So – a quick update on my two hobbyhorses – Catalonia and Afghanistan. Starting in Europe….
Warning shot or massive hypocrisy? Spain stepped on its own weenie here. But no weenie, or beanie for some of the jailed Catalan leaders… hunger strike! And the exiles meet in … Brussels, to discuss what to do next. Things will probably get all demonstraty and grumbly in Barcelona, soon. I am reserving judgment at this point, though I would be trying to arm as hard and fast as I could. Unless Madrid makes a massive about face, there will be no independence for Catalonia, short of using armed force.
So its trials and (forced) tapas on the horizon, perhaps.
And…to Central Asia next. The usual mix of war news, and some…really odd stuff (scroll down to the 13:54 25 Nov update). I hope this story is true. However, even if it is, Pakistan will probably do one of two things – make noises of agreement, and actually do little to nothing…or beat their chest defiantly and say no. Considering the lucre we still ship them, I would bet on the first one. I still stand by my assertion that if the Talib and Haqqani’s foreign backers turn off the spigot, Afghanistan would simply become another poor, semi-violent ‘stan. Oh, and it would be one in which there would be no reason for any foreign military presence. I do not know what is going on behind the scenes – but I sure hope someone is trying to snuff this #$%& out at the source.
So we have a war that neither side can finish, and some little glimmers of…something there. Looks like more of the same for the immediate future.
Updates in future, as events warrant.
Comments
141 responses to “Swiss Servator’s Hobby Horses Update”
I never understood hunger strikes. “Oh, my enemy is killing themselves? Whatever should I do?”
“Hunger Strike – A self solving problem.”
See: Bobby Sands
There you go.
In my former workplace, we had an annual spring diet competition we dubbed the “”Bobby Sands Diet”. Any and all techniques were legit, and money was at stake.
Good fun, and the youngsters learned about The Troubles.
I’m kind of ignorant of that episode and after a little research I almost wish I still was. What a shitshow.
Hobby horse? I had one as a kid.
First loser!
https://smile.amazon.com/photos/share/kzooyNHNQpL5gPkRVwCk3cr60YVxzWz9lDz2XWQGwNZ/gallery/RHohIxERTTmNAyHi3rnjaQ
My mom dropped it off ~ 6 years ago. We kept it around for my gf’s niece & nephew (my God children).
This is basically what I bought for my kids, grand kids and nieces, and nephews.
https://smile.amazon.com/Rockin-Rider-Lucky-Talking-Spring/dp/B000HCL94W/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1543973455&sr=1-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=hobby+horse&dpPl=1&dpID=51A18eTuO6L&ref=plSrch
“My new rule is that I don’t believe anything the CIA says until Rand Paul says it isn’t bullshit. ”
https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1070023481679441920
“Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said the deep state is exerting power over Congress and keeping information from him regarding the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Paul was discussing the highly anticipated Senate testimony of CIA Director Gina Haspel on “America’s Newsroom” Tuesday and said he and other lawmakers are being kept in the dark by intelligence agencies.
“To my mind this is the very definition of the deep state,” Paul said.”
https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/04/rand-paul-deep-state-gina-haspel/
Pass a law making it legal to name CIA agents.
“President Trump Seeks Nearly $800K From Stormy Daniels — $390,000 in Legal Fees – And Equal Amount as Deterrent Against Future Frivolous Lawsuits”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/12/president-trump-seeks-nearly-800k-from-stormy-daniels-390000-in-legal-fees-and-equal-amount-as-deterrent-against-future-frivolous-lawsuits/
I hope there isn’t a Stormy Daniels/Bill Kristol sex tape.
/needs moar piss hookers
I’m sticking with my Jay-Z birthday theme .
“Ariana Grande’s ‘Thank U, Next’ Music Video Is Surprisingly Anti-Queer
Editor’s Note: We have decided to remove the author’s name from this piece after the editorial team was alerted that a high number of death threats were being made against the writer as a result of the opinions presented in this piece.”
https://www.intomore.com/culture/ariana-grandes-thank-you-next-music-video-is-surprisingly-anti-queer
https://twitter.com/Into/status/1069658928403820544
The Twitter comments … I scrolled down a long way. Not one tweet supportive of the article.
I guess that Taylor Swift and Katy Perry are less popular Ariana has a big target on her back.
Ariana looks more like a boy pretending to be a girl than those two?
?
Nope, still don’t give a shit.
I support those chicas fighting hard for Catalonian independence.
Si, si! Estás en lo correcto!
If I said that Swiss Servator cannot write about Catalonia because he is not a certified expert on all things Catalan, what kind of logical fallacy would that be? It seems like a variation of appeal to authority.
(I am not saying this, but have a friend who is saying a version of this from an article I sent him from VDH about the California fires.)
Who certifies experts on these things?
Twitter, I think.
So the certifications mean you should actually ignore the people with them.
✔
Have you tried cow butting your friend?
He deserves one. His fallacious argument is that because VDH is not an expert on the subject of fires his opinion should not hold much weight. I thought there was another formal logical fallacy about that but can’t seem to remember.
Your friend’s opinion is not valid, since they aren’t an expert on opinions.
Are we not cat butting anymore?
We? You got a turd in your pocket, Tulpa?
VDH? I’m curious about the article.
It’s this one, which I thought was a pretty good explanation of some of the factors behind the historic fires we have seen here. I have been in an almost ten year argument with this friend about global warming. Which is of course the explanation for the state burning.
https://www.city-journal.org/california-wild-fires
Thanks. Tell your friend I’m an expert and VDH is mostly right.
That being said, it’s not as simple as logging your way out of this, or building E-W roads or irrigating. In an ideal scenario we would have fire policy similar to the Aussies. Basically, take care of your land and if it burns excessively due to your lack of maintenance (i.e., prescribed burning), tough shit. In fact, I believe they can fine you for not maintaining it because it can affect adjacent property and cause the sort of devastation we see here. However, Australia is much less inhabited in the places that burn regularly, so having this sort of policy is much more difficult in a place like Cali. The Aussies also have a robust prescribed fire program, where they burn off the fine, flashy fuels regularly (often every year or two in grass dominated landscapes), thus reducing the chance of an unintended wildfire fire getting out of hand. People are expected to burn their land regularly. The Aboriginals did this for numerous reasons, as well as the Native Americans on this continent. Much more to this, but you get the idea.
Unfortunately, people that have moved into the rural landscapes in the US don’t like to see trees burned or soil scorched almost as much as they don’t like cutting trees. Nor do they have any real understanding of how natural (for lack of a better term) processes manage the fuel buildup and recycle the fine fuels, turning them into nutrients for the remaining vegetation. People are too disconnected from the landscape and aren’t willing to burn their property to maintain it. Mechanical vegetation management can be a fine proxy, but it isn’t perfect. It doesn’t get rid of the fine fuels since those are difficult to manipulate with equipment and thus generally end up on the ground. Still much better than doing nothing though. Obviously both operations are expensive, especially when you allow fuel to build up. But, once you get the vegetation back to somewhat normal levels, the burning can be done relatively safely and cheaply. Many people still burn off their land across the US, especially in the South. They just grab a torch and go. Nobody gets hurt and it can be done with a few friends most times. Often working together in each other’s land and/or burning across property lines since fire doesn’t know administrative boundaries.
Finally, the climate does play a role, obviously, but weather makes the most difference. The wet seasons you had a couple years ago? That grows a lot of vegetation and when the inevitable drought comes, it just creates more fire potential. If you think back to the previous paragraph, this makes sense in the grand scheme. Wet period = no fires, grows vegetation; drought period = fires, burns off vegetation and recycles nutrients. The period length is variable depending on climate and geography. Some places it happens every couple years, some places it may take several hundred to a thousand (think Pacific NW rain-forests, though even there the occasional dry year will spark some fires in the interim)
Distilled down it’s pretty simple, but there are a bunch of confounding factors now. Unfortunately, unless people are willing to manage the land appropriately, this will never change.
it’s common as dirt to see people burning their pastures here in arkansas. Especially cow pastures that aren’t cut for hay every year. The burning gets rid of a lot of the weeds and helps the grass come back in the spring. I have helped buddies do this multiple times and it’s no big deal.
Even up here people burn grassy ditches. It used to be more common everywhere until guess who stepped in…
Thanks Still.
No problem. Obviously I enjoy discussing this topic.
Not at all knowledgeable about this stuff myself, but… this strikes me as the root of the problem. If you don’t know how to take care of the land around you, maybe you shouldn’t be moving there. Yet everyone seems to be directing the blame everywhere but there.
@Rhywun
Yep, that’s the main issue.
How about humidity…know any experts on that?
luckily, I don’t have a PhD in it from Harvard !
?
What the order cheapest to priciest?
Gross generalization, but, by the ton*mile it’s
pipeline
barge
rail
semi
YMMV because of discrete factors. Crazy example: bulk semi trailer is generally cheaper than van trailers of packaged materials. I had a situation where a material was mined in MT, so 1,500 miles one way. In the super sacks it was much cheaper delivered because any rig and van trailer could deliver it and then pick up another load locally and roll on making money . . . whereas the dedicated bulk trailer (proprietary equipment that couldn’t be contaminated or cleaned easily) would need to deadhead back to MT empty. So paying for the packaging and the trip one way was cheaper than the bulk and the trip two ways. Lotsa gotchas between the happy theories, rules of thumb, and actual operations cost.
That’s a flatbed in the second picture, of course. I had van trailers on the brand because I usually need most production components delivered dry.
Id imagine you’d want curtain-side, too. From Delphos, you’re hauling a lot of stuff from Honda and/or other auto suppliers
I always liked the logistics terms Piggy back, fishy back, and birdie back for cargo transport.
Barcelona is my favorite town on earth (I’ve worked south of there). The people there are the most beautiful I’ve seen in the entire world; it is literally stupefying. And I like seafood.
Head west though, and the utility of one’s Español fades by the kilometer; the Basque are neat folk, but their language shares not one cognate with English or Spanish that I ever detected.
I remember really liking Granada, but that was in 2010, so the haze of time applies.
Yeah, I liked Tarragona a lot.
BTW Basque is not an Indo-European language. In fact, they haven’t found a language it might be related to yet. They might be the descendants of neanderthals or something….
I watched 3 hours of handball in Basque. I got sucked in by not understanding the game or language.
I have long held that the Basque are the closest to Neanderthals. I think it is why I love them so much. I have known more than a handful of awesome Basques in my life. I think they got those hardy genes.
Some discussion about it here. It’s surprising how little we know about this stuff.
They are space aliens!
My understanding of the Basques is that they are the people who lived in europe before the caucasians invaded from central asia. Thus the language difference. They seem to be unique in all the world. Where they came from before Europe is a bit of a mystery. I suspect human history over the last 100K years would put all of the fantasy/adventure writers to shame if we knew everything that really happened.
Barcelona is pretty ain’t it. My personal favorite parts of Spain are Navarre (mainly by the area of Pamplona cause that’s my family’s old farm lands) and Toledo.
Sitges?
The Taliban has refused to deal directly with Afghanistan’s government, saying they would negotiate only with the United States.
The militants have also said NATO forces must withdraw from Afghanistan before negotiations can begin.-
Thats an odd way to negotiate. “First give me everything I want, then we’ll talk”
Counteroffer – We’ll begin negotiations when they turn in their weapons and serve their enemies forever.
We can haggle from there, hopefully to a permanant peacefire.
Peacefire, nice.
So… they’re Democrats?
I have an idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snRvmi8kelQ
That’s a great flick
I sometimes show my students that at the end of the semester.
I’d take that deal. Let’s go boys. We are headed home.
All Ya’ll afghans can figure this out in your own
And next time you sponsor terrorists, we’ll nuke you.
Added to Swiss’s Christmas list.
Cat Butt: An Off-Color Adult Coloring Book for Cat Lovers https://www.amazon.com/dp/1640011765/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_NgZbCb2QNMK8B
* add to cart *
My wife just finished her cats farting coloring book. Entertainment while recovering from foot surgery.
Thousands of Americans have enough disposable income to spend $7 +S&H on a cat butt coloring book. If that isn’t proof of US exceptionalism, I don’t know what is.
Summing up the Flynn sentencing documents, “nothing to see here, move along”.
Seriously? Is there anything to them?
There’s a few pages heavily redacted because of “ongoing investigations”, but I’d lay down good money that it has to do with foreign actors.
Probation is the recommended sentence.
For lying under oath about something that isn’t a crime? Why in hell would prison time even be an option? There better be something, otherwise this is a shameful fiasco with less merit to it than the Starr investigation
I cant understand why anyone would not instantly become a complete mute when they hear the words “HI, I am from the FBI”
Flynn had no idea he was under investigation when they came to talk to him. And it’s blatantly obvious that “lying to the FBI” is a cudgel used haphazardly as the DOJ deems appropriate. No agency defiles the Constitution more than the DOJ and the FBI.
It fucking pisses me off to see the Left kissing the FBI’s ass ever since they took an oppositional role to Trump.
That’s basically been the whole story of the Left since the 2016 election: abandoning what they once claimed were their principles in order to oppose Bad Orange Man. That’s reason #47,284 that I won’t ever vote Democrat as long as I live – the only principles they have are “Republicans bad, Democrats good“.
My legal opinion:
You have an absolute right to lie to the FBI under the 5th Amendment.
He wasn’t under oath. I don’t think he had any idea he was being set up – he thought it was just a routine meeting.
I just read the Paglia interview from the last thread.
DAMN. I have to give respect to that woman. Seriously, if you haven’t read it, check it out.
Are you nuts?
“I have been trying for decades to get my fellow Democrats to realize how unchecked bureaucracy, in government or academe, is inherently authoritarian and illiberal.”
Battered wives aren’t even this stupid.
Democrats are not stupid. They know exactly what they are doing. They fully believe they should never be bound by rules others must follow because they are fighting for a “just cause” (controlling everything by holding all levers of power, so they can usher in utopia – at least they pretend the goal is utopia).
Team Blue is really giving it their all on voter outreach…
https://www.dailywire.com/news/39038/senator-hirono-democrats-struggle-relate-voters-ryan-saavedra
“One of the things that we Democrats have a really hard time is connecting to people’s hearts instead of here [points at brain],” Hirono began. “We’re really good at shoving out all the information that touch people here [points to brain] but not here [points to heart].”
“I’ve been saying it all our Senate Democratic retreats we need to speak to the heart, not in a manipulative way, not in a way that brings forth everybody’s fears and resentments, but truly to speak to the hearts so that people know that we’re actually on their side.”
“When you have a really hard time doing that and one of the reasons that was shown to me at one of our retreats was that we Democrats know so much, that is true,” Hirono continued. “We have to kind of tell everyone how smart we are and so we have a tendency to be very left-brain.”
That’s right. You guys are just so smart and trying to appeal to people’s sense of reason. But you can’t get through to deplorables because of their primal, emotional reactionism.
That could be the worst case of unselfawareness that I have ever seen. It rises to the level of a clinically diagnosable illness. Wow.
It is quite a thing to behold. This should be satire. I just watched the video to be sure. It is not satire.
“We Democrats just have to tell people how smart we are.” – yea, smart people don’t have to go around announcing it. Dumb people that think they are smart are the worst. And they mean to rule you.
Since that monstrosity is one of my Senators I have had the displeasure of hearing more her blather than most. I am not convinced she is a sentient life form.
I have written her several times and her staff has never once sent me a even form letter reply.
WE HAVE THE RIGHT CREDENTIALS SO WE ARE SMART!
I AM SHMART
“people know that we’re actually on their side”
Yep, taking my guns, raising taxes and nuking the economy are really in my best interest.
Interesting alternate universe that person inhabits.
Pro-tip: If you have to tell people you’re smart, you aren’t.
On topic:
A Swiss article! Hellz yeah. I agree that once Madrid made its intentions clear, there would be no independent Catalonia unless they were willing to take up arms. I don’t see that happening.
Off topic:
Hobby horses.
http://archive.is/D2tkx
No, of course not. The whole notion is ridiculous. It has no more chance of happening than the various split-up-the-US fantasies that some indulge in.
¡Viva Cataluña!
?
I’m married to a woman who’s been jumping horses over fences for 45 years. Me likely horsey chicks.
Fun fact- I have friends in the horse business that had a jumper named “Newton”. Once at a show, he got spooked by something, veered off, and jumped the arena wall, clearing it and landing solid in the parking lot. His owner, my buddies mother-in-law, said she was immediately approached by people with open checkbooks.
“He’s a jumper!”
He’s a mudder !
Oh, Jeebus. STOP tempting me! They send me emails constantly. It’s like whipping out a bag of crack before an addict.
My ESP bass is okay, but…
Four strings looks… odd.
/not a musician
/obviously
There’s a lot of things you’re not.
And quit making it so easy. ?
You can’t say I’m not helpful.
I always thought Teles looked cool, but I never had to play one.
As for six strings, nobody needs 14 types of guitars: at most, seven guitars and seven amps.
/HD28 guy
C’mon, Don, wouldn’t you like to try a little Ibanez?
Damn, inhaled the crack. Going out to buy a bass/guitar tomorrow.
I’ve got an Ibanez SG around here somewhere.
But the Martin is such a badass that I just don’t drag an electric out for hot picking any more. I’ve been addicted ever since playing one at Nazareth (really recommend their tour if you like manufacturing, woodwork, or guitars even slightly). A year later George Gruhn had a near-mint ’86 with a pickup (not that I use that much); I spent an hour with her in a sound room and was a gone gator: took her off his hands. I might forget to play anything else for years.
Speaking of federal wood importation indictments: Gibson is closing the Memphis plant, so ES335 and similar move to the Nashville shop.
here you go, UCS. a 6 string bass.
Question: What wood is the fingerboard on a bass made of? Ebony for violins, Rosewood for guitars, what about the bass?
*note for anybody interested – I have had a bunch of Brazilian Rosewood since long before it was illegal to import, it’s grandfathered in. What the hell should I do with it? Two 8’x 12″x 2″s and two 6’X 12″x 1″s. My father bought the stuff at a local lumber store back in the swinging ’60s to make a frame for a waterbed. Now I have the stuff and no idea what to do with it.
I’d be interested in a smallish piece to give my dad for him to use as accent in his woodworking. But maybe it’s out of my price range. I have no idea what something like that would be worth…?
Suthenboy, Rosewood is the premium wood for guitar/bass neck fingerboards (ok, my opinion). Seriously, if you can fashion a bass fingerboard, I’d be happy to buy.
So would a lot of other bassists/guitarists. CYA, though. I know you might have brought it in before any laws came down, but CYA.
And fuck, it’s gonna be a lot harder to get a rosewood neck from now on. Golly, I think that means I better buy one soon! It’s a court order to buy one soon!
Also, let me know how much an ebony bass fingerboard would cost. I know it’d be expensive, but that would be seriously badass.
Ebony for my HD28.
Of course, a even a maple fretboard has been known to hold its own; skip to 2:20 and get out your fire extinguisher. Around here, Albert is the man.
Don, I’ve played on a maple 1 piece neck. A lot. I’m not dogging it; just saying, my preference is for a rosewood fingerboard.
Also, good song.
It is Christmas…
$800 is a good price.
I’m having a Moscow Mule for the first time in my life. It’s pretty good. I like it. The ginger beer gives it a nice bite. The lime juice dries it out a touch, makes it kind of tart and yet I hardly notice any lime flavor unless I dwell on it.
Would drink again.
I’ll have to try one of those sometime. What brand of ginger beer? My local Kroger just expanded and actually has a few different brands of ginger beer now.
My preferred ginger beer cocktail has been a Dark & Stormy.
Being a newbie, I went with Cock and Bull since they are the progenitor. And, I just learned that if you really want to be a traditionalist, use Smirnoff vodka and lemon juice, not lime.
I like their ginger beer. Good stuff – not too sweet, nice ginger flavor.
Fever Tree has a ginger beer but my go to is Reeds Extra Strength.
OH yea, Reed’s is my jam! It has that hot ginger bite to it; it’s not just sugary.
If you guys like ginger beer, you might enjoy a drink called switchel. It’s a punch made out of water with ginger boiled in it, molasses, and apple cider vinegar. I know it sounds weird to drink vinegar, but the molasses balances it out and ends up with this great sweet and sour flavor. It’s intensely refreshing on hot days, and I read that it was also called “haymaker’s punch” because of its usefulness in replenishing electrolytes after a long day of farm work in the days before air conditioning.
Local place I know does good mules, but I’ve acquired a taste for this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caipirinha
Mules for me are a warm weather cocktail. I use more lime juice than is typical and “Q” ginger beer is the best on the market. Once you buy copper mugs, you’re hooked.
I was actually just perusing Amazon to add a set to my Christmas wish list.
Advice needed: I learned that stainless steel or nickel lined mugs are recommended due to the high acidity of the drink attacking the copper. Is this a serious issue, or overreaction?
Overreaction. The length of contact pretty much makes it a non issue. I do like the idea of nickel lined mugs for appearance.
I’m not a fan of Tito’s vodka but I do like their copper mugs.
And copper mugs, lined or not, are hand wash only.
correct
ours are Alcumade
Thanks, guys. I added this to my wish list.
A 16oz mule and I’m a dead man. ‘Cause one is just not enough.
TIto’s used to be my brand, but a bartender told me that Sobieski is just as good and costs much less. He was right, and Sobieski has been my go-to vodka ever since.
I’m hooked on New Amsterdam lately but Sobieski is good too and decently-priced. Haven’t had it in a long time so I forget the relative price.
But Gordon’s has been on sale for dirt cheap by NYC prices. Too bad it’s a little harsh….
Smirnoff Triple Distilled. That’s what the Russian immigrants drink, so it’s good enough for me.
For a better quality vodka, look for “Rain Organics”. It comes in a rain drop shaped bottle, costs about $20, and comes from the Buffalo Trace distillery.
1. Smirnoff
1a. Sobieski
There is practically no qualitative difference. And I drink alot of Smirnoff. Sobieski is very fine and a great price point. Until last week, my local liquor mart was selling a fifth of Sobieski for $9.99, compared to $14.99 for Smirnoff.
Copper mugs are mandatory.
The cocktail was invented to sell copper mugs. True fact.
Huh. I’ve never heard of “copper mugs” until I did a wikipedia search for this “mule” thing about two hours ago.
Went to an airport cranky (which for me means relatively silent) and thirsty. Barkeep finally got to me and asked what I wanted. I said “Moscow Mule” but apparently did so with lower “o” sounds than normal. A young couple next to me said, “Are you Russian? Never met a Russian before!” It occurred to me I was wearing my gold Orthodox cross and my Artem Anisomov Russian national team jersey.
A real Russian would have been mortified by the inaccuracies, but I just winked, said “nostrovia” and drank up.
They melted. Cute couple.
Positively adorable.
I wish I could play some Wheeler Walker Jr. at work.