Monkeyfister's blog

Hmmm...

2008-08-21T15:07:56-04:00

I wonder when George is going to get around to ordering the Flag to half-mast for Representative Tubbs-Jones?

Does he only do that for white male Republicans, now?

But, But... Those Are OUR Toys...

2008-08-20T22:33:08-04:00

… “Give em BACK!!!” —George W. Bush

* * *

Boy— just IMAGINE the hot and tasty US DoD goodies that the Russians are finding as ground score behind the Georgian Army… “Slightly used, dropped once.”

via AFP

CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP) — The White House on Tuesday demanded that Moscow return any US equipment its forces seized in Georgia, amid reports Russian troops grabbed some US military vehicles.

“If the Russians have it, it needs to be returned immediately,” spokesman Gordon Johndroe said as US President George W. Bush followed the Georgia crisis from his ranch near this tiny Texas town.

“But there’s conflicting reports on it right now. We’d certainly expect that the Russians would return any equipment that is US equipment and return it quickly, if, in fact, they do have it,” Johndroe told reporters.

“There’s some, also, indications that they’ve made that assurance. If they’ve made that assurance, they need to honor that commitment, as well,” he said, describing the reports as “too sketchy” as to the material’s location.

Russian forces in Georgia seized five Humvees (High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) that either belong or had belonged to the US military from the port of Poti, witnesses said.

Give ’em BACK!

HAW!!!

No. George is honestly NOT worried one damned bit about some HumVees. We just gave over a shitload of super serious toys, and DARPA
Happy Fun Balls (Google Video Link) to the Russians, and you can imagine, to the entire NotWest.

Give ’em BACK!!!

Oh, hell that is one of George’s bestest yet.

Oh, gods almighty we are so FUCT.

More Tomatoes... And Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

2008-08-09T16:04:52-04:00

The peck that I picked and froze earlier this week diced down to about seven fat quart bags. I added fresh-picked and dried basil (I have a large screen on sawhorses up in the unfinished attic, where it gets really hot and dry) to all of them, and to three of those bags, I added chopped bell and hot peppers.

Today, I picked and froze up another four quarts with basil and to two of them, I added some red wine. We’ll see how that works out.

Today’s batch is especially pretty, as I used a lot of little, yellow pear tomatoes.

I’ve got enough Roma Tomatoes left over to make a lasagna for this evening.

As I type, I’ve got two gallons of fresh milk from a cow farmer around the bend on the stove, heating up to make two pounds of fresh mozzarella cheese for the lasagna. The mozz recipe is found HERE. You need citric acid and rennet, and a good thermometer, which can be purchased cheaply at that link.

I traded the farmer a half-dozen Big Boy Tomatoes, some Cucumbers (bugs killed his Cukes this year), a quart of fresh Strawberries, a huge bunch of Swiss Chard, and four Eggplants for the two gallons of fresh milk. If that crappy white chemical and steroid shit that they sell as “milk” in the supermarkets is worth $4 a gallon, I think that I made one hell of an excellent trade for the real thing. I also bought a bunch of ground beef, steaks and roasts from him. He raises free-range, chemical-free cows, and grows his own organic grains and hay for them.

Once the cheese is done, and the lasagna is in the oven, I’m going to make a bunch of spicy bread and butter pickles, as I cannot keep up with my Cukes this year, and I really like how my last batch of B&B pickles turned out. Tomorrow, I’m pickling peppers all day, as the harvest is decidedly IN.

Freezing Tomatoes

2008-08-06T21:48:44-04:00

I’ve got a peck of beautiful Roma Tomatoes from the garden tonight, and I am going to dice and freeze them.

Here’s The Safe And Easy Way To Do It.

It’s really simple— you don’t even need to skin them.

Mothers' Heat Grabber...

2008-07-17T13:23:41-04:00

There is a post down page, discussing ways to stay warm and fed this winter, as heating oil, natgas and electricity costs are all on a wild rise. Here’s one small way to help lower your heating bills on the cheap.

via Mother Earth News

Some of the climatologists are predicting that the coming winter could well be colder than the last one. But even if that forecast comes true, you’ll be a lot warmer during the clear-but-below-zero sieges ahead than you were during the frigid weather of last January and February, if your house or apartment has one or more unshaded southfacing windows and if you outfit those windows with the Heat Grabber. (See the bottom of the article and the Image Gallery to the right for Heat Grabber construction details and an explanation of the unit’s operation.)

Believe it or not, this simple and effective “window box” solar collector can be fabricated in just under an hour by an experienced home craftsman (or in less than two hours by the more fumble-fingered among us) for the astonishingly low price of $32.18 (see materials breakdown on next page, prices are from 1977). And once constructed, this sturdy unit should give years of dependable service.

The secret of the Heat Grabber’s quick assembly and low cost is a new rigid foam insulation board manufactured by Celotex. This board, trade-named “Thermax TF-610,” is impregnated with glass fibers for strength, faced on both sides with heavy aluminum foil, and available in thicknesses ranging from 3/8” to 1-7/8”. Celotex actually markets the material as a replacement for the pressed fiber sheathing or “blackboard” now used by contractors in the construction of wood framed houses and does not recommend it for any other purpose. Mother Earth News researchers, however, have run heat and other tests on the insulation board and found it near-ideal for use in quick, easy and low-cost solar collectors such as the Heat Grabber.

HOW IT WORKS…

The Heat Grabber is nothing but a weathertight box that’s insulated on the bottom and sides and topped with glass. An insulated divider is positioned inside this box and brought out its top to form an open “lip” at the box’s upper end. This lip is designed to hook over a windowsill so that the window itself can be pulled down snugly onto the glass which covers the top of the Heat Grabber, leaving the main body of the solar collector “leaning against” the south side of the house at a 45°-or-better angle.

The operation of the unit is just as simple. When the sun shines, its rays pass through the glass on top of the Heat Grabber, strike the upper surface of the divider (which is painted black), and warm the aluminum foil covering on that divider. As the foil heats up it, in turn, warms the air next to it. And that air, as might be expected, rises up the face of the divider and begins to pour out the opening at the Heat Grabber’s top.

But, of course, that hot air can’t move up the face of the divider unless it pulls cool air around the divider’s foot to take its place. Which pulls even more cool air in through the lower opening at the collector’s top (the only place that cool air can enter the otherwise airtight unit) and down under the central divider.

What we have, then, is a “convective loop” solar room heater that operates automatically on nothing but the sun’s energy. Whenever the sun shines, this clever little unit (which, as near as we can tell, seems to be an old Steve Baer design modified by William A. Shurcliff and further refined by some of Mother Earth News’ research staff) just sits there happily pumping thousands of Btu’s of heat into the house. And when the sun quits shining? The air in the box cools and tries to sink to the collector’s foot, which “shuts off” the whole convective loop. (The Heat Grabber, in other words, will spew heat into the room when the sun shines, but it won’t pull heat from the room when the sun doesn’t shine.)

More, and directions at the link. Now, what I need is a low-budget AC augmenter.

IndyMac BanCorp Has Totally FAILED...

2008-07-11T19:54:07-04:00

Feds have seized, closed, and frozen all of its assets. Depositors will have access to ATMs ONLY.
via Bloomberg

July 11 (Bloomberg) — IndyMac Bancorp Inc. became the second-biggest federally insured financial company to fail today after a run by depositors left the California mortgage lender short on cash.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will run a successor institution, IndyMac Federal Bank, starting next week, the Office of Thrift Supervision said in an e-mail today. Customers will have access to funds this weekend via automated teller machines.

The Pasadena, California-based bank specialized in so-called Alt-A mortgages, which didn’t require borrowers to provide documentation on their incomes. Its home state has been among the hardest hit by foreclosures.

“Given their focus on Alt-A and a heavy concentration in California, they would have suffered meaningful losses in almost any scenario,” Brian Horey, president of Aurelian Management LLC in New York, said before the seizure was announced. Aurelian is short-selling IndyMac shares to gain from declines.

IndyMac becomes the largest OTS-regulated savings and loan to fail and second-biggest financial institution to close behind Continental Illinois in 1984, according to the FDIC.

The lender racked up almost $900 million in losses as home prices tumbled and foreclosures climbed to a record. California ranked second among U.S. states, with one foreclosure filing for every 192 households in June, 2.6 times the national average.

Advice to depositors: PULL YOUR MAXIMUM ALLOWED CASH EVERY DAY THIS WEEKEND. DO IT NOW. Contact the FDIC ASAP. www.fdic.gov. You’re FUCT.

Christ in a cracker, here it all comes.

Garden Problem Solving 101-- Blossom End Rot...

2008-06-30T23:17:15-04:00

From time to time, I’m going to try and provide some advice and fixes for common garden problems for you. Stuff that I have encountered and battled with, and other problems that I might be currently experiencing and want to help you avoid.

Have you ever had a Squash, Pepper or Tomato plant growing wonderfully, setting lots of fruits, and suddenly one day, discover the blossom ends of the fruit starting to go black and rot?

Problem is BLOSSOM END ROT! Pretty aptly named, eh?

It seems terrible to look at— worse yet when it strikes your beautiful Tomatoes! OH NOES!!!

But, fear not, this is an easy problem to fix, and the fix is cheap, as well.

Blossom End Rot is caused by a lack of Calcium in the soil.

Tomatoes and Cucurbits are heavy Calcium feeders, and need it in abundance. So, be sure to ALWAYS recycle those eggshells into the garden soil. Oh, but that is not enough, and not the quick-fix that we need, now is it?

No. It’s not… C’mon Monkeyfister— get on with it!

OK. Here ya go:

Your plants are screaming for two things— Bonemeal and a product by Espoma, called PLANT-TONE 9available anywhere— I go to Loews or the local Ag Co-Op. Put one cup of each around the “dripline” (under the branches of the plant) of each plant, gently work into the soil, and water in thoroughly. Then water a bit every day. Lime is also a good thing to work into the soil. But don’t over-do it, just a little dusting to the soil, as it can over-adjust the soil pH. Liming is best done before planting, and ALWAYS use a soil pH tester. Using these inexpensive products, you’ll see improvement in 7-10 days.

via Ohio State University Ag Extension

# Maintain the soil pH around 6.5. Liming will supply calcium and will increase the ratio of calcium ions to other competitive ions in the soil.

# Use nitrate nitrogen as the fertilizer nitrogen source. Ammoniacal nitrogen may increase blossom-end rot as excess ammonium ions reduce calcium uptake. Avoid over-fertilization as side dressings during early fruiting, especially with ammoniacal forms of nitrogen.

# Avoid drought stress and wide fluctuations in soil moisture by using mulches and/or irrigation. Plants generally need about one inch of moisture per week from rain or irrigation for proper growth and development.

# Foliar applications of calcium, which are often advocated, are of little value because of poor absorption and movement to fruit where it is needed.

So don’t spray that shit on your plants— put it in the ground, and water it in!

I hope this helps you!

And seek your local Ag Extension online— they are a fantastic resource.

Square-Foot Gardening 101

2008-06-29T16:03:15-04:00

I had one last garden box left to prepare, and I figured that it would make a great tutorial. This method of gardening is foolproof, and hugely productive. Here Is A Quick And Easy Step-By-Step Guide With Pictures.

I have no idea how to post pictures to this blog, so I can only link to my place. Sorry Lambert, I’m honestly not trying to push up my traffic.

Attracting Honey Bees...

2008-06-28T18:58:58-04:00

Every garden needs European Honey Bees to pollinate the flowers to produce fruits and veggies.

I was having a very tough time attracting the l’il fellers to my yard, even though I’ve seeded the entire yard with Dutch White Clover to attract them, and crowd out this damned Bermuda Grass that refuses to die.

A good friend of mine, a Beekeeper, gave me this recipe to attract them:

In a Mason jar, to a bit more than half a quart of hot water, add 1/8 tsp of lecithin. Add seven drops of oil of lemongrass, seven drops of oil of spearmint and fill with sugar (I used two cups). Shake until all the sugar is dissolved. The lecithin emulsifies the oils, so they spread evenly.

Spray over whatever, the bees will come. Or pour a couple quarts into a shallow pan, then add some sticks or bricks so they don’t drown trying to drink it. That stuff is bee medicine, it’s good for them, the oils apparently kill some of the viruses that are responsible for the vanishing colonies.

And they did indeed come— in DROVES. The Honey Bees really love Lemongrass Oil. My friend uses it to attract bees out of houses, and into hives. Even the Queen will leave the problem dwelling to go to the Lemongrass Oil.

BTW: All of the oils and the licithin can be purchased from the Mountain Rose Herb Company— 100% organic, and they produce most of their products themselves. They’ve won several awards for their commitment to quality, organic farming, and to their local community. www.mountainroseherbs.com

I absolutely love doing business with this excellent company. I hope you appreciate this good lead. Their products and prices are excellent. No— I don’t take money from them. When I find a really good company, I like to share my discovery. I’ve never been disappointed by anything that I have purchased from them.

Indeed, when the oils order came in, I ran out and put a drop or two of the Lemongrass oil on the strings supporting the melons and cukes and tomatoes. By the time I mixed up the Bee Potion, the Honey Bees were already attracted to the plants.

Good luck, folks!

Training Vining Plants And Tomatoes Up String Frames...

2008-06-27T20:26:22-04:00

In response to requests for pictures and more information in FeralLib’s most recent gardening post, I’ve posted a bunch of pics to my place. You can find them HERE.

Every vining plant that you can grow vertically will save you at least a square yard, of space that you can use to plant something else, AND you’re simplifying the process of caring for those plants. Squash Beetles are VERY easy to catch and kill, and you don’t have to worry about treading on foliage to harvest. No ground rot, no missing that one Cuke that goes to seed, and ends the vine’s setting fruit early.

Each 10’ x 5’ tall frame will cost less than $10. 1/2” x 10’ thinwall conduit is ~2.50 per piece. Each elbow costs about the same as the conduit for some reason.

More information on this method can be found at http://www.squarefootgardening.com .

Cheers!

WOW!!!!

2008-02-07T20:11:08-05:00

I’m shocked, awed, and overwhelmed tonight!

At least a HUNDRED blogs from every aspect of the political spectrum have taken part in this swarm of goodness. I want to take a moment to thank Chuck Adkins, a blogger at the Town Hall Blog Community and other places for picking up my plea, and spreading it far and wide through the Conservative ‘sphere. He’s right— this isn’t about politics, but I had to start somewhere.

It will be days before I get everyone thanked properly. But, I’m starting right now, and every day, I will post another set of Thank Yous, until either my fingers fall off and my eyes go blind, or I get to the end of the list. Let’s hope for the latter.

OK. Let’s toss around some numbers:

2,600 people visited this place over the last two days. I average ~90 on a normal day.

If 1/2 of those visitors donated $10 to the Mid-South Red Cross or the Mid-South United Way, we raised $13,000 from this site alone. TODAY.

If everyone came to make a $10 donation, we raised $26,000.

If everyone who came by made an average donation of $15, we raised $39,000.

If everyone came by and gave $20, then we raised $52,000.

—NOW.—

I’m still trying to sift out repeats in the Technorati site, perhaps others who use Technorati more than I do, can help me get down to the actual number of unique participants, I sure would be thankful.

Wandering around, I have noticed that many of the posts look sorta like this (Blogger’s abstract interpretation):

Monkeyfister lives in Memphis, says the storms were terrible. Here’s where to donate:

American Red Cross

Mid-South Chapter

1400 Central Avenue

Memphis, TN 38104

901-726-1690

And:

United Way of the Mid-South phone in a donation at (901) 433-4300.

I’m going to make an assumption, and figure at least another 2,000 people (considering the readership numbers of some of the bigger blogs that linked in, and the sheer volume of small-bloggers) hit those links directly from those pages, instead of coming here to do that. I noticed the storm coverage was pretty heavy on CNN, today, and that many people understand the situation enough, now. Applying the same formula as above, we get:

2,000 x 10= $20,000

2,000 x 15= $$30,000

2,000 x 20= $40,000

For thumbnail totals of:

$39,000

$46,000

$69,000

$92,000

That is one hell of a spread.

In my heart, I think that these are safe minimums. All I can say is this far exceeds my humble expectations, and I’m calling this a smashing success.

You statistics geeks might want to put the calipers on my assumptions, but I think that I may be low-balling that 2,000. Digby’s 26,000 readers, C&L’s 62,000 readers, The Raw Story’s readership… Even IF every single person who made a donation actually came to this blog to make their donation(s), and the first set of numbers are it, it’s still a fat sack of cash getting out to people in need. I’m not even counting in that percentage that might have donated more than $20. I think that I am definitely in the ballpark.

I am completely in love with every single one of you right now. I asked— you answered. Many dollars were raised. Many PEOPLE are getting help. BRAVO ZULU If there is ANYTHING that I can do to help you in a similar stead, I’m here to be tapped.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

It’s time for me to get down to linking, and Blogrolling.

The Toll Is 54 And Rising...

2008-02-06T21:27:30-05:00

Tragic. I pray that peace, kindness and hope can find each and every one of those touched families.

I’ve been looking around for some local centralized relief group/agency… Someplace.

Right now, in the meantime, I recommend the:

American Red Cross
Mid-South Chapter
1400 Central Avenue
Memphis, TN 38104
901-726-1690

And:
United Way of the Mid-South phone in a donation at (901) 433-4300.

They take DIRECT donations, so you can skip all the National-level waste and delay, AND they serve nearly every community in the effected radius. Moreover, they are all that we have in place right now.

I don’t ask for much from my readers, but I sure would appreciate some link love on this post— or better yet— if you’d work-up something of your own linking to the Mid-South Red Cross Chapter or the Mid-South united Way to help this area get back on it’s feet, re-building, and healing. It’d mean an awful lot to many. A bit of a small-blog swarm would be a mighty thing.

Thanks in advance.

Chris Hedges-- "Who Are The American Fascists?"

2008-01-20T20:08:16-05:00

Well, Jonah Loadpants has yet another person to whom he needs to explain his very serious book…

Chris Hedges, reporter, 2002 Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges explores the rise of the Christian right in America, drawing parallels with the rise of fascism in Europe prior to the Second World War. How does the vision of the United States as a Christian nation relate to our Bill of Rights? Why does Hedges identify the increasing political power of Christian fundamentalism as a war against America?

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.

Watch The Google Video Here

More Like This At The WGBH Forum Network. (Lambert, you’ll really like this link.)

Thank you for the priviledge of posting here.