central scrutinizer
central scrutinizer's JournalFoul mouthed crow adopts an elementary classroom
https://www.oregonlive.com/trending/2021/12/friendly-foul-mouthed-crow-befriends-entire-oregon-elementary-school-before-state-police-are-called-in.htmlMixed messages
I was at a local store yesterday. Many people were wearing masks incorrectly. The woman in front of me was wearing her mask correctly but it had a Confederate flag on it. I was frozen so I said nothing.
Disease Vectors
Let’s label the anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers with a name that describes their place in society. No different than mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, and rabid bats.
Got an appointment for my Pfizer booster shot
Tuesday at a mass clinic at the county fairgrounds. Got my second Pfizer on March 20 - just over 6 months ago. I’m 71 with no other risk factors. Got my flu shot over two weeks ago.
Good weather news!
...COOL AND WET FALL-LIKE WEATHER WILL ARRIVE FRIDAY NIGHT...
The weather pattern will change later this week as a series of
strong, wet cold fronts will bring an end to this long dry and hot
summer.
Overnight temperatures will cool into the lower to mid 40s tonight,
with some of our more exposed and traditionally cooler locales
dropping down into the 30s. With the potential of frost in
outlying rural areas, consider taking time and precautions to
protect any temperature sensitive plants. Afternoon high
temperatures will be in the 70s through Thursday, then cool to the
60s for Friday into this weekend.
A strong cold front will push into the region Friday night,
bringing the first significant widespread rain to the region since
last spring. Rain may be heavy along the front, and may be heavy
enough to cause localized debris flows in recently burned areas
such as Santiam Canyon, the upper McKenzie River Valley, as well
as the Bull, Middle Fork, and Rough Patch fire complexes.
Elsewhere, heavy rainfall rates Friday night may lead to some
ponding on roadways and minor urban flooding issues in areas of
poor drainage.
Overall expected rainfall amounts may still be adjusted between
now and the event, but at this point 1 to 2 inches of rain are
expected for the inland valleys by Monday morning, with 2 to 4
inches possible along the coast and across the higher terrain.
With the expected rainfall, any clogged drains or gutters could
easily overfill. With the dry weather through Thursday, consider
checking outdoor drains, roof gutters, and other areas with poor
drainage and clearing out the dead leaves and debris.
For the latest forecasts and weather observations, visit
www.weather.gov/portland
Recipe: Fermented pepper hot sauce
You’ll need a wide mouth glass weight and pickling top, available at many houseware stores. “Masontops” is the brand I use. You’ll also need a nut milk bag. Wear latex or rubber gloves whenever handling the peppers.
650 grams of chopped (or use a food processor) peppers. I use jalapeños and/or serranos.
50 grams of chopped garlic.
17.5 grams of kosher or pickling (non-iodized) salt (2.5% by weight. If you use more or less weight of peppers, use this percentage of salt.) I’ve found this amount mostly fills a quart canning jar and leaves enough head space for the gas to escape through the pickle top vent.
Mix well together in a bowl and pound with a potato masher for a while to work the salt into the pepper.
Put into a wide mouth quart canning jar, press the weight down to compress the mixture, put on the pickling top, put it somewhere at room temperature out of direct sunlight. In a day or so, the salt should have drawn the juice out of the peppers to make enough brine to cover the mixture. Thin walled peppers like habaneros may need water (not chlorinated tap water) added. If so, weigh the water first and add 2.5% by weight of salt.
Wait three weeks (or longer). Dump it all into a blender, add enough white vinegar (about 1/2 cup) to make the mixture blend to purée consistency. Pour it all into the nut milk bag over a bowl. Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of mixture. You’ll have a small lump of seeds and skins left in the bag.
You should have about 2/3 quart of liquid. To get it to a consistency that will still pour but be thick enough to stay on food, add two 6 oz. cans of tomato paste and mix thoroughly. The tomato paste cuts the heat a little and adds a bit of sweetness. Store in the refrigerator. The vinegar and salt and the acidic brine act as preservatives.
Got my flu shot today
The flumax for seniors. Not just for flu but you have to wait 28 days after any immunization to receive another. I wanted to have no delays in getting my Covid-19 booster when they’re approved. (Got my second Pfizer on March 20, 2021).
Best analogy on vaccinations I've seen yet
http://eugeneweekly.com/2021/09/09/what-if-this-were-world-war-ii/Excerpt:
To vaxx or not to vaxx? There is no question.
My grandmother used to share stories of blackout drills in the 1940s. Households up and down the West Coast would voluntarily extinguish their lights, cover their windows, and even turn off appliances by 11 pm. These proactive measures helped ensure entire cities would not be visible in the event of an enemy air attack.
Imagine the blowback if a neighbor had ranted about their “rights,” and kept their lights on well into the night. Such an action would put not only their household, but the entire community at risk.
End excerpt.
Sick City: Disease, race, inequality and urban land
(Free book download)
Patrick Condon (born 1950 in Brockton, Massachusetts) is a notable Canadian urban designer, planner, professor, and the author of several planning books in the field of sustainability and public engagement. He graduated from University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1980. His career has spanned four decades. A concern for cities and the well being of its residents unites his many efforts.
For the past 25 years, Condon has devoted his scholastic efforts to working with communities to create affordable and sustainable communities. At the core of his work is the premise that sustainable communities can be spawned only in an atmosphere of collaboration. Many stakeholders must combine efforts to solve sustainability problems, as the variables in such complex problems are too numerous for other methodologies to handle. Notable successes include City of Surrey East Clayton[4]Sustainable Neighbourhood, now nearing completion. The project provided a new model for housing over 10,000 people in affordable and sustainable accommodations in a walkable, mixed use, affordable community.
Condon has managed multiparty round table urban design and planning projects in more than 20 communities, many cataloged here: http://www.jtc.sala.ubc.ca/, many of them under the aegis of the UBC Design Centre for Sustainability, a sustainable community design thinktank that he founded in 1998 http://dcs-jtc-charrettes.sala.ubc.ca/
Most recently Condon took the lead role in founding the UBC Urban Design Program, whose goal is to equip future urban designers with the knowledge and skills needed to meet the challenges of modern urban growth, now in its fifth year. The intensive 11-month curriculum focuses on enhancing the understanding of urban design at all scales—from the neighborhood block to the regional. The post-professional course of study integrates design studios with courses in urban design history and theory, economics, and public policy.
https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5efd1c1c4e2740c1bb1bfb69/60001a4f82797d502d088dcf_Sick City 2021.pdf
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