Turning Poo into Power

I wasn't sure if I should write this post or not, given that you might think I have a fixation on ... um ... poop, but I just couldn't pass it up.

You may recall that back in May, I wrote about attempts to use human urine as fertilizer. After all, human solid waste (the politically correct term is "night soil") has been used for this purpose for a long time. Well, it seems that there are endless horizons of possibilities for the re-purposing of animal wastes, as suggested by this interesting article which describes efforts to generate power from cow manure. The following chart provides a simple illustration of the concept, and is useful for those of you born in urban areas who may not be familiar with which end of the cow the manure comes out of.

The article discusses a dairy farm in Plymouth, Indiana, which uses biogas derived from cow manure to generate electricity to run its operation ... and not only that, but it is able to sell a large amount of electricity back to the local electric company. Looking at this on a larger scale, the article notes that there are about 8,000 dairy and hog farms in the United States large enough to make a biogas recovery system viable. According to the Environmental Protection Agency*, those farms could conceivably generate enough electric power to run more than a million homes, and reduce toxic emissions into the environment by the equivalent of taking nearly four million cars off the road. Not only that, but the gas recovery facility cuts down on the staggering smell of accumulated manure, helps manage unpleasant runoff from the farms, and helps to create better fertilizer from the processed waste.

I don't know about you, Dear Readers, but I think this is a marvelous discovery. Disposal of the vast amounts of animal waste generated by industrial-scale farming is a serious problem, as is the issue of managing the stench and the pollution of waterways from the waste. Wouldn't it be great if we could make use of all that manure in a way that is environmentally sound, economically beneficial, and socially conscious? You can read more about the potential of biogas recovery from manure here and here.

And need I point out the advantages of improved manure management and stench reduction during an election season?

Have a good day. And look forward to the day when all that BS might actually be useful.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* At least, until the GOP manages to kill it. Because who needs job-killing stuff like clean air and water, anyhow?

Poetry Sunday

One of the things I have to be careful of when I travel is taking so many photographs that I fail to enjoy the experience of the moment.  Another one is taking all the pictures ... and then realizing that I'm not in any of them. This poem by Wendell Berry sums up the problem of the over-absorbed photographer ...

The Vacation

by Wendell Berry

Once there was a man who filmed his vacation.
He went flying down the river in his boat
with his video camera to his eye, making
a moving picture of the moving river
upon which his sleek boat moved swiftly
toward the end of his vacation. He showed
his vacation to his camera, which pictured it,
preserving it forever: the river, the trees,
the sky, the light, the bow of his rushing boat
behind which he stood with his camera
preserving his vacation even as he was having it
so that after he had had it he would still
have it. It would be there. With a flick
of a switch, there it would be. But he
would not be in it. He would never be in it.


Have a good day. And be in it.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

Just one full week into August and already I'm sick of it. This is not a good sign.

After more than a year, pieces of the Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared over the Pacific have begun to wash up on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean; in Bangladesh, another blogger - the fourth this year - has been savagely murdered by Muslim extremists for the "crime" of posting online comments critical of Islam; in Phoenix, Arizona, eleven bounty hunters from two bail bond recovery companies, acting on an unconfirmed tip, mistakenly raided the wrong house ... which belonged to the Phoenix Chief of Police*; three North Carolina men, irate over what they believed were preparations by the Army to stage a coup under cover of the Jade Helm exercise in Texas, were arrested by federal agents who seized huge quantities of weapons and explosives the men intended to use to ambush American soldiers; and in Nashville, police shot and killed a man who attacked moviegoers in a theater with a hatchet and pepper spray**.

This week, in "honor" of the embarrassing spectacle of the first GOP "debate," our theme is politics, politicians, and elections ...

Yes, it's already getting old, and the election is more than a year away ...

Dethany Dendrobia is one of my all-time favorite cartoon characters. She's also one of my Facebook friends, which just goes to show that not everyone grows out of imaginary friends ...

You didn't think there'd be free VIP parking for the likes of you, did you? ...

Too bad the nation ran out of that Spine Flu vaccine just when we could really use it ...

The next two cartoons give a look at how the "debates" really ought to be run ... first, Dagwood and Blondie's take ...

And then a look at how an on-the-spot fact checker might help things out ...

Well, putting an anonymous donor on the big bills may not be any more secure, but it would surely be appropriate ...

We all hate annoying campaign ads, but it seems that they work ...

It may not be too bad if it's just a few bones, rather than an entire skeleton in the closet ...

And finally, this is probably as good a place to find a viable candidate as any ...

I hope you all have a good day and a great weekend. It looks as if the weather here in NoVa will be pretty good, so maybe I can get some of that yard work done. Or not. Agnes bought a bag of nice limes and I have plenty of gin, so ...

See you back here tomorrow for Poetry Sunday.

More thoughts then.

Bilbo

* Oops.

** In a prepared statement, NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre called for the open carry of hatchets, stressing that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a hatchet is a good guy with a hatchet."

Great Moments in Editing

With the new month comes a new collection of Great Moments in Editing ...

Just another meth lab blowing up, yawn ...

Or was it one of those dangerous math labs? ...

Who wouldn't want an 18-foot rectangular ... uh ... never mind ...

I hope it was just a lazy photo editor and not an overactive father ...

Ah, ladies, nothing accessorizes your outfits like a stylish designer handbag ...

I hope it was that town in Michigan. After all, where would you sentence someone who caused a fire in Hell?

Yes. Yes they do.

Your tax dollars at work ...

Stock up now!

Well, yes, I guess savings like this would raise a red flag ...

And there you have it - your first collection of Great Moments in Editing for the month of August. Stick around ... I've got lots more. But first, come back tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday.

More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Questions You Probably Won't Hear in the GOP "Debate"

Tonight is the first of the "debates" among the GOP presidential candidates. I put the word "debates" in quotes because this will not, of course, be a debate at all ... it will simply be a group of professional politicians ignoring the moderator's questions in favor of sending their personal messages and casting cheap shots at their opponents. Facts will be few, far between, and - if cited at all - will probably be presented grossly out of context. In any case, since the "debate" is among hardcore conservative candidates and is being sponsored by Faux News, the chances of the participants being asked any serious questions or pressed for real answers and supporting evidence is vanishingly small.

From the If I Were King* Department, here are the questions I would ask if I were moderating this "debate":

1. I know you despise Obamacare and want to repeal it immediately, but what is your specific plan to provide affordable health care in its place?

2. Do you believe the current tax code is fair to all Americans? Would you consider changes to the tax code which close loopholes or raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy in order to even out the average tax burden? If so, give some concrete examples of loopholes you would close or taxes you would raise.

3. How will you fight violent extremism while staying true to core American beliefs and freedoms?

4. A follow-up question: how do you propose to fight violent activity on the part of American political and religious extremists here at home?

5. Gun violence is a serious problem in the United States. What specific measures do you propose to reduce gun violence without infringing on rights guaranteed by the Constitution?

6. What are your specific ideas for making American education affordable and reducing levels of student debt?

7. Many Americans believe that there is too much influence in our political system of huge money donations from corporations and the wealthy. Do you think "big money" has too much influence in our politics? If not, why? If so, what will you propose to do to limit its influence? Would you support requiring that all donations for any organization active in the political campaign season be released to the public? Would you agree to call on your super PACs and associated 501(c)(4)s to release their lists of donors and the size of their donations?

8. There has been a lot of angry, arguably irresponsible rhetoric from the right, blaming the government as a whole (or individual appointees) for everything that's perceived to be wrong in the country. Polling data shows that Congress has approval ratings in the single to low-double digits, and mistrust of public figures is high, stoked by the angry language of talk radio. What, specifically, will you do to restore faith in our elected government?

9. The national minimum wage today is $7.25/hour, which is well below the poverty line for a full-time worker with a family of four. Do you support an increase in the minimum wage? Why or why not?

10. America's infrastructure - highways, bridges, power grid, water supply, etc - is aging and increasingly in disrepair. Would you support major programs to rebuild our critical infrastructure? If so, how do you propose to fund it?

Okay, Dear Readers, those are my ten questions. What are yours? Of course, I don't expect to get any answers ... and I certainly don't plan on watching tonight's clown show. I'd rather watch something more useful and educational on television ... like Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* And you should be glad I'm not.

Religious Freedom

This little meme has been making the rounds on Facebook ...

I think it's pretty accurate.

It seems as if nowadays many people's religious beliefs serve less as a guide to an upright and moral personal life than as a cudgel with which to beat those who express a different set of beliefs, or no beliefs at all:

Conservative Christians try to impose on everyone else a muscular Christianity they believe (falsely, as it happens) was written into the Constitution;

Aggressive atheists feel the need to loudly show their disdain for the deeply-felt beliefs of others;

Radical Muslims believe it's their duty to kill those who don't worship as they do;

Some Ultra-Orthodox Jews make life miserable for others by demanding accommodation of their insistence on strict separation of the sexes, to the great embarrassment and inconvenience of everyone else;

And every one of them absolutely, positively believes - beyond all doubt, reason, and compassion - that they, and only they, are right.

Perhaps if we just went back to the Golden Rule, things would be a lot better ... but I think that train sailed long ago.

Have a good day. Live your own life ... the rest of us can take care of our own.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

Getting Ready for Election Season

Last week I offered you the use of some of the better warning signs I've run across. Today we have signs of a different sort ... to get you ready for next year's election. We already know that the election will cost billions of dollars (for attack ads, annoying robo-calls, and roadside signs) that might have been spent on infrastructure repair, education, medical care, or the Gigantic Trump Memorial Wall to Keep the Mexicans Out. In the end, you'll sigh, scratch your head, and vote for the lesser of the two evils ... unless, of course, you're a Republican, in which case you won't need to sigh or scratch your head, because Faux News and the Koch brothers will already have told you who to vote for.

Here are a few of my favorite election season signs ...

The first two are pretty similar, but I like the added imagery of the empty suit in the first one ...

I like this one because it reminds us that "Nobody has all the answers." Except libertarians, of course ...

Why vote for the lesser of two evils when you can vote for the greatest evil of them all? ...

When was the last time you heard a politician admit he was in it to obtain power for himself?

Don't like (or can't pronounce) Cthulhu? How about Megatron? ...

These are just a few to start you off. I'll share more cynicism with you as the election heats up.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

High-Class Insults

Nowadays, the crafting of an effective insult is a lost art. Today's insults tend to be more crude and scatological, without any class or intellectual heft. Gone are the wonderful Shakespearean insults (you can generate your own here or here or here) and the marvelous English cutting remarks of Winston Churchill and Benjamin Disraeli.

Here are a few of the best insults I've run across over the years ...

A member of Parliament to Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
"That depends, Sir," Disraeli replied, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

"He had delusions of adequacy." (Walter Kerr)

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." (Winston Churchill)

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." (Clarence Darrow)

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." (William Faulkner, speaking about Ernest Hemingway)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." (Moses Hadas)

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." (Mark Twain)

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." (Oscar Wilde)

George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill: "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one."
Winston Churchill, in response: "Cannot possibly attend first night; will attend second, if there is one."

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." (Stephen Bishop)

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." (John Bright)

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." (Irvin S. Cobb)

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." (Samuel Johnson)

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." (Paul Keating)

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." (Charles, Count Talleyrand)

"He loves nature, in spite of what it did to him." (Forrest Tucker)

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" (Mark Twain)

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." (Mae West)

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." (Oscar Wilde)

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – for support rather than illumination.” (Andrew Lang)

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." (Billy Wilder)

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening.  But this wasn't it." (Groucho Marx)

Have you heard any good insults? Leave a comment and share them with the rest of us.

Have a good day, thou venomed sheep-biting popinjay. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

Poetry Sunday

We're a dog-loving family. Our first dog was Wooly, a cute and personable Yorkshire/Scottish Terrier mix, and since Wooly left us, we've had Punky and Nessa, and now our grand-dog Clara (you've met both Nessa and Clara in this space when they've done guest posts). It was Clara who suggested this poem by Rudyard Kipling for today's Poetry Sunday ...

The Power of the Dog

by Rudyard Kipling

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie --
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find -- it's your own affair --
But . . . you've given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone -- wherever it goes -- for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve;

For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long --
So why in -- Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?


President Harry Truman supposedly once said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." He was dead on with that comment, but I'd go one further ... if you want a loyal and faithful friend, regardless of where you live, get a dog.

Clara seconds the motion.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

Can you believe it's already August 1st? This year is flying by faster than dissemblings from the NRA after a mass shooting ...

A man from Tennessee was arrested in Washington DC this week after police said he drove into the District with a pickup full of weapons and a propane tank, then asked a police officer for directions to the White House; the Coast Guard has given up the search for two Florida teenagers, who went missing at sea during a burst of severe weather on July 24th; amid growing international outrage over the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe last month, Zimbabwe has asked the United States to extradite the American dentist and hobby big-game hunter who allegedly shot the beloved lion after luring him out of his sanctuary; Beijing has been chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, which should give them enough time to bring down the city's legendary air pollution to relatively safe levels; and in Maryland, a woman poisoned her five year-old son, then put the boy into her car, apparently after he was dead, doused the interior with gasoline and set it on fire in an attempt to cover up the crime.

Yes, we definitely need the cartoons this week.

This weekend, we're having a twofer ... tomorrow's Poetry Sunday features a poem about dogs, and so it's probably appropriate that today's cartoons feature man's best friend ...

In spite of the old picture of "Dogs Playing Poker," they usually don't.  This is why ...

They don't usually play blackjack, either ...

Modern dogs (and cats) probably have different online search criteria ...

But today's dogs can be as tech savvy as the average adult ...

A really good dog nowadays knows more tricks than that old chestnut, "speak!" ...

CSI Canine ...

Did you ever wonder what they think sometimes? ...

You can teach an old dog new tricks, but ...

Well you wouldn't want to eat the same thing all the time, would you?

And finally, a very special breed ...

And so it goes for another week of Cartoon Saturday, headed into a new month. Later this morning, Agnes and I will be headed down to Chincoteague Island for a weekend cavorting in the surf and doing the island pony thing with the local grandchildren. I wonder if I should have paid extra for the "no annoying flies and mosquitoes" plan. Oh, well ... too late now.

Have a good day. Come back tomorrow for Poetry Sunday with Rudyard Kipling.

More thoughts then.

Bilbo