A Matter Of Privacy

This silly situation got me thinking — it’s about a mother rifling through her 17-year-old daughter’s handbag, and finding the morning-after pill — all about the whole topic of privacy and personal space.

Am I the only man in the world who, if his wife asks hims to “get it out of my purse”, just hands her the bag to get whatever it is out for herself?

If ever there’s an article which exemplifies the concept of “private space”, it’s a woman’s handbag.  When I’m asked why I didn’t just look in the bag, I usually make a joke of it, saying things like:  “There’s things with teeth in there!”

It’s not that I’m afraid of what I’ll find in there — I doubt very much whether there’s anything in there that could upset me — but it really is a concern for my wife’s privacy.

Everyone needs a private space.  It’s not necessarily a space that might harbor something that the owner doesn’t want anyone else to see, although it very well might be;  but there’s a concept involved which I think should be respected at all costs.

There’s another old saying that covers this:  if you invade someone’s privacy, don’t be shocked or angered by what you may find.

My old friend Patterson once told me how his wife was always asking him, “What are you thinking about?”  and he, quite understandably, took umbrage at her impertinence.  “For fuck’s sake,” he expostulated to me, “are there no parts of my life that she doesn’t want to examine or look over?”  Anyway, the next time she asked him that intrusive question, his response was epic:  “I was just thinking about how I’d spend the insurance money if you died.”  And when she got upset, his response was equally cutting:  “Do you just want me to lie to you?”  End of discussion, and much later, end of marriage (his second or third, I don’t remember).

I remember once reading about a guy who got pissed off when he discovered his wife going over his workshop, opening cupboards and looking into his toolbox.  And when he confronted her — “What the fuck did you think you’d find?” — his wife couldn’t understand his anger, because she had no clue about how men want their privacy kept sacrosanct.

Here’s the thing.  We men are evil fuckers.  In every man, there’s a quiet, secret space which harbors impure thoughts, impure activities and pathological impulses.  Sometimes, to be sure, those secret spaces include nefarious activities:  infidelity, criminality, shameful behavior, whatever.  Whether it’s a phone, a hiding place or a secret credit card / bank account, it doesn’t matter;  they exist.

The point is that even if that secret space doesn’t involve something nefarious, it’s still private and we will guard it zealously.  Think of it as a personal manifestation of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment:  the right to privacy being the ability of an individual to keep their personal information and private life out of the public domain.  And in this case, “public” doesn’t just mean “the public”;  it means everyone else in the fucking world, including wives, children and parents.

So yeah, our concerned mother in the above article was being snoopy — even though I think she had every right to be concerned about her not-yet-adult daughter — but it’s quite understandable that her daughter would feel utterly betrayed by the invasion of her privacy, nevertheless.

Getting The Blues

Okay, I never expected to see this:

Swarms of pigs have been found with neon blue skin after ingesting life-threatening pesticides.  

The electric blue-skinned hogs were first reported in Monterey County, California in March when trapper, Dan Burton, discovered several wild pigs with blue fat and muscle.  He told LA Times: “It’s wild. I’m not talking about a little blue. I’m talking about neon blue, blueberry blue.”

The feral swine are thought to have ingested the rat poison from dyed bait or feeding off other infected species.

Wow.  Assuming that all the above is true and not some cock-and-bull story cooked up by The Usual Suspects, I’m not at all sure how to comment.

I’ve never supported using poisoned bait to keep vermin under control, for the same reason that I don’t support fishing with explosives:  a bullet has one intended target, whereas both explosives and poison are simply labeled “To Whom It May Concern” — i.e. it’s indiscriminate targeting.

However:  there are two known facts extant.  The first is that wild pigs are becoming a pest on a national scale.  In Texas, you don’t need a permit to hunt them, and when you do there’s no bag limit, wild pigs being regarded as vermin.  Texas farmers not only allow pig-hunters on their property, they welcome them.

The second fact is that the state of California has the same regard for hunters as landowners have for vermin.  California, more than almost any other state, hamstrings the practice of hunting with all sorts of nonsensical regulations, even in the remotest parts of the state.  So landowners, not wanting to draw attention from the state’s feral bureaucrats and law enforcement, simply use other means to control the population — such as poison.

I’m not saying I agree with the practice, but I sure as hell understand it.

But that pic is still some kind of spooky, innit?

Sanity Returns, Part XVIII

Then:

GM CEO Mary Barra said in 2021 that the company would exclusively offer EVs by 2035, citing carbon emissions.

“For General Motors, our most significant carbon impact comes from tailpipe emissions of the vehicles that we sell — in our case, it’s 75 percent,” Barra said. “That is why it is so important that we accelerate toward a future in which every vehicle we sell is a zero-emissions vehicle.”

From another GM management dweeb, Dane Parker, former GM chief sustainability officer:

“We feel this is going to be the successful business model of the future,” he said in 2021. “We know there are hurdles, we know there are technology challenges, but we’re confident that with the resources we have and the expertise we have that we’ll overcome those challenges and this will be a business model that we will be able to thrive in the future.”

Yeah, about that:

General Motors has announced plans to expand production of gasoline-powered vehicles and SUVs in Michigan as well as the manufacturing of pickup trucks.

The Detroit-based auto manufacturer said in a statement on Tuesday that it will “begin production of the Cadillac Escalade, as well as the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra light duty pickups at Orion Assembly in early 2027 to help meet continued strong customer demand.”

Yeah, it seems as though not that many people want to buy their, or anybody’s Duracell cars after all — at least, not enough to keep once-mighty General Motors in business.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to borrow Sarah Hoyt’s Shocked Face.

Helping Hand

I got this from Reader Brad_In_IL over the weekend:

Kim,

The skeet/trap ranges at my local sporting club have been severely damaged by a miscreant. Here’s from the senior RSO for the pistol/rifle side of the club

On Friday evening, someone in a dump truck did extensive damage to the Main Clubhouse. The individual also hit the other buildings as well, sparing only the R/P office. It was all caught on camera and the perp has been found and charges pending. No fun for anyone. It’s frustrating.

Perhaps you can help bring some attention to this wanton vandalism, for fundraising for repair / rebuilding.  If not fundraising… perhaps you can encourage your readers in the Northeast IL / Southeast Wisconsin area to patronize the club.

Thank you.

Indeed I can.  Those of you who live out there, get over to Brad’s club and join up, because it’s not like there are a zillion choices to shoot in that part of GFW World.  All others:  please reach for yer wallets, if you can, and follow the link above.  Your support is sorely needed.

You Asked For It

Here’s one that could cause a Schadenböner:

A clip shared on TikTok  has prompted a battle of the sexes as increasing numbers of women argue men should give up their seats on public transport so they can sit down instead.

The video, which has been liked more than 1.4 million times, was filmed on TfL’s Central line and shows a whole row of men sitting down on the tube, while a row of women are standing in the aisle and holding on to poles.

[Another] user posted a clip that also showed a whole row of seats taken up by men on a Jubilee line train, while she and her other female friends stood on the side.

She wrote in text over the video: ‘Men used to go to war for us and now we can’t even get a man to let us sit down on the train.’

My own feelings on this are quite explicit.  I always stand up and offer my seat to a woman — always have, always will.  It’s how I was brought up.

However: I was also brought up during a time when women were ladylike, gracious and always grateful when a man surrendered his seat to her.  It was an acknowledgement of manners, rather than a matter of divine right.

However, young men have been brought up today in a time when men are savagely browbeaten and instilled with the mantra that women are not the “weaker sex”, are equal to men in every respect (even though they often aren’t), and equality reigns supreme.  And their attitudes reflect that:

One TikToker said he would only offer his seat to pregnant women or elderly people. ‘You equal woman can stand up just like I would if there were no seats,’ he added.

Another wrote: ‘Full grown adults expecting other full grown adults to give them a seat for no reason.’

Completely understandable.

So you womyns won’t get any privileges just because you’re a woman, then, because that would be sexist.

You feministicals wanted to live in this world, so STFU when it’s not always to your advantage.


And I apologize to my long-suffering Lady Readers, none of whom (I suspect) are women like the above womyns, would always be properly appreciative of the occasional gentlemanly gesture, and might indeed be even more dismissive of the Modern Womyns than I am.

And Here’s Why

Earlier this week I talked about how Yurpeen tourist places were rethinking their welcome wagon policies.

Well, here’s one place that’s doing that and I think, based on the evidence, we can all see their point:

In a desperate attempt to crack down on alcohol-fueled debauchery, enraged [Albufeira] City Hall officials on Friday approved huge new penalties of up to £3,375 for holidaymakers flouting a strict new good behavior code — with fines for everything from urinating in the street to getting naked.

The rules will kick in within weeks, in time for the summer season, aiming to curb anti-social behavior.

And locals hope they will turn the tide, with nakedness, vomiting in the street or having sex in public all now coming at a price.

Here’s what really sucks about this.  I know Albufeira — I’ve been there before, and I thought it might be the prettiest little village on the whole of the Algarve coast — but that was eons ago.  Clearly, things have changed, and not for the better.

And the problem is that regardless of how badly the tourists (mainly Brits, duh) might behave, the pubs and restaurants are obviously making a killing so they’re not going to do anything to stop the Louts & Sluts Brigade from trashing their town.

Sadly, it’s always the local folks who end up with a town where the streets flow with vomit, blood and semen while the publicans shrug and pocket the cash.

And then everyone will be shocked — shocked! — when the locals start posting signs that read “Muerte A Los Turistas”, “Ingleses Regressam A Casa” or “A Bas Les Rozbiffs”  (depending on whether it’s Spain, Portugal or France, for instance).

What’s really needed in Albufeira is for the Porro rozzers to go all Chicago P.D. circa 1968 with these drunken assholes (men and women):

…and let them know that what might be fine in Merseyside, Manchester or Millwall is non grata when visiting Albufeira.

The problem is that the Euros in general have gone to great lengths to pussify their various police forces, so that very logical avenue will denied them — but it is, at the end of the day, the only language that these oafs understand.  Until that time, then, nothing will change, and fines aren’t going to do diddly.