Steve's Blog Spot

Now that Easter - and Lent - are over, I guess I am free to resume those habits I swore off for Lent. Alcohol - I have given it up every year for some time now, and it helps me "dry out", although I don't drink a lot. It is, however, harder to abstain than it would seem - there are times I really miss a cold beer, or a glass of red wine, or a double shot of good bourbon (Blanton's, anyone?). I did make a small exception, as my birthday always seems to fall within the Lenten season, I had a couple of beers at my birthday dinner. I can "justify" it, since my birthday was on a Sunday, and Sundays are not considered part of Lent. That was my only "cheat". Since Blanton's bourbon is a rare find, I tried Wathen's bourbon for a post-Lent treat, and found it a very good replacement. Facebook - I still haven't returned. Maybe I will just to send any visitors to this blog. After the first week or so, I found I really don't miss it - it...

This is exciting news! An article posted on the Singularity Hub describes promising results on an anti-aging drug . "When treated with the drug, aged mice regrew their scraggly fur into luscious coats and saw improved liver and kidney functions. They also seemed more energized, opting to spend their time on a running wheel instead of sleeping in a corner. Rather than a synthetic chemical, the drug is a small  peptide  made up of amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Similar peptide drugs are already  revolutionizing stroke therapy , and the team plans to begin human safety trials with their anti-aging drug soon." Hurry up on the research! Hurry!

Ah, Susan Rice is back in the news again. When the poo is flying, she seems to pop up. I agree with Eli Lake  that there are two stories here: - Was Susan Rice justified in unmasking? (She's already admitted to the crime.) - Did the Russians actually interfere with the election? I don't believe for minute Susan Rice was justified. As Security Adviser, it was not her job to perform investigations on her own. It smells political, but we need more facts. Assuming the Russians did indeed perform all sorts of interfering, why would they want Hillary Clinton to lose? She was a known quantity, especially compared to Trump. And speaking of Hillary - how is it that her basement server was never hacked, but the Russians were able to hack the 2016 election? And how do we really know it was those evil Russians? WikiLeaks has reported that the CIA can launch cyber attacks and make them look like anybody did it. And if the Trump administration was in such cahoots with the Rus...

One of the things I gave up for Lent was Facebook. It had truly become both addicting and annoying. Friends on the Left and the Right (and myself, on occasion) could not resist constantly re-posting articles representing their version of the True World View. I believe there is some truth to both, but has become too much "in your face". At first, it was hard to resist visiting FB to see what's happening, but as the weeks have gone by, the habit is broken. As I step back and think about FB, I really don't miss it at all. The only thing I truly miss is what's going on with friends, but perhaps they will join me here from time to time.