Reprint from the pages of "Hoard's Dairyman" magazine issued to
influence public opinion in Wisconsin where the sale of colored
margarine was prohibited by law
Once upon a time margarine was illegal in Wisconsin.
That’s right. For over 70 years, Wisconsin banned the production and
sale of buttery-yellow oleomargarine and we were the last state in the
nation to uphold oleo bans. As a child my dad and his brother would periodically team-up and make a run across the Illinois border where there was a thriving business selling cases of margarine to Wisconsinites who would drive back over the border with trunk loads of bootleg oleo.
59 years ago on July 1, 1967, the sale and production of yellow oleomargarine was finally legalized in Wisconsin.
Oleo was seen as a substitute for butter and gained popularity during
the butter shortage of WWII. Dairy distributors didn’t like this
imitation-butter one bit, which led to Wisconsin upholding oleo bans
for more than seven decades.
Nevertheless, Wisconsin
state law still strictly regulates butter and margarine in restaurants
and it is a criminal offense to substitute margarine for butter unless a
customer specifically requests it.
The law on the books is Wisconsin Statute 97.18(4), which explicitly states:
"The serving of colored oleomargarine or margarine at a public eating place as a substitute for table butter is prohibited unless it is ordered by the customer."
The mid-term elections are a little more than three months away and hardly a day goes by that there isn't a claim by the White House of the recent special elections being stolen, how millions of illegal immigrants are routinely voting and how Democrats are scheming to steal the mid-term elections. These baseless claims nearly always include a reminder of how the 2020 elections were rigged.
None of this is surprising as polling isn't looking very good for the GOP's chances of retaining the House; and as the president's approval rating continues to fall; now even retaining a GOP majority in the Senate is at some small risk of peril. Naturally, Republicans will do whatever is necessary to retain power in the representative branch of government.
In light of the foregoing someone should read to the president the 2022 Report: Lost Not Stolen; composed by eight conservative Republicans including a couple of former GOP senators, three former appellate judges, a former Republican solicitor general and a couple of Republican election law specialists. They examined all 187 counts in the 64 court challenges filed by Trump and his supporters. What did they find?
Twenty of those cases were dismissed on their merits before being heard and an additional fourteen were voluntarily withdrawn by Trump and his supporters before being heard. Of the thirty that were heard on their merits, Trump prevailed in only one, Pennsylvania, involving far too few votes to change the election outcome. In Arizona, the most exhaustively scrutinized state, a private firm specifically chosen by Trump's team confirmed the president's loss finding 261 fewer Trump votes and an additional 99 votes for Biden.
Even the Heritage Foundation's database undermines Donald Trump's claims of election fraud. But don't take my word for it; click on Wisconsin and you will learn of exactly 68 proven cases of election malfeasance from 1982 through 2025. It happens; but blessedly in small amounts insufficient to swing a national election.
Yet, here we are. We began with Trump's demands that Red States engage in partisan redistricting (gerrymandering) including proposed legislation like the Save Act; all intended to make voting more onerous for those less likely to support a Republican candidate.
The show of force by ICE and CBP agents terrorizing blue neighborhoods in dozens of cities may have been a dress rehearsal for their eventual presence at polling places. Seizing ballots in Georgia from the previous presidential election provides context for extending the baseless narrative claiming widespread voter fraud.
Is it a real stretch that Trump's threat to nationalize elections in fifteen states may come to pass? Certainly the potential consequences of masked federal agents confronting voters at polling places is dire. Voters may recall the killing of Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole Goode and Ruben Martinez without consequence for the triggermen. In the last few weeks an ICE agent shot and killed a Columbian man in Maine and a Mexican citizen in Houston, Texas. If enough fear is generated it is possible that it might suppress voter turnout in key Democratic precincts.
If all else fails; inciting violence, as was done on January 6, 2021 and recently in Minneapolis could be used as an excuse for the imposition of martial law and suspension of the mid-term elections altogether. Trump's blanket pardon of the January 6 rioters and on-again, off-again, promise to reward them from a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund laid down the marker; he has got you covered.
Given all the other actions of the Trump administration I cannot conceive of anything that would be a surprise. Consider this plot line:
Donald Trump is obsessed with convincing his supporters he won the 2020 election. His hold on power is all about the appearance of winning. Control over elections is dispersed among thousands of elections officials across the country making cancellation exceedingly difficult. Plenty of commentators have declared America's decentralized election system a strength. The implication being that Trump cannot take over all elections across the country. But that's not something he needs to do. What he needs to do is tamper with elections in just a handful of places. America's decentralized system may make that a lot easier as procedures aren't standardized nationwide and elections aren't monitored by an established, professional commission. Tampering with a few local elections, often managed by volunteers, seems a lot easier under the circumstances.
Consequently, this has more to do with election subversion not cancellation. The goal is simple; keep the elections going without unseating those already in power.
In January the president repeated his threat to prosecute election officials who oversaw the 2020 election. As a follow-on the FBI raided the election office for Fulton County, Georgia and seized election ballots and records. Was this a dry run or a dress rehearsal? You pick.
At the same time, federal officials have collected voter data from eleven states that have agreed to turn-over their voter registration lists. Predictably, we will hear that there are hordes of previously unrevealed noncitizens on the voter roles. Accordingly, during his confirmation hearing to head-up the Department of Homeland Security, Senator Markwayne Mullin said this about deploying ICE to polling locations: "The only reason why my officers would be there is if there was a specific threat for them to be there; not for intimidation."
That tune has changed; in the first week of June in a Senate hearing Mullin refused to explicitly commit to abiding by all federal court orders. In his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Mullin stated that the courts are politicized and therefore judges use their benches for political opinions instead of the rule of law. Does Mullin believe he can therefore ignore a federal court order?
With the appointment in April of Todd Blanche as acting Attorney General and housing official Bill Pulte to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Trump now has three loyal enforcers in Mullin, Blanche and Pulte to deliver on orders from the White House. ODNI has drawn scrutiny for an expanded role in election security and my spider sense is tingling.
I've come around to thinking that Trump usually gets around to doing just about everything he says he'll do; eventually. The President, administration appointees and his supporters often tell you exactly what they will do. They are very good at saying the quiet part out loud. So, if Steve Bannon says ICE will be at the polls; perhaps we should believe him.
Trump might use ICE and CBP, his now loyal militia, on November 4th to seize mail-in ballots in key competitive districts. This will stop or delay the certification of those new Democrat Representative and Senators. He will tie it up in the courts for months by claiming foreign interference with mail-in ballots. Whatever it takes to delay the seating of a Democratic Congress.
Most Congressional elections are noncompetitive with completely predictable winners. Of the 435 seats in the House only about 40 will be seriously contested. Who controls the House will therefore depend completely on those 40 or so elections. For that reason the Trump administration has no need to control every election in the country - it simply has to put its thumb on the scale in about 40 House elections.
The Senate is similarly noncompetitive; but in a few swing states the strategy to distort the election requires manipulating the vote in a few precincts that are likely to determine who wins. Again, election interference doesn't have to be widespread. It can focus on just a few key precincts and districts.
Neither Russia, China or Iran has yet to cancel an election. For these nations the institutions and elections persist; only the results are fudged to to keep authoritarian incumbents in place. Having "won" the election they are subsequently legitimized.
In the absence of Truth, Justice and the American Way I have to conjure-up a bizarrely unthinkable scheme that makes me sound like a garden variety conspiracy kook; yet, given the current cast of characters is entirely plausible.
Meanwhile, in a preview of the fall strategy to cast doubt on election
outcomes the president gave a televised 26-minute address Thursday evening. He promised proof of election tampering; the follow-on documents offered no evidence that such vulnerabilities were being exploited nor anything we haven't heard-about before and previously debunked. On Friday morning even Fox News was mute on the subject.
Looks like we're in for a belly-full of belly-aching.
The kids live on the Gulf of Mexico and do not generally have an opportunity for a traditional Wisconsin fish fry. Consequently, daughter asked.
From the frozen fish section of one of the basement freezers i found a package of wild-caught, personally-cleaned, walleye and perch fillets.
Having done this countless times on fishing trips, deer camp and annual family get-togethers, I recommend you move your fish fry outdoors if conditions allow. You can do all your prep beforehand and since everything but the coleslaw is fried once your oil is at temp everything comes together in about 15 minutes.
Franzl Lang (1930-2015) is remembered in popular culture as the Jodlerkönig.
Franzl Lang, the Jodlerkönig - Wikipedia
As the Yodel King he is universally regarded as one of the most technically skilled alpine yodelers in history.
Sporting his signature Bavarian Lederhosen and playing either a guitar or accordion he brought traditional Volksmusik into the mainstream German television and developed a massive following both in Germany and abroad cutting more than forty albums and selling millions of copies worldwide. He secured multiple gold and platinum records.
He taught the complex art of alpine yodeling and published several books on the subject before retiring in the early 2000s.
Here's a night sky opportunity that doesn't require staying up late or dragging yourself out of bed in the wee morning hours.
Look to the west after the sun sets and you will spot a crescent moon along with the planet Venus. If you have a pair of binoculars, use them.
If you have a decent camera, mount it on a tripod because the combination of the very bright Evening Star - Venus - along with the glowing earthshine on the dark side of the moon can make a cool bit of night photography. Use a focal length of between 50mm and 100mm to capture both objects in the same frame. If you can frame them with a silhouette of a tree or dark building, better yet.
If you're using an iPhone or similar handheld device, both a stabilization and timed exposure setting is preferred.
Regardless of your equipment choice a filter app such as Snapseed is useful for adjusting exposures, aperture and additional settings.
Good Luck! And fingers-crossed for clear skies and fewer skeets.
Edit to add: When I place this post in the "can" for publication this morning there was no way to predict that the Canadian and Minnesota wildfires would conspire to cast a pall across the daytime and night skies.
We happen to have plenty of pollinators winging around the joint. Naturally, that is a consequence of creating conditions conducive to supporting them; namely habitat.
Anecdotally, it seems to me the numbers have diminished over the years and have dropped-off from the high water mark of 2019. Don't take my word for it, if you peruse the labels located in the left margin of the blog homepage anything to do with Monarchs or Butterfly Biology is clustered over a handful of years six to nine years ago. Of course it's also possible my taste for insect subject matter has changed too. Nevertheless, my anecdotal observation on the raw numbers seems pretty solid.
Anyway, a few days ago The Missus was potting some plants on the picnic table and spotted this newly-emergent monarch sitting of the driveway beneath the table drying its wrinkly wings. Under ordinary circumstances this moment would pass entirely unobserved.
Likely the first generation born of an earlier migrator.
You can learn more about the generations of Monarch butterflies here. And pay attention to what's going around in the natural world. Situational awareness you know....
New moon is on tap for this evening. As a consequence of the moon sitting between the earth and the sun the side facing us is totally dark. In the absence of any moonlight to clutter the night sky this is the best night of the month to observe the heavens.
Our planet is also entering the Perseid meteor shower. You'll have to wait for the peak of the shower a month from now; nevertheless, earth is entering the outer edge of the debris field left behind by Comet 109P Swift Tuttle. If you're outside this evening observing the night sky there is a good chance you'll catch some meteors streaking across the sky.
Here's a Pro Tip. Get yourself into a comfortable lawn chair and pick a wide part of the sky to stare at. Because this is the Perseids I'm going to look to the northeast and the constellation Cassiopeia. Constellation Perseus is immediately below. Grab a lemonade or a cold adult beverage and allow 10-15 minutes for your eyes to adjust too the darkness. The early Perseids are frequently very fast and bright.
Time and again the stolen election hoax has been tested and rejected whenever it finds its way into a courtroom, a sworn affidavit, testimony or deposition is undertaken to present evidence.
Nevertheless, it remains an article of faith in MAGA World and no heresy on the subject matter is permitted because Donald Trump demands it be so. Absolute fealty and obeisance to the Dear Leader is enforced.
Even those Republicans who cannot bring themselves to say that the long-dead Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez was somehow involved in hacking the vote tabulators in 2020 are loathe to distance themselves from the Big Lie. They'll shuffle their feet, nervously change the subject and suggest that voting by mail during COVID was somehow unfair.
As a general rule I don't pontificate (pardon the pun) about religion on social media. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs; and if you follow one of the three Abrahamic religions or something else that is your business. Not mine. But I'm acquainted with a handful of individuals who gushingly worship the president. Some days I think that ordinarily level-headed and rational adults have somehow become spellbound by magical wishful thinking. It's kinda creepy.
The stolen election has now been elevated to a modern day political New Testament. It is the closest thing American politics has conjured-up in my lifetime to idolatry. Yup; and there's a Commandment that addresses this business of idol worship.
The public profession of faith in a thing known to be false because devotion to the Leader requires it. Yuck.
Several years ago we decided to gradually reduce the amount of turf grass in the yard and seed it into native plants as pollinator habitat.
It takes several years for these plants to establish themselves; nevertheless the ‘upland’ location (where the ancient farmhouse foundation is buried) is putting-on its own fireworks display. A seasonally “squishy" section at the north edge of the yard that is doing really well too. I figure as summer progresses more species are going to continue to pop.
Last fall, I retired my big garden adjacent to the machine shed and it was seeded into natives. At the present it is looking quite raggedy and rough and is due to receive some spot treatment of weeds.
There remains a section along the side of the road that was sprayed Tuesday. After it is thoroughly dead it will be tilled under and seeded this fall. If you don’t like seeing wildflowers along the side of the road you’re likely one of those Godless Communists I’m hearing so much about from certain of my acquaintances.
Bottom line; less turf = less maintenance. More flowers = more pollinators = happier birds.
In case you’re wondering about the dump trailer in the driveway you’ll have to wait.
This past week the Orioles really began hammering the feeders. In four
days I've gone thru two 30 oz. Jars of grape jelly and a navel orange.
As of last Monday we had not spotted any fledglings.
That changed on Tuesday with the appearance of the Graduating Class of 2026 having fledged the nest to come to the feeders.
They still haven’t completely figured-out how to feed themselves so it
is hilarious to observe the youngsters alight and then chatter and whine
for an adult to feed them.
They’ll get the hang of it before too long.
Here are some photos from Thursday courtesy of the Oriole Cam on the porch…..
Here's a nostalgic compilation of television advertisements featuring home computing pioneers such as Apple, Atari, Commodore, Tandy and Texas Instruments. Early marketing strategies featured family educational applications, gaming, the transition from typewriters to word processors and the quantum leap to 24K of memory.
Burgess Meredith does voice-over for Commodore, Ed Grover was the voice of Apple in the 80s and even Bill Cosby pitches for Texas Instruments.
Oh to be able to travel back in time to share the capabilities of the latest and greatest iPhone.
I found this growing in our newer backyard pollinator habitat.
Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), a perennial legume with small, yellow, pea-like flowers. It is known for a sprawling growth habit and is commonly found along roadsides, in meadows, and in waste areas.
It is used as a
forage crop due to its winter hardiness and ability to tolerate poor
soil conditions; nevertheless, as a native to Eurasia and not North America it is a weed or invasive species.
I collected seven harvests of spinach from one of my raised garden beds already. We love fresh spinach. Yesterday I resowed one of the two rows. My second sowing of radishes is poised for picking and last evening we had fresh garden lettuce on grilled burgers. Everything else is coming along nicely.
Anyway, I made a loaded quiche recently with onion, bacon, Gruyère and garden spinach along with a rich egg and cream custard.
While the Door County Baseball League holds itself out as one of America's oldest, continuously operating, amateur baseball leagues it doesn't hold the pole position. It's pretty close, though.
Who is the absolute oldest is a matter of some controversy and dispute as a consequence of amateur vs. semi-pro, reorganizations and continuity.
The Door County league was founded in 1931 and does hold an unbroken record of never missing a season. It survived the Great Depression, managed to continue playing for the duration of World War II and the COVID pandemic. Not many amateur leagues can make that claim.
So, even though it's not the oldest, this year is its 95th season of uninterrupted, small town amateur baseball. Which is a big claim considering the county's population (give or take) has grown from 18,000 people in 1930 to 30,000 people nowadays.
Photo - Kolberg Braves
So if your visiting on a weekend and want to hop in the Mule with us and drive down the road about a mile to Kolberg for some Sunday afternoon baseball there's a good chance you and your sweetie can catch a Kolberg Braves home game. Admission, a couple of beers and a hotdog might set you back $20 (all-in) so it's a bargain by any measure.
Meet the Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), a hardy native perennial.
Frequently found in prairies, butterfly gardens and household flowerbeds this plant loves full sun and is a favorite for pollinators and wildlife habitats. These flowers typically bloom from July through September; consequently, they've got some staying power and you can enjoy them all summer long.
If your experience is anything like mine you've likely got a couple of friends or acquaintances who are particularly aggrieved or otherwise disgruntled. And they make a daily habit of re-posting memes on their Face Book pages reflecting their grievances over Joe Biden, Muslims, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, the Supreme Court or whatever. I can think of four individuals in particular for whom it is a near constant effort. It is a fixation bordering on mania. Some days I wonder if these people have a life beyond bellyaching on social media.
Since
the beginning of this year I have endeavored to be a better person.
Not a saint, just better. I don't have very many grievances and a relatively high tolerance for differing opinions. Speaking if which, I have opinions too; but that's not the
same as full-blown grievance. Sure, I happen to not think very much of Mr. Trump and may post something on that subject once a week or thereabouts; if you think I'm coming-across as manic please let me know. Other people's feigned Face Book outrage is annoying if you let it get under your skin; so it's better to scroll past. Best policy for me is to avoid politics and religion on FB and if I have anything to say on the subject to restrict it to the Blog. Visiting here is purely voluntary and not subject to an algorithm. Read at your own peril.
You won't find much cut and paste here as I place a high value on original thought and factual content. I attempt to keep content on the blog diverse. Anyway, as
a public service and in the interest of spreading positivity on the
interweb here are some very recent trail camera photos from our woods.
This event is a dose of annual joy and always brings a smile to the lips of this old hunter. If you don't like the appearance of spotted fawns you probably need to seek professional help and have your head examined.....
Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis), commonly known as Smooth Penstemon is a native perennial wildflower.
A member of the snapdragon family this showy native to the prairie it features tall spikes of tubular, white flowers. Native Americans and folk-healers
have made use of this plant for medicinal purposes for both people and
animals.
On our pollinator habitat this is the first species to materialize in
large quantities. And there is an abundance of this blooming beauty.
Acres upon acres of the stuff. This flower appears during late spring
or early summer for about a month and then it’s gone.
Long-tongued
bees, including honeybees, bumblebees, miner bees,
butterflies, Sphinx moths, and hummingbirds favor this plant. The name
Beardtongue is a consequence of the hairy reproductive parts found
within the flower.
While differences in gasoline prices across states are driven largely by
transportation costs and taxes, changes in gasoline prices nationwide
are primarily driven by crude oil prices.
Because crude oil is traded in a global market, swings in its price
impact every state similarly. From February to March the average U.S.
gasoline price rose from $2.91 to $3.64 per gallon, with crude oil
accounting for roughly 76% of the increase.
The retail cost (price at the pump) typically lags changes in crude oil
because oil must first be transported (by ship and pipeline), refined,
transported (again) and delivered to retailers, who price fuel based
largely on wholesale replacement costs rather than the spot price of
crude oil.
Consequently, although crude oil price have mostly returned to pre-war
levels, gasoline prices remain elevated but slowly drifting lower.
If tensions in the Middle East continue to ease it is reasonable to expect the price at the pump to continue trending downward.
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