Heh.
David Starkey is a historian (speciality: Tudor Britain), TV presenter and a waspish old queen. He was once described as “rudest man in Britain”. He’s another one that made the journey from left to right and he’s generally worth listening to.
He’s been cancelled more times than you’ve had TV dinners (are there still TV dinners?). Like:
Starkey suggested that people should not “go on about” slavery because it had been abolished in 1833 and that “slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain would there? An awful lot of them survived”.
And:
Starkey said that “white culture” is under threat from the Black Lives Matter movement and proponents of critical race theory who are “not what they pretend to be” and who he described are attempting to destroy “the entire legitimacy of the Western cultural tradition”. He stated that said conservatives had to defend the “uniqueness of the Anglo-American tradition” against “barbarians”.
He disputed the “idea that they are there to defend black lives” as “preposterous”, saying that “they only care about the symbolic destruction of white culture” that they see as “fundamentally morally defective”, comparing it to “exactly what was done to German culture because of Nazism and the Holocaust”.
Anyway, he gave a great talk yesterday about the future of the right. It’s about British politics, so probably not of interest to many here, but I thought it was worth a post for the quote at the top alone.
March 17, 2025 — 7:17 pm
Comments: 7
Other things that don’t look good in black and white
This amazing sky. To be honest, it doesn’t really translate in color, either. Big landscapes don’t work on little screens.
We were driving across the countryside and it was alternately sunshine and squally clouds. This moment there was rain and dark cloud a head, but a shaft of sun came down and lit up the rain. It was extraordinary.
Did any of you see the blood moon? It was cloudy here.
Good weekend, all!
March 14, 2025 — 5:57 pm
Comments: 12
Sad stories
My first two chickens. The one on the right died at three and the one on the left lived to be eight and was never the same. Never made another friend, fed alone. Although, to be fair, she was always a little crazy.
Across the threshold this afternoon came this article from Backyard Chickens – “Do Poultry Mourn Over The Loss Of A Flock Mate?” It’s full of sad stories.
On second thought, don’t read it. It’s sad.
p.s. chickens are another thing that doesn’t work in black and white. You really need to see that red comb to figure out what the heck you’re looking at.
March 13, 2025 — 8:06 pm
Comments: 4
A decision was made
I got nothing. I’ve spent my afternoon writing up the minutes of a meeting of the art club I am somehow still the secretary of. These people really love their minuted meetings.
You know what sucks? I hate taking minutes, and I’m really good at it.
March 12, 2025 — 7:13 pm
Comments: 14
I’ll put up with the restless leg, thanks
“Patients prescribed drugs for movement disorders – including restless leg syndrome (RLS) – say doctors did not warn them about serious side effects that led them to seek out risky sexual behaviour.” Sure, Jan.
The article was light on specifics, but they firmly defined the sexual desires as deviant. One man went pedo and went to jail for it. Also, gambling sprees.
I have to be pretty seriously impaired to seek out a pharmaceutical solution these days.
Grok outdid itself this time. I asked it for a weasel on its back waving its back paws in the air, and I got one with no front paws and another with three front paws. I got a pretty good one but the weasel had a giant head and another one with a second weasel head popping up out of the grass staring back.
I don’t think you ever get the same picture twice and I’ve become a little neurotic about closing the window without saving. It’s like but I’ll never see that one again.
March 11, 2025 — 6:51 pm
Comments: 7
You sure you want to go there?
Yesterday was the second annual Covid Day of Reflection. Yes, really.
On Sunday 9 March 2025, people are invited to:
• remember and commemorate those who lost their lives since the pandemic began
• reflect on the sacrifices made by many, and on the impact of the pandemic on us all
• pay tribute to the work of health and social care staff, frontline workers and researchers
• appreciate those who volunteered and showed acts of kindness during this unprecedented time
That memorial wall! I was unaware of it last year. I only caught wind of it this year because of the absolute ridicule it got on social media, where everyone:
• remembered and commemorated those who weren’t given the right medication to treat the disease, were killed by being put on ventilators or died via vaccine
• reflected on the incompetent boobs who did pretty much everything wrong and still somehow amassed giant fortunes
• paid tribute to the NHS nurses who gave us obviously choreographed and rehearsed dance routines when they were supposed to be worked to the bone
Damn, I wish I’d kept a diary.
So, sing out. What do you think happened? You can choose more than one, but some are mutually exclusive.
1. Nothing at all. It was a perfectly normal flu season with no excess mortality.
2. Covid was a real disease that caused a real epidemic. It started out strong and then, as viruses do, it petered out.
3. Covid was a serious global pandemic that killed lots of people.
4. All those videos of Chinese people falling dead in the street? Total psyop. That somehow Western governments played into for their own reasons.
5. It was a dry run for future climate lockdowns and 15-minute cities.
6. It was a bioweapon accidentally released by a Chinese lab.
7. It was a bioweapon deliberately released so they could experiment with lockdowns.
Bonus question:
8. Do you think our authoritarian lords and masters are pleased with how it went?
March 10, 2025 — 6:37 pm
Comments: 13
I do believe I have quit my job, y’all
Well, retired from my job. I’m hoping to keep some of the fun stuff, probably as a volunteer.
If you were under the impression I was hired for my scholarship and research abilities, let me disabuse you. I was the office manager. I paid bills and emptied the trash and made sure there was toilet paper.
After all that was done, I could do some fun stuff. Which increasingly was never.
It’s going to take a while. Current management has no idea how much I do, but they’re about to find out.
The illustration is Grok, unedited. It did a pretty good job. There are a couple of AI tells – there’s no arm to the chair, but an extra strip of webbing is hanging down where the arm should be. And the lead edge of the chair has extraneous tubing, like maybe the model had a foot rest?
I liked this one better, but it was too square for the blog format.
Have a good weekend!
March 7, 2025 — 6:08 pm
Comments: 14
Owww…
I went looking for this video and suddenly couldn’t find it on my timeline. So I did an X search for “cringe” and it was the top hit. True story.
I never played Street Fighter, but I gather that’s the character selection screen they’re imitating.
“We’ve lost young men! How do we get them back?”
“Hm. Young men like vidya games, don’t they?”
God, somebody needs firing for this. And the stupid bitches couldn’t give me an even number of clips so I could fit them all on screen (I left off Crockett who, of all of them, looked like she understood the assignment).
Lady #3 looks like she’s about to take a dump on the carpet.
March 6, 2025 — 7:02 pm
Comments: 8
Flowers look stupid in black and white
Flowers, food and sometimes chickens (not seeing that red comb makes a difference).
What a day! The first lovely, sunny day of 2025. It was a hard frost last night, but warm enough in the sun to sit outside and read by midday.
Okay, I was reading Twitter on my phone. I am terminally online.
These are crocuses growing in my lawn. Or violets. Whatever, they’re purple.
They’re my excuse for not mowing.
March 5, 2025 — 6:35 pm
Comments: 1
This is a game changer
The first website I ever remember seeing was Find the Spam. Some internet wag has preserved it for the ages. Enjoy.
But I’m not here to discuss Find the Spam. I’m here to talk about Spam! Lumme some Spam. Popular the world over.
Wikipedia tells me “sandwich de Mezcla is a party staple in Puerto Rico containing Spam, Velveeta, and pimientos (made into a spread) between two slices of sandwich bread.” Sounds wonderful.
Hawaiians can’t get enough of the stuff, consuming 7 million cans a year. They sell it in Burger King! Guam hosts the Spam Games, where people compete to win a prize for the best original Spam recipe. The Philippines see Spam as a cultural icon.
They market it differently in China. The formula is meatier and they sell it as a premium import. Luxury Spam. Funny old world.
In the UK, they sell battered and deep fried Spam fritters. And I know this is true because they offer it at our local fish and chips shop (only in the sit-down restaurant; you can’t get it for takeaway).
Okay, it strikes out in the Middle East.
Anyway, anyway…marvelous news. YOU CAN FREEZE SPAM! It’s true! You can slice it up, bag it up and freeze it and have wonderful Spam any time you want. No more opening a can of Spam and after three or four meals – Hormel forgive me – you’ve had enough and the rest goes in the bin.
Thought I should share the glad tidings.
March 4, 2025 — 7:34 pm
Comments: 18