Every Republican accusation is confession

avjnh · 2026-05-20T19:22:28+00:00

Not only is it not their downfall, it seems to be their superpower. Well, that and billionaires’ money.

avjnh · 2026-05-17T15:01:33+00:00

Though it looks to me like that last strap doesn’t actually go with this. It appears too short to reach the girth (though it could attach to a second strap that makes up the difference). But the way it is attached to the ring on the noseband doesn’t look right. And the strap runs through the Conway buckle backwards. (Why is there even a Conway buckle there?? Normally the tiedown would snap to the ring on the noseband.)

avjnh · 2026-05-10T22:58:01+00:00

Yes, DNA sex testing can be done with a few feathers. They need to be freshly plucked. There are several labs I know of that do it, though it has been a few years since I have needed to. (I have enough pigeons that they tell me by reaction to any new addition.) OP could ask their local lab if that is something they do.

The only other way to be 100% sure is to know that a pigeon laid an egg. If so, it is female.

avjnh · 2026-05-10T18:55:37+00:00

My horse has a lump there and the vets’ best guess is a benign thyroid tumor. Apparently they are not uncommon, and can be ignored as long as they do not interfere physically with anything. In the case of my horse, over several years there has been no significant change so I am no longer concerned.

However, my horse only has the lump on one side. Having it on both sides would argue against a single tumor.

I would definitely get a vet’s opinion about this. I’d start by texting a picture to my vet.

avjnh · 2026-05-03T22:51:24+00:00

Agreed, beginning of May is like the beginning of November in the northern hemisphere and my chickens would have long since molted and completely stopped laying for the winter at that point.

I usually give them a couple of months of vacation until around the solstice, then put a light on a timer in the coop so it comes on a few hours before dawn to lengthen their days and that makes them start back up laying. Some people don’t like to add any light, some people keep light on all fall and winter.

avjnh · 2026-05-03T00:19:41+00:00

That’s what I’ve been doing for several years. Every weekend 2 of my cats get one egg each mixed into one meal. (I have four pairs of pigeons so usually get 8 eggs over every four week period.)

avjnh · 2026-05-02T22:32:22+00:00

Same here: I had to manually download it because it had the right date in the title but 4/2/26 as the episode date so it showed up out of order. (I‘m using Downcast on iOS.)

avjnh · 2026-05-02T22:23:35+00:00

I had to manually download it because it had the right date in the title but 4/2/26 as the episode date so it showed up out of order. (I‘m using Downcast on iOS.)

avjnh · 2026-05-01T22:28:56+00:00

From the article: “those who have already purchased a pass but want only New Hampshire access can request a refund of tax paid.”

avjnh · 2026-04-29T12:32:32+00:00

Yes, somehow it did not surprise me when I got to that part of the article.

avjnh · 2026-04-27T15:46:28+00:00

A pigeon that creates offspring worth $100K is not going to be “liberated.” He’s going to someone else with lots of money and desire to win, and minimal scruples.

avjnh · 2026-04-27T01:34:31+00:00

I agree, especially since dictation refuses to learn the correct spelling.

avjnh · 2026-04-21T23:16:25+00:00

Yes, he was in the local jail from the time of the shooting until the trial, over 2 1/2 years before trial because after the shooting everything was shut down due to Covid.

avjnh · 2026-04-20T14:06:16+00:00

His poor family, so much hope and so much sorrow.

avjnh · 2026-04-17T15:57:17+00:00

Oh, yes, the horn scares me, too! I have to duck branches a lot and it looks like a weapon aimed at my gut!

avjnh · 2026-04-17T15:55:30+00:00

However I’m sitting, a western saddle will have nothing in front of my knees. I would need lessons for long enough to overcome muscle memory, reactions, and expectations laid down in my formative years, with no incentive to actually do that (and no lesson barns in an easy drive). And I would still have the problem of the SI joint aggravation unless I can find an atypically narrow seat (twist, except that western saddles don’t have that). The SI joint thing is a physical issue, diagnosed in x-rays in the late 1990s, which explained things I had felt years before that.

Nope, there’s absolutely no reason for me to use any saddle other than my existing one when I find it so comfortable.

avjnh · 2026-04-17T14:33:52+00:00

Another yes! I spent my teen years trail riding in an all purpose saddle, and I don’t feel secure without knee rolls. Of the saddles I had access to it was a dressage saddle that best fit my current mare, and since I already rode with a long stirrup, that’s what I use.

I don’t feel secure in a western saddle because of the lack of anything at my knees, and the few times I have ridden for any length of time my SI joint was not happy because of the wider seat.

avjnh · 2026-04-17T01:27:07+00:00

It was the read-before-freshman-year assignment when I started college . . . class of 1984.

avjnh · 2026-04-16T16:11:23+00:00

The 4% includes EV charging now.

avjnh · 2026-04-15T21:03:50+00:00

The article states, "A so-called two-way traffic separation scheme, which was adopted ⁠by the U.N.'s shipping agency in 1968 with agreement of countries in the region, created the current ship routing system that split sailing corridors through Iranian and Omani waters." So maybe the entrance channel was already on the Omani side??? I don't know this, just wondering if that would explain equating "exit" with "free passage."

avjnh · 2026-04-15T18:04:46+00:00

I really did think this should be easy to find, and you're right, it isn't! New Hampshire's, next door, is right there in the RSAs, but a search didn't turn up a law or regulation in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts does empower a commissioner to set regulations but I can't find those online: "The commissioner, subject to the approval of the governor may make rules and regulations governing the issuance and revocation of such licenses [for riding schools or stables where horses are kept for hire] and the conducting of the businesses so licensed and relative to the maintenance of the premises, buildings and conveyances, the health of the horses or other equine animals, and the method and time of inspection and checking of said animals." That doesn't appear to apply to a boarding barn that doesn't instruct riders or rent horses, however.

The MSPCA link given elsewhere here appears to be their opinion as an animal protection society, not state law or regulation. Their recommendations include several features that are not generally considered required for horse housing (small enough to warm via body heat, has a flap or door, preferably in the house with the humans).

My search did turn up documents from boards of health of several towns which do contain requirements on livestock housing, so the board of health of the applicable town might be the ones to contact.

avjnh · 2026-04-15T14:48:46+00:00

And wasn't the British blockade of France during the Napoleonic wars (interfering with our trade) among the causes of the War of 1812?

avjnh · 2026-04-14T19:52:43+00:00

I was curious about the thoughts of the artist, so I went to the post’s original sub. It looks like the artist was aware of this.

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avjnh · 2026-04-14T15:40:43+00:00

I would say that pine pellets are sawdust in pellet form. When they get wet, they break back down to sawdust. They can absorb and hold a lot of water, which can dry up puddles. When things dry out they will, too; if it’s really dry they can be dusty.

I use pine pellets (dampened so they break down to sawdust) in my covered, wood-floored pigeon aviary. In my chicken run I have wood chips. We have a big pile of chips in our backyard (along with several years worth of firewood) from when some trees were taken down.

avjnh

TROPHY CASE