Sampler Platter

I like the Toronto piece... (4.00 / 4)

great collection, as always!

Re: wolves - here's a (now slightly outdated) map comparing the historic and current range of the gray wolf.  A real eye opener...

Can someone please send a few wolves to Illinois? They are freaking OVERRUN with deer.

New Jersey could use some, too.  And pretty much every other state in the region, as well.

Here's a nice piece making the case to bring back service to Amtrak's Pioneer Route, which shut down in 1997, and used to connect Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City and Denver -

The Pioneer also served as an essential source of transportation for many small towns in Eastern Oregon and the other states served by the Pioneer that had no air service and little or no bus service. At every stop we made on the Pioneer, I met people, often older people, using the Amtrak service to get to or from Portland, or Salt Lake, or Denver, and who said that had no other reasonable way to get there.

Five members of the Oregon and Idaho congressional delegations, including Sen. Ron Wyden and Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Greg Walden, wrote to Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant and asked for an expedited study on the return of passenger rail service along the old Pioneer route. Amtrak apparently is now looking into that possibility.

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 15:32:29 PM UTC

Season for grass.. (4.00 / 4)

Joe Morris was saying the same thing. He harvests his cows between April-June, before the grass goes brown. But I don't see why you couldn't freeze pasture meat and eat it all year long?  

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by: Curtis Abbey @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 16:05:51 PM UTC

That's what I do (4.00 / 5)

I still have a couple of chickens left from last season in my freezer. I figured out how many I wanted spread out over a year. I eat one or 2 a month. Same with beef and pork. I also bought an extra turkey at Thanksgiving.

Many of the smaller producers are seasonal from what I can tell cruising websites and seeing sold out until XXX on product. The chicken season for our CSA is mid June to Mid Oct. We get them same day. Lambs are in the Fall iirc (I don't eat lamb). We have a longer grass season because of the summer rains. I treat meat like I do produce. Eat what I can fresh and put some up for winter. I've been eating my stash all winter :)

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by: nycstray @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 16:32:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

around here~ (4.00 / 4)

tradition~ the old country people i learned from butchered pigs & cows in early fall. it has to be cold to butcher larger animals...cold enough that the meat won't go bad in the heat during the hours long process of cutting up, grinding & packaging.
also the pig/cow has grown to size, has gotten all the good grass of summer, & will feed the family thru the cold months. you only keep your breeding stock thru winter.

chickens are less seasonal. any sunday morning will do.

come firefly-dreaming with me....

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by: RiaD @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 16:46:30 PM UTC

Updated salmonella recall list (4.00 / 5)

from Union International Food

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by: count @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 18:07:17 PM UTC

You seem a bit grouchy today, Jill. (4.00 / 4)

That the EPA finally made a determination that GHGs are dangerous is not "duh" news. In fact, the EPA made that determination 2 years ago and sent it to the White House where officials refused to open the e-mail attachment and suppressed the report, with the assistance of the Bush lackey Steve Johnson (I think I've got his name right?).  

The release of the EPA report yesterday marks one more major turningstone in the attitude of the U.S. government. I celebrate the report as an indicator that science will again be respected by the federal government and all its agencies.

Try looking on the bright side.  There's lots to cheer nowadays compared to the bad old days just a few short months ago.

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by: DennisP @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 18:20:36 PM UTC

Always look on the bright side of life! (4.00 / 3)

I agree 100% with the substance of your comment. I don't know about the title though... we all have bad days.

It is hard to be an optimist after eight years of being frustrated and angry. Especially while we're still going to be cleaning up those messes for the next ___ years. My blood pressure gets up just typing these words. But, I'm working on this. I try to follow Dr Dyer's words "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and it's All Small Stuff"... With that in mind, I'm going to go on a walk with the dogs and take some pictures of the neighborhood in bloom. :D Always look on the bright side of life!

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by: Curtis Abbey @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 19:27:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Grouchy? (4.00 / 3)

Yep. I've been grouchy since Wednesday when the electricians showed up (this was NOT my choice - my apartment complex sent them over) for 10 hours, turned off the power, made a mess that was dangerous to my cats (who were trying to chew the things on the floor, like wires and paint), and permanently broke my internet.

But in terms of whether or not it's "duh" that GHGs are bad... I think by 2 years ago it was already a no-brainer.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 22:53:54 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

OK - Grouchiness is justified. (4.00 / 3)

I'd be more than a little grouchy! Yeah, for you and me it was a no-brainer years back.  I've trying to explain for years to my students that Global Climate Change is a real fact. But most politicians take a long time to catch up.  And unfortunately it seems about 1/2 of the public still doesn't understand that it's real.

And actually, I find it increasingly easy to be an optimist after the long 8 years we've just endured. Every day, it seems, Pres. Obama is setting the country on a new and (in most cases) better course.  

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by: DennisP @ Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 00:50:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Lol at this... (4.00 / 4)

The last line of this news item is priceless:

Bogus waiter tricks customers at 2 NJ restaurants -

About two hours later he approached three women dining at Margherita's Pizza and Cafe. He asked if they were ready to pay, took $96 and never returned with their change.

The hell you say!  Rotten thief, he should have at least returned with their change!  Lol...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 19:05:23 PM UTC