Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Cannons, Wagons, Buggies, Wheels, Stuff, and Coffee

When I was a kid I had a lot of things I loved. Two of them were wagons and catalogues. Today in the mail I got both. My annual Hansen Wheel and Wagon catalogue. Like the kid I was I spent an hour or so pouring over the images and marking things to buy ( doubt that momma will approve the $28,000 wagon I picked out).



This is a great place. I've blogged about them before (probably every time I get a catalogue).
They inspire the farmer, pioneer, and cowboy buried somewhere inside this old man.





Their new stuff is expensive but will last a lot longer than that Toyota you bought last year.
But they got used stuff too. This wagon for example cost $4,650.


Here's an idea. Got a mother-in-law or brother that always stays too long when they visit.
Fix them up in your new guest house, the sheep herders wagon.


Or if you want a hunting camp or great get away place put one up in the mountains or out on the river.



Of course their are wheels, new, old, used, 24 inch to the size of a barn.





Or you can buy things like this spring seat for your "Man Cave".




Want your own Deadwood Stage. They got what you want.
Hell put it in your living room or den as a unique "conversation pit".



Here is a vehicle that gets 100 miles to a gallon of oats.


Are you a John Deer Collector? Here's what you need a genuwine John Deer wagon on sale for just $4,899. Seriously that's a good deal.



Got a horse? Got a neighbor that has a horse? Got a snow mobile?
Got six kids and a big dog. This will be fun. Only $3,495 and you can have all the sleigh ride you want.
But if you really want to get a bang out of something try their cannons. They got them and all the stuff you need to haul them around.

Actually these 1812 style ship cannons are my favorite. I am really tempted by these. I could build my own fort and every 4th of July..... I wonder if they would fit in the back of my truck?
They ship stuff anywhere by the way.

If you are a backyard cook, you can get your own real chuck wagon chuck box. Heck buy a couple of their wheels and build the ass of a chuck wagon next to your Webber grill.

Want some cool cowboy. settler, western type, cook ware?

And finally the thing that originally hooked me up with these people. Genuwine Cowboy coffee.
Take your hammer (or gun butt) and crush these beans, dump the crushing into that coffee pot above, bring to a boil, drink black chunks and all.
Anyhow, give them a gander: Hansen Wheel and Wagon

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Neighbor's Trash Blown Into My Yard !

It is troublesome when it is just the wind naturally blowing trash from one yard into my yard. When someone stands there with a blower however and deliberately blows it over into my yard I begin to lose that community tolerance that neighbors need to co-exist.

That is what Arizona did to Oklahoma recently. They blew their trash all the way from Phoenix to Oklahoma City.

"Narcotics agents arrest suspected cartel member in Oklahoma City "

Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics agents said they arrested a suspected Mexican drug cartel leader during a raid this morning.

BY RON JACKSON
Published: June 29, 2010

Drug agents arrested a suspected high-ranking Mexican Sinaloa Cartel member in north Oklahoma City this morning during a raid....Undercover agents became aware of their main suspect three months ago, after Arizona passed Senate Bill 1070 — the new immigration law that allows police to search anyone for valid documentation of citizenship."

"Our target received a dispatch from Mexico, and was told to leave Phoenix because of the new immigration law," said an undercover case agent whose name is being withheld to protect his identity. "He was told to set up shop in Oklahoma City. Fortunately, in a very short time, we learned of his presence and were able to infiltrate his operation."

In 1993, a piece of trash blown into Oklahoma by the Missouri State Government, raped and murdered two friends and co-workers of mine. Should I even mention McVeigh? It is tiresome to clean up other's messes. We got all the garbage we need here already. Arizona, you boys and girls just keep your own at home and deal with it.

Say, can we establish State laws deporting people back to Arizona?


Sunday, June 27, 2010

A FLAG AROUND WHICH TO RALLY (A JTB Post)


A Flag Around Which To Rally:



For years now volunteers have been saving the Kemp Ridley's Turtles by protecting them all the way from Cape Cod to Corpus Christi. In Corpus they would walk the beach during nesting season and when they found a nest mark it with this flag and guard it 24/7.
I propose that this be the "flag of protest" against the BP oil fiasco.
Every Deep Emotion requires a shibboleth.
A really LARGE version of this flag can be down loaded at: NPS Corpus Christi


-----Junior The Bear

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Smell that Ocean: Doesn't That Dimethyl Sulfide Smell Good


Source: DMS (click diagram to enlarge)
I love the smell of the Ocean. That salt spray and slight sulphur smell is reassuring. That smell comes from a chemical called DMS for short.
You know we are just now beginning to run one of the Earth's greatest experiments. There really should be thousands upon thousands of scientist of all ilks down in and around the Gulf of Mexico gathering data and recording information. Some of the big dollar foundations like Ford or Pew or whomever should put their monies here.
DMS (dimethyl sulfide or dimethyl sulphide {CH3SCH3}) is responsible for the wonderful smells we associate with the beach and the ocean.
"Gases diffuse across the air-sea interface, many of which are synthesized and emitted by microalgae. One of these gases is a sulfur based compound that has a strong characteristic odor. It has been suggested that variations in algal production of these natural gases play an important role in moderating our climate through their aerosols' effect on backscattering solar radiation and in cloud formation.1 "
In other words this smell is really important.
"A key process in the sulfur cycle is the transfer of volatile sulfur compounds from the sea to the land via the atmosphere. DMS is the dominant biogenic sulfur compound in the marine atmosphere and essential to the global sulfur cycle. The gaseous DMS is photo-oxidized to sulfated aerosols in the atmosphere. Berresheim et al. established a relationship between DMS, sulfate aerosols, and cloud condensation nuclei.18 Because the sulfate aerosols function as cloud condensation nuclei, DMS has a significant impact on the Earth's climate. Plankton production of DMS and its escape to the atmosphere is believed to be one of the mechanisms by which the biota can regulate the climate."
Gee, so this stuff is really really important.
So what happens when something, say an oil spill, stops the life cycle of the little plants and animals that form this DMS? Do fewer clouds form over that body of water? Does the lack of clouds let the water get warmer? Doesn't warmer water cause stronger tropical storms? Wouldn't stronger tropical storms disperse the oil further killing off more little creatures and decreasing DSM more and thus less clouds and that makes the water hotter that makes the storms stronger..........
Who the hell knows?
Maybe we should.
As they say in the White House no good crisis should ever go to waste. Let's get those egg heads out there and get busy figuring out what the hell his all means.
Read more: One
Read more: Two
And incidentally a variant of DSM can bind with and then carry toxic shit right through your skin or lungs.
C2H6OS
Is this stuff in the surf? Sounds like the symptons the people are getting might just come from this,
Read more: Three

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

JUST LIKE I SAID: IT IS THE GOD DAMN METHANE HYDRATES STUPID


NSF



"Levels of methane in deep-ocean waters near the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are 10,000 to 100,000 times higher than normal, and in some very hot spots "we saw them approaching 1 million times above" what would be normal, says ocean chemist John Kessler of Texas A&M University in College Station.

Kessler and a group of oceanographers from Texas and the University of California-Santa Barbara spent 10 days doing deep-water sampling from 35 different sites within 7 miles of the leak, close to the ocean floor.

The gases are coming up from the same geological layer as the oil, Kessler says.

The world is focused on the amount of oil being released, but the large quantifies of methane also are creating "a highly unusual situation" that's not going to go away anytime soon, says Peter Brewer, an ocean chemist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Monterey, Calif. Bacteria consuming the methane will "run rampant," using up all the oxygen and possibly creating localized dead zones."

My early tirades on this subject.

May 8 : It is the Methane Hydrates Stupid

May 14 :It is Still The Methane Hydrates Stupid

May 14: Now It is Official: It Is The Methane Hydrates Stupid

Now the real irony, the ultimate joke, is that the next headline that uses "Dead Zones" might be talking about about places above, in, on, or around the Gulf that if you go there you die. Funny huh?

Added: Here is the best general information article about Methane Hydrates and the BP Oil gusher that I have found: The Guardian on May 20th.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Some Photos From My May-June Efforts


Saint Christian pier

Remember click the picture once to enlarge, twice for full screen, then use your back arrow to return to the blog.


Monticello



prototoad


technology


The Goose


Sand stallion


Jefferson's mockingbird


In tern


Free roaming



Fuzzy Cat


Fat Boys only


Dark afternoon


Ducks on the bar


Guest's boat


cairo illinois


August


Fence

They Are Coming To Take Back Our Country. No, Sorry, It Is Mine.




These "people" will be at the Oklahoma Ford Center on June 26, along with Sarah Palin (?),
Sean Hannity, Dick Morris, and the lovely Laura Ingram.

Pay $75 to $125 to be there among these greats of the Conservative Rip-Off Movement!

I wonder, will they visit the OKC Bombing Memorial while they are here? If Hannity refers to the audience here as McVeigh wannabe's will they cheer?




Words simply fail me.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Virtual March On Washington: True Independence Day


Here's the type of "action" that harms no one but says, "Hey, we see you. We are concerned. We care!" Buy all the cokes and potato chips and beer you want from your local "gas" station but not gas on July 4th. Buy it on the 3rd or 5th but not on the 4th. Create a glitch in the sales data that gets their attention.


Tell others.


June 18, 2010

TRUE Independence Day Press Release




“Virtual March on Washington” Boycott to Protest Oil Dependency on July 4


With over 1,100 participants and counting since its inception a week ago, a virtual march on Washington – a boycott of all gas purchases on July 4th – is quickly gathering steam.


Sparked by a desire to protest the Gulf Coast oil spill and the policies and practices that caused the disaster, the July 4th event, called “TRUE Independence Day,” began as a Facebook event by a handful of concerned citizens who are calling on participants to do one small and simple act: Don’t buy gas for one day.


“This is not about buying less gas. That’s not realistic for most people, because we are stuck in a system that forces us to use a lot of oil in our lives,” said Rebecca Hersh, one of the organizers of the protest. “This is about making a statement to our political leaders and the oil companies that we are here, we are paying attention, and we want to change the way things are done. We want clean energy policy, a restored Gulf coast, and a healthy sustainable future for our children.”


“So many of us have been feeling so helpless and hopeless as we watch the news of the devastation on the Gulf Coast,” said Matthew Brian Hersh, Ms. Hersh’s brother and another event organizer. “We want this day to be a symbolic declaration of freedom from oil addiction.”


“We understand that everyone is complicit, from the government and the oil industry all the way down to the consumer and the small businesspeople,” Mr. Hersh continued. “This isn’t about hurting the ‘mom and pop’ gas stations. People who want to participate can buy their gas the day before or the day after. This about saying that the mess in the Gulf is unacceptable, we’re frustrated and angry, and that Americans demand a change in energy policy. Administration after administration has promised to rein in oil dependence, but we’ve seen very little progress.”


The Facebook event, created last week, is rapidly gaining steam, and includes over 1,100 participants as of June 17. A website has also been launched: http://cleanenergypolicy.wordpress.com/

Friday, June 18, 2010

Spreading Your Anger About The World Over The Internet Just Aggravates Your PTSD


stuffnoonetoldme.com


My wife tells me I have to cut back on my illogical passions and stop spreading them all over the web. My shrink says to cut back on my passions regardless of logic. Stop obsessing about the Gulf oil spill, and politics, and war, and injustice, and....I am told. .....................................................................................................................................................................
(Deleted and Censored)
Glen Beck says I should not watch the World Cup Soccer Matches because.... it really doesn't matter what the "because" is does it.

Maybe they are correct. Maybe I need to lighten up. Come out of my Cave. Let the sunshine fall on my face. Smell the roses. Ask for forgiveness. Get counseling for the PTSD again. Repent my Okie ways and attitudes. Get the cat down out of the tree.

Maybe they are wrong! I think I'll take that bottle of Platte Valley Sour Mash out to the hammock and ponder upon this some more and then get back to you, or maybe, just maybe, head on out to the mountains.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Waveland Mississippi Magic Tricks and Optimism


So this picture was on the New York Times Readers Page.
Thousands of small fish killed in the oil sheen of the bay.
So when I took off along the beaches of the Gulf Coast I thought I would look for this.
Never did find it, exactly, cause it was gone or rather still going when I got there.


I wondered about the truck ruts in the sand when I saw this at Waveland. Were they bringing in sand? Hauling sand away? When I got back to the Longbeach hotel and looked at my pictures it occurred to me that I had found the fish kill after all.



As you can see in a previous post there are as many "For Sale" signs as there are lots.
But this has to be the most optimistic of all the "For Sale " signs I saw down there.
Then there is this. From whence will come the congregation?

The Gulf Coast And The Spatial Distribution of Oil And Gas and Products Pipelines

The marrow of the bone is where blood is created, and then it is distributed throughout the body by the circulatory system to maintain and nourish it. America's hydrocarbon energy system is similar in model.




I once worked for a place that had the CEO of The Major Pipeline Corp. on its board of governance. As a geographer listening to him I learned a lot about how the control of the distribution controlled not only production but consumption.


When you look at these spatial representations of the oil and gas distribution systems in the United States note the importance of the Louisiana Gulf Coast and the Houston/Port Author, Texas areas as the entry point of much of the non-continental hydrocarbons.



As you watch the BP fiasco develop along the Gulf Coast try to understand that it is a multidimensional problem that will eventually touch every home in North America.

To view the Map details click on them to enlarge. Sources are on the maps themselves.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Katrina's Mississippi Legacy Five Years After



In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina smashed into the Gulf Coast. Like most people my attention was focused on New Orleans and the barrier islands south of it. But the worst part of the storm, the Category Five winds and surge hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast.




This May, almost five years after the storm my wife and I spent two nights in a Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Longbeach Mississippi. While I was there I surprised to find that the damage Katrina inflicted on this coast was still there. Yes, the wreckage of the buildings had been carried away. The Highway rebuilt and the beach filled in with dredged sand. But of the homes, houses, businesses, and infrastructure that was once there less than 5% had been rebuilt. For three to four blocks in from the beach it was empty of what had been there. Some trees, lots of slabs, some pilings, stilts upon which houses house once stood, they were there. Weeds were there. Scrub bushes and trees were there. People were not there.




It was this way from Gulfport Mississippi to Waveland Mississippi or for 80 miles on my odometer.



Some structures were rebuilt. Generally they we back a ways from the Gulf however.




Here was a long white sand beach with a 4 lanes highway stretching along most of it devoid of houses.




Most people who visit this site just kind of whiz through it.
This time take your time. Enlarge the pictures to catch their detail.
Think about what you are looking at.
Now they are threatened with something new that may wipe out the beach itself.











Here near Waveland the road itself is gone.