On 12/2/24 6:23 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024 09:02:09 -0800, John Ames wrote:
>
>> Ever since C99 added // comments, I have seen zero reason to bother with
>> C++.
>
> That’s a very peculiar reason to prefer one language over another.
>
> Block/inline comments are handy in languages like C and C++ which don’t
> permit arguments to be specified by keyword. They let you write code like
>
> const bool ok = dbus_connection_set_watch_functions
> (
> /*connection =*/ conn,
> /*add_function =*/ add_watch,
> /*remove_function =*/ remove_watch,
> /*toggled_function =*/ toggle_watch,
> /*data =*/ NULL,
> /*free_data_function =*/ NULL
> );
>
> which helps keep long argument lists just that little bit more
> comprehensible.

Kinda works.

But, frankly I agree with John - barely ANY reason
for C++ ... esp for 'system'-type stuff. I always
stick to good old straight-up 'C'.

"Object" works more naturally with other langs, but
I still don't love it.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024 13:19:38 -0800, John Ames wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 1 Dec 2024 22:11:22 +0100 D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
>>
>>>> I think chickens and turkeys that have have been bred to maximize
>>>> meat spoil the playing field.
>>>
>>> Ahh, ok, yes that makes sense.
>>
>> See also the Red Delicious, the certified 100% *least* delicious apple
>> on the planet throughout *any* of our lifetimes...
>
> Yeah, but they last forever...
>
> https://web.archive.org/web/20180824070017/https:/www.nytimes.com/
> 2000/11/04/us/perfect-apple-pushed-growers-into-debt.html
>
> The Red Delicious almost wiped out the Washington apple industry. They'd
> went all in on the cultivar and when the consumers finally decided the
> apple sucks they were in trouble. Did they learn? Hell, no.
>
> https://www.seriouseats.com/how-honeycrisp-apples-went-from-marvel-to-
> mediocre-8753117
>
> Long story, but they then jumped on Honeycrisps. The apples weren't bred
> to grow in Washington's climate nor were they meant to be a year around
> commodity apple.

I have eaten this apple and I think it is average. What I find, is that
the worse the apple looks on the surface, often, the better it tastes, as
in, if it's from a local grower or a neighbour, it's not going to look
polished and "industrial" but taste much better. Caveat emptor!

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024 21:40:48 +0100, D wrote:
>
>
>> A mink? But they are tiny! Was there anything left after you removed the
>> skin? I saw a mink once in the country side in sweden. He had a death
>> wish and tried to run out in front of my car, but I think he survived.
>
> I had no intention of eating it but after I realized what I had hit I
> wanted to tan the hide and give my girlfriend a mink. This was in the '60s
> before fur became anathema. Mink are in the Mustelidae family which have a

This it not good. I thought about getting a fur collar for my coat only to
provoke woke:ist! ;) I also have a nice MAGA hat that I imported from the
US waiting for me in Sweden, which I will proudly wear when I go to the
super market to see if it can generate some socialist tears. ;)

> common characteristic of anal scent glands. I never skinned a skunk but I
> assume it would be a similar experience. Before DNA analysis, skunks were
> included in the family ultil they were moved to their own.
>
> afaik, there are no skunks in Europe but you're not missing anything.
> There are a pair of skunks that show up here sometimes looking for cat
> food. Cats are smarter than dogs and ignore them and if I go out on the
> deck the skunks politely waddle off.

I saw a skunk once when I was 7 or so (on a trip in the US) and I tried to
pet it, but the skunk had other ideas and walked away. There was no
spraying! ;)

>
>> I also saw a weasel in a huge park close to where I live. He was
>> confused,
>> because he had his winter clothing on, and it happened to be a day in
>> the winter without snow, so easy to spot him.
>
> We have varying hares (snowshoe rabbits) that do the same.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe_hare
>
> One fall I was coming out of the woods on a full moon night when I saw one
> in its white phase sitting on a black rock outcropping. He might as well
> have had a flashing neon sign. I'd seen some cruising owls so I wished him
> the best of luck.
>
> I don't know what triggers the change. I was coming down from a 10,000'
> peak and there wasn't even any snow there yet.

The mysteries of nature. Amount of light or temperature perhaps?
Individual differences to those factors?

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> On 12/2/24 9:02 AM, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 01/12/2024 17:32, D wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, 1 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 30/11/2024 20:54, D wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Sat, 30 Nov 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Well pie it with bacon mushroom and a white wine white sauce. Or curry
>>>>>>> the bugger.
>>>>>>> Or buy a chicken from someone who keeps them around the back yard
>>>>>>> eating worms and stuff. THEY have taste
>>>>>>
>>>>>> After christmas, this is exactly the experiment I am embarking upon.
>>>>>> The wife will buy a chicken from a free range farm, and we'll see how
>>>>>> it compares. My bet is it will be better, but not good enough to get me
>>>>>> to enjoy chicken breast.
>>>>>>
>>>>> I would concur with that. Chicken is cheap protein. Expecting it to be
>>>>> more is nuts. All reptiles - and birds evolved from reptiles - 'tastes
>>>>> like chicken'.
>>>>
>>>> I read that in terms of protein, breeding snakes is the Donald Trump of
>>>> protein when it comes to price! A free business idea for this group could
>>>> be to start a snake breeding farm and sell chicken:ish, protein at very
>>>> good prices!
>>>>
>>>> Then there's also insect protein. I do not know how it compared with
>>>> snake protein.
>>>>
>>> In S Africa Locusts and crickets were known as 'pParkhurst prawns'
>>>
>>> Edible if you wanted.
>>
>> Fascinating to think about that, given the enormous amount of locusts which
>> plague them from time to time. Huge amounts of protein there, just for the
>> taking!
>
>
> Yea ... if you're down with locusts :-)
>
> There IS a vocal segment that basically want to FORCE
> everybody to eat insects almost entirely as "meat".

This is not good. I have nothing against the free and voluntary
consumption of insects. If you're into it, be my guest! I am against
forced consumption. But, given the amount of famine and starving children
in africa, it would be interested to see if something could be done with
the locust swarms to get cheap protein for the people.

If I did not have food, I'd welcome insect food over nothing at all. In
fact I've had grass hopper (deep fried) and it was actually quite good. I
also had scorpion when I went to china once, and it tasted like a crunchy
shrimp.

> Sorry, I like my meat to have had a moo or cluck or
> squeal .......
>
> Oh, avoid deer/moose meat now ... there's a lot of
> something like Mad Cow prion going around. NO cure
> for that. Bear meat - only WELL done as they tend
> to be full of parasites (bear meat isn't that good
> anyway).

In sweden deer/moose is ok at the moment I think (and hope). The only
thing you need to be careful with is boar and if you fish in a plluted
lake. That is, definitely do _not_ eat anything from central stockholm
where for many decades heavy industry poured out its filth into the water.

It's improving, but still not good enough. If you're 30 minutes away by
boat from the center, then you can start to eat an occasional fish or two.

On 02/12/2024 20:37, D wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> On 02/12/2024 14:06, D wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 01/12/2024 18:47, rbowman wrote:
>>>>> On Sun, 1 Dec 2024 11:18:01 +0100, D wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> What was wrong with the goose? I saw a video on youtube where they
>>>>>> cooked swan, and it was quite tough meat.
>>>>>
>>>>> There is a reason a lot of the old folk remedies for chest colds
>>>>> involving
>>>>> smearing goose grease on the victim. After rendering out the grease
>>>>> the
>>>>> meat is dark and scanty relative to the size of the goose, like duck.
>>>>>
>>>> This only applies to domesticated varieties that don't fly much.
>>>>
>>>> Wild goose is lean and the breast is brown, not white to show its
>>>> muscle that gets *used*
>>>>
>>>>> I think chickens and turkeys that have have been bred to maximize meat
>>>>> spoil the playing field.
>>>>
>>>> All domesticated species lose flavour.
>>>>
>>>> I was in sardinia and stopped to see a guy barbecuing something. I
>>>> asked what it was 'wild baby pig'.
>>>> We bought some to eat. It was delicious! I asked 'what herbs did you
>>>> use?' He laughed and pointed to the hillside 'all herb. Pig eat!'
>>>>
>>>> We pay a price for cheap meat.
>>>>
>>>> These days free range pigs abound here in the UK and the pork has
>>>> never been better.
>>>>
>>>> Frankly if I am going to eat meat, I want to eat good meat.
>>>
>>> Ahh... same methodology used when it comes to icelandic lamb. They
>>> roam and eat the herbs on the moutain sides. The best lamb in the world!
>>
>> Well the Welsh would argue with you there.
>>
>> But I would expect Icelandic to be good
>
> Absolutely outstanding. Very difficult to get outside of iceland. Do the
> welsh export a lot of lamb? I would be up for the challenge to compare
> it with icelandic.

Welsh lamb is apparently renowned world wide. It's hard to get even in
the UK

I think France imports most of it. French love their lamb, which is odd,
since it is almost unheard of in Germany.

Wales is hilly, not to say mountainous, and wet as - a very wet thing.
Not as cold as iceland.

--
In todays liberal progressive conflict-free education system, everyone
gets full Marx.

On 02/12/2024 20:38, D wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> On 02/12/2024 14:06, D wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 01/12/2024 20:40, rbowman wrote:
>>>>> On Sun, 1 Dec 2024 10:42:05 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> The only poison in them was lead pellets and you spit those out.
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/toxic-montana-lakes-kills-
>>>>> hundreds-and-maybe-thousands-snow-geese-180961356/
>>>>>
>>>>> You wouldn't want to dine on one of those geese.
>>>>
>>>> I think the fact that they were dead floating on a lake might be a
>>>> clue.
>>>>
>>>> In London a woman was seriously injured by a dead duck falling on
>>>> her head
>>>>
>>>> I was standing by my car one day when a pigeons fell out of the sky.
>>>> It wasn't dead, but when I came back it had died.
>>>>
>>>> One tends to avoid eating such.
>>>>
>>>> Rabbits that are dying from myxomatosis happen in some years, and
>>>> apparently the meat is edible, but not much eats it
>>>>
>>>
>>> What about roadkill? Did you ever try?
>>
>> Not bunnies
>> Eaten pheasant and deer
>>
>> Both V good
>
> I guess the trick is to find fresh roadkill.

Well yes. Technically you should not collect anything you have killed,
but if the car in front hits it, it is, so to speak, 'fair game'...

Pheasant must be what the person who invented the phrase 'bird brained'
had in mind.

They get bred in captivity and released in the autumn to get a bit leery
and them shot around Christmas time, so you get a flood of avian retards
waddling round the roads at this time of year.

Of course they always take off at the last minute and hit the front
grille or valance. Pigeons make it to the windscreen..

I hit one once stopped but couldn't find it. Until 6 weeks later, when I
was cleaning the car...

--
"When one man dies it's a tragedy. When thousands die it's statistics."

Josef Stalin

On 02/12/2024 20:40, D wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024 15:06:56 +0100, D wrote:
>>
>>
>>> What about roadkill? Did you ever try?
>>
>> There is a diner in Utah that caters to truckers. A sign behind the
>> counter says 'You kill it, we grill it'
>
I get the impressions Utah doesn't care much about federal laws and
doesn't have too many state laws.

Nice low population density = no need for too much regulation.

> I also saw a weasel in a huge park close to where I live. He was
> confused, because he had his winter clothing on, and it happened to be a
> day in the winter without snow, so easy to spot him.

Weasel here dont go winter coat. Never enough snow.

Anyone eaten squirrel?

--
Climate Change: Socialism wearing a lab coat.

On 02/12/2024 23:43, John Ames wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Nov 2024 02:41:14 -0500
> "186282@ud0s4.net" <186283@ud0s4.net> wrote:
>
>> Note though ... almost NO compu-geeks these days know ASM.
>
> Very much depends on the communities you hang out in. It's certainly
> nowhere near as ubiquitous as it used to be, but quite a few geeks out
> there at least dabble with it for fun.
>
I have a friend who has to use it to access certain aspects of the
latest processors.

I haven't used in in years...

--
“it should be clear by now to everyone that activist environmentalism
(or environmental activism) is becoming a general ideology about humans,
about their freedom, about the relationship between the individual and
the state, and about the manipulation of people under the guise of a
'noble' idea. It is not an honest pursuit of 'sustainable development,'
a matter of elementary environmental protection, or a search for
rational mechanisms designed to achieve a healthy environment. Yet
things do occur that make you shake your head and remind yourself that
you live neither in Joseph Stalin’s Communist era, nor in the Orwellian
utopia of 1984.”

Vaclav Klaus

On 03/12/2024 04:58, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
> On 12/1/24 4:27 PM, rbowman wrote:
>> On Sun, 1 Dec 2024 04:19:07 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>>
>>>     Well, Apache isn't HORRIBLE. It's also well-refined and
>>>     well-supported. NOT to be sneezed at. Newer stuff is smaller/faster
>>>     ... but what do you lose ?
>>
>> https://dev.to/emiliosp/nodejs-vs-apache-performance-battle-for-the-
>> conquest-of-my-5c4n
>>
>> I haven't noticed that I lost anything using node.js. nginx is also
>> taking
>> market share from Apache.
>
>
>   The alts ARE getting much better. Didn't start out
>   like that however.

I think at least one did. Apache worked but it used memory like no
tomorrow. There was another one, but I cannot remember its name - that
was very compatible but less memory and faster.

Maybe that WAS Nginx

--
“it should be clear by now to everyone that activist environmentalism
(or environmental activism) is becoming a general ideology about humans,
about their freedom, about the relationship between the individual and
the state, and about the manipulation of people under the guise of a
'noble' idea. It is not an honest pursuit of 'sustainable development,'
a matter of elementary environmental protection, or a search for
rational mechanisms designed to achieve a healthy environment. Yet
things do occur that make you shake your head and remind yourself that
you live neither in Joseph Stalin’s Communist era, nor in the Orwellian
utopia of 1984.”

Vaclav Klaus

On 03/12/2024 09:13, D wrote:
> This is not good. I have nothing against the free and voluntary
> consumption of insects. If you're into it, be my guest! I am against
> forced consumption. But, given the amount of famine and starving
> children in africa, it would be interested to see if something could be
> done with the locust swarms to get cheap protein for the people.
>
Basically they are distant cousins of shrimps prawns and lobsters.

> If I did not have food, I'd welcome insect food over nothing at all. In
> fact I've had grass hopper (deep fried) and it was actually quite good.
> I also had scorpion when I went to china once, and it tasted like a
> crunchy shrimp.

Yup. Ive never bothered, but that's what they say.

--
"Corbyn talks about equality, justice, opportunity, health care, peace,
community, compassion, investment, security, housing...."
"What kind of person is not interested in those things?"

"Jeremy Corbyn?"

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 10:45:03 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> I get the impressions Utah doesn't care much about federal laws and
> doesn't have too many state laws.

Utah is an odd state. As you drive down one of the canyons you can look
across and see the rifle pits that were constructed during the Mormon War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_War

My brother lived in Utah for about 20 years. He had his work but his wife
referred to it as 'camping out'. In the '60s and '70s everything revolved
around the LDS church. If you were what they referred to as a 'gentile'
there wasn't much. The author Ed Abbey quipped that only in Utah can a Jew
be a gentile. It's liberalized quite a bit since then but it's still
controlled by the LDS.

> Nice low population density = no need for too much regulation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
List_of_states_and_territories_of_the_United_States_by_population_density

The numbers are somewhat deceiving. The valley along the lake from Ogden
to Provo has about 1.2 million people, greater than the entire population
of Montana.

https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ut/salt-lake-city/crime#description

> Anyone eaten squirrel?

Yes. Tastes like tough chicken.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 10:39:57 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> Pheasant must be what the person who invented the phrase 'bird brained'
> had in mind.
>
> They get bred in captivity and released in the autumn to get a bit leery
> and them shot around Christmas time, so you get a flood of avian retards
> waddling round the roads at this time of year.

I almost hit a low flying one last week. They're pretty rare in this part
of the state and aren't hatchery raised. The turkeys are the real retards.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 10:04:56 +0100, D wrote:

> I have eaten this apple and I think it is average. What I find, is that
> the worse the apple looks on the surface, often, the better it tastes,
> as in, if it's from a local grower or a neighbour, it's not going to
> look polished and "industrial" but taste much better. Caveat emptor!

Sometimes. There is a neighborhood here called 'Orchard Homes' and there
were orchards down the valley. The whole dream fizzled out both because of
the climate and collusion by the railroads to keep them off the market.
What's left is mostly McIntosh and are scrubby looking. The cultivar
always was tart. They show up in the stores in large boxes in season but
most of the output goes to cider.

In town people who have a tree are supposed to harvest them to prevent
attracting bears. The bears are fond of them.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 10:13:58 +0100, D wrote:

> In sweden deer/moose is ok at the moment I think (and hope). The only
> thing you need to be careful with is boar and if you fish in a plluted
> lake. That is, definitely do _not_ eat anything from central stockholm
> where for many decades heavy industry poured out its filth into the
> water.

The fishing sites along the river have signs cautioning people to limit
their consumption to once a month and to not eat the pike at all. The
copper mining operation upstream in the 20th century turned the whole
river into a Superfund site. It's not as concentrated as the Berkeley Pit
water that kills waterfowl but it's not a pure mountain stream.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 10:47:57 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 02/12/2024 23:43, John Ames wrote:
>> On Mon, 25 Nov 2024 02:41:14 -0500 "186282@ud0s4.net"
>> <186283@ud0s4.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Note though ... almost NO compu-geeks these days know ASM.
>>
>> Very much depends on the communities you hang out in. It's certainly
>> nowhere near as ubiquitous as it used to be, but quite a few geeks out
>> there at least dabble with it for fun.
>>
> I have a friend who has to use it to access certain aspects of the
> latest processors.
>
> I haven't used in in years...

The last time I used it was to test if AMD processors had some of the
instructions Intel had implemented. AMD caught up but some of the Athlon
processors didn't have the SSE instructions.

Interesting how things worked out. Intel's CEO quit Sunday rather
unexpectedly. He's out completely. Losing a few billion will do that to
you.

On Mon, 2 Dec 2024 23:58:51 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> On 12/1/24 4:27 PM, rbowman wrote:
>> On Sun, 1 Dec 2024 04:19:07 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>>
>>> Well, Apache isn't HORRIBLE. It's also well-refined and
>>> well-supported. NOT to be sneezed at. Newer stuff is
>>> smaller/faster ... but what do you lose ?
>>
>> https://dev.to/emiliosp/nodejs-vs-apache-performance-battle-for-the-
>> conquest-of-my-5c4n
>>
>> I haven't noticed that I lost anything using node.js. nginx is also
>> taking market share from Apache.
>
>
> The alts ARE getting much better. Didn't start out like that however.

No, but that was then. This is now. Like Windows 10 older technology
doesn't go away peacefully but getting stuck in the past isn't a good
career move, not that it matters to me anymore.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 10:51:48 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> I think at least one did. Apache worked but it used memory like no
> tomorrow. There was another one, but I cannot remember its name - that
> was very compatible but less memory and faster.
>
> Maybe that WAS Nginx

Yes. Nginx was held back a little when it only ran on Linux but now there
are Windows binaries. They can be easily installed as Windows services
using NSSM. (Non-Sucking Service Manager).

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 00:10:24 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> Oh, beware "chicken nuggets" these days, inflation has cause many to
> be more and more adulterated. If it don't have bones, don't

'Mechanically deboned chicken' is on my list of things to avoid. A farmer
attracted a lot of unwelcome attention when he ran some live chickens
through a wood chipper but I think the process is similar if you kill them
first.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 02/12/2024 20:37, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 02/12/2024 14:06, D wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 01/12/2024 18:47, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>> On Sun, 1 Dec 2024 11:18:01 +0100, D wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What was wrong with the goose? I saw a video on youtube where they
>>>>>>> cooked swan, and it was quite tough meat.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There is a reason a lot of the old folk remedies for chest colds
>>>>>> involving
>>>>>> smearing goose grease on the victim. After rendering out the grease the
>>>>>> meat is dark and scanty relative to the size of the goose, like duck.
>>>>>>
>>>>> This only applies to domesticated varieties that don't fly much.
>>>>>
>>>>> Wild goose is lean and the breast is brown, not white to show its muscle
>>>>> that gets *used*
>>>>>
>>>>>> I think chickens and turkeys that have have been bred to maximize meat
>>>>>> spoil the playing field.
>>>>>
>>>>> All domesticated species lose flavour.
>>>>>
>>>>> I was in sardinia and stopped to see a guy barbecuing something. I asked
>>>>> what it was 'wild baby pig'.
>>>>> We bought some to eat. It was delicious! I asked 'what herbs did you
>>>>> use?' He laughed and pointed to the hillside 'all herb. Pig eat!'
>>>>>
>>>>> We pay a price for cheap meat.
>>>>>
>>>>> These days free range pigs abound here in the UK and the pork has never
>>>>> been better.
>>>>>
>>>>> Frankly if I am going to eat meat, I want to eat good meat.
>>>>
>>>> Ahh... same methodology used when it comes to icelandic lamb. They roam
>>>> and eat the herbs on the moutain sides. The best lamb in the world!
>>>
>>> Well the Welsh would argue with you there.
>>>
>>> But I would expect Icelandic to be good
>>
>> Absolutely outstanding. Very difficult to get outside of iceland. Do the
>> welsh export a lot of lamb? I would be up for the challenge to compare it
>> with icelandic.
>
> Welsh lamb is apparently renowned world wide. It's hard to get even in the UK
>
> I think France imports most of it. French love their lamb, which is odd,
> since it is almost unheard of in Germany.
>
> Wales is hilly, not to say mountainous, and wet as - a very wet thing. Not as
> cold as iceland.

I wonder how the herbs differ? If the lamb in wales run around freely on
the mountain sides, I can imagine that there could be similarities!

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 02/12/2024 20:38, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 02/12/2024 14:06, D wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 01/12/2024 20:40, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>> On Sun, 1 Dec 2024 10:42:05 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The only poison in them was lead pellets and you spit those out.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/toxic-montana-lakes-kills-
>>>>>> hundreds-and-maybe-thousands-snow-geese-180961356/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> You wouldn't want to dine on one of those geese.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think the fact that they were dead floating on a lake might be a clue.
>>>>>
>>>>> In London a woman was seriously injured by a dead duck falling on her
>>>>> head
>>>>>
>>>>> I was standing by my car one day when a pigeons fell out of the sky. It
>>>>> wasn't dead, but when I came back it had died.
>>>>>
>>>>> One tends to avoid eating such.
>>>>>
>>>>> Rabbits that are dying from myxomatosis happen in some years, and
>>>>> apparently the meat is edible, but not much eats it
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> What about roadkill? Did you ever try?
>>>
>>> Not bunnies
>>> Eaten pheasant and deer
>>>
>>> Both V good
>>
>> I guess the trick is to find fresh roadkill.
>
> Well yes. Technically you should not collect anything you have killed, but if
> the car in front hits it, it is, so to speak, 'fair game'...

Touché!

> Pheasant must be what the person who invented the phrase 'bird brained' had
> in mind.
>
> They get bred in captivity and released in the autumn to get a bit leery and
> them shot around Christmas time, so you get a flood of avian retards waddling
> round the roads at this time of year.

This is the truth! They were bred in captivity close to my country side
house, and one day either the farm closed, the birds escaped, or both. So
now there are "wild" pheasants running around there from time to time. I
have thought about getting out the old longbow, since they are not shy at
all. Maybe a project for next summer!

> Of course they always take off at the last minute and hit the front grille or
> valance. Pigeons make it to the windscreen..
>
> I hit one once stopped but couldn't find it. Until 6 weeks later, when I was
> cleaning the car...

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 02/12/2024 20:40, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024 15:06:56 +0100, D wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> What about roadkill? Did you ever try?
>>>
>>> There is a diner in Utah that caters to truckers. A sign behind the
>>> counter says 'You kill it, we grill it'
>>
> I get the impressions Utah doesn't care much about federal laws and doesn't
> have too many state laws.
>
> Nice low population density = no need for too much regulation.
>
>
>> I also saw a weasel in a huge park close to where I live. He was confused,
>> because he had his winter clothing on, and it happened to be a day in the
>> winter without snow, so easy to spot him.
>
> Weasel here dont go winter coat. Never enough snow.
>
> Anyone eaten squirrel?

No, I would imagine that it might taste similar to guinea pig?

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 10:45:03 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> I get the impressions Utah doesn't care much about federal laws and
>> doesn't have too many state laws.
>
> Utah is an odd state. As you drive down one of the canyons you can look
> across and see the rifle pits that were constructed during the Mormon War.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_War
>
> My brother lived in Utah for about 20 years. He had his work but his wife
> referred to it as 'camping out'. In the '60s and '70s everything revolved
> around the LDS church. If you were what they referred to as a 'gentile'
> there wasn't much. The author Ed Abbey quipped that only in Utah can a Jew
> be a gentile. It's liberalized quite a bit since then but it's still
> controlled by the LDS.

Was he able to have many women when he lived there? ;)

>> Nice low population density = no need for too much regulation.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
> List_of_states_and_territories_of_the_United_States_by_population_density
>
> The numbers are somewhat deceiving. The valley along the lake from Ogden
> to Provo has about 1.2 million people, greater than the entire population
> of Montana.
>
> https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ut/salt-lake-city/crime#description
>
>
>> Anyone eaten squirrel?
>
> Yes. Tastes like tough chicken.

If you catch one, make sure you save the tail hair. Apparently, according
to the wife, that's what is used for very high quality paint brushes!

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 10:04:56 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> I have eaten this apple and I think it is average. What I find, is that
>> the worse the apple looks on the surface, often, the better it tastes,
>> as in, if it's from a local grower or a neighbour, it's not going to
>> look polished and "industrial" but taste much better. Caveat emptor!
>
> Sometimes. There is a neighborhood here called 'Orchard Homes' and there
> were orchards down the valley. The whole dream fizzled out both because of
> the climate and collusion by the railroads to keep them off the market.
> What's left is mostly McIntosh and are scrubby looking. The cultivar
> always was tart. They show up in the stores in large boxes in season but
> most of the output goes to cider.

A cider... the drink of the gods! But it has to be dry cider. I can't
stand the sugar filled versions.

> In town people who have a tree are supposed to harvest them to prevent
> attracting bears. The bears are fond of them.
>

I had a meeting with the US office of a customer of mine this monday, and
apparently a bear came to visit them for thanks giving in Lake tahoe. It
was not aggressive and after some souting and jumping up and down, it
walked away.

But they are smart! Apparently they have learned how to open the garage
door.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Dec 2024 10:13:58 +0100, D wrote:
>
>> In sweden deer/moose is ok at the moment I think (and hope). The only
>> thing you need to be careful with is boar and if you fish in a plluted
>> lake. That is, definitely do _not_ eat anything from central stockholm
>> where for many decades heavy industry poured out its filth into the
>> water.
>
> The fishing sites along the river have signs cautioning people to limit
> their consumption to once a month and to not eat the pike at all. The
> copper mining operation upstream in the 20th century turned the whole
> river into a Superfund site. It's not as concentrated as the Berkeley Pit
> water that kills waterfowl but it's not a pure mountain stream.
>

Sounds like a similar situation. Have there ever been initiatives to try
and clean it up?

On 03/12/2024 20:16, D wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, 3 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> On 02/12/2024 20:37, D wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 02/12/2024 14:06, D wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, 2 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 01/12/2024 18:47, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>>> On Sun, 1 Dec 2024 11:18:01 +0100, D wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> What was wrong with the goose? I saw a video on youtube where they
>>>>>>>> cooked swan, and it was quite tough meat.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> There is a reason a lot of the old folk remedies for chest colds
>>>>>>> involving
>>>>>>> smearing goose grease on the victim. After rendering out the
>>>>>>> grease the
>>>>>>> meat is dark and scanty relative to the size of the goose, like
>>>>>>> duck.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> This only applies to domesticated varieties that don't fly much.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Wild goose is lean and the breast is brown, not white to show its
>>>>>> muscle that gets *used*
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I think chickens and turkeys that have have been bred to maximize
>>>>>>> meat
>>>>>>> spoil the playing field.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> All domesticated species lose flavour.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I was in sardinia and stopped to see a guy barbecuing something. I
>>>>>> asked what it was 'wild baby pig'.
>>>>>> We bought some to eat. It was delicious! I asked 'what herbs did
>>>>>> you use?' He laughed and pointed to the hillside 'all herb. Pig eat!'
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We pay a price for cheap meat.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> These days free range pigs abound here in the UK and the pork has
>>>>>> never been better.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Frankly if I am going to eat meat, I want to eat good meat.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ahh... same methodology used when it comes to icelandic lamb. They
>>>>> roam and eat the herbs on the moutain sides. The best lamb in the
>>>>> world!
>>>>
>>>> Well the Welsh would argue with you there.
>>>>
>>>> But I would expect Icelandic to be good
>>>
>>> Absolutely outstanding. Very difficult to get outside of iceland. Do
>>> the welsh export a lot of lamb? I would be up for the challenge to
>>> compare it with icelandic.
>>
>> Welsh lamb is apparently renowned world wide. It's hard to get even in
>> the UK
>>
>> I think France imports most of it. French love their lamb, which is
>> odd, since it is almost unheard of in Germany.
>>
>> Wales is hilly, not to say mountainous, and wet as - a very wet thing.
>> Not as cold as iceland.
>
> I wonder how the herbs differ? If the lamb in wales run around freely on
> the mountain sides, I can imagine that there could be similarities!

Not much on a welsh hillside sadly.

I cant think of any herbs I found when clambering over the hills. Found
a force landed helicopter though once.

I was nice up there., You could look DOWN on the jets doing subsonic
passes up the valleys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gQz-5HclDo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT7qrYi8R_M

That's all lamb country on the hills.
To steep for crops.

--
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the
other is to refuse to believe what is true.”

—Soren Kierkegaard