Holding on with PTG

PTG seems to have a handle on just about every profession you can think of. And if you should come up with one he doesn't know anything about that won't stop him from talking about it as if it was the love of his life. Trying to pin him down, though, can be worse than trying to pin a college wrestler. One thing he knows quite well is computers, and when mine started making some noises under the hood I rang him up and was given a menu of diagnoses that pointed to the various fans.

My first impulse was to pull off the side panel like I've seen PT do a few times and trace it down. Listening thru a rubber hose stethoscope, which works quite well on Chevy's, I detected a noise coming from the processor fan. I called PT back and told him I'd like to fix it. He didn't try to dissuade me but cautioned that one spark of static electricity in the wrong place and I would be shopping for a new computer. In NW Iowa you can find all the static electricity you ever wanted in February.

Too many miles to the feedlot to impose on his expertise. Besides he's quite busy right now doing legal work for a friend, medical assistance for a couple others, and kitchen duties for someone else, being he's quite the gourmet cook. Think I'm exaggerating? Perhaps a little, but then I haven't begun to describe the many hats he wears.

I took my ailing tin box to a locally owned and operated computer store in my hometown called Hyde Computer Systems, which has no web site. I've been there before but have never had cause to do much business as it was always more fun to drive 200 miles to the Feedlot and watch PT tear into it, all the while listening to more details on what actually makes computers work than I'll ever understand or even want to understand. Ultimately I don't think he cares much about them at all. It's just as easy for him to rhapsodize on ancient and obscure aspects of the history of the world as if he was there and remembers clearly, for example, the rise and fall of a given culture.

At Hyde Computer Systems building, selling and fixing computers is what they do. Of the half dozen or so men and women I've noticed around there nobody is trying by their appearance or demeanor to pressure the customer into doing business with them. The store hasn't been around more than five years but is already filled with computer equipment that you just don't see anywhere else, suggesting much of it is built by them. As you get to the rear of the store it becomes comfortably cluttered in a manner that suggests that they are there to stay. I don't think anybody there is trying to make a lot of money. I find it an appealing form of capitalism. Whatever happens I'll bet these people will figure out a way to hold on.

The processor fan was replaced and they discovered the power supply fan was noisy and called me to see if I wanted it replaced and did I want the nice Works unit? Sure. When I picked it up (same day) they had also discovered a slight noise from the chipset cooling fan. They were apologetic about finding all these problems, as if they were the cause of my sick computer, and had gone ahead and replaced the chipset fan at half price since they hadn't called me first. Well! The total bill for all that was $108. I took it home and started it up and was amazed at how quiet it was, and at how gradually it had gotten noisy in the last year or so that I hadn't noticed it.

PT congratulated me on a good deal and assured me that my computer would now be "utterly obsolete" before it falls apart. I suppose, because he's so *busy*, he suggested I blog this experience. And so I have and now you know a little more about PTG.

Sex for Sale in Nebraska

$35 buys a wad from this big boar

Be glad this pinnacle of porcine boarhood's snout is muzzled by a bucket.
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Hat Tip: Nebraska ArtsPreserve. Go figure.

If Satan bought soybeans...

Castro gives a reacharound to his Venezuelan lover, Hugo Chavez

If Satan bought soybeans, the Nebraska State Department of Agriculture would send a delegation to Hell. Read about our short-sighted state's desire to become business partners with the most oppressive Marxist dictator in the western hemisphere, Fidel Castro, at KETV.com. I suppose it is a good thing that Osama bin Laden isn't buying beef, or we would be courting him with a trade delegation.

Nebraskans should call the Governor's office on this one. Sure we need the business, but we need to keep our self respect intact as well. We shouldn't help this asshole dictator spread anti-Americanism and communism just to line our own pockets.
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For those readers too young to remember, too well indoctrinated by perfidious public schools to know, or so deluded by the Marxist influenced MSM as to be unaware of Castro's long record of tyranny at home and his efforts to spread his "revolucion" beyond Cuba to South America and Africa, I suggest Babalu blog. It is a great starting point, and the good cubiche blogs linked there will open your ojos. The Plains Feeder is proud to be counted as an honorary cubiche at Babalu.
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Addendum: ¡Ya No Mas! has the story here.
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Update: KNEB Farm Radio in Scotts Bluff reports that Governor Dave Heineman might be visiting Cuba himself. (He has been there before, but for some unknown reason, went in August.) How long does he think his spoon is, that he might dine with that devil Castro? Does anyone know if the Governor likes cigars and/or rum?

Lethal injections: Good enough for grandma; too painful for murderers

Medical Professionals?

Remember the ugly stories of hospitals euthanizing instead of evacuating their helpless patients during the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina? The Feeder blogged them here and here. well, it appears that there might have been some truth to the stories of doctors and other care-givers putting their own patients to death with hot shots. These cats are accused of killing those under their care that were too old or sick to be moved easily. So they could skedaddle out of harm's way without having to say they abandoned their charges.

These same doctors and nurses, who were allegedly overheard telling their doomed patients, "I'm going to give you something to make you feel better" as they administered the deadly injections would probably agree with the anti death penalty 'medical professionals' in California pictured above. The ones who worry that there might be some actual suffering involved in dying from a shot of poison. They took the same oath, no?

Let me sum up; lethal injections cause too much pain for a wretched condemned murderer, but the same shots are OK when called euthanasia or 'mercy killing' and administered to someone's hospitalized grandma. At least such killings are OK if there is a storm approaching and the 'medical professionals' need to get home. No contradiction here?
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See also: Lost Budgie's Report, and BayouBob's What if one of these patients were your Mother or Father? and

We have arrived

Scroll down to see the Plains Feeder's new siderbar decor. "We have arrived" refers to the commonly held belief that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I saw all the Prado's Bosch paintings for the first time when I was just a kid. It marked me for life.

Big Lottery Winners

It's All Mine

There was a big to-do in Lincoln today as the Powerball winners finally showed up to collect their prize money. They seem like nice folks, and I'm glad they won. I never begrudge other folks their good fortune; I like to watch people win money. But what I like the most about this scene is that I'm also watching thousands of other people happily paying a tax. Taxes the state might otherwise ask me to pay. I know for a fact that the state has gotten only $6 from me with this racket. Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman said, "the Nebraska Lottery has quietly raised more than $244 million for its beneficiary funds like K-12 education." Add to that calculus all the federal and state income taxes these winners will now be paying in my stead, and my joy is further increased.
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The only lady winner, pictured above, when asked if she was married said, "No, it’s all mine."

Mountain Lion Poll Results

Poll Results

It took quite a while to get a reasonable sample of folks to participate in our long-running blog poll on the question of what to do about mountain lions coming into Omaha neighborhoods. With just over 100 votes cast, the old feeder is ready to draw some conclusions.

First, it seems that nearly 10% of the responses were for the obviously stupid idea to restrict development to accommodate the nasty big cats. These folks were probably drawn to the Plains Feeder by our frequent castigation of the PETA mentality. It is no surprise that these fruits would like to take food from the tables of honest, enterprising Omaha developers to appease an animal most Nebraskans consider a pest. These same folks probably figure we should be nicer to Mohammedan fanatics as well.

About 15% of responders tossed their votes away on the choice designed to catch all the voters who don't take the Omaha mountain lion situation seriously. Adopt-A-Lion program indeed! Nobody that saw one of these big predators in their own yard, where their kids play, would consider putting out feeding stations for them. Might as well send out invitations.

I'm guessing most of the voters who believe we should exterminate all the cougars, pumas, catamounts and mountain lions from the entire state are familiar with the problems faced by those of us as keep livestock. No self-respecting rancher or feeder likes the idea of predators killing or maiming their animals. So about 16% of voters would condemn our big cats. I'll bet some of these voters can remember when the state paid bounties on all sorts of pests.

The old feeder's personal favorite choice would have us try to keep the big cats out of town. This is how the folks in Florida deal with alligators and Canucks deal with bears. Extirpation makes sense, and isn't as extreme as extermination; even the animal lovers can live with this option. Town life and large , carnivorous wildlife don't mix. Sure, these lions are beautiful, noble creatures, but they are still lions; if you want to see them, go to the zoo.

Reasonable as it is, extirpation came in second to toleration. The official policy, if there is such a thing in Omaha, seems to be to tolerate the animals as long as they don't cause a fuss. When a citizen sees one, the officials respond by looking for it. The only one the cops caught was wounded in the process and ended up in the Henry Doorly Zoo. I'm surprised the cat hasn't sued the city.

Thanks to all those who took the time to vote.

Hot Tomato Juice

Grinding Dried Red Jalapeños

Have you ever tried a Snap-E-Tom? It is a sort of hot tomato juice, and, being a fan of the hotter capsicums, I used to like it a bit. But now that I am unable to tolerate any more than 500-1,000 mg. of sodium per day, even ordinary prepared tomato juice is off limits. One small can of Snap-E-Tom has 500 mg. of sodium. So I came up with the following recipe. This hot juice not only tastes good, but has certain therapeutic qualities. Lets just say it gets all your juices flowing. For those of you as can eat salt with impunity, the following recipe can be salted to taste.

First I make pickled jalapeño peppers. I do this every fall with peppers from my garden. Store-bought jalapeños are just as good. The pickling couldn't be easier: slice up the peppers, put them in a canning jar and cover with 5% acid quality white vinegar. The resulting pickled peppers are salt-free and will keep all winter. They won't even grow a scum if you keep them refrigerated or in a cold room. Don't use the metal jar lids! The acid will corrode them and ruin the peppers. I use plastic film held in place with a rubber band.

Then you need some ground hot pepper. I like to stick with the jalapeño theme, so I let some of my jalapeños ripen until red in the garden. These ripe jalapeños I cut open so they don't mold, then dry them in a very low oven. You don't want to toast them, just dry 'em until they are hard as shoe leather. When I'm ready to use them, I grind up a few in an electric coffee grinder. You can substitute dried, ground cayenne, but it isn't the same.

Grinding the Herbs

Next you will need the herbs. Mix big pinch of dried parsley leaves, a few leaves of dried rosemary, some cracked black peppercorns, a tiny bit of dry dill weed and some celery seeds. Use a mortar and pestle to grind this mix up very fine. I store this mix in a test tube; you want it fresh and strong, so don't grind too much at once. You will also need some fine garlic powder and some onion powder.

For the tomato juice part, I use one 8 oz. can of Hunt's Tomato Sauce labelled "No Salt Added". Don't confuse this with Heinz Tomato sauce, which is politically forbidden. The sauce goes into an old glass juice jar of about 40 oz. capacity. Add about 1/4 cup of the (now hot and tasty) vinegar from the pickled jalapeños. Add a pinch of the herb mixture, a bit of garlic powder, a tiny bit of onion powder. Add as much of the ground red jalapeño or cayenne as you think you can stand. I like to throw in a bit of fine-ground white pepper as well. I also use 5-10 drops of real original Tabasco Sauce. Surprisingly, Tabasco has very little salt.

Fill the jar with cold water and refrigerate for a day or two, to let the flavor develop. If you make it the way I do, it will be very hot and very low in sodium. Not so hot it burns your lips, but hot enough to make you sweat. Enjoy!
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You can use this hot tomato juice in cooking, too. For example, substitute it for the Snap-E-Tom in this recipe for Cajun Black-Eyed Peas. Goes great with pork chops!

Plains Feeder wins third place in cartoon contest!

The Plains Feeder's entry, Mohammed Brand Pork Chops, came in third in the Infidel Bloggers Alliance Mohammed Cartoon Contest. I know it is insensitive, but check out the other cartoons. Here is the First Place winner, "Mo Says" by Uncle Monkey:

Cheney hunting accident coverage

Analysis by Thomas Sowell in Our media spoiled brats at the Contra Costa Times web site sums up the behavior of the MSM reporters 'covering' the hunting accident Vice President Dick Cheney had a few days ago. They are biased and downright nasty about it.

There is nothing in the Constitution or the law that says the media have a right to be in the White House at all, much less to have news conferences. This has become a customary courtesy over the years, but courtesy is a two-way street, except for those in the media who act like spoiled brats, as if they have an inherent right to whatever serves their career or ideological purposes.
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The same journalists who used phony documents to attack President Bush's military service recognize no "right to know" why Sen. John Kerry's honorable discharge is dated long after his service was over and during the Carter administration, when less than honorable discharges were allowed to be upgraded.
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The "public's right to know" apparently extends only to such things as will not cause the public to reach conclusions different from those of the liberal media.

This kind of leftist bias, racism and sympathy for the devil: about all you find in the US Main Stream Media these days.

28 gauge report

I like our V.P. well enough, but he blew his chance to go pheasant hunting with me. More important, though, I hope Americans don't waste too much time grieving over a few dead birds and a wounded lawyer. We're a species of birds called infidels and we're being stalked by hunters who are sneaking up on us every day.

If we're lucky maybe PT will tell us what it feels like to take a little buckshot. He knows.

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Thanks to Grouchy Old Cripple for The Ten Ways Dick Cheney Can Kill You.

Day is Night - Cheap is Expensive

Reuters story seen on Drudge. An anti-capitalist movie that has the Berlin Film Festival all abuzz is titled Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Evidently the film makes ordinarily tough to understand economics so easy that even daffy Euro-Wussies get it. Get it?

Mohammed on a Pancake?

Pancake Prophet

Mike Thompson of Beechwood, Ohio, made a pancake that shows the face of Jesus last weekend. I'm never sure about these images on food, but this one is pretty clear. However, in deference to our Mohammedan brethren, it would only be PC to allow that the face in the Ohio pancake be officially recognized as the face of the Prophet Mohammed, Syrup Be Upon Him. I think the resemblance is uncanny. Better than some of the new Mohammed cartoons I've seen.
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Now we need to find a Danish pastry with the visage of the Prophet baked into it.

Cartoon Violence spreads to US Midwest

It is getting worse. Read about it at IowaHawk.

Good News

New York Times: "Study Finds Low-Fat Diet Won't Stop Cancer or Heart Disease"

Supreme Court Mohammed carved in stone

Proposed Changes to SCOTUS Mohammed Sculpture

You might have seen the recent references to the bas-relief sculpture in the US Supreme Court building depicting the prophet Mohammed wielding a sword and flashing a book. I saw it first at Michelle Malkin's blog, here. I can't read the Arabic 'writing' shown in the sculpture, so it could be anything. I assume it is something from the Koran or one of the many quasi-sacred books about Mohammed's sayings and deeds.

As far as I know, Islam prohibits the artistic depiction of any living thing. That is why most Arabic architecture is decorated with Arabesque designs: geometric shapes that portray nothing from nature. Sometimes stylized representations of plant life are tolerated, but in the strictest sense, any artistic attempt to capture living things is seen as an affront to the Creator. In the West, we think of life art as honoring the Creator's works, but to the devout Mohammedan it is mockery. So what? Aren't we free to differ on this?

No! Or so say the Islamofascists who yearn for the Middle Ages who have not a shred of tolerance or respect for the beliefs and symbols of others. At the same time, they are as touchy as colicky babies about perceived affronts to their own. As if that wasn't bad enough, they even hate freedom, it being the opposite of the 'submission' demanded by Allah. Hence the signs reading "Freedom go to Hell":

The Plains Feeder has taken the message to heart, and encourages you all to write your representatives in Congress about changing the Supreme Court's forbidden sculptural likeness to suit the angry Mohammedans. My idea for making the offending portrait more palatable to the fanatics is shown at top.
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Does it bother you that every time a raghead spits on, treads upon, burns or otherwise defaces a Danish flag, he also 'desecrates' the Christian Cross? Does this make your blood boil? Do you feel like burning an embassy or cutting off the desecrator's heads? If you are an ordinary American or, (I'm guessing here) an ordinary Dane, the answer is "no". Or at least, "Not very much". We aren't such sissies or so weak in our faith as to be seriously threatened by such acts. Lighten up, Abdool.

Buy Danish Pork

Its Automatic!

The Danes have put lots of thought into their Welfare State. You have to hand it to them, having to rationalize the added costs of their cheesy Utopia at every turn. Their agricultural economy is dominated by the co-operative plan, which got it's start during the same restless decades that produced Das Kapital.

The industry that produces fine Danish Crown hams and other pork products of Denmark is a vertically integrated co-operative in which the farmers own the whole business from farm field to shipping dock. As you might expect, the Danish Welfare State extends it's promise of cradle-to-grave care not just to people, but to it's farm animals as well. Thus, one of the added costs the Danish farmers need to rationalize is the added cost of keeping their hogs happy. In the USA, we allow the consumer to decide if they want to buy (and pay more for) meat from happy pigs. Just ask the butcher at Wild Oats. We can still get cheaper pork chops, cut from presumably more depressed pigs raised under drearier conditions.

The old feeder was surprised to see how automated the Danish hog production has become. As a student at Iowa State University, I did a stint as the janitor at the ISU Meat Lab. They had a small kill floor and processed all sorts of livestock. Not only did I learn to sharpen knives from the cats there, but I got a real appreciation for how our cuts of meat land up in our stores. That was 'way over 30 years ago; how times have changed!

At ISU the hogs went right from the trucks into a pen on the kill floor, where the hapless creatures could see and smell their pals getting stunned by a pneumatic hammer or electric shock, hoisted by their heels and 'stuck' right in the neck. The hogs would nervously maneuver to avoid being the next selectee. Unlike cattle, which always seemed to be rather blasé at the prospect of being butchered, the hogs reacted more like I would in the same circumstances. The subsequent steps, eviscerating, hair removal, splitting and cutting were time consuming and looked to me like hard work.

In the new Danish hog production facilities the whole business is not only designed to comfort and relax the hogs in their last hours, but the slaughterhouse workers are largely replaced by robotics. The hogs go into a lairage system, where they are allowed to relax from their transport. By law, the doomed pigs must be allowed or encouraged to move in happy little groups of their own free will through the pen system until the group is unwittingly lowered by elevator into a 'room' full of carbon dioxide. Hogs are even bred to have a gene that keeps them from smelling or being irritated by the gas. The idea is: less struggling equals better meat.

Once the hogs are stunned, their work is finished. Robots do almost everything else besides final cutting and inspection. The automated steps include:

• Automatic bung cutter, throat cutter and ham divider
• Automatic carcass opener
• Automatic evisceration
• Automatic back finning (pre-cutting of loins)
• Automatic back splitting

I couldn't find a picture of the bung cutter, but most of the other steps are pictured in this fine article about Danish Crown's big plant in Horsens, Denmark. (Just click the small pictures in the right column.) Fascinating, no?One other thing I couldn't help notice that sets the Danish hog facilities apart from our own meat packing houses was the apparent lack of 'people of color' working there. All the folks in the pictures look to be, well, Danish. And I don't mean to include the browner, more towel-headed Danes you see in the news these days. I guess there are some jobs the Mohammedans just won't take. This is the opposite of what we find here in America, where our packing plants are staffed in significant numbers by immigrants from south of the border. Mexicans, mostly, taking those jobs whiter folks just don't want. So, if you want pork products untouched by brown hands, buy Danish Crown.
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The blood of Danes has been declared Halal by some fundamentalist Mohammedans. At least the Danish hogs need never worry about having their throats cut while conscious as Halal slaughter requires !

Jyllands-Posten

A Bright Spot

Sometimes it seems that a good part of Europe is burning, or will yet be ignited by Islamic arsonists. Nice to know that in the midst of this turbulence some German schoolgirls can still get together and raise money for a worthy cause. Call me a cynic but I know those Islamo firebugs would have no tolerance for this type of good clean student activity.

Sacrilege or Cartoon?

Its Scimitar Sliced, the Old-Fashioned Way!

I was thinking to post the sacriligious Danish cartoons that have the Arabic Euro-trash so upset. I have been following this ridiculous story over at Michelle Malkin's great blog. She had the guts to put up the offensive cartoons, and I see that numerous other publications, both print and web, are doing the same. I didn't find the cartoons all that funny or offensive, so I made one of my own.

Having seen otherwise devout Mohammedans sneak bacon onto their plates at the breakfast buffet, and personally known a large number of Islamic cats that loved to drink alcohol, (mostly soldiers), I know they are subject to the weaknesses and failings common to all humanity. I find it hilarious to picture Arabs chowing down on forbidden meat, their eyes glazed with the perverse pleasure of pork.

While the Danes are probably just reaping what they have sown, like the French car burnings, I feel sorry for them. After all, they make some of the best canned ham you can get. If you care for canned ham. So, for the Danish hog farmers, the Plains Feeder has adopted the following logo du jour:

Jyllands-Posten

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Update: Commenters hint that the old feeder should worry about retaliation. The rotten fruit of Islam pictured today at Michelle Malkin's post "In their own words" don't scare me. Come on out and try to behead, annihilate, exterminate, massacre, and or slay this old cat if you can. I'll be the one in the seed corn hat.
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Update: The Prophet Brand Pork Chops 'cartoon' has been entered in a contest. See the other entries and vote for your favorite at the Infidel Bloggers Alliance.

The Right to Rock

The congressional rockers, The Second Amendments, were on Jim Bohannon last night. They seem like nice guys, been entertaining the troops, sat through a mortar attack, and they support gun rights. I wish them well.

However, if they were in high school and practicing in dad's garage I would think a lot more practice would be in order before they started playing gigs. No doubt their status as congress guys opens lotsa doors that their talent would otherwise find closed.

Not at all unlike movie and rock stars whose sophmoric political notions always seem to find a public outlet. I'd like to see Springsteen, Bono and some other musicians locked into a music hall and being forced to listen to The Second Amendments for hours and hours. Afterwards the real musicians would have to bite their tongues while the media enthusiastically sought out the band's opinions on the world of rock 'n roll.