Grab-bag

Two of my children are either in a warm western state or will be flying in that direction in the next 24 hours. I wish them safe travels and productive, renewing time away from their every-day grind.

Hogs

As incredible as it seems, wild hogs are menacing Saskatchewan and some biologists, in all seriousness, suggested importing Siberian Tigers as a method of suppressing their population. The winters of Saskatchewan being on-par with the winters of eastern-Siberia but with less snow depth. Can you imagine Saskatchewan (and North Dakota and Montana and Minnesota) having populations of Siberian Tigers? 

Figure-six traps are one of the mainstays of harvesting feral hogs. The smart money jimmies the trap-door open and feeds the hogs within the trap for a few weeks before activating the trap part of the trap-door. You will rarely catch the smartest, oldest hogs but you will catch the best-eating ones. You are well advised to thoroughly cook the meat!

A decent video link. 

Exercise

I am still working-the-plan: Alternating days on the treadmill and walking 40 minutes with the beautiful Mrs ERJ. Dead-lifting once every three days.

Thaw

We got up to at least 45F today. The snow is disappearing rapidly.

I was able to pry my "transfer cage" out of the ice. It is a dog-crate. God willing, I will pick up a couple of doe rabbits that are California White X New Zealand Blacks and I have need of the transfer cage. While exotic-looking breeds of any species might be "cute", animals that most closely resemble the conformation of their wild progenitors tend to be most resilient in the face of environmental stresses. 

For example, dogs with smashed-in noses (pugs, bulldogs, Boston terriers) have breathing issues, issues with rejecting heat and sometimes issues with natural (non-Csection) births while dogs that more closely resemble Coyotes or Wolves don't.

Breeds of rabbits that are considered "meat rabbits" are not selected for arbitrary, cosmetic traits. Rather, they are selected to be "easy keepers" and to be thrifty in terms of growth/feed.

For the Grammar Nazi

Is a dead Stink Bug most properly referred to as a Stunk Bug?

The wheel turns

What an odd coincidence, a new Administration is sworn in and the first thing they do is that they start poking around, following-the-money.

A month later, (at least) one of the major news networks starts axing staff and payroll as revenue imploded.

Let me suggest that we "zoom out" and look at mass-media in the 1970s, which was before there was any competition from on-line sources.

In the 1970s hosts like Merv Griffin and Art Linkletter invited guests onto his show and he let them do most of the heavy-lifting. He asked questions and then let them sell themselves.

In 2024 the same kind of show has a "panel" of four or five or six "stars" and a supporting cast of affiliate "contributors". They all have their own dressing rooms and make-up artists. They all have their own "writers" pre-digesting the news into factiodal sound-bites. The salaries, not including benefits, for just the talking-heads on The View was almost $19 million in 2022. Only time will tell if this is a sustainable business model in the absence of non-organic, non-grassroots revenue.

It would be very interesting to see the number of square-feet of studio space dedicated to recording the Merv Griffin Show or Art Linkletter and comparing it to the all-in square-footage required for The View of Harris Faulkner.

Chopping at the hamstring in the other leg, there is a very real possibility that advertisements for prescription drugs might be prohibited. That would immediately eliminate about 1/7th the "organic, grass-roots" revenue.

And, in the wings, most people under 50 get most or ALL of their news from on-line sources. How many square-feet do Joe Rogan or Nick Freitas or Joey Swoll use?

Good times are always followed by hard times. Take note and prepare accordingly.