Dakota Today

**Is Bush actually right about something? Ethanol?

President Bush mentioned Ethanol in his press conference. The Farm Journal ever searching for good news about Republicans has the report below.

Bush: Ethanol Not To Blame for Food Prices 4/30/2008 By Jeanne Bernick, Farm Journal Crops and Issues Editor

While some antihunger activists point to the biofuels industry as exacerbating world hunger by diverting crop needs, President Bush said Tuesday he believes corn-based ethanol is responsible for only a small part of rising food prices. Weather, increased food demand and energy prices are the key drivers of current global food inflation, according to President Bush’s remarks during a press conference in the White House Rose Garden.

“And the truth of the matter is, it's in our national interests that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us,” President Bush told reporters.

Bush said high crop prices should not slow biofuel efforts and that the high price of gasoline is going to spur more investment in ethanol as an alternative to gasoline.

More at the LINK below:
NWLINK Farm Journal Crop News

This is important to corn farmers, but the information needs to also get to food consumers who are getting a figurative line of bologna from food corporations. Bush like a stopped clock with eight years on the dial is actually right about once.

The whole thing is however besides the real point. Bush War, Inc. in Iraq has squandered thousands of lives and enough of the taxpayers, past, present, and future, money to convert about a third of all the US energy used to wind energy sources. That needs to be the "moon project" and the sooner the better. The quicker the US is separated from the lunatic religious fanatics of the mideast, the better.

To paraphrase a Bible saying, "What do we profit if we gain all the oil from the terrorists and lose the whole world to global boiling."

** Some fodder on animal factory stench and pollution..or Pew on pew.

Native Americans in South Dakota protesting a hog farm conveniently stuck into an area surrounded by tribal land might have a little more ammunition for their cause. Highway patrolmen should be required to ride with a hog in their back seat if they think aiding an out-of-state hog factory is such a good idea. I would guess some of the Native Americans might then wonder which is the actual pig, but that is another matter of Highway Patrol public relations problems.

To be taken more seriously than a modest proposal of a pig in every back seat however, are thousands of pigs in your backyard.

Washington, DC - 04/29/2008 - The current industrial farm animal production (IFAP) system often poses unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the welfare of the animals themselves, according to an extensive 2½-year examination conducted by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (PCIFAP), in a study released today.

Commissioners have determined that the negative effects of the IFAP system are too great and the scientific evidence is too strong to ignore. Significant changes must be implemented and must start now. And while some areas of animal agriculture have recognized these threats and have taken action, it is clear that the industry has a long way to go.

MORE BELOW IN CONTINUATION OR AT THE SITE Source. The Omaha World Herald carried the story today with a blurb on the front page pointing to the story on page 5. The paper also had a story indicating the problems with putting personal information about family matters in a personal blog with some of the problems that resulted for Nebraska bloggers.

http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=38438

http://snipurl.com/26jwk

The complete Pew article is in the continuation of this post. Worth reading if you care about the differences between an actual farm and a factory.

**Stay tuned even if you have never smelled the stench of hogs. It is a stink that can carry for miles and never leaves the clothes of those around hogs--- Doug Wiken

**Farmer's share of your grocery bill ..data from NFU

Every time we return from the local grocery stores, it seems like the bill is bigger and the bags are smaller. I found the National Farmers Union fact sheet in the local paper. It kind of gets buried in the page, but a few more people might get a chance to see it here. Click on the small version for one large enough to read and copy if you wish to print it yourself.

There is wide variation in the farmer's share depending on the food category. It appears that grocery buyers purchasing dairy products and flour end up giving the farmer a nearly fair share. Other "foods" like beer and potato chips are something else however.

Also in the local paper was a line similar to this in a story about a farmwife and her recipes, " Name here grew up on a farm as a little girl." You might want to think about that one for a minute. From her photo despite that sentence, she appeared to have grown into a fully formed woman with a pleasant smile and good recipes.

Incidentally, in a recent story on food "deserts", Tripp County was listed as one of them. Two grocery stores selling almost wholly "Surefine" products leaves much to be desired. Their rice and pasta is nearly inedible compared to some brands, and the canned goods are almost never as good. A spoonful of good-tasting food may be better than a cheaper cupful of food with the wrong taste, texture, or sauce. Of course, your food mileage may vary especially if you have to drive out of the food desert for a good dessert..even if they aren't your just desserts.

NOTE added March 28, 2008: Cory Heidelberger at his KELO section of Madville Times added signficant information to this post regarding the idea of "food deserts", etc. Worth taking a look at his perspective on this too.
New Window LINK to Madville Times at KELO Blogs

***Stay tuned and eat healthy..or as best you can wherever you are--- Doug Wiken

**Booze and pot for minors and penalties

Ironic that SD is hellbent on demolishing old buildings at the state mental hospital in Yankton when there seem to be so many legislators and lawyers testifying there that need to seek help with their mental problems.

Somehow, while moaning about the costs of the South Dakota prison system, the legislature also apparently gives serious consideration to having a 10-year mandatory prison sentence for anybody selling one ounce of pot to a person under the age of 18. Penalties expand up to 25 years for larger amounts.

This is such a wonderful idea, that it calls for a modest proposition of penalty expansion Make the same penalties apply to those who provide even one can or bottle of beer to a person under age 18 and make the penalty 25 years for dispensing a whole six-pack of beer or one of those liter or larger containers. Those who push wine and distilled spirits down the throats of those with young impressionable minds should be give life terms.

But, I forgot. The same legislature is so loaded and loaded with booze hounds that it can't even pass legislation to increase the price of a bottle of beer 10 cents because that would unfairly tax responsible drinkers. The incredible social costs related to the sale of booze is readily apparent. I don't drink or use pot either, but it does not seem to me that the dreadful problems claimed to relate to pot even exist. The truly bad consequences appear to have more to do with legal penalties than pharmacologically related dangers.
I will leave such arguments to people like Bob Newland who may have experience with both pot and booze.

I assume the same legislators don't give a rat's rear about shifting the unnecessary costs resulting because of drinkers and drunken drivers to property tax payers and those who must license highway vehicles It is rapidly becoming apparent that the term "responsible drinkers" is an oxymoron...especially when they also happen to be in the state legislature or sucking contributions from the liquor industry.

Napoli of Rapid City is pushing for repeal of term limits. I think that makes a lot of sense. If we don't think any legislator is representing us instead of special interests, we have elections to get them out of the legislature. It is obvious that term limits have not kept the completely demented out of the legislature anyway.

**Stay tuned if for nothing else than to read my bitching about the coming really crappy weather-- Doug Wiken

**Might be the step between sunlight and hydrogen..Catalyst

A friend of my son mentioned that he would invest in a company if it made use of a new catalyst that made it possible to cheaply separate the hydrogen and oxygen that is tied together in water. Below is a link to one of the stories about this.

NWLINK to Catalyst invented by Max Planck Institute

There are many ways the US can spend money that are better than pissing it away by the billion in Bush's failure in Iraq. This story gives an idea of one. In the same vein, Ted Kennedy recently noted in the senate that something like half of taxpayer money Bush, Inc. has wasted in Iraq would rebuild every school in the USA.

Too many of our Congress Critters have their heads firmly planted up some lobbyist ass searching for campaign contributions so they feed us horsecrap telling us how they represent us in Washington.

What the hell is wrong with the South Dakota delegation that won't support reasonable reductions in the maximum Agriculture program payments? How can they say they are representing small-town rural America as they support high ag subsidy payments which destroy rural America.

They are also supporting destruction in Iraq. It is time to get rid of Thune, Johnson, Herseth-Sandlin. They talk as if they support those of us who are not filthy rich when they campaign here and in their wonderful glossy ads and news releases, but they get to Washington and the forget the plains of South Dakota.

But, back on the main subject. Science research for energy independence should be a first priority for our congress critters instead of their 150th or 1000th priority on the list that starts with "Get Re-Elected".

**Stay tuned to one of a few million thought catalysts--- Doug Wiken

**Some Photos from the Mt. Blogmore Hunt

After promising some nicer pictures than that of Karl Rove and not feeling much like typing a whole lot, below are a few photos. Click on them for slightly larger versions.

You may notice that the ground around Holabird,SD is a lot flatter than the Mt. Blogmore territory. It had been about 40 years since I had seen that rather flat area of SD. It is an area of long nearly flat horizons and for a time yesterday big blue sky filled with white clouds.

I am missing any photos of the good food provided by the Nemecs. And, not sure if I got even one photo of Kevin Woster who was probably primarily responsible for Nemecs being visited by such a collection of writing and hunting rogues. The fact that such a bunch got together is a credit to Woster and possibly a tribute to the impact of Mt. Blogmore and also a few other blogs in South Dakota.
About 15 people, hunters and non-hunters descended on the Nemecs. Todd Epp has posted a full list of the visitors. Unlike certain politician's hunting lists, this one is not a state secret and the ARGUS will not have to sue to get it.

A bunch of dogs were very happy to be out running around in the grass. After one pheasant was shot, it was proudly retrieved by two dogs..one holding the pheasant head and the other the pheasant tail. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to get that photo.

I have put a couple more photos in the continuation. Hope you enjoy a small view of people enjoying the great outdoors in South Dakota.

AND..Kevin Woster has gotten a bunch of photos into the RC Journal Outdoors blog. Being a professional at this stuff, he does a better job of getting photographs... Take a look...
New Window LINK to RCJ "Take it Outdoors Blog" and, more on the story at Mt. Blogmore itself.
New Window LINK to Mt. Blogmore "Give Peace a Chance"

**Stay tuned, later, I hope to get some comments in here on antibiotic resistant disease and the SDPB On-Call Program discussing them.---Doug Wiken

**Horses catching a few rays

As the old township news sections used to say, we motored to Colome, SD and back. On the way we saw a few horses catching what might be considered the last rays of summer or the early rays of fleeting fall. Writing for blogs doesn't depend on character or word count, so you won't see phrases like "carefully negotiated a curve while motoring out of town to visit relatives in Carbuncle Township." in many blogs even if that kind of stuffing was part of the old weekly papers township news.

Anyway, below is a photo of some horses taken with a new little Nikon Coolpix L10. Seems to work and the higher resolution allows more cropping while still leaving detail. A new toy in the stable, but no horses here.
Click on image for slightly larger version.

Now to get to work on finishing a few posts with more substance and a lot less color.

*** Stay tuned for horsing around of a different color-- Doug Wiken

**They're baaaackkkkkk

We used to have a road past our place with hardly any traffic. Now we have a house about a mile east of us and a "hunting lodge" just to the west of us. This time of year rural peace and quiet isn't so peaceful and quiet.
The hunters are baacckkkk. I guess the "lodge" may be owned by one of the grain cooperatives or officers. I don't really know. I just know a lot of expensive furniture, doors, and TV toys, etc. were trucked into the steel building and local carpenters, plumbers, and electricians spent a fair amount of time on it.
Click on image for a slightly larger version.

The magic hour has arrived however and most of the vehicles have gone hauling hunters off to wherever this collection pays to hunt.

The sun is shining and the temperature is around 65 degrees at noon. No 35mph wind blowing rain and mist like we had just a couple days ago. Ground is probably saturated with moisture, but two days of actual sunshine and tolerable temperatures has left the top of the sticky gumbo mostly dry.

These are the kind of fall days that hunters might pray for and their dogs dream about.

**Stay tuned even if you don't care if you ever eat another pheasant as long as dozens of pounds of nearly edible chicken breast and chewable steak can be purchased for the price of one hunting license-- Doug Wiken

**Golly Gee Whiz, That Bombardier Plane N343DF carried Tom Brokaw

Some of you may have noticed the photo of the cattle and the jet plane a few days ago here at Dakota Today. The Plane N343DF gets around the world if a Google search means anything. It dropped into Winner, SD carrying Tom Brokaw and several other hunters according to the breathless story in the Winner Advocate.

The cutline under the airplane photo in the paper indicated the plane was the largest that had ever flown into the Winner Regional Airport...probably true even if it was called Wyly field up until a few months ago. The story writer called it a "superior" plane. My guess is "Bombardier" was said, but not heard. Anyway. More to the point, the story indicates the plane weighed 98,000 pounds. My recollection from discussion with an engineer at the airport when the runway was poured indicated the maximum load was around 40,000 pounds and they had only gotten that high a weight limit for such a short runway because they assumed the snow removal trucks might weigh that much.

So, it was indeed a large plane..paper says that the wings extended 10 feet beyond the edges of the runway. It as also possibly just a bit too big or at least too heavy. Must have had good brakes and plenty of takeoff power...I guess a plane that probably costs between $20 and $50 million oughta be hot.

Those must have been some damned expensive pheasants. The plane returned to Teterboro Airport in NJ in perhaps two or three hours after leaving here flying at 45,000 feet over 500mph. I guess Tom Brokaw and friends are some of those people with more money than they know what to do with (even if he might not end a sentence with a preposition).

The paper also had a follow up on the SD Regent visit to Winner. Apparently nobody asked any questions if the newspaper report was correct. I guess when I attend meetings and then read the Dan Bechtold stories about those same events, I wonder if we were actually on the same planet at the time. More on that tomorrow when I am actually awake.

If you are awake before that, see if you can find out the weight limits for planes landing at the Winner Regional Airport.

*** Stay tuned even if you fly mighty low and slow and on both feet as well--- Doug Wiken

**Sights and Sounds of the changing seasons

I have a sight of the changing season..that is a photo. I don't have the sound. The sound was the first time this fall that I have heard cranes squawking as they were heading south. They were flying in a cloud or above it or so high that I could not see them. Contrails of a couple jets were visible, but only the squawking from the sky from the cranes. But, with camera in hand, another sign of the changing season was obvious:
Click on image for a slightly larger version.

And, downright chilly this morning too. Enough ice on car windows to require scraping. Forgetting to close a small window can make a large indoor temperature difference as well.

**Stay tuned for more on the Board of Regents visit to Winner, SD-- Doug Wiken