PN:
Joe’s Comment – Sometimes temptation is too much to resist…. That’s your emotional brain in action! Here’s the companion thought, the corollary –
Won’t You Be My Queen
Joe doesn’t take his hat off to many folks, although he has great respect and admiration for many people. Indeed, some of them are still living.
This lovely lady is one of them. Her honest appraisal of the tradition she was born to and accepted as her duty and fate, won Joe over in the first minute of watching this video. Joe says if one had to choose religion or the tradition of the monarchy, he wouldn’t agonize over the choice:
Another collection of more candid and informal moments:
How about 8 things you may not know about Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York.
Here is a pictorial essay of her WWII service.
CNN has done an adequate job of piecing together some history of her incredible 65 year reign: see it here.
She has grace, she has vision, she has endured.
No wonder Joe often refers to her as his mom…..
Happy birthday (21 April, 1926)!
Happy Sapphire Jubilee!
Joe and I say long live the Queen!
NORK NORK
Joe thinks the satellite photos of North Korea speak volumes –
The fearless wannabe doG wannabe world leader actual despot of North Korea seems a shade mentally unstable; a person who has a cunning ability to squeeze concessions and materiel from the West with wild threats, manic proclamations, and delusional behavior. The recent developments have upped the threat level to “if you blink, I will draw”.
One man who has a lucid comprehension of events in this arena is John Bolton, ex US ambassador to the United Nations.
Until there is an actual “Sheriff to the World” the good old US of A will have to do. Mr. Bolton makes good points and rational conclusions.
Another “There be Dragons” situation:
Le Pen (Is Mightier Than the Sword)
Joe has been rooting for Marine Le Pen since she kicked her father out of the Front Nationale Party. She has been featured in this rant several times in the past few years.
The examples of Brexit and the Donald Trump campaign have made a win for Le Pen a possibility.
France being French, the election of a President is not as simple as one vote. Sunday’s election result (if no one person attains 51% of the ballots) requires a run-off of the two top candidates.
Marine Le Pen garnered 21.4% of the votes for second place.
Emmanuel Macron (En Marche) received 23.75% for first place.
The vote will be held on May 7th for the President.
What has made history is neither of the front runners is main stream.
Joe is cheering for Le Pen.
Macron seems to be more of the same old same old main stream Socialist Frenchman they have been electing since Charles (asshole) de Gaulle constitutionalized the Fifth Republic in 1958.
Macron is expected to win in May. Don’t count Le Pen out: the future of France is in the offing. Perhaps there are still enough real French men and women left to re-claim their country.
Joe says Marine Le Pen has bigger balls than most Frenchmen.
Best Political Cartoons of the Week
Every week political insanity gets insanitier and insanitier, berserkier and berserkier.
Q: How can you compete against someone who would fry their nose to gain a vote?
A: Sane people don’t bother.
Fortunately for cartoonists, insane “people” are out there everywhere doing their best to make a mark in history.
Some outstanding examples of the cartoonists trade this week –
Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Single Payer Health Scheme
I remember my youthful days of exposure to health professionals.
Mom and Dad would assess the severity of the infirmity, then make a decision.
Of the possible decisions ( do nothing, treat at home, take to hospital, et cetera), one I remember is the doctor coming to our house. The patient (me and Joe) would be poked and prodded, measured and tested, questioned and observed, before the doctor would make a recommendation for remedy. The parents would concur or seek other council. A cheque would be written to cover the invoice for the visit. Prescriptions if any would be phoned to the pharmacy, who had a delivery boy (before SJW and the LGBTXYZ hold the mayo gang) to bring the medicine to our house. Simple, direct, minimal paper work, patient focused.
Joe says that was smart – economical, quarantine conscious (keep the sickies away from other patients), convenient (for the patient), and more informative for the doctor, who would see the patient in situ as it were.
In the spirit of “the grass is always greener”, politicians, bureaucrats, Statists, Commie Bastards, and the poor / stupid / stupid and poor / helpless / disabled / incapacitated they have sworn to protect are always looking for that magical “Health Care Solution®” which will cure all that ails.
Usually at someone else’s expense.
Joe and I aren’t saying don’t help those who cannot help themselves.
Joe and I are saying keep government involvement (at any level, in any capacity) to an absolute minimum to ensure any use of tax revenue is prudently spent.
That’s all.
Government run health care is a quagmire of $$$, moral questionability, coercion, bureaucracy, confidentiality, and whatever other “ities” you can imagine.
How did the defense of borders, the policing of society, and the security of the financial system turn into a “cradle to grave” responsibility?
Joe says where have you been? Lying cheating whoring politicians have been promising these solutions to an uneducated populace for as long as there have been representative governments that are elected.
Prager University explains how much of a problem that is. The numbers are truly staggering – both in number served, annual operation cost, shear magnitude of infrastructure required. After serving the employees and the cost of maintaining / operating the infrastructure, there is nothing left for the patients!:
Feminazi vs Feminist
Joe shut his ear flaps to the official Feminist Movement™ years ago.
His rationale is along these lines: the Law of the Land is written for the smallest minority: the Individual. That includes women. And men. And whatever / whoever else is identified as a citizen. Hence, if you have a grievance, there is a legal avenue to remedy the flaw(s) identified. If there isn’t, that is the work of the Parliament.
Joe is such a dreamer.
I, on the other hand, struggle to follow the latest illogic from those quarters, contrasted with the absolute cricket-less silence regarding the plight of women in the Islamic world. Me thinks there is some lipstick on a pig here somewhere.
Conversations with Gayle H. have woken Joe, one ear to the rail, one bleary eye on the horizon.
Joe says perhaps there is a parallel in the “World o’ Women” whereby a worthwhile educational movement for both genders has been hijacked by “radicals” and has been driven pell-mell into a crowded demanding unhinged culture at break-neck speed.
Or it is a lot of shit.
A woman from Australia is changing Joe’s perception.
Here is Janet Albrechtsen speaking our language:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b0nKVdGDEM
I Side With
Joe and I reiterate again and again……
Donald Trump was not our first choice. Nor our second.
We have since had occasion to give our collective head a shake.
The website ISideWith.com has a 2017 Political Quiz which Joe and I took (click on the link to take it). Here is our result –
Joe and I share a political perspective: theoretically, we are Libertarian. Practically, we are conservative with a reluctant small “c”. Were we voting in America and registered, we would register as Independent. One thing President Trump (Old Orange Hair) has done in his short tenure is expose just how corrupt both official parties are. Joe and I don’t need no stinkin’ Democrats or Republicans.
Our heads dance with the prospect of being an ignorant, sexist, fascist (etc.) after the style of The Donald.
As Canadians, much the same with our 5 party = 2 party system. We were strong Harper supporters. Haven’t liked a Liberal, ever. Much like the American landscape, there be dragons, and the dragons are very much inclined to be self serving.
We strongly recommend a qualification quiz before a person votes. It ain’t “democratic” but what is?
Hurl your approbation or insults as (you wish) in the “Comments” box.
One caveat: perhaps you should take the quiz (do the long quiz – “more questions”) before you sling mud. You may surprise yourself.
Thomas Sowell Excellence
Joe is a great fan of Thomas Sowell.
I too order and read books written by Mr. Sowell, watch YouTube videos, read articles on the Internet.
Here is Dr. Sowell discussing the appeasement of public concern to “do something” with “Varieties of Nothing”:
POLITICS, POLITICIANS, WACKJOBBERY, HUMOROUS, STUPID
SUNDAY SERMON
One of the best data-miners in the world today is Charles Murray.
He revels in analyzing data and distilling facts, trends, observations, and anything else a social scientist might find informative.
In the following interview with Peter Robinson of The Hoover Institution, Dr. Murray answers questions about his most recent book, “Coming Apart”:
WEATHER (OR NOT)
This week in Vernon has been a continuation of monsoon season.
The sump pump has been running for 12 hours a day, week after week, for a month.
The neighbor across the street has a small pond in her front yard. The chorus of frogs every night (and day!) is outroarous. Loud, too.
Seems we are having a ’74 Spring (rain, rain, go away!), after a ’96 Winter (how low can you go?).
If the doGs favor us, perhaps we’ll get a ’72 Summer (hot cloudless days for 3 months).
Joe says keep dreaming. Weather is unpredictable, as is climate.
Spoiler alert!
Joe (soggy) Mekanic
p.s. Ramirez is icing on a cake –