Random randomness

[Holman]

Random thought:

We talk about America's postwar "automobile culture" (which in turn affected the development of highways and cities and especially suburbs, and turned us against public transportation) as a purely cultural turn: Americans wanted freedom and independence and the open road, and industry delivered.

But what if it was the other way around? The Allied nations in WW2 won the war on *engines*. Engines were everywhere: many Axis units were still relying on horses and carts while every American, Brit, Canadian, or ANZAC rode in a truck or a jeep, not to mention the massive number of engines that went into tanks and aircraft and naval vessels and service vehicles.

In 1945, the victorious Allies had established an industrialized civilization that was literally built for putting people on top of motors. We had more motors than we knew what to do with.

It's no wonder we're killing the planet.

[edit: I've had enough grad school to assume that gallons of ink have been spilled on this topic. But it seems like something never discussed outside of the ivory tower.]

[dbt1949]

Sounds like something I would have watched on YouTube. You ought to make one on the subject.

[LordMortis]

People feeding squirrels especially in the neighborhood is just frustrating. If rats were more out in the open and had bushy tails, would you feed them? Let's just go ahead and feed the woodchuck and mice and raccoons and...

[TheMix]

We feed birds. However, we have discovered that birds are incredibly messy eaters. So, yes, we feed squirrels...

[LordMortis]

Here, people actually feed the squirrels with intent of feeding the these destructive little bastards. My closest park is about 1.5 miles away. And yet my yard is not only the plaything for a half dozen well fed squirrels but they bring new peanut shells in nearly every single day. I'm pretty sure they aren't carrying them from the park. My guess is neighboring dog owners (which is nearly everyone) feed them out if their own boredom in life and then let their dogs out, which keeps their yard clear of the pests they encourage. And soon it will be power outage season where the semi monthly power outage "Cause: Animal damage" starts.

[Smoove_B]

People around me put food out for squirrels and birds but end up attracting bears instead. So then the bears invariably cause angst with their proximity and the cries of bear hunt / no bear hunt start to whip up. If people would just stop feeding wildlife I'd bet over half of the bear encounter issues would just disappear. The other half are the people that forget every week that bear exist and just put their garbage out the night before. I hate people. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[hepcat]

Wait...you have bears in Jersey? Do they all work in "sanitation"?

[LordMortis]

People around me put food out for squirrels ...

If I had to choose a rodent or critter to feed, it would be a rabbit, and even then, nope. And I don't even have a garden.

Also, we've slowly been getting feral cats. Maybe they'll catch the squirrels to catch spiders...

[Smoove_B]

Wait...you have bears in Jersey? Do they all work in "sanitation"?

We do. Until people kill them.

[Pyperkub]

People feeding squirrels especially in the neighborhood is just frustrating. If rats were more out in the open and had bushy tails, would you feed them? Let's just go ahead and feed the woodchuck and mice and raccoons and...

In college, I remember feeding squirrels on campus french fries by hand. And the answer to rats with bushy tails is probably yes - cute and cuddly and the appearance of domesticity goes a long way - I even have friends with pet rats.

[TheMix]

I hate people. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

This seems to be begging for Issie's sig.

[Max Peck]

People feeding squirrels especially in the neighborhood is just frustrating. If rats were more out in the open and had bushy tails, would you feed them? Let's just go ahead and feed the woodchuck and mice and raccoons and...

I know of at least one person who does feed raccoons.

[Blackhawk]

...and I know of at least one person who does feed bears.

While we're camping.

[Jaymann]

...and I know of at least one person who does feed bears.

While we're camping.

[hepcat]

That has a VERY different meaning at the LGBTQ resort and campsite my brother runs....

[Blackhawk]

For my own contribution, I feed birds. My bedroom and living room form an L-shape, with the interior being the flat roof of my porch, and each room has a large window looking out on it. I throw a couple of cups of bird food out there every morning, then watch the birds eat from whichever room I happen to be in for the rest of the day.

The neighbor has traditional bird feeders, and the mourning doves used to cluster on the ground beneath it for the dropped seeds (mourning doves are ground feeders, so perch-based feeders don't really work well for them.) They have the feeders in a fairly dense (but nice!) garden, so the ground feeding birds were being killed by cats constantly. Their view was blocked when they were eating, so they couldn't see them coming. That's why I started doing the roof feeding - it's flat enough that ground feeders are right at home, but it's elevated above the cats (the doves are safer), and it has clear lines of sight in all directions, plus a tree blocking part of the view from the sky (which makes the birds feel much more comfortable - they can watch for threats, and are shielded from raptors.)

Net result? Piles of doves every day.

And Pippin (one of my pigeons) loves to hop into the windowsill on the inside and coo at them, informing them that while they may be doves, he's a pigeon, and that the house is his territory.

[Smoove_B]

I hate people. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

This seems to be begging for Issie's sig.

Spoiler:

[gilraen]

That's totally a mug for me.

[Holman]

Fancy Europeans used to keep squirrels as pets. You can find lots of 18th/19th century paintings of little kids with a squirrel on a leash or a small chain.

[Zarathud]

Proof that old Europeans were assholes. Squirrels are mean bastards who ruin everything they touch.

[dbt1949]

And they taste good too.

[Blackhawk]

And they taste good too.

Old Europeans?

[hepcat]

Old European Squirrels. You can spot them by their cravats.

[Blackhawk]

Really? Man, I was really off.

Then what are the ones with the monocles?

[dbt1949]

And they taste good too.

Old Europeans?

Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.

[Kraken]

And they taste good too.

Old Europeans?

Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.

I've only had squirrel once, and I mostly remember having to pick buckshot out of the meat. It probably tasted like sort-of nasty chicken. Rabbit, OTOH, is delicious. I have also eaten crow.

[Blackhawk]

I've had squirrel. I just remember that it was tough and chewy. Rabbit is good. I just had wild boar a few days ago, and have a bunch of hacked up deer corpse in the freezer - deer is common and plentiful around here, and if you know people who hunt, they often provide you with tons of extra. I've eaten all sorts of critters - alligator, buffalo (in great quantities), elk, owl, beaver (minds out of the gutter), a few I don't remember, and a couple I won't mention (no, they're neither domestic nor human.)

[Jaymann]

We ate a snake once. ONCE!

[YellowKing]

My dad hunted when I was growing up so he ate squirrel all the time. I dodged ever having to try that. The only wild game I've had is deer meat, and I didn't particularly care for that.

[Rumpy]

We ate a snake once. ONCE!

That reminds me. As a paleontologist, one of my Uncles went to China to do some research on some dinosaur-related finds. He ended up in a restaurant, and asked for a little snack. He was in shock as the waiter came back with ... a little snake.

[Kraken]

In 10 hours I'll be joining everyone else in the Northeast on the parking lot we call the Mass Pike, because two new real estate listings cropped up in the Berkshires and one of them will surely be sold by Tuesday. When anything desirable crops up at a reasonable price, it sparks a bidding war that's won or lost within days. I mean to win this one, if I can. The property is listed $50k below what it's worth, and they did that specifically to make the sharks frenzy. I will dutifully join the, uh, whatever a school of sharks would be called if there was such a thing as a school of sharks.

Anyway, I'm allowing 5 hours for the usual 2.5-hour drive. That might be optimistic so wish me luck.

[Daehawk]

I will dutifully join the, uh, whatever a school of sharks would be called if there was such a thing as a school of sharks.

A shiver.

[em2nought]

Ground gator nuggets at the St Pete pier was the worst thing I ever tasted. At least the fried ice cream made up for it.

[jztemple2]

[Blackhawk]

Mr. Adams is confused by your offering of a washcloth.

[jztemple2]

Mr. Adams is confused by your offering of a washcloth.

It's Tom Thumb's bath sheet

[dbt1949]

What is a bath sheet?

[Holman]

In 10 hours I'll be joining everyone else in the Northeast on the parking lot we call the Mass Pike, because two new real estate listings cropped up in the Berkshires and one of them will surely be sold by Tuesday. When anything desirable crops up at a reasonable price, it sparks a bidding war that's won or lost within days. I mean to win this one, if I can. The property is listed $50k below what it's worth, and they did that specifically to make the sharks frenzy. I will dutifully join the, uh, whatever a school of sharks would be called if there was such a thing as a school of sharks.

Anyway, I'm allowing 5 hours for the usual 2.5-hour drive. That might be optimistic so wish me luck.

Oof. Good luck!

Also, you're going to need a bigger boat.

[Isgrimnur]

What is a bath sheet?

King-sized towel.

[jztemple2]

HOW FLORIDA IS GETTING ITS PINK BACK

Indeed, in the past nine months, flamingos have appeared throughout Florida in places where they haven’t been seen in decades — sightings scientists hope mark the return of one of the state’s most celebrated symbols.

They’ve been photographed while taking a leisurely swim within eyeshot of office buildings in Tampa Bay, hanging out with pelicans near Sanibel Island and sharing a sandspit with great blue herons just a few miles from Kennedy Space Center.

Kennedy Space Center? Hey, that's near me!