Leek and potato soup with hatch chile salsa

With temperatures dropping way below freezing tonight, I reckoned it was time to make a good, thick, hearty winter soup to warm us up.  It's turned out the best of its kind I've ever made.

LEEK AND POTATO SOUP WITH HATCH CHILE SALSA

You will need:

• 3 leeks, large, trimmed, cleaned and sliced;
• 6-8 potatoes (I used Yukon Gold), peeled and diced moderately small, sufficient to fill a mixing bowl to the same height as the sliced leeks;
• Half a cup of bacon bits, or three rashers of bacon, fried until crisp and then crumbled;
• Four cups of chicken broth (Miss D. and I prefer to mix it ourselves using Better Than Bouillon);
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup (to taste) 505 Southwestern Hatch Valley Green Chile Salsa (or equivalent, but the 505 is the tastiest I've yet found - those with stronger palates can add more, if they wish);
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder or minced garlic (your preference);
• 1/4 cup parsley;
• 2 tbsp. oil;
• Salt and pepper to taste.  (I used kosher salt and Tone's Six Pepper seasoning.)

Method:

1. In a large saucepan, place the oil, sliced leeks and bacon bits.  Sauté for 10 minutes until soft.
2. Add the diced potatoes and chicken broth.  Bring to a light boil, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add the salsa, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.  Mix well and simmer for another 10 minutes.
4. If you wish, you can purée the soup lightly using an immersion blender.  I prefer it chewy, with lumps in it.  Serve with grated cheese to sprinkle over your bowl, sour cream, and a nice loaf of your favorite bread.

It's dee-licious.  Enjoy!

(If you don't like the added bite of green chile salsa, try replacing it with 1/2 cup port or sherry.  That adds body and flavor, without the burn.  You can also add a cup of half-and-half or heavy cream to smooth out the chile burn, if you're so inclined.  I prefer sour cream for that purpose.)

Peter

Washington D.C. moonbats are riding for a fall

I'm watching the ongoing reaction of the moonbats to President-elect Trump's victory with growing bemusement.  I can't believe that they're so naive as to be riding for a fall . . . but that appears to be precisely what they're doing.  Let me cite just three examples.


1.  Mr. Trump tweeted this morning about the Chinese seizure of a US hydrographic survey drone.  In his tweet, he used the word 'unpresidented' - but swiftly changed it to the correct spelling.  He was promptly mocked and ridiculed for his 'spelling mistake' . . . but doesn't everybody have problems with autocorrect?  Isn't it entirely likely that he didn't, in fact, misspell it, but simply spoke his tweet into his cellphone's microphone, only to have it 'corrected' by software?  The rapid correction of the tweet suggests that, but such a simple explanation appears to have completely escaped his critics.  No, he can't spell!  This is disaster!  He's provoking China and opening himself to ridicule at the same time!

Some people should get a life.  A single misspelling isn't the end of the world.  Besides, when you look at the lack of strong leadership from President Obama over our relationship with China - during the past eight years, not just concerning this drone - perhaps 'unpresidented' wasn't such a bad choice of words after all.


2.  Headline in the Washington Post:  'Trump needs to get over his victory'.  Here's an excerpt.

President-elect Donald Trump needs to heal, not revel. That is, he must work on healing the divided country he is about to lead, not continue to revel in his victory with a round of thank-you rallies.

. . .

Crybaby, the Trump supporters will tweet. He won, get over it. But the president-elect is the one who seems to be having a hard time getting over it, or rising above, or inhabiting the responsibility — the majesty — of his new role.

“Elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I won,” a newly sworn-in President Obama said eight years ago. So I accept: Trump won, Hillary Clinton lost. That has consequences for personnel and policy.

But the manner of winning and the scope of victory also have consequences ... Even by Trump math, he will preside over a deeply divided country. Half its citizens, or more, are worried about what a Trump presidency augurs. They doubt that he has the temperament or experience for the job. It is Trump’s responsibility to reassure and reach out to them. It is his duty to consider — not summarily reject — evidence that Russia may have intervened on his behalf.

This is the sixth presidential transition I have witnessed, beginning with Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan in 1980, and the mood of the city is like no other. “Anxious” does not begin to convey the profound sense of worry.

There's more at the link.

Personally, I don't see any need for Mr. Trump to 'get over his victory'.  If he did precisely what the author of that article wants, and pulled in his horns, and 'made nice' with the establishment, that same establishment would take that as a sign of weakness and criticize him all the more.  There is no truth in the establishment.  It sees only its own need and desire for power, and is flailing around in panic at the thought that its hold on power may be weakened by a Trump presidency.  It will do literally anything to stop that.  The article above is just one example of its propaganda campaign.

Mr. Trump won.  His supporters are, rightfully, very happy about that.  I was not and am not a Trump disciple, yet I see nothing wrong with them joining him in celebrating that victory.  It's their right.  Are we to believe that if the election had gone the other way, Hillary's supporters would not be celebrating just as hard - if not harder - and rubbing the noses of the rest of the country in her election?  Of course they would!

Sour grapes don't become the news media . . . but it seems that's their predominant diet these days.


3.  The Department of Energy is riding for a fall.  The Trump transition team asked a number of pointed questions, including the names of those who'd taken part in international climate talks, and the programs that DoE regards as essential to meet President Obama's Climate Action Plan.  In its response - delivered via the press rather than directly, which was not a good start to its relationship with its future Chief Executive - the DoE said:  "We will be forthcoming with all publically-available information with the transition team. We will not be providing any individual names to the transition team."  (Bold text is in the original.)

First off, who does this spokesman think he is?  He's talking to the future President!  Mr. Trump has the right to ask any questions he wishes of any executive department, because he's going to be heading all of them!  Once he takes office, he will doubtless ask the same questions again - and any refusal to provide the answers he requires, in full and without dissembling, will be nothing less than insubordination and disobedience.  Those actions have consequences, and I trust they will be forthcoming at once and in full measure.  (There's also the point that if you behave as if you have something to hide, you probably do . . . which will elicit further questions and investigations, to find out what it is.)

Second, this is playing into the hands of a future Trump administration.  If the DoE fails to provide the names it's been asked for, there's no reason for the next administration to approve or fund any trips by any DoE staffers to any international climate talks, because obviously none of those staffers had any role important enough to warrant identifying them.  Similarly, if the DoE fails to provide a list of programs it considers "essential to meeting the goals of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan", then the Trump administration will be fully justified in discontinuing, modifying, reorienting, or otherwise adapting any programs it pleases, without any fear that they may or may not impact the former President's policies and plans.  After all, it's just been told - and saying nothing is, in fact, saying a great deal under these circumstances - that there are no such programs!

Bureaucratic resistance to a President who's run a multi-billion-dollar business is stupidity personified.  Mr. Trump is noted for his frequent use (on TV) of the phrase "You're fired!"  Civil service bureaucrats have erected complex procedures to protect their work from political interference, and to safeguard their own positions during any clash with a political administration.  However, that won't prevent Mr. Trump from simply not funding vital programs, or reassigning work to more compliant bureaucrats, or sidelining those whose obstructionism causes difficulties for his administration.  Congress can vote all the funds it wants for a given program, but if he fails to spend them, that program is going nowhere:  and Congress is the legislative, not the executive branch, so it can't arrogate to itself executive privileges and legislate how he must do his job.  That would be unconstitutional.

There are many ways of skinning a cat, and Mr. Trump probably knows quite a few of them.  I wouldn't be surprised if the team he's assembling knows a lot more.  What's more, I'm sure his transition team knows full well how their counterparts in a Clinton administration would have been treated if the election had had a different outcome.  They're going to expect and require to be treated with the same respect and co-operation.  If they don't receive it . . . well, two can play at that game.  Elections do, indeed, have consequences.  I suspect the DoE - and other Washington departments - are going to be reminded of that, come January 20th.

Peter

Another over-the-top Bollywood fight scene

This one's from the 2005 'comedy horror' (?) movie 'Chandramukhi'.

He should play John Travolta when they make a movie about him . . . he's got the disco dance moves down pat already!




Peter

So much for Trump's links to Russia

Received via e-mail, original source unknown:

Says it all, doesn't it?

Peter

The downfall of Prenda Law

Prenda Law has become a byword for shady legal practices over the past few years.  The good people at the legal blog Popehat have been on top of it for a long time.  They've published several articles about it, and (I understand) have provided legal assistance to some of those threatened by it.  Now it seems that their persistence in exposing its underhanded ways is about to be rewarded.

More than three and a half years ago I started covering a copyright-troll firm called Prenda Law, which came to my attention because it was filing defamation suits against critics accusing it of wrongdoing. Rarely does the Streisand Effect so utterly annihilate a group of censorious miscreants.

. . .

When people have asked me why these lawyers aren't in jail, I've answered that the wheels turn slowly.

But they turn.

Today federal agents arrested John Steele and Paul Hansmeier, the two lawyers most responsible for this nationwide debacle. They were arrested on a federal indictment brought by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota. An indictment is an accusation, not proof: it only signifies that the U.S. Attorney has persuaded a grand jury that there is probable cause, which is not one of the more difficult challenges anyone ever faced. But a federal indictment is a very grave development for any defendant. The feds' competitive advantage is their ability to pick and choose cases, to develop evidence and witnesses painstakingly over time, and to bring their case only after they've amassed what they see as overwhelming odds in their favor.

The indictment ... is here. Let's discuss it, shall we?

The indictment charges Hansmeier and Steele with a raft of federal crimes: conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to suborn perjury in federal court. As usual, if you count up the statutory maximum sentence for all of these crimes, you get a ridiculous number that bears no relation to the probable sentences they face if convicted. However, given the amounts discussed in the indictment, they are facing years in federal prison.

Having covered this story for almost four years, what's remarkable to me is how comprehensive the federal indictment is. It covers almost every sort of misconduct any judge or commentator has accused Steele and Hansmeier of committing in substantial detail. It therefore serves to demonstrate how broad and flexible federal criminal law is — how it can be brought to bear against a wide variety of conduct.

There's more at the link.  I highly recommend it, and the other articles about Prenda Law at Popehat, to anyone interested in the US legal system and how shady lawyers try to game it.

I think this case also illustrates another problem with the US legal system:  namely, the proliferation of lawyers.  Think about it.  When US universities are graduating so many lawyers that there isn't enough work for them, they begin to cast around for any way at all they can use their (expensive) education to make money.  The less ethical among them won't hesitate to use the law as a blunt instrument to make a living.  Want examples?  Do a simple Internet search on the phrase "legally mugged" and read some of the articles that come up.

Abraham Maslow famously observed in 1966:

"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail."

I submit that, in a society overrun with lawyers desperate to make a living, Maslow's dictum can be rephrased as follows:

"... if the only solution you have is a lawyer ... treat everything as if it were a legal problem."

That seems to be what led to the Prenda Law saga, at any rate.  One can only wonder how many similarly shady legal practices are out there . . .

Peter

The Detroit voting scandal gets worse by the day

It was reported a few days ago that Detroit had severe problems in accounting for its votes during the recent election.

Voting machines in more than one-third of all Detroit precincts registered more votes than they should have during last month’s presidential election, according to Wayne County records prepared at the request of The Detroit News.

Detailed reports from the office of Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett show optical scanners at 248 of the city’s 662 precincts, or 37 percent, tabulated more ballots than the number of voters tallied by workers in the poll books. Voting irregularities in Detroit have spurred plans for an audit by Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson’s office, Elections Director Chris Thomas said Monday.

. . .

Overall, state records show 10.6 percent of the precincts in the 22 counties that began the retabulation process couldn’t be recounted because of state law that bars recounts for unbalanced precincts or ones with broken seals.

The problems were the worst in Detroit, where discrepancies meant officials couldn’t recount votes in 392 precincts, or nearly 60 percent. And two-thirds of those precincts had too many votes.

“There’s always going to be small problems to some degree, but we didn’t expect the degree of problem we saw in Detroit. This isn’t normal,” said Krista Haroutunian, chairwoman of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers.

State officials are planning to examine about 20 Detroit precincts where ballot boxes opened during the recount had fewer ballots than poll workers had recorded on Election Day.

. . .

Republican state senators last week called for an investigation in Wayne County, including one precinct where a Detroit ballot box contained only 50 of the 306 ballots listed in a poll book, according to an observer for Trump.

There's more at the link.

Now it emerges that things are even worse than initially feared.

Detroit elections officials waited several days to deliver nearly 100 poll books to Wayne County officials charged with certifying the presidential election, newly released documents show.

County clerk officials on Thursday released a memo to State Elections Director Chris Thomas that said 95 poll books from the 662 precincts weren’t available at the start of the canvass, which began the day after the Nov. 8 election. Five of those poll books, which contain the names of voters and ensure the integrity of elections, were never delivered to county canvassers and presumably remain missing.

The revelation comes atop other irregularities that have prompted a state audit.

. . .

Canvassers compare poll books with printouts from voting machines to ensure the number of people who signed in to vote match the number of ballots cast.

In heavily Democratic Detroit, the numbers didn’t match in 392 of 662 precincts or 59 percent. The discrepancies emerged during a statewide presidential recount that began last week and ended Friday following a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court.

. . .

The memo from county elections official Jennifer Redmond to the state also shows poll books in 101 Detroit precincts were not delivered in sealed envelopes, as the law requires.

Separate county documents obtained by The News show that poll books in 17 precincts were missing seal numbers from ballot boxes, as is required by state law.

Another Detroit precinct contained 50 of the 306 ballots listed in a poll book, according to an observer for Trump.

Again, more at the link.

Can you say "Creating opportunities for election irregularities"?  Can you say "Fraud under color of incompetence"?  I thought you could . . .

If those responsible are ever again allowed to supervise any electoral function or process, it'll be a miscarriage of justice of the grossest kind.  Fire the lot of them, and if possible, charge them with criminal offenses for disobeying the law.




Peter

Looks like it's downright chilly in Duluth

Duluth, Minnesota isn't exactly known as the winter warm-weather capital of the USA.  This video shows it's rather the opposite.  It shows the giant barge Great Lakes Trader and her dedicated 'pusher' tug, Joyce L. Van Enkevort, entering Duluth harbor last Tuesday, December 13th, in a wind chill of -30°F.  Just look at the ice buildup on her bow!

I'd say that's a tad chilly . . .




Peter

A literal Bohemian Rhapsody!

A tip o' the hat to Daddy Warpig for finding this first.

I daresay everyone reading these words knows Queen's 1975 monster hit 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.  Here's the original music video, which broke new ground in the genre back in its day.

I don't know why it's taken this long, but someone has finally produced a live-action, literal version of the song.  Here it is.

Full marks for creativity!

Oh - and if you'd never heard the story behind the song, here's a BBC documentary explaining how 'Bohemian Rhapsody' came to be.  It's very interesting to see how Queen worked together.

Aaaah . . . memories of my sometimes misspent youth.  It hardly seems possible that the song is 41 years old now.  I can remember when it first came out, and how it galvanized rock and pop music in general, like an electric shock.

Peter

Word . . . well, several words, actually

Received via e-mail, original source unknown:

Sounds reasonable to me.

Peter

Bollywood strikes again

Here's another over-the-top fight scene from Bollywood, this time from the 2014 movie 'Jai Ho'.

Is it my imagination, or does the star resemble a younger Sylvester Stallone?

Peter

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy

I note that a notorious gun-grabber and enemy of individual rights has got his come-uppance at last.

Former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, the 11-term Pennsylvania congressman and longtime advocate for more gun regulation, was sentenced Monday on a host of bribery charges.

U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III sentenced Fattah, 60, this week following conviction in June on racketeering, bribery, wire fraud, honest services fraud and money laundering conspiracies. Bartle handed down a sentence of 120 months in prison and ordered the former lawmaker to pay some $600,000 in restitution.

. . .

While in Congress, Fattah was a proponent of gun control at almost every turn. One of his first votes was in opposition to repealing the Federal Assault Weapon ban in 1996. He followed this up with votes for a 72 hour background check amendment in 1999, against arming pilots in 2002, voting against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in 2005, for more gun show restrictions in 2009, against exempting guns from bankruptcy proceedings in 2010 and repeatedly against mandates to expand concealed carry reciprocity.

When Republicans sought to cut funding in 2012 to the Department of Justice over stonewalling by Attorney General Eric Holder to subpoenas for information in the Fast and Furious gun walking case, the Pennsylvania lawmaker blasted the effort.

Fattah was made vice chair on a gun violence prevention task force created by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in 2013 and backed plans for bans on magazines, armor-piercing bullets and firearms labeled “assault weapons” as well as expanding background checks to all gun sales.

There's more at the link.

Isn't it funny how often extreme gun-grabbers are revealed to be the most dishonest among us?  Fattah will find himself in plenty of like company behind bars.  Long may he stay there!




Peter

About that alleged "Russian hacking of the US election" . . .

. . . Dr. Jerry Pournelle, who has some pretty extensive personal experience in the field, has a few very interesting thoughts on his blog, The View from Chaos Manor.  Here are a couple of excerpts.

The squabble over who hacked who, and did the Russians try to influence our elections, and who’s going to investigate who seems to be boiling, but there’s very little there. Actually, there’s a lot to worry about, but none of the serious stuff is being talked about at all.

First, there’s the question of who, precisely, is this “Intelligence Community” which may or may not have a consensus about the Russians and their activities and intentions. As far as I know, that “community” doesn’t exist; it certainly didn’t exist back in the days when I was an intelligence consumer. The Army had its intelligence people, the State Department had some, the Navy had its share, and while the Air Forces came late to the game, they managed to come up with Intelligence people as well. The three Service Intelligence organizations were sort of supervised by the Defense Intelligence Agency, headed by a three-star General ... who reports directly to the Secretary of Defense, and sometimes to the President. It has both humint (spies) and sigint (electronic intercepts) and usually acts as if it doesn’t want anyone to know it exists.

. . .

There are others, but this should be enough to make it questionable just how such a diverse group of rivals can be called a community. The Director of Central Intelligence was supposed to calm their squabbles and produce a National Intelligence Estimate, but after the 9/11 disaster, something had to be done.

The something was the creation of the Director of National Intelligence who by law was the head of the Intelligence Community ... It gets more complex, but that, by law, is the way the “Intelligence Community” comes into being, and the DNI, who has (at least in theory) no spies or hackers or case officers or black ops agents under his direct control is supposed to keep the Community in line and deliver the real poop to the President. Those of you who wonder how anyone possessed of his senses thought that adding another layer at the top could form a community out of a group of rival organizations with radically different origins are permitted to do so.

. . .

We can also add the relatively recent Department of Homeland Security which is trusted by almost none of the traditional intelligence workers, some of whom believe it to be outright incompetent.

Finally, we add that over eight years nearly all the senior people within the “Intelligence Community” have been appointed by the current President, and many of the career people within those agencies do not respect their appointed bosses.

With that background, which is known to anyone who cares to look, we can now look at the claim that the Russians have hacked various electronic sources within the United States. The question is absurd. Of course the Russians listen to any electronic source they can find, as to the Brits, the French, the Swiss, the Chinese, the Nigerians, the Danes, various Arabs, the Israelis, and nearly everyone else including Boy Scout Troops. Some are more successful than others. I can’t comment on the security of government communications between government servers which are said to use security measures comparable to those used by banks to transfer huge sums of money; I can comment on private servers used by government officials for various reasons mostly of convenience – really secure systems are cumbersome – and which are routinely hacked – listened to – by teenage pranksters who buy a script for a few bucks on the dark net and go fishing.

I don’t know personally what scripts were available for the server that sat in the Clinton family home basement; but I am told that several were for sale at various prices; so I would be astonished if there were anyone who seriously wanted to know about the Secretary of State’s emails was denied that knowledge; and from my acquaintance with various members of subsets of the Intelligence Community I’m pretty sure that that server was examined by experts with malicious intents. Certainly anyone in the KGB or GRU who worked for me would have a junior officer whose job was the scan the printouts daily once the first classified document showed up.

There's more at the link.  Dr. Pournelle provides a lot of feedback from knowledgeable readers in the following day's blog.  Both entries are worth reading in full.

In the immortal words of H. L. Mencken:

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

I'm convinced this is precisely what President Obama, and the entire Democratic Party machine, and their allies in the mainstream media, are trying to do right now with their emphasis on the Russian menace.  No hard evidence whatsoever has been presented to justify it;  and unless and until some is, I'll regard the whole imbroglio as being, as Shakespeare put it in another context, "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".  Basically, they're clutching at any straw that comes to hand to excuse their loss to President-elect Trump, who is (in their eyes) clearly unfit for office, and can therefore only have beaten their Chosen One by fraudulent or criminal means.

Sucks to be them, I guess . . .

Peter

Fascinating!

Here's an amazing video clip of a white-tailed eagle being released from the top of the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, and finding its handler from over 2,700 feet up.  Flixxy reports:

An imperial eagle named Darshan captured phenomenal views of the capital of the United Arab Emirates while taking cues from his trainer on the ground.  The eagle flight was arranged by the nature conservation group Freedom Conservation with the purpose of drawing attention to eagle conservation.

There's more at the link.

Here's a shortened, edited version of the video.  Watch it in full-screen mode for best results.

The full-length, almost 6-minute video can be found here, if you'd like to watch it.

I'm astonished that the bird's eyesight was good enough to pick out its handler from that high up.  Clearly, eagles see rather better than I do!

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #941

Today's award goes to the British Department for International Development.

MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) attacked the development department for not foreseeing that dangerous wind conditions on the South Atlantic territory of St Helena would mean that commercial aircraft would be unable to use a new airport.

. . .

The UK overseas territory could only be reached by sea and the new airport was meant to improve accessibility and boost tourism, with the intention of making the island self-sufficient.

The airport was meant to start operating in May 2016 but test flights a month before revealed the problems with "wind shear".

While the airport has since handled a small number of flights the wind conditions have prevented the operation of the planned commercial service.

The PAC report said: "The Department for International Development has spent £285.5 million [about US $363 million] of taxpayers' money on building an airport in St Helena that is not usable by commercial airlines.

"It is staggering that the department did not foresee and address the impact of difficult wind conditions on landing commercial aircraft safely.

"The department was evasive on the question of who should be held responsible, and is yet to hold anyone to account, either internally or externally for the failure to identify this fundamental issue. Nor has it identified the extent or cost of remedial action required.”

The problem of wind shear on St Helena was noted by Charles Darwin on his voyage on the Beagle in 1836 and the MPs challenged DfID about why it had commissioned an airport paid for by the British taxpayer, without properly appreciating the danger of this effect.

There's more at the link.

Here's a video clip of a test flight by a Boeing 737-800 to the new airport.  The aircraft was bought specifically for the St. Helena service.  The video was a promotional clip by the island's government, before it was realized that wind shear would make regular service impractical.  The wind is blowing strongly in the clip, and can be heard over the microphones.

Spiffy-looking little airport . . . pity it's unusable.  I wonder if anyone will ever be held accountable for that screw-up?  Knowing bureaucrats, I'd say it's unlikely.  Besides, it's only taxpayers' money that was wasted - so who cares?

Peter

The Z-man is right

Like many of you, I'm sure, I run ad blocking software, a pop-up blocker, and a script blocker on my Web browser.  In fact, I use multiple Web browsers.  For Web pages that simply must allow scripting, cookies, etc. - such as Blogger, on which I'm writing these words - I use Chrome.  For general browsing, where I don't want to allow Web sites to set cookies, run scripts, etc., I use Firefox, fully loaded with protective software.  As backups, for occasional use when I want to visit a Web site, then instantly clean out whatever it sets in the way of cookies, etc., I use Opera or Edge.  To add to my browsing security, I use a VPN (virtual private network) offering end-to-end encryption, and providing a 'location' that's many hundreds of miles away from where I am.  I want to make life as difficult as I can for scam artists, hackers and intrusive corporate spyware.

I therefore get very frustrated when certain Web sites won't allow access unless I disable my ad blocker, or demand that I disable some or all of my security software in order to use them.  I simply won't tolerate such nonsense.  The amount of malware distributed through advertisements is staggering, and there's no reason why I should allow such companies to track my every move through their Web beacons or other software devices.  It's none of their business.  Therefore, I don't visit or use such Web sites.  I can always find what I need elsewhere.

The Z-man makes similar observations.

The other day, I was reading something on-line and followed a link to one of the business sites. The first thing to happen was a useless popup. I have a pop-up blocker, but many of them still slip past for some reason. After years of dealing with pop-ups, my mouse hand is trained to close the window on instinct. It is a reflex now. I closed it only to have another open and I closed it. A minute reading the site, the screen goes dim and I get a message telling me that I am running an ad-blocker, along with a lecture about how that is mean.

I just closed the site and moved on. In fact, this has become my habit. If the site has any of this junk, I just close the site and move onto other things. I respect the fact that sites need to make money so they post ads, but having to navigate through a sea of clutter just to read 500 words or look at a picture is not a good use of my time. I’ve observed others do the same thing I do when it comes to pop up windows. Before they load, people close them so they do nothing more than annoy the reader. They are otherwise useless.

The main reason I run the ad-block stuff is that many of these embedded ads have malware. If a website wants to monetize my viewership by infesting my computer with malignant software, I have no qualms about blocking their attempts to monetize my viewership. Therefore, the lectures that are becoming common on websites about the immorality of running ad-block strike most people as ludicrous.

. . .

The proliferation of scripting has made many sites unreadable on a phone or tablet, unless you use something like ghostery. The Washington Times is a perfect example. It is more ad than content and the scripts never seem to load properly, so the site looks like a Picasso painting most of the time. I stopped going to the site entirely as it took too much effort to make it work. If I have to redesign my web browser to look at your site, I’m probably not going to bother visiting your site.

There's more at the link.  Worthwhile reading.

This sort of thing strikes me as yet another example of mainstream media myopia.  Their attitude seems to be, "What we're offering is so important to you that you'll pay whatever we ask, or give us the information we demand, or submit to our tracking requirements, in order to get it!"  Er . . . no, we won't.  We can always find another source for whatever you're peddling, or an alternative for it.  The Web is big enough that you no longer have a monopoly.

Yet, Web sites and news media still fall into this trap.  The Telegraph in London, which used to be one of my daily reads, did so just a month or two ago, instituting a "Premium" (paid) subscription service for many of its articles (even including its obituaries).  That's stupid.  Why on earth should I pay for the Telegraph's view on the news when I can get exactly the same news (albeit from different perspectives) from dozens of other Web sites?  They offer nothing worth paying for.  I don't think their subscription service will be a success . . . but I don't think they've figured that out yet.  Forbes is another offender in this regard.  If you run an ad blocker, it won't allow you into its site.  OK - too bad.  Next site, please!

Peter

Someone in Bollywood has definitely watched "Gymkata"

A couple of days ago I mentioned an utterly horrible 1985 movie, "Gymkata", and compared its execrable fight scenes to Bollywood's over-the-top renditions of the same.  While looking for more such scenes, I came across this one from the 2014 movie "Heropanti".  I've got to believe that the director of the latter had seen "Gymkata", and drew inspiration (?) from it for this scene.

At least the hero got handed his backside at the end of this scene.  Usually, Bollywood heroes don't. (And don't the action and facial expressions remind you just a smidgen of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer's comedy movies?)

Peter

Heh - police recruitment edition

Full marks to Fort Worth Police Department for their new video advertisement. Watch it in full-screen mode for best results.

Peter

But(t) why???

I'm a little taken aback by some of the latest consumer products - this one, for example.

A few questions:

1. Why?  I mean, what's the point of scented toilet paper?  If it's just hanging in your bathroom, it won't do much.  It has to be moved to give off its scent - such as when you're actually using it - but at that time, any pleasant smell it may have is rapidly going to be overlaid by a rather stronger odor, one that's anything but as pleasant!
2. Why mulled spice?  Anything coming out of your nether regions is definitely going to be 'mulled over', as it were;  so this may be a poor choice of words.  Besides, do you really want your fundamental jujube to smell like something seasonal from Starbucks?
3. Patterned as well as scented?  Just who or what, precisely, is going to get a look at it down there?  I mean, the 'third eye' is supposed to be "a spiritual concept associated with enlightenment and direct communication with a higher plane of existence".  That doesn't usually involve the 'eye' one associates with TP!

Perhaps I'm too simple-minded for this stuff . . .


*Sigh*


Peter

Mercedes does the Nurburgring

Not just any Mercedes, either:  it's the new GT R, the latest incarnation of the Mercedes-AMG GT, a rear-wheel-drive sports car with a 4-liter V8 producing 577 bhp.  Drive Australia reports:

The most track focused road car from the German car maker has set a blistering time of 7:10.9 around the 21km Nurburgring track in Germany.

This is the fastest time ever set by a rear-wheel drive road car. The only road cars to post a quicker time are the Porsche 918 Spyder, Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce and Nissan GT-R Nismo.

The time was set by German automotive magazine Sport Auto.

There's more at the link.

Note the steadiness of the GT R.  Even in the mid-200-kph range, it's like riding on rails. Watch the video in full-screen mode for best results.

I wouldn't mind one of those for the occasional fast run to Amarillo or Dallas-Fort Worth . . . but I'll have to sell a metric buttload of books to afford it!

Peter

Adventures with Ashbutt - and toilets

You may recall that Ashbutt, our 'new' farm kitten, has fallen in love with little plastic-coated springs. Here he is with one, shortly after we brought him home.

He's now much larger (bigger than our 5-year-old adult female cat), but still utterly kittenish at 5 months of age.  He carries his springs around, and 'fetches' them when thrown so that we can toss them for him again.  I'd say his Maine Coon ancestry is pretty much confirmed by this point.

Anyway, on Friday I noticed he was jumping up on the toilet seat to purr at me as I stood at the sink, performing my morning ablutions, holding his spring in his mouth in an obvious invitation to play.  Being otherwise engaged, I didn't think any more of it.  Later that morning, I used the toilet for its intended purpose . . . but it clogged solid, more so than it's ever done since we moved in here.  Baffled, I tried the usual remedies, but to no avail.  It was Miss D. who asked, eyes wide, "Do you suppose Ashbutt might have dropped his spring into the toilet?"  We looked at each other and winced, simultaneously!

I went to the hardware store and bought a big, heavy-duty rotary rooter (this model, if you're interested).  It was expensive, so I asked the clerk with a sigh whether it was worth the money.  He merely grinned and said, "What's an unclogged toilet worth to you?"  Sold!!!  I also bought a couple of packets of clog remover, 'guaranteed' to get rid of 'organic matter'.  (Note to self:  those things are cheaper on Amazon.com than they are from the hardware store.  I should have bought them in advance, 'just in case', rather than pay emergency prices!)

The clog remover didn't do much, even after being left overnight, so it was hi-ho for the rooter.  That cleared the block in short order - and retrieved the remains of the spring, too, tangled up in the wire ball at the end of it.  (Miss D. asked me, somewhat irreverently, what color it was.  I told her I hadn't felt inclined to check, its odoriferous condition being a strong deterrent!)  Another packet of the clog remover helped to clean out the last of the detritus from the pipes, and a mopping with a strong bleach solution took care of the splashes on the bathroom floor.

Meanwhile, of course, Ashbutt was absolutely entranced by this new game, and the new toy I'd brought home for him.  "But, Daddy!  There's a wire ball on the end of a three-foot coiled wire shaft, and it twangs when I bat at it!  More!  More!"  Then he went to fetch another spring . . .


*Sigh*


Tell me again why we like cats???

Peter

(P.S.:  Our toilet seats are now left with the lid down . . . just in case.)

(P.P.S.:  Due to reader demand, I've created a category called 'Ashbutt', and updated my posts since October to use it where appropriate.  Click on it, either here or in the sidebar, and it'll bring up all blog entries mentioning our farm kitten.)

Just ask China how to handle "fake news" . . .

. . . whether it's actually "fake" or merely "politically incorrect".  PC World reports:

The current debate over fake online news has one country feeling vindicated: China. For years, its controversial censorship system has been cracking down on so-called "online rumors," and last week a state-controlled newspaper essentially told the U.S., "I told you so."

"China’s crackdown on online rumors a few years ago was harshly condemned by the West,” wrote the Global Times. “Things changed really quickly, as the anxiety over internet management has been transferred to the U.S."

To be sure, the two are very different.

In the U.S., it’s private citizens and internet companies that are questioning the role of fake news while acknowledging freedom of speech. In China, the government itself is arresting people as part of its concerted effort to maintain control over all corners of the internet.

. . .

So Chinese censors have axed false reports about a celebrity's death or ways to cure cancer. On the other hand, they've also targeted the truth, banning discussion of subjects the government would rather citizens didn’t talk about, [Ng] said.

Censors have been found scrubbing social media posts that mention the death of the Chinese Communist Party or freedom of the press, according to Ng's research.

China claims this is necessary for societal order, and it’s also resulted in the blocking of major U.S. Internet companies, including Facebook, Twitter and Google. Domestic social media services -- which routinely censor posts critical of the government -- have taken their place.

This approach stands at odds with that of the U.S. government, which has supported free speech and been critical of tech businesses that support China’s censorship apparatus. So it’s with some amusement that internet users in China have noted the U.S. debate on fake news.

"The West arrogantly thought they could use their social media networks as a tool to overthrow other countries, but in the end they became a victim of it," wrote one user on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like site.

There's more at the link.

Therein lies the problem, of course.  When any 'authority' - be it government, or academic, or a social media company, or whatever - gets to define what news is 'real' and what is 'fake', that amounts to de facto censorship.  Free speech cannot exist when categories of speech are either permitted or denied, based upon standards that are obscure and/or politicized.  (Besides, if the latter, what happens when politics change?  If something is 'politically incorrect' under the Obama administration, odds are it'll be the opposite under the Trump administration - and it'll go back the other way when a Democratic Party administration takes power again in due course.  That way lies news schizophrenia.)

George Orwell famously wrote:  "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."  If we allow the nonsense about 'fake news' to continue, you'll be able to replace 'animals are' with 'news is' in that quote, and it'll still be accurate.  That's a frightening prospect to anyone who values democracy.

Peter

Bodybuilding as a contact sport - courtesy of Bollywood

How many of us remember that ghastly 1985 movie, 'Gymkata', which portrayed gymnasts and their equipment as a form of martial arts?  I've never forgotten how a vaulting horse somehow magically appeared in the middle of a village street, just in time for the hero (?) to use it to pulverize large quantities of heavily armed bad guys.

If you were wondering why Maxim rated Gymkata as 17th on its list of the worst movies of all time, now you have some idea!

More recently, from Bollywood, we find this somewhat similar concept:  bodybuilding equipment used as weapons.  This is from a 2015 movie, 'I', about 'a bodybuilder turned supermodel' (!).

Perhaps they should combine 'Gymkata' and 'I' in a Bollywood version of gymnastic bodybuilding superheroes?  On the other hand . . . perhaps not.

It's been a while since I put up a Bollywood fight scene.  I'll see if I can find a few more over-the-top examples to load later in the week.

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #940

Today's award goes to a rather . . . uniquely skilled . . . driver in the Florida Keys.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers say a two-vehicle crash Tuesday at Mile Marker 21 on Cudjoe Key was caused by a 37-year-old woman driver who was shaving her bikini area while her ex-husband took the wheel from the passenger seat.

"She said she was meeting her boyfriend in Key West and wanted to be ready for the visit," Trooper Gary Dunick said. "If I wasn't there, I wouldn't have believed it. About 10 years ago I stopped a guy in the exact same spot ... who had three or four syringes sticking out of his arm. It was just surreal and I thought, 'Nothing will ever beat this.' Well, this takes it."

If that weren't enough, Megan Mariah Barnes was not supposed to be driving and her 1995 Ford Thunderbird was not supposed to be on the road.

There's more at the link.

Leaving aside the propriety (!?!?) of her ex-husband driving with her to meet her boyfriend, the thought of shaving one's bikini area while driving a moving vehicle is just . . . I don't know.  For once, I'm at a loss for words.  A bump - or an accident like the one described in the article - might have led to a lot closer and more permanent trim than she wanted!




Peter

Progress report for "Stoke The Flames Higher"

We're one week into the launch of my latest novel, 'Stoke The Flames Higher', and things are looking good!

As of a short while ago, its sales rank was #701 in the Kindle Store as a whole (out of 4,914,341 books, novellas, short stories and other electronic publications listed in the Kindle Store at the time of writing).

At that time, it ranked #4 in Hot New Releases - Military SF, #6 in Hot New Releases - Space Opera, and #11 in Hot New Releases - Science Fiction (overall).  On the Best Sellers lists (including all SF books ever published that are available on Amazon.com), it stood at #10 in Best Sellers - Military SF, #13 in Best Sellers - Space Opera, and #47 in Best Sellers - Science Fiction (overall).

All the above rankings change on an almost hourly basis, of course, depending on the most recent sales figures.  Nevertheless, I'm very happy to be so far up the rankings, particularly after an almost 18-month hiatus from military science fiction publishing due to health problems.  It's great to know that my fan base is still strong.  Thank you all very much for your support.  I couldn't do this without you!

So far the book has 26 reviews, only one of them negative.  If you've read it, but have not yet posted a review on Amazon.com, please do so.  It's a huge help to me, in terms of letting new readers know what to expect and helping them to decide whether to buy the book themselves.  Thanks!

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #939

Today's award goes to a bunch of would-bee thieves in Florida.

Homeowner Joann Mendenhall said someone breaking into her back yard would normally be no laughing matter, but she had a little chuckle seeing suspects run from her back yard.

"They were gone like a streak of lightning," Mendenhall said.

It happened Saturday night at her home south St. Pete. Police say teenagers hopped Mendenhall's fence, but one of them landed right on top of a bee hive.

“Bees do not like to be disturbed, but especially at night," Mendenhall explained.

Needless to say, the teens didn't make it any further onto her property. Police took finger prints and called several emergency rooms to see if anyone was treated for swelling from stings.

There's more at the link.

Note to wanna-bee thieves:  Check your target before penetrating the perimeter!  Or, as wiser heads long ago decided, PPPPPPP!

Good bees.  Nice bees.  (But I'm not about to pat them on the head approvingly . . . )

(And if you like really, really good honey, remember my friend!)




Peter

I presume he's now an ex-boyfriend . . .

Revenge is sweet!

Peter

Advice to an Evil Space Princess

Friend, author and blogger Sarah Hoyt has responded to a series of questions from her fans, giving advice to a wannabe Evil Space Princess.  Some of her replies made me laugh out loud.  Here's one example.

Dear Evil Space Princess ... I would like to conquer my patch of the galaxy but I am not sure what to wear to a conquest? Any suggestions? Sincerely, Evil in Training.

Dear in Training:

If you are asking what you should personally wear, the normal attire for going on a war of conquest is black.  Black makes you look intimidating, is slimming, and, as a useful side effect it can hide blood splatter.  You know how hard it is to carry clean clothing along when your vanguard outstrips your supply lines.  And while that whole “I wash my clothes in the blood of my enemies” is very impressive, it does tend to make it look slovenly and like you’re strapped for clothes (and soap) by the end of it.

Now, if you wish to dress your minions, we encourage you to spare on clothes for the cannon fodder.  For the brutes who are just supposed to be killed, try either a loincloth or some simple whole body thing, depending on the level of technology.  Look, the stuff is just going to get shredded.  Don’t over think it.

For the troops after the cannon fodder, the actual trained marksmen in whatever level of weaponry, you should get the best protective clothing you can.  It might be just quilted wool, or it might be some super-high-tech material, but it should be the best you can afford.  Trained warriors are expensive.  Try to spare them.

The same applies to your inner guards, who should be as well protected and armed as possible.

On the other hand, your inner, largely ornamental guard, should be dressed to impress.  Depending on your preference, we recommend leather loin cloths and oiled bodies for the males, and oiled bodies and leather bikinis for females.

No one really should wear chainmail bikinis, as they heat too fast in the sun, and pinch delicate areas, but if you really feel a need to use chainmail bikinis for your minions, remember to have them lined in some quilted material.

It’s all very well to torture your minions for a purpose, but to make them wear chainmail bikinis for no reason is just evil.

There are many more at the link.  Good for a giggle this Sunday morning.

(Thinks . . . hmmm . . . Miss D. in a chainmail bikini?  I must work on that . . . )

Peter

Best book review of the year?

I laughed out loud at this proposed review of my latest novel, 'Stoke The Flames Higher', by my buddy in meatspace and cyberspace, aepilot_jim.

I've composed a review for this book and would like to run it past you before I put it up on Amazon. It goes as follows:

5 stars.
I have not read this book yet but based upon the front cover I can tell you that the character development was spot on and truly believable. The story arc from the first line of, "They call me Ishmael" to the denouement of the captain and the whale tied together in that brutal symbolic marriage had me engrossed and unable to put the front cover down till I'd finished it. I did find the sensitivity of the sand worms to vibrations to be a bit contrived at times though. And the unrequited sexual tension between Han and Lando Calrissian added just the right amount of levity to an otherwise hard boiled detective thriller. All in all I would definitely recommend this front cover to all my friends and enemies.

I've told him that if Amazon gave a 'Review of the Year' award, he might win it!




Peter

Moving day at the White House - a complex procedure

I had no idea how precisely choreographed the changeover at the White House has to be.

The president elect can't move in a minute before Inauguration Day, which is January 20. "We have to operate virtually from an off-site location and organise all the logistics there," said Bradley Blakeman in a recent interview with Elle Decor. Blakeman was former President George W. Bush's deputy assistant, and helped organise his move into the White House. "It's organised and they've got it done to a science. It's like a military manoeuver."

. . .

The Inauguration Day move-in starts when the sitting President and the First Lady have a traditional morning tea with the President-elect and his wife before heading over to Capitol Hill for the swearing-in.

Once they leave, the 93-person staff shifts into high gear. For security and privacy purposes, no outside help is hired, so the White House operations personnel and housekeeping department handles the move.

A chief usher coordinates the process, giving the White House staff floor plans and photos that show where each items goes (these are logistical issues the president-elect discusses with the chief usher beforehand), according to Slate.com.

The operations personnel does the heavy lifting while a housekeeping detail helps prepare the bedrooms, curators make sure the furnishings and décor are just so, florists worry about bouquet arrangements, and the chefs prepare the post-Inauguration dinner.

At the same time, the staff is also moving the ex-president out. Items get loaded into boxes, which get loaded into vans and then military cargo planes that carry everything to the former president's new residence.

. . .

Bradley Blakeman says that in the span of about six hours, the private residence rooms on the second level of the White House will be stripped of whatever belonged to the Obama family. Where necessary, they will be repainted, and the Trumps' belongings and furniture will be installed.

The plan involves an organisation of labour so precise that no job overlaps and no time is wasted. Staff is divided into who is carrying furniture in, who is carrying it out, who unpacks the incoming boxes and puts things away, and who takes the already-packed boxes out. Gary Walters said there are specific teams assigned to each of two elevators because otherwise things could get backed up.

There's much more at the link, including many photographs of White House decor past and present.  It makes interesting reading.

I wonder if I could borrow that changeover team to help with our next move?  (At taxpayer expense, of course!)  Just six hours to empty a room, repaint it and bring in all-new furniture and belongings?  That'd take me more like six days!




Peter

Remembering Greg Lake

A seminal, towering figure in the history of progressive rock has died of cancer at the age of 69.  Greg Lake was a founding member, first of King Crimson, then of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, two of the most important groups (founding members, if you will) in that genre of music.  His vocals, arrangements and production established him as one of the most important influences in rock music, right up there with other greats such as Ian Anderson, Robert Plant and Roger Waters.

I'm sure most of my readers need no introduction to Greg's music.  For those who may have missed it (!), here are a few brief musical sketches.  First, from King Crimson's 1969 debut album 'In The Court Of The Crimson King', the title track.  This song was rated #1 in the history of the entire progressive rock genre by Sean Murphy a few years ago.  He said of it:

Progressive rock’s Rosetta Stone, “In the Court of the Crimson King” is the purest and most perfect expression of everything this music was capable of being.

. . .

Virtually any song from this album could ably represent the whole, but the title track is an unsettling, ceaselessly astonishing track that is at once the introduction and apotheosis of what progressive rock became. It has all the important elements: impeccable musicianship from all players, rhythmic complexity, socially-conscious lyrics and an outsider’s perspective that is neither disaffected nor nihilistic. It speaks from the underground, but it is grounded in history and looking forward, not back. “In the Court of the Crimson King” is, at times, the soundtrack to an Edgar Allan Poe story and a Hieronymus Bosch painting personified: it came out of the era and the minds in which it was imagined, a dark, sensitive and psychedelic space. This song was, possibly, the first time the mellotron was utilized with such extraordinary results. Before this—and after—it was primarily used for sonic color and texture; on this song it is, improbably, the lead sound around which the drums, guitar and bass circle. Greg Lake, who would sing splendidly for most of the next decade, never sounded as urgent or vulnerable, and none of the subsequent Crimson line-ups—magnificent as they all were in their way—could conjure up such an uncanny and indescribable vibe. This work is almost unapproachable but not aloof; it is entertaining and unnerving, but its capacity to delight and astound remains inexhaustible.

This is a live performance, to better capture the visual imagery of the group, and Greg's vocals.

Next, from Emerson, Lake & Palmer's 1970 eponymous debut album, here's 'Lucky Man'.  Greg Lake wrote this when he was just 12 years old, and offered it when the band needed one last track to fill up their first album.  He later said of it:

We had just formed ELP and went right into the studio to do the first album. It was back in the days of vinyl and you needed exactly 21 minutes per side. On one side, we only had less than 18 minutes and this guy from the label said, " Hey, you need another song..." and we looked at each other and then at him and said, " Well, we don't have any more songs. We recorded everything we know...". And he just said we had one more day in the studio and told us to come up with something. So, we all sat around and looked at each other and we asked each other if we had any other songs. No one had anything, and then I mentioned that I actually had this little folk song I wrote when I was 12 years old. So, I pulled out an acoustic guitar and I played "Lucky Man" for them, which was actually the first song I ever wrote. Anyway, the other guys thought I was mad, because we had never done any acoustic music up to that point. But, I kept playing it and I laid down a guitar and vocal track. And then Carl put some percussion over it, and it sounded better. And then we did some more over dubs and it sounded even better. And then, it Keith went in and did the moog solo, which, by the way, he laid down in one take. Finally, we had the final track and it sounded OK, so we kept it. As it turned out, it was the band's biggest hit.

Here's a live version from 1974.

Finally, in more whimsical mode and appropriate to the season, here's a much older Greg Lake performing his 1975 hit 'I Believe In Father Christmas'.  This was recorded at St. Bride's Church in Fleet Street, London, a few years ago, with Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull fame) playing the flute.

There's so much more of Greg Lake's music out there, I couldn't even begin to summarize it all in a simple blog post.  He was one of the greats of his time.  I feel older at the thought of his passing . . . intimations of mortality, and all that sort of thing.  My teenage years were filled with his music.  It's sad to think there will be no more of it.

Thanks for the music, Greg.  You will be missed.  May you rest in peace.

Peter

OK, this is too cute!

Christmas penguins at the Matsue Vogel Park in Japan.

I liked the woman walking behind them with a pooper-scooper.  Some things don't change, even in the festive season!




Peter

"Fidel's Colonial Massacre"

That's the title of an article at The Daily Wire.  I've already commented on Fidel Castro's death, so I found it an interesting sidelight on the issue.  Here's an excerpt.

The Stalinist MPLA party has ruled Angola with an iron-fist since 1975, when Fidel Castro plotted with a departing Portuguese colonial official, a pro-Communist viceroy named Rosa Coutinho, to bring thousands of Cuban military personnel and tons of equipment to the Angolan capital of Luanda. With this assistance, the MPLA seized control. Rosa Coutinho then canceled the election Angola's three independence armies had agreed to — sparking a civil war that left a million Angolans dead and drew the neighboring countries and the superpowers into the conflict.

On May 27, 1977, a hard-line black nationalist faction of the MPLA attempted a coup against then MPLA leader and President Agostinho Neto. Thanks to the Cubans, the coup failed and the plotters were executed. But the killing didn't stop there.

What commenced next was a systematic campaign of terror that is the subject of Lara Pawson's book In the Name of the People: Angola's Forgotten Massacre. This book, published in 2014, is the only in-depth study of the rampage launched by the Cubans and MPLA with a speech by Neto declaring "There will be no contemplations ... Certainly we will not waste time with trials. We will be as quick as possible." They were to kill their enemies in the name of the People.

Angolans began to disappear. Not just those suspected of black nationalist sympathies, but their families — as well as anyone who would dissent from the Party. Cuban tanks were brought in to level houses in poor neighborhoods, and one Cuban doctor remembers being brought to witness a mass execution and then handed pre-written death certificates to sign, "In every case, the stated cause of death was acidente de viacao — road accident." A new term entered Angolan vocabulary, "To be sent to Cuba," which could mean literally (as thousands of Angolans were sent there to be brainwashed or trained as killers), but it also became slang for "To be sent to death."

There's more at the link.  Highly recommended reading.

Fidel Castro was a murdering monster, a callous caricature of a human being.  His death leaves this planet a somewhat better place.  When his brother Raoul joins him in the grave, it'll be even more improved.

Peter

Talk about opening a can of worms!

I note that a black lawyer has made a startling suggestion.

African-Americans live in a world where the police can murder us and get away with it. Walter Scott proved that, for anybody who still had a lingering doubt. There is no justice for black people. And yet violently revolting against the system will get us nowhere.

Maybe it’s time for black people to use the same tool white people have been using to defy a system they do not consent to: jury nullification. White juries regularly refuse to convict or indict cops for murder. White juries refuse to convict vigilantes who murder black children. White juries refuse to convict other white people for property crimes. White juries act like the law is just a guideline and their personal morality (or lack thereof) should be controlling.

Maybe it’s time minorities got in the game?

Black people lucky enough to get on a jury could use that power to acquit any person charged with a crime against white men and white male institutions. It’s not about the race of the defendant, but if the alleged victim is a white guy, or his bank, or his position, or his authority: we could acquit. Assault? Acquit. Burglary? Acquit. Insider trading? Acquit.

. . .

This is something that intellectual black people with legal training talk about. Honestly, what the hell do you expect us to do? How do white people think we’re supposed to react when we watch cops murder us and get away with it, over and over and over again? We’re just supposed to take it? Wait for America to produce nicer white people? The options for black America in the face of this state-sponsored injustice seem pretty limited.

Jury nullification at least has the benefit of being non-violent. Understand, when cops — when the armed forces of the state — can shoot me for no reason and get away with it, I am no longer living in a civil society. I’m living in the state of nature, and I have a natural right to defend myself by any means necessary. But I’m not here advocating a violent response to systematic injustice (because we’d lose). Violence has a tendency to be indiscriminate, anyway. Instead, jury nullification is more of a surgical strike on an illegitimate justice system that has failed us. And it can be accomplished without the protection of the Second Amendment (which is denied to black people anyway).

. . .

We can bitch and we can march and we can refuse to stay in Trump hotels. But until the system stops giving white people something they want — the orderly procession of justice — then they will not be motivated to change the system. I WANT CHAOS IN THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE. And you can’t accomplish that with a bomb or a gun.

But you can with an acquittal. Lots of acquittals. All the acquittals. There are counties in this country where the justice system would grind to a halt if prosecutors couldn’t find black and brown people willing to convict or indict. NOBODY CARES if they can’t get an indictment against a police officer whose only crime was the murder of an African-American. But let’s see how Preet Bharara likes it when he can’t get an indictment for political corruption (defendant accused of taking advantage of the system? Acquit.). Let’s see what happens in Brooklyn when they can’t evict anybody ever again (refusing to pay rent to a white man? Acquit.). Let’s see what happens in Hollywood when you can’t bring a case against pirates (stealing the white man’s movies? Acquit.).

. . .

White juries are using jury nullification to protect cops. But the door swings both ways. It’s time for us to push back. Civil disobedience, when used in a targeted fashion, is a powerful force.

There's more at the link.

Irrespective of the merits (or otherwise) of his views on the criminal justice system (and his completely erroneous claim about Second Amendment protections being unavailable to blacks), I fear the author ignores two stark realities.

1. He's advocating the deliberate acceptance of crime, in order to accomplish a political purpose.  If crime is never to be punished, for reasons having nothing to do with the crime itself, how can law and order survive in any form at all?  The breakdown will almost certainly be irretrievable.
2. If non-black Americans become convinced that the criminal justice system will not, in fact, deliver justice to black criminals, then they will take the law into their own hands.  You'll find that more and more black criminals are found dead at the scene of their crimes.  "Honest, officer, he tried to grab my gun!" or "He tried to escape, and put my wife at risk as she stood at the corner of the house!" or "He was shouting to his friend to get the gun from the car, so I had to shoot both of them!"  Think that won't happen?  You're living in cloud cuckoo land.  It will.  I've seen it happen in South Africa, when racial considerations colored (you should pardon the expression) the enforcement and administration of law and order - first on the white side under apartheid, then on the black side post-apartheid.  The consequences were disastrous, and they plague the people of that benighted land to this day.

I think this is a dangerously naive, short-sighted and ideologically unbalanced suggestion.  If it's adopted, expect chaos to follow.

Peter

New post at Mad Genius Club

Today's my regular day to post at Mad Genius Club, a shared author blog where we discuss books, writing, publishing and everything in between.

Today I'm discussing my latest novel, 'Stoke The Flames Higher', and the process that led to its writing and publication.  If you enjoy my books, you might find it interesting.  Click over there to read it.

More blog articles will follow here shortly, as usual.

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #938

Today's winner is a hapless thief in Brazil.

A suspect accused of robbing a jewellery shop didn't want to hang around waiting for his day in court and decided to try and make a run from his cell.

But his attempt spectacularly failed when he stripped down to just his pants in a bizarre bid to escape through the tiny food hatch.

. . .

He was eventually freed when firemen cut him out with power tools.

The man still faces court for the original theft although it is not clear whether the attempted escape has been added to his charge list.

There's more at the link.

His antics - or, rather, their aftermath - were captured on video.

I've worked in places like that.  Those hatches are made deliberately small, to prevent that sort of thing.  I'm surprised he made it as far out as he did.  Either he's a very small man, or Brazilian prison door hatches are larger than those I've seen here.

Oh, well . . . look on the bright side.  He'll have plenty of time to hatch another escape plan now!




Peter