If you are on the receiving end of several inches of overnight snow and have a leftover stale baguette laying around; here's a tip for a snow day breakfast.
Cut your baguette in half inch slices and soak in a batter of two beaten eggs, a splash of milk, and a couple dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Fry in butter to make miniature French toasts.
I like mine with a drizzle of maple syrup and it occurred to me I should have added a dash of vanilla extract. A FB friend suggested almond extract.
If I hadn't done this that baguette might have gone to the birds.
I 've been thinking about this off and on for a couple of days and initially concluded that drawing any further attention to this perversity was a waste of valuable bandwidth. But after 24 hours of observing a (thankfully) small number of my MAGA acquaintances using Face Book to ghoulishly bask in the reflected glory of the murder of an Hollywood liberal this is my conclusion.
I take no issue with satire, sarcasm or general snarkiness; I use it myself. Nevertheless, I was raised to not gloat about murder or another family's very personal tragedy. It is inconsistent with expectations of a Christian. Trump's Tweet is not tone deaf; it is wrong. And while I personally consider this over the line and unpresidential; I fully expect more of the same from Donald Trump.
Over the years this critter would show-up on a trail camera image sporadically and without any pattern. Then beginning with the spring of 2024 this species of canine began showing-up on the trail cameras quite regularly and never stopped. What is unusual is that coyotes persist and both species typically do not occupy the same neighborhood. As a consequence of competition for similar prey choices it is generally one or the other. Rarely both.
The Red Fox is distinguished from the Gray Fox by a white-tipped tail visible in the photos. They’re
omnivores that dine-upon everything from rabbits, small rodents, roadkill,
fruits and nuts and insects.They
sometimes make their home in an enlarged woodchuck den, or hollow log, or
underneath a log or rock in a stream bank or side of a hill.A mated pair will defend their turf from
other foxes but this canine frequently is prey to the resident coyotes and
wolves.
A female is called a
vixen, a male is called a dog fox, newborns are called pups, kits or
cubs. And a group of foxes is called a skulk.
Recent video and a photo. If you want to checkout the library use the Label tool on the left margin of the homepage and click of Red Fox.
That dang cat running around here is gonna get tangled-up with Mr. Red Fox one day and I won't be seeing the Ditch Tiger mooning for a photo-op anymore.
Taking the dog out for a bedtime potty call nowadays it is not unusual to hear the call of the call of the Great Horned Owl as dusk has settled upon the forest. The horned owl is common around here and it is quite distinctive.
This is one of the earliest nesting birds in Wisconsin; laying eggs in January and February. Mated pairs raise one brood per year in an abandoned cavity nest, nest of a great blue heron or crow or even in the stump end of a large broken branch.
The horned owl is particularly gutsy being one of the few birds of prey that will take
porcupines and skunks. Plucky bird the horned own is - which is why it
is sometimes called the Flying Tiger. This bird of prey sports silent wing feathers, hearing so acute it can hear a rodent beneath the snow, bright yellow eyes and cannot turn it's head completely around. Notably, it has a wingspan of up to four feet. Why is that important? This trail is groomed with a Rhino Bush Hog and a five foot wide cutting deck - at ground level. Tree branches make the actual trail a bit narrower.
Helping to identify the fleeting appearance and disappearance of this night stalker.
I want to preface my remarks this morning with this: I am an admirer of Felis catus - the genus name for the domestic cat and several other small wild cats. I've had a couple of cats in my life and they made for terrific companion animals. Clever and playful they made a positive contribution to the household and our family.
They were not allowed to roam freely outdoors. They did wear a harness and clipped to an overhead line by a length of parachute cord they could enjoy sunshine, shade and the outdoors to the extent of the patio's edge.
This was for their own safety, and knowing what I know about predator instincts.
It is difficult to know if the cat in these photos is a feral (wild) cat, or someone's barn cat, or a house cat that is allowed to roam at will. It is not wearing a collar and what is obvious is it has been showing-up frequently on the trail cameras lately. And these photos are only a small sampling.
Colloquially known around here as ditch tigers, feral cats are not fuzzy, cuddly pets. Hard-wired as predators they are
stone-cold killers who kill solely for the thrill of killing. Roaming cats are a scourge on ground-nesting game birds and song birds.
Very few things get
me grumpy as much as feral cats or cats that have been granted
permission to roam freely at large. Cats compete with other wild animals such as owls for small prey. And cats introduce rabies, feline leukemia and other diseases to native wildlife.
In the United States alone, cats like the one pictured above, kill billions upon billions of wild mammals, reptiles and birds
every year. Many, many-fold more than are killed by human-related causes such as
wind turbines, office building windows, power lines, farming practices, automobiles or habitat loss.
Cats
are predators of the highest order. Not native to North America they are introduced and thus an invasive species. And allowing them to
roam is not doing native wildlife any favors. If this cat is a member of a household or farmstead the risk to the cat itself is irresponsible.
I cannot think of a single socially redeeming element to tolerating feral and free-roaming domestic cats. Can you?
One of the fun things about
winter is the night sky. Cold, clear, winter skies are
characterized by a lack of humidity and if you live in the country
there is very little urban light pollution creating some spectacular
opportunities for star-gazing.
December
brings a couple of meteor showers to the night skies. The more
prolific of the two is the Geminids with as many as 120 shooting stars per hour. Shooting stars are most often
associated with the Earth’s passage thru the debris field of a
comet. Gritty debris burns-up as it collides with the upper
atmosphere. The Geminids are a bit of a mystery as they are related
with an extinct comet which also happens to be a near-earth asteroid
named 3200 Phaethon.
The Geminid meteor shower began December 4th and will remain active thru the 17th. It will be producing meteors at its peak rate this Saturday and Sunday evenings.
Each meteor shower is named after its radiant - that point where the shower appears to come from. In this case the constellation Gemini - The Twins. A meteor shower's radiant needs to be above the horizon before any of the action begins. And you don't have to look directly at the radiant to see meteors; shooting stars will be visible across the sky once the radiant has risen.
Find the easily recognizable belt of the three bright stars in Orion the Hunter. From Orion's belt (or from Rigel, his foot, through the belt), follow an imaginary line towards the northeast (up and left). Continue this line until you see two bright stars close together - Castor and Pollux - the heads of Gemini.
For
the
duration there will be a chance of seeing Geminid meteors whenever
the shower’s radiant point – found in the constellation Gemini – is
above the horizon. The number of visible shooting stars increases
as the radiant point rises to its highest point in the night sky.
December also brings the Ursid meteor shower with 5 to
10 shooting stars per hour as the Earth passes thru the debris field of Comet
8P/Tuttle.
Although not as spectacular as the Geminids peak action coincides with
the solstice the evening of the 21st and 22nd. This year the new moon occurs a few days before the Ursids peak, so you'll enjoy dark skies. Best time is before dawn with 10-15 meteors per hour.
Mark your calendar and if your
catch a cold, clear, winter sky bundle-up and take some time to sit outside and
observe the heavens.
From a brittle 6F morning yesterday there was this.
In a light dusting of snow on the porch I found these miniature dinosaur tracks.
These belong to one of Wisconsin's most common winter residents. Yes, they come here for the winter weather.
Junco hyemalis - the Dark-eyed Junco. You're
unlikely to confuse this species with another bird as this member of
the sparrow family sports a slate-colored head and back, white belly and
pink beak. Quite distinctive.
These
little birds migrate from Canada to winter here in the south. We tend to observe larger numbers of males as I am told that
females do not travel as far south as the boys do. They'll readily come to a feeder and it is not unusual to see a flock of them scratching-about on the ground. They're commonly called Snowbirds.
At any given moment, there are approximately half a billion Christmas trees
growing for future harvest that otherwise would not be there.
While they are growing, they’re absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing
oxygen, stabilizing soil and providing valuable wildlife habitat.
As trees are harvested, new trees are planted to take their place.
And unlike artificial trees, real trees can often be purchased from local farms.
And your house will smell nice too.
Raising a toast to sustainability.
John Prine passed away on April 7, 2020 due to complications from COVID. The outpouring of grief and love from his fan community was staggering. Over 500,000 viewers participated in an online memorial and tribute that raised more than half a million dollars for COVID-related community causes. In 2021, the Prine family created the Hello In There Foundation to honor John’s spirit of generosity towards those in need. Fiona Prine and her sons continue to operate and expand the reach of John’s independent record label, Oh Boy Records.
The work of the foundation will be
inspired and guided by John's simple song title, Hello In There. Their mission aims to identify and collaborate with individuals and
communities to offer support for people who are marginalized,
discriminated against or, for any reason, are otherwise forgotten.
A beautiful tribute to John that premiered October 3, 2020 on, "Let The Music Play On": A Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Broadcast, featuring many of his friends.
John's full sets from 2014 and 2017 are available to watch here.
1961 Plymouth Savoy used by the Chicago Police Department. Additional trimlines that year included the Belvedere and Fury.
While we don't know what's lurking under the hood Plymouth models were available with a
225 Slant-Six and V8 options like the 318, 361, or 383 cubic inch
engines. These cars typically came with a 3-speed manual or a 3-speed
TorqueFlite automatic transmission, often with push-button controls for
the automatic in Plymouths of that era.
Police versions featured a reinforced suspension, heavy-duty
brakes (drum brakes were standard), and upgraded cooling systems to
handle the demands of patrol work. Police cruisers had basic interiors with vinyl upholstery and rubber floor mats for easy cleaning.
This vehicle sports a single dome light and possibly an under-hood siren, like the Federal P-280
pulsator siren used by the Chicago Police Department around that time.
Fun Fact: Car 54, Where Are You?,
the classic American sitcom that aired from 1961 to 1963, featuring the
misadventures of two mismatched New York City police officers, Gunther
Toody and Francis Muldoon.
The iconic patrol car in the show, Car 54, was primarily a 1961 Plymouth Fury 4-door sedan, though other Plymouth models like the Belvedere and even a 1962 or 1963 Plymouth Savoy were also used during the series' run.
1. Legal authority (jurisdiction). This requires probable cause or reasonable suspicion of drug smuggling. Including, does the USCG have the legal authority to stop the vessel - is it in US waters, is it a US vessel, or has a foreign nation given permission?
2. Issuance of warnings. This requires the use of visual and verbal signals. The use of lights, sirens, radio calls, and hand signals. And frequently warning shots first; typically with an M240 or .50-caliber across the bow.
3. When the suspect vessel refuses to stop. If the crew ignores repeated commands to stop - called a “non-compliant vessel” - disabling fire is permitted as the next step before any higher level of force.
4. Only to disable the vessel, not harm the crew. These are called “Disabling Fire” or “Engine Disabling Rounds.” Shots are directed at the engines, not people. Only trained Precision Marksmen/Surface (PMS) or helicopter gunners can do this. These shots must be reasonably expected to stop the vessel safely.
5. When the Coast Guard cannot fire. They may not fire simply because the boat is suspected of drug running. If it would create an unreasonable risk to innocent people. Without proper maritime law enforcement authority. Without exhausting lesser means (warnings, maneuvering, etc.)
6. Helicopter Armed Interdiction. The MH-65 “Hitron” helicopters are utilized for this. Using a self-stabilizing weapon they fire warning shots. Then fire precision .50-caliber disabling rounds into outboard motors. This is a standard technique against go-fast boats.
7. Deadly force. Deadly force (shooting at people) is allowed only when the suspected crew poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. It is unlawful if solely because of drug smuggling or fleeing.
Through Operation Pacific Viper, the Coast Guard has accelerated operations against cartels across the Eastern Pacific. During this surge, the crew of USCG Cutter Munro only last week delivered a massive win: 20,000+ pounds of cocaine seized in a single interdiction, the largest Coast Guard drug bust at sea in more than 18 years.
USCG crews are bringing every capability to the fight, protecting the Homeland, and combating the flow of deadly drugs long before they can impact American communities.
This
relief will provide much-needed certainty to farmers as they get this
year’s harvest to market and look ahead to next year’s crops. We’re going to make them so strong it will indeed be a golden age for farmers.
-President Donald Trump
*Speaking about the latest farm bailout resulting from White House tariff policy
President
Trump announced yesterday a $12 billion bailout for struggling farmers as
he looks to shore up the finances of some of his most loyal supporters
whose financial fortunes have been hurt by his trade war.
During
his first term, Mr. Trump directed more than $20 billion in economic
support to farmers after China boycotted U.S. products in response to
Mr. Trump’s tariffs. Everything Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is enumerating are higher in price today largely as a consequence of import taxes. You know - tariffs.
This
bailout is not a rescue. It is the predictable outcome of a policy
cycle that begins with tariffs, produces retaliation, and ends with
federal money used to shield a loyal constituency from damage the
administration created. This is absolutely exhausting.
Tariffs were sold as strength. They functioned as economic self-harm.
China responded exactly as every trade economist predicted, and farmers
absorbed the shock. Now public money is used to steady a group valued
for its political loyalty while other sectors harmed by the same
policies are left to navigate the fallout alone.
This selective insulation needs to be called-out. When government
protects one constituency from the costs of its own decisions while
allowing others to bear the full impact, accountability collapses.
Policy becomes performance. Consequences become optional for some and
unavoidable for others.
Neither an economy or a democracy can function for long on that kind of asymmetry.
Create a problem, then drop $12 billion on the people who voted for this problem.
Then blame Biden.
After all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over NYC Mayor-Elect Zorhan Mamdani; Trump and MAGA are going full on socialist.
Including myself we hosted six hunters here for the gun deer opener and successfully added eight whitetails (four of each sex) to the camp meat poles. For various reasons the number of hunters has skinnied-down recently yet the kill count stays about the same.
Anyway, the trail cameras continued through the entirety of the ruckus and I thought it would be fun to share some photos of their comings and goings.
Including these of one of the guys heading out to his stand before sunrise who was tailed by a fox.
This weekend we're hosting my business partner, some of her family and anyone else that wants to join the fun for the December antlerless hunt.
As long as we're on the subject of drug interdiction I did some fact checking.
Under the Department of Homeland Security, the US
Coast Guard is the primary agency for US maritime law enforcement. They are our country's law enforcement on the high seas. This includes drug interdiction, migrant interdiction, fisheries enforcement and more. Like the US Navy, that agency has sophisticated intel and
technology to identify and halt drug runners.
The US Navy, under the Department of Defense, focuses on warfare, defense and maintaining freedom of the seas with its role shifting to law enforcement only during wartime or specific security crises - adhering to military rather than civilian law.
Typically, armed USCG teams will halt a boat that there is
probable cause to suspect is carrying illegal drugs. They will sequester
its crew while a search is done.
If no contraband is found, the Coast Guard vacates the boat and sends the captain and crew on their merry way.
If drugs are found, the crew is arrested and the boat taken in tow
by the Coast Guard. The suspects are turned over to federal authorities
where they will be arraigned, assigned attorneys, and tried on drug
charges. That is called due process and is no different than how any law enforcement agency or department deals with the sale or distribution of illegal drugs in our communities.
Capital punishment is not an option because under our federal law,
drug delivery – even massive amounts – is punishable by prison terms,
not death. At no time does the Coast Guard act as judge, jury, and
executioner.
And they are very good at what they do. In November the US Coast Guard announced it seized nearly 510,000 pounds of
cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean during fiscal year
2025 (FY25), the largest amount in the Service's history. On average,
the Coast Guard seizes 167,000 pounds of cocaine annually.
After feeding my sourdough starters a couple days ago it occurred to me to me to make pizza dough - four 320g balls.
Froze two (an experiment) and proofed the other two for a halftime pie and one more for snacking this week.
At 15F and falling the outdoor brick oven is a non starter. Nevertheless, the bottom convection oven on the new GE range will get up
to 550F and bake a pie on the pizza stone in 10 minutes, give or take.
From bottom up: homemade hand-tossed sourdough crust, Rao’s imported
Italian pizza sauce, locally-sourced whole milk mozz, topped with
Becco’s Italian sausage, fresh shrooms, black olives, fresh basil from
Columbia and a drizzle of EVO.
Behold the CSMO - aka the Milwaukee Special.
Venezuela is teetering at the brink and there is money to be made.
The first whiff of this has been what's going on for quite some time in the markets with Venezuelan bonds. Prices of Venezuelan debt securities; including bonds that have been in default since 2017 have doubled in price since the start of the year. Because they're garbage that's not saying much, yet Wall Street is betting that the Trump administration may be successful in ousting Nicolás Maduro and replacing his government with one likely headed by - drum roll please - opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Machado. If successful, this could possibly right the Venezuelan economic ship, lead to debt restructuring and a big payout to bond speculators.
The second whiff is that this is more about oil and little to do with drug smuggling. All of this business of targeting purported narco terrorist drug running boats like a video game is another Trumpian bright shiny object. Both a distraction and mechanism to apply pressure on Maduro. Evidence of this you ask? First-off, fentanyl is made with precursors from China and having been manufactured in Mexico comes to America by land borders; namely Mexico. Secondly, cocaine comes from Columbia, Peru and Bolivia as a consequence of coca leaves being grown in Andean nations. Venezuela has little to do with either fentanyl or cocaine. And if the Navy interdicted and boarded the boats, summarily executed everyone on board and then sank the boats, bodies and cargo the net result is unchanged. The hi-tech, standoff nature of these strikes doesn't reduce the horror of the policy.
It is wrong.
The third whiff is that Donald Trump doesn't want to be bothered by many things including affordability issues for working families and cares little about the drug trade. Evidence of the latter is his absolute pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. You know, the guy tried in an American court and sentenced last year to 45
years in U.S. prison for helping drug traffickers to safely move
hundreds of tons of cocaine north through his country to the U.S. Yes, that guy, the Cocaine Kingpin and wing man to the Sinaloa Cartel's leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias 'El Chapo'. Consider what my Libertarian survivors at the Cato Institute have to say on the subject.
I'm not particularly fond of conspiracy theories but much of this isn't passing the smell test. What I know for sure is that Donald Trump has spent a lifetime running various hustles, grifts and scams; and the position of the Office of the President is a once in a lifetime opportunity to enrich himself and his family. Consequently, a pardon to anyone may result from millions upon tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars washed by means of untraceable Trump Meme Coin, bond profits as a result of regime change and future oil revenues as the cherry on top.
Winning the drug war and building Latin American democracies have nothing to do with it. Our government has a long and sordid history of failing at both.
To be fair, I also have a sketchy record of predictions; nevertheless, Latin American leaders such as Columbia's President Gustavo Petro suggest that - Oil is at the heart of the matter. And Venezuela possesses the world's largest proven oil reserves.
Data shows estimates of proven oil reserves for 2025
Source: Oil & Gas Journal
Moreover, Trump's candidness is usually a clear insight into his intentions. In September of 2016 nominee Donald Trump said repeatedly the United States should take Iraq's oil as the spoils of war.
At a 2023 political rally Donald Trump lamented in a speech that his first administration had been close to 'taking over' Venezuela for its oil reserves. Venezuela. How about we're buying oil from Venezuela? When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse. We would have taken it over. We would have gotten all that oil. It would have been right next door.
Trump's administration has previously used sanctions on the Venezuelan state oil company - Petróleos de Venezuela - (PDVSA) as a tool to apply pressure, at times revoking or reissuing licenses for U.S. companies like Chevron to operate there. Naturally, internal political instability, mismanagement, international sanctions along with the built-in inefficiencies of a state-run enterprise in a socialist country has resulted in wide-reaching problems requiring complex arrangements with foreign firms like Chevron to operate joint ventures under restrictions imposed by both Venezuela and the U.S.
Notably, U.S. refiners are expertly-equipped to process Venezuela's heavy, sour crude and the country's location makes it a strategically valuable resource as with the passage of time our own domestic production will likely level-off.
And because I hold any number of energy producers as a direct shareholder, including Chevron, this tangent has caught my interest. Besides, if Venezuela cannot someone has to do it.
The Trump administration has officially framed its actions - including a military build-up that includes moving roughly fifteen percent of our Navy to the Gulf of Mexico - as an effort to stop drug trafficking and illegal migration from Venezuela. This complex mix of national security concerns are likely superseded by the President's own comments and equally complex economic interests related to Wall Street and Venezuela's oil wealth.
Seems to me that at first blush MAGA world seems to have embraced and endorsed regime change and the profits that will undoubtedly follow by means of military force; or at a minimum, the threat thereof.
Who knew?
I'm willing to be wrong about all of this. Time will tell.....
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