Friday's Odds and Ends

The Iowa caucuses are behind us and the candidates are off to New Hampshire, the place where Texas Governor Rick Perry said real Republicans live. Huh??? Who did he think all those people were that voted in the Republican caucuses in Iowa? Democrats?

Here's what William River Pitt has to say about Iowa and the people there in his op-ed piece for Truthout.

In the annals of mindless criminal behavior, this one is a doozy. An hour after burglarizing a store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,  three suspects and another teen posted pictures of themselves with the money and items they stole on Facebook. their bounty on Facebook. In the pictures, the teens proudly display what they took, holding up bundles of cash and posing by boxes of candy and cigarettes. Apparently a family member of one of the burglars tipped off police that the images were up on the social media site, and the burglars were caught. 

Another bizzare incident involved a Pennsylvania couple who were charged with having sex on a city bus, while a friend held their infant daughter. This apparently happened last August and the couple was charged with indecent exposure. They have recently pleaded guilty to settle the case.

Maybe these folks should go see the Wizard with Dorothy and ask for a brain.

If that isn't bizzare enough, how about the woman who was paid to overeat? Donna Simpson, a 44-year-old mother of two was a star in the fantasy fetish community that worshiped overweight people and overeating. Simpson had a website where men paid $19 a month to watch her eat. She became a bit of a celebrity in British newspapers and often flew around the world for various events.  According to the news report I read, she has shut down the website and is now trying to lose weight. That's the good news. The bad news is the fact that she did this for so long, thinking it was perfectly normal.  And what is normal about the men who paid to watch her eat?

Ending a little closer to home, and hopefully on a note that is much more normal, I am now the proud owner of four Rhode Island Red chickens. Did you know the best time to move chickens is at night? I didn't until my neighbor, who sold me the chickens, told me to come after dark to get them. The inherent challenge in that was to get them in the coop in the darkness that is so complete out here in the country you can't see a thing until the moon comes up. And if the moon is just a sliver, or there is a bank of clouds overhead, good luck with that. We had to park one of the trucks facing the barn with the lights on so we could find the coop in the corner of the barn.

My neighbor and her nephew came with me to help get the chickens in, along with water and feed. Poor girls were so scared they didn't even go up to the roost. They just huddled in the corner on the ground, which is where they were this morning when I went out. It didn't help that our dog considered them intruders on the territory and commenced barking at them. When introducing Poppy to new kittens or cats, I bring them all in the house and show Poppy that the cat belongs here. I'm not sure that is something I want to try to acclimate her to the chickens.

It was suggested that I leave the chickens in the coop for a few days until they get over the trauma of being moved and get used to the new place, so that is what I plan to do. Maybe those few days will be enough for Poppy to figure out that the chickens belong and will stop barking at them. I doubt they will give me any eggs if they are terrified of this big dog.