Left Oblique

Tags are online!

Dave — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:07:27 -0400

Only recent posts are tagged; not all tags have posts. You can view an archive or RSS for each individual tag.

I'm not completely happy with the navigation yet, so feedback is very welcome.

Final Big Ten blah blah blah

Dave — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:02:27 -0400

So, divisions are set and I was completely wrong. The result is not bad overall, and specifically not bad for Illinois, which I think gets a very favorable schedule with Northwestern, Indiana, and Purdue every year.

Nebraska's 2011 and 2012 schedules, though - wow. I guess when you're the new guy you get hazed a little, but... Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan, all in the same year? With back-to-back road games against the Wolverines and Nittany Lions in 2011? Yikes.

Quick quiz: of Nebraska's first slate of conference opponents, can you name the only team that did not play in a bowl game last year?

Organic milk: not as virtuous as you thought

Dave — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:08:24 -0400

Check out this article - the basic idea is that a cow that receives antibiotics at any point in its life cannot give "organic" milk. Therefore, when a cow on an organic farm contracts a bacterial infection, the farmer has to make a decision between withholding antibiotics (subjecting the animal to pain and possibly death) or giving antibiotics and losing the ability to use the animal for milk.

That's a pretty crappy choice. It's certainly not good in the long run for the cow, which runs the risk of turning out either dead or useless (which, in the context of farm animals usually also means dead).

There's already a rule that says that no animal with antibiotics in its system can give milk, even on non-organic farms. So why not allow farmers to treat sick animals and dump the milk for a while? The organic purists need to get down off their high horses (cows?) and allow a more sensible approach to animal health.