06 Nov 2010
Car-Eating Rabbits Invade Denver Airport

Bring forth the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch...

Travelers parking their cars at the Denver International Airport are falling victim to something worse than high fees: rabbits. The rodents seem to love the delicious soy-based wiring compound in cars built after 2002.

(link) [Jalopnik.com]

08:21 /Humor | 1 comment | permanent link

05 Nov 2010
A Sick Sheep

We've been dealing with a sick lamb for the past few weeks: Miniel (one of the twins pictured here) has had a bizarre problem. The wife has blogged  about it alot, her latest post being a call for general help and advice.

Some more research tonight has pretty well convinced us that she's suffering from a septic arthritis of some sort, and we're exploring all our options. It's becoming rather important to save this little girl. She has a nice fleece and would make a superb petting zoo denizen (due to size and disposition), but I've got to confess that the real reason is simple emotional attachment. Considering the investment in time and energy we've put into her already, it'd be unnatural not to be attached to the little bugger. So any advice is appreciated - leave a comment her or over at Dances with Ewes if you have any clue that might possibly help.

19:26 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

Early Snow

We've got flurries outside now, and the air temp is 35°F ... the National Weather Service says:

An area of scattered snow showers will move southeastward across northeastern and central portions of central Indiana this evening. Light snow should result in little to no accumulations and visibilities of 2 to 3 miles. Some sleet and rain may mix in with the showers.

It's very early for this type of weather, and although the precipitation is welcome, a bit more of it at a little warmer temperature would be really nice.

19:09 /Home | 1 comment | permanent link

01 Nov 2010
Funeral for a Friend

Once upon a telephone ...

I started to distrust telephones the instant they stopped working. I can’t pinpoint when that was — the first time I “dropped” a call, or someone said, “I’m losing you” — and I don’t know why the telephone, the analog landline telephone, was never formally mourned. I do remember clearly what life was like when telephones worked.

(link) [New York Times]

06:41 /Technology | 1 comment | permanent link

29 Oct 2010
Why We Hack

I can relate ...

Sometimes disobedience is necessary and good when rules fail us, and it's at the core of why we hack. Hacking is a means of expressing dissatisfaction, confounding the mechanism, and ultimately doing better. Here's why it's so important.

(link) [Lifehacker]

06:15 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

22 Oct 2010
Battle for the Ruhr

Battle for the Ruhris the title of my current read. The cover blurb:

With Allied armies poised on the banks of the Rhine, Nazi Germany tottered on the brink of collapse. The ensuing battles on German soil--especially those in the so-called Ruhr Pocket--were as fierce and hard-fought as any in the European theater. Going well beyond previous accounts, Derek Zumbro chronicles this key military campaign from a unique and fresh perspective-that of the defeated German soldiers and civilians caught in the final maelstrom of the war's western front.

I'll admit to a bit of fascination with WW2 military histories - this began as an effort to understand my Dad. He was a Technical Sergeant in the 3rd Armored Division. Here's a snip from his memoirs:

...we were attached to the 3rd Armored Division known as the Spearhead Division. We stayed attached to them for the duration of the War. The Allied Armies went on the offense to close Ruhr Pocket, later named the Rose Pocket in tribute to Maurice Rose, 3rd Armored Commander. He was killed near Padaborne on March 6, 1945, the same day four of us were strafed by an ME 109. We were strafed by fire in front of a stone barn. I dove inside the door. I knew I was hit. The first thing I did was unbutton the front of my clothes to see if shrapnel went through me. No. We piled into a jeep and went back to service battery. Dr. Decker dug the shrapnel and a lot of red tile out of my back and butt. They gave me the Purple Heart Medal and advised me to watch that none of the punctures festered.

We moved on to close the Rose Pocket at Padaborne and on the Rhine River. We crossed the river at Remagen on a pontoon bridge built by the engineers. We encountered no resistance from the Germans. We advanced on east and crossed the Elbe River. We were told after a couple of days that we were on the Russian's side of the river and were pulled back to the other side. The War was over and we were anxious to get back home.

So you can see why I'm interested... this book uncovered my Dad's somewhat faulty memory - General Rose was killed on March 30th, not the 6th. So I don't know if my Dad was shot on the 6th or the 30th! And like so much else about him, I probably never will...

20:25 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

17 Oct 2010
You want flies with that?

Ya know, I would normally dismiss such stories as faked, or at least exaggerated, but this one, well, let me tell you a story.

Back in 1994, I happened to wander into a bait shop in Noblesville, looking to buy some fishing tackle. Displayed in the case, next to the cash register, was a McDonald's Cherry Turnover, looking pretty fresh. The only signage suggested that I ask for the story, so I did.

The owner of the shop had purchased the turnover and discovered a pit (or some foreign object) in it - he returned it to the store and asked for a refund. They refused, offering instead to replace it with another. He didn't want that - having found one contaminated food item he was leery of accepting another identical item for fear it would have the same problem - remember, we're talking less than a dollar here. After a heated discussion with the McDonald's manager, and no satisfaction, he resolved to simply inform people of the sloppy (and potentially dangerous) foods the restaurant was selling. He told the manager that he owned a shop, and would display the offending item and explain the situation to his customers. Which he, obviously, did.

The turnover was purchased in 1986 - 8 years before I saw it.

Vladimir Lenin, King Tut and the McDonald's Happy Meal: What do they all have in common? A shocking resistance to Mother Nature's cycle of decomposition and biodegradability, apparently.

(link) [Daily Mail]

Update: Natural News has more on this sordid tale ...

10:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

15 Oct 2010
Recent Reports

Well, I'm not going to go into any detail (yet) but I feel I would be remiss if I did not issue a warning: make sure you know what you're getting into if you take a psychotropic prescription medication for any reason. Suffice it to say that while we are indeed "smoke free", we are having serious issues with side effects and have stopped the program.

More later - maybe.

21:05 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

11 Oct 2010
The recession was made in China

Interesting point, highlighting Chinese government intervention in the market to skew things their way. Imagine that.

We all can see the responsibility of Wall Street and the U.S. mortgage market for today's global recession. Yet behind both is a more fundamental cause: China's financial rise. As much as the products in the aisles at Wal-Mart, this recession was made in China.

(link) [CNN]

21:34 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

10 Oct 2010
The Blog is Not Forgotten

It's just been on hold for a bit, while other some other things we've got going on get hashed out. I've been hesitant to blog about it, because, well, I wasn't sure of success. You see, we're in the process of quitting cigarettes. And it's actually going quite well.

We got a prescription for Chantix, and are starting week four of the regimen. So far so good - we've both broken down and had a couple since our official date, but on this program that's OK. The drug blocks the nicotine receptors and you get nothing from smoking. All that's left is the habit, not the addiction. And it's a lot easier to kick a habit than it is to break an addiction.

What finally prompted us? Cash. A pack here in Indiana costs about $5. Both of us were smoking one pack a day. You do the math. Microsoft Money tells me that since January 1st, 2002 (when I started the database) I've spent over $21,000 on cigarettes. There's our tractor, our bailer, a livestock trailer and a used half ton pickup truck.

The really galling thing about it is that of that twenty grand, the tobacco company probably grossed five. The rest went to taxes at various levels. We've been paying the state for the "privilege" of our habit. If that's not motivation for anarchists I don't know what is...

Of course, the non-smoking majority may well be in for a surprise. If we smokers quit and stop paying taxes to fund all these great programs, either the great program's gonna disappear or somebody else's gonna hafta pick up the tab. I wonder who that will be?

19:47 /Home | 1 comment | permanent link

30 Sep 2010
Food Is the New Pharma

Just what we don't need ...

Nestlé, one of the world's most successful packaged-food companies, is planning to pioneer a new industry to bridge the ever-narrowing gap between food and medicine. The company announced it would invest about $500 million in a new venture called "Nestlé Health Science" to develop foods and supplements designed to help prevent diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's and cardiovascular disease.

(link) [Time]

via Ebony's Pearls

06:53 /Agriculture | 1 comment | permanent link

21 Sep 2010
Party Out of Bounds

If I hear the "Tea Party" called "libertarian" one more time, I think I'm gonna puke. The vast majority of their candidates are at best hypocrites and at worst outright con men..

Take Joe Miller, darling of the Alaska Tea Party movement:

Alaska's Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller, who has railed against wasteful federal spending and pledged to abandon earmarks, received some $7,200 in farm subsidies on land he owned in Kansas.

Spot the hypocrite! Taxing me to subsidize somebody else is bad. Taxing somebody else to subsidize me is good policy! Spending is bad, unless of course it's spending on me!

Choke...

A bit more subtle is the case of Pat Toomy, one of the founders of the Club for Growth. The growth this club's all about is their own, and they're not afraid or unwilling to use the State to get their way. The story of Toomy and corporate taxes illustrates this perfectly:

After two days spent trying to hide his position on eliminating taxes for Wall Street banks and Big Oil, Congressman Toomey will not deny his support for zero corporate taxes, even at the expense of Pennsylvania’s working families.

Of course, this blog by his opponent in the Senate race in Pennsylvania thinks this is just awful! But ya know, I agree with Pat! There shouldn't be any corporate taxes! I know, as an anarchist, I can't really support taxation theft on anybody, but corporations shouldn't even exist: they're mere creatures of the State, designed to let the wealthy hide their liability behind some imaginary veil.

So, Pat, how about a deal? We eliminate corporate taxes by eliminating corporations. Of course, that would make you fully liable for your actions in the marketplace... no deal, eh? I thought not.

And there's the con artist: all in favor of those interventions by the State that support his positions, all against anything that smacks of actually having to pay his protection money.

Think about these guys constant harping to privatize Social Security - qui bono? They aren't talking about eliminating Social Security taxes, oh no. You'll just have to payse your moneys into their private mutual slush funds instead of an ostensibly public treasury. They'll manage it for you, taking a piece of the action in the process. When things go up. You'll be left holding the bag when things move the other way. Which is why many of my coworkers now refer to their retirement accounts as "201K's".

Politics is naught but the art of government, and government is nothing but raw, naked power applied for the benefit of those wielding it. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that those who seek political office, despite their protestations of wanting to do good for the common folk, are hypocrites and con artists - what other kind of person would want the job?

Update: Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone agrees with my assessment of the Tea Party movement...

Update: More Tea Party Hilarity.

23:22 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link

18 Sep 2010
New US Embassy Adopts Defenses From Middle Ages

What goes around comes around ... I wonder if there's a portcullis?

A US embassy is expected to extend the welcoming hand of democracy—while maintaining a 30-meter zone of blast protection. Such was the challenge facing KieranTimberlake when the architectural firm entered a State Department competition to design a new embassy on the banks of the Thames in London. Its winning plan, to be built by 2017, is part ultramodern masterpiece—sleek solar panels, a facade made of energy-conserving fluoropolymer “pillows,” spiraling green spaces—and part 11th-century castle. West Point professor Clifford J. Rogers, an expert in medieval military history, walks us through some features that the Normans would find quite normal.

(link) [Wired]

07:53 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

15 Sep 2010
The Sheep Are Dancing

Lorraine has been really getting into blogging on Dances with Ewes. Lots of sheep photos and tales from our farm, and a plethora of good sheep links. If you've not been there for a while, by all means check it out!

19:37 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

13 Sep 2010
Guess What, You Don’t Own That Software You Bought

Unbelievable - it's getting to the point where you don't own anything. Hopefully this will not survive the inevitable appeal, but if it does, they may have finally killed that golden egg laying goose.

A federal appeals court said Friday that software makers can use shrink-wrap and click-wrap licenses to forbid the transfer or resale of their wares, an apparent gutting of the so-called first-sale doctrine.

(link) [Wired- Threat Level]

17:29 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link