Meanwhile In Texas

I confess to being a tad parochial when I see headlines like this:

‘Oil price war,’ coronavirus could drive gas prices below $2 gallon

I’ve been paying around $1.85 for over a month — and below $2 since early January.  As much as I hope the lower prices won’t blow the fracking industry up, I’m enjoying the benefits of a lower cost of business — so gawd knows how the trucking industry must feel about it.

I note, however, that the godless airline industry — ever quick to raise prices when the gas price spikes — have not yet reduced their fares.  Pricks.

Rolling Back The Tide

While the incompetent asswipe known as President #44 never saw a process that shouldn’t be controlled by Gummint, God-Emperor Trump and his crew disagree — especially when faced with a real  emergency:

The Trump administration has rolled back a Food And Drug Administration rule instituted by President Barack Obama that has stalled coronavirus testing at the state level.
The rule in question previously required state-run laboratories to only run medical tests pre-approved by the F.D.A.
“We believe this policy strikes the right balance during this public health emergency,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn of the rule change. “We will continue to help to ensure sound science prior to clinical testing and follow-up with the critical independent review from the FDA, while quickly expanding testing capabilities in the U.S.
“This action today reflects our public health commitment to addressing critical public health needs and rapidly responding and adapting to this dynamic and evolving situation.”

And so say all of us.  No doubt, Obama’s minions wouldn’t have cared if a thousand people died (e.g. the H1N1 episode), as long as everything was being controlled by the federal government.  And now a medical opinion:

Friday Night Movie

You all have one, right?  Right?

Here’s a decent video of the history thereof.

Admission:  I don’t have a full-sized Ka-Bar, just the shorter “USAF Survival” version.

But I think I’ll be looking at one of the full-sized ones, maybe as a “suggested” birthday present from the kids.  Here’s the USMC model:

 

Anyway, enjoy the movie.

Yeah, About That

I’m sick of people leaving their own shithole countries, then insisting that the new host country change to suit their stupid customs and ridiculous laws.  In a rare glimpse of reality, a British court actually agrees with me:

The Court of Appeal, the second-highest court in England and Wales after the Supreme Court, has ruled that the Islamic marriage contract, known as nikah in Arabic, is not valid under English law.

Needless to say, there’s handwringing because some women are now going to be denied protection under British bankruptcy laws because ta-dah! their nikah  marriages weren’t legal to begin with.

Under ancient laws, these women’s “husbands” could have been charged with fornication (which would have caused said Muslim assholes to head to the registry offices toot sweet, you bet), but of course those laws have been abolished in Britain (although it should be noted that such laws have not been abolished in Muslim countries).

This does not mean, of course, that I am advocating the return of puritannical laws — at least, not this specific one — but it does make one think of the rather novel concept of “unforeseen consequences”, does it not?

Anyway, there is of course a legal remedy to this situation:  make each taxpayer claiming a spouse as a dependent on their tax return furnish a certified copy of their marriage license as proof of legal marriage.  But that’s not gonna happen because some civil rights bullshit or other.

What a mess, and all so easily preventable.