I love competitive #Wokeness.
No, seriously — it’s high time you people out in the real world got to experience one of the defining joys of life in the ivory tower. In the ivy-covered halls of academe, the Marxist Postcolonialist Feminsts have longstanding beef with the Postcolonialist Feminist Marxists. They’d each happily feed the other into a wood chipper, even though to outsiders it would look like the pot executing the kettle for counterrevolutionary crimes. If you’re the sort who takes schadenfreudy delight in very obvious folly, university life is hilarious.
It’s even funnier if you take these buffoons at their word. Compared to the pronouncements of your average Angry Studies professor, Pol Pot was a sane and balanced man. In reality, of course, university people are so soft and coddled, they make the Eloi look like the Sons of Anarchy. Spending so much time around college folk is one of the main reasons for my mantra: “Today’s SJW is tomorrow’s obergruppenfuhrer.” They talk a fearsome game, these campus Ches, but they cry if the cafeteria is out of free trade sustainably sourced indigenous grown gluten free soy milk. When the zeitgeist shifts, they’ll be the first to knuckle under.
Severian, “The Reluctant Revolutionary”, Rotten Chestnuts, 2019-04-05.
May 7, 2019
QotD: Competitive Wokeness
May 6, 2019
Queen Nzinga – The Double Queen – Extra History – #2
Extra Credits
Published on 4 May 2019Nzinga was briefly, temporarily supplanted by Ngola Hari who had been installed by the Portuguese, but she was determined to let nothing get in the way of keeping West Africa safe from colonial powers. To achieve this end, she would go on to form — and break, as she pleased — alliances with the Dutch, the Imbangala, and even the Catholic Church!
Thanks again to Cassandra Khaw for guest-writing this mini-series!
Join us on Patreon! http://bit.ly/EHPatreon
From the comments:
Extra Credits
Queen Nzinga is a woman who, despite being one of the best-documented rulers in early modern Africa, still presents a puzzle. Her record, from ambitious noble, to guerrilla fighter, to consummate diplomat and religious reformer is still haunted by myths conjured up by her enemies — and a few constructed by Nzinga herself.Catch our Lies episode next week for behind-the-scenes on our research for the Siege of Vienna and Queen Nzinga series!
Tree of Life Explorer
A tweet from Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) included this graphic, which is a static version of the full Tree of Life Explorer (which is well worth a visit):
Mers El Kebir: When The British Blew Up the French Fleet
Historigraph
Published on 4 May 2019Join us in #WarThunder for free using this link and get a premium tank or aircraft and three days of premium time as a bonus: https://gjn.link/Historigraph/190504
If you enjoyed this video and want to see more made, consider supporting my efforts on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/historigraph
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#WarThunder #MersElKebir #Historigraph
► Twitter: https://twitter.com/historigraph
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►Discord: https://discord.gg/vAFTK2DSources:
Colin Smith, England’s Last War Against France: Fighting Vichy 1940-42
Stephen Roskill, Churchill and the Admirals
Correli Barnett, Engage the enemy more closely
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/frgea…
Music:
Rynos Theme, Incompetech https://incompetech.com
Malicious, Incompetech https://incompetech.com
Crypto, Incompetech https://incompetech.com
“Casual sex” isn’t actually all that casual to most women
Suzanne Venker makes the case that the innate physiological and psychological differences between men and women accounting for most women’s much lower comfort level with “no-strings-attached” sexual encounters:
The differences between women and men are vast, and in no domain is this more true than sex. Our bodies alone prove this in spades! If one body carries life and the other doesn’t, this clearly makes the sexes unequal. Newsflash: The birth control pill doesn’t change a woman’s inherent nature — it merely gives the illusion she’s just like a man.
She’s not. A woman’s need to bond with a man, to feel safe and loved and committed to, is crucial for her to feel secure enough to let down her guard sexually. That’s why she feels uneasy about one-night stands. Her body won’t cooperate.
It’s also why men, not women, are the ones who gain the most from casual sex. (To be clear: I’m not arguing that it’s “OK” or even good for men to sleep around; I’m simply pointing out why, from a physical standpoint, they aren’t angst-ridden when they do.)
Women just aren’t designed for one-night stands. What do we think all those films and television programs are about where the man and the woman have sex and he doesn’t call her the next day, so she thinks he’s a jerk? If women were “just like men,” this would never be a theme in the first place.
When it comes to uncommitted sex, women are playing a game they can’t win. Feeling “used,” or like a “booty call,” is the most common experience of women who engage in casual sex, or “hookups,” whether they’re teenagers or grown women. That just isn’t the case for most men.
Every American over the age of 40 knows this to be true, and adults in schools and at home are failing our youth by not passing this wisdom along — particularly when young people are bombarded with the lie that casual sex is empowering.
Arctic Warfare Magnum: Accuracy International L115A3
Forgotten Weapons
Published on 29 Mar 2019http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons
Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.bbtv.com/collections/forg…
In 2007, the British Army placed an order for 582 AI Arctic Warfare Super Magnum rifles chambered for the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge, formally adopting the model as the L115A3 sniper rifle. This followed special forces use of the .338 Accuracy International rifles in Afghanistan, where the A1 (fixed stock) and A2 (folding stock) models had both been given designations. With the adoption of the L115, the British retired all of their remaining L96A1 rifles, and moved to the .338 cartridge for all of their sniping equipment. At the same time, the SSIP (Sniper System Improvement Program) was improving and updating all the ancillary gear used with the guns – scopes, bipods, ballistic calculators and training programs, spotting scopes, and more. These remain the current British sniper weapon today, and they are quite formidable kit in properly trained hands.
Thanks to Steve Houghton for providing me access to this rifle! If you are interested in learning more, I highly recommend checking out Steve’s newly released book, “The British Sniper: A Century of Evolution”. It can be found at:
https://www.swiftandboldpublishing.co…
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
PO Box 87647
Tucson, AZ 85754
Update: Apparently the video plays better if you actually remember to include the embed code before saving the post. Who knew?
QotD: Political scandals
If you say “Clinton scandal,” the first thing that comes to mind for most people, at least for those of us old enough to have been around for Bill Clinton’s presidency, is Monica Lewinsky. That’s a shame: I am convinced that Hillary Rodham Clinton’s cattle-futures shenanigans were in fact a much more serious offense as a matter of public corruption. But most people don’t understand futures trading. Everybody understands diddling the interns. Nobody understands finance. Everybody understands sex.
(Except Objectivists.)
That’s why financial scandals rarely end political careers, but sex scandals often do, especially for Republicans.
Kevin D. Williamson, “Fanciful Trump ‘Scandals'”, National Review, 2017-04-16.
May 5, 2019
Retreat in the North, Preparations in the West – WW2 – 036 – May 4 1940
World War Two
Published on 4 May 2019Allied plans to take Trondheim in Norway to allow for larger reinforcements and even bigger aerial support to come in are disbanded as the troops approaching Trondheim are pulled back from Norway. While the Allied efforts in Norway lose force there, the Allied forces in Western Europe are prepared for a German invasion through the Benelux countries. The Japanese too are determined to continue their campaign in China, and send thousands more young men into the battlefields.
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Source list: http://bit.ly/WW2sourcesWritten and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Map animations: EastoryColorisations by Norman Stewart and Julius Jääskeläinen https://www.facebook.com/JJcolorization/
Some photos depicting Norway are from the Jonatan Myhre Barlien’s photo collection.Eastory’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEly…
Archive by Screenocean/Reuters https://www.screenocean.comA TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
From the comments:
World War Two
The situation in Norway looks grim for the Allied forces, and the Norwegians are steadily losing faith in the Allied capability to turn things around. And even though all is still quiet on the Western Front, the Allies have a plan ready to counter a German invasion of France and the Benelux countries. This episode is, again, very heavily filled with top notch maps and animations. These are all made by Eastory, who has a YouTube channel on his own as well! Check out and subscribe to his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCElybFZ60Hk1NSjgCf7I2sgCheers,
Joram
Theresa May’s awful “Withdrawal” Agreement
Hector Drummond relays a Spectator article that lists 40 problems with Prime Minister May’s agreement with the EU:
Just in case readers don’t have the time to go through the lengthly document themselves, Steerpike has compiled a list of the top 40 horrors lurking in the small print of Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
[…]
In summary: The supposed “transition period” could last indefinitely or, more specifically, to an undefined date sometime this century (“up to 31 December 20XX”, Art. 132). So while this Agreement covers what the government is calling Brexit, what we in fact get is: “transition” + extension indefinitely (by however many years we are willing to pay for) + all of those extra years from the “plus 8 years” articles.
Should it end within two years, as May hopes, the UK will still be signed up to clauses keeping us under certain rules (like VAT and ECJ supervision) for a further eight years. Some clauses have, quite literally, a “lifetime” duration (Art.39). If the UK defaults on transition, we go in to the backstop with the Customs Union and, realistically, the single market. We can only leave the transition positively with a deal. But we sign away the money. So the EU has no need to give us a deal, and certainly no incentive to make the one they offered “better” than the backstop. The European Court of Justice remains sovereign, as repeatedly stipulated. Perhaps most damagingly of all, we agree to sign away the rights we would have, under international law, to unilaterally walk away. Again, what follows relates (in most part) for the “transition” period. But the language is consistent with the E.U. imagining that this will be the final deal.
The top 40 horrors:
- From the offset, we should note that this is an EU text, not a UK or international text. This has one source. The Brexit agreement is written in Brussels.
- May says her deal means the UK leaves the EU next March. The Withdrawal Agreement makes a mockery of this. “All references to Member States and competent authorities of Member States…shall be read as including the United Kingdom.” (Art 6). Not quite what most people understand by Brexit. It goes on to spell out that the UK will be in the EU but without any MEPs, a commissioner or ECJ judges. We are effectively a Member State, but we are excused – or, more accurately, excluded – from attending summits. (Article 7)
- The European Court of Justice is decreed to be our highest court, governing the entire Agreement – Art. 4. stipulates that both citizens and resident companies can use it. Art 4.2 orders our courts to recognise this. “If the European Commission considers that the United Kingdom has failed to fulfil an obligation under the Treaties or under Part Four of this Agreement before the end of the transition period, the European Commission may, within 4 years after the end of the transition period, bring the matter before the Court of Justice of the European Union”. (Art. 87)
- The jurisdiction of the ECJ will last until eight years after the end of the transition period. (Article 158).
- The UK will still be bound by any future changes to EU law in which it will have no say, not to mention having to comply with current law. (Article 6(2))
And on for another 35 awful items.
The MG Midget Story
Big Car
Published on 18 Mar 2019The MG Midget is all about fun! It’s a simple, cheap little car that promises open-top thrills which it delivers in spades. It’s a story that spans seven decades from humble roots in Oxfordshire to a world-beating car that conquered America. It was loved by weekend tinkerers, American G.I.’s coming home from the war and F1 racers. This is the MG Midget Story!
QotD: A growing French industry
The French, I think, must be world champions in the production of books lamenting the state of their economy (they are also good at taking antidepressants). Occasionally, it is true, someone writes a book to the effect that things are not so very bad in France, in fact that they are really quite good, at least by comparison with everywhere else; but this is so contrary to the majority of what is written that it has the quality of whistling in the wind. If the French economy had grown at the rate at which books are published predicting its imminent collapse, it would be flourishing indeed.
Theodore Dalrymple, “Beneath Paris”, Taki’s Magazine, 2017-01-07.
May 4, 2019
Miscellaneous Myths: Hermes
Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published on 3 May 2019He’s fast! He’s smart! He should really put on some pants! It’s history’s most marketable deity, Hermes himself!
(but red, who are those other two guys?)
(shhhhh)PATREON: http://www.Patreon.com/OSP
Justin Trudeau’s (French) language problem
Colby Cosh reports on a recent academic paper that sticks the boots into the little potato and his, um, problematical French language issues:
Thursday’s hot-off-the-press Post contained a short summary (by CP’s Giuseppe Valiante) of a recent academic paper about how Justin Trudeau’s handling of spoken French is regarded in Quebec. In case you didn’t read Valiante’s summary, I’ll give you a four-word abstract: it drives people nuts. Obviously it’s hard to know how many Quebeckers are really annoyed or nauseated by the prime minister’s French, but if you judge by the newspapers, as Binghamton University French-language scholar Yulia Bosworth did in her article for the American Review of Canadian Studies, it seems Trudeau is the equivalent of fingernails scraping a chalkboard forever.
Hungry with curiosity, I got hold of Bosworth’s paper, entitled “The ‘Bad’ French of Justin Trudeau: When Language, Ideology, and Politics Collide.” As writing it suffers from the typical defects of published scholarship in the humanities: as the title suggests, it is one of those things in which every mental construct of any kind becomes an “ideology.” As scholarship it is pretty good: it contains a useful potted history of Quebecois linguistic self-hatred, and how “Quebec French” went from being a perennial object of shame to a rigid conscious standard, enforced with the same pride and viciousness as Parisian French within France.
But as disguised comedy, the article can’t be beat. When Bosworth wants to give the flavour of her sample corpus of Quebec newspaper abuse of Trudeau, she has to clear her throat professorially first. “Titles, arguably, play an important role in constructing public images; they constitute visible and frequently consumed newspaper content and help construct a linguistic landscape.” Zzzz. But then you get to the good stuff, the distilled liquor:
In Justin Trudeau’s case, headline readers encountered ‘a beautiful empty shell,’ ‘the little boy,’ ‘a privileged target,’ ‘a thinker of nothingness,’ ‘a deserter,’ a ‘mythical hero,’ ‘window dressing for radical individualism,’ ‘a young dilettante,’ and ‘Justin-the-Red.’ Among the many examples of negative descriptors pinned on Trudeau are: ‘smokescreen,’ ‘the call of the void,’ ‘hypocrisy,’ ‘lack of courage,’ and ‘Pee-Wee’s revenge.’ In terms of adjectives, Trudeau was called ‘slimy,’ ‘tricked,’ ‘attacked,’ ‘targeted,’ ‘troubled,’ and ‘criticized.’
Obviously there is a lot of that sort of talk around, and certainly JT gets a rough ride in the Post and the Alberta broadsheet papers from time to time, but I think only in Quebec do you find this language in headlines, rather than in the comment threads or your uncle’s Facebook feed. (“Radical individualism”? Really?)
The Paul Sellers Plywood Workbench | Episode 6
Paul Sellers
Published on 3 May 2019Paul is now on the last few steps of completing the construction of the bench itself. He starts this episode by cutting and fitting the wellboard. Paul continues to cut two pieces of wood on the bandsaw, which are then glued in place on top of the wellboard. Once this is all finished, Paul moves on to retracting the screws from both apron pieces and replacing them with bolts. He then moves on to the finishing stages of planning the benchtop and making all things smooth. Paul then ends this episode by applying two coats of water-based finish.
Episode 7 will be released on YouTube on the 17th of May but you can watch it right now at https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com/…
Want to learn more about woodworking? See https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com or https://commonwoodworking.com for step-by-step videos, guides and tutorials. You can also follow Paul’s latest ventures on his woodworking blog at https://paulsellers.com/
