Michigan Democrats introduced a bill into committee to "find" funds to pay for exactly one month's worth of the Federal SNAP benefits.
Michigan receives about $800 million from the Feds for various food-security programs. The committee in Michigan's Senate (controlled by Democrats at this point) introduced a bill allocating $70 million. They promptly announced the effort to the press. The bill must pass out of committee. Then it must pass the full Senate. It must be passed by the Michigan House (narrowly controlled by the Republicans at this time). Then it must be signed into law by Governor Whitmer (a Democrat).
Cynically, this might be more about trying to control the damage to the Democratic brand than it is about helping hungry people. It will be a miracle if the bill is signed into law before Christmas.
Beet leaves
The video in the recent post on the Ukrainian women prominently featured the leaves of sugar beets.
The woman picked the older, lower, shaded leaves from the beet plants and ground them up along with various weeds for animal fodder.
Beet leaves are rich in oxalic acid at 800mg/100 grams wet-weight. Swiss Chard (botanically the same plant) have been selected for lower oxalic acid levels and have about 350mg/100g wet-weight. Spinach, rhubarb, sorrel (Rumex) and amaranth greens have even more oxalic acid than beets with up to 1300mg/100g wet-weight.
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| 80% of kidney stones are composed of calcium oxalate that crystalizes in the kidneys. Unlike some kidney stones, CO stones are sharp and jagged, like the barbs on a fish hook. |
Greens from sugar beets, which are not selected to be low in oxalic acid, are probably best fed to chickens and sheep.
Africa being Africa (revisited)
The conflict between pastoral people and agricultural people is older than history. If you think about it, it was the canvas that the story of Cain and Abel was painted on. The farmer puts his fields in the best-watered meadows and then resents when the shepherd or camel-herder drives his flock over the crop to get to the water. Homicide results.
Throw in Africa's population over-shoot and "bore-wells" which can lower the water table enough so that surface water disappears. The pastoral people depend on surface water for their animals.
Antifa going free-agent
Eric Hoffer wrote a book titled The True Believer back in the early 1950s. In it, he explained how NAZI zealots were able to flip from being rabid Fascists to rabid Communists without missing a beat.
If men are primarily motivated by the quest for "respect" and women crave "belonging", then both can find meaning in joining an organization that promises them a place in the vanguard of history.
Key points: The organization has to present as being unstoppable (like The 1000 Year Reich or Marx claiming Capitalism must inevitably collapse due to its internal contradictions). It has to protect its members. It has to promise that the early-adaptors will have elevated, responsible/respected positions in the future.
If you look at how modern culture raises our children, especially our boys, you have to admit that most of them feel rejected, disrespected and sentenced to a life in the Aisle-of-Misfit-Toys. Antifa as the thuggish arm of the "Progressive" (progressive sounds inevitable, right) movement offered the Misfit-Toys everything Hoffer identified as critical for attracting mindless zealots. Acceptance in return for absolute loyalty and a license to inflict respect/fear from those they saw as their tormentors.
And now the pendulum is swinging the other way. The problem isn't Trump and his rhetoric. It is that the Progressives created and legitimized another generation of Brownshirts. They alienated the boys ---3/4 of the kids in Special Ed are boys---. They set up an aristocracy based on exclusive mean-girl clubs.
Traffic counts
One of the comments suggested that I use two cameras to get a more accurate count.
That is a good suggestion but the 100-to-150 per day is accurate enough to satisfy my curiosity.
Yesterday
I cut down a Black Locust tree and bucked it into 15" lengths. Today will be moving it and starting to split it.
I also have a lunch date with my siblings.
Sounds like a busy day was had. You sure do make hay while the sun still shines.
ReplyDeleteProverbs 21 springs to mind as the EBT Chicken and Blame game continues.
ReplyDelete…19Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife. 20Precious treasures and oil are in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man consumes them. 21He who pursues righteousness and loving devotion finds life, righteousness, and honor.…
And the timeline of a violent home invasion is measured in seconds from bang the door open to violence. I'd personally not keep the tools unloaded and locked up myself. But then again EMS sees the results sometimes monthly around my peaceful rural area.
I did some research about veggies high in calcium oxalate and how well the folks living in areas they are common in diet. Seems some evidence that fermentation (think sauerkraut-kimchee) and a diet with high dairy consumption (yogurt, fish WITH Bones cooked into mash) keeps kidney stones a mostly western problem.
ReplyDeleteRates are rising in Asia and Eastern Europe as more western eating habits have been adopted. As is obesity, oddly enough.
Oxalic acid is soluble and gets into the blood-stream when consumed. It combines with calcium ions in the bladder. When combined as calcium oxalate, it is virtually insoluble.
DeleteSome vegetables are high in calcium oxalate and those don't seem to be the issue. It is the ones that are high in oxalic acid.
To me, that suggests that staggered consumption (high oxalic acid in one meal and high calcium in the next) might be a player.
Oxalic acid is also lethal to rabbits in even small portions, thus greens high in them should not be fed to them (typically spinach, but others as noted above).
ReplyDelete