Fuel Flop

Here is a great video on blatant flip-flopping on high gas prices.  Where is the media on this?  Complicit? 

I have an idea; for every social, economic, and political challenge, let's all chant together, "Four legs good, two legs bad!"  (substitute Democrat for "four legs" and Republican for "two legs.")  Remember, the best way to overcome the resistance of common sense is to introduce a common enemy.

Sundance Live - 03/31/2012

Sundance playing in Bay St. Louis on Saturday.  The quality could be better...sorry.

The U.S. is #1

This is an interesting little ditty by The Washington Examiner:

We’re No. 1: In highest corporate taxes

Quote:

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, has also been pressing for action on the tax rate. “Even Russia, at 20 percent, and China, at 25 percent, have lower rates than America does. The difference in tax rates means American companies are trying to compete with one hand tied behind their backs,” he said.

Now, I am not one to point the finger at any particular political party on this issue; I don't want to debate how this came about.  On the other hand, I often repeat this in discussions with people when discussing "corporate taxes," - CORPORATIONS DO NOT PAY TAXES.

I know what you are saying, "What?!!! What a dolt!!!  Of course they pay taxes - the article states they are paying more taxes than in any other nation."

But, I repeat, CORPORATIONS DO NOT PAY TAXES.  The focus on the source of funds is completely skewed - and with good reason.  If the Government can convince you that it is good to make these evil examples of capitalism pay their "fair share," then they don't have to reveal what pea the shell is under.

The truth of the matter, which should seem painfully obvious, is that it is not this independent entity that pays taxes, it is every citizen, business, and/or municipality that buys goods and/or services from the corporation that pays taxes.  Every tax on a corporation is reflected in the price of the good or service that is produced.

What the politicians don't want you to realize is that when they raise taxes on corporations (sometimes at the behest of the people) they are actually raising the prices of the goods sold and/or reducing outlays in dividends, R&D, hiring new employees, expanding operations, etc. 

Let's go to the man on the street:

Unassuming little guy: "Yeah!  Get those evil oil corporations for 'raking in the profits' like they do - that is not even fair."
Media talking head: "And this week in the news, gas prices up again."
Unassuming little guy: "What the... how come it costs so much to fill the tank?"

No, I am not suggesting that rising gas prices are only because of hiking taxes; it is just an analogy (don't get your undies in a wad).  The point is that companies exist to make money.  When their taxes go up, that impacts their bottom line and they raise prices for goods and services sold to account for the cost of doing business.

Bottom line: CORPORATIONS DO NOT PAY TAXES; PEOPLE PAY TAXES.  So, get mad!  Because, when they talk about taxing corporations, they are really talking about raising taxes on you!

Day 12: Squash and Bell Peppers

Not much to report other than the Green Bell Peppers and the Crookneck Squash are doing great!

Green bell pepper (the big one on the right); you can see how large it has grown in the last few days.  As a comparsion, the bell cyphon is 3" in diameter.

The crookneck squash: I'm real proud of this guy - currently about 4 times the size when I first planted it (12 days).

Aquaponics Planting Density

Some of the advantages to utilizing aquaponics as a main or alternative method of gardening are:

• Mobility: depending on how one chooses to design it, the system can maintain mobility (you can move it or take it with you if you relocate - try that with a traditional dirt garden/farm)
• Water Usage: depending on the climate that you are in, aquaponics tends to use about 10% of the normal water used in a traditional dirt garden; the water is recycled through the system and is only lost through evaporation and what the plants consume, unless you spring a leak
• Virtually Weedless: yes, it is possible to have a rogue weed get in your grow medium, but the entire problem is virtually eradicated; if one does show up, it doesn't require the same effort to get it out
• Density: because you are eliminating the plant's need to "find" nutrients through its root system, the plant spends its energy producing fruit rather than looking for food; hence, you can pack your garden more densely than you can in a traditional dirt garden

Cabbages growing at about 12" apart.

It is recommended that these cabbages grow at 24" apart, but 12" will do fine (it could probably be even closer).  You want to allow the plant to grow its leaves and fruit without impeding another plant, but the root issue is eliminated.

By the way, my squash growth is exploding!  I will put up more pics this weekend.

Sundance - The Band

My kids prepping for their first gig.

Aquaponics: Day 7

Current Progress

After some additional reading, I realized that I jumped the gun on our trial-run aquaponics system.  Though there are varying opinions on the subject of 'System Cycling,' the preponderance of evidence by those that appear to maintain success in their systems shows that system cycling should take between 3-6 weeks.  This means that the aquaponics system is not in balance (microbes converting ammonia to nitrites and then nitrates) until about the 4 week mark.

There are things that can be done to expedite the process, like:

• Adding pure ammonia to the system; don't add fish yet - high levels of ammonia will kill them very quickly.  This will encourage the natural airborne microbes to flourish in the ammonia rich environment and begin producing the nitrites and nitrates for the system.
• Obtain established microbial cultures from: 
• local ponds; I have seen suggestions to use a bucket of pond water or take a few stones from the pond; this would have the microbes present.  The down side is that you also get things in the water that you may not want in your system.
• other cycled aquaponics systems; a handful of medium or water
• filters from fish tanks; the filters will have the microbes, however they may also have any lingering fish disease - make sure the tank is healthy

However, we did not do that.  I guess I was a little impatient and wanted to get it going; the next time I will wait.  But, so far so good - though, it could probably be better.

Here are some Day 7 pics:

You can see the green bell peppers in the upper right are really coming up strong.  However, the tomato sprigs are there, but not jumping up either.

Our cabbage looks decent, but they took a beating from a very heavy Mississippi rain.  The cucumbers are looking pretty good.

 So, comparing the cucumbers (above pic, in the middle section next to the white bell cyphon) and the cucumbers growing in our traditional potting soil mix, it is obvious that the potting soil mix is doing a little better.  Currently, I attribute this to two things:

1. My aquaponics system has not fully cycled yet (not enough nitrate production)
2. The potting soil mix comes from a friend of mine that has a master's in biology and agriculture (or something along those lines); who knows what illicit super-charged grow juice he put in that stuff

Cucumbers are jumping!

Strawberries are looking great; yes, that is another bell pepper in the middle.

Death in the Family

Unfortunately, right in the middle of feeding on Sunday, one of our goldfish gave up the ghost.  It was like nothing that I have ever seen before; swimming happily, he came up for a bit of dinner, he went stiff and then floated.  It was like he had a heart attack or something.  In any case, I was glad I was there to pull him from the water so as to avoid any other problems with the other fish.  They seemed a little disoriented at first, which is understandable.  But, they soon moved past mourning and went right on eating.  Happy fish!

Happy Fish!