Cognitive Decline?

 Pentagon says it will mandate a 'new' test to assess troops’ cognitive performance.

To be honest....since the mid-1980s....there's been a test existing...continually modified and upgraded.

So if you ask some folks....the hype to the new test....to study if Covid has affected folks....especially 'long-Covid'.

In the period prior to the new test....if you'd been in a accident, or  suffered a concussion....the test was mandated.

My thoughts?

I've known probably six folks since 1977....who had concussions, and half of them really didn't recover or come back to normal.  But that was via accidents or falling off the side of a building....NOT with long-Covid.  

Gut-feeling with long-Covid?   I suspect if you tested a thousand folks....at least ten have suffered serious cognitive decline.

Gut-Feeling

 When some fellow or gal utttters....that capitalism is failing them....I generally look at their shoes....then the clothing, and if wearing glasses....what type.

My skepticism goes into turbo....if you are wearing $200 Nike shoes....a sweater in the $150 range...tattoos in view costing $500 or more, or glass-frames in the $700 range.

If I notice a I-Phone,  or a $1,000 leather jacket....it reaches maximum turbo.

What I tend to believe....a fair number of folks have been 'enriched' by capitalism....but they can't really see the landscape.

It is an odd world  that we live in....feeling oppressed....in a fake sort of way.

How Much of the Odyssey Is Science-Fiction?

 Well....as Homer wrote it.....2,000 years ago....a good bit.

First....Agamemnon’s armor (Benny Safdie): It's described as elevated-status gear using blackened bronze, silver, and sulfur, looking like an “alternate-universe Batman” suit. 

Second....the Cyclops (Polyphemus): Built with heavy practical effects—animatronics, puppetry, a 60-foot on-set contraption, and Bill Irwin’s performance—plus digital enhancement.  Sort of a horror creature rather than a cartoon monster.

Third....Circe’s transformations: Men turned into pigs.

It's not something (Nolan's version)....that you want a 10-year-old kid to watch.