home

Saturday Afternoon Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 02:27:03 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

The war on terror is predominating the news. I suspect it will for the next several weeks.

For those not watching football or following Yemen, Somalia and the latest related developments, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

< Obama Directly Blames AQAP in Yemen For Detroit Attack | AQAP and Terrorism Related Events in Yemen and Saudi Arabia >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Saturday Afternoon Open Thread | 22 comments (22 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

    Firewood-- Having a wonderful time (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 08:01:01 PM EST
    discussing the properties of various kinds of firewood on Hearth.com.  The few of you posters here who ever burn wood for heat should for sure go over there.  What an incredible wealth of experience and knowledge in the posters there about all aspects of wood-burning.

    Those of you who don't burn wood for heat owe it to yourselves to at least look into it.  Modern "EPA" stoves burn cleanly and use much less wood than the older "smoke dragons."  It's VASTLY cheaper to heat your home than fuel oil, and a much, much nicer, softer kind of heat, as well.

    I've become a total convert in the three years since I moved here and started doing it.  I spend at least a couple thousand bucks a year less on heat, plus the huge joy of loading up the stove with wood I split and hauled around myself, rather than just bumping up a thermostat when I get chilly.

    Not to mention the physical exercise involved isn't onerous, but certainly makes paying good $$ for a gym membership totally unnecessary.

    Thanks for the link! (none / 0) (#7)
    by nycstray on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 08:23:23 PM EST
    I won't be on the mountain right away, but more than likely will have the ability to burn wood before then :)

    Parent
    Once you get into burning (none / 0) (#13)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 09:49:36 PM EST
    this site is totally invaluable.  There's nothing else like it on the Net for stove and wood-burning issues.  The guys there coached me through my first couple years of burning.  Without them, I'd have been lost.

    Look for gyrfalcon when you get there.  I'm now experienced enough I get to give advice to other folks sometimes!

    Parent

    We had some significant wind on (none / 0) (#9)
    by Anne on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 08:50:24 PM EST
    Tuesday, and one of our big hickory trees came down - fortunately, away from the house!  

    Turns out that at the bottom of the tree, there had been an infestation of ants - maybe termites?  In any event, the rest of the tree is healthy, and looks to be able to give us about four cords of wood - maybe more.  My husband and our daughter's boyfriend have their work cut out for them!

    It's wicked windy again tonight - makes me nervous for the trees close to the house!

    Parent

    4 cords... (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 10:28:50 PM EST
    ...out of one hickory tree?  You should call someone.  That's got to be a World Record.  

    Parent
    I've been informed that it might be closer (none / 0) (#16)
    by Anne on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 10:34:19 PM EST
    to two and a half...it was a big tree.

    Parent
    Since a cord is... (none / 0) (#17)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 10:58:35 PM EST
    128 cubic feet (usually measured as 4'X 4'X 8') and weighs a two tons, it would have to be whopper.  

    320 cf is a lot of tree.

    Parent

    We've been here for 26 years, and (none / 0) (#19)
    by Anne on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 11:33:11 PM EST
    the tree was here long before we were (we have almost 6 acres); it's a big tree.

    Parent
    Major envy (none / 0) (#12)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 09:47:14 PM EST
    Four cords of hickory-- I would kill for that.  One of the best woods there is for burning.  Though tough to split, so I hope your hubby and daughter's guy have access to a splitter.  I would not want to try to split that stuff by hand.

    Older trees close to the house-- not good.  Mine are all fairly young sugar maples, so pretty darn sturdy.

    You might want to get a tree guy out to talk about thinning yours out a bit.  If you take out the most heavily burdened limbs and thin out the canopy, you won't have to take the whole tree down to be safe.

    Parent

    I wouldn't want to split it by hand, either, (none / 0) (#15)
    by Anne on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 10:29:29 PM EST
    but daughter's boyfriend LOVES doing it...he grew up on a farm, and has really missed this kind of thing...

    Parent
    We took a hickory out when we first got (none / 0) (#22)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 03, 2010 at 10:40:50 AM EST
    here and my husband thought he would split it later, not knowing that it was hickory and that seasoned hickory is like iron.  It was never split.  It has been burned in huge chunks in our makeshift firepit by the lakeshore.

    Parent
    01/02/2010 (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 08:23:47 PM EST
    Happy Palindrome Day.

    I bought an SLR camera (5.00 / 2) (#18)
    by TeresaInSnow2 on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 11:08:40 PM EST
    sure that I wouldn't like it and would return it  (bought at Costco).

    OMG, I am hooked.  Now I've got a big list of lenses I want for wide-angle, macro, etc.  It will take years to afford them all.  Meanwhile I'll have fun trying to get things like pro-quality zoom with a 70-300mm and a 2x teleconverter, etc.  It really is more entertaining when you can't go out and get exactly what you want and have to improvise.

    This is really too expensive a hobby for me, but I figure memories are priceless.  I can do worse.

    17 degrees below zero air temp 9:00 am (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by DFLer on Sun Jan 03, 2010 at 09:03:08 AM EST
    aarrgghh!

    Has (none / 0) (#1)
    by lentinel on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 03:34:56 PM EST
    the left adopted Bush's phrase, "war on terror"?

    Time for people to look ... (none / 0) (#2)
    by Robot Porter on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 03:58:58 PM EST
    at the excellent BBC documentary "The Power of Nightmares" ... again!

    Parent
    Jeralyn, BTD, Have you posted your thoughts on (none / 0) (#3)
    by leap on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 04:45:07 PM EST
    the dropped charges against the Blackwater five?

    I haven't (none / 0) (#10)
    by Jeralyn on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 09:20:28 PM EST
    followed it at all, sorry.

    Parent
    Movie Recommendation: Precious (none / 0) (#4)
    by samtaylor2 on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 06:15:42 PM EST
    This movie was simply amazing.  The story is amazing. The messages are important to see. The acting is hands down the best I have seen this year.  Monique is guaranteed (or should) to win for best supporting actress this year.  I recommend you go see it with a friend you want to have a long emotional (in a good way) cocktail and discussion with when it is over.  

    Saw this movie Thanksgiving weekend. It's very (none / 0) (#6)
    by Angel on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 08:21:46 PM EST
    bleak, best way I can describe it.  However, Monique is soooooooo good in this movie, deserving of an award.  She is the devil personified.  Hard to watch but necessary if you are to understand so much of what is going on in our world.  I'm a front line worker on the streets, yet this movie made me cringe and feel ashamed all at the same time...  Go see it.

    Parent
    I saw the actor (none / 0) (#11)
    by TeresaInSnow2 on Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 09:20:59 PM EST
    who played Precious on Conan O'Brien last night.  I love unknown actors, not the least bit presumptuous.  She was a fun guest....talked about how her friend has a crush on Conan (not a scenario I understand, but whatever, LOL).  She was quite funny..I actually thought she was a comedienne until I found out she was from the movie!  And she was a really convincing actor from the clip I saw.  Conan seemed to really like her.  I found myself smiling through the interview.

    I'm sure it's a watcheable movie.  Regardless, I would definitely support a person like that, so I will watch the movie just to send her my own props.

    Parent

    The MA (none / 0) (#20)
    by Ga6thDem on Sun Jan 03, 2010 at 06:02:40 AM EST
    senate race is showing what the GOP will do regarding health care: they will leave the mandates and cut the subsidies should they gain control of the budget and they will again. Obama's health care bill is so bad it gives me a headache everytime I think about it.

    Saturday Afternoon Open Thread | 22 comments (22 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment