Henry Plummer For Western Wednesday...!

Ol' Henry couldn't decide weather to be a good guy or a bad man, so he became both.

I have to wonder why people kept on putting him in office, given his background and all. Just no accounting for some people's common sense, I reckon.

Henry Plummer

In 1856, Henry Plummer was elected sheriff of Nevada City, California and served two terms before he was convicted of second-degree murder for killing his mistress’ husband. Having served only six months in San Quentin before being pardoned by the governor, Plummer returned to Nevada City, this time he was elected to Assistant Marshal. Avoiding prosecution for killing a man in a whorehouse brawl, Plummer fled in 1861, ultimately settling in Idaho where he took up with a gang of highwaymen.

Due to his influence, the gang became known as “The Innocence” who robbed and murdered travailing miners. In 1863, “The Innocence” followed Plummer to Bannack, Montana, where he was elected sheriff. While in office, Plummer ran an effective and deadly criminal ring, providing his henchmen with the routes of gold shipments, as well as their protection, all the while the gang ran rampant in Bannack without the fear of ramification. After the robbery and murder of more than 100 locals, a team of nearly 2,000 settlers turned vigilantes captured and hanged a weeping Plummer and two of his men on the same gallows the crooked sheriff had prepared for another.

Seems like Henry must have been a good politician, or else he wouldn't have been elected as often as he was. Probably should have remained on the side of the law. It would have been better for his health, for sure!

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Freshly baked sugar cookies are available.

Medicine That Can Kill Or Cure...!

Actually, I don't think the medicine can kill ya, but rather the ingredients.

I guess I was lucky in the fact that I never took any Castor Oil, but I heard that it tasted really bad. Most medicine tends to taste less than good, in my opinion. Aspirin, which is my go to for aches and pains, taste terrible if you let it dissolve on the tongue.

Castor plants

Thinking back to the time your mother forced Castor oil down your throat, I bet you would never have guessed that it came from the most poisonous plant in the world (even if it did taste like it).

Castor plants are indigenous to the Mediterranean basin, eastern Africa and India, but are widely grown as an ornamental plant. A toxin called ricin is found throughout the plant, but is concentrated in the seeds/beans (which castor oil is made from). One raw seed is enough to kill a human in 2 days, which makes for a long, agonizing and unstoppable death. The first symptoms will be experienced within a few hours and will include a burning sensation in the throat & mouth, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. The process is unstoppable and the final cause of death will be dehydration.

Strangely, humans are the most sensitive to these seeds, as it takes 1-4 to kill a full grown human, 11 to kill a dog and a whopping 80 seeds to kill a duck. The castor plant currently holds the Guinness World Record for most poisonous plant.

Guess it lends new meaning to the saying "If it don't kill ya, it will make you stronger!"

Coffee out on the patio, hot as it is!

Let's Talk About Avocados...!

Nearly everyone I know likes the Avocados, mainly when it's made into a dip (guacamole) or when used on a sandwich!

I'll be the very first to admit that I never knew about this information I found over at KnowledgeNuts! This is why I love doing research! You can find out the most interesting things!

Avocados, The Toxic Berry

By Jamie Frater on Monday, July 15, 2013

Avocados are toxic to almost all animals (including cats and dogs). Humans are a rare exception. It is the only fruit to contain persin, a fatty acid, which, when eaten by animals causes vomiting, diarrhea, and other nasty symptoms. Consumption of large quantities can cause death within twelve hours.

Avocados are berries (fleshy fruits coming from a single ovary). Interestingly, this broad definition of a berry means that bananas, pumpkin, tomatoes, watermelon, and coffee are also berries (you can tell that to the next person who tries to argue that tomatoes are vegetables). Curiously this also excludes strawberries as berries.

Eighty percent of modern avocados originate from one “mother” tree which was patented by mailman Rudolph Hass from California in 1935. The tree survived until 2002 when it died of root rot. Unfortunately Hass only made $5,000 in his lifetime from his patent on the tree because his partner sold cultivars to anyone who wanted to buy them. Subsequently Hass spent the remainder of his life working for the California Mail Service.

Avocado also has an interesting characteristic: it is the only berry with no living animal large enough to spread it through consumption and release as dung. This has led scientists to believe that it co-evolved with prehistoric megafauna that were large enough to eat the fruit whole. The megafauna went extinct but the avocado remained as an unusual monument to an unknown dinosaur.

All I know is that I love them, especially as a side with some good Tex-Mex food! I like 'em sliced as well. I usually squeeze a little lemon on 'em to keep 'em from turning black!

Coffee out on the patio again this morning. Summer seems to be back with us again!