Memes that made me laugh 301

 

Gathered from around the Internet over the past week.  Click any image for a larger view.

Sunday morning music

 

This is so bizarre, so utterly awful, that I could hardly believe it's labeled "music" . . . but it is.  According to Wikipedia, the Estonian group Winny Puhh is a "metal/punk band formed in 1993".  The term "band" may be optimistic.

My attention was drawn to them by a reader who sent me the link to a 2014 article in Fashionista magazine.  I quote:

For those of you who haven't had the great fortune of being in Europe during the Eurovision, allow me to explain. Eurovision is an international, televised song contest celebrating unity between countries and bad taste. The winning country gets to host the contest the following year. It's ripe with generally terrible music, head scratching choreography, and some incredible British voiceover commentary. People throw Eurovision parties and consume lots and lots of alcohol. Witnessing the Eurovision is like watching the birth of 10,000 glorious GIFs. You have to see it to believe it.

Sadly, the Estonian heavy metal band Winny Puhh (which, yep, translates to 'Winnie the Pooh") didn't quite make it past qualifying rounds for the 2013 Eurovision finals that took place in Sweden this past May--perhaps Estonia wasn't too keen on being represented to the rest of Europe and beyond by men who sometimes glue Wookie fur all over their faces and hang upside-down from the ceiling while wearing wrestling gear.

But master of cool Rick Owens saw past all that. He had a vision--as designers are wont to have. He reached his mighty hand down into the deep, dark depths of the Internet and rescued Winny Puhh from certain Eurovision-reject-obscurity. He plopped them down on his spring 2014 menswear show's runway this morning in Paris and what happened next, according to UK fashion writer Charlie Porter, was "HEAVEN." The rockers stood up, they sat down, they laid down, and then eventually were pulled up by their ankles towards the ceiling--all while playing some melodic tune destined to never see the light of Eurovision GIF glory. But no matter: Twitter went cray. Vine went cray. And Instagram video had a small seizure.

Aaaaaand . . . here's their performance from the 2013 Eurovision trials.  Brace yourselves.  (And turn down the volume.)

If that's music, I'm . . . oh, never mind.  At any rate, there's your Sunday Morning Cacophony!

Peter

I'm sorry, but this kicked over my giggle-box

 

CederQ, who blogs with Phil over at his place, put up a meme this morning.  I can't reproduce it here, because it's definitely Not Safe For Work and not family-friendly:  here's the link, if you don't mind the risk.  Even so, I had to laugh out loud at the caption.  It reads, on the top line:

SAYS SHE STRIPS TO FEED HER KIDS

On the bottom line:

GETS MAD WHEN YOU THROW CANNED GOODS AT HER

The captions, combined with the NSFW image, had me laughing out loud.

Seriously, though, I can't tell you how many times, as a pastor and a private individual, I've been asked for help by someone.  Almost always, their need is stated to be something physical, like food, a bus ticket, or whatever.  However, when I offer to buy them the thing(s) they need, rather than give them money, they get upset with me.  It's quite clear they want the money for other things, and I'm the bad guy for "giving them a hard time" by havering about it.

I will admit, I've never tried to throw canned goods at strippers (or anything else, for that matter).  I've never even been to a strip show or club.  Nevertheless, I'm curious about the ballistics.  What size can?  What contents?  How hard should it be thrown?  Answers in Comments, please - but keep it clean!

Peter

The UPS air disaster as experienced on the ground

 

Midwest Safety has released a 40-minute video compilation of bodycam footage from emergency responders who rushed to the scene of the UPS air crash in Louisville in November last year.  It's harrowing footage, showing the chaos as responders tried to come to grips with a situation far larger and far worse than they could have envisaged.  I highly recommend watching it to learn what happened, figure out how it could have been done better, and to ask yourself, "What would I do in that situation?"

A tip o' the hat to Zendo Deb at 357 Magnum for posting the video.

Having been involved with civil defense and disaster response on two continents over many years, I can promise you:  that Louisville crash is the stuff nightmares are made of for any and all emergency responders.  It's going to be a case study for years, probably decades to come.

May almighty God have mercy on the souls of all who died there.

Peter

It's no wonder people can't afford to buy a home

 

This article applies to California, where the problem is particularly bad, but it's evident in other states too.

Glenn and Lorraine Crawford paid about $500 a month to insure their home in Agoura Hills northwest of Los Angeles when they bought it in 2012.

The Crawfords say they have little alternative but to pay the bill that arrived last month, which, at more than $44,000 a year, is almost as much as their mortgage bill. The only other insurer willing to cover their home, Lloyd’s of London, quoted them $80,000 a year.

More than a year after infernos tore through Los Angeles County, millions of Californians like the Crawfords are suffering through a home-insurance crisis that has rolled on for years with eye-watering rate increases, canceled policies and rejected claims.

Two of the biggest insurers, State Farm and Allstate, aren’t selling to new customers in the state, despite getting double-digit rate increases approved for their existing policyholders. A third, Farmers Insurance, has committed to cover more homes in fire-prone areas, but only a fraction compared with the drop in its overall number of policies since the crisis began.

The insurance dysfunction has spread to California’s housing market, the country’s biggest and most expensive, with nearly one-in-five real-estate agents reporting a canceled sale last year because of clients unable to find affordable insurance, according to a survey by the trade body California Association of Realtors.

There's more at the link (may be paywalled).

Florida looks like another problem state for insurance.

Slake Counts has made a frightening decision. After the price of his homeowners insurance skyrocketed, the Tampa, Florida, resident has chosen not to renew his policy.

Now, he’s pondering his future, which may include selling his home and leaving the state.

“There may be other options for me at this time in my life that don’t necessitate me continuing to live in Florida or Tampa,” Counts told Tampa Bay 28 ... “I’m not the only one in this boat.”

He might be right. According to Bankrate, Florida is the third-most expensive state for homeowners insurance in the U.S. Premiums in the Sunshine State average out to $5,828 per year ($486 per month) for a $300,000 home, while the national average is $2,424 ($202 per month), as of November. Counts showed Tampa Bay 28 the amount of his 2026 renewal increased to $14,523.

Factors that have made home insurance increasingly unaffordable for many Americans include higher home prices, the cost of building materials and the impacts of climate change — especially in disaster-prone areas like Florida.

It’s no wonder that some insurers are pulling out of certain states, and why some consumers are taking the risk of forgoing coverage. But experts emphasize the risks to those who “go bare” can outweigh the benefits.

Again, more at the link.

Those are scary, scary numbers.  We bought our home in north Texas ten years ago, paying a relatively low price for a modest 3-bedroom home, and putting down a 20% deposit to keep mortgage payments affordable.  Even so, a quick check reveals we're now paying as much per month to insure our home as we are on the mortgage.  The premium has increased fairly sharply over the past two to three years, and seems likely to go up by more than 10% this year - perhaps double that, thanks to weather-related disasters and losses elsewhere in the state.

Most of us can't claim our insurance costs against taxes, and that's part of the problem.  When a big conglomerate such as Blackrock buys up thousands of houses to rent them out, it can claim their insurance premiums as a business expense against its taxes, making them that much more affordable.  On top of that, it can increase its rental charges to cover what it actually pays.  Given the very large discounts such a company can squeeze out of an insurance company that wants its business - an insurance company that it may partially or wholly own, at that - it may be paying only a small percentage of the retail or consumer cost of insuring its houses.  Is it any wonder that so many consumers find that rental costs in some areas are actually less than the cost to buy a home?

How have you found your home insurance costs and premiums lately, dear readers?  Please let us know in Comments.

Peter

The danger of unrealized tax gain

 

Fellow blogger Mr. Garabaldi, writing at My Daily Kona, warns of the real dangers of so-called "unrealized tax gains".  We're seeing this pop up in almost every progressive, left-wing-oriented government and political party.  They want to tax you on any gain in value of any property you own, whether or not you've cashed in that value by selling it.

You buy a Pokémon card for $50.

Someone offers you $500 for it. You say no. You love that card. You're keeping it.

The government says: "Cool, but that card is worth $500 now. You owe us $100 in taxes."

You: "…I didn't sell it."

Government: "Don't care. Pay up."

You don't have $100 lying around. So you're forced to sell the card you love just to pay a tax on money you never received.

Next month? That card drops back to $50.

Your card is gone. Your money is gone. And the government shrugs.

That's a wealth tax on unrealized gains. They don't pay you back the tax...

There's more at the link, including more examples.  Recommended reading.

What this is, of course, is an all-out drive to reduce or even eliminate private property, by forcing us to rent what we use, or rely on government to provide it, because it's no longer affordable to buy it.  It's a growing movement, particularly in Europe, but also in progressive-left states in the USA like California.  Essentially, it embodies the World Economic Forum's oft-repeated mantra that "You'll own nothing and be happy".  Personally, I can't think of many things that would make me more unhappy than that!

Peter

A reminder to those of us...

 

... who may not clean our ears as thoroughly or as often as might be necessary.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version of the cartoon at its Web page.

How do you know if your ears aren't clean enough?

1. The farmer next door offers to run his harvester through them.
2. Your spouse offers you shampoo to use on them.
3. Every time you shake your head, the hairs in your ear shiver and scare the bats into flight.

Let's hear your own contributions in Comments!

Peter