21 Mar 2006
Change of Heartland

OK, we're Hoosiers, not "Indianians", but we'll let that pass, as this writer hit the nail on the head about the feeling here. One of the most popular bumper stickers in my area now reads "Not My Man", referring to our Governor, whose approval poll numbers stand below 30% in some areas. Bush is faring even worse, especially with the (dare I use the word?) aborted ports deal.

Republicans should watch out this November - the seven year itch is here a year early in the Hoosier State.

On the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, many Indianians are no longer strongly behind the war.

(link) [Boston Globe]

via Masson's Blog

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

US debt limit nears $9 trillion

New bedside reading material - Impostor : How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy. Read it and understand that this is what we get for electing a tight-fisted conservative as opposed to a big-spending liberal. Except we didn't.

US President George W Bush signs a bill to increase the national debt ceiling to nearly $9 trillion.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

00:00 /Politics | 3 comments | permanent link

Morons in the News

Why do we wonder at the pathetic excuse for education that our children are getting in our public schools?

Two tales are linked below, both from morons.org. My aggregator caught them both from other sources, but "Morons in the News" was just too good to pass by as a headline, especially for stories like these.

(Note: you may have to futz a bit with the links to get them to work, or go to the main site first.)

Parents Protest Operatic "Devil-Worship"

Tresa Waggoner, an elementary school music teacher in Bennett, Colorado, is a Christian, a gospel recording artist and a church choir director. She believes that teaching "is what God put me on this earth to do." She is also, according to some Bennett parents, a devil worshiper promoting homosexuality to her young (first-, second-, and third-grade) students.

(link) [morons.org headlines]

Drama Teacher Resigns; Classic Plays Too Much for Small Town

A drama teacher has offended some Christians' delicate sensibilities and has decided to resign rather than be forced out. To call Fulton, Missouri regressive might be the understatement of the century. Or more correctly, it might be the understatement of several centuries. Even the radical mores of the 16th century are too much.

(link) [morons.org headlines]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Preparing for the Avian Flu Threat in the U.S.

If they could've designed a disease to put me out of business this would be it:

He added that while thousands of free-roaming and backyard chickens were infected in Thailand in 2004, none of the country's large-scale, commercial chicken flocks in enclosed facilities were hit.

Mr. Lobb said chickens sold as free-range or organic, meaning they are allowed access to the outdoors, may be more susceptible to avian flu transmission, but this group represents less than 1 percent of the chicken production.

I probably shan't be running meat birds this year anyway: the USDA certified processing plant that we used was purchased by a large conglomerate and shut down. (I suspect this was to keep free range birds from backyard flocks from getting the processing they need to be legally sold to retailers, but who knows?) But if bird flu gets anywhere near me, you can bet the state will cull my laying flock. Completely. Without any sign of disease in them.

What does this mean? Well, I sell a dozen eggs for $2.50. That means each egg is roughly worth $0.21. Each hen lays (roughly speaking) 1 egg per day - which means that each hen produces $76.65 in sales each year. I have 250 laying hens. A hen's primary production will last two year - all of my girls (except Miss Lucky - there's a tale for another day) have just started laying this past winter. When they're done laying I slaughter and sell the birds as stewing hens for $2.50/lb., or about $7.50 per bird.

I have 250 hens.

That makes the total value (over the next two years) of my current flock $40,200.

Of course, if I locked the girls up in the barn, and got real lucky so that they miss a mandatory cull, I could probably preserve them. But that would increase my feed costs dramatically: I spend less than $100/mo. in the winter on chicken feed right now, and nothing in the summer months. Locking them down would probably quadruple that, not to mention the additional bedding and labor to keep the hen house clean. Additionally, I could no longer sell "free range" eggs: so the retail price would have to come down (probably to about $1.89/doz. - they're still brown eggs and "farm fresh") or I'd end up with a bunch of eggs on my back porch.

It's a Catch-22. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Do you still wonder why I'm petrified of bird flu?

Concerned that people will eat less chicken if avian flu reaches the U.S., poultry producers are taking precautions to protect their product.

(link) [New York Times]

00:00 /Agriculture | 1 comment | permanent link

Fliers Can't Balk at Search

Comrade! Your papers, please!

A federal appeals court rules that an airline passenger can't just turn around and go home when the TSA asks about that meth pipe-shaped lump in his pocket. By Ryan Singel

(link) [Wired News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link