Oil Spill, Who Benefits?...

The current oil spill problems in the Gulf is a tragedy for all involved, not to mention I see the cost of Gulf seafood going way up.

I'm still waiting for the cause, or what we get told is the cause. Oilrigs don't tend to blow up, for a lot of very good reasons. Sure they tip over, catch fire and other such mishaps from time to time, but I can't think of any that just blew up, unless someone blew them up.

While it might be hard to pick up from all the coverage, oil companies are not formed for the purpose of coating the oceans with oil-spills. Nobody sits around the offices of Big Oil and wonders " how can we have a new oil spill next week." Believe it or not, they try as hard as they can to avoid these things.

I'm sure they hate them, your average petro-exec looks at the events in the Gulf and cries because he sees a giant hose gushing money into the Gulf. Not to mention I'm told the replacement cost on the platform of around $ 7 billion and the loss of all those drilling days at around $ 1 million per day.

Then they'll need to pay to clean the giant oil slick up and they'll get sued.

The effects will ripple and you have lots of rig workers, support people and such out of work with families to feed mortgages to pay . Not to mention that's more oil we'll need to buy on the world market from countries that aren't such upstanding folks. Don't get worked up with me either, I know how you scream every time the cost at the pump goes up, there are no free lunches…"

That is the kind of incentive to not spill the stuff any business exec understands, no cost/benefit equation points here.

Sandwich Cubano & Mojo...

Some more favorites from my childhood…

First you roast the pig and have a grand feast then you use the leftover pork for sandwiches, but first the sauce and marinate….

Mojo Sauce for Roast Pig

Garlic Cloves

Salt

Black peppercorns (whole)

Oregano

Sour orange juice

(In a pinch, use two parts orange to one part lemon and one part lime)

The key to making Mojo is in the proportions. The nice thing is that you can make exactly the amount you need.

For a pig, we use four or five large HEADS of garlic! That's approximately 70 to 80 cloves.

Use a mortar and pestle.

For every ten cloves of garlic, add 1/2-teaspoon salt, six black peppercorns, and some oregano. Mash them all together into a paste. Scoop the paste out into a separate bowl. Continue this process until all of the garlic (all five heads) is mashed.

Stir in sour orange juice. (Five heads of garlic should be added to about 1 quart of sour orange juice to make a Mojo for a whole pig.) Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer. Use immediately to season the pig or refrigerate for later use.

To make a smaller amount, reduce the amounts, but keep the proportions. For example, to make 1 cup of Mojo, use about 1 head of garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt, 12 black peppercorns, and 1-cup sour orange juice.

Mojo with Oil, for Chicken, fish and stuff

3 heads garlic

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 1/2 cups sour orange juice

(In a pinch, use two parts orange to one part lemon and one part lime)

1 cup minced onion

2 teaspoons oregano

1 cup Spanish olive oil

Mash garlic, salt, and peppercorns into a paste, using a mortar and pestle. Stir in sour orange juice, onion, and oregano. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer.

In a saucepan, heat olive oil to medium hot (approximately 280 degrees F) and remove from heat. Carefully whisk in the garlic-orange juice mixture (prepared above) until well blended.

The Real Cuban sandwich: Sandwich Cubano

Cuban bread or (Substitute French bread if you must, but NOT a baguette!)

Butter, softened

1 pound ham sliced (Use a good quality ham.)

1 pound lechón asado (roasted Cuban pork) sliced

1/2 pound Swiss cheese, sliced (Use a mild Swiss, like Baby Swiss, it has only a few holes.)

Sliced dill pickles (dill "Sandwich Stackers" work great)

Yellow mustard (optional)

Onion, sliced thin (optional)

Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato (NEVER!!)

To make four generous sandwiches:

Preheat a pancake griddle or large fry pan. Cut the bread into sections about 8 inches long. Cut these in half and spread butter on both halves (inside). Make each sandwich with the ingredients in this order: pickles, roasted pork, ham, and cheese. Be generous!

NOTE: Most people use a sweet cured ham (jamón dulce) or bolo ham for Cuban sandwiches. If you can find these hams in your area, great. Otherwise, look for a slightly sweet, soft textured ham with a mild taste. You don't want the flavor of the ham to overpower the rest of the ingredients! Also, never use shaved ham or pork in a Cuban sandwich!

Place the sandwich on the hot griddle (fry pan) sprayed with a little "Pam" or lightly greased. Place a heavy iron skillet or bacon press on top of the sandwich to flatten. (You really want to smash the sandwich, compressing the bread to about 1/3 its original size!)

Grill the sandwiches for two to three minutes on each side, until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden. Make sure your griddle or fry pan is not TOO HOT! Otherwise, the crust will burn before the cheese melts. Slice the sandwich in half diagonally and serve.

Recipe from the book: "Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban"

http://icuban.com/food/mojo.html

Thought for Today...

"Knowledge is not power, The sharing of knowledge is power… Think about it: two people collectively know more than one, three know more than two and when you have a room full of smart people willing to share their knowledge there's little you can't accomplish together"

Douglas Merrill

Former CIO of Google

Today In History

"He who forgets history is doomed (or condemned) to repeat it"

George Santayana

• 311- Emperor Galerius legaly recognizes Christians in the Roman Empire
• 1492- Spain announces it will expels all Jews
• 1492- Columbus is given royal commission to equip his flee
• 1563- Jews are expelled from France by order of Charles VI
• 1803- U.S. doubles in size through Louisiana Purchase
• 1871- Apaches in Arizona surrender to white and Mexican adventurers; 144 die
• 1904- Ice cream cone makes its debut
• 1961- Premier Fidel Castro of Cuba receives Lenin-Peace Prize
• 1962- NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 75,190 m
• 1975- Last U.S. helicopter leaves U.S. embassy grounds, Saigon surrenders
• 1980- Terrorists seize Iranian Embassy in London
• 1990- U.S. hostage Frank Reed freed after 4 years in hands of pro-Iranians
• 1997- Big Ben stops at 12:11 PM for 54 minutes
• 1997- 2 million watch "Ellen" admit she is gay

Weekend WX Outlook...

Saturday: A 10 % chance of showers before 8am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 90. South-southeast wind between 6 and 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. South-southeast wind between 5 and 7 mph.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 92.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70.

Isolated thunderstorms will be possible over the interior Saturday afternoon.

...Hot And Humid Conditions Expected For The Weekend Into Early Next Week...

Surface high pressure is currently positioned to the east and will continue to move east. .

Saturday into Saturday evening shows good chance for Gulf coastal and Atlantic sea-breeze convergence over the interior of the area and have chance rain along the likely convergence axis.

Friday WX Outlook...

Today: A 50 % chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. South-southeast wind between 8 and 13 mph.

Tonight: A 40 % chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67. South-southeast wind between 3 and 6 mph.

Isolated thunderstorms will be possible along the I-75 Corridor this afternoon and then farther east closer to the I-95 corridor early this evening.

The NAM and GFS diverge by some 5 degrees on high temperatures today.

Mainly low chance rain across the board with the best chances along and west of the I-75 corridor this afternoon as west coast sea-breeze attempts to take advantage of increased moisture advection in deep southwesterly flow. This activity should move towards the northeast late this afternoon and may become slightly enhanced once encountering the East Coast sea-breeze

Clouds will thicken from the south, especially this evening when PW values surge up to around 1.75 inches. Upper level disturbance moving along the Gulf may tap off a few more showers and isolated thunderstorms through the overnight hours

Today's allergy levels: 6.4/Medium, predominant pollen: Oak, Grass and Hickory/Pecan.

Green Goddess...

My mom used to make a whole meal salad that was well as remember to die for. I t was nothing except lettuce with sliced radish, cucumber and tomato, to which she added a small can of baby peas and tuna (both well drained). She used bottled Green Goddess Dressing, oh it was good…

You can of course fiddle around with the recipe Garbonzo Bean instead of peas, shrimp instead of tuna, that kind of stuff, but what makes it special is the Green Goddess Dressing.

I haven't seen Green Goddess Dressing in a long time at the grocery, I'm told they still make it, but I can't find it. I've also tried several recipes for it, they where tasty, but not what I remembered…

Messing around I found the old Green Goddess taste with the following recipe…

Green Goddess Salad Dressing

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

1 cup Buttermilk

1 ripe and soft Avocado

Peel and mash the Avocado until you get a creamy texture, add the buttermilk and dressing packet, mix well and let stand a few minutes so the tastes mingle well. You have Green Goddess Salad Dressing.

Enjoy!

Today's Thought...

"I wish there was a knob on the TV so you could turn up the intelligence. They got one marked 'brightness' but it don't work, does it?"

Leo Anthony Gallagher

Today In History...

"He who forgets history is doomed (or condemned) to repeat it"

George Santayana

• 1945- U.S. liberates 31,601 in Nazi concentration camp in Dachau Germany.
• 1970- 50,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops invade Cambodia.
• 1986- 800,000 books destroyed by fire in Los Angeles Central Library.
• 1990- Wrecking cranes began tearing down Berlin Wall at Brandenburg Gate.
• 1992- Jury acquits Los Angeles police officers of beating Rodney King, riots begin.
• 1996- Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Fresno, California on KFRR 104.1 FM.

Thursday WX Outlook...

Today: Sunny, with a high near 81. East-northeast wind between 5 and 7 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 58. Southeast winds around 5 mph.

The National Weather Service in Jacksonville has issued a Red Flag Warning that is in effect from 11 am this morning to 7 pm EDT this evening.

Lingering dry air will combine with moderating temperatures to produce an extended period of critical relative humidity.

Today's pollen level is: 6.2 Medium, predominant pollen: Oak, Grasses & Bayberry

Hobbit House...

This is the real deal, real life Hobbit House…

Some key points of the design and construction:

• Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter



• Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.



• Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland



• Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do



• Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building



• Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease



• Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)



• Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings



• Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring...)



• Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful



• Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat



• Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations



• Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light



• Solar panels for lighting, music and computing



• Water by gravity from nearby spring



• Compost toilet



• Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

For all the details check out this site…

http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm

The Other Side of Your Burger...

So you're about to bite into that McDonalds Angus Deluxe and your tofu munching vegan buddy decides to lay a guilt trip on you over beef…

Well show them this list of the other things our bovine buddies gave their all for.

GENERAL MEDICAL & HEALTH CARE PRODUCTS

antibodies (immunoglobins)

beef insulin

bovine collagen - used as injections to fill in scars

bovine fibrinolysin (brand name- Elase) ointment for necrotic tissue

bovine super oxide - dismutase cream (Orgotein) - cosmetic skin cream to prevent tissue aging.

bovine thrombin (brand name- Thrombinar) clotting agent for blood

culture medium - diagnosis

fetal bovine serum - tissue cultures

Hyaluronidase - efficient drug use

PTH - control tetany

pegademase - bovine derivative (brand name- Adagen) - for patients who are immuno-compromised, helps prevent white blood cells from breaking down.

pill capsules - GELATIN

whole serum - vaccine manufacturing

PRODUCTS FROM OVARIES

estrogen

progesterone - a reproductive hormone

PRODUCT FROM STOMACHS

pepsin - aid in protein digestion

rennet - aid in milk digestion

PRODUCTS FROM THYROIDS

bovine thyroid (Thyrar) a thyroid replacement

TSH - thyroid diagnosis

thyroid extract - hypothrodism

thyroid hormones

myxedema

cretinism

PRODUCTS FROM ADRENALS

cortisone - for arthritis, skin allergies, anti-inflammatory medicine

epinephrine - aid in raising blood pressure, heart disorders, and allergies

PRODUCTS FROM LIVERS

heparin - anti-coagulant, prevents gangrene

liver extract - treatment of anemia

intrinsic factor - pernicious anemia

Vitamin B12 - prevention of B-complex deficiencies

PRODUCTS FROM LUNGS

heparin - anti-coagulant, prevents gangrene

PRODUCTS FROM BLOOD

plasma protein

blood albumin - RH factor typing

Fraction I - hemophilia

Fraction V - kills viruses

iron for anemia

thrombin - blood coagulant

protein extracts

diagnostic microbiology

PRODUCTS FROM HOG HEARTS

heart valves for human transplant

PRODUCTS FROM INTESTINES

medical sutures - surgery

PRODUCTS FROM BONES

bone marrow - blood disorders

bone meal - calcium and phosphorous source

mineral source in supplements

collagen and bone for plastic surgery

soft cartilage - plastic surgery

xiphisternal cartilage (breastbone) plastic surgery

PRODUCTS FROM PANCREAS

chymotrypsin - contact surgery

diastase - aid in starch digestion

glucagon - treat hypoglycemia

insulin - diabetes mellitus

pancreatin - aid digestion

trypsin - for burns, wounds, and infection - promotes healing - aid in

protein

digestion and in cleaning wounds

PRODUCTS FROM PITUITARY GLANDS

ACTH - arthritis, allergies, rheumatic fever, skin and eye inflammations

pressor hormone - regulates blood pressure

prolactin - promotes lactation

vasopressin - controls intestinal and renal functions

PRODUCTS FROM SPINAL CORDS

cholesterol - hormone products

OTHER MEDICAL AND HEALTH CARE PRODUCTS

nitroglycerine

antibodies (immunoglobins)

beef insulin

bovine collagen - used as injections to fill in scars

bovine fibrinolysin (Elase - brand name) ointment for use on necrotic tissue

bovine super oxide - dismutase cream (Orgotein) - cosmetic skin cream to prevent tissue aging

bovine thrombin (Thrombinar - brand name) clotting agent for blood

culture medium - diagnosis

fetal bovine serum - tissue cultures

Hyaluronidase - efficient drug use

PTH - control tetany

pegademase - bovine derivative (Adagen - brand name) - - for patients who are immuno-compromised, helps prevent white blood cells from breaking down.

pill capsules - GELATIN

whole serum - vaccine manufacturing

Still feeling guilty???

Today In History...

"He who forgets history is doomed (or condemned) to repeat it"

George Santayana

1770 Captain James Cook in Endeavor lands at Botany Bay in Australia.

1789 Fletcher Christian leads Mutiny on HMS Bounty and Captain William Bligh.

1914 W. H. Carrier patents air conditioner.

1965 U.S. Marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until October 1966.

1989 Argentina, hit by rocketing inflation, runs out of money.

1994 1st multi-racial election in South Africa ends (3 days).

2001 Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist by paying $20 million to fly on a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station.

Wednesday WX Outllook...

Today: Sunny, with a high near 75. North northwest wind between 6 and 10 mph.

Tonight: Clear, with a low around 42. West southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

The fire danger will remain elevated today, with a Red Flag Warning in effect from 2 pm this afternoon to 6 pm EDT this evening all of northeast Florida.

Today's allergy levels: 7/Medium, predominant pollen: Oak, Grass and Myrtle/Bayberry

Thought for Today...

Tuesday WX Outlook...

Today: Sunny, with a high near 83. Breezy, with a west wind 8 to 11 mph increasing to between 17 and 20 mph. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49. Breezy, with a west-northwest wind between 7 and 15 mph.

A Lake Wind Advisory is in effect from noon today to 7 pm EDT this evening for all of northeast Florida and most of southeast Georgia...

Breezy to windy conditions expected again today with southwest to west winds gusting to between 25 to 35 mph at times.

Low relative humidity values and gusty winds will once again with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville has issued a Red Flag Warning that is in effect from 1 pm this afternoon to 6 pm EDT this evening.

A vigorous weather disturbance is forecast to arrive late in the day. Although limited showers are forecast to accompany this feature due to relatively dry atmospheric conditions there is the potential for an isolated thunderstorm to develop.

Today's allergy levels: 7.8/High-Medium, predominant pollen: Oak, Grass and Myrtle/Bayberry.

Army Humor or Maybe the Truth...

An U.S. Army Colonel was about to start the morning briefing to his staff. While waiting for the coffee machine to finish its brewing, he decided to pose a question to all assembled.

He explained that his wife had been a bit frisky the night before and he failed to get his usual amount of sound sleep. He posed the question of just how much of sex was "work" and how much of it was "pleasure?"

A major chimed in with 75-25% in favor of work.

A captain said it was 50-50%.

A lieutenant responded with 25-75% in favor of pleasure, depending upon his state of inebriation at the time.

There being no consensus, the captain turned to the private who was in charge of making the coffee. What was his opinion?

Without any hesitation, the young private responded, "Sir, it has to be 100% pleasure."

The Colonel was surprised and asked why?

"Well, sir, if there was any work involved, the officers would have me doing it for them."

The room fell silent…

God Bless the enlisted man.

What Beer for Dinner?

Like wine, certain beers compliment the food they're served with. Here courtesy of the Lifehacker folks is a short list...

• Pale Ales - Salads, light appetizers, fish and seafood

• India Pale Ales (IPAs) - IPAs can stand up to a little more richness and flavor. They can go well with things like pulled pork, pizza, and fried chicken, as well as lighter salads and seafood dishes. And if you like heat, try an IPA with spicy food - the hoppiness really pumps up the spice quotient!

• Hefeweizens and Wheat Beers - Fruit dishes, dinner salads, grain salads, and desserts made with warm spices (cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg).

• Amber Ales - Ambers are a good middle-of-the-road beer and go well with just about anything: burgers, grilled cheese, roast chicken, soups and stews

• Stouts and Porters - Barbecue, stews, braised dishes - any kind of meat dish, really. Also rich desserts with chocolate and espresso flavors.

Today's Thought...

"People who just want to be left alone will be devoured by people who liked being a hall monitor when they were kids".

- Saucero (Plato's brother)

“Nuclear Disaster”

A 1986 aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine shows damage from an explosion and fire in Reactor 4 on April 26, 1986.

1986: Design flaws, compounded by human errors, cause Soviet engineers to lose control of a reaction at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A partial meltdown occurs. Many die. Many more suffer. The final count of victims may not be over yet.

When someone says “nuclear disaster” you don’t think Three Mile Island. You probably don’t think Windscale Fire. You probably don’t even think Hiroshima. You think Chernobyl.

Ironically the disaster that has become synonymous with the dangers of nuclear energy was caused in part by a safety test. The power-regulating system and emergency safety system of the fourth reactor at Chernobyl in Ukraine (then part of the old Soviet Union) were shut down for the test on April 25. Most of the control rods (the reactor components that stop nuclear fission from cascading out of control) were withdrawn from the nuclear core, while engineers allowed the reactor to operate at 7 percent power.

At 1:23 a.m. on April 26, the fourth reactor experienced an enormous power excursion, or sudden increase in the power level. This caused a steam explosion, and hydrogen escaped to the outside air.

The hydrogen mixed with oxygen and ignited, triggering a chemical explosion. This second explosion ripped the roof off of the reactor, exposing its radioactive core. Worse yet, it ejected an enormous amount of highly radioactive particulate and gaseous debris into the atmosphere — the majority of which drifted to Belarus (also part of the USSR as Byelorussia).

The effort to contain the resulting fire and cleanup is tragic and well documented. Firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the blaze, many exposing themselves to deadly levels of radiation in the process. The fire was finally put out at 6:35 a.m. the following morning, but the exposed radioactive core remained.

Soviet engineers scrambled to come up with a containment solution. Workers wearing heavy protective suits shoveled radioactive debris into what remained of the reactor. This cleanup crew could only be on the rooftops of surrounding buildings for a maximum of 40 seconds, because the radiation levels were so high.

Helicopters then dropped about 5,000 metric tons of sand, lead and boric acid onto the reactor, in hopes it would contain the radioactive mess. It didn’t.

Engineers finally poured 20,000 tons of concrete and lead onto the reactor to contain the radiation in December 1986. The resulting concrete sarcophagus exists to this day, but questions of its stability and lifespan remain.

The cloud of radioactive debris spewed by the disaster drifted over Ukraine, Blears and Russia. Consequently more than 300,000 people were evacuated from a roughly 18-mile zone that would later be dubbed the Zone of Alienation. Fifty thousand people were evacuated just from the town of Pripyat, turning it into an abandoned city virtually overnight.

The death toll from the Chernobyl disaster is not well documented. Officially there were 56 fatalities, mostly from radiation poisoning after the event. However, a cover-up by Soviet authorities has spurred much speculation over what the long-term effects of the incident are. Outbreaks of cancers and birth defects have been blamed on the Chernobyl disaster but never scientifically substantiated.

Because of power demand, the plant operated with its three remaining reactors for more than 14 years before being decommissioned in December 2000. The plant is scheduled to be dismantled and cleared away by the year 2065. Until that happens, you can take guided tours of the disaster site: Ukraine’s Ministry of Atomic Power started letting visitors in a few years ago.

Read More http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/04/0426chernobyl-nuclear-reactor-meltdown#ixzz0mDrbNwZt

Today In History

"He who forgets history is doomed (or condemned) to repeat it"

George Santayana

1478 Easter is celebrated for the first time (gee and I thought it was an ancient rite).

1514 Copernicus makes his 1st observations of Saturn.

1654 Jews are expelled from Brazil.

1721 Smallpox vaccination 1st administrated.

1887 Huntsville Electric Company is established to sell electricity.

1933 Jewish students are barred from school in Germany (beginning to see a pattern here).

1954 Nationwide test of Salk anti-polio vaccine begins (Polio in this country soon becomes a thing of the past)

1961 Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961(goes on to have a record breaking season, for which Busch Beer awards him the Gainesville distributorship)

1986 Worst nuclear disaster, 4th reactor at Chernobyl USSR explodes, 31 die (mostly the operators who stood by their posts and the fire-rescue crews that responded who's courage prevented and even bigger disaster)

Monday WX Outlook...

Today: Sunny, with a high near 84. Breezy, with a west wind 11 to 14 mph increasing to between 19 and 22 mph. Winds could gust as high as 37 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 55. West wind between 5 and 14 mph.

Thunderstorm activity will remain possible through midnight across northeast Florida, mainly southeast of a line from Gainesville to Jacksonville. Isolated strong thunderstorms will still be possible with hail, strong winds and cloud to ground lightning the main threats.

The National Weather Service in Jacksonville has issued a Lake Wind Advisory that is in effect from noon today to 6 pm EDT this evening.

Westerly winds are forecast to increase to near 20 mph this afternoon with gusts as high as 35 mph

The National Weather Service in Jacksonville has issued a Fire Weather Watch that is in effect Tuesday afternoon. A Red Flag Warning remains in effect from 2 pm this afternoon to 6 pm EDT this evening.

Drier air working into the area will combine with windy westerly Flow at 20 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph and very high dispersions. Relative humidity is forecast to dip to 30 to 35 %.

Today's allergy levels: 8/High-Medium, predominant pollen: Oak, Grass and Myrtle/Bayberry

Hubble Space Telescope Turns 20 ...

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was carried into orbit 24 April 1990, 8:33:51 am EDT by the Space Shuttle Discovery, (STS-31) and released and set up the following day April 25, 1990

When finally launched in 1990, scientists found that the main mirror had been ground incorrectly, severely compromising the telescope's capabilities. However, after a servicing mission in 1993, the telescope was restored to its intended quality. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely sharp images with almost no background light. Hubble's Ultra Deep Field image, for instance, is the most detailed visible-light image ever made of the universe's most distant objects. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.

Hubble is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. Four servicing missions were performed from 1993–2002, but the fifth was canceled on safety grounds following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. However, after spirited public discussion, NASA administrator Mike Griffin approved one final servicing mission, completed in 2009.

The telescope is now expected to function until at least 2014, when its 'successor', the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is due to be launched.

For more on this space flight success story check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope

Tornado Wwatch ...

Tornado Watch 104 is in effect until 800 pm. Counties included are: Alachua, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, Marion and Putnam

This Weeks WX Outlook ...

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 86. Breezy, with a west-southwest wind between 8 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.

Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 57. West wind between 8 and 11 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 84. Breezy, with a west wind 6 to 9 mph increasing to between 14 and 17 mph. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.

Thursday Night: A 20 % chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 58.

Friday: A 20 % chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a high near 84.

Friday Night: A 20 % chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around

Today In History

"He who forgets history is doomed (or condemned) to repeat it"

George Santayana

1507 Geographer Martin Waldseemuller 1st used name America.

1862 2nd Battle of New Orleans LA, US Admiral Farragut occupies New Orleans

1898 US declares war on Spain over Cuba.

1901 New York becomes 1st state requiring auto license plates ($1 fee)

1905 Whites win right to vote in South Africa (would take a while longer for blacks and colored)

1928 Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes 1st guide dog for the blind

1945 US & Soviet forces meet at Torgau, Germany on Elbe River the end of WWII, the start of the Cold War)

1953 Scientists identify DNA.

1954 Bell labs announces 1st solar battery.

1978 Supreme Court rules pension plans can't require women to pay more (still working on the equal pay issue)

2000 - Researchers in Madrid announced they had destroyed incurable brain tumors in rats using marijuana

Sunday WX Outlook...

NWS/JAX

This Afternoon: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 2pm. Some of the storms could be severe. Cloudy, with a high near 83. Breezy, with a southwest wind between 17 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 8pm. Some of the storms could be severe. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 65. Breezy, with a southwest wind between 6 and 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

A cold front, accompanied by a strong low level jet will move across the area through this evening. A slight risk of severe weather is possible. The most significant chance of severe weather this morning is over southeast Georgia and the Suwannee River Valley of northeast Florida. The line of storms will continue to move south over north Florida through the afternoon. Later in the day a second area of low level energy may come out of the Gulf of Mexico near the maximum daytime heating with a risk of severe weather developing near and south of SR 16. This activity can be expected late this afternoon and tonight.

Strong to severe thunderstorms with frequent cloud to ground Lightning, damaging winds and hail will be the main concerns although an isolated tornado will also be possible.

The National Weather Service in Jacksonville has issued a Lake Wind Advisory, which is in effect from 9 am this morning to 7 pm EDT this evening.

South to southwest winds of 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph can be expected ahead of an advancing cold front today.

Today In History...

"He who forgets history is doomed (or condemned) to repeat it"

George Santayana

April 24th

1061 Haley's Comet sparks English monk to predict country will be destroyed (oops)

1867 Black demonstrators stage ride-ins on Richmond VA streetcars( this would take a while).

1898 Spain declares war on US rejecting ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.

1954 1st American, "civilian pilot" (CIA), P R Holden, wounded in Indochina (this would ultimately not end well, eleven years later on the roof of the US Embassy in Siagon).

1961 JFK accepts "sole responsibility" following Bay of Pigs (some say this sealed his fate in Dallas).

1969 Paul McCartney says there is no truth to the rumors he is dead (oops, still with us).

1980 US military operation to save 52 hostages in Iran, fails, 8 die (not a shining moment).

1981 IBM-PC computer introduced (world hasn't been the same since).

Saturday WX Outlook ...

NWS/JAX

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. South wind around 6 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67. Southwest wind around 7 mph.

A slight risk of severe thunderstorms late tonight across southeast Georgia and mainly the Suwannee River Valley in northeast Florida

Increasing moisture in combination with upper level disturbances and an approaching front will likely produce scattered thunderstorms as early as tonight. Thunderstorms are expected to initially develop across interior southeast Georgia, with activity increasing in coverage and intensity after midnight across southeast Georgia and mainly the Suwannee River Valley in northeast Florida. Some storms may be strong or severe after midnight with frequent cloud to ground lightning, damaging winds and hail the main concerns.

Today's allergy levels: 8.6/High-Medium; predominant pollen: Oak, Grass and Myrtle/Bayberry.

Current Press Releases - Communications Department - Alachua County, FL

Current Press Releases - Communications Department - Alachua County, FL


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Important Day in Beer History...

April 23, 1516: Bavaria Cracks Down on Beer Brewers

1516: Two Bavarian dukes issue a decree that limits the ingredients used in brewing beer to barley, water and hops.

Referred to today as the Reinheitsgebot (purity ordinance), the decree has come to be known as a beer-purity law that was intended to keep undesirable or unhealthy ingredients out of beer. But the original text doesn’t explicitly state the reasoning behind the regulation.

An English translation of the decree simply states,”We wish to emphasize that in future in all cities, markets and in the country, the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be barley, hops and water.”

In fact, the main intent of the decree had more to do with bread than beer.

“The government simply didn’t want people using valuable grains for beer,” said historian Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer. “I think it was really just an attempt to keep beermakers from infringing on the territory of people who made bread.”

Ensuring cheap bread was critical in times of food scarcity, a real problem for 16th-century Bavaria. While barley is not very digestible and consequently does not make for good eating, grains like wheat and rye are great for bread. The Bavarian leadership wanted to head off competition for those grains, in order to keep the price of food down.

An unintended side effect of the regulation may have been a purer brew, but Ogle suspects the idea that purity motivated the rule may have germinated after World War II, when Germany’s economy was struggling.

“After the war, they were looking for ways to bolster their economy, and one thing they could do is export beer,” Ogle said. “My educated guess is it’s directly connected to this drive.”

The beer-purity angle probably really took hold in the United States in the 1960s, as craft brewing was becoming more popular, Ogle said. The Reinheitsgebot is still discussed on beer blogs today.

“If here had been no craft-beer movement, there wouldn’t be anybody sitting around talking about this law today,” she said.

The name Reinheitsgebot did not appear in print until 1918, and wasn’t applied beyond Bavaria until 1871 when the German Empire was formed. According to the German Beer Institute, the law became an official part of the tax code in 1919 despite the protestations of brewers, when Bavaria refused to join the Weimar Republic unless the law was enforced throughout the republic.

Until Germany joined the European Union in 1987, a version of the Reinheitsgebot was still part of the German tax code, with the addition of yeast (until Louis Pasteur came along, yeast’s role in fermentation wasn’t known), and the inclusion of ingredients that can also be used in other food, such as wheat.

Many German brewers still proudly claim to follow the Reinheitsgebot, and beers that do comply get special protections as a traditional food. It’s used as a marketing tool, and the beers have “Gebraut nach dem deutschen Reinheitsgebot” (brewed according to the German Purity Ordinance) on the label.

Today the penalty for not abiding by the Reinheitsgebot may only be the upturned noses of some American craft brewers. But in the 16th century, the consequences of brewing an offending beer were far more dire: They lost the beer.

“Whosoever knowingly disregards or transgresses upon this ordinance, shall be punished by the court authorities’ confiscating such barrels of beer, without fail.”

Read More http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/04/0423deutsche-reinheitsgebot-german-beer-purity-law#ixzz0lx1Ewrxy

TGIF, Let the Good Times Roll…

Here's a Saturday Night Feast that's well worth all the effort, "Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez"…

Craw Fish Boil

Serves 8 hungry folks

So figure eating per person a medium average of 3-1/3 pounds of crawfish (heads on) each. If guests are heavy eaters use 4-1/2 pounds per person and for lite (polite) eaters, 2-1/2 pounds per person to calculate pounds of crawfish required. Each person gets a couple potato, an ear of corn and a link of sausage, at least, you can double that for the heavy eater.

This recipe fills up my 12-qt stockpot, so be prepared…

30 pounds crawfish

15 ounces cayenne pepper

20 cloves garlic, cut cloves in half, do not peel or crush

1 dozen lemons, sliced and quartered

20 bay leaves

1 qt of cheap Beer

6 ounces Louisiana hot sauce or Tabasco Sauce

2 pounds salt

5 bags of Zatarain's or similar crab boil,

If you're blessed with live crawfish soaking in cold fresh water, with a couple of boxes of salt emptied into it as to allow "mud bugs" to be spitting out the mud while you prepare the boil.

Place all ingredients but the crawfish in the biggest pot that you can get your hands on and bring to a good boil for about 15 minutes. As all comes to a boil, put you face over the steam and take 10 deep breaths, as the boiling cayenne, garlic and lemon is good for your soul - being careful to breathe only through you nose.

After water comes to boil again, 20 small potatoes and 10 links of Andouille or Boudin sausages Allow 15 minutes cooking time. Add the crawfish then the corn bring to a boil for 10 more minutes. Strain and serve the crawfish hot with the garlic cloves, potatoes, sausage and corn. Best served with a couple beers per person.

Best eaten outside, line table with newspaper, strategically place a couple roll of paper towels and dump the eats in the center and let the folks have at it, not only is this good eating it is fun eating.

For a great seafood dipping sauce, take some Heinz chili sauce or ketchup, add horseradish and Tabasco to taste, and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (never use that swill out of the bottle for this). Have Louisiana Hot Sauce ready. Although most folks are too busy with the "mudbugs" to dip them.

Eating instructions: Find the biggest crawfish in the pile. Break the tail off of the crawfish, and slurp all the good juice and fat out of the head (optional). Peel off the first section of the crawfish tail shell, pinch the bottom of the tail, and the meat pops right out. Eat. Drink. Repeat. (Some people save time by pinching the tail and removing the tail meat with their teeth and eating it immediately, rather than wasting a few precious seconds getting the meat out with their hands. That's how they do it in Louisiana, so says my wife who's from Baton Rouge.

You can get all the fix'ins at either Wards Or Publix locally, but give them a few days notice on the crawfish (they'll be frozen not fresh). For a wider choice check The Cajun Supermarket, or if you are having a large crowd the Louisiana Cajun Crawfish Co.

Today In History

April 23rd 1860: Democratic Party convention in Charleston SC divided over slavery (this did not end well).

April 23rd 1956: US Supreme Court ends race segregation on buses and other public transportation. (would take some time & effort to implement)

April 23rd 1984: AIDS-virus identified (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)

Weekend WX Outlook...

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 60. South-southwest wind between 3 and 7 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. South wind between 3 and 11 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65.

Sunday: A 50 % chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86.

Sunday Night: A 20 % chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64.

Slight risk of severe thunderstorms late Saturday night and Sunday

Increasing moisture in combination with an approaching front and an upper level disturbance will likely produce scattered thunderstorms as early as Saturday night and continuing through

Sunday evening. Some storms may be strong or severe late Saturday night and Sunday with frequent cloud to ground lightning, Damaging winds and hail the main concerns.

Thunderstorms are expected to initially develop across interior southeast Georgia Saturday night with activity increasing in coverage and intensity across southeast Georgia and northeast Florida on Sunday. Showers and storms are expected to diminish Sunday evening

following a frontal passage.

A large storm system will move from the plains to the Ohio valley On Saturday. The increasing southerly gradient across the local Area will lead to an increase in moisture levels with dewpoints forecast to climb into the 60s. Temperatures will once again climb well into the 80s and humidity levels will be higher.

Slow moving pre-frontal line of thunderstorms will approach our Northwestern zones with a low chance of rain there by late afternoon and increasing chances across southeast Georgia late

Saturday night. Much warmer temperatures are forecasted for Saturday Night with lows only in the mid to upper 60s, well above normal.

Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are expected on Sunday. Temperatures In the low 80s and dewpoints in the upper 60s yield cape values near 2000 j/kg. Large-scale ascent will be lacking, as it will remain north of the area where better upper level support will favor more organized severe weather. Never the less, cannot rule out a few severe thunderstorms over the local area. Low level Speed shear will be strong with 850-mb with the Low Level Jet forecasted at 40 to 50 knots. Because of the threat of strong to damaging winds, Storm Prediction Center now has the local area highlighted in the day 4 risk.

Weekend Pollen Levels: Saturday 9.1 High, Sunday 8.1 Medium High; active pollen: Oak, Cedar/Juniper and Myrtle/Bayberry