The elk are still hanging around (and some birds)

Theresa took the dog and the camera for a walk today about 3pm. I was too tired after the gym. Although it may have been the full day of fruit tree pruning yesterday. My insurance co. was kind enough to buy me a membership to the gym. Once I reached 65, they must have figured it will cost them less in the long run. My premium is $53./mo and the membership would have cost $50/mo, so I am doing ok. 

These were just past the second dam.

I got a different count three times so I numbered them in Photoshop.

This time I counted 54 in the picture,

 not counting the two nice bulls and a cow or two that were out of the picture and up in the brush.

There were Mallards in the North pond

And 

geese

That left pretty abruptly

Some blue birds which hopefully will move into some of the houses we just put up.

A bufflehead or two.

And a hooded merganser in the second pond

Daisy was happy afterwards and continued to try to eat one of her Christmas toys.

Another average day. Life is good!

elk

Still hanging around!

I just took these when we took the dog for a walk.

We counted at least 45.

They were pretty far away, these were all taken with a 400mm lens and no tripod. (which why they aren't the sharpest) They were a little shy and even with us so far away they were nervous. Somebody must have been shooting at them recently. Normally they don't pay much overt attention to us at that distance. 

Homeless can't eat Deer Meat

The Homeless can't eat Deer Meat?
Well I guess they could if the Dept. of Health and Hospitals in Lousiana let them, but they won't.
What a waste! Typical of the government these days.
From Whitetail Woods

PC Chrome users pay less online. Mac more!

The New York Times  reports shoppers are getting widely different prices based on whether they use Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari. Here are just two examples: 

• For the same Samsung TV on NewEgg.com, a Chrome user was offered a price of $997. Meanwhile, the price was $1,399 when using Firefox or Internet Explorer.
• Another Samsung television model at Walmart.com was offered for $199 on Firefox and $168 on Chrome and Internet Explorer.

Meanwhile, Mac users could be paying a higher rate for hotel rooms on Orbitz.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Orbitz has been experimenting with a 30% premium on Mac users when they search for select hotel rooms versus PC users. That effectively works out to be around $20 to $30 more than a PC user.

=======================================================

I never liked Mac anyway & gave my iPad to my son when the novelty quickly wore off.

Escolar and Keriorrhoea

                                                                 Escolar

                    Or yet another reason why I don't eat at fast food places

"A look at seafood sales across the country by ocean conservation group Oceana found that roughly one third of the time, seafood sold at U.S. grocery stores, seafood markets, restaurants and sushi venues had been swapped for species that are cheaper, overfished, or risky to eat. 

 "Out of the 1,215 samples that were eventually tested, 401 were determined to be mislabeled."The two most mislabeled fish, according to Oceana, were snapper (for which 33 different species of fish including rockfish, perch, sea bream and tilapia were substituted) and tuna, which was mostly replaced with escolar - an often-banned snake mackerel that can cause mild to severe gastric distress to those who consume it."                 "Out of the 1,215 samples that were eventually tested, 401 were determined to be mislabeled." The two most mislabeled fish, according to Oceana, were snapper (for which 33 different species of fish including rockfish, perch, sea bream and tilapia were substituted) and tuna, which was mostly replaced with escolar - an often-banned snake mackerel that can cause mild to severe gastric distress to those who consume it.

Escolar is the most controversial fish that you are likely to find in your fish market. This firm, white fleshed fish has an incredibly rich flavor, often described as 'succulent', or a fattier version of swordfish. Why so rich? It turns out that Escolar's diet contains food high in wax esters. Wax esters that are really difficult for Escolar to digest. As a result, these esters build up in the fish.

And from the USDA  FDA Statement on Consumption of Escolar and Oilfish: "There are naturally occurring toxins in some species that do not involve marine algae. Escolar (Scientific Name Lepidocybium flavobrunneum), and its relative Oilfish or Cocco (Scientific Name Ruvettus pretiosus) contains a strong purgative oil, that when consumed can cause diarrhea known as Gempylid Fish Poisoning or Gempylotoxism. FDA advises against the sale of the fish in intrastate/interstate commerce, and requests that seafood manufacturers/processors should inform potential buyers/sellers, etc. of the purgative effect associated with the consumption of these fish.

UPDATE:  Portland did better than the national average with only 21% of the city's fish mislabeled with the exception of it's sushi restaurants which had 63% of their fish not being what they were claimed to be. Sushi restuarants were the worst offenders nation wide. Southpark's City Wok (shitywok) it now turns out, was aptly misnamed.

Happening more often?

There seems to be a rash of these mentally imbalanced persons lately.  I suppose somebody will also make assumptions based on his name,  Ali Syed, which may or may not turn out to be valid. Interesting that this one used a shot gun. In 2011, according to the FBI, more shotguns were used than rifles in California homicides. Probably should be next on the list for California to ban.  I don't suppose that the rabid, sensationalizing, reporting by the news media has anything to do with these occurrences   

Crop insurance

I've been reading up on crop insurance and federal subsidies. From what I can see, the real reason for the current system of crop insurance is not there to benefit the farmers, but rather to make lots of money for the insurance companies. Go into any town, large or small, and the largest building in town will nine times out of ten, be an insurance building. (My statistics) These guys aren't in business to give money away despite what they will tell you.


Here is an interesting read on the subject: Farm Subsidy Primer

And perhaps a solution:  Giving It Away 

"If the current system of crop insurance isn't working, why not abolish it along with direct payments and redirect the $13 billion in combined annual savings to shrink the deficit and create a truly cost-effective program? Since 2001, the current crop insurance program has cost taxpayers about $50 billion, but only half –$25 billion – has found its way into farmers’ pockets. The other $25 billion wound up in the coffers of crop insurance companies and in commissions paid to insurance agents. It strains credibility to claim that a program that costs $2 to deliver $1 of benefits is a wise use of taxpayer funds."