Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Horse meat, and dads/dudes without testicular fortitude

There was a "scandal" this past week in regards to the actual contents of  the "meat" in some products sold by the grocery chain, Aldi's.

Namely, said meat products turned out not to be beef, but horsemeat.

It turns out, Aldi isn't the only food supplier that has been doing this.  Back in January, Burger King finally took off the crown and admitted (after two weeks of denial) that it indeed had been using patties that contained horsemeat, in their Whoppers.

The initial outrage from consumers was generally one you'd expect from nutritionally uneducated American's.

"OMG I will never eat at Aldi's again."

"That's why I never shop there.  Disgusting."  

"That's the worst thing I've ever read."

I literally read that last one.

The WORST thing you've ever read?  Were you the person they based that awful Tom Hands movie Castaway on, and you just found the internets?  I can find something worse than that in the local grammar school newspaper, and they make reports on who colored the best dinosaur and who did the best cartwheels at recess.

Please, give your faux outrage a rest.

Horses are animals.  Animals have meat on them.  Which makes them a potential food source.

To borrow from those articles....

In regards to Aldi -

"We believe that the two particular cases of the frozen burgers from Tesco and the lasagne from Findus are linked to suppliers in Ireland and France respectively.

In regards to Burger King -

The contaminated burgers were made by the Irish-based processing company, Silvercrest, which is part the ABP Foods Group.

So apparently we have the Irish to blame for sending us a higher quality of meat in replacement of the shit "beef" we've been stuffing down our fat consumer throats.  This makes sense.  The IRA was in Ireland.  And they were considered terrorists by some.  Maybe they have reformed and are now terrorizing everyone by replacing processed "beef" with nutritionally heavy horsemeat.  However, the French appear to be doing it as well, and all they do is act like pussies and make love to each other.  So that's out.

However, in regards to the French, they eat horse meat all the time.  It's sold over there just as regularly as beef is sold here in the states.  Le French do not bat an eye at it.  In fact, it's been on the rise again according to this nifty article here, which also mentions the frozen lasagna "scandal".

The difference in the French and the States, in regards to horse meat I mean, is that the French aren't up in arms over the fact that it's horse meat.  They are more interested in the quality of process of the food manufacturing industry.  Which is what WE should be doing, rather than acting like idiots over the fact that it's horse meat.

I understand the concept of "want to know".  We want to know what we are eating, if we buy from the store or from the fast food joint.  And I agree with that.  I think it's important to know that what you claim is on the label, is indeed lining up with what I'm putting into my body.

However that isn't what the outrage was over.  It was over the fact that it was horsemeat.  Obviously the horror stemmed from people who grew up watching "The Black Stallion" way too many times as a kid, or perhaps had a pony as a child.  Seinfeld already went over the fact that no one likes anyone that grew up with a god damn Pony.  So there's that.






Beef versus Horse

To add, from a woman that has a degree in horse science (yes, I didn't know there was one either) that wrote on my Facebook page........

I have a degree in Horse Science, and I can't tell you how many arguments I got into with fellow peers over the fact that I believe Horse Slaughter is a necessity in the States. These animals are starving and abused by the thousands, simply because there isn't a use for them.....so why not process them for consumption (they're an extremely lean, sweet meat!) and turn a profit like we do in the beef industry? They sell like hotcakes in foreign meat industries. 

And, although horses are considered companion animals by a great majority, they were FIRST and foremost used as a food source; then they were used at a beast of burden in both commercial and agricultural fields, and additionally in wars. After the introduction of the automobile and other forms of technology in the early 1900s, the horse became an obsolete and overpopulated creature......and again, the pendulum swings back to implementing horses (considered a "livestock" animal) as a food source.

So there you have it.  Horse meat, is good.

I do agree that Aldi's and Burger King and every other company that is in the food industry should label their products correctly, or to the best of their knowledge, however American's need to also pull their head out of their assholes.  Most of them got their Jimmies in a rustle because well, it's horses.  And horses are pretty, and all of that fucking bullshit.  Somewhere out there are people that also think that pigs and chickens and cows are pretty, yet we're not laying off the slaughter of those animals for consumption because of it.

The "looks" of an animal shouldn't be a qualifying factor in terms of whether or not we should be using it in food consumption.

Dads, modern males, and testosterone....or lack of it - 

I meant to touch on this some time ago, however I'm busy as fuck most days and can't get around to everything.

For you dads out there feast your eyes on these two reports.......

Here....

and here.

Some snippets from those articles.........

A new study from Emory University finds that men who tend to be a loving parent also have smaller testicles. The research, released today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involved 70 men of varying ethnicities — most were Caucasian, five were Asian and 15 were African-American – with at least one child under two years old.

Prior studies have suggested that decreases in testosterone may suppress mating efforts, which potentially channels a man’s energy toward the care of infants and make these men more empathetic.

“Our data suggest that the biology of human males reflects a trade-off between mating and parenting effort,” says Emory anthropologist and study lead author James Rilling,
From the New York times piece..........

Experts said the study was a significant contribution to hormone research because it tested men before and after becoming fathers and involved many participants: 600 men in the Cebu Province of the Philippines who are participating in a larger, well-respected health study following babies who were born in 1983 and 1984.

Testosterone was measured when the men were 21 and single, and again nearly five years later. Although testosterone naturally decreases with age, men who became fathers showed much greater declines, more than double that of the childless men.

And men who spent more than three hours a day caring for children — playing, feeding, bathing, toileting, reading or dressing them — had the lowest testosterone.

This should make sense to most people, if they will just use some common sense.

Testosterone is the male hormone that drives you to sexual conquest.  When you submit yourself to fatherhood, your body responds by dropping test levels so that your desire to seek out sexual conquest wanes, and you become more prone to providing for the highly needy infant.

This is why I make jokes that dudes driving mini-vans and watching chic flicks have indeed lost their man card.

Because in a way, they have.

You're a little less of a man than you were before..... from a hormonal aspect, anyway.

Becoming and being a great father is the greatest blessing I believe that a man can have.  However, there are indeed risks associated with low test levels, and they are very real.

Here is a list of some of the common health problems tied to low testosterone:
Anemia
Cardiovascular issues
Diabetes
Increased Body Fat & Obesity
Prostate cancer 

These all suck, of course.  However even worse.........

Men with low testosterone had a 33 percent greater death risk over their next 18 years of life compared with men who had higher testosterone, according to the study conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor and colleagues at the University of California at San Diego.

Death seems like a fairly big risk associated with low test.

If you have been feeling lethargic, grumpy, lack of sex drive, noticeable decrease in body composition (you are getting softer and fatter, but diet and training have still been on point), find yourself ok with driving that baby blue minivan and sitting through god awful Sandra Bullock movies.......then you might want to get in to your doctor, and get your test levels checked.

Being a dad is still about being a MAN.  I personally think we see so many of these emasculated married males these days because test levels in general, have fallen off the map in comparison to where we were 60+ years ago.

In 1992 the British Medical Journal published the most comprehensive study to date regarding sperm count and found that their study of over 15,000 men from over 20 countries worldwide prescribed how sperm count had reduced by over 50% between 1940 and 1990. The ongoing trend into 2012 and beyond has evidenced that a 30 year old male today has only 25% of the sperm count of his fellow 30 year old from 1940.

Over and over again research points to environmental factors as being the cause for low test levels.


U of M researchers were able to establish that testosterone levels in infancy are in factnot inherited genetically. This was achieved by comparing the testosterone levels of 314 five-month old pairs of twins, both identical and fraternal.

Researchers took samples of saliva from the 314 pairs of 5 month old twins and measured their levels of testosterone. They then compared the similarity in testosterone levels between identical and fraternal twins to determine the contribution of both the genetic and environmental factors. By comparing the testosterone levels of the five-month old pairs of twins, both identical and non-identical, researchers were able to establish that testosterone levels in infancy are “not inherited genetically but rather determined by environmental factors.”


My personal opinion is that this has happened because so many males now have resigned themselves to being stay at home dads, and so many males being raised by single moms (I have no scientific research to back this, it's just a hunch).

It never fails that when you see a man get divorced, that he sheds the minivan, grabs a car HE wants, generally gets back to the gym (or other such lifestyle changes), because he needs to make himself more desirable on the "market".

I completely believe that this is driven by test levels rising again, once he's away from "being dad and husband" 24/7.  These two things are actual counter productive for a male's long term health.  It is not a "I don't want to be part of my family" concept.  Anyone who has read my blog for any amount of time knows I believe that family comes first, and that being a dad is the greatest thing in the world.

However, in order to be the best dad you can be, you also have to take care of YOURSELF first.  And part of maintaining health is in fact maintaining healthy test levels.  And when men submerse themselves in nothing but cater to their woman's "honey do" list, and changing diapers all day, his test level drops, and he eventually loses part of what makes him who he is.  He becomes "dad", which is great, but he also stops being who he was before, that got him to the point of being desirable, i.e. your woman wanted to mate with you in the first place.

Make sure that even AS DAD, you make time for your buddies.  Have a "bros night out."  Make time to be away from the wife and kids.  Don't isolate yourself off from the world because the wife and kids dictate that to you.  That is NOT healthy.

I've always said that long lasting healthy relationships are the ones where people don't lose themselves in the relationship.  You don't become "Sarah's mom" or "Sarah's dad".  You have that role, but it doesn't encompass your life wholly.  I see so many parents whose lives are wrapped up in nothing but being a god damn taxi.  Every day is spent shuttling their kids to some soccer game or music lessons, etc.  Where did YOU go?

Whether you decide you need to go on test therapy is a decision you will need to make along with your doctor.  I can tell you this, if you do decide to go that route, you'll wake up and realize one day that you hate that god damn minivan.  You'll stop watching those god awful chick flicks, and you'll suddenly realize that the girl working down at Wal-Greens is way hotter than you remembered her being.  None of these things make you less of a husband or father.  If you believe that, then you are already emasculated or have bought in to the social construct that men are to be submissive and subordinate beings to their women (this is usually cleverly disgusted in phrases like "I think you have to respect her wants and wishes all the time" and other such retarded phrases.)

Part of being "dad" is being a fucking warrior.  Someone asked me a few weeks ago what keeps me so driven in terms of getting stronger, and working as hard as I do.

"My kids." I said.

"How is that?" they replied.

"I want them to always feel protected.  That dad is strong, and can take of them not just emotionally, and financially, but physically.  I want them to see that a strong man physically, is ideal."

This is not a "rah rah ALPHA MALES!" post.  There's plenty of "science" above that backs up my opinion about the decline in real males in our society now.  It's not a battle cry to high school males about what real men should be.  It's factual.  Men need to be more cognizant of their health, test levels, and what that means to their quality of life, and quantity of it as well.  Low test level having emasculated men are going to see the grave far sooner than those of us that believe being a "man" is still vital to living a long and fruitful life.






24 comments:

  1. I let myself become emasculated when I was married. Once we separated.....game over. Felt more alive. I won't make the same mistake twice.

    I really think we live in a time where being masculine is frowned upon, and thats total bull to me.

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    1. "I really think we live in a time where being masculine is frowned upon, and thats total bull to me."

      Not really.

      Certain male behavioral patterns that were mistakenly recognized as "masculine" in the past are more frowned upon today, because society has greatly evolved (intellectually) over the past 50 years and most people today see said behavior for the sad, pathetic insecurity it really is.

      However, true masculine behavior (not to be confused with male insecurity) is still not only accepted, but also praised in society.

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    2. I think you're confusing being a "macho man" and masculinity. Yes real masculinity is indeed frowned upon today. One only need to take a look into how movies are done now, and how heroes are generally bumbling, needy idiots that can't along to "save the day" without the help of a "strong female".

      This has been going on for quite some time.

      The role of the father in the home has been downplayed so as not to upset single mothers these days, and the role of a strong "man" as a LEADER is most definitely frowned upon as well.

      It used to be that "strong woman" was looked upon as someone who was a support system for her man, however now, if a man assumes a leadership role as head of the home or "calls the shots" he's seen as an abusive dictator. There's been plenty of books written now that go into vast detail about the decline of the alpha male in our society.

      I'm not sure what sad, pathetic insecurity behavior traits you are talking about but feel free to elaborate.

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    3. @ Fatman : Also regarding the scientifically noted and accepted knowledge of the dramatic fall in Male sperm counts and Testosterone level in the past couple of decades,why is this NOT seen as an "EPIDEMIC",like,say,the 80% rise in childhood onset Autism? (most likey vaccine related too)or the massive increase in bowel cancer??
      Well,for the 'hard-of-thinking' my suggestion is that its been planned as another 'new normal'. Males are to be programmed,both biologically and through the indoctrination from TV,movies etc,to be lesser 'Men' and think that being decidedly 'Beta' is quite acceptable,in fact,i see a time in the not too distant future that Alpha types will be seen the same way (socially unacceptable) as overtly gay or effeminate Men were back in the day.Effectively your swapping one type of prejudice for another

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  2. Paul, did you write an entire post on horsemeat without a single Game of Thrones reference? :P

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  3. 100% SOLID once again Paul YESSSSSSSSSS

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  4. > Most of them got their Jimmies in a rustle because well, it's horses. And horses are pretty, and all of that fucking bullshit. Somewhere out there are people that also think that pigs and chickens and cows are pretty, yet we're not laying off the slaughter of those animals for consumption because of it.

    Go to Japan, tell them I eat deer. They get freaked out.

    Come back to America, tell people I ate raw horse. They get freaked out.

    And on that note, raw horse (with a little soy sauce) tastes better than most sashimi. The stuff that's raw-food grade is expensive as hell, though.

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  5. If anyone else was wondering here is that British Medical Journal study
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1393072

    Paul, this is a post I`ve been waiting for, since I`m pretty sure i have to go TRT route myself
    Other then finding a good doctor to help me with TRT, i wanted to ask you a question...
    i`m 29 years old and i`m planning on having children in near future. My test levels are borderline low, but still in so called "normal" range
    so my question is, would cycling TRT be a good option in my case because i want to have children in near future, and how would I go about doing that (peptides, hcg as PCT or something else)
    or should i drop TRT idea until I have kids

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    1. I'm not a doctor man. You need to find one that is open to TRT and go from there.

      Delete
  6. Cal-Poly Pomona, our local agricultural university, has been pushing for the legalization of slaughtering horses for consumption. I'm told by them that we ship all of our unwanted horses to Mexico for slaughter. Harder on the animal (shipping) and questionable slaughtering practices actually make it worse for the horses than simply slaughtering them here.

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    1. Why do we always do dumb shit like that? Just kill em and let's eat em.

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  7. There was a big scandal about horse meat in the UK/Ireland a few months back. Two legitimate concerns were to do with bute being introduced to the food chain, and criminal gangs making a lot of money off it. Funnily enough the IRA could well be involved with this haha - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG807130VPA
    Personally, I was mostly annoyed because I've always wanted to eat horse meat, and now it turns out I probably have, and I never got to savour that first bite of horse meat (no homo)

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  8. I live in the UK and we had the horsemeat scandal quite a few months ago,however,the money grabbing bastards that run this economy would charge the same price for it as grass fed beef when they find out that its actually a healthy fucking meat.
    Then in the next breath they'll lament the fact that few Brits eat healthy and that they'll have to put extra tax on 'fatty' meats/foods as they are unhealthy and we shouldn't really eat fatty foods....(yes,the rotten toothed,undernourished,retarded modern British plebeian serf still thinks fat is very bad for us and should be avoided at all costs) And i'm not joking about the 'fat tax' either,they were talking about in the houses of Parliament earlier this year.Bare in mind nearly all protein foods contain fat.
    You mentioned the French,well Guy Fawkes was a Frenchy and at least he tried to blow these silly bastards up,pity he failed in my opinion.

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  9. Also regarding the Test levels,its my firmly held opinion that the 'powers that be' in both our respective countries desperately want Males to become submissive/emasculated/weak because they have seemed to ban everything that they know that contributes to having a high level of it!....they've even banned Tribulus from being sold in shops!
    Self administering Testosterone is illegal now and to get it from a Dr. you'd have to be a eunuch.However if any guy wants to change into a Women they can get hormones prescribed far easier for that than Men can to boost their levels of Testosterone.
    This is no coincidence either,they want Males weak,unhealthy and effeminate,in fact Aldous Huxley and his intellectual friends wrote about their plans to 'alter humanity' when the technological era began,which was forecast to start at the beginning of this new century (2000)As strong,hardy and assertive Men who could undertake manual labour jobs would not be needed at this time so they planned ways to alter us via "food,water,injections and indoctrination" after all,having out of work redundant aggressive strongmen roaming feral around the streets would be difficult for the establishment to control.
    If anyone thinks the de-evolution of Man in the last 30/40 years or so is a coincidence then they've been 'effected' themselves.

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    1. This does not make any sense.

      Tribulus is a scam and does not raise test levels, so banning it from shops is actually doing a favor to the gullible.

      Also you write about "being altered through food, water, injections and indoctrination", but then complain about not being able to inject yourself with testosterone... which is it going to be? "Men who could undertake manual labor jobs" never relied on pills and injections to get strong (most still don't).

      You should try reading Huxley, maybe you'll understand that he wrote against the de-evolution of man, not for it. Or maybe you should just try reading in general?

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  10. As an Irishman I can confirm it was the IRA, they've been nicking people's horses straight out of the fields.

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  11. Fistly,Tribulus DOES work in middle aged Men,of which I am one,i used it in PCT when I was younger (in my 20's etc) and it DID NOT work.Also,most Men use Tribulus wrong,its best used in a large dose maybe twice per week rather than everyday as the Human body attenuates to it.
    Secondly,when I mentioned that society's leading aristocrats would use modern science to ALTER MALES BIOLOGY,i assumed you'd have the common sense to realise that I was suggesting the alteration would lean towards Feminizing them,being allowed to self administer Testosterone WOULD CERTAINLY NOT FEMINIZE THEM....TESTOSTERONE IS NATURAL TO THE HUMAN MALES BODY,THEREFORE IT IS HARDLY THE SAME AS HAVING ESTROGEN OR TRIMEROSOL (VACCINES)OR A PREPONDERANCE OF GENDERBENDING CHEMICALS AND G.M. FOODS INTRODUCED INTO A MANS BODY IS IT?..DIPSHIT.
    As for your complete misunderstanding as to what my post alluded to strongly suggests your one of the many unfortunates who have been effected by the "food,water,injections (vaccines not test.)and indoctrination".
    Yes,i know the thought of the big boys at the top of society being corrupt,self serving and sociopathic is a very frightening concept for sack-less 'half-Men' like yourself but,unfortunately this is the real world we are living in and if wealthy,powerful sociopaths have the ability,technologically,to do something and they WILL NEVER BE PROSECUTED FOR IT,its only wise to keep your 'guard up', metaphorically speaking.

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  12. You know what they say about arguing on the internet and competing in the special Olympics right?

    OK, back to your regularly scheduled pissing contest.

    As for horse meat and testosterone.....worked pretty well for overeem. Once dude came to the states, stopped eating horses and had to give up the test he went straight to shit.

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  13. Dude broke my heart man. I really thought he was gonna be ufc champ. Glass jaw n all. I think if he didn't piss dirty he might have been.

    Paul, on a side note, since I got your attention, keep up the great work. You blog is as awesome as ever and you are doing great things by sharing so much of yourself. I hope you get out of it half of what you put in. If that happens you will be a very wealthy man....and I'm not saying financially.

    Thanks again big homie, hope you getting some sleep.

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    1. Thank you. It's been a rough day. So I appreciate the words a lot.

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  14. Shit bro, me too. Like you always point out. We all have struggles. To quote jamey jasta "its our struggles that define us".

    I wish I could tell you that your blog changed my life in some super dramatic way like some of your other readers but I'm not kinky enough to blow smoke up your ass.

    I do read your blog everyday though, and on my real shitty days it helps to reinforce what I already hold true.

    Just that is enough to be grateful and that doesn't include your contributions to my training.

    Stay up. I'll check on you tomorrow.

    And keep the training videos coming too...cuz I can honestly say that I had some shitty days and my mind ain't right and I was gonna punk out and not lift until I seen your video.

    So thank you Mr Carter, from me to you.

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  15. Hey Paul,

    About test levels and fatherhood. You are spot on.

    When my kids were about 5 and 2 1/2, I felt my body changing big time. I was in my late thirties and it was god awful. When your test levels drop it affects everything. You're just a big wast of space. Weak and slow.

    I began lifting and doing stuff for me. I didn't abandon my family or anything. I just took care of me and showed everyone that you can be older, stronger, and quick with energy. I am 41 now and my upper body lifts are at all time bests.

    Your writing always inspires to keep fighting.

    Most men you see on the street over 35 are either fat slobs or have the body of a 14 year old (skinny/weak). You are correct in thinking this is environment related. Nurture not nature.

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