My Very Own CO2, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide

This week was supposed to see the arrival of my steers - that is if I hadn't fallen ill, the rain hadn't socked in, and my fences had magically mended themselves!  Oh well, maybe next week.  Even though the cattle aren't here yet I've already named three of them "CO2", "Methane" and "Nitrous Oxide" after the three worst greenhouse gases (GhG's) - and in honour of a recent study by Dr. Klaus Butterbach-Bahl of the Karlesruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.  I'm sure by now that you've heard the complaints against bovine flatulence (ie. methane) making the GhG problem more acute.  Dr. B-B has now determined that grazed grassland actually produces less nitrous oxide than ungrazed pasture because long grass accumulates snow cover which insulates the microbes that release nitrous oxide.  (So when grass is cut short by animals the ground freezes and the microbes die, ie. I'm supposed to be happy about the freezing temperatures and snow we got out here yesterday!)  Apparently nitrous oxide emissions from temperate grasslands account for up to 1/3 of the total amount produced around the world every year.  In terms of perniciousness, nitrous oxide is the third most important GhG after CO2 and methane.  I guess this makes me an enviro-angel.  Who woulda thunk?  Just doin' my part, Festus.

"Hobson's Choice"

Your humble scribe hadn't heard the phrase "Hobson's Choice" for awhile until the other day in a Wall Street Journal article.  (Germany now has one, as far as bailing out Greece is concerned.  But I digress.)  A Hobson's Choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered.  Because a person may, of course, refuse to take that option, the choice really becomes "take it or leave it".  The phrase is said to have originated with Thomas Hobson (1544-1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England.  To rotate the use of his horses he offered the choice of either taking the horse in the stall nearest the door - or none at all.  Apparently he had some 40 horses - a wide choice - when in fact there was only one choice.  A Hobson's Choice is to be distinguished, gentle reader, from a "Morton's Fork" wherein the choices offered yield equivalent (often undesirable) results - more widely known as a Catch-22.

The Twin Butte General Store

Located halfway between venerable Waterton Lakes National Park and Pincher Creek (the "Jewel of the West") lies the hamlet of Twin Butte, Alberta, population: a couple of dozen lucky souls...and home of the Twin Butte General Store and Mexican Restaurant.  Overlooking the Rocky Mountains just off to the west, patrons can sup outdoors during the summer or head indoors the rest of the year.  The cozy, euphemistically speaking, restaurant/bar is a favorite meeting place of the locals after a long day farmin' or ranchin' or fishin' or huntin'.  The specialities of the house are Mexican dishes, bison burgers and pizza - with salads and all the accoutrements, of course.  The clientele of hippies and cowboys, intellectuals and good 'ole boys, youngsters and oldsters, combined with live entertainment (check their website for the schedule) adds up to an eclectic dining experience if there ever was one.  Nice folks, cold beer, and an interesting store/post office next door (so you can take home a souvenir toque) complete the picture.  Ya'll come by now!

Atheists Are Good People Too

Many people here in the bible belt believe that religious people are inherently "good" and atheists are inherently "bad".  Well, I'm here to tell ya, it ain't so.  (We already know that all religious folks aren't good - pedophile priests and philandering televangelists being prime examples, right?)  But what about those atheists?  If they don't believe in The Big Guy, they must believe in...The Dark Side.  Wow, that's a total swing of the pendulum - let's go back to the center for a moment.  In fact, I've found that not only are atheists not evil, they are often very good people.  They pay their taxes, raise nice families, don't cheat on their wives, volunteer at Boy Scouts, vote in every election, sing their national anthem, keep their yards tidy, pick up after their dogs, and flip a buck to panhandlers just as often as anyone else.  You see, it is not whether a person is "religious"or not, but how we live our lives every day.  Respect for others - including not forcing our particular beliefs down their throats - is paramount.  In other words, atheists just believe in people instead of ... you know.  The Golden Rule is our creed.  So, don't worry that I haven't been "saved".  I'm not evil, so I'm not going to Hell - even if there is one.  I'm not a mass murderer, a pedophile or a cheat - I'm just an atheist.