31 Jan 2005
Beer saves life

Proof positive for the old adage that you don't really buy beer, you just rent it!

Hot on the heels of the tremendous news that beer can help fight cancer, we are delighted to report that a Slovak man trapped in his car by an avalanche urinated his way to freedom after working his way through 60 half-litre bottles of beer.

(link) [The Register]

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

U.S. students say press freedoms go too far

Now this is cause for real fear for the future. With trends like these in high schools, I've gotta wonder if the Republic can survive.

USATODAY.com - One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released today.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Why Apple Makes a One Button Mouse

Interesting thoughts ... I can vouch for the fact that few users actually right click anything, and also for the fact that calls to tech support get incredibly annoying with the "right-click or left-click" question. But I really like the scroll wheel, and the Apple mouse for BigMac is in the drawer, replaced by a <gasp> M$ mouse...

There is a short article at Gear Live that tries to explain why Apple still sticks with a one-button mouse. It points out the fact that although it is perfectly possible to use a two-button mouse on a Mac for 7 years now, developers are forced to rethink their design approach and can't flood the right-click menu. No article of this kind would be complete without mentioning that users get confused with two buttons.

(link) [Slashdot: ]

00:00 /Technology | 1 comment | permanent link

A Very Busy Weekend

Sometimes a title says it all: this was indeed a busy weekend. Yesterday we purchased a stock trailer: we'd been looking for one for several weeks, and finally found a used one that was the right size and, more importantly, the right price. I'll post a pic as soon as we get the thing here: we have to have some work done on the big pickup before we can pick it up. That'll be next weekend.

Looking back over recent entries, I realized that I've not said anything about the boom in business we've been experiencing. I ran a small ad in the Lebanon Reporter for our eggs and chickens, and offered free home delivery in Boone County. That was a month ago: I had to beg the paper to stop the ad after two weeks because we had so many calls I couldn't keep up with demand. We've added to our laying flock and now have about 40 hens running loose in our paddocks, and another 25 down at a friends house in Ladoga. We're selling about 20 dozen a week - and that's all my ladies can lay in the dead of winter.

There have been a bunch of other changes around here as well, and a project that has been bubbling on the back burner for a while is about to come to the fore: I can't say anything about it just yet, but it'll show up in these pages soon enough.

Perhaps the most telling change is that I'm starting to turn down contract programming jobs. I'd rather concentrate on the farm, which is our long term goal. High tech is just too unstable, and probably will remain so. Farming has it's frustrations, too, but they're easier to cope with, as most of them involve things over which I have some degree of control. Software ... well, everybody wants Windoze stuff, and I'm just so sick of writing to that bastardized platform that I could go hurl somewhere. So, screw it. The customers I currently have are in until they get out, but I'll seek no new business writing code.

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

28 Jan 2005
Great idea: No taxes for anybody!

I did the farm's financials for 2004 today, getting ready for tax time. Got an appointment with the CPA next week. And I'm already wondering where we're going to come up with the money we're going to owe come the Ides of April.

And then I ran across this gem.

I sometimes watch folks in line at the grocery store buy several small items with WIC coupons or food stamps, and then take the change and buy cigarettes or beer. And I get outraged at it - they're cheating. "Cadillac welfare mothers" have a reputation as sleazy scumbags at best and borderline criminals at worst, and are generally regarded (rightly or wrongly) as the sort of people you'd expect to cheat and steal. And the folks running large and successful corporations are supposed to be honest, upright and productive citizens: regular pillars of the community.

Somewhere, somewhow, I think I got my stereotypes switched.

"Outrage" doesn't begin to describe how I feel about these thieves.

Eighteen companies -- including Silicon Valley stalwarts Intel, Cypress Semiconductor and Hewlett-Packard -- on Tuesday were granted $80.9 million in refunds for years in which they paid almost no California income tax.

(link) [San Jose Mercury News]

via CNET News.com

02:06 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Massive cow manure mound burns for third month

Oh, the joys of feedlots! But at least the writer from the Associated press who penned this tale has a clue:

Decades ago, most farmers and ranchers kept their own cows and pigs until they were shipped to market and slaughtered into filet mignon, hamburger, pork chops and bacon.

And with all those animals spread far apart at thousands of farms, it was easier to dispose of the manure.

But huge feedlots -- where animals are shipped to fatten on a high-grain diet for their last several months -- have become commonplace.

And how huge is huge?

Dickinson has an average of 12,000 animals on hand, each eating about 25 pounds of feed daily, resulting in as much as nine pounds of manure a day per animal -- some 54 tons every 24 hours.

To give you some perspective, here at Hammerstead we have 8 head of cattle - and they eat no processed feeds, only grass and hay. They drop their little cow pies all over my pastures, fertilizing them in the process and saving me money - that's fertilizer I don't have to buy and apply.

What's in the feed this guy stuffs his cows with? Well, mostly corn - and up to 8 pounds of anitbiotics per ton. Why the anibiotic? Are the cows sick? Nope ... well, not yet anyway. But without the antibiotic they would be. You see, cattle are designed to eat mostly roughage: grass. And when you stuff them full of high-carb grains, their rumen (a sort of pre-stomach) acts like a fermentation tank: with all that sugar, their gastrointestinal flora and fauna go wild, eventually causing an infection or poisoning the animal with alcohol. The antibiotics in the feed kill off the yeasties that are trying their darndest to help the cow cope with an overdose of carbohydrates.

And why stuff them with corn like that? Well, it makes them fatter: which is why the average fat content of meat has nearly doubled in the last fifty years. Of course, so has the rate from heart attacks in humans, but we're sure there's no connection .... right? And the fats produced in cattle by a grass based diet are different in both taste and appearance from those in a corn-fed cow. Grass makes a fat with a more yellow color, a richer texture and a somewhat "stronger" taste: the yellowing comes from omega-3 fatty acids (the same stuff that's in fish oil : and it's actually good for you), the texture comes from the exercise the cow gets while grazing instead of standing at a trough, and the stronger taste is OK, because there's so much less fat that the whole cut tastes milder.

We've actually had to add a tablespoon of olive oil to our Hammerstead hamburger to get it to fry up properly! When was the last time you had to do that with supermarket ground beef? I'm convinced that most folks who've sworn off beef in the last few years have done so because they find the taste repugnant: and that's because all they've ever had has been feedlot beef, loaded with fats.

Can you tell I'm a bit passionate about this?

Urban dwellers who enjoy dining on filet mignon at five-star restaurants would probably just as soon not know about David Dickinson's dilemma.

(link) [CNN]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

27 Jan 2005
Been there, done that

Here's a quote for you, cribbed from a very nice little post over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars:

The national government will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built up. They regard Christianity as the foundation of our national morality and the family as the basis of national life.

Sound strangely familiar? Heard some talk just like that in the recent past? Wonder who I'm quoting here?

It's from Hitler's first speech to the the German nation after becoming chancellor in 1933.

00:00 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link

Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy

If you want to get a good grasp of the ethical issues raised by advances in biology, especially cloning technology, go read this article. Or just wait 'til Friday.

Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras—a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal.

(link) [National Geographic]

via Slashdot

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Pagan Public Rites

Last October I mentioned the modern revival of the ancient practice of pouring libations for the dead. But we've had a thinly disguised pagan divination ritual for many years in this country - Groundhog Day. It was known as Imbloc to Celts and Wiccans, Disting or Charming the Plow to Heathens and Lupercalia to the Romans. After the advent of the Eastern Stranger, the Catholics appropiated it as "Candlemas" - but the ancient rites lived on.

February 2nd (one week from today) is the midpoint between the Winter Solistace and the Spring Equinox - it's still a "Quarter Day" in Scotland, when baronial courts are open and debts are settled.

I find it fascinating that the good citizens of Lexington, North Carolina, have decided to add a sacral feast to the proceedings - after the divination rite, of course. What could be more heathen than that?

AP - A 65-pound pot-bellied pig will be called into forecasting duty when Lexington celebrates "Groundhawg's Day" on Feb. 2. The city is famous for its pork barbecue.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

US staff lose jobs over smoke ban

Thank the gods I'm self employed! At this point, there is no way I would want to reenter the corporate world: they don't want workers anymore, they'll be satisified with nothing less than serfs.

And lest you are beguiled into thinking that this is about smoking:

According to Reuters news agency, Mr Weyers wants to turn his attention next to overweight workers.

And after that? Maybe people who ride motorcycles? Think of the extra risk of injury (and subsequent health care costs) they impose! Why, how dare they!

Four workers are forced out of a US firm after they refuse to take a test to determine if they are smokers.

(link) [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

26 Jan 2005
Two Wagers

I'll bet you this store is never robbed again, at least not by locals ... but I'd also wager that they'll be sued for causing "wrongful death". I'll keep an eye out for this one - it should be easy to spot.

When two men walked into a popular country store outside Atlanta, announced a holdup and fired a shot, owners Bobby and Gloria Doster never hesitated. The pair pulled out their own pistols and opened fire.

(link) [CNN]

tales of Crime & Punishment from Overlawyered

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Lawmaker wants tiny boxing gloves on roosters

I've seen some ridiculous legislation in my time, but this proposed law is right up there with the silliest. This bonehead wants to "save" cockfighting. Apparently he doesn't understand that the people who participate in this so-called "sport" are there for one thing and one thing only - blood. If you take that away (which this bill would supposedly do), you kill the "industry" anyway. Not that killing this barbaric practice would be a bad thing ...

An Oklahoma senator hopes to revive cockfighting in the state by putting tiny boxing gloves on the roosters instead of razors.

(link) [CNN]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

25 Jan 2005
Prehistoric poultry?

Where does a six foot tall chicken roost? Anywhere it wants to ...

Researchers recently concluded that modern-day chickens and ducks can trace back their lineage to the dinosaur days.

(link)(artist rendering) [CNET News.com]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

An Appalling Statistic

For every box of Wheaties with his picture on it, Tiger Woods earns a dime. For the wheat used to make the cereal in that same box, the producer gets a little less than a nickel.

A bushel of wheat weighs about 60 pounds, and will make about 50 loaves of bread. The current price of a bushel of wheat is around $3. The current price of a loaf of bread is about $2. Do the math, and you'll understand a large part of the frustration producers have with commodities markets, futures trading and large corporate entities controlling the price structure in agriculture.

This info came from several spots on the web, notably futures trading sites, Congressional Agriculture Committee hearings and a report from AAA Livestock.

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

FWD: Trojan Warning

>> FROM: laocoon@doomgloom.edu
>> TO: Trojan Army Listserv
>> RE: WARNING!! BEWARE GREEKS BEARING GIFTS!
>>
>> Hey Hector,
>> This was forwarded to me by Cassandra--it looks legit. Please
>> distribute to Priam, Hecuba, and your 99 siblings.
>> Thanks,
>> Laocoon
>>
>
>>>> WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
>>>> IF YOU RECEIVE A GIFT IN THE SHAPE OF A LARGE WOODEN HORSE DO NOT
>>>> DOWNLOAD IT!!!! It is EXTREMELY DESTRUCTIVE AND WILL OVERWRITE YOUR
>>>> ENTIRE CITY! YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING!
>>>> The "gift" is disguised as a large wooden horse about two stories
>>>> tall. It tends to show up outside the city gates and appears to be
>>>> abandoned.
>>>>
>>>> DO NOT let it through the gates! It contains hardware that is
>>>> incompatible with Trojan programming, including a crowd of heavily
>>>> armed Greek warriors that will destroy your army, sack your town,
>>>> and kill your women and children. If you have already received such
>>>> a gift, DO NOT OPEN IT! Take it back out of the city unopened and
>>>> set fire to it by the beach.
>>>>
>>>> FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
>>>>
>>>>Poseidon

FROM: princeh@troy.gov
TO: laocoon@doomgloom.edu
RE: Greeks bearing gifts

Laocoon,
I hate to break to you, but this is one of the oldest hoaxes there is. I've seen variants on this warning come through on other listservs, one involving some kind of fruit that was supposed to kill the people who ate it and one having to do with something called the "Midas Touch." Here are a few tipoffs that this is a hoax:

  1. This "Forward this message to everyone you know" crap. If it were really meant as a warning about the Greek army, why tell anyone to post it to the Phonecians, Sumerians, and Cretans?
  2. Use of exclamation points. Always a giveaway.
  3. It's signed "from Poseidon." Granted he's had his problems with Odysseus but he's one of their guys, isn't he? Besides, the lack of a real header with a detailed address makes me suspicious.
  4. Technically speaking, there is no way for a horse to overwrite your entire city. A horse is just an animal, after all.

Next time you get a message like this, just delete it. I appreciate your concern, but once you've been around the block a couple times you'll realize how annoying this kind of stuff is.

Bye now,
Hector

Just for the record, I didn't write this, and I don't know who did. I got it from a private listserv, but I'm pretty sure it's a hoax. I mean, the Trojans didn't have the Internet! C'mon, how could they? Al Gore hadn't even been born yet, much less invented the blasted thing!

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link