Boondocks No. 52

Monday, January 14, 2008

Deer, There Habitat, and the Race for Survival. The Times Union today has an fascinating article about the eating habits of deer and how they struggle every year to survive the cold winters, by building up sufficient body fat.

It's kind of amazing how far humans have advanced in contrast. We can get fresh green vegetables at the supermarket any time of the year for relatively cheap prices. You just go on the shelf, and reach for the latest fresh or packaged product from the industrial system of agriculture, that will ship food world wide so you can get it whenever. P'Link

What We Learned from the Detroit Autoshow. The Chrysler CEO has a real thing for long-horned cattle running through the streets of Detroit.

And no, while the Texas Long-horns where cool the new Dodge Ram was pretty ugly, not that automakers have ever been known to make their cars prettier but different.

We also learned that Detroit has a long ways to go to reach efficiency standards mandated by Congress and has done little in going in that way.

It also looks like Toyota's aged Prisus Platform will finally get a remake in 2010 with an option of a plug-in Prisus. Unfortunately, it looks like the steel and design won't be changing much more or that there will be much in the way of innovation.

It's too bad Congress is not doing more to push the Prisus to become more efficent. While most cars have gotten more efficient in recent years, the Prisus has only stayed the same or declined in efficiency if you consider the new EPA numbers.

And still there is a shortage of Prisuses. P'Link

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

New York Times On the Next Generation Pickup Trucks. They have an interesting video on their website about where the pickup truck industry is going while facing high gas prices, and difficult times world wide.

It's definately an interesting watch, though lacking much evidence that Detroit can come up with much in the ways of change except slight styling differences, and the same ol' tired chasis. The upside is that many of the new models are about 5-10% more efficent then older models when it comes to fuel efficency, and have some other neat new features. P'Link

FDA Gives Greenlight to Cloned Milk and Beef. Today after much study and tough activist opposition, it seems as though the FDA says that meat and milk from cloned cattle is safe.

It makes sense as we do something similar already with selective breeding with cattle. We just now have the ability to pick genetics we like and not have to worry so much to deal with the difficulties of dominant versus recessive traits.

And much like with traditional breeding techniques, it is possible to end up with an animal that will be too big or have other defects that make it impossible for the calf to be born normally. But none of this is much different then traditional breeding—there is always a risk of miscarriage and cross-breading that produces bad results.

I look forward to see what kind of new breeds will come out of cloned cattle. There are some exciting new possibilities, including the ability to make healthier and stronger animals, ones far more diverse then we've ever done in the past. There could be less use of antibiotics and need for other traditional chemicals that harm our environment. P'Link

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Georgia Considering Loosening Some Firearm Restrictions. While I don't normally blog about Georgia politics here, the Georgia State Senate is working on a compromise that would allow some employees to have firearms in cars parked at business even if the businesses don't want to allow them.

This is an important story as it's gotten some of the liberal media in other states with their bias against what one state is trying to do in protecting important constitutional rights.

It looks like to overcome private property concerns and constitutional challenges, it would only apply to parking lots that are part of a public accommodation and not private parking lots or garages. But it's a new protection to gun owners that hasn't yet been tried in other areas.

This is what actually is being proposed, contrary to what some of the left-wing media is claiming:

The committee's vote moved the Senate closer to allowing employees a right to keep a gun in their cars at work, but in a very limited fashion that would have no effect on employers who want to ban all guns on their premises.

The original Senate Bill 43 would have barred employers from searching cars in their parking lots, or preventing employees from bringing guns to work. The version now under consideration would affect only a few people, if any.

The current language applies only to employers that have a publicly accessible parking lot, such as a retail store. It would bar the employer from requiring, as a condition of hiring, that an employee promise not to keep a gun in their car at work. And that narrow ban applies only to employees who have a Georgia firearms license, which allows concealed carrying of a handgun.

The bill also bans employers from searching cars without the owners' permission, but employers with a private parking lot, not open to the general public, are exempt from both provisions.

"Any private property owner can ban all weapons at all times," said the author of the committee substitute bill, Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock.

State business groups expressed some remaining reservations, but they said they appreciated the bill's new language, which explicitly placed private property rights over Second Amendment rights.

They are also looking to allow people to have concealed firearms in their cars without a special permit, and to make it a felony for people to do a straw purchase to avoid a background check, as was being done by some of Bloomberg's prevaricators working for the New York City police department, trying to sue gun dealers in Georgia.

It's really interesting when we get the real facts of the issue, and not how some like to spin issues in the media. P'Link

A Few More Thoughts on Cloning Cattle. I still have a real difficult time seeing the ethical issues with cloning animals, and developing superior cattle, much like man has been doing for thousands of years.

Not many people have Texas Longhorns and similar breeds of cattle these days. Polled cattle with out horns is pretty much the norm now, made by breeding two cows with recessive polled genes, as it saves the necessity of dehorning (do you want to deal with a bull with horns ?!

Cloning is just a more controlled process.

One concern some of the critics may have is what legally happens when a cloned cattle is bred? Does the cloning company or the breeder who cloned have some kind of legal right to that cattle or it's unique characteristics?

My guess is no—as this is different Genetically Modified Organisms or GMOs that we are seeing increasingly in the plant world such as GMO corn or GMO soybeans, that enhance existing plants by technology.

I suspect the existing system with cattle will be followed with clones. We will see new registered breeds with papers to prove that you have a certain characteristic derived from a cloned process. Those cattle with have a higher price at auction, but those who don't have papers will be available just at a reduced price without the guaranteed benefits that come with being registered.

I hope that Luddites and those who don't believe in science don't stop this exciting development in breeding, now that we know this is safe. Remember, it's these people who don't want to embrace change and experiment, are the same ones that are denying the danger of global warming and the possibility of trying new renewable sources of energy. P'Link

Friday, January 18, 2008

Pennsylvania Reverses Decision on Prosilac Labeling. It looks like that state will be allowing processors to advertise non-Prosilac using farms as the source of their milk, as some consumers are worried about the health effects of rBST or bovine growth hormone.

As I've previous mentioned, the economics of prosilac are questionable as best. Not only are consumers leery about the product, the benefit of prosilac—slightly longer lactation periods is often outweighed by the disadvantage of a higher risk of mastitis in cows and the high price of Prosilac and the labor required to inject it.

Things may change in a few more years when the Montesanto's Prosilac patent runs out and it becomes cheaper. By then, it's quite possible that public fears of the injected hormone will have been quieted. But right now, Prosilac is largely failing out of favor.

Prosilac has a really putry website if you want to know more about this dairy hormone.

At any rate, if people want to label the use or lack there of Prosilac in their milk supply, then so be it. Such a system provides consumers with choice, even if the difference isn't as great as a choice of conventional dairy versus pasture-based dairy. P'Link