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VIMS: Juvenile striped bass maintain average abundance in Virginia waters in 2018

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VIMS – Preliminary results from an ongoing long-term survey conducted by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science suggest an average year class of young-of-year striped bass was produced in Virginia tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in 2018. The 2018 year class represents the group of fish hatched this spring that can grow to fishable sizes in three to four years, if not claimed by natural mortality.

The program, formally known as the Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey, recorded a mean value of 10.72 fish per seine haul in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay, which is similar to the historic average of 7.77 fish per seine haul. The 2018 value—which scientists call a recruitment index—was also similar to indices observed in the past five years. Although there can be considerable variation in striped bass recruitment among years, the average indices observed in recent years suggests that abundance of juvenile striped bass has been stable.

Striped bass play an important role as a top predator in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and are a valuable resource for commercial and recreational anglers. Professor Mary Fabrizio, who directs the Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey at VIMS, notes that the economic and ecological value of striped bass lends significant interest to the year-to-year status of their population. Field assistants Matt Oliver and Emelia Marshall prepare to measure water temperature and salinity at their sampling site for juvenile striped bass on the James River. © D. Malmquist/VIMS.
Field assistants Matt Oliver and Emelia Marshall prepare to measure water temperature and salinity at their sampling site for juvenile striped bass on the James River. © D. Malmquist/VIMS.
“By estimating the relative number of young-of-year striped bass,” she says, “our survey provides an important measure of annual and long-term trends in the Bay’s striped bass population.”

The VIMS Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey currently samples 18 index stations in the Rappahannock, York, and James River watersheds. Biologists sampled each site 5 times from late June to early September in 2018, deploying a 100-foot seine net from the shore. Each fish captured in the net is counted, measured, and returned to the water. These young striped bass usually measure between 1.5-4 inches long. Brian Gallagher, chief scientist for the Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey at VIMS, examines the haul from a tow in the James River. © D. Malmquist/VIMS.
Brian Gallagher, chief scientist for the Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey at VIMS, examines the haul from a tow in the James River. © D. Malmquist/VIMS.
Survey scientists in Virginia measured 1,875 juvenile striped bass at these stations in 2018. VIMS has been conducting the survey annually since 1967 for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC). The Maryland Department of Natural Resources conducts a similar survey in the northern portion of the Bay.

The striped bass population in the Chesapeake Bay has rebounded from historic lows in the late 1970s and early 1980s, after fishing bans were enacted in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia in the mid- to late-1980s. Since then, the population has increased to the point that striped bass in the Bay and elsewhere are now considered recovered. Monitoring of juvenile striped bass recruitment will continue next year to provide managers with crucial information to sustainably manage this important species.

Consent, Birthright Citizenship and the fallacy of voting

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Birthright citizenship was decided by the US Supreme Court in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898) at the height of efforts to restrict Chinese immigration. The plaintiff was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who were legally domiciled there. The Congress enacted a law prohibiting Chinese people from becoming citizens. The plaintiff left the country and was denied re-entry under federal law that prohibited Chinese people from entering the country.

In his work, economic theorist Murry Rothbard notes that the American model, in which every baby born in the country’s land area automatically becomes a citizen, clearly invites welfare immigration by expectant parents, whereas the French system, in which one has to be born to a citizen to become an automatic citizen, is far closer to the idea of a nation-by-consent.

The question of open borders, or free immigration, has become an accelerating problem for classical liberals because the welfare state increasingly subsidizes immigrants to enter and receive permanent assistance and because cultural boundaries have become increasingly crowded or overrun. Rothbard observed that when the Soviet Union collapsed, it became clear that “ethnic Russians had been encouraged to flood into Estonia and Latvia in order to destroy the cultures and languages of these peoples”, similar to Jean Raspail’s anti-immigration novel The Camp of the Saints, in which virtually the entire population of India decides to move, in small boats, into France, and the French, infected by liberal ideology, cannot summon the will to prevent economic and cultural national destruction.

Rothbard also notes that it is time to rethink the entire concept and function of voting. Should anyone have a “right” to vote? Rose Wilder Lane, the mid-twentieth century U.S. libertarian theorist, was once asked if she believed in womens’ suffrage. “No,” she replied, “and I’m against male suffrage as well.” The Latvians and Estonians have cogently tackled the problem of Russian immigrants by allowing them to continue permanently as residents, but not granting them citizenship or therefore the right to vote. The Swiss welcome temporary guest-workers, but severely discourage permanent immigration, and, as well as citizenship and voting.

What would voting be like in a totally privatized society?

According to Rothbard, not only would voting be diverse, but more importantly, who would really care? For an economist like Rothbard, the purest form of voting is the corporation, or joint-stock company, in which voting is proportionate to one’s share of ownership of the firm’s assets…” there are, and would be, a myriad of private clubs of all sorts. It is usually assumed that club decisions are made on the basis of one vote per member, but that is generally untrue. The best-run and most pleasant clubs are those run by a small, self-perpetuating oligarchy of the ablest and most interested, a system most pleasant for the rank-and-file nonvoting member as well as for the elite. If I am a rank-and-file member of, say a chess club, why should I worry about voting if I am satisfied with the way the club is run? And if I am interested in running things, I would probably be asked to join the ruling elite by the grateful oligarchy, always on the lookout for energetic members. And finally, if I am unhappy about the way the club is run, I can readily quit and join another club, or even form one of my own. That, of course, is one of the great virtues of a free and privatized society, whether we are considering a chess club or a contractual neighborhood community.”

As life becomes either privatized or micro-decentralized, the less important voting becomes, and dilutes the idea that “democracy,” or the “right” to vote, exists as the supreme political good.

In a truly free society,  the voting process should be considered trivial and unimportant at best…not a”right,” apart from a possible mechanism stemming from a consensual contract. Unfortunately, in America, democracy or voting is only important either to join in or ratify the use of the government to control others or to use it as a way of preventing one’s self or one’s group from being controlled.

Voting, however, is at best, an inefficient instrument for self-defense, and it is far better to replace it by breaking up central government power altogether.

 

 

How Technology and America’s Heartland Play Key Roles in a Healthy Seafood Diet

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NOAA Public Affairs Office on October 16, 2018 – Fish farming–or aquaculture–is a winning situation. It’s a win for the economy, a win for the consumer, and a win for the planet. Seafood farmers along the nation’s coasts are growing fish to help feed a growing population in an environmentally responsible way. And America’s heartland is a key player.

American soybean and other grain crops are improving the ratio of fish needed to feed fish. In the early days of aquaculture, farmed salmon and other carnivorous fish required a mostly wild-capture diet–more than 50 percent of the feed. Today, that is down to about 20 percent.

“There is potential to reach zero percent, for multiple reasons,” said Don Kent, President and CEO of Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. “First, we can move toward smarter use of fish parts, harnessing what we currently throw away. We don’t eat the head or trimmings left over from processing, for example, which can be recycled into feed instead. Second, advanced feed technology means fish that typically eat other fish in the wild really don’t need to do that in captivity. It’s all a matter of the right balance of the right nutrients.” [Read more…]

History Notes this week of Sept. 9th

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1157: Birth of Richard I (d.1199), son of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England. His prowess in battle earned him the nickname of “Lionheart,” usually pronounced Coeur de Lion due to his deep French roots.

1297: A Scottish army under the command of William Wallace defeats a numerically superior English army at the Battle of Sterling Bridge. In a dramatic case of using terrain for tactical advantage, the Scots established themselves on relatively high ground overlooking a narrow bridge over the River Forth, whose road was flanked on both sides by nearly impassable, boggy ground. Exercising exceptional discipline, the Scots held back their attack until about half of the English vanguard of knights and heavy infantry, with some cavalry, crossed the bridge (often only one or two wide due to its narrowness), and began to re-form for battle. Wallace then hurled his outnumbered Scots against the still-disorganized English, immediately capturing the bridge and thus cutting the enemy into two trapped elements. Without organization, without leadership, and without an escape route, the English were completely routed by the fiery Scottish partisans. Over half of the English infantry were killed outright, and while an unknown number of Scots perished, it was rightly celebrated as a resounding victory. It was also notable regarding the ability of the lightly armed Scots to overcome- by tactics and motivation- superior weights of numbers and armament of the English force.

1504: After three years of labor, the 26 year old sculptor Michelangelo unveils his stunning rendition of David in the central piazza of Florence. A style note you may not have heard before: the Medici-commissioned statue was positioned such that his warning stare was aiming straight at Rome.

1569: Death of the Flemish painter Peter Bruegel the Elder (b.1525), whose work is some of the most interesting you’ll ever see, particularly from this time period. The estimable Wikipedia describes his impact this way: “His earthy, unsentimental but vivid depiction of the rituals of village life—including agriculture, hunts, meals, festivals, dances, and games—are unique windows on a vanished folk culture and a prime source of iconographic evidence about both physical and social aspects of 16th century life.”

1608: John Smith is elected Council President of the Jamestown colony. After the disastrous “starving time” winter of 1607-08, Smith set out on an extensive exploration of the Chesapeake Bay, where he found not only good hunting and fishing grounds, but also extensive trading relationships with many of the Indian tribes who lived and farmed nearby. On his accession to the Council, Smith was adamant that everyone must work- even the “gentlemen”- or they would not eat. His leadership set the colony on the direct path to sustainability and growth.

1715: Death of French Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Perignon (b.1638), widely credited with inventing the process of producing sparkling wines in the Champagne province of France.

1752: The British Empire adopts the Gregorian Calendar as its standard, replacing the historic Julian Calendar. This act has the unusual effect of causing eleven days to vanish into thin air. In early American texts and many other documents referencing the 18th century, you will see the annotation “O.S.” which designates the date as using the “Old Style” calendar. Thomas Jefferson’s birth date is shown on his grave site as April 2, 1743 (O.S.), but if you look in most biographies, they show it as April 13th.

1754: Birth of William Bligh (d.1817), Royal Navy sailing master under the tutelage of the great Captain James Cook; later commissioned Lieutenant and Commanding Lieutenant in command of HMS Bounty during her ill-fated 1789 voyage to the South Pacific. Bligh was an irascible leader who made up for his deficiencies of personality by the exercise of extraordinary seamanship capabilities. I noted in DLH 4/28 about the 3600 mile post-mutiny journey in an open boat with himself and 18 loyal crew, only one of whom did not survive the six week transit to Timor. After being exonerated by Court Martial, Bligh was promoted to Post Captain and went on to 10 individual ship commands and two turns as Commodore, retiring as Vice Admiral of the Blue in 1814.

1777: Battle of Brandywine- The Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, sets up a defense of Philadelphia along several fords of Brandywine creek, about 50 SW of the city. It looks like a strong defensive position against the recently landed forces of British General Lord William Howe, who transported his army by ship around the Eastern Shore in an attempt to make a less direct approach to the American capital than a frontal assault across the Delaware River. Howe analyzes Washington’s dispositions, and orders his Hessian General Wilhelm von Knyphauesen to create a demonstration across the entirety of Washington’s front. Howe, meanwhile, leads his 15,000 Redcoats wide around Washington’s right and attacks the American’s completely exposed flank. Quick responses by three American divisions prevent it from becoming a complete disaster, but by the end of the day the Continentals are a shattered force who could not hold the field. The decisive British victory meant the road to Philadelphia was wide open, and after a few days of desultory moves and counter-moves by the armies, the Continental Congress abandoned its capital, and Lord Howe continued his march northward to occupy the city.

1792: With both the French King and Queen now in prison, and the French Revolutionary government undergoing its usual machinations, a group of thieves break into the Garde-Meuble (the Royal Storehouse) and steal the crown jewels, including the famous 69 carat French Blue, a.k.a. the Hope Diamond. Although most of the other jewels were recovered, the French Blue was not. It vanishes from history until 1812, when a substantially smaller (45.5 carat) version surfaces in a London shop.

1813: American sea-dog Oliver Hazard Perry confronts and defeats a superior British naval squadron in the Battle of Lake Erie–he scratched out a victory message to General William Henry Harrison that was brief: “Dear General: We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. Yours with great respect and esteem, O.H. Perry”

1814: Georgetown lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key, held overnight as a prisoner aboard HMS Tonnant in Baltimore Harbor, observes with trepidation the all-night British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Not knowing the outcome of the American defense from the British assault, he waits on deck, and as the dawn breaks, the 15-star flag of the United States remains aloft over the fort. He scratches down a few notes, and after returning home, completes a four-stanza poem called The Defense of Fort McHenry, set to the tune of a popular English drinking song. We know it, of course, as the Star Spangled Banner,

1816: Birth of Carl Zeiss (d.1888), who pioneered and perfected the art of wide-aperture lens making.

1818: Birth of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (d.1910). If you haven’t read War and Peace- admit it, you talk about it like you did– you should. Once you finally figure out all the names and characters, the novel ushers you into the mind of Marshall Kutuzov (DLH 9/7) and the people around him, leading you to understand the depth of despair as Napoleon entered Moscow, and the stoic joy of Russia’s eventual repulse and destruction of the Grande Armee.

1850: California, flush with fresh gold from the Sierra Nevada, is admitted as the 31st state of the Union.

1900: A category 4 (estimated) hurricane slams ashore at Galveston, Texas, obliterating virtually the entire city, and killing an estimated 8-12,000 residents.

1901: Death of French post-impressionist painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (b.1864). As with our friend Bruegel above, you would recognize his work, which has become iconographic for the Belle Epoch of late 19th century Paris.
1901: Death of President William McKinley (b.1843), felled by an assassin’s bullet

1917: The Russian parliament officially declares itself a republic. The February Revolution earlier this year was something less than a resounding success, but the Karinski government kept bumbling along up to this point. The communists who will turn the country upside down next month had been agitating for a full-on socialist revolution since April, and this month began throwing down markers that could only be met with violence.

1922: First formal day governance in the British Mandate of Palestine. This particular offshoot of the Versailles Treaty had the full blessing of the “international community” through the auspices of the League of Nations.

1925: Birth of actor Peter Sellers.

1929: Birth of the  American golfer Arnold Palmer

1934: Enroute between Havana and NYC, a fire breaks out aboard the passenger ship SS Morro Castle. The crew fails to contain the fire and within 30 minutes the entire ship is ablaze, drifting without power off the New Jersey coast. 135 passengers and crew are killed out of 549 aboard. The burned out hulk eventually drifts ashore just off the Asbury Park Convention Center pier, where it becomes something of a macabre tourist attraction, even to the extent of postcards being made of the wreckage. It lingers as a pop culture touchstone through the 1940s. From the practical perspective, the disaster led to a number of mandated improvements to ship construction, damage control, and crew training. On the last point, it lead directly to the establishment of the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY.

1935: US Senator from Louisiana, Huey “Kingfish” Long, is gunned down on the steps of the Louisiana capitol building.

1944: London hears for the first time a double sonic boom just prior to being hit by the first of 1358 V-2 ballistic missiles launched from Nazi Germany between now and the end of the war the following May. The barrage ends up killing 2754 and injuring 6523 Britons. One laconic version of the casualty figures tagged it as “2 people per rocket,” although the same note went on to state that this number merges all of the zero casualty shots along with the more deadly ones, including an attack that killed nearly 550 when the machine fell into a theatre. Interestingly, as the accuracy of the attacks became more evident, British intelligence leaked out word that the rockets were overshooting the city by a number of miles. The “information campaign” was sufficiently effective to create a long period where the rockets fell harmlessly short of their intended destinations. Norwich was the target for another 43 V-2s, and Ipswich absorbed another. England did not bear all of the attacks: 1664 flew against Belgium, 76 against France, and 19 against the Netherlands. The core of the V-2 design remains the basis for the widely exported SCUD missile systems today.

1966: First broadcast of Star Trek, the  sci-fi series that creator Gene Roddenbury pitched to the suits as a “…western set in outer space,” with the added benefit of Swift-ian morality tales infused into the subtext.

1967: Under the terms of UN General Assembly Resolution 2070, the residents of the Gibraltar Peninsula conduct a plebiscite on whether or not to abrogate the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and return to Spanish sovereignty. Pliticians in the UN and Spain were shocked at the outcome: on this day, the British subjects of the British colony of Gibraltar vote to remain British subjects with 44 votes (.36%) in favor of the return, and 12,138 (99.19%) against; (55 ballots (.45%) were spoiled and not counted).

1974: President Gerald Ford grants a full pardon to former president Richard Nixon for any crimes he may have committed while serving as President. This act of grace likely cost Ford the Presidency in the 1976 election.

1976: Death of Mao Tse Tung.

2001: Islamic radicals, acting under the direction of Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, hijack four US airliners and precipitate the most deadly attack on US soil in history, with the expressed intent of triggering a war to re-establish the Islamic Caliphate over the infidel West. They got half of it right: they got their war, and now they and the rest of their medieval thugs are being systematically crushed like the vermin they are. Note: After being evacuated from work at Ft. Belvoir in Alexandria, I took the back way home and stopped off at Anthony’s in Falls Church, bought a cheese steak sub and went home. I sat in the backyard with my dog Lucy, and I remember thinking how blue the sky was that day. And not a plane in the sky.

Nation’s Best Retrievers Show Their Stuff in Onancock

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This article was written by Bill Sterling, and first appeared in Chesapeake Bay Magazine. It is reprinted here with permission from Chesapeake Bay Magazine and Bill Sterling.

Twenty-five extraordinary Labrador Retrievers and one Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever came, with their handlers, from all over the country and Canada to participate in the 35th North American Hunting Retriever Association (NAHRA) Invitational in Onancock.

The dogs had to reach Master Hunter Retriever level status before getting an invitation to this national field test. They log countless miles on the road and in the air showcasing their skills to earn a place in the annual invitational. Last year’s test was held in Seattle. Next year, it will be in Anchorage.

The Eastern Shore Retrievers Club and president Larry Housman hosted the event at his and Victoria Pepper’s farm, just outside of Onancock.

The dogs compete against a set of standards set forth by the NAHRA instead of against each other. They must demonstrate proficiency in both upland and waterfowl disciplines. Field tests are realistic, simulated hunting scenarios, featuring distances and conditions that hunters would encounter in the field.

Kody Bull, the NAHRA national president who hails from Palmer, Alaska, attended the field tests over the course of three days.

“The Invitational honors and celebrates the dog and the teamwork it took to achieve the Master Hunter status needed to participate in this field test,” said Bull. “We are all rooting for each other because we are competing against a standard, not each other. There’s no first or second place here. We all hope to earn that red, white and blue ribbon at the awards ceremony.”

Many of the handlers have attended the national invitational for years and they see each other at regional events, becoming like family in the process.

“We spend a lot of time away from home, sometimes two or three weekends a month, but this is our passion, although sometimes I call it my money pit,” said Jeff Riesling of Pennsylvania, whose dog, Tank, now 13, is a Grand Master Hunter Champion and still competing when many dogs his age have retired.

Larry Housman, who owns yellow labs Bry and Hank, a Grand Master Hunter Champion VI and a Grand Master Hunter Retriever, said that the best aspect of NAHRA field tests, unlike some other competitions, is that the dogs are being handled by their owners and are also family pets. “Bry and Hank sleep in my bed, although not at the same time. They have to take turns,” said Housman, who recently added a third dog to the mix when he purchased a Black Lab puppy, Newman, whose sire and grand-sire were both national champions.

For Frank Plewa, who had two dogs in the field test, the NAHRA competition is a means of working with your dogs throughout the year. “Without NAHRA, my dogs would stop working when I put up my guns at the end of the hunting season. This is way to spend time with them and keep them sharp,” said Plewa, a wetlands specialist with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers who has been involved in NAHRA for 26 years. “I am beginning to cut back on work because the day job can really get in the way of training dogs.”

Dave Mellender, whose Yellow Lab Maxx just attended his first invitational, says a retriever is the best conservation tool available to the hunter. “Even in a field hunt, where many hunters think a retriever is not necessary, think about how many birds are wounded and run away. A hunter cannot run as fast a dog. And then he may be firing additional shots that could be saved with the use of a dog.”

Dick Ofstedal , one of three judges, visited the Eastern Shore from his home in Minnesota two months ago to preview the the competition sites, bringing his dogs to test the conditions.

“It’s an honor to be selected as a judge,” said Ofstedal. He talked about the bond between hunter and dog, which grows when the two spend so much time together. “It’s not you who picks the puppy to start this beautiful relationship. It’s the dog who looks you in the eye and picks you, and you should be forever grateful for the opportunity.”

Tony Carlo’s 8-year-old Black Lab, Teddy, a grand master hunter retriever champion, was eliminated after the first day when he did not honor another dog’s test.

“The shame of it is that Teddy scored perfect tens for his retrieves on his test, but he crept forward when the next retriever was working,” said Carlo, explaining each retriever must watch and honor the next competitor following his run without breaking from his position.

Although disappointed at Teddy’s elimination over what seems to be a minor infraction, Carlo said, “We attend the invitational for the opportunity to have the judges evaluate your dog and learn from the experience. We respect the judges and always accept their decision.”

Three women were among the handlers at this year’s invitational, including Sue Snow from Ontario, whose 10-year-old female Black Lab, Gee, is a Grand Master Hunter-V. “The NAHRA program has developed Gee into an all-around retriever who is as comfortable hunting waterfowl in the east as she is upland hunting in the west,” said Snow. “She has taken us on many adventures from Alabama to Alaska and many places in between.”

At the end of the week-long activities, Bull said the Eastern Shore had proven to be “as hospitable as any place we’ve been. The people have been just great. It’s obvious there’s a strong tradition of hunting and hunting dogs here,” added Bull

The NAHRA 35th Invitational was dedicated to one of its founding members, the late bird dog author Richard Wolters.

Digital-first local news websites are starting to fill the void

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As local newspapers continue to fall off the map, digital-first websites are cropping up to cover local communities.

About a third of large U.S. newspapers have suffered layoffs since 2017, according to a new study from Pew Research Center. Web-based news outlets are starting to help fill that void, local news publishing executives say.

For example, Local Independent Online New Publishers (LION), a trade organization, has seen its membership double in the past years to 225 members, said Executive Director Matt DeRienzo. The Institute for Nonprofit News has experienced similar growth.

On top of that, DeRienzo says that the trade group has a database of more than 600 local online news sites that would qualify for membership to LION, meaning they have been evaluated as doing real journalism and are independent.

“We come across new ones every day and every week — ones that have been operating for years in tiny communities that we didn’t even know about.”
— Matt DeRienzo

Newspaper layoffs have accelerated over the past year as Canadian print tariffs continue to strangle local presses, and as economic pressures from tech companies continue to squeeze ad dollars from legacy news organizations.

  • On Monday, New York Daily News announced it’s letting go of roughly half of its editorial team. Other Tronc-owned newspapers, like The Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune, are also expected to experience some layoffs, CNN reports.

The Local Media Consortium — which represents dozens of local papers and media companies, like The Seattle Times, The McClatchy Company and Cox Media Group — also says that it’s seeing record growth for digital websites of newspapers, some of which are downsizing in print.

  • The group’s member websites showed year-over-year growth from from 2016 to 2017 in two key areas: Sellable ad impressions were up 36%, and pageviews were up 17%.
“We’re continuing to see growth in subscribers consuming the papers’ content online.”
— Fran Wills, CEO of Local Media Consortium

Local banner advertising revenue for LMC members (generated through the LMC Ad Exchange/Auction Package) has increased over 100% in the last three years, according to  2017 vs. 2016 LMC membership self-reported numbers audited by the Alliance for Audited Media.

Rise of niche, local sites: Wills says there are also a lot of local websites creating hyper-local news around certain interest areas, like sports and entertainment. In the past, some of these sites would only be represented in perhaps a small newspaper section, now they can become entire entities. For example:

  • Dawgnation.com is a niche sports site created by Cox Media Group for UGA football fans in Atlanta/Athens, GA.
  • GuideLive.com is a niche dining/entertainment site created by The Dallas Morning News in Dallas.
  • HS Sportsday: is a niche high school sports site created by The Dallas Morning News in Dallas.

Bottom line: While these efforts can’t fully replace the thousands of journalists being displaced from local newsrooms across the country, they are helping small communities access local news and information and, in some cases, are able to take coverage of certain topics or communities to the next level.

Hunting the Giant Jackrabbits of Arizona with an AR15

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While we have recently been ‘re-indoctrinated’ by many liberals, and have come to realize that the AR15 is designed and built as a military type assault weapon meant for mass shootings events. However, we have discovered there is a rogue element in America that has gone off-book and is diabolically using the AR15 for hunting varmints. The following article is published with permission by ARHunter.com and the Eric Meyer. The original article can be found here.

The sun was lighting up the Jackrabbit’s ears, as I told Will he was okay to take the shot. We were finishing up a great day of Prairie Dog hunting in the brushy grasslands of Northern Arizona and came across these Jackrabbit “giants” feeding in the waning sunlight. Because we were eager to hit the pavement before it got too dark to navigate the dirt roads leading out of the private ranch we were hunting, we both decided to take only one Jackrabbit each. I had taken one a bit earlier, so now it was Will’s turn. (Video included below)

The antelope jackrabbit is the largest Lepus species. Its body length ranges from 52 to 58 cm (22 in) long and its tail can be 5 to 10 cm (3 in) long. Its front legs grow to be 10 to 20 cm (3.9 to 7.9 in) and the back legs can grow to be 20 to 30 cm (7.9 to 11.8 in) long. The antelope jackrabbit’s ears grow to be 14–17 cm (6 in) and it can weight up to 9 lbs (wikipedia)

Jackrabbits are scattered throughout the Western United States, with the Southwest holding a large portion of the population. Jackrabbits are considered hares, so they are not really “rabbits”. I won’t go into that now, but the differences are not enough to change up how you hunt either species. The Black-tailed species of Jackrabbit we were hunting is the third largest hare found in the United States, right behind the Antelope Jackrabbit and the White-tailed Jackrabbit. The Antelope Jackrabbit is found in portions of Southern Arizona and can grow quite large. Even the Black-tailed Jackrabbits we were hunting had at least two pounds and 6 to 8 inches in length over the ones I was used to hunting back in California. The Jackrabbits in Arizona were HUGE compared to those!

Both Will and I were hunting with AR15s. I know some traditional hunters will think that might be a tad overkill, but as a traditional hunter myself, I look at it in a different way. When I was young, I missed plenty of running Jackrabbits with my bolt-action rimfire rifle. That all changed the day the most popular rimfire rifle ever made ended up in my hands one fall morning. With a Ruger 10/22 rifle, no longer were the quick hares impossible to hit. It wasn’t an improvement on my shooting skills. It was the fact that I now had 10 rounds of CCI Stingers to get on target and make the shot. An AR15 is no different than a Ruger 10/22 in functionality. Both shoot a bullet as fast as you pull the trigger, but only one bullet per pull. The AR15, like the 10/22, at least gives you a chance. Before the advent of these semi-auto rifles, the big feet of a Jackrabbit would be kicking up dust, as you helplessly watched it run into the next county! Thankfully, I did not have to put my skills to test against a running Jackrabbit, as these guys were too busy gobbling up their dinner, to notice a couple of stalking hunters.

Before Will got the chance to shoot at his Jackrabbit, I was able to take one using the Franklin Armory F17-L AR15 rifle in .17 Winchester Super Magnum. Although my shot was relatively close for this round, I was still impressed by the performance of the 20 grain bullet on the big Jackrabbit. I hit him lower than I wanted to, down the back, but it still dropped him instantly. It was a monster by California standards and probably the largest Jackrabbit I have ever shot, but in Arizona it was probably an average sized Black-tailed Jack. However, for Will, it was a chance to finally get a close-up look of how big these Arizona hares can get and he was thoroughly impressed!

As we drove on, we drove in and out of a few small valleys. As we crested the edge of a particularly brushy one, I happened to catch a glint of the sun hitting the large ears of a Jackrabbit feeding next to a large bush. The same ears that cool them down in hot weather, also give them away to hunters. Will, who had flown out from Ohio for the hunt, grabbed his custom AR15 in 5.56mm/.223 and found a good spot to set-up. In the meantime, I got the video camera rolling, so I could catch the action of the shot. At the crack of the rifle, the 55 grain Sierra BlitzKing slammed the rabbit hard, putting it in the dirt with a familiar death kick from the nerves. Will shouldered his rifle and went out to grab the rabbit. He was shocked at the size of the rabbit while it fed, but even more so now that he had one in his hands. It was in the 3 to 4 pound range, with a huge set of legs that were meant for getting away from the local predators, like coyotes and bobcat. We got a few pictures with the Jackrabbit and decided to get to the pavement as soon as possible. The sun was dropping fast and our hunt for the day was over.

If you want more information on the Arizona Jackrabbit, you should follow “Jackrabbit Jim” on Facebook. His Facebook page has lots of information on Arizona wildlife and he also has information on the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s annual Junior’s Jackrabbit Camp for kids new to hunting.

Dolphin euthanized by Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team

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A dolphin that stranded itself on the beach at Sandbridge on Sunday night was euthanized by the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team.

Team members were sent to the beach to assess the animal’s condition and decided to put the dolphin down, spokesman Matthew Klepeisz said.

Sarah Rose, (left), with the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team begins a necropsy on a dead dolphin at the Virginia Aquarium Marine Animal Care Center, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Aug. 6, 2013. (Photo courtesy of L. Todd Spencer/ The Virginian-Pilot)

When the stranding team evaluated the dolphin, program coordinator Alexander Costidis said, it had rapid and shallow breathing and an irregular heart rate. Its eyes weren’t tracking activity properly. Costidis said the animal had skin lesions, suggesting an active poxvirus that pointed to some level of immune system compromise.

Matthew Kepeisz told the Mirror, “The dolphin was stranded in Sandbridge late Sunday evening. Our team received notification and headed out for assessment. After reviewing the animal’s condition and the conditions around it, our team made the decision that the most humane option was to sedate the animal. After conducting the necropsy on the stranded dolphin, our team determined that it had severe heart and brain lesions that almost certainly contributed to the stranding. It also had a heavy parasite load that may or may not have been related with some of the lesions.”

Rough surf conditions likely pushed the dolphin to shore, where refloating it was not considered a humane option since drowning or shark attacks were probable outcomes.

Rules for Radicals, or how the Left Plans to Destroy the 2nd Amendment

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Saul Alinsky died in 1972, but as anyone that has studied 20th century political science, or more importantly Cultural Criticism is aware of his brilliant theories, and his devotion to the “poor and powerless”, and his goal of a backyard revolution in cities across America. While Alinsky’s Rules For Radicals relies heavily on Alexis de Tocqueville, the French philosopher who “gravely warned,” writes Alinsky, “that unless individual citizens were regularly involved in the action of governing themselves, self-government would pass from the scene”, much of his work has become a toolkit leveraged by the left for the acquisition and deployment of power. He developed a group of 13 rules which have been used by the Left to destroy people, organizations, industries, and recently, individual rights. This toolkit has been used to attack Christian bakers, isolate companies, as well as demonize the police.

“The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away.” — Saul Alinsky

Alinsky’s Rules For Radicals have now taken aim at the NRA and repeal of the Second Amendment.

The playbook is rote. Take a mass shooting A (except the weekly mass shootings in Chicago and Baltimore), and then attack gun ownership.

Rules For Radicals Number 1—”Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” At this point, suspect polls will be rolled out showing that most Americans are in favor of “sensible” gun control; and that we should ban these “assault rifles”. This should sound familiar.

Go after corporations, protesting that doing business with NRA members would be bad for business because the anti-gun forces would crush them economically. Note: Delta Airlines lost $40-50 MILLION in tax credits over 13 people who used the NRA ticket discount. Was that a good corporate decision for the shareholders?

Rule Number 9, “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.—We bemusedly watch the media and gun control activists cower like craven dogs at the sight of an extra capacity magazine, or claims that the awful AR platform is a machine gun.

Number 13, “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. Cue NRA demonization. The NRA is now to blame for all mass shooting events that have occurred since all of time and forever.

 

Photo Variety Magazine

After Parkland, the talking points got handed out. The NRA is to blame for a clearly emotionally and mentally disturbed man who stalked the halls of his former high school and killed 17 people. Forget the fact that it looks like law enforcement failures allowed him to kill as many people as he did.

The NRA organization was labeled a “terrorist” organization. NRA members were called “Child Killers”, and spokesperson Dana Loesch was called a “terrorist in a cocktail dress” .

The target had been chosen. It had been frozen. It had been personalized. It had been polarized.

Most intelligent Americans saw through all of this.

Oddly, 2nd Amendment rights folks, like the NRA used some of Alinsky’s own rules to defend themselves–Number 3, 4, and 5.

Rule 3—Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of your enemy—in this case, that wasn’t difficult. It becomes apparent that anti-gun people don’t know the first thing about firearms or firearm safety. When challenged, the gun critics could not even explain what an assault weapon really is.

Example: Student David Hogg, anointed the poster boy for gun control. Sadly, his ignorance and bias were just too obvious. He is probably a good kid, but he was embarrassingly out of his depth when challenged with facts.

Note: The kid actually hung up the phone on the POTUS.

Most people only understand economics after years of scholarly study or business experience, but David Hogg mastered the science simply by being in the vicinity of a mass shooting.

Rule 4—Make the enemy live up to its own rules.

Maybe suggest that the celebrities, such as we saw at the Oscars give up their armed security.
At this year’s Oscars, a battalion of armed guards included (Variety):

  1. More than 500 LAPD officers, many of them working overtime, as well as police helicopters.
  2. FBI agents.
  3. Private security guards from Security Industry Specialists.
  4. Firefighters.

To ensure security, nearly a mile of Hollywood Boulevard was closed, from Cahuenga Boulevard to La Brea Avenue. Highland Avenue and Orange Drive were closed for almost a half a mile, from Franklin Avenue to Sunset Boulevard.

In this segment of Keeping Up With Kardashians, the girls discuss having a gun for protection. Kim states why get a gun, when you can just hire security?

Rule 5—Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. While the left tried very hard to ridicule gun owners, the reality is that it’s hard to portray rape survivors, small business owners and elderly women who live alone as racist, sexist, homophobic, in-bred rednecks.

Maybe it’s time for the left review Rule 7 —A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. Don’t become old news.

 

Note: Hillary Rodham’s senior thesis for Wellesley College was on the Alinsky method. From Wikipedia:

A 2007 New York Times review of Rodham’s thesis summarized her views as follows: “Ms. Rodham endorsed Mr. Alinsky’s central critique of government antipoverty programs — that they tended to be too top-down and removed from the wishes of individuals. But the student leader split with Mr. Alinsky over a central point. He vowed to ‘rub raw the sores of discontent’ and compel action through agitation. This, she believed, ran counter to the notion of change within the system.”

In 2016, reporter Michael Kruse quotes the thesis and describes a centrist theme:

“Alinsky’s conclusion that the ‘ventilation’ of hostilities is healthy in certain situations is valid, but across-the-board ‘social catharsis’ cannot be prescribed,” she wrote. “Catharsis has a way of perpetuating itself so that it becomes an end in itself.” She continued: “Interestingly, this society seems to be in a transition period, caught between conflict and consensus.” It was clear where this 21-year-old stood: “… as our ‘two societies’—the establishment, the anti-establishment—“move further apart contrived conflict serves to exacerbate the polarization.”

UPC Welcomes Four Ducks to Machipongo Sanctuary

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United Poultry Concerns is delighted to share with you the joyful moments when four ducks rescued from a hoarding situation in Virginia arrived safely at their Machipongo sanctuary this week. With water to refresh themselves and splash in, Reginald, Daryl Duck, Jewel and Jamaica rejuvenated instantly. UPC thanks Belle Cifu of Animal Justice Advocates at the University of Virginia for arranging their transfer and for driving them to our sanctuary Monday morning. They wanted so badly to have a bath!

Reginald, Daryl Duck, Jewel and Jamaica enjoying a bath at their new home in Machipongo (Photo courtesy UPC)