By Other Means

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Thursday Wifus with Rifus

More not safe for fan-service below the break.

Differences of Desperation

In John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, California was besieged by tenant farmers like Tom Joad, desperate for work.
In the modern version being played out today on the streets of Los Angeles and almost every other major city in the state, tens of thousands of the homeless are desperate for shelter, services and of course, drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.

My father's childhood was actually a lot like the Grapes of Wrath, except it was going to Michigan to pick cherries then ending up the boot-heel sharecropping cotton. Yes people fell into addiction and dispair, yet there was a yearning for work and betterment instead of what seems to be an endless nihilistic spiral.

Seeing Red

More not safe to be cornered in the bedroom by below the break.

"Warming"

The world stopped getting warmer almost 16 years ago, according to new data released last week.
The figures, which have triggered debate among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures.
This means that the ‘plateau’ or ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. Before that, temperatures had been stable or declining for about 40 years.

Now as heavily invested in Anthropocentric Global Warming as the British bureaucracy is I'm sure this is merely biased in favor of Big.......

On the micro scale, this has been by far the coolest and wettest Late Spring in the SW part of the Showme state. Sorry for the repeat use of sarcasm quotes two nights in a row, but both seem to have earned it.

Tuesday: Tap, Rack, and Bang

More not safe to field-strip below the break.

"Journalism"

Democracy Dies with Chinese Propaganda.
Media “watchdogs” at CNN tear into President Trump for citing Fox News, but they are shockingly silent on the laundering of Chinese propaganda by the Washington Post and New York Times.

I've been saying for a while now that modern socialists have far more Maoist than Leninist undertones.

In the meantime there's an interesting no-win scenario brewing in Hong Kong.

Monday Made Me Laugh

Sunday, June 16, 2019

Weekend Web Wander

An excellent essay on the difficulties of actually relating to another culture and the hubris of people who think "we all really just want the same things in the end." Personally I think it speaks to the genius of federalism. You deal with every problem you can with people as close to your culture as possible. The centralization of regulation and legislation in the 20th century is an under-heralded evil.

Part (really large number) about how intersectionallity has murdered equality, and the heresy it is for someone to admit it.

Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their endowment. Perhaps if there are real world consequences for these institutions they will be less encouraging of toddler temper tantrums in people who a legally adults.

If you read "German"(not that many actual German troops were actually at Normandy because of allied misdirection efforts, lots of ethnic Slavs who were alas turned over to the Soviets after the war to their likely deaths) accounts of Normandy, the "Jabbos" were a very important part of why it worked.

Update: Suggestion add to this from some great commenters. Lastly just in case you've been recently given a stupid paper straw somewhere:

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Belated BeCos(play)

Sorry late and slim offerings, it has been a hell of a week.

Thursday: Wifus with Rifus

More not safe for fan-service below the break:

Coming Soon to a Hot Zone Near You?

DEL RIO, Texas – U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Eagle Pass Station apprehended a group of 15 undocumented immigrants from Congo early Tuesday morning.

So how are your preparations for a possible disease pandemic or even pandemic scare (that disrupts parts of society) coming?

Probably a worthwhile time to take stock and do some research. We have things going for us to reduce transmission rates that Africa doesn't, but the panic factor disrupting society is a risk our society is likely even more vulnerable to. Just a few basic thoughts that aren't even much of a paranoia stretch (there are better dedicated blogs for such advice):

Check and be ready to refill chronic condition prescriptions (preferably with a 90 day supply).
If you've got a gas grill either get a fresh tank or even a spare one.
Squirrel a bit back financially in case you're out of work for one reason or another. (Tips for this here)