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Friday, February 23, 2018

Casual Friday

The news is uniformly dopey and annoying ("Momentum builds to give vote to 16-year olds"), so we're just keeping things light and pleasant here today.

First up, the captioned cartoon craze that's sweeping the nation...

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And now, in keeping with the theme of the illustration above, we present some more random crap!

THE KETO HAPPINESS - Weight Updeight

We're still sticking with the ketogenic diet we started at New Year's in an attempt to quickly lose enough weight to make another Ruth Bader Ginsburg (not that we'd want to), but success has been elusive. About 4 weeks in, we discovered we'd lost a grand total of 3 pounds. Obviously, something needed to change - so we've stopped weighing ourselves.

We're not noticing our clothes getting any looser either, which doesn't help motivate us to stick to a diet of meat, meat, and meat...with pork rinds for snacks. Whee.

But we're absolutely tearing it up at the YMCA's "Active Older Adults" exercise class. After just 6 short weeks, we can go as long as 5 minutes in class before we have to suck vigorously from our water bottle and gasp while our blue-haired classmates continue pumping iron while dancing.

We'll also note that there is an element of personal danger in these classes, as we're compelled to use the same kind of rubber exercise bands which allegedly beat the living hell out of Harry Reid once. The memory of which, we'll admit, is pretty much the only thing that makes us smile during our workout.

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If you icepick it, it won't get better

38 comments:

Mike aka Proof said...

I was on a ketogenic diet about 10 yards back. Lost about 50 pounds in six weeks. It's doable. Check with your doc to see if there's something you missed. Good luc!

Regnad Kcin said...

Sign on toidy lid : "Please do not flush. Am looking for ruler. Possible world record in bowl....."

Geoff King said...

16 year-olds voting? That is something only a democrat could think up.
At that age most are driven by emotions and raging hormones. Not exactly what is needed for intelligent decision making. Not to mention the fact that few of that age pay any taxes, so why should they be allowed to vote on what taxes are spent on?

Jim Irre said...

@ Geoff King, we don't get much in the way of intelligent decision making from about half the population over 16 either. Case in point - Carter, Obama, Clinton, etcetera, etcetera.

Judi King said...

16 year olds voting? NO! I don't even like 18 year olds voting unless they're in the military. We can obviously see how ignorant and clueless most 16 year olds are. So now we should watch while they elect progs. who will shelter them and give them more what they think is free stuff. I had to wait 'til I was 21 so couldn't vote against Kennedy, which really ticked me off, but I lived with it.

McChuck said...

Voting age should be 21. I'd approve of an amendment making it so, and raising the age for Representatives to 30, just like Senators.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Mike aka Proof- I did well on a ketogenic diet once upon a time, but the magic isn't really happening at the moment. As is common on a keto diet, I'm taking in a significant quantity of calories and fat - but sticking to 20 or fewer carbs a day. Except, of course, for all my donut breaks (kidding).

@Regnad Kcin- Aiming for the Guinness Book of Bathroom Records!

@Geoff King- Yes, it's the Democrats floating the notion that 16 year olds should get to vote because they're obviously so much wiser and better informed than Republicans and conservatives. And it's BS, of course. Most of these 16 year olds couldn't make change for a dollar, have no analytical skills, belong to the online "hive mind," and are - of course - flamingly liberal because it feels good. I'd sooner give dogs the vote.

@Jim Irre- Good point. And it's not coincidental that we get bad voting decisions made by so many other people; many never mature out of the adolescent idiocy that makes liberalism seem like a good idea. There's an old saying (which I'm surely about to butcher) along these lines: if you're not liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you're not conservative at 40, you have no brain. Part of that comes from the life experiences (sustaining a real job, marriage, buying a home, raising a family) which are increasingly rare among our eternally immature young basement-dwellers. Without engaging real responsibility, many will never develop the insights which reveal liberalism to be a plague.

@Judi King- 16 year old voters is really the baddest of bad ideas, especially on the back of their "wisdom" about disarming America. Keep in mind that (if the Internet is to be believed - wry grin) that 11 teens die daily from texting while driving. It seems like we could save a lot of young lives - far more than are lost to school shooters - by taking away their driver's licenses and/or smart phones. But I have a suspicion that the very vocal teens we're hearing at the moment won't really warm to this life-saving idea.

@McChuck- I agree about the voting age, although I'd make an exception for service members. I'm reminded of Sci-Fi author Robert Heinlein's construct in which the only way to become a voting "citizen" was through military service. Others just have to go along for the ride.

TrickyRicky said...

If you are a net tax receiver, rather than a net tax payer, NO VOTE. Why should anyone be able to vote themselves a paycheck taken out of my pocket?

TrickyRicky said...

Earwig-CNN's crack staff excreting more Town Hall "Debate questions".

Snark said...

90% of dummycrats have emotional and intellectual abilities stunted to the equivalent of 16 year olds anyway, the only difference is the number of votes - which is the point. Since it looks like DJT is serious about halting the incessant wave of invading illegals, the only way the idiots can increase their herd (hoards?)is to lower the voting age.

While protein has a small impact on the blood glucose, it still elevates the insulin level, just not as much as carbs. That added to lower resting metabolic rate makes it harder to shed the excess pounds. They will come off, but slower than a few years ago. My new motto - "eating is overrated".

Fred Ciampi said...

I lost 47 pounds on the Adkins Diet. Then on that fateful day I had that one lone donut.....

When I was 16 I wanted Elvis to run for president.

I have read so many articles about how just about everything you eat or drink is unhealthy for you that I have decided to give up reading.

John25mm said...

I think you also described your average democrat (emotions and raging hormones).

Greywuff said...

So let me get this straight they want to raise the age to buy a rifle to 21 because 18 to 20 year olds aren't mature enough to know that going out and killing people is bad but they want to give 16 year old the vote?

M. Mitchell Marmel said...

Unicorn Poop Ice Cream: Behind the Scenes

jlw said...

"if you're not liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you're not conservative at 40, you have no brain."

hillary clinton was a Goldwater girl in her 20s, was a liberal in her 40s. thereby proving that she has neither a heart OR a brain.

Judi King said...

@ Greywuff: Yes, that proves how insane liberals are!

Judi King said...

@ Fred Ciampi: LOL...I probably would have voted for Elvis when I was 16 too. But, he probably would have done a better job than the last president we had to endure.

David in SoCal said...

Earwig: "James Goldston preparing to give birth to a Joy Behar, and then wipe his Whoopi Goldberg.
Stilon: What is happening with your diet/workout program is you are replacing the fatty tissue with lean/sinewy muscle mass. We expect to see you in the Mr. Universe competition before Easter. It took me 63 10/12 years to achieve the 'Body MESS Index' I enjoy today,(thanks to the good cooking of Mrs. SoCal), and I plan on spending another 63 10/12 years trying to fix it. Hang in there Dr. J, and God Bless!

Shelly said...

This shooting incident is following the usual trajectory. First, wild-eyed rants to "do something" about guns, the NRA and conservatives/Trump in general. Then the facts start rolling out such as the only armed LEO tasked with protecting the school had a yellow streak down his back. Also, the school boards had a policy of not referring criminal statistics of their students for prosecution, rather keeping them squelched. This alone would have probably kept the perp from purchasing the gun, as he had been involved in incidents at the school. The main teenage ringleader of the march against guns has been revealed by his Facebook posts (which he tried to delete before the CNN town hall) as a flaming, out of control leftist, Trump-hating nut job. I will assume as more damning facts come out against the left with respect to this incident, it will fade away until the next one when the cockroaches will come out of the woodwork again.

As far as KETO is concerned, I have lost 43 pounds (helped along a little bit by the stomach flu). It's not a fast weight loss like most diets, more like a way of life than dieting. I've been very good at losing weight but terrible at maintenance so this approach is working better for me. Good luck.

Graylady said...

Hang in there with the low carb/ high protein diet,Doc. I lost 100 pounds in one year with it! Course over the last 9 years, on a regular diabetic diet, I've gained 60 pounds of it back. Face it, dieting is a no win situation.

Anonymous said...

I'm a male, 46YO and 5' 6", I went from 254 to 238 just doing the exercise and watching calories, then at 238 I said lump it, its high time for something different than this cycle of putting it on and taking it off which I had done too many times before - so I went full on keto averaging around 30 grams of carbs a day and some days up to 50 grams with high fat and moderate protein. I followed it for near 9 months while also keeping an eye on calorie intake as well and by that time I was down 157, within three pounds of my service weight! All with almost no regular exercise, I since then added a couple sessions a week with weights (whole body) and I ride my bike and walk more now. I have since added moderate carbs (100-150 grams) back, still keep my calorie intake to reasonable levels and stay around 165 now as an average for the last year. Once every week or two, I eat whatever I want for a meal or two in a row including Chinese buffet - main thing is not repeating it every day! Good luck, nothing tastes as good as being slim(mer) - BTW, my wife also started it about 4 weeks after I did and she too lost a ton of weight and she looks great, it even helped her complexion and a few other issues she had been dealing with.

John the Econ said...

Democrats still struggling to produce a viable platform for 2020.

Right now, they think they've nailed it with "gun control". Seems they've got the hysterical high-school student vote wrapped up. Now if they could only convince Republicans to give them the ability to vote for more than just the prom king and queen before the next election.

Although I think it's gonna be kinda hard to argue that kids are mature enough to vote while simultaneously arguing that the same kids brains aren't yet fully developed, and therefore aren't mature enough to buy and own guns until they're at least 21. Remember, only a few weeks ago Congress was considering a law requiring Tide to make their "pods" less appetizing to these same teenagers.

You can't spell "diet" without "die": Just think of it this way - The more healthy you become, the longer you will live and the more of a burden you will be to those clueless millennials who think that socialism is they way to go.

Colby Muenster said...

@Greywuff,
There you go, trying to apply logic to the thought processes of Democrats. Many have tried; many have failed!

I remember being a prime candidate for the draft in 1970, and being one of those screaming that, "If I'm old enough to be drafted and subsequently shot at in Vietnam, I should be able to vote. I still feel that way, but also think people who are 18 are too inexperienced to vote rationally. How about a law that says, if you want to vote at 18, you simultaneously join the armed services? Don't wanna join? Then wait until you're 21 to vote AND drink.

American Cowboy said...

After hearing the expression, "Shit a brick" Ned pondered what was wrong with him that he couldn't do it.

Boligat said...

I'm all for the Heinlein solution. Serve first, get the vote later. BTW, that was in "Starship Troopers". I would also vary the time of service depending on what you volunteer for. Combat arms and police, four years. In theater support and firefighters five years. REMF's 16 years. You can vote when your 4, 5, or 16 year term is up, even if you stay in.

@Greywuff: Right on! I saw that, too. We have way too many discrepancies floating around. Vote at 16, live on parents' insurance 'til 26. Weird.

james daily said...

My first vote ever was for Barry Goldwater. I had turned 21 in Oct so I registered and had arguments until the election was over. I am sure all those that voted for LBJ did regret it when the fallen soldiers started coming home. At sixteen I had no interest in politics, just my social life. Now, we seem to be getting more information out on the law enforcement actions at the school. This is going to get nasty. Israel has both, a guard and teachers carry. They have had two school terrorist attacks since 1974 and the teachers killed them both. I am with Argyle, Keen, Median ISD and Okay ISD. All have armed teacher and signs in front of the school. This is the solution I support. On weight? Screw it. I do not want to die in good health.

james daily said...

I did a bit more searching:
In Texas, school boards must approve arming teachers. At least 170 districts allow employees and in some cases board members to carry firearms, according to the Texas Assn. of School Boards. About 150 districts have their own police departments, and more than 250 districts without police have school resource officers.

That means about 22% of the state's public school districts have allowed staff to carry guns, according to Joe McKenna, director of research and education at the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University in San Marcos.

McChuck said...

Boligat - sounds good, until you look at the details. My intel team (4 troops + civilian interpreter) had one quarter of all the outside the wire missions at our FOB, way out in Indian country. We got infantry support exactly once that year. After that mission (which went really well), the infantry refused to support us because, and I quote their company commander, "What you guys do is dangerous!"

Counter proposal: Combat arms - 3 years; Direct support - 4 years; Indirect support - 6 years. Count each month deployed in hostile territory twice.

piraz34 said...

Geoff King wrote "floating the notion that 16 year olds should get to vote". What a perfect caption for Friday's earwig.

Gee M said...

@piraz34

A true gem...lol!

I noticed the rhetoric coming from the students seems a bit grandstandy and only a slight moment of loss of self-control away from "...and you're a big dooty-head!"
Dissing a sitting US senator and former candidate for President is such a childish get-off, reflecting no maturity or thought process to come up with the stupid proclamations I have read...led by the nose much, kiddies?
I'm sure CNN has cringed at the Cuomo "he's a liar" statement referring to the ROTC student who was praised for his bravery and call to (real) duty by helping fellow students during the shooting...even with other statements corroborating his claim of pre-written questions being given to him at CNN's dissfest...he was tagged a liar by CNN.
I do believe "whatever" is the patented response for the majority of 16 year olds when faced with one of life's difficult questions ... like "should the US just go ahead and nuke North Korea after the Olympics?"
Imagine the actual discussion pre-election time at schools around the country..."Jaywalking" from J Leno's stint on the Tonight Show would seem to be a pretty accurate synopsis of the level of political savvy.

God Preserve the Union if we let the babies drive the Ship of State!

Judi King said...

Being called a liar by CNN would be an honor.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@TrickyRicky- I like your idea, but I think we're so far gone with the lower third of income winners believing they should pay NOTHING that the idea would never get traction. But maybe we could strike a bargain with those who don't pay in: let them keep 80% of their benefits if they want to vote, or 100% if they're stricken from the rolls.

@Snark- Whether through age or choice, mental and emotional immaturity are the defining characteristics of those on the Left.

Good advice on the diet front. I take Metform to help with my insulin resistance, but am reading that too much protein ends up being turned into sugar (or glucose, or whatever) by our clever bodies. I just weighed in, and I've lost 1.8 pounds in 3 weeks. This means I should hit my goal weight in the year 2021. I am unamused.

@Fred Ciampi-I bow to your wisdom. As much as I'd like to give up on this program, I really can't - I've GOT to get in better shape. But I'm also going to have to change the current diet which isn't working. Lower sodium, maybe...less alcohol (sob), maybe... beyond that, I don't know what to do.

@John Fernau- The Venn diagram has HUGE areas of overlap.

@Greywuff- You've condensed the arguments accurately. It must be very relaxing to live a life in which you can't see the obvious conflicts between the different things that spill out of your mouth.

@M. Mitchell Marmel- The magic is in the sprinkles!

@jlw- I see no flaw in your logic.

@Judi King- Yup.

@David in SoCal- I'm pretty sure the discrepancy isn't coming from the massive amount of lean muscle that I'm adding at the YMCA. Most routines lean heavily on having us move, kick, and twist until I'm seriously wheezing. Then we do short routines with weights; mine are 3 pounds. Which is to say, they're lighter than my average enjoyable meal (at least, before this diet).

@Shelly- The more we learn about this shooting, the more it sounds like everything possible went wrong. All of the alarms were going off for multiple agencies, and there were armed police at the school while the shooting was going on. We're going to need a lot of analysis and introspection to figure out where to go from here.

A few lessons learned: cooperation between schools and police departments to bury crimes committed by students is a bad idea. Building a 20-30 minute tape delay into your internal security cameras is a VERY bad idea. Believing that "See something, Say something" will accomplish anything is, sadly, yet another bad idea. As is, most tragically, assuming that the police will do the right thing once onsite.

One thing's for sure, the NRA doesn't have anything to apologize for. The cops, the school, and "the system" all have a lot of explaining to do.

And congrats on that 43 pound weight loss! I'd be over the moon if I'd come that far! Now where can I go to get stomach flu...?

@Graylady- 100 pounds in a year?! Sigh... I could stick to ANY diet if I thought I could get results like that. Penn Jillette did it in about half that time by eating ONLY potatoes (under very close medical supervision). And yes, dieting is no win, though I could embrace keto as my new lifestyle if it would just meet me halfway by delivering some good results.

@Anonymous- Thanks for the pep talk, and congratulations to you and your wife for your successes! Although I admit that you kill me with the words "Chinese Buffet." That's what I'm craving more than anything. I have DREAMS about Chinese Buffets! I'd say more, but I'm making myself hungry.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@John the Econ- I just can't believe that "gun control" will ever be a successful game changer for the Dems. It's not like they're going to win over new voters with the issue (unless, as you point out, they're able to gets teens into the voting booths). Regarding which, by any reasonable standard it seems like our young people are developing towards adulthood much slower than ever before. Indeed, many never ever become adults - just old, strident children who believe they're owed something because they're "special" (just like Barney told them).

Thanks for the new perspective on dieting; live long enough to COST the government more money than you've sent them! I find myself re-motivated purely for the sake of being a pain in the ass!

@Colby Muenster- At 18, minds are exceptionally pliant (to put it the best way possible). This can be good for military training and missions, and bad for voting. Still, I'm in favor of letting anyone in the service vote.

@American Cowboy- The trick to shitting a brick is to make sure it comes out "small end first" rather than sideways.

@Boligat- I like your plan, and I'm not saying that just because I'm drinking at the moment. Maybe.

@James Daily- I wish MY first vote was for a conservative. I spent years (decades?) voting like a liberal idiot...which is what I was. I got better when I became a husband, father, homeowners, and small businessman. And I'm still paying penance with this blog (grin).

@McChuck- First, a messy civilian salute for your service! I like your weighted terms for getting the additional privileges of a Heinlein-ian citizen.

@piraz34- You're absolutely right. I usually keep the Earwigs non-political, but you're making me rethink that policy...

@Gee M- I'm not really against these kids because I was young and stupid once. They're sincere, they mean well, and they think complex problems can be solved with simple solutions. But their passion shouldn't be mistaken for wisdom, which is what the MSM seems to want us to believe.

And on a barely related tangent, I'll note that the whole genre of "slasher movies" exists only to sate the bloodlust of that young demographic. Again, not the best argument that they're ready to make moral decisions for our country.

@Judi King- That's a badge I would wear with pride.

Valvenator said...

"their passion shouldn't be mistaken for wisdom"

SJ, that is a statement for the ages.
If you're the first to say that I'd say you should get a copyright.

MAX Redline said...

Then the facts start rolling out such as the only armed LEO tasked with protecting the school had a yellow streak down his back.

Hm. You know, I tend not to go with calling people cowards, as there are a few things one needs in order to respond in live-fire. First, you need to know where the target is located. Then, you need a game-plan to neutralize it. Finally, you need a backup team that can manage not to be shooting one another. That's how the training goes.

You're not going to do anybody any good if you're bleeding out on the ground.

It may seem insensitive, but it's also sensible.

John the Econ said...

The more I think about the "Heinlein construct", the more I like the idea. One of the problems I believe that lead to people like last week's shooter is a lack of meaning and purpose in life, combined with free time and affluence. (meaning he doesn't need to work in any meaningful sense just to survive) The free time and affluence give the undisciplined the time and resources to cause most of the trouble we see in society today. Being engaged in meaningful "public service" might change that.

Gun Control: I agree that it will be just as much of a loser for Democrats going forward as it has been for them in the past. For example, I live in a state that has predominately elected Democratic governors, but Republican legislatures. The third-rail here is daring to say anything about "gun control". The Democrats are always "pro gun". Outside of the university district, it's a certain loser. (The few candidates who do dare to touch it always go down in Reagan-Mondale-scale defeats)

And in the mere hours since I posted my comments above, the movement has been going down faster than the Hindenburg at Lakehurst. We now know that it wasn't just the on-site officer that sat out the action. Several other officers from the Sheriff's department showed up and hit outside as well.

Before you get too critical of them, do remember that the Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement officers are under no obligation to protect you should the decide that it's not worth the trouble, even if you are a bunch of defenseless teenagers in a designated "disarmed victims zone".

Also, it seems that there's a fair amount of corruption at the Broward County Sheriff's Department. These are the people who Democrats say will be there to protect you after you've been disarmed. Sorry, but some of us aren't interested in being transferred from the "lion" to "sheep" category he's talking about there.

Adult children: My favorite example still has to be Sandra Fluke, who in her mid-30s begged Congress to buy her birth control. I'm old enough to remember when saying such a thing in public would have been a personal embarrassment on multiple levels. Today, Progressives see no problem indulging such silliness indefinitely. Children make reliable voters for big-mommy.

Greywuff said...

@Max Redline It now turns out Ol' "Yella" Peterson had 3 other Broward Cowards with him at the time of the shooting.I would think that would classify as "backup"

Solitude said...

Re exercise. To lose weight, you need to walk for half an hour to one hour EVERY day. Don't miss a day. Intermittent exercise classes are next to useless.
Any excess energy consumed from ANY source will be stored as fat. Eat smaller amounts. Eat six small meals instead of three large ones. Drink more water.
Do some weights to put muscle on your body because muscles use up energy even while you are sleeping.
Short bursts of high energy activity are supposed to be good but I am concerned about this on elderly hearts and joints.
Consider stretching out the time from your last meal at night to your first in the morning to 16 hours.
Good luck. cm