[QUOTE=Batalov;500369]In 1940-70s, [URL="https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/las-smoggy-past-in-photos"]in LA[/URL] that would have been considered a good evening![/QUOTE]
Thanks for that. I had not know that peak was in the 40s. The bus promotion is hilarious, with mohair seats, forsooth. I did once see the horizontal clouds from the hills, while traveling with an aunt, uncle, and cousin in the early 70s. I also remember the LA air in the early 80s looking dirty yellowish at a distance of a block or two. :yucky::ick: (Chicago blocks, that is, 8 to the mile.)

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;500350]Dang, I'm coughing just [I]looking[/I] at that picture![/QUOTE]
You have to come to Chiang Mai in March/April... :razz:

[QUOTE=LaurV;500485]You have to come to Chiang Mai in March/April... :razz:[/QUOTE]
Hmm, this should be educational... <google google>

Oh, boy, [b]ewmayer[/b] should get a kick out of this! According to the Wikipedia page on [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Mai]Chiang Mai[/url], [quote]According to the Bangkok Post, corporations in the agricultural sector, not farmers, are the biggest contributors to smoke pollution. The main source of the fires is forested area being cleared to make room for new crops. The new crops to be planted after the smoke clears are not rice and vegetables to feed locals. A single crop is responsible: corn. "The true source of the haze...sits in the boardrooms of corporations eager to expand production and profits. A chart of Thailand's growth in world corn markets can be overlaid on a chart of the number of fires. It is no longer acceptable to scapegoat hill tribes and slash-and-burn agriculture for the severe health and economic damage caused by this annual pollution." These data have been ignored by the government. The end is not in sight, as the number of fires has increased every year for a decade, and data shows more pollution in late-February 2016 than in late-February 2015.[/quote]

Agri-biz is busy stripping tropical jungle all over the world. It is one of the substantial causes of greenhouse gas increase. It also threatens many endangered habitats and species.

Chiang Mai looks really beautiful.

'He's like Al Capone': turkey on the loose ruffles feathers in Rhode Island town
 

This is not your Thanksgiving turkey. This is the kind of bird that Ben Franklin wanted as the National Bird.
[QUOTE]At the beginning, the turkey was a mere curiosity.
It had arrived in the town of Johnston, [URL="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/rhode-island"]Rhode Island[/URL], in May, along with two other birds, and taken up residence outside town hall.
Wild turkeys aren’t uncommon in this part of the world, but people thought it unusual when the birds were still hanging around days later. Locals quickly warmed to the new neighbors. People took photos, and someone even set up a Facebook [URL="https://www.facebook.com/johnstonturkey/"]page[/URL]. It was all good fun.
.....
Until the turkeys began meddling in the town’s administrative affairs.
“They were starting to interfere with the people coming in to pay their taxes and do their business,” said Joseph Polisena, Johnston’s mayor. “They were scaring people away.”
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Through summer and now approaching winter, the turkey has brought traffic to a standstill with its brazen jaunts across the local highway. It has pinned people inside their vehicles with bouts of vicious pecking and repeatedly outwitted local officials.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=kladner;500733]This is not your Thanksgiving turkey. This is the kind of bird that Ben Franklin wanted as the National Bird.[/QUOTE]
It seems there had been three of them roaming the streets of Johnston, RI. Townspeople called the "Three Amigos." Two of them were caught and relocated in August.

Some years ago, there was a program on the PBS series [b]NATURE[/b] about a man who was given a bunch of wild-turkey eggs. He incubated them, and raised the chicks. He became their "mother" -- they imprinted on him. But, after they had reached adulthood and he had released them, all that went out the window. In fact, one of them [i]attacked[/i] him, and he killed it in self-defense!

A sister had previously told me about the wild turkeys roaming around her town. She said they were attacking passers-by. People were wary of them. The turkeys hung around town for some time. Naturally, I asked if they were wearing trench-coats and fedoras.

I had a theory that maybe people had been feeding them, and they got ornery when food wasn't forthcoming. But perhaps they simply go on the offensive against anything that looks like a possible threat when it gets too close.

They're big birds. They can (unlike domestic turkeys) fly pretty well, but they spend a lot of time on the ground, sauntering around, looking for food, and conserving energy. Between their beaks and their long legs and bony feet (plus, the males have daggers on the backs of their lower legs), I would not want to mess with them.

Geese, either wild or domestic, will attack just about anything they don't like having around. One town I drove through had a resident domestic goose that would come out onto the road and peck at car or truck tires when traffic was stopped.

I've also lived in places with large populations of Canada geese. They would blanket large grassy fields, eating the grass and leaving their poop all over. Since I liked walking across fields, I carried an umbrella, rain or shine. I had only to point it at the geese in my path, and open and close it repeatedly. Even in the most crowded of gatherings, the geese would give way, almost like the parting of the Red Sea. They didn't like it -- they would hiss and threaten to peck -- but they were scared of that umbrella, and stayed out of pecking range.

I have wondered whether this would work with wild turkeys, but haven't had occasion to try it.

Large fowl are generally cantankerous. So are chickens, but they are easier to intimidate.

A one-time beach neighbor had, at one time run a chicken farm to produce fertile eggs. The birds were in large enclosures running around. My neighbor said, "a ton of hens and one tired rooster." However, when she was tending to the chickens, the rooster would come up behind and hit her with both feet in the back of the knees. Their spurs were clipped, but she said they still packed a punch that could make her knees buckle.

Your umbrella technique is the same as my dog-savvy partner's sure-fire dog deterrent: pop open an umbrella in its face. Don't be foolish and try to use the umbrella as a weapon. It is shield and a baffle. :spot:

[QUOTE=kladner;500810] <snip>
Your umbrella technique is the same as my dog-savvy partner's sure-fire dog deterrent: pop open an umbrella in its face. Don't be foolish and try to use the umbrella as a weapon. It is shield and a baffle. :spot:[/QUOTE]
I can't take credit for it. Many years ago, my mom went on a tour of Historic Charleston. In some locations, the tour guides were ladies whose getups included parasols. Which, my Mom told me, they used to shoo away pesky Canada geese by pointing, opening-closing, and advancing toward the geese. That's how I learned of it.

I'm not sure why it works. Maybe the geese see it as a threat they can't handle, like a giant hawk swooping in for the kill.

I'd never heard of using it on dogs. I've generally been able to stop an attacking dog by facing it, yelling, and stomping toward it. That even worked on a psychotic German Shepherd that, without any provocation jumped the fence of its dog run and charged at me, growling and baring its teeth. I'd been walking by, minding my own business. I managed to stand it off -- looking for a brick or large rock all the while -- until its owner, roused by my yelling, came out and corralled the beast. Good thing, too, because I could [i]not[/i] turn my back on that dog and walk away. I tried, but as soon as I started to turn away, it came toward me.

The only dog I wasn't able to at least stand off was a pit bull that came out of its yard and ran out into the street as I cycled by. I braked, which usually stops dogs that want to chase. This dog just kept coming. I got off my bike and started yelling and advancing toward the dog. It kept coming. I prepared to use my bicycle as a shield and/or club. Just then, the owner showed up and called it back. I went on my way, but I was shaking a bit...

I know that a major municipal utility supplies their meter reader with umbrellas for just this reason. They call them dog stoppers. The umbrellas have a ball on the end (like a rubber bouncy ball or tennis ball).

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;500849]I know that a major municipal utility supplies their meter reader with umbrellas for just this reason. They call them dog stoppers. The umbrellas have a ball on the end (like a rubber bouncy ball or tennis ball).[/QUOTE]This is really cool! I had no idea. of course, meter readers seem to be going the way of firemen on trains. But there are no doubt plenty of other utility workers who need to deal with dogs...

It seems this is an effective deterrent against a wide range of animals. I do [i]not[/i] think, however, it would work against
[LIST][*]Mosquitos or other biting insects, arachnids or other creepy-crawlies
[*]Male deer, elk or moose during the rut
[*]Grizzly bears[/LIST]

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:mike: