Author: Zero Ponsdorf

Let me state what should be obvious as background:

Given: Anthropogenic (i.e., human-induced) climate change can happen locally, but it is likely a trivial factor globally.

Given: Many, if not most, AGW proponents are hypocritical Luddites who have never lived off-grid. I’ll posit we should be seeing more Amish-like communities who eschew technology if they were sincere.

Given: Many, if not most, AGW proponents are closet Malthusians who kinda/sorta wish ‘the great unwashed” would die off.

Here’s what prompted this post:  Scientists say cut soot, methane to curb warming

(more…)

Three years ago a good man passed away. He was a front line guy in the then mostly new MilBlog genre.  He allowed a bunch of ‘Nam vets an outlet.

Been on my mind, an odd bit of synchronicity of sorts. I won’t even try to explain.

I used to blog here:

Bill and I had a trivial falling out, but  I certainly never lost respect for the man.

Several who comment at TAH were posters at OWD.

A pal of ours has kept OWD alive as an archive of sorts.

Michelle Malkin offered this:

There really is no point here… just thinking about what was. Bill couldn’t make it to GoE-1 in 07, but he was there.

Jonn beat me to it on the one good story I’ve  found so far today… So you get this!

As to my title – it IS a semi-obscure reference so:

But the point of this post: 10 Surprising Health Benefits of Beer

For years, wine drinkers have indulged without guilt, reveling in the news that red wine can help protect against heart disease. Recent research shows that beer can also be good for what ails you, from reducing risk for broken bones to helping warding off diabetes and mental decline. It can even increase longevity, a large study suggests.

Yeah, I’m having an evening.  If you don’t see a relationship to the pissing on dead guys you need not comment?

Marines’ Ballistic Underwear Must Also Be Comfy

  Kevlar underwear can protect U.S. Marines against blast fragments flying like bullets through the air, but it lacks the comfort of simple cotton undies or silky unmentionables. Now the U.S. military has begun searching for better alternatives that prevent chafing as well as battle wounds.

The U.S. Marine Corps sees comfortable undergarments as being equally important to ballistic protection, according to a new request for information aimed at U.S. manufacturers. That means any new underwear fabric must not only shield private parts against burns and tiny fragments traveling at 650 feet per second — the speed of some bullets — but also feel soft against the skin and have the breathability to dry out quickly.

Please keep in mind that I’ve never worn Kevlar anything, but DO understand how irritating chafing can be.

This is a  definitively a YMMV kind of post.

Were gonna be pretty much right back where we started?

Taliban says yes, but…

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban‘s political wing is ready to enter peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan, but the insurgents will in the meantime continue their armed struggle, the group said Thursday.

The militant movement’s emailed statement suggests that efforts to bring Afghan factions to the table are gathering momentum, but also highlights some of the roadblocks on the way to any settlement — in particular, the Taliban’s insistence that the government of President Hamid Karzai is an illegitimate “stooge” of the West.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the militants had been fighting for the past 15 years to establish an Islamic government in Afghanistan “in accordance with the request of its people.”

Never thought I’d be citing CBS, but:

Coming out of Germany?

 “Some colleagues still think that car-sharing borders on communism,” Mercedes-Benz Chairman of the Board of Management Dieter Zetsche said onstage at CES today, speaking about Mercedes’ new CarTogether initiative. “But if that’s the case, viva la revolucion!”

To be sure, a luxury-car maker like Mercedes is not actually promoting communism. But during his CES talk, Zetsche pushed hard on a vision that the company has for a greener future that allows drivers to reduce emissions by using connected and social technology to easily find compatible passengers to share rides with.

Still, it’s odd–and no doubt intended to stir up conversation–to hear a company so inexorably tied to money and lavish lifestyles invoking philosophies like communism. Especially with a picture of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara towering over Zetsche as he talked. Of course, Che’s signature beret sported a Mercedes logo.

Speechless here.  After all, how many ways can one say WRONG?

Unless…

A US drone was downed in Iran. The speculation about the ‘how’ has been rampant.

We now know The Truth!

Iran’s Flying Saucer Downed U.S. Drone, Engineer Claims

Late last month, Iran put on display what it insisted was a captured American stealth drone. At the time, Tehran claimed it brought down the RQ-170 with a sophisticated electronic attack. Nonsense, says one Iranian engineer who claims to have inside knowledge of the drone-nab. The Islamic Republic used force fields and flying saucers to subdue and capture the unmanned aircraft.

Of course I knew it all along…

Oh yeah… we’re screwed!

Thanks to Maggie for the link.

I dunno if it’s a matter of strategic import, but it fascinates me?

US ship rescues Iranians at sea _ again    

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter rescued six Iranian mariners from a vessel in distress in the Persian Gulf, the second time in less than a week that the American military has come to the aid of Iranians at sea, an official said Tuesday.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said the Iranians aboard a cargo dhow about 50 miles southeast of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr used flares and flashlights to hail the cutter Monomoy at 3 a.m. local time Tuesday. The vessel’s master indicated that his engine room was flooding and “deemed not seaworthy,” Little said.

If America will soon no longer be “The policemen of the world”  maybe we can hang around to be the rescuers??

After all, those 6 sailors didn’t seem to be willing to wait for an Iranian rescue?

ETA: From the comments a logical response I missed: We should have held them captive as spies, until the Iranians release the former Marine they are accusing of being a spy! Six Iranians for one American seems fair.