Kim du Toit – Page 107 – Splendid Isolation

What Price Political Endorsements?

September 25, 2024 Kim du Toit Elections

I genuinely do not know the answer to this question.

Much play has been given to the fact that a Muzzie mayor in Michigan has endorsed Trump for President in 2024 and not, as one would expect, Her Junior Filthiness. Also the Teamsters, for so long a Democrat lock:

Perhaps even more noteworthy is the non-endorsement that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued last week. The union’s internal polling showed that its members strongly favor Trump over Harris, but leadership issued a statement saying that it was declining to endorse either. The statement also shared the polling data, which prompted me to write that it was tantamount to a “soft endorsement” of Trump when I first reported it. Matt wrote last Friday that the move by the Teamsters is causing some agita among the Dems.

Does this matter? I mean, in terms of actual votes? I mean, yeah, symbolism etc. But does his endorsement mean that x number of these constituents are going to suddenly vote for Trump instead of Harris?

I know that if, say, the mayor of Plano decided to endorse a specific candidate or party, that would have absolutely no bearing on how I’d cast my vote. But then I take my political cues from nobody else, so maybe I’m not representative of the average voter.

I’m still interested when, for example, the head honcho of the Fraternal Order of Police announces his endorsement — will rank-and-file cops follow his lead, or make up their own minds? One might hope that the latter would be the case, but perhaps this is giving too much respect to the average cop.

Or maybe an endorsement simply sways the “undecideds” — although how any voter in these United States can still be uncommitted at this stage is quite beyond me.

Notes From The Doctor’s Visit

September 25, 2024 Kim du Toit Health

I had a chance to chat to my GP yesterday about a couple of matters, and some interesting stuff came out.

First: I’ve reached my “goal” weight of 220lbs — my weight after boot camp in the army back in 1977 — so I asked the doc whether I should keep doing the weekly Ozempic jab. His response was that in addition to its weight-loss properties, Ozempic has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease by over 20%. While I myself have a very healthy heart, my family (especially on my mother’s side) has had a history of heart issues (bypasses, stents etc.), and indeed several have died from heart disease. So the doc suggested that I keep taking the Ozempic because as I’m almost 70, this would be a prudent prophylactic measure. (This is also true of my gout medication, which I continue to take — albeit at a half-tab strength — even though I haven’t had a gout flare-up in well over a dozen years. But as he pointed out, maybe it’s because of the daily half-tab that the flare-ups no longer occur.)

Second: I had read in the Daily Mail (can’t find the article, but it’s not important) that one should not take blood pressure meds (e.g. Valsartan) close to when you have your coffee. The reason given was that caffeine takes away the slow-release coating on the drug, and instead of the magic ingredient trickling into the system over a few hours. it all gets dumped into the body in one shot. In some people, this can be problematic. The doc confirmed this, and suggested that I take my BP med (and all my other meds) at bedtime instead, saying that studies have shown that most drugs work better anyway when taken thus. (The problem is that most people forget to take their drugs at night — but as I already have to take my glaucoma drops every night before bed, I can just add my meds to that routine, no problem.)

Corollary: One of the reasons I continue to read the awful Daily Mail is because occasionally among the celebrity dreck and panicky headlines can be found articles of real value. Among American online publications, such articles are seldom published because there’s no blood, there are no politics / celebrities and no scare headlines to be had. (I have never, for example, got any such articles out of Breitbart or any other of the U.S. news sources I peruse on a daily basis.) In this particular case, the information was extremely helpful.

So the Daily Mail doesn’t always suck.

Today’s Earworm

September 24, 2024 Kim du Toit Music

Heard it in the supermarket, haven’t been able to shake it. Who do you love, baby?

Health News

September 24, 2024 Kim du Toit Health

Feeling shit: yesterday I suddenly got a sore throat, sinus drainage/blockage (I don’t know how they can coexist, either), and the beginning of a hacking cough.

Same as I had a few months ago. Anyway, when I called my GP yesterday to see if he could just send a Zithromycin Rx to CVS, he insisted that I come in to see him. Couldn’t fit me in yesterday — it was after 5pm, to be honest — but I do have an 8.30 appointment this morning.

My Brit Readers (and anyone else living under a nationalized healthcare system) are allowed to feel envious.

Anyway…

Till later.

Update: Just got back from the above. No big deal, not a bronchial issue, no Covid, just a nasty upper-respiratory tract infection. Z-pack, and I’ll be better by Thursday.

To be honest, I felt a little foolish at having wasted his time for so trivial a thing. Still, his N.P. is a total doll, so it wasn’t a complete waste of my time.

Old Times There Am Not Forgotten

September 24, 2024 Kim du Toit Legal Stuff, Lies and Untruths

Here’s a little bit of rank injustice:

Harrods could be forced to pay out tens of millions of pounds to female employees sexually abused by Mohamed Al-Fayed because of ‘systemic wrongdoing’ at store, lawyers say.

The Egypytian businessman has been accused of raping five women during his 25-year tenure at the luxury retail outlet, with at least 15 other women saying they were sexually assaulted by him.

Lawyers have warned that Al-Fayed’s offences could range beyond the allegations made in a BBC documentary, with his other former business interests, including Fulham Football Club, now under scrutiny.

Okay, you may be asking about this “systemic wrongdoing” — i.e. that Harrods had a system in place which either encouraged or else allowed the old goat to molest his female emplyees.

Of course, Harrods doesn’t or didn’t have any such system. But the lawyers have to argue that they did, because:

Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94…

They can’t very well go after him now, you see, so they have to go after the company because, well, because that’s where the bucks are. And it’s really conveeeeenient that the old fart isn’t around to refute the claims now crawling, like their claimants, from the woodwork.

In the reign of Emperor Kim, of course, bullshit like this would be stopped in its tracks because, duh, it’s bullshit. And of course some feeeemales stand to get a lot of money out of these unsubstantiated accusations, as do their lawyers, which is how this creative nonsense ever came to see the light of day.

‘It seems from the information received from those who have contacted us, and the information brought to light in the BBC documentary, that the abuse of young women at Harrods should properly be described as human sex trafficking,’ said Richard Meeran, a partner at the London law firm Leigh Day.

Ah yes, the old bogeyman “sex trafficking” — where would we be without this handy little catch-all expression? And the BBC… hardly an unimpeachable source.

‘This is because the recruitment of young women for the alleged purpose of sexual exploitation entailed and depended on systemic wrongdoing by the company, its senior managers and security personnel, as well as the ultimate perpetrator.’

So these women were hired for the express purpose of being the Harrods owner’s sex toys? And all the senior management of Harrods were aware of this and did nothing to stop it?

And it’s not just one woman, but a hundred and fifty (always be suspicious of nice round numbers). And all of them have kept their mouths shut for all this time, because…?

I report you decide; but I’ve decided that this — all of it — is arrant bullshit and an attempt to wring money from a wealthy company, just because its erstwhile owner and the “alleged’ perpetrator is dead and can’t defend himself.

Just to be clear on this: Al Fayed probably was a loathsome old bastard who deserved a good hard flogging / ball-kicking for oh-so many reasons. But even given that, it doesn’t mean that this pussymail can be justified.