The Ninth Annual Southwest Virginia Antique Farm Days will be held in Rocky Mount June 15th through the 17th, at the Franklin County Recreation Park.
The Antique Farm Days Club says this show is dedicated to restoring and preserving farm machinery and implements that were used in the agriculture based society of early Southwest Virginia and the role they played in shaping life in Franklin County and surrounding areas.
The three day event will feature everything from a quilting demonstration and container gardening seminars to working demonstrations of sawmilling, operating antique deisel engines, tractor pulls, corn meal grinding, threshing, baling and blacksmithing.
There will be a chainsaw and cross-cut competition and a daily tractor parade.
On Saturday, there will also be children's games and a watermelon eating contest.
For more information on the event click here.
Source: www.wdbj7.com
California foie gras ban ends farmer's 'American dream' - au.news.yahoo.com
SONOMA, California (AFP) - A looming foie gras ban in California is pitting animal rights protesters against high-end chefs. Squeezed in the middle is Guillermo Gonzalez, lamenting the end of his "American dream".
Gonzalez, the only foie gras producer in the famously liberal US state, claims ignorant activists and "special interests" are unfairly throttling the livelihood he has built since arriving from El Salvador in 1986.
"I feel that a big injustice has been committed. I feel that emotion and intimidation have prevailed over reason and science. But this is bigger than us, so I just have to comply," he told AFP.
"It is in a way an offense to honest work, and I don't lose the hope that reason will prevail," added the 60-year-old, packing up his business before the July 1 deadline.
Gonzalez founded Sonoma Artisan Foie Gras 26 years ago, after leaving his homeland and spending a year in France's southwestern Perigord region to learn the traditional culinary craft from the Gallic masters.
Based in the bucolic town of Sonoma, a few miles from the world-renowned Napa Valley wine-growing region north of San Francisco, the firm is one of only a handful of foie gras producers in the United States.
But its problems began in 2003 when trespassers began stealing ducks from the family's farm, and vandals targeted the homes of two of his partners in a restaurant in downtown Sonoma, causing over $50,000 in damage.
Then in 2004 Californian lawmakers passed a law to outlaw production and sale of foie gras -- fatty liver, made by force feeding ducks and geese -- although they gave him seven years to comply.
The following year was the firm's peak, when it processed 80,000 ducks at its farm, set in walnut orchards near Farmington, east of San Francisco. Since then it has processed an average 50,000 a year.
Gonzalez, who testified on animal welfare to a US House Agriculture subcommittee in 2007, said he has always hoped California would reconsider the ban -- hopes fueled by Chicago's 2008 repeal of a city ban approved in 2006.
In the run-up to the California ban, some of the Golden State's top chefs including Thomas Keller, the only US chef with two three Michelin-starred restaurants, redoubled efforts to persuade lawmakers to overturn the ban.
Calling themselves the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards (CHEFS), they have staged a series of foie gras-rich evenings to raise money for the cause.
But John Burton, the former California legislator who drafted the law, dismissed their calls, likening the tradition of foie gras to waterboarding and female genital mutilation.
"They've had all this time to figure it out and come up with a more humane way," he lamented to the San Francisco Chronicle in April.
"I'd like to sit all 100 of them down and have duck and goose fat -- better yet, dry oatmeal -- shoved down their throats over and over and over again," he added.
Animal rights campaigners have, when they got wind of such events, been quick to stage protests outside restaurants, chanting slogans like "Helpless ducks are force fed, eat somewhere else instead."
But Mark Berkner, owner and chef at "Taste" in Plymouth, 40 minutes east of Sacramento where the bill was passed, said lawmakers should not be allowed to force their ethical choices on his restaurant's customers.
"We want to have choices here," he told AFP at one of the support-foie gras events, questioning the precedent it sets. "We don't want to be told down the road you can't serve chicken, you can't serve pork, you can't serve beef."
Back on his near-empty farm, Gonzalez said critics of foie gras often simply have misconceptions about the force-feeding process -- involving inserting a funnel into ducks' throats -- which he insists is not cruel.
"The big problem is the lack of education for the general public," he said, stressing the personal relationship between feeder and ducks, and the physiognomy which lets ducks hold and digest large amounts of food.
The process can harm them, if done wrongly, he said -- but compared it to a human baby being fed with milk.
"Even a mother of a baby, of a human being, .. if she doesn't have the skill to give her the bottle can harm the baby. It's as simple as that," he said. "You have to have the skill."
He said the fight to try to keep his business running, including defending lawsuits, has cost him $1.6 million over the last decade. "We essentially lost our retirement fund," he said.
But sitting next to his wife Junny -- who also turned 60 this year and is known locally as "The Foie Gras Lady" -- he insisted he is not angry.
"No, I don't feel angry. I think anger is a very negative feeling that only leads to bad results. I think that sadness and resignation is one that leads to a more constructive positive future," he said.
Gonzalez is considering various business options, including rearing a particular type of French duck commercially, although he will take some time to decide what to do next.
Reflecting on his American dream, he added: "I believe that what we have done as immigrants is what is expected of any immigrant, which is to work hard, create jobs, pay taxes, incorporate in society, do social service ..."
"The experience I'm feeling right now is that it's being by force taken away from us."Source: au.news.yahoo.com
California scrambling to stave off summer blackouts - Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO |
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California officials responsible for the state's electric grid are scrambling to avoid blackouts in southern California this summer following news that a major nuclear power plant will be offline indefinitely.
The effort to avoid a repeat of the costly power outages that plagued the state in 2000 and 2001 includes bringing old plants back online, commissioning new transmission lines and activating a multipronged emergency response system to cut power demand at peak times.
"We're not forecasting blackouts, but during very hot periods, either a very hot day or an extended heat wave, there are going to be challenges in southern California," said Steven Greenlee, a spokesman for the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which manages the power grid that serves 30 million people.
The problem stems from breakdowns at the San Onofre nuclear power plant, located between Los Angeles and San Diego, which normally produces about 8 percent of the state's electricity. The plant's owner, Southern California Edison, announced earlier this month that both reactors at San Onofre would remain offline all summer as investigators determine what caused steam tubes in the plant to show premature wear.
To help fill the gap, California grid operators have called back into service two gas-fired units at an aging power plant in Huntington Beach that had been retired in January.
The state also accelerated the completion of two major transmission lines - Barre-Ellis and Sunrise Powerlink. Barre-Ellis connects two key southern California substations, while the 117-mile (188-km) Sunrise Powerlink electric "superhighway" connects Imperial County to San Diego.
The two measures together will almost make up for the loss of San Onofre's output, grid operators say.
AIR CONDITIONING RUSH HOUR
In case the summer brings especially hot weather, the state has also reactivated two different emergency alert systems for the public and for businesses.
The Flex Alert program, which has been on the shelf for years, will inform the public via television, radio, email and even text message to limit their consumption by turning off lights, air conditioners and other household appliances during peak hours.
That's especially important during what CAISO's Greenlee refers to as the "air conditioning rush hour" between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
"People come home and the first thing they want to do is crank up the air. That sucks a lot of juice," he said.
CAISO has also activated an emergency program for businesses that use a lot of power, such as manufacturers and refineries. On days of extreme demand, the state can trigger the system, which will notify utilities to tell their large industrial users to limit or shut down their operations.
This summer may also test some power market reforms implemented in the wake of the California electricity crisis of 2000 and 2001, when millions of Californians experienced large-scale blackouts.
The blackouts, eventually found to have resulted from manipulation of the electricity market by now-defunct Enron Corp, were estimated to have cost the residents and businesses between $40 billion and $45 billion.
Following the crisis, CAISO sped up implementation of its "day-ahead" electricity market. Under that system, generators and purchasers agree on their needs ahead of time, giving the grid operator an early indication if demand is going to outstrip supply.
WEATHER KEY
Officials say that weather is now the key factor determining whether blackouts will occur.
A hot summer with prolonged heat waves or the unexpected failure of another power plant or transmission line could trigger rolling blackouts, warned a report in May by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a quasi-governmental agency that monitors bulk power systems.
The dry California winter has also increased the risk of wildfires this summer, which could force major power lines out of service.
"We have confidence in our mitigation plan," said Greenlee. "We may have to scramble, but we believe that we're going to be covered," he said.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in San Francisco; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Lisa Shumaker)
Source: www.reuters.com
Newburyport antique store owner accused of N.H. home breaks - Boston Herald
NEWBURYPORT -- Police in Massachusetts are investigating whether an antique store owner accused of breaking into homes in New Hampshire was selling items he allegedly stole at his boutique.
Richard Morrell was held on $10,000 cash bail after pleading not guilty to a charge of receiving stolen property at his arraignment Thursday. He was arrested at gunpoint Wednesday.
Morrell and his wife run a store called Vintage Diva in downtown Newburyport that describes itself as a seller of antiques, vintage clothing and home decor.
Authorities tell the Daily News of Newburyport that Morrell is suspected of breaking into homes in the New Hampshire communities of Lebanon, Enfield and Grantham.
Investigators are checking items seized from the store with items reported stolen.
Police say Morrell has prior burglary convictions in New York, Vermont and Florida.
Source: bostonherald.com
Oz retailer taxes online sales via 'antique' Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 - Times of India
Customers who use IE7 will now have to pay an extra surcharge on online purchases made through the firm's site.
Chief executive of the retail firm, Ruslan Kogan said he wanted to recoup the time and costs involved in "rendering the website into an antique browser".
The charge is set to 6.8 per cent - 0.1 per cent for every month since the IE7 launch, while every month the surcharge will rise by 0.1 per cent.
According to Kogan, the idea was born when the company started working on a site relaunch.
Kogan said that even though only three percent of his customers used the old version of the browser, his IT team had become pre-occupied with making adaptations to make pages display properly on IE 7.
"I was constantly on the line to my web team. The amount of work and effort involved in making our website look normal on IE7 equalled the combined time of designing for Chrome, Safari and Firefox," the BBC quoted Kogan, as saying.
Kogan said it was unlikely that anyone would actually pay the charges, and his goal is mainly encourage users to download a more up-to-date version of Internet Explorer or a different browser.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
California man in dramatic sea rescue after his yacht collides with a WHALE - Daily Mail
- Max Young, 66, from Sacramento, was on the last leg of a world trip and had been through pirate-infested waters without a hitch
- US Coast Guard describes how Mr Young feared he was going to drown
- Wife Debra says boat was just two feet from sinking when he was rescued
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A 66-year-old man was dramatically rescued after his yacht was hit by a whale and started sinking off the coast of Mexico.
Max Young of Sacramento, California, was sailing alone 40 miles west of La Playa, Mexico, when his 50-foot sailboat Reflections was struck by the giant mammal.
The impact from the collision knocked out the vessel's propeller and rudder and it started flooding with seawater.
Scroll down for video
Lucky escape: Max Young (pictured) was described by the US Coast Guard as a 'seasoned sailor'
Young, described by the US Coast Guard as a 'seasoned sailor,' activated an emergency signal that was picked up by officials in Alameda, California, and a C-130 Hercules plane was sent to find him.
By the time the coast guard made radio contact with the stranded mariner three hours later it was pitch black, his boat was close to being totally flooded and he feared the worst.
Lieutenant Amy Kefarl, of the US Coast Guard, told KXTV in Sacramento: 'He thought he was done.
'He was actually pretty frantic.
'He asked me to make sure [we] told his wife that he loved her and that he had something for his grandkids to give them. We reassured him [and] told him that help was on the way.'
Video footage shot from the nose of the coast guard's aircraft showed rough waves tossing Mr Young's boat around.
Whale of a tale: Max Young of Sacramento, 66, was rescued on Wednesday after his sailboat was hit by a whale
Rescuer: Lieutenant Amy Kefarl, of the US Coast Guard, (pictured) reassured Max Young he would be rescued
Luckily for Mr Young, a container ship was only about 60 miles away and altered course to rescue him.
When it arrived at about 4am on Wednesday, Mr Young was able to scramble off his boat by a rope ladder thrown down by the crew and escaped unharmed.
'This case is one of those success stories,' Petty Officer 2nd Class Pamela Boehland, of the US Coast Guard, said.
'A man went out prepared, the worst happened to him and he was able to respond.'
Mr Young had safely sailed all around the globe in the yacht, including pirate-infested waters off Yemen, and was on the last two days of his journey back to California.
His brother, Joe Ferro, had been due to join him on the final leg of his world trip.
Mr Ferro told CBS Sacramento: 'I just can't believe it because he is very careful and that boat has got every warning device there is for anything coming at him except a whale.'
He said his brother would have remained calm as the boat began sinking.
'Knowing Max, he doesn't panic - he figures out "OK, what do I have to do next?" and he does it.'
But Mr Young's wife Debra said she was horrified at just how close her husband had come to drowning.
'He said there was two feet before she [the boat] was completely under,' Mrs Young told CBS.
She said Mr Young stuffed mattresses into a hole made by the whale, but had to bail out water for nine hours before the coast guard found him.
Mr Young is thought to still be on the freighter, which is heading for Panama, and his family hope he will be home in time for Father's day on Sunday.
There was a less happy ending for his yacht, however, which was last seen sinking.
Stranded: Max Young was sailing alone 40 miles west of La Playa, Mexico, when his boat was struck by a whale
That sinking feeling: Footage of Max Young's yacht taken from the nose of a US Coastguard C-130 Hercules plane
Collision: Max Young's 50-foot sailboat Reflections (pictured) was struck by a whale
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Yes, the whale hung around waiting for a plaster. Idiots.
- William, Sussex, 15/6/2012 15:23
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