You’ll Feel Better Afterwards
Or, How This Place Is Still Here After Sixteen Bloody Years.
Yes, it’s time to remind patrons that this rickety barge, on whose seating your arses rest, is kept afloat by the kindness of strangers. If you’d like to help it remain buoyant a while longer, and remain ad-free, there are shiny buttons below with which to monetise any love. Debit and credit cards are accepted. If one-click haste is called for, there’s a QR code in the sidebar, and my PayPal.Me page can be found here. As requested, I’ve added SubscribeStar and Ko-Fi accounts, via which love may also be monetised, whether as one-off donations or monthly subscriptions.
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For newcomers wishing to know more about what’s been going on here for the last decade and a half, in over 3,000 posts and 150,000 comments, the reheated series is a pretty good place to start – in particular, the end-of-year summaries, which convey the fullest flavour of what it is we do. A sort of blog concentrate. If you like what you find there… well, there’s lots more of that. Do take a moment to poke through the discussion threads too. The posts are intended as starting points, not full stops, and the comments are where much of the good stuff is waiting to be found. And do please join in.
As always, thanks for the support, the comments, and the company.
Oh yes. The buttons.
Is there a Strategic Eggs and Spam Reserve?
I donate in order to attain that feeling of tension relieved and function achieved which a cow enjoys on giving milk.
Not the Lady of the Lake I was expecting.
So we’ll give it to two guys who were test and shuttle pilots for the exceptionally meritorious effort of going the ISS on something not made by the government or RKK Energyia.
OK, ranks right up there with Shepherd’s and Armstrong’s.
This is a really good blog (but you know that). Tip jar hit.
Well, I think it’s about as good as I can make it. So abandon any hopes of significant improvement. And bless you, sirs. May your new gloves have those grippy, rubber micro-bobbles on the palms and inner surfaces of the fingers, like my new gloves do.
[ Puts on new gloves, looks for something to grip securely. ]
You mean the last paragraph here? Or when contrived racial caricatures and actual jabbering are the last word in wokeness:
As a measure of ‘progressive’ perversity, it’s not easy to top.
You’re right, I do feel better hitting the button.
I have made the decision this morning that I will no longer refer to the shenanigans of our modern times as “clown world.” Instead, I have adopted “late stage Rome” or “#LSR,” if you will.
Bless you, madam. May you know how much of a Waitrose salted caramel and chocolate tart, with added Madagascan vanilla custard, will be quite sufficient.
[ Adds salted caramel and chocolate tart to shopping list. ]
As a measure of ‘progressive’ perversity, it’s not easy to top.
Maybe, however, the Babylon Bee makes another prediction.
You mean the last paragraph here? Or when contrived racial caricatures and actual jabbering are the last word in wokeness:
Yes, that was the post! I’d long grown used to having to deal occasionally with jabbering savages. But I was shocked at the willingness–eagerness–of academia to embrace such obvious bullshit.
Can you imagine such monsters in Human Resources departments? No need to imagine, as I’m sure some are already there.
It’s quite a spectacle. According to our gushing columnist from The Atlantic, these would-be intellectuals are “hacking traditional college debate’s white privilege problem.” By mouthing non-sequiturs, repeatedly invoking their “nigga authenticity,” and flapping their arms about.
Because, it seems, students possessed of magic brownness should simply ignore the issue that they’re supposed to debate, and ignore time limits and civility, and ignore any semblance of logic or evidence or formal argument, and instead spout what is for minutes on end literal gibberish, a kind of Dadaist jive.
And so, the lesson being imparted, at some expense, is that all rules can be broken with impunity, and all standards and proprieties dispensed with as and when convenient, provided you’re sufficiently black and pretend to be oppressed, while actually being cossetted and flattered at every turn.
Not an obvious recipe for success in the world, or for any lasting personal happiness. To say nothing of a person’s character.
And so, the lesson being imparted, at some expense, is that all rules can be broken with impunity, and all standards and proprieties dispensed with as and when convenient, provided you’re sufficiently black and pretend to be oppressed
The lesson I learned is to avoid such people: Keep them far away from where I live and work. And shun all who defend them. How’s that for “racial healing”?
And so, the lesson being imparted, at some expense, is that all rules can be broken with impunity, and all standards and proprieties dispensed with…
What could possibly go wrong?
[ Enters establishment carrying weighty sack of all the 1- and 2-pence coins dispensed by self-service tills in 7-11 stores. Deposits contents in old hump fat jar next to bar. ]
Bless you, sir. May those stains wash out first time, even on a cool cycle.
[ Enters establishment carrying weighty sack of all the 1- and 2-pence coins dispensed by self-service tills in 7-11 stores. Deposits contents in old hump fat jar next to bar. ]
An old story: Two men took turns playing practical jokes on each other, agreeing that the loser would pay the winner five dollars. After several exchanges, one of them seemed to give up saying he couldn’t top the last joke. Finally, shortly before the expiration of the time limit, he paid his friend the agreed amount–in pennies, mixed in a jar of molasses.
–from The Compleat Practical Joker by H Allen Smith
Waitrose salted caramel and chocolate tart,
Top dessert. Great with cream. 🙂
Ping!
An old story:
Well, I was thinking of the old jar that used to contain hump fat, but is now empty, rather than the old hump fat filling the jar next to it.
Even I could not be that cruel.
Bless you, sir.
You are welcome, as always.
May those stains wash out first time, even on a cool cycle.
Just the blessing I was hoping for.
It is rather nice. But very rich. Which is why the difference between chocolatey awesomeness and feel a bit sick is about two spoons worth.
Bless you, madam. May you always have stamps.
Again, thanks to all who’ve chipped in so far, or subscribed, or done shopping via the Amazon links, including all those much too shy to say hello. It’s much appreciated and is what keeps this place here.
It is rather nice. But very rich. Which is why the difference between chocolatey awesomeness and feel a bit sick is about two spoons worth.
That seems to be a fairly reliable indicator of our age. When I was a teen I could easily eat an extra large hot fudge sundae. Now my limit is similar to yours.
Re: David’s post about “magic blackness”….
I’m not the type to pose at being offended on behalf of someone else. But, it seems to me that *were I* to get offended at something, this might very well be it.
Anyone pushing these two women forward as examples of “debate excellence” is unabashedly promoting the idea that black women cannot engage in civilized debate. That, quite literally, the best black women can do is behave like incoherent babbling, gesticulating savages only steps removed from the darkest African jungle.
That these women were allowed on stage to make fools of themselves in an academic setting; that they were encouraged in this self-debasing behavior by condescending liberal whites; that they were rewarded for playing into white savior complex. It’s just so insultingly raw and dripping with vile racism…
Seriously, if someone told me that David Duke, Bull Connor, or Woodrow Wilson (the US President who re-segregated the Federal workforce) had promoted this kind of vile, dehumanizing trash in a straightforward effort to degrade blacks, I wouldn’t have doubted that for one second.
“magic blackness”–it is also in the movies. In many movies the black character has special knowledge that they impart or has special powers. Samuel L. Jackson often plays this role, like in Unbreakable. In the Green Mile, the black prisoner is barely coherent but has some sort of magic powers. In The Matrix, the old lady with wisdom who advises Neo is black. When the movie has a black president or other leader, he is without flaws. Please. Enough.
And so, the lesson being imparted, at some expense, is that all rules can be broken with impunity, and all standards and proprieties dispensed with as and when convenient, provided you’re sufficiently black and pretend to be oppressed
Case in point: yet another black person acting out, thinking that extreme aggression will get him whatever he wants. (When it should get him a term in jail.)
“magic blackness”–it is also in the movies. In many movies the black character has special knowledge that they impart or has special powers…he is without flaws. Please. Enough.
Yes. It is especially egregious when done in what are presented as actual history. I am very tired of supposedly intelligent people who think there is nothing wrong with this.
In many movies the black character has special knowledge that they impart or has special powers.
Speaking of magic negroes, who remembers this?
How’s that working out so far?
Speaking of magic negroes, who remembers this?
How’s that working out so far?
I was amazed that liberals I knew would so enthusiastically swallow his garbage. So much for a college education–or even an advanced degree.
I was amazed that liberals I knew would so enthusiastically swallow his garbage.
I worked at a very small firm at the time and took a lot of grief from colleagues for refusing to accept the second coming. They asked how I could be so cynical. I asked how they could be so naive. I mean really, just listen to that speech and shame on anyone who bought it. They especially hated it when my response to their–“but he’s the first black president”–was, he’s as much white as he is black. Heads exploded.
The woke/Left do not view minorities as real people, just as symbols. In particular, as helpless victim symbols of white evil. A black person can never overcome their handicap of blackness. They are doomed to failure because the white voodoo is so strong. This is a real sickness.
My black neighbor worked as a night watchman so he could study for his college classes. He and his wife were very successful and retired at 57. I’m still working.
My friend from Iran came over (legally) as a kid and lost his parents. He spent time living out of his car but is now a doctor. Danny DeVito is short, fat, ugly—but rich and famous. Don’t tell me people can’t overcome adversity. That is a sure path to failure.
Well, as a relief from the woes of the world, here is a cute pup. Miss Evie was in my studio today; she is not a mix or a “doodle” but a Pumi, a sheepdog from Hungary. It has only been fully recognized by the AKC since 2016. Now I only need convince my husband that our Weims need a herding breed to keep them in line and what’s a couple of thousand on another dog, amirite?
If they deliver, I’ll take two.
The woke/Left do not view minorities as real people…
They don’t view anyone as real people.
…just as symbols.
Or game tokens (pawns, of course.)
Danny DeVito is short, fat, ugly—but rich and famous.
Because he took his natural talent and worked hard to master it.
I feel a bit sorry for young women who get starring roles because they look so good in revealing clothing: They can coast on their beauty rather than doing the hard work of learning the craft, and so they are likely to remain mediocre pretty faces whose careers die when their youthful beauty goes.
I’m an ex-banker ‘genderless dragon’ — now my son won’t talk to me.
Are you still using violent idioms ?
Time to educate yourself and do better with this handy guide.
Are you still using violent idioms ?
Time to educate yourself and do better with this handy guide.
Could you please redo that list as bullet points?
Ping.
There was a disgusting smell in my back yard. Turned out to be a dead opossum. I dropped his carcass over the garden wall into my neighbor’s bamboo. I then donated to Mr. Thompson’s very fine blog and the smell went away. I’m not saying these things are related but I will acknowledge that I feel much better since I donated! Muchos thankos, or however they say it over there.
Could you please redo that list as bullet points?
Sure, I’ll fire them over and you can add them to your arsenal.
You’re killin’ it here.
This comment thread is the bomb.
There was a disgusting smell in my back yard. Turned out to be a dead opossum. I dropped his carcass over the garden wall into my neighbor’s bamboo.
Hey, I wanted that!
Suffice it to say…FTMFB. IYKWIM. I have my own little recent cockup in defense of a small liberal arts college, its students and faculty in response to some nasty (mostly I think) women, a couple of whom may have been conservatives…”conservatives” but pantywaste bedwetters none the less. If I can condense it, I may related it as a lesson in fighting back in a small, but I think broader, grass roots effective manner.
Though kudos to Mr. Ruffo. I am curious how Ben Sasse taking over U of Florida will go. i see he is scheduled to give his first speech as president of the university on Feb. 7. While I am generally done with my alma mater, I hold out some hope. If he repeals the ban on the “Gator bait” cheer, followed by an apology for it having been banned, I may reconsider. Pooh-pooh such superficiality if you will but the banning itself was superficial, ignorant, and I believe intentionally stupid. Right now, that is the only thing in this regard that I care about. Anything else must stem from that ridiculous wokey-woke move. I never even liked the cheer but my God how bloody stupid. Especially as I see Florida State students still doing the Tomahawk Chop. God bless ’em. Showing more backbone than UF people whom I know. Parallels to my feelings about the French? Meh.
Violent language: but they don’t know words. “jump the gun” refers to the starter’s pistol in a race. “biting the bullet” is what you did during surgery before anesthesia. Real life is violent and dangerous, not Sesame Street.
Smart people play Rock, Paper, Scissors.