- From the “I Knew It!” Department – Scientists seem to have isolated a virus that causes a slight dip IQ in infected animals and humans. For those of you who have long suspected that stupidity was contagious, this is your proof. I look forward to an over-the-counter detection kit, which will be mandatory for anyone wishing to speak to me.
- From the “Science!” Department – Scientists have performed a limited study on the effects of regular use of marijuana on the human brain. Their findings confirm what I have suspected for years: people who smoke a lot of pot for a long time develop cognitive issues. I’m sure I’m not alone in having that feeling. I would be interested in seeing how these findings stack up against chronic users of alcohol and caffeine, as well as harder drugs like meth and heroine. I’m still for legalization, or at least de-criminalization of recreational use, but I will be the last person to ever tell you that using this stuff three times a day for years is good for you. Like all substances that make changes to the human body, sometimes it’s beneficial and sometimes it’s not.
- From the “Tragedy” Department – A young boy in Cleveland is dead after police shot him the other night. Evidently, the young man had an airsoft gun with the distinctive orange cap removed, and when he pulled it out in front of two policemen, they shot him. This reminds me of the case last year where a teenager was killed in California when his airsoft AK pattern gun was mistaken for the real thing. Parents, it’s past time for us to teach our children that guns are not toys, and to make sure that if we buy them airsoft or BB guns, then there is little to no chance that it can be mistaken for a gun. Our kids need to know to treat any gun-shaped object as if it were a real gun, and to respect the responsibility that comes with it.
- From the “Horrors!” Department – Labor unions are in the Obamacare crosshairs as the 40% excise tax on so-called “Cadillac Plans” starts to loom on the regulatory horizon. Basically, if your employer provides a health plan that is worth $23,000 or more, it’s taxable. Since a lot of union health plans are very generous, a large number of people who either directly or indirectly support the president and other democrats responsible for drafting, passing, or implementing the ACA will be hit right in the irony bone with a $9200 tax bill. Even though I’m probably in that class myself and will cry and gnash my teeth when the new line item shows up on my tax documentation, I love the schadenfreude of knowing that President Obama’s most ardent supporters will be with me checking the oil on his bus.
- From the “Hamburger” Department – An Irish bull, whose owner believed to be gay due to its preference to mate with other bulls, has been sold to an animal sanctuary in England rather than be slaughtered. Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon chipped in funds to transport and provide for the bull, who will spend his dotage roaming fields of clover instead of being nestled between leaves of lettuce and slices of tomato. It’s too bad, really. I’m sure the meat would have tasted fabulous.
- From the “Don’t See That Every Day” Department – A man was arrested recently at Boston’s Logan Airport for a laundry list of charges. It seems that Captain Success tried to climb across a fake ceiling, nude, so that he could take a gander at the ladies restroom, but fell through into the men’s restroom and injured himself. He then allegedly ran out of the restroom and assaulted an elderly man and injured a police officer who was arresting him. Now, that would be an interesting scenario for IDPA. “OK, hoss, what you’re gonna do is drop your pants, sit on this here commode, and wait. At some point after the timer beeps, a target is going to drop from the ceiling. Draw from your holster and engage until the target is neutralized. Whether you stand up or not is up to you. Do you understand the course of fire?”
All posts by daddybear71
News Roundup
Posted by daddybear71 on November 12, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/12/news-roundup-235/
100 Years On – Other Fronts
On November 11, 1914, Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire declared jihad against the Entente Powers. A few days earlier, the Ottomans and the Entente had declared war on one another. That same day, British forces began fighting to take Basra in what is today Iraq, eventually claiming victory on November 21. The struggle for who would rule the Middle East had begun.
The fight for German possessions in East Africa was on-going. The Germans soundly defeated British and Indian forces at Tanga during fighting between November 3rd and 5th. Von Lettow-Vorbeck would harass and outwit the British with a force of local African and colonial volunteers until the end of the war.
On the Eastern Front, the Russians and Germans fought each other to a standstill in the Battle of Lodz, in which the Russians lost 110,000 men keeping the Germans out of Warsaw and the Germans lost 160,000 men heading off a Russian push into Silesia. While the Eastern Front would move more than the Western Front, a see-saw stalemate pattern where initial expensive gains were lost in even more expensive retreats had developed.
In Serbia, which is where all of this started in the first place, final preparations were underway for the third Austro-Hungarian invasion since the war began in August. Starting off on November 16, the Austrians pushed deep into Serbia, taking Belgrade on November 29 and 30. However, a counterattack by the Serbs pushed the Austrians completely out of Serbia, which put everyone back pretty much where they started by December 16. It is interesting that by this point in my reading, the 40,000 casualties in this offensive seem light in comparison to just about anything seen on the Russian or French fronts.
I guess my point in discussing these battles is to point out that even though the fighting in France has died down into stalemate, there is still fighting, sometimes on a colossal scale, all across the globe. While the fighting in Africa or the Middle East almost seems a sideshow to the bloodletting in France and Poland, we are still dealing with their effects today. These theaters will seem familiar to anyone who has watched the news or served overseas in the past 40 years.
I wonder which of today’s ‘sideshows’ will be a main theater of fighting for my great-grandchildren?
Posted by daddybear71 on November 11, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/11/100-years-on-other-fronts/
Movie Quotes – Day 315
“Remember us.” As simple an order as a king can give. “Remember why we died.” For he did not wish tribute, nor song, nor monuments nor poems of war and valor. His wish was simple. “Remember us,” he said to me. That was his hope, should any free soul come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be. May all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones, “Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that here by Spartan law, we lie.” — 300
We didn’t ask for parades. We didn’t do it for free drinks. We didn’t sell our youth, our health, and our lives for a free meal on Veteran’s Day. We did it because it needed doing, nothing more, nothing less. All we ask is that what we did, and what we gave up to do it, be remembered.
Posted by daddybear71 on November 11, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/11/movie-quotes-day-315/
News Roundup
- From the “Sovereign Nation” Department – Canada is taking heat from the World Health Organization after Canada put severe restrictions on visas for citizens of countries impacted by the Ebola epidemic in Africa. Apparently the WHO would prefer for Canada to follow the path our country is going down, which is to take everyone’s temperature at the border, half heartedly try to keep those we deem at risk in
quarantineobservation, then fold like a cheap suit when they complain about the accomodations. - From the “Good Samaritan” Department – The city of Fort Lauderdale in Florida has passed a law making it illegal to feed the homeless in public, and has arrested at least three people for ignoring the law. I’m as heartless as the next guy, but if someone feels the personal need to help out their fellow man, what business does the state have in stopping them? Let the good people take care of those who cannot care for themselves, and we just might make this a better place to live.
- From the “d’Artagnon” Department – Scientists have discovered that some male hummingbirds use their long beaks to stab competitors for mating space in the throat. The closest I’ve ever come to seeing similar behavior in humans was watching two Russian truck drivers have a knife fight over a prostitute outside of Tver.
- From the “Till Key” Department – In other animal news, a study of bats has found that some species use their voices to ‘jam’ the echolocation of other bats while hunting insects. Just goes to show, even in nature, there are jerks.
- From the “Bwahahahaha!” Department – A man in London became a viral sensation the other day when he revved his Lamborghini so much that it set itself on fire. He then tried to blow the fire out, and finally gave up and drove away in a flaming huff. I hope that the gentleman is OK, and that he enjoys the new flame job on his Lambo.
- From the “Breaking and Entering” Department – A young man in Pennsylvania was arrested yesterday after he broke into a house dressed as a Teletubby. For those of you without children, Teletubbies was a television show that induced trances in three-year-olds and seizures in 40 year olds. Personally, I have no idea how I would react to an uninvited yellow Teletubby raiding my fridge, although “Shoot to slide lock” comes to mind.
- From the “Old School” Department – A 62-year-old warrant officer retired recently, ending the era of draftees in the Army. The gentleman was drafted in 1972, and has been on active duty ever since. I’d like to thank him for his over forty years of service.
- From the “Honor” Department – President Obama presented the Medal of Honor to a relative of a Union officer who gave his life during the Battle of Gettysburg. Someone had to whisper to the President that the Civil War was when Republicans freed the ancestors of his wife and daughters from slavery.
- From the “Easy One” Department – The Department of Defense is struggling with what to do about soldiers who use marijuana in states where it has been decriminalized. Apparently nobody checked the SOP for most units in Europe in the 1990’s. You see, when a soldier went on leave to the Netherlands, where most drugs are legal, the first thing that the soldier was handed after reporting back to his or her unit was a urinalysis bottle. If the detector gear burst into flame during analysis of the sample, then the soldier got to enjoy learning the intricacies of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. There’s nothing keeping the military from telling its employees “We don’t care what’s legal off post. You’re still not allowed to partake.”.
- From the “No Kidding” Department – In related news, scientists have discovered that regular, long-term use of marijuana has detrimental effects on the human brain. You know, even the most ardent advocates of legalization are asserting that smoking pot is good for you, especially when it comes to teenagers. I guess we had to have scientific confirmation, but was someone really confused as to the fact that potheads tend to not become rocket scientists?
- From the “Qel Surpris” Department – Conservative news sites are all atwitter about a recent admission by a former Obama administration official that the ACA was passed through deception and obfuscation. Shocked, yes shocked I am to find that there is skullduggery in the halls of Congress. (Your subsidies, monsieur.) You mean that a bill, which was written like stereo instructions, complete with annexes about specific
bribescarveouts, which were exchanged for votes, taxes, which were hidden for Supreme Court justices to find later, and things that couldn’t be discovered until after the bill was passed, was designed to confuse low information voters and the low information legislators they elect? - From the “Bluntskull” Department – A woman in Kentucky has been arrested on drug charges while wearing a tee shirt that reads “I Love Crystal Meth”. I’d call that “probable cause” right there. I think the drug war is a waste of time and a threat to liberty, but if you’re this stupid, a few years outside of the breeding pool might just be what you need.
- From the “Catharsis” Department – A man in Italy recently took a pick-axe to his Fiat after it failed to start. The man apparently took over 100 whacks at the car. As a former driver of a Fiat and owner of multiple examples of what Fiat’s sister corporation, Chrysler, calls an automobile, I sympathize with the gentleman, and wish him a quick recovery from his hospital stay for ‘rest.’
- From the “My People” Department – The president of the Acme Foundry in Minnesota couldn’t have been surprised when he returned to work one morning to find that some wag had affixed images of Wyle E. Coyote and the Roadrunner on the side of his building. The company did not let the levity stop its pre-Christmas work of producing the best anvils in the world, though. In addition, new lines of safes and pianos will be ready for their debut early next year.
Posted by daddybear71 on November 11, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/11/news-roundup-233/
Thought for the Day
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. — President John F. Kennedy
Today is Veteran’s Day, and I’d like to ask a favor of you. In addition to thanking a veteran, I want you to consider how many veterans need more than a handshake and a free meal. I want you to think about the veterans who will sleep out in the cold tonight, who will be alone tonight, and who will be considering becoming one of the 22 a day who take their own lives tonight. I want you to think of how you can be more than a smile and a thankful nod to them. Please, even if only for a few hours or an evening, get involved, if only to be there for one of us who needs you.
Posted by daddybear71 on November 11, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/11/thought-for-the-day-218/
Movie Quotes – Day 314
Young Gru: Mom, someday, I’m going to go to the moon.
Gru’s Mom: I’m afraid you’re too late, son. NASA isn’t sending the monkeys anymore.
There is a balancing act that every parent goes through. First, you want to encourage your children to succeed. Second, you want to put your foot in their backside when they stop trying. Third, you want to keep their expectations manageable. The last thing you want to do is lay one of the three on too thick and either hold them up when they should be moving on their own, push them too hard, or crush their dreams.
Posted by daddybear71 on November 10, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/10/movie-quotes-day-314/
Movie Quotes – Day 313
Blood has no nationality — Gattaca
No matter where we come from, what color our skin, or what faith or creed we follow, we are all human. We divide ourselves in a lot of ways, but when we forget that basic truth, horrible things happen.
Posted by daddybear71 on November 9, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/09/movie-quotes-day-313/
Movie Quotes – Day 312
No, if she had hated you she would have merely killed you. A curse takes devotion. — Dark Shadows
There are a lot of people who irritate me. There is a multitude of people for whom I have no feelings whatsoever. There are quite a few people I like, and even a few that I love. But there are only a handful that I truly dislike or even hate. Such feelings take too much energy, and if I dislike you, why waste the energy?
Posted by daddybear71 on November 8, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/08/movie-quotes-day-312-2/
Musings
- Ladies, if you wake up at 2 AM and are having an internal body temperature fluctuation, it is not necessary to shut off the furnace completely on a night where it got down to 40 degrees. Most modern thermometers actually allow you to reduce the temperature in the house without completely deactivating the furnace.
- There were more posters about Ebola than there were about flu at the clinic this afternoon. Guess which one is likely to be found in Louisville and kill you?
- The good news the doctor at the walk-in clinic had for me is that, contrary to how I feel, I am not going to die. The bad news is that what I have is viral, takes two to three weeks to completely go away, and is quite easy to spread.
- I’m not sure if this hot toddy (peach tea, apple bourbon, and honey) is good for me, but it definitely feels good on my throat.
- Many thanks to everyone who bought the book in the first few hours it was on sale. I write because I enjoy it, but it’s always good to see proof that I’m not just doing it to entertain myself. If you’ve got any comments about it, please leave them on the book’s Amazon page.
- It’s amazing how many technical issues end with me saying “But it can’t be that easy!”.
Posted by daddybear71 on November 8, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/08/movie-quotes-day-312/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on November 8, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/08/todays-earworm-571/
DaddyBear
DaddyBear’s Den 