Recent Comments

1. 1 day ago on Pluggers

   That’s how I end up with — in addition to my compliment of rye, and crab grasses — volunteer poison ivy, hackberry (a terrible tree but wonderful food source for all sorts of wildlife — yez gots t’ take th’ bitter with th’ sweet), a burr oak which I’m loathe to kill (very vigorous — it’s grown 7 ft after I lopped it off last fall — but in the wrong place), garden phlox, sun flowers, cone flowers, grape vines, deadly nightshade, poke, morning glories, day lilies, Virginia creeper, box elder, red oaks, maples, plantains, and some others I haven’t identified, I think that there might have been a water hemlock, too.

2. 1 day ago on Working It Out

   Looks a bit like Alito there.

3. 1 day ago on Rubes

   Cue up Thales at the well. (He fell in during a walk because he was contemplating the stars overhead.) No cell phone required.

4. 1 day ago on Loose Parts

   Coming soon to a SCOTUS near you: Should ghost guns# be legal to make (printed) or not. The conclusion is foregone.

   (#) Some outfits sell critical parts, such as the receiver, along with other easy to make components to allow most any one to assemble a non-traceable firearm. The same is true for printed switches which cost pennies to make,in violation of the ‘34 MG law, and sell for hundreds “on the street.” Unsurprisingly, these firearms and MGs are popular with crooks and those who can’t pass even the minimal background check laws in place now. They are also among the most commonly seized firearms involved in crimes.

5. 2 days ago on Pluggers

   Garlic mustard is another nasty one. Originally brought from Europe as a condiment herb, it’s prolific, invasive, and ubiquitous. A single plant may launch 1000 or more seeds, and those seeds can remain viable for up to 5 years. So pulling the plants in a given area, before they go to seed in the early spring, has to be repeated year after year. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the pulled plants can regenerate from the roots, and pulled plants, if left to wither instead of proper disposal after the pods are sufficiently mature, may still release seeds.

   Here in Indiana the DNR has a long list of invasive plants, animals, insects, and pathogens. A few of the worst offenders are ash borers, lantern flies, Norway maples, Callary pear, Ailanthus trees (the preferred food of lantern flies), mila-a-minute vine, crown vetch, Asian carp, zebra mussels, feral hogs, fungi that kill oaks, butternuts, American elms, chestnuts, and certain food crops.

6. 2 days ago on Pluggers

   There’s also winter creeper, noxious and nearly unkillable, grapevines, or Virginia creeper, along with kudzu, Russian olive, Japanese honeysuckle, stiltgrass and any number of other invasive plants. But I was thinking of typical lawns.

7. 2 days ago on Prickly City

   In this case, it’s the versa that intends the vice.

8. 2 days ago on Pluggers

   As long as it’s green — and it’s not poison ivy — it’s OK by me.

9. 2 days ago on Liberty Meadows

   “G” rated version.

10. 3 days ago on Pluggers

    I’m not that far along yet, but some of my knuckle hairs rub against adjacent fingers. It’s a bit annoying since it feels like a small bug crawling on the receiving knuckle.