Category: Geezer Alert!

Everyone has heard about The White House helping China out by saying no to the Keystone Pipeline project.

Most have heard about The White House doing it’s damnedest to prevent the exploitation of both on-shore and off-shore oil and gas reserves in CONUS.

But I wonder if you’ve heard this tid-bit?

Cuba gives The Finger to the US! (my title). 

Highlight 1:

Starting next week, Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF, working in partnership with Norway’s Statoil and ONGC Videsh, a unit of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp, is expected to drill at least two wells in Cuban waters about 70 miles from the Florida Keys.

Highlight 2:

The only part of the rig said to be American-made is the blowout preventer, the part that failed in the BP disaster.

Cuba is hoping oil will ease its chronic economic woes and bring energy independence. It currently receives 115,000 barrels a day from its oil-rich socialist ally Venezuela.

Chronic economic woes and energy independence? I know I’ve heard those words before? These stories have national security ramifications that are maybe less immediate than slashing the DOD budget… but hardly less important at that.

Folks, there has GOT to be a punch line coming?

A crazed vet? An armed misogynist?

THIS I care about.

Iranian Student Activist Shot to Death in Texas

A Texas medical student well-known in her community as an Iranian activist was mysteriously shot and killed in her car, just yards from her home.

Gelareh Bagherzadeh, 30, was driving through her Houston townhouse complex around midnight on Monday when she was shot dead through her car window.

“When officers arrived, they found a vehicle had run into a garage door at that location with the engine running and tires spinning on the pavement. Ms. Bagherzadeh was found slumped over in the driver’s seat,” the Houston Police Department said in a statement.

Authorities said nothing appeared to have been stolen from her car. Her cell phone and purse were found inside.

I’ll be tracking this as best I can.

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.”