As the recent paucity of entries indicates, I am not well. I cannot find the energy to even keep up with sports on a daily basis. I know that the National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs are under way, and that the San Jose Sharks are currently up against the Las Vegas Golden Knights. In memory of Amber Rayne, I am rooting for the Sharks. I also know that the Formula 1 Baku Grand Prix is coming up, but I do not know if I will be able to see it, just as I have not been following the Bronx Bombers, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball, nor have I even been following the Miami Heat or the Golden State Warriors of the NBA. For this Sunday, I wish McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso the best, especially for Toro Rosso's new lads Pierre Gasley and Brendon Hartley.
Nevertheless, I am quite happy to see the Famous still in action.
But, I still hear the news. Lots of it. Being near the US-Canada border, I get the benefit of news from both countries. Local news, that is, not just Don Lemon on the CNN, the outrage merchant masquerading as a latter-day Walter Cronkite (and failing quite miserably at that charade.) Specifically, I get enough information to be able to compare. Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York's 21st Congressional District (Plattsburgh and the Adirondacks) and François Legault of the Coalition avenir Québec. Near as I can tell, neither have even heard of each other, much less met. Congresswoman Stefanik is a conservative, yet moderate, Republican. Legault is Richard Spencer in Gaspesian (although Legault thinks he is speaking "French," when, in reality, Emmanuel Macron would never say "OSTY DE COWLIS DE TABARNAK!")
A bit of a background. I am a conservative. I fully support the Williamite Resettlement Act of 1689, ratified in blood the following summer at the Boyne, from which the US Bill of Rights, especially the First and Second Amendments, is cribbed wholesale. Congresswoman Stefanik also supports the Second Amendment, while Legault has never once introduced legislation to put a Second Amendment into Québec's Charter of Rights.
Broadly speaking, as a conservative I support the foreignand tradepolicies of Pat Buchanan, which reflect those of Alexander Hamilton and Otto Graf von Bismarck. This most emphatically does NOTmean that I am a fan, admirer and supporter of Buchanan himself, who, by his own admission, is a rat bastard who dissesRichard Nixon (who gave him a job, Buchanan being to Nixon what McCabe is to Trump) and William F. Buckley (who was Buchanan's friend in life.) One other area wherein I strongly disagree with Buchanan, the sectarian bigot, is on issues of gender and race. As far as I am concerned, Kristin Beck, who won the Combat Action Ribbon as Navy SEAL Chris Beck, tells me all I need to know about gender issues. For me, very much the same applies to issues of race. The King's African Rifles and AMISOMlargely define my views on Blacks/Africans, although I am certainly not naive enough to be unaware that there are Robert Mugabe types as well. Likewise the Goums of the French Army and the Arab Legion largely define my views of Muslims, while I am not blind to the fact that other Muslims are currently partisans.
In this regard, I, as a conservative, resemble Congresswoman Stefanik and oppose Buchanan, Richard Spencer and François Legault.
In the following video, Congresswoman Stefanik opposes Muslim bans.
And in the following video, Congresswoman Stefanik supports immigration, an element essential to the agricultural businesses in her district.
Here is what François Legault says about immigrants (English translation in the tenth paragraph of this entry), despite the facts that a) only 10% of those Legault attacks have been accepted by Canadaas a whole, and that b) Québec has a severe labour shortage.
In sum, Legault wants to keep immigrants out of Québec, when Québec has a labour shortage, while Congresswoman Stefanik argues for an extension of visas for agricultural businesses. Given the choice, Legault will listen to dog whistles while Congresswoman Stefanik prefers to listen to her constituents. Legault thinks in terms of ideology while Congresswoman Stefanik thinks in terms of reality. In this regard, Legault strong resembles Pat Buchanan and Richard Spencer/other alt-right K Street pimps who live in DC. Legault, Buchanan and Spencer all talk about "traditional values" and the "evils and immorality of the cosmopolitans." They hate big cities like New York and Montréal and purport to represent "small-town values." Unlike Buchanan and Spencer (and, to an extent, Legault, who spends most of his workweek in Québec City), Congresswoman Stefanik actually is from a rural area. Given this enormous home-court advantage over Legault, Buchanan and Spencer, Congresswoman Stefanik knows what is actually important to rural voters. Hint: it ain't Legault, Buchanan and Spencer's dog whistles.
One of the tags of the current entry is "Current Affairs." This would be because Québec Premier (Governor/First Minister/Minister-Präsident equivalent) Phillipe Couillard recently pointed out that François Legault is a member of the extreme right. The Gaspesian media have been in everyone's grill, huffin'-and-a-puffin'-and-a-Ima-blow-yo-house down, saying "François Legault ain't far right! Thar ain't no far-right in Québec. This is a product of the unique pathology of Gaspesians. They pretend to be "French," yet far more of them have heard of Harvey Weinstein than have heard of the actuallyFrench Légion Étrangèreand Garde Républicaine. Many (the majority, actually,) of Gaspesians have heard of Harvey Weinstein, but are otherwise proud of their ignorance of English. This is why most Gaspesians have never heard of Richard Spencer. This, in turn, is why most Gaspesians cannot see that François Legault is simply Richard Spencer translated into French.
A couple of background notes here. Yes, there are Provincial elections this fall, which means that, yes, Couillard is trying to score points. Yes, Couillard's Liberals are corrupt, brutal and incompetent. None of these truths in any way alters the fact that François Legault is simply Richard Spencer, Mark Collett and Mike Enoch translated into French. Legault, you see, first ripped off Ayn Rand wholesale, then regurgitated Rand while doing his best Gordon Gekko imitation, just like Kevin O'Leary does all the time. Given that Gaspesie is one of the most collectivist places on the planet outside of North Korea and Venezuela, Ayn Rand does not sell here. So, Legault had to find a new hustle. That new hustle was alt-right race realist white nationalism.
Now, for the YouTubes mopes who would say that Congresswoman Stefanik is a "cuck" for supporting immigration, Congresswoman Stefanik has longand tirelessly advocated for the soldiers of Fort Drum and for Veterans in her district. Where and when exactly has your hero François Legault done anything remotely resembling this?
And, now, I want to end with a couple of plugs.
I first heard of this group on TSN 690. They are called Hockey Helps The Homeless, and they raise money for homeless people by hosting hockey tournaments featuring National Hockey League players and ordinary civilians.
McLaren alumni Sergio "Checo" Perez is collecting money for the victims of the recent earthquakes in Mexico through his foundation.
Puerto Rico has been devastated by Hurricane Maria. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has set up The Empire State Relief And Recovery Effort For Puerto Rico.
On the subject of Puerto Rico, Los Angeles Chef José Andrés has set up an organisation, called World Central Kitchen, to help feed the hungry, not only in Puerto Rico, but in other bad-off places in the world. Please donate or help if you can.
I also want to plug the Patreons of a couple of superb folks. First, there is Jordan Owen, superb musician and content creator. Then, there is Sunny Megatron, Sex Educator and Podcaster. And there is also director extraordinaire and podcaster Holly Randall. They are, all three, highly entertaining to watch. They have the charm and magnetic charisma of The Kylie Ireland Show podcast of a decade ago, starring the legendary, one and only Kylie Ireland and Eli Cross.