Author: Kim du Toit

When The Hatred Surges

Gummint, Mocking Furriners, Watermelons

Not talking about our local Commies and their HitlerTrump bullshit here.  Nope, we have to go Over There to see a bunch of gummint types having their asses handed to them by the voters, for once.

The Labour government’s decision to scrap its blanket 20mph speed limits in Wales just a year after they were introduced has sparked hope for the rest of the UK. 

Wales’ Transport Secretary Ken Skates admitted the policy was so unpopular even his own family had signed the petition against it.

This despite all the assurances that a 20mph (!!!!) speed limit would do so much to combat Global Cooling Climate Warming Change©.  Of course it wouldn’t (and won’t), just as our own imposition of a 55mph highway speed limit did nothing of the sort either.

I suppose retraction is better than a public hanging, after all — although that may be a contentious issue all by itself, especially among Stout Bulldogs of my acquaintance Over There.  (The Englishman, for one, is especially fond of the “heads on pikes” approach to curbing government excess.)

Now we’ll see if the Welsh example spreads to other Brit municipalities of similar stupidity.  But I wouldn’t count on it.

How Conveeenient

Elections

Well now this is an interesting development:

President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, the White House said as he was on the campaign trail out West.

Guess all those WuFlu inoculations he’s been taking didn’t work out too well, huh?

However, this news should be taken along with this little admission:

Biden actually said out loud what could make him drop out of the presidential race.

In a BET interview that was taped on Tuesday but wasn’t released until today, Biden said, “If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem…” (he kinda trailed off), that would be enough to get him to quit.

…in other words, putting his reelection campaign in the hands of the doctors… and then very conveniently catching an illness that would render him unable to stay in the race.

FJBiden isn’t smart enough to have gamed this scenario, but I can think of at least a dozen senior Democrats who could have.  (Not Hillary;  she’s not smart enough, and anyway, had she been in charge FJB would have slipped on a bar of soap or accidentally hanged himself in his White House bedroom long before now.)

Which doesn’t answer the question as to how, exactly, the Communists would replace him?  He could end his campaign and still remain President while his replacement tried to stave off the inevitable shambles in November.

Worst of all, an “illness” (me, skeptical? not at all) would turn FJB into some kind of victim and a sympathetic figure — whereas in fact this venal old bastard deserves anything but sympathy.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Custom Mauser 98 (.375 H&H)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

I once heard a very cynical man describe engraving guns as akin to engraving a hammer or an anvil:  “Looks good, doesn’t do nothin’ for it.”

In pure common sense, I agree with him.  However, as someone who appreciates great skill and craftsmanship as much as anyone alive, I deplore such cynicism.

You see, art doesn’t have to be functional;  it just has to excite.

And right on cue, we have this example from Steve Barnett (and right-click to embiggen and enjoy):

Let me start off by looking at the lines of this Safari Custom rifle as a whole:  without a single cut of engraving, that is one exquisite rifle:  lean, curved in all the right places and just plain beautiful.  Now let’s look at the engraving:

 

Good grief, that is so lovely, and so tastefully designed that it makes my heart race.

Now let’s look at the price:  $13,500.

Before anyone gets to having palpitations and fainting fits, allow me to point out that a new Mauser M98 Diplomat in the same caliber runs for:  $15,000.

Functionally, it is identical to the custom rifle;  aesthetically, it’s not even in the same zip code, let alone ballpark.  Lexus, meet Lambo.

And finally, I know that someone’s going to say that they’d be too afraid to take the Safari Mauser out on an African safari, lest they scratch or somehow mar the finish.  Me, I say phooey:

  • dropping the rifle out of an unlatched gun case onto concrete and scratching it up:  a terrible accident
  • scratching the rifle on some ugly African thorn tree while stalking a lion or Cape buff:  a battle scar.

And yes (sigh), I know you can get a Ruger African rifle (in .375 Ruger, though) for a little more than a tenth of the cost of both the above Mausers.

Oscar Wilde once described a cynic as a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.  I think the old pederast nailed it.

That VP Choice

Politics

In yesterday’s New Roundup, I noted this:

…which upon reflection was flippant, and rather harsh.

In fact, I think (as I write this) that it was a really interesting choice.

Here’s the thing:  what Trump needs as a Vice-President is not a typical politician — he had that with Pence last time round, and what a waste of time he turned out to be.  Rather, the next VP — and for all intents and purposes his political heir — needs to be someone who will continue Trump’s agenda and cement his legacy.

Trump is an Olde Phartte, after all, and while I fervently hope that he outlives his next term, there’s nothing wrong with having a much younger man to succeed him.

“But… a novelist?”  I know, I know, but J.D. isn’t just that:  in addition to having come up through poverty, he’s also USMC, a Yale law grad (before Yale became the cesspit it is today), and a U.S. Senator.

And actually, I like the fact that he’s also a writer, because what that shows is imagination… and after what we’ve been through for the past eight years, imagination is precisely what this country, and just as importantly what the Stupid Party sorely needs.

And let me remind you:  when the Czech Republic emerged from the foul shackles of East-Bloc Communism, their first president was Václav Havel — a playwright — and by almost any measure he was extremely successful in guiding his country out of the mire during his dozen-odd years as president.

I might be proved wrong in all this, but I don’t think I will be.  What I am sure of is that J.D. Vance is a tough guy as well as a writer, and that toughness and imagination is going to stand him in good stead as he stands up to the horrible ghouls of the Left.

And kudos to Donald Trump for thinking in that direction.  Get ‘er done, guys.

While I Was Away

Entertainment

…okay, sick as a dog, I took the opportunity to watch a few videos on EewwwChoob, more or less at random.  (Thank you, I am much better thanks to Zithromycin and various other modern medical miracles.)

Because I wasn’t in shape to do any deep diving as such, I just flitted from one topic to another, but luckily I managed to save a few URLs that may be of general interest.  Mostly, I concerned myself with topics of fairly recent vintage that I knew a little (or hardly anything) about, other than their titles and a simplistic overview. (Earlier histories, e.g. late 19th century, WWI, WWII and so on until say 1980:  got those covered, thankee.)

So here are some of the ones I did spend some time on.  Feel free to watch them yourself, as the interest grabs you.

Stuxnet

Destroying ISIS

Hamas

Ferrari 412 (Iain Tyrrell, of course, plus a whole bunch of his other restorations, also Jay Leno of course).  I think I watched well over two dozen of them.

10 U.S. Places Not Worth Visiting been there, and I agree with all of them*.

Bill Burr …always.

Sudan

Then came I Do Cars.  Listen, I have NO automotive technical interest whatsoever, but I got hooked on this guy’s thing, and couldn’t stop watching them.  No excuses, no reason… it just grabbed me.

And of course, the “watch again” movies** and TV shows.  Of recent interest, Barnwood Builders on Discovery+, because I love ordinary people doing skilled work, and having fun while doing something worthwhile.  (Johnny Jett is brilliant.)

I’ve omitted all the F1-geeky and Brit football videos, because I know from experience that Reader interest on this topic is slim to nonexistent.

Have fun, as I did.  At worst, save the URLs for the next time you’re as sick as a dog.

*I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, but I imagine it’s pretty much as described.

**No unwatched movies because I had no attention span and just wanted moving wallpaper while I coughed up my lungs.  Also, several people wrote to me suggesting great movies to watch.  Didn’t get to any of them, because I was feeling that crap.  Next time, or sometime soon anyway.  Thankee, all of you.