A Brief History On August 19, 2017, over 300,000 Atlantic Salmon being raised offshore in a pen escaped when the pen failed due to a lack of maintenance. Almost ready for harvest and sale, the Salmon are not native to the Pacific coast and present a danger of being an invasive species that could hurt native populations of Pacific Salmon. Digging Deeper Invasive species present an extreme ecological problem around the world, sometimes introduced on purpose, such as the common Carp, Pigeons, and Starlings, and other times completely by accident due to shipping, such as Zebra and Quagga Mussels, or…
Author: Major Dan
Major Dan
Major Daniel Zar is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.
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A Brief History On August 16, 2024, we rushed to our local theater to watch the newest edition of the Alien movie franchise, Alien: Romulus. Alas, we did not see this summer blockbuster sci fi pic in IMAX or the latest movie development, 4DX. Nonetheless, the movie experience was definitely a must see for any fan of the previous movies. Digging Deeper Even if you have not seen all or some of the previous Alien movies, our opinion is that viewers new to the franchise will still enjoy the film without knowing the subtle nods to the other editions. As…
A Brief History On August 16, 1933, antisemitism reared its ugly head in Toronto, Canada, famous for being a nice city. Known as the “Christie Pits riot” after the playground in which it occurred; the incident was not unique in Toronto. Digging Deeper Toronto was a mostly White, British derived city with Jewish people making up the largest minority. Previous riots had taken place in 1875 against Catholics and in 1918 against Greek immigrants. Not just anti-Jewish, the Anglo rioters also railed against Italians. The setting had been a baseball game with a team of Jews and Italians against a…
A Brief History On August 15, 2013, a new carnivorous mammal was announced by the Smithsonian Institution, a two-pound animal resembling a racoon from the Andes in Columbia and Ecuador. Digging Deeper The Olinguito, dubbed Bassaricyon neblina in science talk, is the smallest member of the Procyonid family. Along with insects, the little guys also gobble some fruits and nectar. The first new carnivorous mammal found in the Americas in the last 35 years, the Olinguito is certainly not the last new animal discovery of our lifetime. In fact, The Science Museum of Virgina reports that 18,000 new species are…
A Brief History On August 14, 1948, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game began Beaver Drop, dropping Beavers by parachute into the central Idaho Chamberlain Basin. Digging Deeper Beavers were trapped live from Northwestern Idaho, the plan being to repopulate an area that once naturally held a Beaver population depleted by fur trapping. Also, Idaho residents in the Northwestern region had been complaining about Beavers wrecking their property and cropland. Merely reducing the population of Beavers in Northwest Idaho was dismissed as environmentally unsound, as well as the tremendous value of the Beavers in other Idaho habitats. In all,…