Thursday, July 20, 2006
Hooray for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker!
Maybe they're out there, maybe they aren't, but a federal judge has halted work on an irrigation project that would probably harm any Ivory-billed woodpeckers lurking in the woods 60 years after we thought they were extinct. Without a doubt, it was the right thing to do, imagine if the project had gone ahead, and during the work they had confirmed that there had been some of of these birds still living in the area, but the construction had killed the last ones off.
People rant on about how unimportant one species or another is, and say things like "what good do mosquitos do, anyway" or "who needs the Mongolian Hoot Owl?", but the truth (as Edward O.Wilson has repeatedly pointed out) is that we can't be sure the whole planet won't come tumbling down around us if we upset the balance of nature any more than we already have.
Here's a recipe for woodpecker:
INGREDIENTS:
1 whole woodpecker, plucked and dressed
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 rashers bacon
PREPARATION:
Cut small slits in breast of woodpecker, place in a large pot filled with lightly salted water, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove woodpecker and Preheat gas grill or prepare charcoal grill. Place woodpecker in an aluminum pan. Season with garlic, pepper, and salt, and lay bacon rashers over bird. Grill 20-30 minutes, basting every ten minutes with 2-3 tablespoons of the hoisin sauce. Remove woodpecker from heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with additional warmed hoisin sauce on top.
Yum!
Maybe they're out there, maybe they aren't, but a federal judge has halted work on an irrigation project that would probably harm any Ivory-billed woodpeckers lurking in the woods 60 years after we thought they were extinct. Without a doubt, it was the right thing to do, imagine if the project had gone ahead, and during the work they had confirmed that there had been some of of these birds still living in the area, but the construction had killed the last ones off.
People rant on about how unimportant one species or another is, and say things like "what good do mosquitos do, anyway" or "who needs the Mongolian Hoot Owl?", but the truth (as Edward O.Wilson has repeatedly pointed out) is that we can't be sure the whole planet won't come tumbling down around us if we upset the balance of nature any more than we already have.
Here's a recipe for woodpecker:
INGREDIENTS:
1 whole woodpecker, plucked and dressed
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 rashers bacon
PREPARATION:
Cut small slits in breast of woodpecker, place in a large pot filled with lightly salted water, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove woodpecker and Preheat gas grill or prepare charcoal grill. Place woodpecker in an aluminum pan. Season with garlic, pepper, and salt, and lay bacon rashers over bird. Grill 20-30 minutes, basting every ten minutes with 2-3 tablespoons of the hoisin sauce. Remove woodpecker from heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with additional warmed hoisin sauce on top.
Yum!
Hooray for Standing By Your Guy!
Mr.Bush stood by his principles, which you must respect if you have any respect for his principles!
Here's a smattering of the reaction to the President's veto:
"...history will look very unkindly on this veto" -Rep. Chris Shays, R-Ct.
"I think it will hurt the party in November"- Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa. (Though he supported the veto)
"It's going to be a symbol of standing in the way of progress" -Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel.
"What this bill does is it allows people who are donors of embryos to allow those embryos to be used for life-giving research. So you either use these embryos for research that will help cure people of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's Disease, or you discard them"- Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
"I do not believe that a frozen embryo in a fertility clinic freezer constitutes human life. Now, I believe that being pro-life involves helping the living. Regenerative medicine is pro-life and pro-family," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
"I urge you not to make the first veto of your presidency one that turns America backwards on the path of scientific progress and limits the promise of medical miracles for generations to come"- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"It is immoral for our families, neighbors and friends to be held hostage to chronic diseases when their treatments are within our scientific grasp"- June Walker, president of the Women's Zionist Organization of America.
And of the probable source of the stem cells that would have been used for research, Sen.Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said: "It's very difficult to justify abandoning 7,000 to 20,000 in vitro eggs as medical waste"
BORN ON THIS DATE: Chris Cornell, 1964, (Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave), who made the very astute observation"Led Zeppelin is just a bunch of stupid idiots who wrote cool riffs."
DIED ON THIS DATE: Revolutionary Pancho Villa, 1923, whose last words were apparently "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something". Do you have YOUR final words prepared?
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Mr.Bush stood by his principles, which you must respect if you have any respect for his principles!
Here's a smattering of the reaction to the President's veto:
"...history will look very unkindly on this veto" -Rep. Chris Shays, R-Ct.
"I think it will hurt the party in November"- Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa. (Though he supported the veto)
"It's going to be a symbol of standing in the way of progress" -Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel.
"What this bill does is it allows people who are donors of embryos to allow those embryos to be used for life-giving research. So you either use these embryos for research that will help cure people of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's Disease, or you discard them"- Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
"I do not believe that a frozen embryo in a fertility clinic freezer constitutes human life. Now, I believe that being pro-life involves helping the living. Regenerative medicine is pro-life and pro-family," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
"I urge you not to make the first veto of your presidency one that turns America backwards on the path of scientific progress and limits the promise of medical miracles for generations to come"- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"It is immoral for our families, neighbors and friends to be held hostage to chronic diseases when their treatments are within our scientific grasp"- June Walker, president of the Women's Zionist Organization of America.
And of the probable source of the stem cells that would have been used for research, Sen.Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said: "It's very difficult to justify abandoning 7,000 to 20,000 in vitro eggs as medical waste"
BORN ON THIS DATE: Chris Cornell, 1964, (Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave), who made the very astute observation"Led Zeppelin is just a bunch of stupid idiots who wrote cool riffs."
DIED ON THIS DATE: Revolutionary Pancho Villa, 1923, whose last words were apparently "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something". Do you have YOUR final words prepared?
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Monday, July 17, 2006
Hooray for Judge Marcus Gordon! Hooray for justice!
Hooray for Mississippi Judge Marcus Gordon, who Friday declined a defense motion to let bigoted murderer Edgar Ray Killen (a Ku Klux Klansman finally identified & convicted last year of the 1964 murder of three civil rights activists) go free pending an appeal of his 60-year sentence for manslaughter. The defense argument seemed to be based largely on the premise that Killen is old & feeble. One can only hope the 81-year-old lives long enough to truly suffer as a consequence of his imprisonment. Back in 1964 (since when he has been a free man) this doddering old moron's actions robbed Michael Schwerner, Andy Goodman and James Chaney (three men who travelled to the South to help register black voters) of the opportunity to grow any older because they apparently believed in equality.
Mr.Killen is the sort of human waste that almost makes one wish there were a God to punish him after a hopefully slow & painful demise. Part of what makes the world a wonderful place is the wide range of interests individuals have, perhaps the State can identify a large, angry, gay African-American man who likes wizzened old white men to share a cell with.
Read all about the original events (upon which the film "Mississippi Burning" was based) here
BORN ON THIS DATE: David Hasselhof, 1952, actor & sage who said: "Beyond its entertainment value, Baywatch has enriched and, in many ways, helped save lives. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to continue with a project which has had such significance for so many." , and whose stunning self-portrayal did much to boost the artistic merit of the Spongebob Squarepants Movie
DIED ON THIS DATE: Henri Poincare, 1912, who, among other things, helped establish & polish our current time zone system along with Einstein.
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