forget? Did your friends and relatives forget?
Poor thing, it’s obviously starving.
I have a last name that is usually misspelled, and have spent my life spelling my name out to clerks and such.
This is obviously a racist attack on Irish people.
David, your remark about sending out Xmas cards reminded me that not only did I forget to do so this year, but so did everyone I know! What about the rest of you? Did you forget? Did your friends and relatives forget?
Well since you ask….We sent about 30-35 out. Just counted and we received 17. Well, two were for the dog, so…. I’ve never done this until this year, but I cut a few people off the list. People who never send us one. Some had told us they don’t need one. I generally sent one anyway because I thought it was still a nice gesture. I’m still a little torn about not sending them but I just couldn’t muster up the extra effort if I didn’t think it would be appreciated. Especially given that those I dropped for the most part were people who seem to think I’m some sort of ignorant racist or some such. People whom I have known for decades. I hate to say it but I just ran out of Christmas spirit at some point. Never felt this way before.
I couldn’t help but notice the vast majority of those so admiringly cited above are women.
Hmmm.
I couldn’t help but notice the vast majority of those so admiringly cited above are women.
[ Hides breakables. ]
“Did your friends and relatives forget?”
I uncharacteristically sent a number of cards, and received a few in return. Not surprisingly, we did the “family letter” thing as the kids were grown, but when one of them got repeatedly into trouble, culminating in deciding he was a she, well, that’s rather hard to talk about in a general letter.
(I joke that we were raised by a family of shellfish, even though we don’t dislike each other, but I came late into the family and never got to bond with any of them. And while they stayed in blue-collar jobs, while I’m writing and making videos and doing creative stuff, it didn’t seem like we had anything to talk about. We drifted.)
Did you forget? Did your friends and relatives forget?
This year more than most it seemed a good idea to make sure cards were sent, in lieu of the usual hugs and indecently large glasses of wine. I rather miss getting hammered with Beloved Sister-In-Law #1.
I rather miss getting hammered with Beloved Sister-In-Law #1.
*tries to imagine David drunk*
*tries to imagine David drunk*
It doesn’t happen frequently, but when it does, Beloved Sister-In-Law #1 is likely to be involved.
I missed the water bottle thing, because I was testing my capacity for consuming rum and tequila in Isla Mujeres that week. I can’t thank our gracious host enough — I’d hate to have gone to my grave never knowing about the heartache of water bottle separation anxiety.
(We’ve given and received the normal number of holiday cards this year. We put a one-page note in ours, mostly because we haven’t seen anybody face-to-face to catch up on things. We covered things by month: January, February, March, and Apmayjuauguseptocnovril.)
As we are still accumulating 2020 news…
I say that if Hillary Hayward-Thomas cannot produce a green card or proof of naturalization, she should be deported ASAP. And take her anchor babies with her.
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2020/12/28/alec-baldwins-wife-hilaria-keeps-digging-after-getting-royally-busted-for-allegedly-how-you-say-in-english-lying-about-spanish-heritage-videos/
This year more than most it seemed a good idea to make sure cards were sent,
Very much so.
Also, the annual “does anyone send Christmas cards anymore?” refrain seems to grow louder, so I become more determined to carry on doing so.
“Who isn’t vegan in some way these days?”
Absolutely. I’m vegan for the first course of dinner. But once I finish my salad, I fall off the wagon and eat a nice juicy slab of roast beef. Having done that, I become vegan once again for dessert.
Let’s see:
Barbara Ellen
Susanna Rustin
Nicole Karlis
Sally Howard
Ms Alex Dew
Wendy Trevino
Gemma Hartley
Ms Lynx Vilden
Ms Doris Uhlich
Dr Louise Raw
Amy Bonomi
Rachel Miller
Arlene Dávila
Ms Tahlea Aualiitia
Ami Horowitz
Laurie Penny
Ms Kyl Myers
Ms Michaela Brown
Ms Christine Organ
Sa’iyda Shabazz
If we ever invent a time machine, may I take this list back to 1920, when the 19th Amendment was (for some inexplicable reason) being contemplated?
Ami Horowitz
Ami Horowitz is very much a guy. He makes all those man-in-the-street satire interview films like this one.
A dazzling display of fiskatorial virtuosity! David, have you ever considered compiling your best fiskings into a book?
Crosswords privilege the down and across over the slanted. Yet science has proven that words do not have dimorphic orientation, but rather exist on a continuum of angles. To erase that continuum is plagiophobic. Thus solving crosswords makes you a PERF needing of cancellation.
I could do this all day long, and it’s not much different than what the above authors do. But at least I understand that it’s horse manure.
Mr Guevara, perhaps the “you must own property to be allowed to vote ” rule is a better metric?
August brought us news of Laurie Penny’s latest ‘coming out
Which is really weird, considering she got married to a heterosexual male in October.
https://www.wired.com/story/my-highly-unexpected-heterosexual-pandemic-zoom-wedding/
She also continues to live in the United States, despite hating the place.
I suspect the feeling is mutual
I suspect the feeling is mutual
I do owe a debt to Penny for one of the most inadvertently hilarious set of Tweets ever, where she denounced the electorate of the United Kingdom for failing to elect Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister.
It just wasn’t fair you see – she and her friends worked so hard for a Labour victory.
Why, she and her friends took trains to the North, despite having no money and having colds, to explain to those pig-ignorant Northerners why Labour had to win.
I’m imagining some working-class Northerner being accosted by a sniffling gender studies major with a London accent, and being lectured on how they had to vote. Can’t imagine why that didn’t go well.
Which is really weird, considering she got married to a heterosexual male in October .
What a beautiful story, though I fear it is destined to end in tears. I have not been a fan of Australia’s pandemic border policies, but all of a sudden…..they are looking a lot more rationale.
Peak leftism?
P.S. I found out what the button is for. 🙂
Happy New Year, David.
Peak leftism?
I’m not sure there’s an upper limit. It doesn’t seem constrained by any normal consideration. Say, whether a thing is true, or plausible, or remotely realistic.
P.S. I found out what the button is for. 🙂
Bless you, madam. May your duvet remain at all times equally distributed.
And likewise, a happy new year to you.
I’m not sure there’s an upper limit. It doesn’t seem constrained by any normal consideration. Say, whether a thing is true, or plausible, or remotely realistic.
On that note, via the anti-slackwittery Frontpagemag.com, we learn of “pernicious pedagogy” and anti-racist grading”.
I know we have seen this sort of thing before, but this is USDA prime.
Those darn wypipo, however, now that we have the boilerplate leftist claptrap out of the way,
“Say, do you have the specifications for the new engine done yet ?” “Shhh…we’ll have them soon, Jenkins is only on the second act…”
Method is totally unimportant, this is known as the “Plotting a Great Circle Route To The Corner Store” approach.
“Is our children learning ?”
“anti-racist grading”
In a saner world, these pernicious little clowns would be laughed out of every room they entered, and out of every job in which they might have any kind of power over children, before being chased into the street, and out of town, with nail-guns, if necessary.
Misspelled names: my surname has no letter H in it (though some variations of it may well have) yet people who have come to know me insist it does, or should have.
I have offered to change my name to include the letter H to help them, but they don’t seem impressed. Some of them, being lefties, presumably know better than me and just *know* how things should be, and such great knowledge does not need to include me.
I know we have seen this sort of thing before, but …
[T]he term “fall behind” is a social construct. This idea of where a person should be is not a naturally occurring thing.
Well, in a literal sense that is true.
Unfortunately for him, that also pretty much applies to almost any SI unit he might care to mention, from metres to amps to kilos to candelas.
On his terms, every one of those is “a social construct” too.
Presumably, however, he wouldn’t consider doing 65mph in a 20mph school zone acceptable on the grounds that miles per hour – and speed limits – are “social constructs”?
We know from child development psychologist Jean Piaget that all people develop differently and grow at different paces.
If a major part of his point is that “This idea of where a person should be is not a naturally occurring thing”, how exactly did Piaget discover that children developed “at different paces” if he wasn’t using some form of measurement (“a social construct”)?
Think of grading as the output: If your programming code is bad, the output of the program will always be bad.
I think he may have said more than he intended to on that point.
I think he may have said more than he intended to on that point.
It scarcely needs saying, but… [ dramatic pause ] lefties project.
Bless you, madam. May your duvet remain at all times equally distributed.
I get the impression that your belssings are drawn from experience. My Ghod, your life must be a living heck.
Your courage is an inspiration to us all.
*hangs banner of congratulations*
🙂
Happy New Year!
A fourth way is by illustrating it and a fifth way is by performing a play.
What, no illustrative dance? HEATHEN!!!!!!
…we learned, via the Guardian, of the latest must-have status accessory – namely, dinner parties at which one pays $2,500 to be scolded as a racist…
As usual, Monty Python was ahead of the curve and we sadly see that every satire, no matter how deranged, becomes reality.
What, no illustrative dance?
It’s called interpretive dance. And it’s hell fun. . The great Divine hath told us so. Heathen.
She also continues to live in the United States, despite hating the place.
Presumably in Manhattan, where they also hate America.
German court orders bakery to stop selling cookies made with sawdust:
“The unnamed baker had been operating a mail order business, selling his sawdust cookies all over Germany. He openly listed sawdust as an ingredient…The baker claimed that the ‘microbiological’ sawdust he used in his cookies was a ‘herbal product’ similar to bran…The court argued that sawdust was used as a filler and carrier for technical applications, and was not on the list of novel edible ingredients approved by the European Union…in the 1700s, European bakers started using sawdust in their products, so they could lower the cost…”
“On that note, via the anti-slackwittery Frontpagemag.com, we learn of ‘pernicious pedagogy’ and ‘anti-racist grading’.”
Link to Frontpagemag.
The idea of what is successful at school is still very much constructed through an able-bodied, monied, aggressively competitive white male lens.
As black students continue to lag behind whites and Asians, the left’s intellectual gyrations and contortions to explain away failure will get ever more bizarre and their efforts to stamp out embarrassing facts will become increasingly thuggish.
As black students continue to lag behind whites and Asians
Correction: “lag behind in academic achievement while leaping ahead in criminality.” 😉
lag behind in academic achievement while leaping ahead in criminality
Legacy of slavery! Not.
Mr Guevara, perhaps the “you must own property to be allowed to vote ” rule is a better metric?
A most cromulent proposal, Richard.
In response to a leftist who said that she’d support the Second Amendment if it applied only to muskets, the firearm extent at the time the Bill of Rights was adopted.
I replied that that was fine, if voting were limited only to white male property owners, as was also the case at the time.
David, thanks for the laughs and insights this year. Looking forward to next year. Tip jar hit.
the left’s intellectual gyrations and contortions to explain away failure will get ever more bizarre
In the 1950’s the entire left, from liberals to communists, was cheerfully confident that progressive education policies would quickly eliminate the black-white achievement gap. Integration. Busing. Affirmative Action. Massive subsidies. Theraputic handling of misbehavior. This did not happen. As the years went by, the left became every more desperate and ever more angry. It is now fair to say that they are maddened by the failure of their policies. They are not sane.
“Because all else is worse. Until the New Sun comes, we have but a choice of evils. All have been tried, and all have failed. Goods in common, the rule of the people…everything. You wish for progress? The Ascians have it. They are deafened by it, crazed by the death of Nature till they are ready to accept Erebus and the rest as gods.”
–The Citadel of the Autarch, Gene Wolfe
Tip jar hit.
Bless you, sir. May those brilliant ideas occur to you before the fact, rather than after it.
A most cromulent proposal, Richard.
At the time of the Founding, when there was both ample undeveloped land for the taking and no way of developing it short of going out and working it yourself, that was a good plan. Voters were those who had invested significantly in the country.
Today, though, pretty much all the land is apportioned and it’s impossible for someone who wants to own land to do so without indebting themselves to the actual landowner for twenty years or more.
There needs to be some way for a diligent, would-be citizen to demonstrate his commitment to the republic – a commitment that could possibly include laying down his or her life for it if necessary. Two years federal service ought to do it.
There needs to be some way for a diligent, would-be citizen to demonstrate his commitment to the republic – a commitment that could possibly include laying down his or her life for it if necessary.
Yep. My response was in the spirit of a modest proposal, to highlight the ridiculous nature and anachronism of my interlocutor’s reasoning.
Having said that, I’d seriously propose conditioning the suffrage on either Federal service, or paying taxes, i.e., to contribute something, either in cash or in kind, to the public weal.
The notion that free riders get a say in how Federal resources (human and financial) are employed, when they themselves have contributed nothing whatever to them, is in my opinion immoral. Do I get a say in how my neighbor spends his income? To ask the question is to answer it.
“support the Second Amendment if it applied only to muskets, the firearm extent at the time the Bill of Rights was adopted”
*glances over at case holding an antique Kentucky Rifle…*
Regarding Christmas cards, I have sent none for several years (while still possessing a largeish stock slowly going ecru around the edges in a drawer somewhere) and the Pandemic wasn’t going to change my resolve — then I got a forwarded email from the relative of an old friend advising that he was ill and cards (and regards) were sought on his behalf. So I blew the dust off the least-ecru of my collection, scrawled season’s greetings and etc, and managed to make up the value of current postage from my random assortment of orphan lower-value stamps (Yes, it HAS been a while since I sent something by mail, why do you ask?) and off it shot. Haven’t heard anything since, probably just as well under the circumstances. Less a Christmas card, actually, then a sort of message-inna-bottle mailing, hopeful for a desirable effect but not really wanting or needing to find out The End of the Story.
Peak leftism?
I’m not sure there’s an upper limit. It doesn’t seem constrained by any normal consideration.
I keep hoping to see it disappear in a burst of quarks and photons, but have so far been disappointed.
It’s called interpretive dance. And it’s hell fun. . The great Divine hath told us so. Heathen.
Yes, I now remember the not so divine Devine. It must be terribly sad to aspire to be an artist but have no actual talent. I’d feel sorry for him if he weren’t such an obnoxious, entitled little git.
It must be terribly sad to aspire to be an artist but have no actual talent.
Ms Theia Connell’s, um, creations, linked in the same post, still raise an eyebrow.
I’d somehow managed to forget about them.
You have to wonder, did no-one intervene? I mean, take her on one side and explain, “Look, love, you’re really shit at this. For the love of God, please, try something else.”
Second Amendment… applied only to muskets
The rejoinder must include mention of cannons, grapeshot, the Nock gun, the Girardoni repeating air rifle, and possibly this beauty:
https://www.forgottenweapons.com/perdition-to-conspirators-magnificent-14-barrel-flintlock/
“But the founders couldn’t have imagined the degree of destruction a modern combat arm is capable of!”
My back teeth, they couldn’t have.
You have to wonder, did no-one intervene?
Most people are extremely reluctant to “be mean” by speaking painful truths. Even the extremely talented Isaac Asimov has remarked that when writers ask for criticism what they really want is praise: any negative criticism will be rejected with anger.
“But the founders couldn’t have imagined the degree of destruction a modern combat arm is capable of!”
Lord Uxbridge’s leg could not be reached for comment.
Farnsworth: ( “By God, sir, and you have!”) Yes, just so. But modern weaponry aside, how is it possible that they could overlook — and in quite modern times, relatively speaking — the massacre in Rwanda of half a million people by fellow civilians (ie, non-professional killers so to speak) wielding mostly machetes and assorted other hand weapons. All very traditional and low-tech. What would you call the level of stupidity that sponsored that statement? Weapons-grade?
There needs to be some way for a diligent, would-be citizen to demonstrate his commitment to the republic – a commitment that could possibly include laying down his or her life for it if necessary. Two years federal service ought to do it.
Two years as the servants of the miscreants who run our government? No, I do not think that is appropriate. I prefer the landowner option. I don’t care if it takes 20-30 years. Valuable things are worth waiting for.
Grape shot, cannister shot, chain shot, bar shot, shrapnel shot, the stuff mentioned above plus the Puckle gun (63 rounds/minute), revolvers dating back to 1597. Our forefathers were always looking at ways to increase carnage that would make an M4 (carbine, not the tank) blush.
What would you call the level of stupidity that sponsored that statement? Weapons-grade?
Academic grade stupidity.
Academic grade stupidity.
In a recent interview Victor Davis Hanson remarked (again) that in his experience academics are not very smart.
VillageIdiotLanch! And David has probably already gone to bed. What to do, what to do? [wrings hands]
Hi pst314,
Except me. I would rather get savage criticism now, from a friend, than a nice letter later that says “Thank you for submitting your material. We regret that it does not suit our present needs.”
The new Mr. Penny has my sympathy. I can’t imagine living with someone who bitched about EVERYTHING.
Is it even legal to marry a cyborg?
Most people are extremely reluctant to “be mean” by speaking painful truths.
As noted a while ago,
You could think of it as a kind of gaslighting. In that, some pretentious, needy inadequate with negligible talent tries to convince an audience of equally pretentious inadequates that the toss on offer should be treated as if it were somehow important, even profound, deeply aesthetic and deserving of applause. As an exercise in bad faith, in mutual dishonesty, it’s quite a thing.
And as a result, I’ve often thought that the audience, its dynamic, is more interesting than the wearying faff that we’re supposed to be enthralled by. There’s an odd social conformity, such that no-one dares say, or visibly acknowledge, “This is obviously dismal shite. Let’s go for a drink instead.”
Most people are extremely reluctant to “be mean” by speaking painful truths.
And yet some of us muster up the courage to do it anyway. When appropriate. Problem is, it’s been way past appropriate going on a year or so now.
Hi pst314, Except me…
[walks in door, looks around, sees no depletion of the supply of hump fat, pickled eggs, and Budweiser]
I guess those Village Idiots weren’t hungry or thirsty…or did they find the provisions here too up-scale for their taste?
And yet some of us muster up the courage to do it anyway. When appropriate.
In my experience the most difficult situations were in the workplace. (Do not offend those who pay your salary.) But at least in those cases the aspiring artists did have day jobs.
“Hatred”
https://twitter.com/AlexaWhiteBee/status/1343846950379073540
“Hatred”
From that link: “For the record I google searched the image and all I could find was a Reddit thread which said it was 4 Chan propaganda.”
Nonetheless, trans activists have indeed said that it is “hate” to refuse to date trans people. So the graphic may be propaganda but the fascistic insanity is real.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. This article alone is worth what I just put in your tip jar.
This article alone is worth what I just put in your tip jar.
Bless you, madam. May your other half cook brisket as well as my other half does.
Just pinged across a small token of appreciation, David. Thanks for being one of my go-to islands of sanity in a vast, storm-tossed sea of derangement.
Nonetheless, trans activists have indeed said that it is “hate” to refuse to date trans people.
Then she should quote them. Otherwise she justifies the actions of people like Dan Rather and today’s reporters who believe that “fake but accurate” is okay.
There needs to be some way for a diligent, would-be citizen to demonstrate his commitment to the republic – a commitment that could possibly include laying down his or her life for it if necessary. Two years federal service ought to do it.
Zombie Heinlein smiles.
Just pinged across a small token of appreciation, David.
Bless you, sir. May you never be mystified by paper cuts and other tiny injuries.
Via Instapundit, the Grauniad (the authentic voice of the proletariat) tells us how to make perfect tea sandwiches. What’s the point of parody, in the face of such self-parody?
…tells us how to make perfect tea sandwiches.
You mock, but this is groundbreaking stuff – use a bread knife to cut bread, don’t use dry bread – mind blown, the rubes would never figure that sort of stuff out.
You mock, but this is groundbreaking stuff
I stand corrected. 😐
As black students continue to lag behind whites and Asians
Correction: “lag behind in academic achievement while leaping ahead in criminality.” 😉
Apropos of that, I noticed the following at the Assistant Village Idiot blog:
“The sad truth, to which I have no solution, and neither does Canada in the slightest (see Toronto, for example) is that the African-descended populations have a much higher crime rate, not only in America, but across the world. This is not to say that most of them are criminals…”
There is very little honest discussion of the causes of failure, in large part because honesty is harshly punished by wise, IFLS, tolerant liberals.
Eh, Farnsworth does have a point…I think it was when the chap was on about using only the Finest, the Freshest ingredients (“So, no scrag ends for THEIR clientele” thinks I) that I poked up the Spousal Unit and demanded to know if he reckoned that was in fact how British Cuisine had got its world-wide reputation for, well, Bubble and Squeak, Toad in the Hole, Black Pudding, Spotted Dick…and he did, eventually, agree that it must be so. Might have hesitated a bit over haggis, but that’s the Scots after all, so he thought it would pass.
Now, the bit about slicing the bread horizontally, well, that was just jam on the tart, so to speak.
Might have hesitated a bit over haggis
The perfect afternoon tea haggis?
how British Cuisine had got its world-wide reputation for, well, Bubble and Squeak, Toad in the Hole, Black Pudding, Spotted Dick…
Were these dubious foods, along with overcooked vegetables, an urban working class thing? When I read such books as All Creatures Great and Small I got the impression that the food was pretty good.
There’s an odd social conformity, such that no-one dares say, or visibly acknowledge, “This is obviously dismal shite. Let’s go for a drink instead.”
I wish to subscribe to your art newsletter. 🙂
P.S. Your tip jar has been pinged. Happy new year.
Morning, all.
I wish to subscribe to your art newsletter. 🙂
Well, aside from the fact that these things are sometimes fascinatingly bad in their shunning of competence and discernible aesthetics, there’s also the assumption that we, the audience, are not supposed to notice this, or at least not object. Apparently, we’re not supposed to have standards or discernment, or indeed probity, and will therefore pretend.
Which explains why so much of this stuff feels faintly insulting.
P.S. Your tip jar has been pinged. Happy new year.
Happy new year. And bless you, sir. May you know the satisfaction of ordering shoes online and discovering on arrival that said items not only look pretty damn good, despite the shockingly discounted price, but also fit perfectly.
[ Admires feet. ]
Were these dubious foods, along with overcooked vegetables, an urban working class thing? When I read such books as All Creatures Great and Small I got the impression that the food was pretty good.
Black Pudding is just a British/Irish variation on how to eat bits of pig. Almost every country found its own way to eat pig from snout to tail, while turning the more unattractive parts into some kind of delicacy.
Make it with garlic and wear a beret on your head and, if your name is Pierre, it is considered sophisticated.
Make it with white pepper and a flat cloth cap on your head, and if your name is Joseph, it does not have the same air of sophistication
The remainder are ways of using up surplus food, mostly by urban people and not just the poor who could not afford to let food go to waste.
In rural areas, the surplus food usually went to the pigs or chickens.
“…In rural areas, the surplus food usually went to the pigs or chickens.”
But what about fresh vegetables, properly cooked, and salads? Is there a rural/urban divide such as I postulated? As I said, I got the impression from my reading the rural people ate properly cooked vegetables and salads. Or was my impression faulty due to the limited nature of my reading?
What is it with trans people and Antifa?
https://thepostmillennial.com/trans-antifa-arrested-seattle-police-station-firebombing
What is it with trans people and Antifa?
I have read that trans people exhibit a far higher rater of all sorts of psychological disorders, including malevolent psychoses.* It is therefore entirely natural that they would be attracted to malevolent ideologies. And of course it is natural that malevolent movements would welcome such people.
* Sorry: I should provide citations but cannot remember where I have read that.
What is it with trans people and Antifa?
Antifa appeals to the maladjusted and the psychologically marginal. Not least people with deep reserves of resentment and who want to, as it were, take revenge on the world, or at least on random passers-by and anyone else they can menace and intimidate. That trans people, who have much higher rates of mental health issues, including serious personality disorders, would make up part of that demographic isn’t surprising, I suppose. Though, from what I can tell, the proportion is still remarkably high.
Could Mr. Half please share his brisket-preparation secrets?
Happy New Year!🎊🎆
Could Mr. Half please share his brisket-preparation secrets?
I’m not privy to his kitchen secrets, but I’ll enquire.
Cooking with Elephants
Chapter 436 – Brisket
Let the brisket stand & drain until at room temperature.
Push a little butter into the joint roll – or pour in melted butter – the idea being that it will baste the inside of the joint.
Mild garlic butter also works well.
Rub the outside of the joint with salt and black pepper – I mix these together with a little butter and smear this all over the joint.
Preheat the oven to 390F / 200C.
Sear the fat with a blowtorch – I don’t think this really achieves anything but it sure looks cool.
Generously grease the baking tray – I prefer lard, but olive or sunflower oil works too.
Slice 2 large onions into 1 cm thick rings and lay these in the baking tray.
Slice 2 large carrots into 1cm thick slices and lay these in the baking tray.
You can also add shalotts, garlic and other veg to taste.
Sit the joint on the onions/carrots and drizzle a generous amount of marmite onto the top of the joint – I also drizzle the vegies.
Put in enough water to just cover the vegetables.
Roast for 20 – 25 minutes at 390F/200C
Remove from oven – turn the oven down to 280F / 140C
I now add hot water and either stock cubes or beef stock to the tray – you want enough liquid to cover the vegetables – maybe 2 cm.
Now wrap the tray in foil creating a good seal.
Cook for 2 hours at 280F / 140C.
Remove and baste with the juices – adding a little hot water or more stock if necessary.
I add potatoes – cut to about 2 inch cubes (slightly larger chunks than if I was making Roast Potatoes)
Wrap in foil and back in the oven.
Cook for another 2 hours – basting again after an hour.
After 2 hours – I make a test cut into the centre of the joint. It should already be very tender, but for joints over 6lbs it may want another 30 mins to an hour.
*****Make sure you let the joint rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving*****
The meat should still be slightly pink – but will fall apart very easily.
The onions, carrots, potatoes and stock should be kept warm until serving.