Category: Geezer Alert!

As an “under control” type II diabetic I don’t consume alcohol with any real frequency.  However, I do occasionally break my diabetic beer fast with cheap beer.  Last year I found this story to relieve my conscience some. Quick sidebar: I long ago decided I wasn’t gonna pay a premium for fancy beer.

“A compound found in hops— one of the basic ingredients of beer— is capable of improving memory and thought patterns in mice, reported Quartz.”

“While hops are the only dietary source of the rare compound, it would require drinking 2,000 liters of beer— or 5,636 bottles of beer— for a person to get the same effect.”

That article raise the question of whether I could be mentally sharper than a mouse. That raises all kinds of OTHER interesting questions.

And… As the frequent late night ads offer – But Wait, There’s More!

Now Fox News is offering this: Top reasons beer is actually good for you. NOW it get’s fun…

“The National Osteoporosis Risk Assessment followed more than 200,000 females and found that drinking alcohol decreased the incidence of osteoporosis (7). All of this leads to a decrease in hip fractures in elderly females, which is important because hip fractures after the age of 65 are associated with a significant increase in mortality.

So, women, if you’re concerned about your bone health, don’t just focus on calcium; add some beer to your diet for another way to protect your bone density.”

So… If I drink beer I will have a better memory thing. If The Wife of 40 plus years drinks beer she’ll be better able to dance on my grave.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

I debated whether to post this – or not, but since it IS Sunday…. The Poop Map.

There is something about the notion that intrigues me some.

“The scatological atlas, smiling poop emojis and all, was created amid a swirling dispute between downtown boosters and the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust over how to get homeless men and women off the street, and how to deal with corresponding sanitation issues. The two public agencies have been feuding for about a year now, dating back to the creation of a temporary shelter program at Camillus House, and more recently with the DDA’s promotion of souped-up porta-potties.”

Mind you… The homeless issue isn’t trivial, and whatever the cause they have to “poop”.  I do find it entertaining that some bureaucrat decided to map the deposits????

Looks as though the issue may be coming to YOUR area: “Where do 600 people go to the bathroom everyday? Well there’s a map to show you where 600 people go to the bathroom everyday,” said Sarnoff, who displayed the DDA’s map on television. “This is a countywide issue, as you’ll see.”

I’ve got 4 toilets and an outhouse on site so I might be safe, but the rest of you better make sure as to where you are on the nationwide poop map.

The story is here: Placer-county-man-punches-bear-in-face-to-save-his-dog

Given that TAH is one of the places that exposes Vet Phonies I must point out that I did nothing to verify his credentials.

“A foothills man came face-to-face with a bear outside his home. He didn’t run. He didn’t call wildlife officials.

Instead, he wound up and punched the bear in the face.

Carl Moore is not a guy who scares easily.

“The man or beast that I run from ain’t been born, and his momma’s already dead,” he said.

He’s 73 years old with a wiry frame and one heck of a character. And it turns out he’s also quite a bear fighter.

“I ain’t run from nothing; I never have in my whole life and I ain’t going to start now,” he said. “And you’re not going to sacrifice my babies for some damn bear.”

I simply liked the story. The kicker is in one line: “He’s an ex-first recon Marine,” Sargent said. “He’s been in barroom brawls, all kinda stuff.”

Other than that his dog appears to be safe and intact this is just another story where some media outlet appears to have made no/zero/nil to confirm any part of his story.

There is a video at the link. NO BEAR in sight though. This one of them stories that I hope is true. YMMV!

Stumbled across this story recently and dunno quite what to make of it. NB: I didn’t fully deploy all of  my Google-Fu skills to completely confirm the story. Every easy search looped back to this, but it appears real.

The Lede: Defense Secretary: 10,400 Male Troops Subjected to ‘Unwanted Sexual Contact’ Last Year.

“Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told a group of ROTC cadets on Wednesday that sexual assault is a “particular challenge and a particular disgrace” to the U.S. military. He noted that last year, far more men (10,400) than women (8,500) “experienced unwanted sexual contact.”

First thought: Unless you happen to be surprised in the shower what were the circumstances for the guys?   I’ll admit that I have no current frame of reference.  Even in the shower wouldn’t a normal male react rather than filing a report?

Still, if the story is true it is oddly enlightening. 10,000+ of those “Males” currently in uniform filed a complaint that added to the stats. Also, the definition of “assault” seems to be vague in masculine terms. There are no details in the story. My emphasis would be the notion of “Unwanted Sexual Contact”.

So… Our currently serving folks have opted to file a complaint rather than simply punching the lights out of some miscreant?

If it were April 1st or a post from the Duffle Blog it’d be funny. As it is I can’t quite bring myself to even giggle about it. YMMV!

This is directly in response to Jonn’s post and the comments.

As long as he allows I have a platform, and I already used it to amplify what I believe to be the primary issue here.

Not strong enough – not aggressive enough, etc, etc. Not really relevant.

You have, likely, always served next to someone that you didn’t fully trust to do the job. Everyone has weaknesses, mind you.

BUT…How do we adjust to natural hormones? On guard duty somewhere and your mind turns to the one at the next post. She met every requirement that you did… but her smile makes you dream just a bit.

Set aside the closeted gay. I don’t have any real numbers easily at hand, but apart from the recent profoundly PC years and I suspect it was a small number during WWII, and rarely an issue.

Regardless: When females become a significant proportion of combat arms what becomes of the mission? I’ve heard that there are drugs that suppress hormones, etc.  sounds like the next step.

There are any number of positions where females and males can, and have, served together with honor and effectiveness – I am struggling to put “in the mud” combat arms in that category.

Last note: Segregation! It’ll never fly in our PC/Bizarro world, but meets every rational criteria including the hormonal one.

I’ll readily admit I haven’t really followed country music since it got all poppy, but this story is toooo good to leave alone. Still enjoy bluegrass and old country though.

Almost by definition old “Country” music embraced a certain rural paradigm that included guns ‘n ammo as a part of life.

However, some current country stars have stepped in the Kimchi.     Aside: In all fairness Kimchi is supposed to be a very healthy food, but my use of it here should make clear my opinion.

“On July 17, country singers Tim McGraw and Billy Currington will headline a fundraiser for gun control group Sandy Hook Promise in Connecticut.”

Then today we get the news that one of the above is saying  – “DOH!”

“Country fans were outraged and on April 16, Currington announced he was pulling out of the concert.”

I rather appreciate the general “care about the victims” attitude, and am willing to believe this event is just performer management lack of wisdom, but when your name is involved the performer has primary responsibility methinks.

I don’t think I can name a  single Billy Currington tune just now, but I soon will. If I like it I will buy a CD as well.  His move took a certain sense of responsibility that I want to support.