MaxRedline

Onions Ain't Easy

A new rail shipping center is expected to be constructed and will function via a partnership between onion shippers, Malheur County, Americold, and Union Pacific Railroad. However, some officials were under the impression that dirt would be moving by now, and the delay has onion suppliers wondering if they will be able to ship the next harvest from the new location.

They're a big crop in Oregon, but shipping them out has long been problematic.  The planned rail center there should speed the logistics up - but only if they can get the darned thing built and running smoothly. That's always been a problem for farmers in the arid lands around Malheur County, and one that isn't going away soon enough for the cash-strapped area. We'll just have to see how the project ultimately pans out for them; the area's got a lot of history behind it. Pretty part of the state, but nothing's ever come easy out there.

Malheur's a very large county; its name, however, is French for "bad water".

 

Lizards Not Leaping In Florida

Low temperatures have prompted bizarre warnings about potential injuries from 'falling iguanas' in Florida.

Weather warnings have been issued to warn shocked locals that they may be hit by an iguana as temperatures plummet.

Iguanas, which are cold-blooded reptiles, can get so cold that their bodies become rigid, making them unable to cling to whichever branch they're on, causing them to fall to the ground.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/plummeting-temperatures-cause-iguanas-fall-26045730

It's not a shock to locals when the temperatures fall; it's the visitors who may need the warning.

The lizards usually recover just fine as they warm up.

 

 

 

Hannibal In France

It's never as good without the beans...

https://libertyunyielding.com/2022/01/22/french-cannibal-who-ate-farmers-organs-with-a-side-of-beans-escapes-from-psych-ward/

 

He Lived It Well And Fully

Meat Loaf Has Passed. Glad that we had him for as long as we did.

He was 74, which seems hard to believe.

Covid got him.

https://www.tmz.com/2022/01/21/meat-loaf-dead-dies-singer/

 

Thanks to DougM at http://www.sondrakistan.com for this.

 

Make A Run For The (New) Border?

A mere three percent of registered voters of northwestern Oregon think keeping eastern and southern Oregon in the state is worth the cost, according to a poll released today by SurveyUSA, a top-rated pollster.

“On average, people living in eastern and southern Oregon pay less in state taxes per person than the average Oregonian because average incomes are lower in those parts of the state. State spending on highways is much higher per person in those parts of the state than average. This means that Oregon tax rates could be reduced if those counties were no longer part of Oregon."

Sure...let's make it official: Californians and folks from the east coast have already taken over northwest Oregon; so we might as well just hand over the keys.

 

 

Eat Your Weed, Don't Smoke It

According to a study from researchers at Oregon State University, cannabis compounds show the ability to prevent the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells. 

The two compounds commonly found in hemp, called cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA, and cannabidiolic acid, or CBDA, were identified during a chemical screening as having the potential to prevent coronavirus. In the study, the compounds bound to spike proteins found on the virus and blocked a step the pathogen uses to infect people.

https://www.fox13news.com/news/cannabis-compounds-prevent-coronavirus-from-entering-human-cells-oregon-state-university-study

Newman pointed out how the study shows the cannabis must be ingested in edible form.

By the way, the compounds won't get you high, and they're destroyed when burned in a joint.

I guess this means that where pot's still illegal, you can legitimately claim that it's only for medicinal purposes.

 

Beautiful Downtown Portland!

https://twitter.com/Chuck89391678/status/1482877080538783744

Portland today.

 

Get Your Stuff Together

This year's tax filing season will begin on Jan. 24, 17 days earlier than last year, the Internal Revenue Service announced Monday.

How special!

 

 

 

Pig-Hearted

In a medical first, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life and a Maryland hospital said Monday that he’s doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery.

While it’s too soon to know if the operation really will work, it marks a step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say the transplant showed that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection.

GMO may save a life.

No word on whether he eats bacon.

 

Migration

California already has some of the highest taxes in the United States and is losing residents as a result.

So, their answer? Another tax hike! Naturally. They've evidently never heard the old bromide: when you're in a hole, stop digging.

California lawmakers have introduced a plan to almost *double* state tax revenue, at an additional cost of $12,250 per household.

So glad I didn't follow the herd by moving there in the 60s and 70s. I suspect they can kiss their business startups goodbye.

Understandably, over-taxed residents are moving to places like Arizona, Oregon, and Texas. But frankly, we neither need nor want more Californians here, as all too often the refugees bring their voting habits right along with them.

In the words of the late, great governor here: "Welcome to Oregon! But don't plan to stay."