Tag: Evil Bastards

Disaster

Boomershoot, Crime, The Gun Thing

Yesterday I went over to our (still-being-rebuilt) apartment.  Not having any room in our tiny hotel room, on Wednesday I’d taken all the Boomershoot stuff and stored it in our (locked) garage, to be loaded into the rental SUV for the trip up to Idaho on Monday (tomorrow).

On Friday night, the garage was burgled and all the guns and related stuff stolen.

Rifle #1:  CZ 557 Varmint (.308 Win)
Scope #1:  Vortex Viper HS-T

Rifle #2:  CZ 550 American (6.5x55mm)
Scope #2:  Meopta Optika6 Illuminated (4.5-30x50mm)

Revolver:  Ruger Single Six (.22LR/.22Mag)

Also, a double-rifle hard case and two range bags.

And, of course, about a thousand rounds of .308 and 6.5x55mm ammo, all helpfully loaded into ammo cans, and a few dozen rounds of .45, .22 and 9mm (in the range bags).  Amazingly, a pair of expensive Steiner binoculars were tossed aside (!).

Total value of the stolen goods:  just under $6,000.

All our brand new replacement furniture, and electronics (TV, computer etc.) and all my tools (!) were untouched.  They were after the guns.  (Thank gawd I’d already moved all my other guns over to Doc Russia’s place, or else I’d be in even more trouble.)

According to the Plano PD (yeah, I have a case # and everything), there were no fingerprints left, which points to a pro job.  There is a pretty substantial group of suspects — this was not a case of a couple guys walking past and deciding that this looked like a likely place to burgle — but I’ll leave that to the cops to figure out.  They have the list.

What this means:

1.)  I’ve had to cancel Boomershoot this year — no point in going, no guns to shoot, no ammo, nada.  I’ve already canceled the rental SUV and hotel accommodation.  So we’re all clear on this:  I am spitting angry, but most of all I am embarrassed because many of you kind folks sent me money, not only for the drawing but to help with the costs of associated purchases for the trip — several items of which have already been bought.  Aaargh.  Nevertheless, if you are one of those people who specified that the money was for expenses, email me and I will refund you your money.  (Almost all the paper records I have were being kept — where else? in one of the missing range bags — so I have no clue what the total amount is;  but I’ll trust in your honesty.)

2.)  When the insurance company reimburses me for the guns (less my $500 co-pay of course), I’ll replace the CZ 557 and scope, and hold the lottery for that rig then.  I don’t know how long it will take for them to do this, most likely a few months.  Please be patient with me while I speak to the insurance company over the next few days.

3.)  I have no idea whether the guns will ever be recovered.

Fuck.

Just What We Needed

Entertainment, Marketing / Advertising, Two-Minute Hate

This is going to end well:

A UK technology company is inserting customised product placement into films and TV shows – even those that were originally released decades ago.
London-based firm Mirriad inserts products or signage, like a branded beer bottle on a table to a clothing advert on a giant billboard, into streaming content.

I know what you’re thinking.  But:

The company used its experience to make inserted ads look as realistic as possible – so viewers would never know they weren’t present in the original shoot.

Uh huh.  I can see it now:

Not to mention:

or:

And even in our favorite classics, like The Devil In Miss Jones :

Is nothing sacred anymore?

Filthy Rich

Business, Sports

I often wondered where the above expression came from.  Now I know.

The background to all this is that a bunch of mega-rich football club owners have decided to create a “super league” of some of Europe’s top soccer teams, to operate in a “midweek” time slot.  The actual story and the mechanics thereof can wait for another time.  What caught my attention was this little profile of some of these owners.

Holy shit.

Now let me state at the outset that I’m not one of those socialist wealth-envious types, and nothing in this post should be interpreted as such.  But if the goal of these clubs’ owners is to make still more money out of their franchises’ so-called “brand” and the cachet attached thereto, my only question is… why?

I’m never going to be the one who says “You’ve made enough money” (because ex-POTUS Urkel already said that), but what these rich bastards are doing is ripping the heart out of the world’s largest sport, spitting in the fans’ faces and turning beloved and storied institutions into cash cows, just so as to further expand their already-gargantuan fortunes.  And that is disgusting.

England’s Big Six of City, Chelsea, United, Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool had earlier sparked outrage among much of the footballing world by announcing plans to team up with Spanish giants Atletico, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, and top Italian sides AC and Inter Milan for the new European Super League.

I hope this thing falls on its ass.  I hope the sport’s governing bodies toss these clubs out of their respective leagues, and ban the players from playing anywhere outside this new monster league (which may happen).

In a case of extreme irony, a sport that was created by and for poor working men is being turned into a rich man’s little toy.

Update:  It seems this might have gone a league too far:  all six English clubs intend to pull out (and the Euro clubs have followed), and the awful exec-V.P. of Manchester United has resigned — maybe the first of many such to follow soon.  (It’s all happening very quickly;  I’ve updated this part of the post three times already, in just a few hours.)

The players aren’t happy about it, either.  Here’s Liverpool’s captain:

This says it all:

Have a little sauce with that humble pie.

“If It Means Saving Lives…”

Gummint, Mocking Furriners

Where have we heard this before?  O, Canada.  Unsurprisingly, this is Ontario (motto:  We’re more socialist than New York), where the forces of police power are rapidly becoming unlimited.

As an aside — and I admit that it’s been years since I was last in Ontario — I’m pretty sure that the above Gestapo attitudes will work in places like Toronto (a.k.a. Woke City, CN).  But Ontario is a really big state, and I would be really interested to see what happens oh, about a hundred miles north of Toronto, when the Sturmtruppen  start playing their little reindeer games.  (Warning:  link can cause extreme rage.)

Or have all Canadians become so cowed by Government?

Walking Back-Pedaling

Marketing / Advertising, Resistance

It appears that Coca-Cola has been somewhat stung by the criticism leveled at it by their silly support of bad practices, criticism such as:

…created by Yours Truly.

So now they’ve started reversing / backpedaling / retreating:

Coca-Cola, whose CEO denounced the Georgia voting bill, is now striking a conciliatory tone after coming under pressure from conservatives.
The soda giant, which is based in Atlanta, was absent from a list of more than 500 corporations and individuals that signed a statement condemning any election legislation that would “restrict” voters from having “an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.” The missive was placed as a two-page Wednesday ad in the New York Times and Washington Post, with the effort being organized by the Black Economic Alliance.
Coca-Cola said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that the company “had not seen the letter” initiated by the alliance but is “certainly open to hearing their perspective.” It said it has supported the right to vote and that it will assess how to support voting rights.
“We believe the best way to make progress now is for everyone to come together to listen, respectfully share concerns and collaborate on a path forward. We remain open to productive conversations with advocacy groups and lawmakers who may have differing views,” the company said. “It’s time to find common ground. In the end, we all want the same thing – free and fair elections, the cornerstone of our democracy.”
Coca-Cola’s Wednesday remarks are notably less confrontational than its previous statements on the Georgia voting law.

Translated from corporate weaselspeak:

“Even after the New Coke fiasco, it appears that we still haven’t figured out that our primary market is conservative people, who seem to have a problem with a law which allows their own votes to be negated by a truckload of fraudulent votes.  Who knew?  Anyway, we’ll mark time on this one because we depend on these assholes to maintain our market share in the super-sweet battery-acid drink business.”

Message to all the other giant corporations who are diving into the Sea Of Wokedom, from conservatives like myself:

We may only be about 75 million in number, but we can still do damage to your company by using your products less and less, or else withholding our business altogether.

Quote Of The Day

QOTD

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) joined demonstrators Saturday evening outside the police station in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and told Americans to take to the streets unless Derek Chauvin is convicted for murder in the death of George Floyd.

“We’re looking for a guilty verdict. And we’re looking to see if all of the talk that took place and has been taking place after they saw what happened to George Floyd, if nothing does not happen, then we know that we’ve got to not only stay in the street, but we’ve got to fight for justice.”

I know that this is the moronic Maxine Waters speaking;  but I wonder if she is even aware that what she’s demanding — and the threat of what would happen should she not get her way — is the very essence of the word “terrorism”?