Thursday, March 03, 2005
Free Range Sunny Side Up
“Just because it says free-range does not mean that it is welfare-friendly.”—Dr. Charles Olentine, editor of Egg Industry magazine, an industry trade journal (1)
Here is something I was unaware of… I will probably raise the ire of some, but, why is this large issue?
I eat meat, I eat eggs and at times, I eat crow. I was raised in a place where we actually had our chickens. We had a rooster named Butch and 5 hens, which for some reason, we did not name. Everyday we would go and collect the eggs and so on. We didn’t consider the feelings of the mother hens when we heisted their newborn and had them on toast.
It never occurred to us that there was some level of separation anxiety for the hens. Thought it was just their job. As kids, we weren’t sure why we had Butch, since he wasn’t all that equipped for producing eggs. But he was pretty cool, so we dug having him around.
A sad moment did come one evening however, when we discovered the ‘chicken’ we were eating, was in fact Butch. My Dad still recalls this as one of the ‘funniest’ moments of our youth. “I know, let’s kill the kids’ favorite pet and then make them eat it, won’t that be fun?”
We also had goats and various dogs as pets over the years. We fed our dogs’ table scraps and they seemed to do just fine.
Apparently NOW, feeding our two dogs requires going to Walker’s Fancy Dog Food store, where we can pay a lot of money for balanced food for their individual digestive needs. These are the same dogs that will scarf down anything they deem as edible when out on their walks. What they deem as ‘edible’ falls in the class of, dead things, old hamburger wrappers and so on.
We never give them chicken bones because they could choke. My friend once told me he has no issue with chicken bones for his dogs, since he can never recall seeing a choking coyote while growing up in Montana. He may have a point, I will check with the folks at Walker’s on this issue.
So the deal here is that there are chicken farmers, (ranchers?) and they make their living selling eggs and chickens. We buy them and eat them. When did the living conditions of these chickens become a huge social deal?
I’m sorry. They are chickens, and it seems to be their job. Do we really not have other things to worry about than how chickens are housed? At some point, the chicken will end up as dinner. How best then should we help their departure to the dinner plate? Should it be a last meal, a moment to reflect on their choices in life?
Sorry, they are chickens.
The biggest concern I ever had about chickens was several years back, when my friend, Ron (“Coyote Boy”), and I went to a local restaurant and the special was boneless chicken wings. Wouldn’t those be called McNuggets?
Here is something I was unaware of… I will probably raise the ire of some, but, why is this large issue?
I eat meat, I eat eggs and at times, I eat crow. I was raised in a place where we actually had our chickens. We had a rooster named Butch and 5 hens, which for some reason, we did not name. Everyday we would go and collect the eggs and so on. We didn’t consider the feelings of the mother hens when we heisted their newborn and had them on toast.
It never occurred to us that there was some level of separation anxiety for the hens. Thought it was just their job. As kids, we weren’t sure why we had Butch, since he wasn’t all that equipped for producing eggs. But he was pretty cool, so we dug having him around.
A sad moment did come one evening however, when we discovered the ‘chicken’ we were eating, was in fact Butch. My Dad still recalls this as one of the ‘funniest’ moments of our youth. “I know, let’s kill the kids’ favorite pet and then make them eat it, won’t that be fun?”
We also had goats and various dogs as pets over the years. We fed our dogs’ table scraps and they seemed to do just fine.
Apparently NOW, feeding our two dogs requires going to Walker’s Fancy Dog Food store, where we can pay a lot of money for balanced food for their individual digestive needs. These are the same dogs that will scarf down anything they deem as edible when out on their walks. What they deem as ‘edible’ falls in the class of, dead things, old hamburger wrappers and so on.
We never give them chicken bones because they could choke. My friend once told me he has no issue with chicken bones for his dogs, since he can never recall seeing a choking coyote while growing up in Montana. He may have a point, I will check with the folks at Walker’s on this issue.
So the deal here is that there are chicken farmers, (ranchers?) and they make their living selling eggs and chickens. We buy them and eat them. When did the living conditions of these chickens become a huge social deal?
I’m sorry. They are chickens, and it seems to be their job. Do we really not have other things to worry about than how chickens are housed? At some point, the chicken will end up as dinner. How best then should we help their departure to the dinner plate? Should it be a last meal, a moment to reflect on their choices in life?
Sorry, they are chickens.
The biggest concern I ever had about chickens was several years back, when my friend, Ron (“Coyote Boy”), and I went to a local restaurant and the special was boneless chicken wings. Wouldn’t those be called McNuggets?
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
We Have Seen The Enemy..thought they were farther away
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen in Baghdad killed a judge working for the Iraqi special tribunal set up to try Saddam Hussein and his top lieutenants, a setback in efforts to close the chapter on decades of oppression.
CHICAGO - The husband and elderly mother of a federal judge were shot in the head in the basement of the family home, and authorities hope a broken window will produce fingerprints to identify a suspect, sources told The Associated Press.
No shortage of insanity here. It seems while we often like to think this sort of barbaric behavior is limited to the odd little bunch of crazy men, along comes our own little fringe group of home grown terrorists.
Albeit it is far from certain, that the murder of a Federal Judge’s husband and mother are tied to white supremacist, Matthew Hale. It is looking more and more to be connected. Hale is awaiting sentencing for attempting to hire a hit man to kill the same judge a few years back. Hale, apparently not the brightest bulb in the light section at Home Depot, fell for the old FBI dude posing as a hit man.
Not watching enough of “America’s Most Wanted”, I guess.
Back in 1995, I was working on a Task Force in Anaheim, when the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City took place. It was pretty crazy and scary. One of the Leads of our group informed us that he did not want us to go through with our plan to have lunch at a Middle Eastern restaurant down the street. It was clear to him who was to blame.
You want some ketchup with that egg on your face, Willy?
We wish these folks didn’t exist, but hey, what’s the old line “When Pigs Fly”. It is easier to just say that it doesn’t happen here, but very sadly it does. It is always scary when we see how desperate some folks can become. Whether it is the Michigan Militia or the Aryan Nation, there are some groups within our own borders that have no issue with the approach taken by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his band of merry men in Iraq. If there is a disagreement with the local laws, let’s just kill them.
What I find the most disturbing is the constant reference to God as justification. Man, talk about ‘taking God’s name in vain.’ When I was 17, there was a huge furor about accepting any member who was not white into our church. I was, at the time, a member of a Dutch Reform Church.
One of the churches in Timothy Illinois had allowed a black couple to attend a service. Well, to say it did not sit well with the ‘church fathers’ would be a gross understatement. I heard more hatred and bile from the Elders and members of our church; it forever changed my perspective on the term “Christian”.
My most vivid memory was of a group of Dutch Farmers explaining to me that it all came down to the story of Noah in the Bible. Ham, the youngest son, was to be cursed forever and all his children would be slaves. Ham and his son, Canaan, in my learned Farmers’ opinions, were of course sent to Africa and that is why we should not let Blacks ever be part of our church.
Can you imagine an entire community of Dutch folks trying to keep everyone out and feeling superior to everyone else…wait a minute, where do I live again?
I guess my point is that no one country or culture has the corner on the market of crazy people. It just seems scarier when they might live next door.
CHICAGO - The husband and elderly mother of a federal judge were shot in the head in the basement of the family home, and authorities hope a broken window will produce fingerprints to identify a suspect, sources told The Associated Press.
No shortage of insanity here. It seems while we often like to think this sort of barbaric behavior is limited to the odd little bunch of crazy men, along comes our own little fringe group of home grown terrorists.
Albeit it is far from certain, that the murder of a Federal Judge’s husband and mother are tied to white supremacist, Matthew Hale. It is looking more and more to be connected. Hale is awaiting sentencing for attempting to hire a hit man to kill the same judge a few years back. Hale, apparently not the brightest bulb in the light section at Home Depot, fell for the old FBI dude posing as a hit man.
Not watching enough of “America’s Most Wanted”, I guess.
Back in 1995, I was working on a Task Force in Anaheim, when the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City took place. It was pretty crazy and scary. One of the Leads of our group informed us that he did not want us to go through with our plan to have lunch at a Middle Eastern restaurant down the street. It was clear to him who was to blame.
You want some ketchup with that egg on your face, Willy?
We wish these folks didn’t exist, but hey, what’s the old line “When Pigs Fly”. It is easier to just say that it doesn’t happen here, but very sadly it does. It is always scary when we see how desperate some folks can become. Whether it is the Michigan Militia or the Aryan Nation, there are some groups within our own borders that have no issue with the approach taken by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his band of merry men in Iraq. If there is a disagreement with the local laws, let’s just kill them.
What I find the most disturbing is the constant reference to God as justification. Man, talk about ‘taking God’s name in vain.’ When I was 17, there was a huge furor about accepting any member who was not white into our church. I was, at the time, a member of a Dutch Reform Church.
One of the churches in Timothy Illinois had allowed a black couple to attend a service. Well, to say it did not sit well with the ‘church fathers’ would be a gross understatement. I heard more hatred and bile from the Elders and members of our church; it forever changed my perspective on the term “Christian”.
My most vivid memory was of a group of Dutch Farmers explaining to me that it all came down to the story of Noah in the Bible. Ham, the youngest son, was to be cursed forever and all his children would be slaves. Ham and his son, Canaan, in my learned Farmers’ opinions, were of course sent to Africa and that is why we should not let Blacks ever be part of our church.
Can you imagine an entire community of Dutch folks trying to keep everyone out and feeling superior to everyone else…wait a minute, where do I live again?
I guess my point is that no one country or culture has the corner on the market of crazy people. It just seems scarier when they might live next door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
The Lynden Auto Show
No matter what you may have been told, there is no way to look cool in the following vehicles. Trucks are *cool period, so no need to discuss.
Any Hyundai period.
Any Kias.
The Ford, ok easier to list what does look cool. The Ford GT and Ford Mustang, that’s it.
Any GM car, unless, as part of your midlife crisis, you just need to drive a “Vette”. Even the *Avalanche is a sad looking truck.
Volvos’ are not cool looking, they are safe looking. They are soccer mom looking. They look like something your boss might drive. But not cool.
Any minivan. It cracks me up to watch a teenage boy try to look cool driving this, hell it cracks me up watching his dad trying to look cool driving it. ‘Get Shorty’ was a great movie and the minivan was one of the best running gags.
Jury is out on the Hummer; I think it depends on who’s driving it.
Lincolns, Buicks and Caddies are your grandparent’s car, end of conversation.
BMW and Benz make good looking SUVs, Porsche’s looks like a bad dream from a designer smoking something from the Black Forest. Toyota does a pretty good job as well. The rest, just turn on a blender and they all look alike.
VW makes cool looking cars, but mostly their chick cars.
Subaru, well golly. It’s so gosh darn environmentally correct. But cool? I think not.
Among many none cool cars I think the award, hands down, has to go to the Chevy Malibu Maxx. It is one seriously un-cool looking car. It may hold the standard for boring.
Any Hyundai period.
Any Kias.
The Ford, ok easier to list what does look cool. The Ford GT and Ford Mustang, that’s it.
Any GM car, unless, as part of your midlife crisis, you just need to drive a “Vette”. Even the *Avalanche is a sad looking truck.
Volvos’ are not cool looking, they are safe looking. They are soccer mom looking. They look like something your boss might drive. But not cool.
Any minivan. It cracks me up to watch a teenage boy try to look cool driving this, hell it cracks me up watching his dad trying to look cool driving it. ‘Get Shorty’ was a great movie and the minivan was one of the best running gags.
Jury is out on the Hummer; I think it depends on who’s driving it.
Lincolns, Buicks and Caddies are your grandparent’s car, end of conversation.
BMW and Benz make good looking SUVs, Porsche’s looks like a bad dream from a designer smoking something from the Black Forest. Toyota does a pretty good job as well. The rest, just turn on a blender and they all look alike.
VW makes cool looking cars, but mostly their chick cars.
Subaru, well golly. It’s so gosh darn environmentally correct. But cool? I think not.
Among many none cool cars I think the award, hands down, has to go to the Chevy Malibu Maxx. It is one seriously un-cool looking car. It may hold the standard for boring.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Show Me The Money, eh
NHL Owners Meet to Discuss Next Season
RALEIGH, N.C. (Reuters) - NHL owners will meet in New York Tuesday to discuss ways to restart their darkened game next season.
Reuters Photo
The meeting will be the first since NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman canceled the 2004-05 season on February 16 after failing to conclude a new collective bargaining agreement with the players union.
I absolutely hate this.
This is a sport I grew up on. I lived for winter, so we could freeze the backyard, and have a game anytime we wanted. We played, even when there was no snow and ice, just a rubber ball and lots of tape on your stick
I hate to admit to this, but when I became a hockey fan, there were only 6 teams. I think now there are about 100. Well give or take a few.
I could go into the history of the game and the guys I watched growing up. I loved "Jersey bars", because Gordie Howe said they were great and helped him play better. I once worked at a radio station (in Sault Ste Marie Ontario), in my teens, and got to hang out with Phil and Tony Esposito. It was a smaller league then and it was very much a Canadian game. Even the Rangers, Bruins and Red Wings seemed Canadian.
Then it grew. It went from a small league to a larger league. The revenues became the main focus, not the game so much. I always thought games should be played in cold arenas where you had to wear a coat to keep warm. Ever been to the Pond in Anaheim? Not the Gardens...
I know it is pointless to wish for the old days back. I get that sports is a billion dollar business, and yet...
Like I said I hate this. It's a game, can we just pretend that it is still the reason there is a league? I think this will ruin the NHL, and hindsight maybe that is the best. The original 6 were pretty fun to watch after all...
No Clear Answers to One Tough Question
So, let me see if I have this right.
Syria is believed to be behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut.
They deny any knowledge of said assassination.
World pressure builds for them to withdraw troops from Lebanon. They agree to move them a bit farther back, but not all the way out of the country. Kinds of a minor penetration issue; let your mind wander, as it will, here.
I like to think of it as the rhythm method of peace control, as it were.
Syria, also has maintained, that they were not in fact harboring fugitives from Iraq or other fun folks.
Suddenly pressure is building over the “no we did not” assassination in Lebanon.
“Hey look who we found, isn’t that Sadam’s brother? Our bad”.
Now how did that happen? We are the bad guys for being in Iraq, and yet the Syrians are just forgetful? They forgot, as did the rest of the world apparently, that they have been invaders in Lebanon forever?
How come when we are in country, we are always the bad guys?
I don’t begin to understand all the reasons we are in Iraq. I can speculate with the rest of you all day long. Simple truth is I will probably never understand all of the pieces. What I do get is that there are winners and losers in all of these situations. There are people in Iraq who want us there (I suspect it is probably the very people who lived under terror of the former regime) as well as people who don’t. The French and German’s have recently flipped on this decision so we won’t count them. But there are these dudes, who think it is best to drive out the invading Americans, by beheading contractors and aid workers. Wire up a zealot and drive him into a wedding party of the opposing faith. Does anyone in their right mind really want to turn Iraq over to these whack jobs?
I guess my point is simple, well for me. Not sure if I understand or like that we are there, but we are. We do not, at this point, walk away and leave the people, who went through hell to vote, stranded. The other point is the whole area is a time bomb, always has been. Who do you trust, whom do you count as an ally? Got me. But not holding my breath on the Syrians.
Syria is believed to be behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut.
They deny any knowledge of said assassination.
World pressure builds for them to withdraw troops from Lebanon. They agree to move them a bit farther back, but not all the way out of the country. Kinds of a minor penetration issue; let your mind wander, as it will, here.
I like to think of it as the rhythm method of peace control, as it were.
Syria, also has maintained, that they were not in fact harboring fugitives from Iraq or other fun folks.
Suddenly pressure is building over the “no we did not” assassination in Lebanon.
“Hey look who we found, isn’t that Sadam’s brother? Our bad”.
Now how did that happen? We are the bad guys for being in Iraq, and yet the Syrians are just forgetful? They forgot, as did the rest of the world apparently, that they have been invaders in Lebanon forever?
How come when we are in country, we are always the bad guys?
I don’t begin to understand all the reasons we are in Iraq. I can speculate with the rest of you all day long. Simple truth is I will probably never understand all of the pieces. What I do get is that there are winners and losers in all of these situations. There are people in Iraq who want us there (I suspect it is probably the very people who lived under terror of the former regime) as well as people who don’t. The French and German’s have recently flipped on this decision so we won’t count them. But there are these dudes, who think it is best to drive out the invading Americans, by beheading contractors and aid workers. Wire up a zealot and drive him into a wedding party of the opposing faith. Does anyone in their right mind really want to turn Iraq over to these whack jobs?
I guess my point is simple, well for me. Not sure if I understand or like that we are there, but we are. We do not, at this point, walk away and leave the people, who went through hell to vote, stranded. The other point is the whole area is a time bomb, always has been. Who do you trust, whom do you count as an ally? Got me. But not holding my breath on the Syrians.