Ain't This Slick?

This story is worthy of being in a Blues Brothers movie. Or maybe a sequel to Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

We have huge chicken farms on the eastern shore, and somebody has got to truck away the waste from the processing plants.

Life along some Eastern Shore communities returned to normal today after a 20-mile stretch of U.S. 13 was stained with liquid chicken fat that leaked from a truck leaving a processing plant Tuesday.

The leak led to four accidents, including one with an injury, and several instances of vehicles sliding over the fat.

Crews from the Virginia Department of Transportation planned today to conclude a cleanup effort that included spreading tons of sand and some salt, and then sweeping it up with mechanical brooms.

Corporal Punishment

Massachusetts is considering a ban on spanking.

Parents who spank their kids - even in their own homes - would be slapped by the long arm of the law under an Arlington nurse’s proposal to make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to outlaw corporal punishment.

If signed into law, parents would be prohibited from forcefully laying a hand on any child under age 18 unless it was to wrest them from danger, lest they be charged with abuse or neglect.

"Age 18" being significant, as there is apparently no intent to outlaw such behavior among adults.

Snicker.

DWB

From Chicago -

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-7th District) said Wednesday he was the victim of racial profiling.

Oh?

The congressman said he was driving three friends home early Monday morning when two white Chicago police officers pulled him over and said he had swerved over the center line before making a left turn from Kedzie onto Douglas Boulevard.

May I translate? - "Sir, I have observed you driving erratically (down the wrong side of the road), tonight at a time (midnight? 2am?) when we find many drivers have been drinking. Have you had anything to drink tonight?"

"There was just no reason I could conjure up other than the fact that there were four black people in a car," he said.

Congressman, it was the wee hours of the morning. How did they know what color you were before pulling you over? And, again, they are looking for drunks. You prefer they wait until drunks hit something, or is driving on the wrong side of the center stripe enough to pull someone over and check it out? Also, we all know that white people find four old black people in a car suspicious, right?

He intends to fight the ticket he says was "simply wrong."

Translation - "I deny I was driving erratically, and even if I was, I'm black, I'm a Congressman, and I have certain rights you don't."

Davis is calling on city leaders to "bridge the gap" between police and the minority community.

Translation - "Fix this ticket, and we'll say no more about it."

Watch out for deer

It's that season.

Children's Choir

From John Hinderaker at Powerline.

The New Corn

A few months ago everyone seemed to be on the bandwagon to plant corn for ethanol production, including the little farms around here. Now, it's wheat instead.

A worldwide shortage of wheat caused by droughts and disease abroad is driving up the demand here, along with the price. By next summer, near harvest time for winter wheat – the only major Virginia grain crop that grows during the colder months – the price is expected to be more than $7 a bushel, said Chesapeake extension agent Watson Lawrence.

“The world inventory for wheat is the lowest it’s been in 30 years,” he said. “Last year, farmers were selling wheat for $4.20 a bushel, and they thought that was great.”

Advice from your public defender

Which would be funny if it weren't so pathetic.

I’m a lawyer, not your fairy godmother. I probably won’t find a loophole or technicality for you, so don’t be pissed off. I didn’t beat up your girlfriend, steal that car, rob that liquor store, sell that crystal meth, or rape that 13 year old. By the time we meet, much of your fate has been sealed, so don’t be too surprised by your limited options and that I’m the one telling you about them.

Mason Willams, a man of the future

Little did Mason Williams realize back in the 60's when he performed "Them Toad Suckers" on the Smothers Brothers Show that he was, in fact, a bellwether of the future.

Attention Parents!

For all of you whose children must have an aquarium, scientists have found you a better guppy.

A tropical fish that lives in mangrove swamps across the Americas can survive out of water for months at a time, similar to how animals adapted to land millions of years ago, a new study shows.
The Mangrove Rivulus, a type of small tropical killifish, seeks refuge in shallow pools of water in crab burrows, coconut shells or even old beer cans in the tropical mangrove swamps of Belize, the United States and Brazil.

More than once I had fish flop out of my tank, so this would sure be convenient.

Colonial Williamsburg

I went over to visit yesterday, on my day off. Nothing important to say, just a chance to post a picture, and point you to a few others.

So what are you reading?

My current bedtime reading material is The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics, and the Triumph of Anglo-America by Kevin Phillips.

I'm only about 50 pages in (out of 700), but he seems to posit that the three internecine wars that Anglos have fought (the English Civil War, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War) were all based on core religious principles, and that out of each a deeper respect for the rights of man emerged.

Compact Flourescent Bulbs

Have you bought any of these? I got my first around twenty years ago to go in a fixture over the dining room table. It was pricey. Now you can get them for about two bucks at Walmart.

A lot of the touts I hear are about all the CO2 I'll prevent by using them. I was always more interested in these points that the Department of Energy makes about life time cost savings.

• ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.
• Save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime.
• Produce about 75 percent less heat, so they're safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

So, I've done my bit:

• Two bulbs in the upstairs bathroom fixture.
• One bulb in the hall ceiling fixture.
• Two bulbs in table lamps in the bedroom.
• Four bulbs in fixtures in the living room.
• Two bulbs in the kitchen (including the stove hood, which is usually turned on about 16 hours a day).
• Two bulbs in the downstairs bathroom fixture.
• One (3-way) bulb in a floor lamp here in my office, along with my fluorescent desk lamp (the same bulb has been in this lamp for about 20 years now).

According to the cost calculator at that DOE website, my kitchen hood lamp pays for itself in about a month. That's good, because these bulbs aren't really intended to be used in damp environments like above steamy pots or near a shower. I replace the kitchen bulb about once a year. With incandescents it was about every 6 weeks.

Shenandoah Valley

I had said I'd report back about this. We got back last Sunday after three days in Luray, just west of Shenandoah National Park.

• We stopped in at Barboursville Vineyards. It was Thursday, the place was empty. Literally. Winnie and I were the only people there sampling most of the time. On Saturday I understand it was a fight to get up to the counter. It was nice to have the attention of the assistant manager during the tasting, but we both found the number of tattoos she had, the pierced tongue, etc, a bit distracting.
• Downtown Charlottesville, and Staunton are both greatly overrated. Hippies that take themselves seriously colliding with yuppieville. At least Boulder has a sense of humor about it.
  
• South Court Inn was great, at least as good as the web site makes it look.
• Luray Caverns was a disappointment. This was a largely "dead" cave, with little evidence of any growing formations. Worse, a lot of the stones near the paths had obviously been broken by busy passing hands.
• Much more entertaining was the Dayton Farmer's Market. The wasn't much in the way of produce there that day, but a lot of baked goods, basic groceries, and gifts. And, a lot of traditionally dressed Mennonite families.
• The Victorian Inn provided a very good dinner. (We both had rack of lamb.) I was mildly peeved though that they were out of the more moderately priced red wines. I wound up getting their most expensive bottle. It wasn't much compared to what you'd pay in a big city, but still...
• The park was nice to look at at, but it was cold and windy up there that day. Here's one photo, but nothing of iconic proportions.

Mmmmm, Chili

Tonight I am making beef chili. Not for us, but to take to work on Tuesday. We are having a "going away" for one of my coworkers. USA Major Carr has been called back for a second tour in Iraq. Last time he was gone for about 18 months, and I think he's only been back about 2 years.

I'm hoping this will come out pretty good. Winnie set out all of the spices for me before she went off to band practice tonight. So far it looks, smells, and tastes good.

It's bound to be better than the dinner I made Friday. I did a chicken pot pie, with lots of vegetables and white meat chicken. It looked great. It tasted awful. Mikey has a disturbing tendency to cook without tasting. Otherwise he would have known it needed about 4 times as much salt as I put in. The only salt you could taste, was where I sprinkled a little across the top of the crust. It could also have used some thyme or something.

And then there was the matter of the vegetables. I tried not to over cook them before it all went in the oven, and the result was the potatoes, parsnips and carrots were all hard.

But the dogs loved it.

Local Story

Personally, I fail to see the connection of this story to a handful of rural and exurban Virginia counties, but that's just me.

Well, Duh!

The Latest Buzz About Chinese Toys

Or, maybe the latest buzz from a Chinese toy.

A 19-month-old boy was in a Queensland hospital after ingesting a toy that was yesterday banned interstate.

Bindeez have been found to contain a chemical that converts into the toxic illegal drug GHB, also known as fantasy, when ingested.

Toasted Cheese Sandwich Anyone?

Normally, I'm not a big fan of such sandwiches, but under the right circumstances I could reconsider.

Le Petit Singly, spécialité fromagère à base de lait maternel de femme, peut se déguster en fin de repas accompagné d'un bon vin rouge, mais il peut également faire le régal des tout petits au goûter. Il apprécie aussi bien d'être savouré en quiche ou en salade, froid (mais jamais glacé) ou légèrement tiède, voire grillé sur des toasts.

Hmmm, 15 Euros for about 18 ounces. And, they ship.