More garden busy

Made a 6x10 corn patch out in full sun

Corn is a sun and nitrogen and water glutton... lots and lots of each.
But shallow rooted so I just had to till a foot deep and mix in a lot of manure.

Planted all my bush beans... two kinds of green, some wax beans and one Asian multi-colored bean.
Planted Italian parsley and spinach

Planted almost all my potatoes

More onions

Started squash and melon indoors... eggplant too

Photos in a month or so

Also had to tend my pine trees with iron

Ron

The media and logic

“Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have.” Rene Descartes


Think of common sense and look at these two postulates.


a-      ron must eat his dinner

b-     the neighborhood has agreed to a community garden

Is there a logical conclusion you can draw from those two disparate statements?? Common sense tells you “no” and so would the philosophical calculus.


Would common sense draw a logical conclusion from this?

a-      Qadaffee must go

b-     The UN passed a resolution to protect Libyan citizenry


Oh for sure it would as long as the media told them how first...


Apparently to the media (and common sense) it says, since Qdaffee must go, and protecting the citizenry “within the scope of UN resolution 1970” it follows that NATO needs to kill Qadaffee.

A first semester student in symbolic logic can disprove this in one minute (in truth they would be able to prove that no logical “conclusion” can be drawn hence).


As an aside


One of Dan Brown’s characters in, “Angels and Demons” uttered a statement that has stuck with me and many others, “The media is the right arm of anarchy”… and it is.

This idea fits in perfectly with the character in Michael Crichton book, "State of Fear”. In the story a USC professor of sociology torments the media for their roll in using fear to frame the news. I personally took this character as the point of the book. It doesn’t matter what you think about global warming (the theme of the book). What matters is that you begin to recognize how the media establishes truth of "their kind" by using fear.

Same thing with the Red Scare, the My Lai massacre, second hand smoke, the gulf oil spill, Iraq Bush conspiracy, etc. The media can and will paint the truth the way they want to scare and attract more viewers to sell more $$ advertising.... because watchers of the news are so willing to accept it.

A recent poll (I cant recall which one) shows that about 50% of the people seek news, blogs, and magazines that fits their "predetermined" world views.... how sad is that?


End Aside


Getting news from News is dangerous if you value logic.


Support your Library and read more non fiction


Ron, stepping off soap box

PS I never watch FOX except for myabe O'Reilly (my kind of conservative)
I am sick of MSNBC except for maybe Chris Mathews (my kind of liberal)

Read more books

Garden

  

My Surrogate knee and I stripped the garden, tilled it, fertilized it, and raked it.

My Surrogate knee is James who I hire to come help me.

Actually he is my surrogate shoulder now too.... dammit.

Got one row of "candy" in before the snow came. Going to put another one in today. Don't need my surrogate to help. I can handle it. BTW "candy" is what the supplier has to call his Vidalia onion sets (not seeds) since the trademark "vidalia" has been copyrighted by the farm that invented them in Texas. Anyway they are incredibly mild and sweet. Everybody loves them.

Too Funny to Ignore

Sarkozy wanting to LEAD the second phase LOL
Not that the french could not do it. Libya is grounded. Tanks and artillery and foot troops will be sitting ducks so it's not going to be hard to do once we get done with our surgery... and lil Sark knows it. He's up for reelection next year and would get a nice leadership-patch for his show of bravado.

Anyway, we politly asked (told) the French to let NATO handle the second phase (whatever that is).

Reuters

Libya

I don't know what all the wailing and gnashing of the teeth is about.
We are doing the same thing to Libya as we do anywhere else before invasion.
Take out all radar and missles and bomb the runways.
That's all we "will" do!
The French and Brits asked us to use our advanced assets to clear the way for THEM.
There will be no US troops and the missile frigates will just lay offshore for awhile.

We will not be leading this is a few days

Ron

Rotator Cuff, Cuffed

So I get a knee fixed and now I tore a rotator cuff. Had an MRI. Have you ever had an mri? this little tiny cave they put you in. My face no more than eight inches from the top. The sides squeezing in on me... and the NOISE!
It took 20 minutes of claustrophobic noise but I made it through without moving so they got good picture. A small muscle tear from tying to lift a big iron casting up onto a high shelf. Stupid Ron... stupid, stupid, Ron.

anyway two things.

1) I will never ever have an upper body MRI again unless I take some Valium first.
2) I will not let the orthopod cut on me.

Liz had one too. Took almost a year to heal. So for a year I wont be moving my left shoulder much, that's all. No biggie... years fly past nowadays so...

Ron

Nuclear irony

When the tsunami hit Japan the nuclear reactors "on the ocean" began to malfunction due to lack of new fresh coolant. The pumps for the coolant were electric yet that which the nuclear power plant is charted to produce was not available to them. Power plants make power but could not provide any to the coolant pumps because the national grid was damaged. How ironic.

The backup plan: batteries charged by diesel generators both of which were sequestered in the basement of the nukes. Now what I want to know is if you build these nukes to withstand extreme earthquakes then why would they build them on the coast where earthquakes express themselves tsunamicly? and THEN put all of the backup systems in the basement where it is sure to be damaged by the flood?

.

Dido

Music has changed in my lifetime... some of it for the better. More attention to lyrics today and less attention given the trained voice and emotional percussion. This is a most haunting peace written and performed by Dido: "Let's Do The Things We Normally Do"




Some add-on trivia.
When the English first entered India the best the indigenous could do to pronounce the name of their little city was to call it "m'boom-baye" and it was written down as it sounded to the English as "Bombay"... this in the 1600s. It stayed that way until sometime in the '1990s

Ron

Small towns are special, people practice acts of kindness without any hesitation. Yesterday I went to the store to get some miscellaneous items, had $13.23 in my wallet, figured that would be enough to get the items on my list. But when the cashier rang it up it was $14.03; a dollar short! So I told her to take two cans of cat food out of the shopping bag and then I could cover the tab without having to resort to a debit, credit card or God forbid, have to write a check!

She said " no problem just bring the $1.00 in when you're back in the area. I'll make it up when I close out my register". I was dumbfounded ... sounds like the good old days when people really cared about the customer. When I went out to my car, I found four quarters in the ash tray so I ran in and gave them to her along with a real big thank you. Now tell me if that would happen in the big city ? Small town folks are special .. this is just an example of their generosity.

Liz

Eggs absolved

Eggs are good for you. I eat one a day and its not killing me. It's good for me. It's  perhaps nature's perfect food. But you know the old "truth" right? gonna kill you with hardened arteries and stuff.

"How could anyone hate an egg? Yet, 20 years ago, the dietary naysayers decided that the cholesterol in eggs was translating to artery-clogging cholesterol in the blood -- and eggs splattered onto the no-no list."

Not true according to WebMD

Yes eggs are high in cholesterol but that doesn't mean they "ADD" to anyone's cholesterol. There is a difference if you think about it.

"Myth: All that cholesterol goes straight to your bloodstream and then into your arteries. Not so. For most people, only a small amount of the cholesterol in food passes into the blood. Saturated and trans fats have much bigger effects on blood cholesterol levels."
Harvard Medical School


More from WebMd

From Health.com

And the Journal of the American College of Nutrition JACN.ORG

This nutritionist lends words




I believe the above demonstrates that knowledge can be retrieved from the Internet. No doubt one can also retrieve incorrect information or half truths or disingenuous commentary or outright lies. So the task is weeding out the suspect chaff and fertilizing sprigs of truth and then, like science, leaving it up to others to agree or disagree.


I remember making conversation with someone some time ago about eggs. I made a comment sort of like, "eggs are good for you and don't load you up with cholesterol like everyone thinks". She scoffed and said, where did you hear that?" and I responded, "on the Internet"
She screwed her face up like this,

raised her palms upward and said, "well duh".

I will never forgot this pedantic rudeness.

Ron

PS I cook my eggs over medium at home but order scrambled out. I trust the eggs we buy  (the best) to be free of salmonella etc. but I don't trust Denny's.

Dancing Elephant

Music: Henry Mancini, "Elephant Walk"

Winter garden

 

SPRING!

Wool mubbee not.
60 degrees today and crisp bright sun.
Had to put a big box fan in the green house and open up the back. Broccoli doesn't like the almost 80 degrees it got in there.

I'll take some pix tomorrow.. I am so looking forward to the broccoli, cabbage, and bok choy stir fry... with sticky rice.

yum

Petroleum

For the life of me I can't figure out why we are in such a hurry to drill and burn all of our oil. Let the other countries drain their resources first. Save ours for the future when our jets will need fuel. When polymers (plastic) will be as valuable as silver... when we will be the richest country on earth again/still.

Here are some products we will need to buy from Arabia or Russia when we use up all of ours.

Ammonia, Anesthetics, Antihistamines, Artificial limbs, Artificial Turf, Antiseptics, Aspirin, Auto Parts, Awnings, Balloons, Ballpoint pens, Bandages, Beach Umbrellas, Boats, Cameras, Candles, Car Battery Cases, Carpets, Caulking, Combs, Cortisones, Cosmetics, Crayons, Credit Cards, Curtains, Deodorants, Detergents, Dice, Disposable Diapers, Dolls, Dyes, Eye Glasses, Electrical Wiring Insulation, Faucet Washers, Fishing Rods, Fishing Line, Fishing Lures, Food Preservatives, Food Packaging, Garden Hose, Glue, Hair Coloring, Hair Curlers, Hand Lotion, Hearing Aids, Heart Valves, Ink, Insect Repellent, Insecticides, Linoleum, Lip Stick, Milk Jugs, Nail Polish, Oil Filters, Pantie Hose, Perfume, Petroleum Jelly, Pharmaceuticals, Rubber Cement, Rubbing Alcohol, Shampoo, Shaving Cream, Shoes, Toothpaste, Trash Bags, Upholstery, Vitamin Capsules, Water Pipes, Yarn

We are constantly screaming about the national debt and not leaving our children burdened to pay. How about leaving our children some natural-national resources?

Ron


PS this is a personal rant... not green, not conservative, and not political in any way. It is what it is and it makes sense to me.

The Folk Singer: An American Icon

I truly miss the old voices of the 60s
Joan Baez
The New Christy Minstrels
The Kingston Trio
Judy Collins




Both Sides Now


Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, i've looked at clouds that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things i would have done but clouds got in my way.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions i recall.
I really don't know clouds at all.

Moons and junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real; i've looked at love that way.
But now it's just another show. you leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away.

I've looked at love from both sides now,
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions i recall.
I really don't know love at all.

Tears and fears and feeling proud to say "i love you" right out loud,
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, i've looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they say
I've changed.
Something's lost but something's gained in living every day.

I've looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose, and still somehow
It's life's illusions i recall.
I really don't know life at all.