Yes, typical sea scenes. Who wins, dog or monkey? Your call.
LSP
An old friend asked me over drinks at the Club, "I say, are you a, a... a Putinist?" and I looked him straight in the eye and asked, "Do you think whipping P. Riot was a good thing and that a flat 13% tax is a bad thing, to say nothing of supporting the Church? Perhaps you're on the risible side of Jarvis Cocker and the rest of the Trans Rainbow GloboHomo collective."
My friend, who learns Sanskrit by way of hobby, replied, "Maybe you need to grow up, so-called 'LSP.'" I looked at him, silhouetted by Midlothian axes and life-sized marble statues of Gladstone, "My dear fellow, I'm afraid that boat's already sailed."
Clubland forever,
LSP
Well done, we made it to 2024, no small feat, and local friendlies celebrated the fact with whoops and fireworks which bombed across the firmament like the guns of Kursk. There was traditional gunfire too, off on the edge of town by the sound of it, maybe a pistol or two. All very exciting, and I joined in the fun by setting off a few strips of firecrackers, drawing a big round of Mexican applause.
Fun. Then it was time to head to bed and another installment of Iain Pears' excellent Arcadia, check it out. Today? A brisk walk with an excited dog to the Pick 'n Steal via the Olde Meth Shacke, which is being refurbed by Pedro and his crew.
Gone are the days of ne'er do wells lolling shirtless and witless in their ragged pajama bottoms, behold instead the new advent of hard at work artisans from south of the border doing their thing. Good for them, though I miss the spectacle of meth shackery, being a creature of tradition.
Now, safely back at the Compound, we reflect on the coming year, what will it bring? Good question, and I'm not a betting man but I'll wager my fighting monkey against any ten of your wymmxn priestesses, yes, ten, that 2024 will be even crazier than bad old '23.
Cheers,
LSP
Again, many thanks to the kind reader who sent me The Cat From Hue, what an excellent book, read it. That in mind, one of its themes is the author's increasing and in the end utter distrust of the MACV establishment account of the war.
John Laurence came to believe MACV was lying and he was in the right place to know, he covered the war at its sharp end for a solid five years (1965-70). You see, he was being told at press conferences that we were unequivocally winning and he knew we weren't, at least in terms of big picture.
Plaudit aside, things have moved on and the likes of Laurence, Dana Stone, Tim Page, Michael Herr, Sean Flynn et al wouldn't be tolerated. In fairness, why should the US warfighting hegemon tolerate a potentially subversive element. Then again, the reverse side of the medal says that that same hegemon shouldn't lie at the expense of lives and the enrichment of its pocketbook.
So to what extent are we being lied to about the Ukraine conflict? I'll wager the monkey, and he's a vicious little beast, that we shouldn't believe half of what we're told, and that's a conservative wager. Bets on?
Yes, you see that right, the Ukrainian colors have been added to the Trans Pride flag. All those Ukrainians are fighting and dying for Joe Biden's "greatest civil rights issue of our time," trans rights. Because, you know, getting a sex change is a really important civil liberty thing.
You'll note the original Rainbow Banner of Gayness is shrinking under an aggressive assault by forward moving chevrons and we have to ask, what will be left of the Rainbow Banner's fruity cheery colors as the West lurches into stainless steel, liberal Fascism. Intuition says stay tuned for the caring, tolerant, laughing face of Sonnenrad. But don't worry, in the meanwhile we have NATO, i.e. the US:
The U.S. Army is reportedly proposing a new policy that would allow soldiers to request a move to a new base if they believe they face discrimination from local or state laws on the basis of gender, sex, religion, race or pregnancy.
The move would change an existing policy that allows personnel to seek a move to help them cope with family problems.
In effect, it would allow soldiers to declare certain states to be too racist or homophobic for them to live there.
It's Regency London, the Westminster Pit, some five years after the Corsican upstart met his nemesis at Waterloo. Candlelit faces gleam with anticipation, and it's on, "Gennellmen, place your bets!"
A monkey emerges from shadow into the ring, club high, fangs barred, simian snarling. Yes, this is Jacco and he's not alone, a dog growls, ferocious, it is Puss, the favourite. Fight.
A flash of gold in the wings, of real money, "Wager a guinea on the monkey, eh? Devil take the hindmost." Hat, stock, cane and guinea purse agree, "Hindmost? Twice up and double on the ape, damme." And the monkey wins against the odds. Triumph. A short clip back to St. James, White's and...
It's North Central Texas, Anno Domini 2021, with a hot sun blazing from a blue sky. "How much you want for this pipe?" Silence is golden, "You tell me," and business concluded. Not as racy perhaps as the Pit, but no less good for all that.
If you look hard enough, there's a frontier, country, equivalency between the two.
Time travel's weird like that.
LSP
City of Seattle to workers: undo your whiteness. pic.twitter.com/Jv7TrUqD7V— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 10, 2020