Friday, May 31, 2013

Hepatitis A outbreak linked to Fairview farm


Hepatitis A outbreak linked to Fairview farm

Organic!  Not always the healthier choice. 
I also didn't realize that pomegranates looked like blueberries and strawberries. 


And so it continues!


5 Year Old Boy Interrogated Over Cap Gun Until He Pees His Pants, Suspended For 10 Days

The herd mentality! Pretty much says it all.

And also in the news:


A ten-year-old boy was suspended for waving around a pizza slice that he thought had a gun shape.
An entire community was put into lock down, because a teen had a rap on his phone that included the lyrics ““Chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool, And all shootin’ some b-ball outside of the school” (from the theme song to The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire.”
A school threatened to arrest a high school student and questioned his mental health because he had a picture of an Air Soft gun on his phone.
A five-year-old was subjected to a full body search, threatened with arrest, yelled at, and suspended for ten days . . . because she told a friend about the “Hello Kitty” bubble-gun she had at home.
A six-year-old girl was kicked off of campus for the rest of the school year because she brought a broken Air Soft gun to school for show-and-tell.
When a fifth-grade girl brought a paper gun to school that her grandfather had made, the teacher confiscated it, searched her, and yelled at her in front of her classmates.
A seven-year-old was suspended from school for throwing an imaginary grenade at a box.
A middle school girl with braces on her teeth was suspended for bringing a butter knife to school so that she cut fruit in bite-sized pieces.
A five-year-old boy was kicked out of school for building a gun out of Lego bricks.
A parent had his real (licensed) guns confiscated because his son threatened to get a friend with a water gun.
A school suspended and had arrested a middle school student who wore an NRA t-shirt showing a classic rifle, along with the slogan “Protect Your Rights.”
A seven-year-old boy, whose father served in the Marines, was kicked out of school for holding a pencil like a gun as he pretended to be his father.
A kindergartener was put in detention for building a Lego gun the size of a quarter’s diameter.
The lunatics truly have taken over the asylum, and they’re holding our children hostage.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Agaricus subrufescens


These came up a foot away from the previous two. After more research, the (Thanks to Jake), the  identification is now that they are Agaricus subrufescens.   They had features that overlapped and were between that of A.smithii and A. augustus. 
I looked at the previous photos & these were about a foot away and all but the top of one were below the sequoia needle duff.
You can sort of see that there is a sort of bulb on the base of the upper left specimen . These broke off of most of them when I harvested them as they were tight in the soil. This is in keeping with A.smithii’s description also. No volva of course.
The spore print looked initially blackish, but with enough spores it was clearly dark chocolate brown. I'm taking a print of these for redundancy. But I am certain that are the same as the other two.
No noticeable almond odor when cooked, but slightly licorice when freshly picked from below the duff.

They were delicious with elk burger. 

Insert your own caption

(His eye is too close to the scope. That is a cardinal sin. It will hurt.)


(Words fail me on this one)

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Agaricus Augustus/smithii is now Agaricus subrufescens



Not Agaricus Augustus or smithii, but Agaricus subrufescens
This is a new one for me here.  Also called The Prince.Possibly A.smithii, but the season is wrong and the stem (stipe) does not bulge at the base. It seems to have features of both A.agustus and A.smithii so I'll guess at A.Augustus. Now id'd as Agaricus subrufescens. Found today (5/25/2013) under a sequoia by the bridge on our driveway. This is what those little button mushrooms you buy in the store aspire to be, but they will never get near as tasty.
We've positively identified around 135 different fungi here, but only a handful are edible and fewer still are really delicious. This is one of the winners even with an unsure i.d.. The cap is about 23cm's wide. This will give you a better feel for it's size:
Those are regular paper dinner plates. (white for the spore print)
Which was dark chocolate brown.
I'll cook them up now.
The sample was very tasty

Saturday, May 25, 2013

mow of the same

As it was a nice day and my birthday as well, I decided to start mowing the blackberry bushes, ant hills, tansey, hawthorne, and various and sundry other things that have made these fields an eyesore for too long. The neighbors have made comments that had to be answered. 
Proving that we can bottom feed with the best, the old 2010's clutch and my leg got a workout. The tractor smoked and complained, and there are sounds that seem to come from the transmission when going down grade that I would rather not hear . I think it had 40HP when it was new and it isn't now.  
We have some kind of ant here that builds a mound up to a foot or so high, which turns into concrete in the summer. One of them stalled my 4x4 truck last summer when I hit it in compound low. Now however, they are still soft enough that the bush hog slices them up nicely. 
Budde suggested I get a bigger tractor and I am beginning to see the wisdom in that suggestion.  I figure that another week and I will have it under control. Then maybe I can get it sprayed when the new stuff starts back up.  Some of the bushes may be too much for this machine. The one in the first photo was medium sized and is no longer there. 
I rescued two gopher snakes from the resident red tail hawk. One was pretty good sized and kept the hawk at bay until I got there. 




These boys were in the yard eating grape vines while I was mowing. Their tails aren't even black yet.



Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Child Abductions By Strangers Very Rare

An interesting read. The media has always been more interested in ratings and the almighty dollar than the truth. The real facts should put  a lot of parents more at ease. This misinformation is the kind of thing that is spawning the nanny state our government is becoming.

"How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead us"
"Only a tiny minority of kidnapped children are taken by strangers. Between 1990 and 1995 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children handled only 515 stranger abductions, 3.1 percent of its caseload."

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Too many people too little room.



Whether or not climate change is caused by man, or is just a normal cycle is 
irrelevant. Either way, I do believe that we contribute to it. 

The real problem is man's overpopulation and greed, which feeds the utter disrespect of the 
majority to our environment and the world's ecology in general. 

The days of 
safaris and the unchecked hunting of Africa's game has depleted and brought 
them close to extinction. Those that are left are being slaughtered for food 
and folk medicine by the hungry and greedy.

The rain forests are being cut down, also by the hungry and greedy. 
The old growth forests here in Oregon 
with the exception of a few protected acres have been cut and re-planted as 
tree farms. These forests are not the same , if and when they are replanted. 
Countless thousands of species do not survive in the interim and what 
results is a forest that is a ghost of it's former self.

The cities are expanding and all those roofs and pavements collect toxic 
water. This water unfiltered by the earth, then runs unchecked through the 
storm drains daily, by the billions of gallons and drains directly into and 
pollutes the oceans. The ocean is being literally fished out of not only the 


large predator species, but the sardines and smelt at the bottom of the food chain.
And so on......

Wherever man has reached a certain critical population, he has tended to do 
so at great cost to the earth's, and his children's future. The days of 
being fruitful and multiplying are past. The earth has only so much room, 
and while maybe not as fragile as any one particular species that may go 
extinct on any given day because of man, all of the earth's biota is 
interconnected and interdependent.

The twenty acres I once lived on far (I thought) from the city, in Florida, 
are now surrounded by developments and the small two lane country road has 
become a six lane highway. 

If you are over 30 years old, look around and remember what it was like 20 years ago. 

What is left of the forested hills here in the Willamette valley are being 
cleared to plant grape vines. This was land traditionally unfarmable, and 
was a refuge for the local wildlife and native plants. These acres are 
stripped and fenced to keep any animals out. In our local economy here, it 
is permitted to do this, but not to build a house up in the woods in addition to the old farmhouse. 
Something if done properly, would have very little impact on the local biota. (a personal gripe)

The problem cannot be solved simply by carbon credits, electric cars wind 
generators and such. The problem is that there are too many of us. I do not 
know what the solution is. But, if we haven't reached a critical mass yet, 
we soon will, and I do believe that our growth rate is unsustainable.


Can we feed everyone tomorrow? The biosphere is collapsing, and soon our diet 
will have little variation as we turn to a minimum of large scale bio engineered foodstuffs.
But we will probably still have plenty of wine. 
After all, this is not our problem, it's our children's. Or is it?

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Another "Man cleaning gun " story


Beaverton Police said sometime after 7 p.m. a bullet was reported in the bedroom wall and closet of a home on the 7000 block of SW 163rd Place.
Officers were able to determine the bullet came from a nearby house. No one was hurt.
Neighbor 33-year-old Bryce Norton told the officers that he was cleaning his handgun but did not think it fired.    ???????????
Norton’s sister reported hearing a loud bang at the time. Officers arrested Norton for recklessly endangering another person and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.
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Why do I keep reading about these fools that were "cleaning" their guns and they went off? In this case, he didn't think it fired? Probably thought that loud sound was just his meth lab exploding again. 
Really stupid people like this should not own guns! 
(Or be allowed to reproduce for that matter.)  If I were king like Obama I concentrate my efforts at gun control in dealing with the minority of people like this, and not the majority who are responsible and safe.




Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Why People Believed Fake Bomb Detectors Worked


 James McCormick arrives for sentencing at the Old Bailey over selling fake bomb detectors

A British businessman who sold the Iraqi security forces more than 6,000 fake bomb detectors based on $20 golf ball finders bought from the United States was convicted of fraud on Tuesday in Britain’s central criminal court. The businessman, James McCormick, 56, was described in court as having made more than $75 million from sales of the fake device in Iraq and Georgia, among other places, claiming they could detect bombs, drugs, currency and ivory, and track objects up to 3,280 feet below ground.


How and why,  this is also why we have entire professions doing much the same thing. Homeopaths, chiropractors, faith healers, acupuncturists, dowsers, fortune tellers, etc.......I could go on..........And I'm probably offending someone here, but at 65 now, I reserve the right to be opinionated. :-)

And the "golf ball finders" he used? McCormick's first model, the ADE-101, was a re-badged golf ball finder that was described by its US maker as "a great novelty item that you should have fun with".
The antenna was "no more a radio antenna than a nine-inch nail", one scientist told the jury.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Lots of game on the cameras!

Here are a few out of about 2000 similar shots from three cameras over the last eleven days.
Click to enlarge.

Cute! isn't she?



Checking out the camera.

His tail went up when he saw the coyote!

But he thinks he can handle him.

The coyote left & the buck went back to the mineral block.



The antlers are growing pretty fast!


Theirs too!

Having fun.


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Changing the CJ2a transmission oil (updated)



It was time to put the proper 90wt mineral oil in the transmissions. The stuff that was in there eats bronze. I tried the crappy plastic pump I bought at the auto parts store which made a mess and didn't work. Using only the tube from the pump, some fittings I had, an unused 2.5gal paint pot a friend gave me and which I have been carrying around for five years, and 13 lbs of air, it made the job almost pleasurable. I am proud of myself, something actually went as planned today. It only took about 15 minutes to find the parts in the barn and build it. All quick disconnect too. When the tranny was filled, I just shut the air valve & pulled the pressure release ring.



The body is dentless and almost rust free. It still has the original rear seat material. The after market top has to go. Originally painted Luzon red. A lucky find from NE Washington.

The day it came home:


Sunday, May 5, 2013

Patent absurdity




It was only a matter of time!
Type-n-Walk is a new app that displays a transparent view of what is directly in front of you as you walk. This allows you to type (text) and avoid walking into (or driving into) those pesky trees, other rude people, or anything you can't just brush aside.  
This should save a lot of money for those municipalities that are installing special lanes on the side walks for people texting while walking.
As I refuse to own and pay for a cell phone that does more than make and receive calls (and not all that well here in the valley), I doubt I will have need of this app. I spend enough time in front of this screen and don't feel the urge to carry one around whereever I go.
Thanks to Jerry The Geek at Cogito Ergo Geek 

Saturday, May 4, 2013

The NRA Store


I sent this in reply to these items they are selling in the NRA store. 

Sirs:
Are the following items for sale really sending the message we wish to deliver to the public? Why not leave these things to the shopping channel who sell “collectable” knives that would only appeal to some introverted, video-game addicted, 13 y/o child.
I am disappointed and somewhat disgusted.
Regards,
##############
McMinnville, Or
NRA member ########
NRA cert. instructor rifle,pistol,shotgun
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Described in the email ad I received as: "The ultimate Rambo Knife"

NRA Lacerator Survival Machete  NRA Lacerator Survival Machete
“Delicate dissection” ? Of what? An Elephant?  

NRA Dark Ops Vendetta Karambit Knife
The “karambit” style fighting knife dates back to eleventh century. Originally designed as a farming tool, its subsequent evolution into a sophisticated fighting implement makes it uniquely suited for both daily carry and self-defense. A hallmark of this style is its integral finger loop – a remarkable safety feature which prevents the blade from slipping or being stripped from your hand”

Yep! We all need these for that potential fight when we run out of ammo.
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This also kind of sends the wrong message. 
-----------------------
  
Entitled:             "Open your next round with this".

However, since the people most likely to buy these probably drink the cheaper brands with the more convenient twist off caps, they probably aren't selling well.
It kind of brings to mind the drunken good ole boys out hunting image. 
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While I support the NRA, they have been getting a little carried away lately. Granted,it is possible that the extremism was necessary to make a point, get media attention, and garner support for our civil rights,  but logic should prevail and the above items "do not compute." At least to me. 
I miss the days when the purpose and goal of the NRA was an emphasis on education and gun safety.

I suppose now I will be blacklisted.  :-)

Friday, May 3, 2013

The cost of sin in dollars and cents and other things

Father Guido Sanducci

Wherein the good father explains the cost of sin, where nuns come from, and other mysteries.



Novello created the character in 1973, after he purchased the outfit (consisting of big floppy black hat, white clerical collar, and a long, red-trimmed black coat with cape) for $7.50 at a St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store.
In 1981 Novello made newspaper headlines when he visited Vatican City wearing the Father Guido Sarducci costume to do a photo shoot for Time magazine. After taking pictures in an area where photography was prohibited, he and his photographer, Paul Solomon, were arrested by the Swiss Guards and Novello was charged with "impersonating a priest". Although the guards attempted to confiscate the film from the shoot, Solomon managed to hand them the wrong film. The charges were later dropped.