I usually like to do feasts (or at least mini-feasts) around the sabbats, and for Imbolc I nearly always make gumbo. Last time I ordered andouille from Louisiana I had the foresight to get six pounds, and froze most of it, so I just pulled out some of that and a package of frozen chicken thighs a few days before and I was all set. This time I decided to make a king cake as well, so Tuesday was spent making the potato salad and pre-cooking the chicken, then Wednesday all I had to do was make the king cake in the early afternoon and the gumbo later. Grace is diabetic, so I left one section of the cake without the traditional glaze and colored sugar so she could have a treat, because the “cake” itself is just a sweet brioche, with probably less sugar than most commercial cinnamon rolls (I mean without glaze). We had some friends over, so everything disappeared before I remembered to take a picture of any of it. The only thing left as of this writing is some potato salad and one mug of gumbo, so a picture of that will have to do. However, if you want the recipes for any of the things I made, just follow the embedded links!
Archive for February, 2022
Diary #606
Posted in Diary, tagged holidays, recipes on February 8, 2022| 1 Comment »
Brand “X”
Posted in Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged left-right myth, politicians, psychology on February 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Silly modern hair-splitting of barely-different sects of authoritarians might as well be based upon what brand of laundry detergent they use for all the difference in their observable behavior. The two main differences between US authoritarian brands are 1) who they want running the show; and 2) which individual rights and liberties they deem threatening to the state; the only personal freedoms any sect of authoritarians embrace are those deemed incidental, unimportant, or unthreatening to the state or collective. Different groups of authoritarians create different pseudointellectual excuses for “why” they want to control individuals, and their varying hangups and issues cause them to fixate on different groups of individuals. But all authoritarians want collectivized control of individuals because their fragile minds feel out of control of a world of billions of individuals being individual. There is no intellectual process involved, merely primitive emotional ones; all excuses for authoritarianism, no matter how academic and impressive the wording they use to justify those fixations to the cognitively-lazy, are nothing more than the moans of frightened cave-children cowering in the dark at night-noises outside. Actual civilized adults are comfortable with individuals being individual, without any sick need to target them with violent attempts at control.
Links #605
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged Alabama, animals, censorship, cops, drugs, Facebook, Florida, Never Call the Cops, Tennessee, video on February 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »
That post you put on Facebook…any more…like that…and it’ll be far worse than a ticket. – unnamed Brookside, Alabama cop
Don Wilson of the Ventures was probably the most influential rhythm guitarist of all time, putting his stamp on the surf sound of the early ’60s in a string of hits, of which this week’s video was the first. The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker, Dave Krueger, Cop Crisis (x2), Radley Balko, and Popehat, in that order.
- R.I.P. Don Wilson.
- Headline of the week.
- I’m sure you feel safer now.
- Why is “not for any reason” so hard for people to grasp?
- Crime: standing on highway. Penalty: execution by firing squad.
- A whole gang of Alabama cops demonstrating exactly what they are.
From the Archives
- This histrionic has-been has made a rotting moral panic her whole career.
- Trumpists & anti-Trumpists fight to control the “sex trafficking” narrative.
- I hate anal sex but my husband keeps pestering me for it; what do I do?
- “Sex traffickers” have spread from big stores to gas station mini-marts.
- Don’t be fooled by this “shutdown”; it’ll be back in an even-worse form.
- A man has been convicted of “crimes” against people who do not exist.
- The Dutch scheme to Disnify De Wallen is no longer merely a scheme.
- Oh noes, they contaminated public places with their eeeevul sex rays!
- Florida “authorities” commit atrocities in the name of “sex trafficking”.
- What kind of sick mind thinks hunting & raping women “builds trust”?
- “The state should not be putting people in cages for consensual sex.”
- Another cop scam to shore up the dying “sex trafficking” mythology.
- Virginia screws sexually assault women like this on a regular basis.
- “Who are you to forbid me from doing what I want with my body?”
- Even I’m impressed with the speed this is happening in New York.
- Pathetic public promotions of misogynistic masturbatory material.
- I’m sure the US Army really cares about “diversity and inclusion”.
- “Give me your huddled masses, so I can lock them in dungeons”.
- Does this anti-whore bullshit spring from the film or its reviewer?
- Take a guess why this woman hates sex workers. Go on, guess.
- They’re trying to cut off sex worker access to travel worldwide.
- Cops, politicians, buttholes, dinosaurs in love, and much more.
- Oh look, a psychopathic rapist-murderer cop has raped before.
- We haven’t seen a case of white van hysteria in almost a year.
- The verbal equivalent of vomiting up gallons of toxic diarrhea.
- Cops, satire, Cloris Leachman, Cicely Tyson, and much more.
- Judge denies prosecutors’ wish to keep nonconsensual porn.
- I wonder if most cops are even capable of telling the truth?
- My advice to foster parents who really, truly want to help.
- Tara Burns on the “But she’s a whore!” defense for rape.
- Still doubt that politicians are deranged megalomaniacs?
- Cops, Sweden, government, Meat Loaf and much more.
- Notice how often predatory cops’ victims are underage?
- One of the greatest legal abominations ever conceived.
- “The crime was sexually motivated”. No shit, really?
- Another obituary of Margo St. James from 48 Hills.
- People sometimes ask why I’m not on Facebook.
- Michael Bloomberg vs. Melissa Petro’s sex rays.
- Are most cops even capable of telling the truth?
- White van hysteria appears to be broadening.
- The Miami Herald‘s Super Bowl tragedy porn.
- The US is following in the footsteps of China.
- The US has regularly done this for decades.
- Sex workers cannot cure violent misogyny.
- I make gumbo for the first time in a while.
- A number of things fall quietly into place.
- My two previous columns for Imbolc.
- The arrival of our standby generator.
- We’re way past the watershed now.
- A circle-jerk of prudish teamsters.
- Job opportunities with Prostasia.
- The “security” system that isn’t.
- How bisexual is Maggie?
- Rapist cop of the week.
- The right kind of snow.
In the News (#1209)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged A Woman's Point of View, abortion, censorship, Colorado, cops, Do As I Say, hysteria, Idaho, Ireland, law, libraries, Michigan, Mississippi, Moving Pictures, New Hampshire, Oregon, politicians, porn, pregnancy, propaganda, rape, Soap Opera, Swedish model, The Course of a Disease, The Mob Rules, Thought Control, To Molest and Rape, violence vs. sex workers, Washington (state) on February 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I see the [police] as a threat rather than as a shield. – an Irish sex worker
Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#830) 
Woman who made a career in non-consensually harming people thinks being a sex worker is shameful:
A Colorado s[ow] retired with a $30,000 separation agreement instead of facing an internal investigation over [her] OnlyFans page…Melissa Williams…was [a state thug] for 28 years, spending the last [few] years [tormenting human beings locked in cages]…She had the OnlyFans account for 18 months without any problems, but then coworkers found out and a [fellow sow squealed on her]…Williams [denied]…being a sex worker…[apparently believing that being] pa[id for porn is not]…sex…[work if you happen to be a state employed thug who is not wearing her magical clown costume at the time, or something]…
This case also bears a few similarities to that of Kristen Hyman, who left a job inflicting violence consensually for one where she could inflict it non-consensually.
I wonder how many more Reefer Madness-style fakeumentaries we’ll see before the final implosion?
The Wayne County [Michigan] Medical Society Foundation produced a [bizarre, fact-free propaganda film promoting popular fantasies about] Human Sex Trafficking and pornography [with the rather clumsy title]…Men Who Buy Sex—Everybody Pays…It is the goal and mission of the Wayne County Medical Society Foundation to [push for the dangerous, destructive Swedish model]…The[y]…previously produced [a similar propaganda film entitled]…Stuck In Traffic: Modern-Day Slavery In Michigan. This film is geared to high school and college students to [indoctrinate] them [i]n [pro-police state sex panic]…Th[e]…film highlights [professional “]survivor[“]…Theresa Flores…
The Course of a Disease (#1074)
Just as sex workers said would happen before this terrible law was imposed:
Ireland’s decision to criminalise prostitution is “facilitating” harassment of sex workers and violent attacks against them, a scathing new report has found. Research carried out by Amnesty International warned [Swedish-style criminalization inflicted] in 2017 was driving sex workers to put their lives at risk in a desperate bid to dodge the police…
Another specimen of the garbage the state pays to violate kids:
A [typical and representative] Newport [Washington cop]…sexual[ly] abuse[d]…a minor under the age of 16…Raul Lopez was [paid by the state to stalk, harass, and spy on students]…at the Newport Unified School District…[but he raped the girl] in Bonner County, Idaho…
A Woman’s Point of View (#1192)
This is why we can’t have nice things:
An advocacy group seeking to decriminalize sex work through a ballot initiative withdrew its petition Jan. 21. “We are fully committed to decriminalizing and destigmatizing sex work in Oregon,” [said] Anne Marie Bäckstöm, political director of the Sex Worker Rights campaign…“We withdrew Initiative Petition 42 to take a chance and tweak and improve the policy”…Aaron Boonshoft, the chief petitioner whom the campaign describes as “an Oregon philanthropist, an advocate of human rights, and a client of legal, consensual sex work,” made the decision to withdraw…
Until SCOTUS acts, this will only get worse:
The…Texas [abortion ban]…allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or people who help a [woman]…get an abortion after six weeks’ gestation, but…a bill proposed in New Hampshire…would let…[a man] claim[ing] to be the…“biological father”…go to court and request an injunction that would prohibit the…[mother]…from getting an abortion…successful [plaintiffs]…would need to cover all prenatal medical expenses not covered by insurance and pay $250 a month for “adequate nutrition”—though notably that support ends…[after] birth. If the pregnant [woman] doesn’t show up to the hearing, the judge would grant an automatic injunction blocking the abortion—no exceptions. If they get an abortion anyway the court could hold them in “civil or criminal contempt,” without listing specific penalties…
There is nothing as contagious as a bad idea:
Ridgeland [Mississippi] Mayor Gene McGee is [illegally] withholding $110,000 of funding from the Madison County Library System…on the basis of his personal religious beliefs…he has demanded that the system initiate a purge of LGBTQ+ books before his office releases the money…the library director…explained to the mayor that the library system, as a public entity, was not a religious institution…[but] the mayor [is a power-mad fanatic]…the library…board…asked Bob Sanders, counsel for the library board, if the mayor had any legal authority to override the contract with the library system and the decision of the aldermen. “Uh, no.” Sanders said flatly…
Annex 56
Posted in Diary, tagged Sunset on February 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The dry weather continued just long enough for me to get all the steel done for the next section of roof; this one was a bit trickier because we actually had to build two sections together, the triangular structure occupying most of this picture and another, inverted triangle between it and the previous leaf. It’s a bit hard to see in this picture because the sheet metal is in the way, but if you look closely to the left of center, it’s the area in which the ladder is visible. I spent a lot of time on that ladder last Friday, welding the sections I couldn’t reach from the roof of the shop, but I’m less nervous about it than I was doing the previous section because there’s now enough structure for me to rest my weight on, so I’m not just balancing precariously atop the ladder while trying to weld. It probably also helps that I’m getting better at welding; my welds are ugly as sin, but they’re good and solid and I’m getting better at judging how much current to use, how long to hold each tack, etc. That came in handy with the aforementioned inverted triangle, because its top was far too wide to span with an unsupported cee purlin, which meant welding that cross-piece into place; it’s the bit that looks like it’s supporting the top of that sheet metal, but that’s a trick of perspective because there’s actually an appreciable gap between the two. The next day we put in a cross-support prior to adding the purlins, but you’ll see that in my next report, which will feature a picture of the mostly-complete roof section from below.
Blake’s 2
Posted in Miscellaneous, Perception, Tyranny, tagged acting, imaginative fiction, psychology, Reviews, United Kingdom on February 3, 2022| 2 Comments »
Continuing my thoughts on the classic BBC sci-fi series Blake’s 7, which ran from 1978-81. The first part was published a week ago today.
One of the things I found most notable about the series was its treatment of women. In the 1970s, there was a lot of talk about what was then still called “women’s lib”, and futuristic societies were generally depicted as more sexually egalitarian. But while even Star Trek wasn’t ready to depict women in the highest positions of authority (such as starship command or supervillain status), and action chicks were generally superhuman in some way (eg, Wonder Woman or the Bionic Woman), Blake’s 7 casually depicted female characters kicking butt, working as ship captains or judges, and even holding high military posts. While US shows of the period felt they had to shout and gesticulate about how emancipated their female characters were (Star Trek: The Next Generation is one prime example), Blake’s 7 just presented it as the way things were, with little if any explicit comment on the subject. And while most US & UK shows still have a tendency to de-sex powerful female characters, Supreme Commander (later President) Servelan was both very powerful and very feminine, showing off a different fashionable outfit in every episode while implementing plans so evil and shockingly-indifferent to human life they would’ve impressed The Master or Darth Vader. We’re told Servalan comes from a very powerful and connected family, and the implication seems to be that her sexuality played a major role in her ascension to the purple; Jacqueline Pearce portrayed her perfectly as a totally spoiled, amoral, narcissistic psychopath who has always gotten her way and intends to keep it that way. I really enjoy watching the character; it’s rare that a TV show dares to depict a character so utterly and unrepentantly vile, greedy, treacherous, degenerate, and morally grotesque without making them into a complete caricature. One episode in particular really displayed her in full; in the third-season episode Children of Auron she uses persuasion and threat to convince those in charge of a cloning facility on a distant and long-independent colony world to produce a batch of clones using her genetic blueprint, so that she will have an army of her own children. After she is tricked into destroying the entire brood, she weeps for her lost children, because Servalan is so narcissistic she could only truly love herself, and clones are as close to that as she can get. Thereafter, she only ever wears black, apparently in mourning.
Other female characters in the show tend to also be well-rounded, though there were a few episodes in the second season where the male writers seemed unsure of what to do with the two female crew members and so mostly left them babysitting the ship, a development which caused Sally Knyvette (Jenna) to leave the series at the end of that season. The telepathic Cally stayed on for another season, but like Next Generation‘s Deana Troi most writers seemed to see her more as a plot device than a person. Jenna’s replacement, the teenaged mistress-of-all-arms Dayna, is the best of the non-original characters, but Cally’s replacement Soolin never develops much beyond her description, “female gunslinger”.
Meanwhile, in the real world, two episodes (one each in seasons C and D) were written by Tanith Lee, a clever and creative writer who draws heavily on fairy-tale imagery and motifs and rarely disappoints; her second episode, “Sand”, is one of the best in the entire series and provides even more character development for Servalan, who admits to have actually loved another human once, at 18, before “power became my lover”.
Look for much more about the series’ characters, characterization and writing next week.
Imbolc 2022
Posted in Holidays, tagged holidays, paganism on February 2, 2022| 1 Comment »
May the reawakening of the world bring with it the reawakening of good things you thought gone forever. Blessed Be!
Diary #605
Posted in Diary, tagged imaginative fiction, Presents on February 1, 2022| 1 Comment »
Probably every bibliophile suffers from that syndrome where they buy books and then take a very long time to get around to reading them. I’m certainly no exception, but I also do it with DVDs, both movies and even entire TV series. In the latter case, it’s because I don’t actually devote a lot of time to video (the two-hours-before-bedtime viewing Grace and I have practiced for some time now is the most time I’ve invested in video entertainment since the late Oughts) and I really need to be in the right mood for any given show. But since we recently finished Blake’s 7, I wanted more late ’70s British sci-fi and we decided to watch this show. I put it on my wishlist years ago due to the presence of Louise Jameson (who played Leela in Doctor Who from 1977-78) and a reader bought it for me seven years ago, but I somehow never found the right opportunity to watch it. Well, now I have and I’m sorry I waited so long, because it’s excellent; the series is only ten episodes long, and wasn’t renewed because it attracted the attention of the self-appointed TV watchdogs who were so common in the late ’70s and early ’80s (the kind who raised a huge public stink about any show that might be too intense for a timid 6-year-old with a nervous disorder). If you enjoyed The X-Files, you’ll probably enjoy this as well because it has many similar elements (members of a government agency investigate paranormal events and uncover a huge and sinister conspiracy); unfortunately, it has dramatically increased in price on Amazon since it was on my list, but sometimes that’s a temporary thing so you may want to keep your eyes on it in case the price drops. It’s spooky, engaging, well-written, well-acted, often intense, and doesn’t assume its viewers are idiots.
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