Protect the Environment...? Only if it's Free

For many years, the use of our natural resources in the Northwest has been opposed by many radical environmental groups. This opposition often comes in the form of frivolous lawsuits that use the justice system and agency procedures to deadlock any request for use.Any one who has spent any time in court understands that the underhanded tactics of these environmental agencies are very expensive to combat, running up millions in legal fees. So who pays for all of this? The answer...You do. As in you, the taxpayer. And not just the federal defense...you might just be paying for the environmental attorneys as well. About 30 years ago the Equal Access to Justice Act EAJA was established by Congress to allow low income individuals and business to stand up for themselves in court. It does so by footing the bill for attorney fees and other legal costs incurred by bringing these cases to court. Normally, a lobbying or interest group would be excluded from this act, but it does cover nonprofits. In other words, an environmental group with a multi-million dollar budget will qualify to get its legal fees paid for if it maintains its nonprofit status. And if that isn't ridiculous enough, the system actually disqualifies interested parties such as farmers or ranchers from recouping legal fees if they want to voice their interests in court. Because the environmental groups are suing the federal government, any other interested party is named a "friend of the court", not a plaintiff, and is ineligible to receive reimbursement.

This misuse of taxpayer funds should not continue. It is stifling the responsible use of our natural resources, and the agencies created to protect our national lands and resources have become the trough for money-hungry obstructionists. Recently, there have been some signs of hope with action taken by the western caucus to alert the Attorney General of the situation. This has come about mainly with the push provided by the Western Legacy Alliance, a legal defense fund based in Idaho. A link to their full article provided below.
A big thanks to the Western Legacy Alliance for getting this national attention.
http://www.westernlegacyalliance.org/media/page-2


For many years, the use of our natural resources in the Northwest has been opposed by many radical environmental groups. This opposition often comes in the form of frivolous lawsuits that use the justice system and agency procedures to deadlock any request for use.Any one who has spent any time in court understands that the underhanded tactics of these environmental agencies are very expensive to combat, running up millions in legal fees. So who pays for all of this? The answer...

Oath Keepers Paranoid?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

posted a list of orders, that if given, they will not obey because they infringe on the Constitutional rights of the American people. The above video is Stewart Rhodes, the founder of Oath keepers, on NBC's Chris Matthew's Hardball. What do you think? Americans standing up for their Constitutional rights or right wing kooks. Personally I would like to think that I'm not too arrogant to assume it can't happen to me. Here is a quick video from hurricane Katrina, some of which was used in the Oath Keepers video,to illustrate my point...is anyone else shocked!




I recently came across the organization known as Oath Keepers. This organization is made of military personel, law enforcement, firefighters, etc. that swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States. The mission statement on their website reads as such:

Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, veterans, Peace Officers, and Fire Fighters who will fulfill the Oath we swore, with the support of like minded citizens who take an Oath to stand with us, to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God. Our Oath is to the Constitution

Our motto is "Not on our watch!"

Oath Keepers

The Oath Keepers have recently come under fire from several news organizations who say they are spreading paranoia and fear in the right wing of America. The organization has

Continued...

Cabella's Hometown Heroes

Cabella's will be giving employee discounts to those in the emergency services on Nov. 11th and 12th. If you fall into this group I would bring some sort of credentials and be ready for some sweet gear!
From Cabella's:
Wed. & Thurs., Nov. 11 & 12, Hometown Heroes

As our way of saying thank you, we are offering our employee discount to military personnel, veterans, law enforcement, firemen and women, and EMS only. This is our way of saying thank you to the brave men and women that serve their country; their community and their fellow Americans.
Store hours.
Location: Store wide, all Cabela's locations.

Cabella's Calendar

Trophy Room Pictures

Another shot of Dieterich's Montana Deer.

Alan Carlson: Idaho Elk

Alan's Manly Truck

Here is a start to the awaited trophy room!

Rick Dieterich's Deer, Montana

Click Read More to see more pictures...

Halloween Candy?

Need a dose of your Halloween classics? Hulu has put together a collection of clips and movies to slake your thirst!

Huluween Collection

Click "Read More" for a sample clip.

Vote Now in the Quick Poll...Wolves.

Take the quick poll and see the results on current wolf management.

Thrill of the Hunt!

With hunting season in full swing North Idaho Ramblings would like to invite hunters from all over the United States to submit their hunting or fishing pictures for the Trophy Room!  Feel free to submit trophy pictures, hunting or fishing videos, landscape pictures of your hunting area, stories, and pictures showing general shenanigans during the 2009 hunting/fishing season.  Email your photos to nidahoramblings@gmail.com  please including your name, general area, and brief description of your pictures or video.  Good luck to all and keep this great sport alive.

College Football is Here!

College football is here and the Idaho Vandals put together a great game against the New Mexico State Aggies winning 21 to 6 in Las Cruces.  Nathan Enderle went 11 for 21 with 179 yards, 2 TD's and 1 interception.  The Vandal defense created 3 turnovers and kept the Aggies scoreless until the third quarter.  Does anyone else feel like the Vandals may be developing a football team!  My only complaint right now is the ability to watch vandal games.  ESPN-360 shows college games online in a low quality but it is better than nothing.  For scores, schedules, rosters, etc. check the links below.  Go Vandals!

Vandal Vs. Aggies Box Scores
Vandal Football 2009 Schedule
Vandal Football 2009 Roster
ESPN-360 NCAA Football Games *Required download and installation of plugin.  Check live, upcoming,
      and replay tabs for game videos.
Vandal Sports Wallpapers
Vandal Radio Network

Knots Refresher

If you went head to head in a knot tying competition with a Boy Scout right now who would win? While I have learned to tie many types of knots, the skill seems to quickly diminish if not used regularly. What was once an immaculate square knot now looks more like my fishing line after too many beers. Try a refresher on same basic knot tying, then bet some cash with that Boy Scout again.

How to Tie 7 Basic Knots

Brand Spankin' New Author

Help me welcome Andrew Galloway to the North Idaho Ramblings team! He will be contributing his writings of the outdoors, history, music, politics and whatever might cross a fellow Idahoans head.

George Washington's Advice

George Washington..... In my book he was the father of our country, and many Americans would tend to agree with his flattering title (although I am sure he would never accept it). Nevertheless, it makes me sad to think a significant number of Americans most likely don’t know more about him than a cherry tree and a one dollar bill. I would like to share with you some quotes from George Washington’s farewell address on September 19, 1796.

1. Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent Alliances, with any portion of the foreign world.

2. Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.

3. Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

4. Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.

5. I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.

6. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear.

 

So take out of his quotes what you will. Did we, or are we, listening to the advice he gave us on foreign relations? Debt? Political parties? Read his full speech if you do not believe the man was a genius. After all he wrote it himself, which I would love to see a recent president attempt. Also, if you get the chance to read it, are YOU, or are WE, listening to our FATHER...?

Resurrect Your Old Machine

Do you have an older computer gathering dust? So why not bring the old girl back to life with a Linux distribution (distro). These distros are operating systems that run on a variety of machines and hardware configurations. They offer office apps, music and video, web browsing, email, etc. and are typically free of charge. I had an old Pentium III computer that ran Windows 98, which of course Microsoft no longer supports. I downloaded several Live CD's of the distros allowing me to try the operating system out without installing it, and found them all to be relatively user friendly. You can find Linux operating systems that work wonderfully on brand new computers as well as computers with as little as 64MB of RAM. Linux Distribution Chooser is a website designed to find the right operating system for you with just a few simple questions. Give it a try...that ancient computer is just an ugly coffee table right now anyway!

Puppy Linux


Ubuntu

Declare your Independence

I have found that from time to time reviewing the founding papers of the United States helps me gain perspective on the current direction of our nation. As I talk to people about these amazing writing I am surprised at how little is known about their contents. If you do nothing else for your country this weekend, read the documents that forged the greatest nation.

Declaration of Independence - July 4, 1776

Founding Papers:

U.S. Constitution

Bill of Rights

Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

Reloading Software

Has anyone else found reloading your own bullets to be a therapeutic hobby. The science of turning pieces of metal and powder, into a precise choreography can be humbling and empowering at the same time. But what happens when you get into the forest or range and the result are...duds. Point Blank is a handy piece of software that helps alleviate those fears by offering computations on ballistics, tracking your reload data, and virtual target practice with your rounds.

**I am not an expert, so do your own research and obey local laws.**

Point Blank Download

Expressions of Freedom at Greymalkin

Greymalkin Gallery will be hosting artwork highlighting expressions of Freedom for the month of July. The opening show will be held July 2 at the gallery and pieces will be shown all of July with no entry fee! If you are interesting in submitting or just checking out some of the work, swing by the website or the Gallery itself.

Greymalkin Gallery Expression of Freedom


View Larger Map

Homebrew Helper

The best way to keep of your recipes has traditionally been with pen and paper. While I still use this method during brewing I later transfer the information to this handy little program called Qbrew. This application is freeware and while it doesn't have some of the extra features associated with commercial software, it does a great job and you can't beat the price!

Qbrew Download

Recipe of the Day!

I know you have been anxiously awaiting the first real recipe for your homebrew kit that you started. This is a pale ale that has a hoppy floral bite and refreshing finish for those hot summer days.

Franki's Pale Ale
-----------------
Brewer: North Idaho Ramblings
Style: American IPA
Batch: 5.00 galExtract

Characteristics
---------------
Recipe Gravity: 1.060 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 64 IBU
Recipe Color: 33° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.015
Alcohol by Volume: 5.8%
Alcohol by Weight: 4.6%

Ingredients
-----------
Amber D.M.E. 6.00 lb, Extract, Extract
Crystal 80L 1.00 lb, Grain, Steeped
Roasted barley 1.00 lb, Grain, Steeped

Centennial 0.75 oz, Whole, 5 minutes
Northern Brewer 2.00 oz, Whole, 60 minutes

Gypsum 2.00 unit, Additive, 2 Tsp. Gypsum added to boil
London Ale yeast 1.00 unit, Yeast, Liquid Yeast

Notes
-----
Recipe Notes:
*Toast malted barley (Great Western 2 Row) for 10 min. at 350 degrees.

*Add cracked crystal malt and toasted malt to 1.5 gal. cold water. Bring to 160 degrees and hold for 20 min.

*Strain and sparge grain with hot water.

*To boiling wort add:
Dry Malt Extract (DME), Northern Brewer Hops, and Gypsum. Boil for 60 min.

*Add Centennial hops last 5 min.

*Strain wort and sparge into 2 Gal. cold water and top off carboy.

*Allow wort to cool and pitch yeast, attach blowoff tube.

*After initial fermentation subsides (2-4 days) attach fermentation lock
and allow to fully ferment.

*Bottle with priming sugar for carbonation and Enjoy!


As with all posts comments are more than welcome. I like to know how these turn out for other people.

Return of the Barber Shop

It seems like anymore the barber shop is more of a novelty than a staple in a man's life. As I boy I went to the local barber shop to get my hair cut, but the atmosphere was the real attraction. I could find magazines about fishing and hunting, not teenage heartthrobs. There were mounts of deer, elk, ducks and bobcat instead of hairwash stations and there were men listening to the AM radio and talking about local affairs. If you are considering making the barbershop part of your routine again the website Art of Manliness makes a compelling argument.

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/05/20/rediscovering-the-barbershop/

Largest Memorial Day Parade

The American Veterans Center, who puts on the largest Memorial Day event in the nation, will be streaming their parade in Washington D.C. at 2:00 et on Monday the 25th. In addition to streaming the parade, their website contains many publications, audio, and video honoring American veterans. From their website:

Who are we?

The mission of the American Veterans Center is to preserve and promote the legacy of America’s servicemen and women from World War II through Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Center is comprised of two divisions - The World War II Veterans Committee and the National Vietnam Veterans Committee. The American Veterans Center is also the primary sponsor of the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC, drawing a quarter of a million spectators to one of the largest military-themed events in the country.

“Bringing the legacy of the Greatest Generation to the latest generation” is the motto of the World War II Veterans Committee. Through documentary work, speaker programs, and the publications World War II Chronicles and American Valor Quarterly, the World War II Veterans Committee seeks to bring the history of World War II to today’s students and young people.

The National Vietnam Veterans Committee not only seeks to tell the combat stories of Vietnam veterans, we also spotlight their many successes after returning home. The National Vietnam Veterans Committee, through its programs which include the publication Valor: The Veterans of Vietnam and now American Valor Quarterly, is working to tell the true story of Vietnam veterans which has so often been ignored.

http://www.americanveteranscenter.org/

Armed Services

Being Memorial Day is coming next weekend I thought I would give people a place to thank those in the military for their service to the country. If you have anyone you would like to thank you can post it in the comments or link to a website. I personally would like to thank my Grandpa Raleigh for his service during World War II and all the service men and women who I have the honor of calling friends. Thank You All, and God Bless America!

http://www.boundary-idaho.com/wallofhonor/index.htm

Weekend Outdoors

With a bout a nice weather in the area I am itching to get outside. Some of the guys will be salmon fishing on the river this weekend and I hope to catch up with them at some point. I also recently saw an article about crawfish trapping on the Snake River and was intrigued. All you need is a steel trap, some bait and a long soak. This is as close as I'm going to come to Deadliest Catch!


There are quite a few places that sell the traps including Cabela's. With a trap full of crawfish all you need to do is wash them, boil, and enjoy your mountain Lobster. If I don't make it out this weekend Good luck on the river to Matt, Tex, and Logan. Send pictures and I'll post them.

Cabela's Link: http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0002258014322a.shtml
Idaho Rod & Reel: http://www.idfishnhunt.com/crawfish.htm

Who Doesn't Like A Good Beer?

Brewing your own beer is really not as difficult as you might think! It is similar to any other recipe you might come across with a few added considerations. But is it legal? Yes it is unless local laws prohibit beer and wine making. According to federal law if you are 21 and older you can brew not more than one hundred gallons of beer in a year. If there is more than one adult in the household 200 gallons can be brewed. This is for personal use of course and it is illegal to sell your beer. No problem, enjoy it yourself and let your friends enjoy it to...Who doesn't like free beer?



If you have never brewed before there are many kits available with basic supplies needed to start your own beer. If you prefer to go solo and find the supplies yourself just google local homebrew and hardware stores to find where you can get them. Here is a short list of supplies to get started:

* 4 gallon pot (stainless or enamel)
* 5 gallon glass carboy
* 5 gallon or bigger plastic bucket for priming
* 6 ft length of clear plastic hose, 3/8" inside diameter (siphon hose)
* Plastic hose clamp to fit 3/8" hose
* Fermentation Lock
* Rubber stopper with hole to fit fermentation lock, for top of carboy
* 3 ft clear plastic hose with 1 1/4" outside diameter
* Large plastic funnel
* Thermometer
* Bottle washer
* Bottle capper,tons of bottle caps, and about 60 regular sized beer bottles.

In addition to these you will need a bottle of bleach for sanitizing your equipment. It is important to clean and sanitize all of your equipment before starting to ensure no microbes will be tainting your golden brew.

As far as ingredients are concerned here is a list of what you may like to get for your first batch. Remember these are not written in stone so try what you think you will like.
* 6 lbs. hop-flavored malt extract (be sure to get the hop flavored unless you plan
on adding hops yourself).
* 5 gallons of water
* One package of yeast(dry will work but liquid yeast works better for me).
* 3/4 cup corn sugar for bottling

Now that you have your ingredients and supplies you can start brewing!
*Remember to sanitize anything that will contact your beer.

1) Pour your malt extract into about 2 gallons of water and bring to a boil for 45
minutes.
2) Add 2.5 gallons of cold water to your sanitized and rinsed carboy.
3) Add your hot malt extract mixture to your carboy (strain if you added your own
hops).
4) Let the mixture in the carboy cool to below 75 degrees and add yeast.
5) Add clear plastic 1 1/4" tube to top of carboy for initial fermentation.
6) Once the fermentation has settled, generally in a day or two, attach the
fermentation lock.
7) Let the beer ferment in the carboy for around 14 days.
8) Siphon beer from carboy into plastic bucket and add 3/4 cup sugar.
9) Siphon beer into bottles and cap.
10) Age for 10 days to achieve desired carbonation.
11) Enjoy your first batch of Homebrew.



I will periodically post some of my recipes that I have made, so check back when you want to try a new one. If you have comments feel free to post them...Happy Brewing.

Greymalkin Gallery Grand Opening!

For those who didn't know my wife has opened an art gallery with two other women. They will be holding a grand opening on Memorial Day weekend and would love to see all who can make it. The website is linked on the right side of my page. Hope to see you there.

Potato Bins

I might have to try this to save garden space and see how practical it really is.
http://ft2garden.powweb.com/sinfonian/?page_id=12#comment-2256

School's Out!

As of today my trip back to the University of Idaho is over for the year! It's going to be nice to get back to work and have one less thing to worry about. That being said this blog is now my personal blog instead of a class project and the content will be changing. I hope to post what is going on with me personally as well as interesting articles, links, and media. Please leave comment as to what you think and what everyone is doing. Here is a video of the Cascade Fire we were on in Red Lodge,MT to start with.

Final Map

In recent years the threat of wildfires encroaching on human populations has grown dramatically. This zone where the wilds of the environment and people interact is known as the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). In fire science it is essential to look at historical fire records in order gain an understanding of how fire interacts with its environment over space. In my map I have laid out a dot map of Idaho populations over a map of historical fires on Bureau of Land Management lands. My intention is to show the increasing potential for large fires, in fast moving fuels, to detrimentally effect human populations.

4 Classification Methods for Rural Idaho Ratios

In general I was happy with the layout of this map and really did not want to change much. However, I wanted to correct the scale bar. I tried to reproject the map to correct this as I had in the other maps. The solution is still alluding me and if anyone has suggestions please feel free to comment with them.

Boulder, CO in Freehand

In these two maps the area in and around Boulder, CO is the point of interest. The bottom map is the original and the top map is the improved. Although I did very little to the features and labeling inside the map area I drastically improved the layout. The original map was to small to see many of the features and the two intersecting line were distractions. I fixed both of these problems as well as adding a title and a legend to the map.

Generalization of Natural Features

Generalization is needed to some degree in all maps that are created. These two maps show a section Idaho, Oregon, and Washington rivers that have been generalized digitally. The bottom map is the original map for class. The top map is the improved map. I have moved the inset map to give the layout a better feeling of balance as well as labeling it as rivers of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. I fixed the scale bar by reprojecting the map and attached the scale bar to the appropriate image to avoid confusion. The north arrow was also made smaller in an attempt to make it less distracting. In addition, now that I have the maps posted, I should also frame the map to add some reference to the page in general.

Loss of Nez Perce Tribal Lands

The Nez Perce Tribe is located in North-Central Idaho but their native range varied at different times in history. These two maps show the land reduction, over progressive years, in possession of the tribe. The bottom map is the original. For the edited map I fixed the scale bar, added a data source, changed and relocated the north arrow. The legend was also cleaned up to only include needed information and names that were concise.

Children as a Percent in Buffalo, NY

These two maps are of Buffalo, NY and show the percent of children age 5-7 per total population in the census tracts. The bottom map is the original and some problems included a background that I felt was to distracting, a north arrow that was to large making to high in the hierarchy, and a legend with to much information. I also reprojected this map in order to correct the scale bar.

Buffalo Racial Dominance

These two maps show racial dominance in Buffalo, NY. The top map is the original and has had nothing done to it. The bottom map is the edited version with a lighter background, different north arrow, and correct scale bar. I also cleaned up the legend making a cleaner appearance.

Map of the Week

Map of the Week

This is a map of Idaho in 1888 showing county boundaries
and geographic features. It is interesting to see how the counties have changed over the past one hundred years.

Map courtesy of http://www.usgwarchives.org/maps/idaho/