MENTAL ATTIC SPACE

They are not related. But they occupied thought room at the same time. Tonnes of Argentine beef of extremely dubious quality allowed into the country as a Trump publicity stunt (it was rejected by the PRC over half a year earlier as horribly unfit for human consumption), the French language (having flunked French in high school, I now think that I should learn it), post-transition Barling pipes (script stamping, no apostrophe s), and Pok Fu Lam Reservoir (薄扶林水塘, built in 1863). You can see that there is nothing that logically ties these thing together. Other than the head they were in.

It's a perfectly normal head.

The beef situation: Argentine beef (which probably goes well with ketchup) is widely known to be heavily contaminated with the antibiotic chloramphenicol, which can cause bone marrow failure, aplastic anemia, gray baby syndrome, nerve damage, leukemia, digestive issues, and diarrhea, plus several other medical problems. It's basically a sweetheart deal to boost Trump's ally Milei at the expense of American consumers. And by the way, the meat in question might have been slaughtered a year ago, or more. Bon appétit, dummies.


For a number of years I did not do well at French, which was a required subject. Had I known it would piss off the rightwing hosebags, I would have studied harder. "Ces produits de bœuf ne doit pas être consommé par personne mais à part les résidents du parc de maisons mobiles aux États-Unis."

Of course there's no way in hell that beef has a reliable hechsher.
And it sure ain't halal either. Just saying.

Anyway, your chances of food poisoning, after a year and a half of la nouvelle régime, are pretty much astronomical now. Congratulations, my fellow Americans.
Sudden hospitalizations may be your future.

And good luck trying to sue.


The post transition Barling needed some serious clean-up work, but other than rim-scorching and gunk it was in excellent condition. The shape was too conservative for the original owner to be seriously buggered-up by over use and abuse over the years. It has a slightly Danish look to it. Good briar.

Shape number 4189, a Lovatt.
Elegant.


Yeah, I can't explain Pok Fu Lam. Just something stuck in my head on the Western side of Hong Kong Island. Typhoons, rain, lush greenery.



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