So, during my daily surf of PhysOrg.com, I came across this article (since the little insert hyperlink thing is malfunctioning the address is : http://www.physorg.com/news131114412.html ) --- actually, I've been looking at it for a couple days, but have only been moved to comment today.

Basically, the gist is, that cows that are allowed to graze as nature intended, produce better milk which is healthier for human consumption.

To this, I would like to throw out a universal DUH.

Come ON, people.

It's not that I'm not glad that Science is actually proving that letting animals live the way they're supposed to live, as far as what we're feeding them is a good thing-- it's just that I'm dumbfounded that we NEED science to tell us so. To me, that kind of information is OBVIOUS. It only makes sense that if you feed cows what they're NATURALLY SUPPOSED TO EAT, that they will be healthier, and as a result, what they produce for our own consumption will be also. It just makes SENSE. It's the same nonsense as the "discovery" that letting cattle graze naturally results in better beef.

DUH.
DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH.

I'm pretty sure I got my point across with all those duhs. I think adding further duhs would be excessive.

Not to compare apples to oranges, but Let me just put it to you this way.
Pigs are naturally fastidious animals. The reason that they're so gross when we raise them, is because we're not giving them the space to be anything else. If you're wondering, pig farming the way its done here, produces all kinds of hazardous waste that then has to be disposed of, not to mention the stink, which makes property values fall like lead balloons. I'm not saying that it would save the world if we let Pigs have a little bit more space to breath, and eat the food that they would normally eat if left to their own devices-- I'm just saying, that no doubt science has already proven that you'll not only have happier, healthier pigs, but you'll also have better pork to eat. And what would this cost the industry? Some land. Actually, it might even save them money in the long run, because they'd have less of a problem with gross waste products, and the expense of proper disposal.

I'm just saying.

Get a clue.

I thought you should know, and that there should be no mistake about it-- I love the Toaster Oven. For someone who is doing a lot of cooking for themselves, and not really a lot of cooking for numbers larger than 2, I think that the Toaster Oven is something one can not live with out. It makes WAY less of a mess than using the oven itself, and on top of that, it uses WAY less energy, and on top of that, IT DOESN'T HEAT THE WHOLE APARTMENT when you run it, which makes it IDEAL for summer use.

All I'm saying, is that no power on this earth will ever separate me from possession of a Toaster Oven in my kitchen, EVER AGAIN. To be frank, I'm not sure I know how I lived all those many years in Sidney without one.

You should also know that I've been reading the archives of Penny Arcade with the obsession of an addict. It's not even the comic strip itself that drives me-- sure it's good, most of the time, when I actually know what they're talking about, being that I'm not a gamer-- but more importantly, it's the NEWS POSTS.

I am quite overcome by "Tycho's" language use. The man writes like a god, and this is just in his BLOG. Most of the time, I'm not even really completely sure what the heck he's going on about, but I can't TEAR MY EYES AWAY.

Someday, I tell myself. Someday I will write as awesomely as he does.
In the meantime, I find myself reminded of someone else, and not sure who the heck it is.

Oh yeah, P.S.
Have you seen this? and did you also look at it as if someone in the house of representatives needs to be kicked in the face for idiocy? Or rather, all 324 members who voted in favor of this stupid bill? I fail to see how this is any kind of helpful solution. Rather, I see it as making the problem bigger.

It may just be me, but the mechanics of one nation suing another escape me. I really don't see how it's at all going to DO anything, except Tick them off.

I would just like to state publicly again, that my husband is the best husband ever, and the most understanding and loving man I have ever, and will ever know.

ADAM FTW!

In spite of the excess sleep I've been getting, today it was really really hard for me to climb up out of dreamworld and into awake. Hopefully tomorrow it won't be as difficult.

I re-read The Rowan and I have to confess to being slightly disappointed by it this time. It's one of my favorite books, but there are some big flaws in it, and the more I read it, the less tolerance I have for it. Bad editing, I think. But I also feel like it's incompletely written. Like it's cobbled together pieces and not completely flowing right. I don't know. It makes me sad, because I love the story so much. I love the story of Rowan and Jeff Raven. I think that they are an amazing and dynamic duo. I just wish... I don't know what I wish.

I'm re-reading Damia today, and hoping it doesn't have the same problems, because if it does, I will be very upset. The beginning of the second book seems to tell a lot of the story that the first book skipped. Maybe that'll make me feel better about The Rowan. Blah.

I feel like I'm all kinds of dim today. Slow and not with it.

Most of the time, in the morning, when I first wake up, it takes me a while before my brain warms up to the point where I'm ready to talk.

That's your interesting factoid of the day.

tagged by missrenee14 (the cruelty! :-P)

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your LJ along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to.

Lisa Loeb- I control the Sun
Barenaked Ladies- It's all been done
Lisa Loeb- Would you Wander
Matchbox 20- Long Day
Train- Meet Virginia
Coldplay- Sparks
Hugh Blumenfeld + Dar Williams- The Kind of Love You Never Recover From

That's in no particular order.

uhm, okay. now I will tag (although if you want to ignore it, feel free--also, I realize I only tagged five. live with it.):
jesse_dylan, eclipsedheart, jayamichan, dadanoska, and scifipoinsettia

All right. I'm so fricken pissed off about this I can't stand it.

So, you've heard me talk about how they're delisting wolves from the protection of the endangered species list. Or maybe you haven't. But here's the thing that REALLY ticks me off about it. Not that they've made a come back, that's awesome. I'm thrilled that we were able to bring them back. We won't be able to do the same for the Tiger, or for other predators that are out there-- but that's another story.

What's really Burning my Toast, is the news that Idaho and Wyoming are ALREADY planning to hunt the wolves-- they're planning to reduce the populations that are in place by 85%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARE YOU STUPID.

So, AWESOME! We brought the wolves back! LETS GO KILL THEM ALL.

You have to understand, that a healthy population is required to bring a species back from the brink. Bottlenecking destroys important genetic differences and mutations that can allow a population to survive natural disasters, things like disease, or loss of prey. They need the genetic variation to help them to adapt to changes in the environment they're living in (global warming, anyone?).

So what's the magic number?
One Thousand.
If a population drops below 1000, bringing them back is a lot more difficult, and even if it's met with success, the genetic variation that will ensure a future for the species in the long term, is pretty much hit or miss, lost.

(You should know, too, that their assessment of recovery for the wolves, is a count of 30 breeding pairs across the rocky mountains. With pack sizes averaging 10 wolves, this is about 300 wolves. What's 15% of 300? Lets give them the benefit of the doubt, and call it 400, since they said they exceeded the number of wolves they needed. Have you done the math? 15% of 400, is 60. Lets say that Wyoming has a third of the wolf population within its borders, and Idaho another third. that's a reduction from 133 wolves, to 20 in two of the zones within which the wolf was previously protected. Montana is the third state involved. Lets say they only hunt, oh, 50% of their wolves down (I'm feeling generous toward Montana at the moment). that's a reduction from 400 wolves, to 106. EVEN considering that this bunch of wolves is a Metapopulation, meaning there are a bunch of other wolves elsewhere, This doesn't bode well for our Rocky Mountain Wolf friends. This metapopulation is completely isolated from other wolf populations. Genetics are important. Maintaining a healthy number of wolves is important to maintain genetic variation and animals that will survive. )

oh yeah, I forgot:
"However, the Act requires us to ensure a species is no longer threatened or endangered not that its viability would be theoretically maximized."

Way to go Federal Government. Lets not make sure the job is done right the first time. Lets just make sure it's good enough for the moment. So that after each state within the protected area culls their wolf populations to nothing, you can RE-invest another 23 million dollars into saving them ALL OVER AGAIN.

So. we already bottlenecked these wolves, an isolated metapopulation. Now we brought them back, and thank god other places haven't utterly destroyed THEIR wolf metapopulations, because we could reintroduce wolves with genetic variation. Now we're going to start killing them off again, and put them back into that same bottleneck. Are we going to be that lucky twice? I guess the Feds are depending upon it.

Say goodbye to genetic variation, my friends, and healthy wolf populations in the future.

One more quote to show the love our federal government has for the continued survival of our wolfy friends:

We determined that a three-State wolf metapopulation that does not fall below 10 breeding pairs and 100 wolves per State in mid-winter is biologically recovered.

Next year, expect to be relisting the Wolves under endangered. They're not going to be recovered for long, when Wyoming and Idaho wipe out 85% of their 100 wolves each.
GO TEAM GO.

I'm totally sitting around waiting for Kara to email me back, even though she is in Japan, and it is the middle of the night there, and she probably will not respond until close to midnight, my time, if then. Probably more like 6 or 7 tonight.

But I'm still sitting here, at 3:20 in the afternoon, hoping that she replies immediately.

Clearly, this is one more excuse to obsessively check my email.

I have plenty of things to say, but I don't know what I want to write.

here.
now.
in my journal.

What is want? And why do we want the things we do? What makes us want?

And why is it, that when we get what we want, sometimes, we still aren't content? It wasn't what we wanted after all?

I want.
I need.
I have.

Then what?

For years, women have been trading sex for investments. Investment in themselves, in their children, in their family, in their security. For years, women have been doing this, and men have been willing to pay out. Apparently, it's a mutual thing. I'm not sure why this surprises anyone, since we do see that kind of behavior in other animals-- think elaborate nest building by males of bird species. Think territory and protection for females of predator species.

Why do we think we're really any different?

Humanity stumbles on this roadblock EVERY time. We think we're special. We don't understand that so much of what we do, how we live, is wired into our makeup. Maybe we're so smart that we don't recognize instinct when it takes over. We're too good at rationalizing when we do things we don't understand. But we're hard wired, just like the rest of the animal kingdom. Why should it be a surprise that we're also hardwired when it comes to why we have sex? Lets see--there's all the selfish reasons, personal survival and making life better... and then there's the big one. The one that encompasses everything, because it allows us to EXIST.

Procreation.

Getting something out of the deal isn't just for penguins anymore.


[For those of you not in the know, this is cross posted from my blogspot blog. I'm trying to turn it into.. you know, an actual blog that says important things. Comments on things that matter. Contributes something other than a monologue on the woes and wiles of my personal life. I think most of you don't know I have one, so maybe it doesn't matter. But I thought I'd let you in on the secret.]