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He’s offering a price to buy it out way over what it is going for right now.

From an investment standpoint, what is Twitter really worth? They have no tangible assets, just a forum for people to chat about stuff.

Trump is having a tough time getting his platform up and running. Lots of bugs but it is making progress. For lots less money. Still in Beta, not ready for Prime-Time.

Or maybe Musk is just throwing a high offer out knowing that it will be rejected. Just monkeying with the fish. Lots of worms in the water knowing that they won’t bite. I suspect that that’s what he is doing.

Again, Twitter really doesn’t have much real value, plus Musk, if he took it over, would have to deal with all of those Libs who now work for it and would never work for him. Those Libs would leave programing time-bombs that would cause the platform to crash. They would never follow Musk’s directives. All new hires. The algorithms are already written to cancel out Conservative comments.

Can’t change the Libs mind-set nor get them to change the programing. So from a business standpoint, there is no way that Musk would really buy this thing. Sort of like buying some of those Chinese “Ghost” cities that were built, knowing that they were built with “Chinese” materials and labor. Pre-programed to crash.

Uhhh, You didn’t hear this from me, BUT, Trump Media is set to merge with Digital out of Miami. (AWAC W&U). They are a “buying” agency. No assets, just buys companies.
And Trump Media (tmtgcorp.com) wants to buy and create non-biased media outlets.
And then Rumble, a very conservative media outlet pulls up its snowshoes from chilly Canada and moves to warm, sunny mid-Gulf Florida. Longboat Key, across the State from Palm Beach and Miami, but still pretty darn close.
Hmmm. Inquiring minds would like to know...
(And yes, I’ve bought AWAC). Went from under $10/share the week previous, to $175 and now settled back to $64 today. Go Trump Media!

I did this FR post on 8/18/20 when the Buffett/GOLD subject came up. I’ll do it one more time for reference as to what he is really doing...Bob

---

8/18/20
While Buffett’s purchase of about 21 million shares of Barrick might seem like he is changing his attitude about hard gold (bars), his investment in Barrick makes considerable sense. Note that the stock symbol for Barrick is “GOLD” so when the news states that Buffett buys “gold”, the actual news is that he bought a huge quantity of a stock in a mining company with with the symbol of “GOLD”.

From Buffett’s standpoint, Barrick pays a pretty good dividend plus has increased in value. A good stock for Buffett to add to his portfolio. (Which in reality is only about 0.3% of the entire B-H portfolio).

The big deal here is that Barrick is probably going to be the miner who will develop the Pebble Mine in Alaska. Pebble is the largest undeveloped Copper, Gold, Silver (and some Rare Earths too) in the world. And unlike lots of mines around the world, there is little concern for the eventual developer that some foreign country’s dictator will take it over after development.

Northern Dynasty (NAK) has spent years proving that this is a huge deposit and they just received the FEIS (Final Environmental Impact Study) from the COE. Completely favorable and contrary to the Greenies, there are no Salmon anywhere near this proposed mine. Alaska traded forested “State” land for this bare, dirt area that the Fed’s owned. Specifically for mineral mining.

Within the next two weeks, the ROD (Record of Decision) will be filed and the Fed’s will then turn it over to Alaska for their approvals. Alaska really wants this mine. Jobs, income, development for the local tribes.

Note that Trump had the Governor of Alaska down for a chat a few weeks ago.

And that’s why Buffett bought a huge chunk of Barrick. It’s an incredible opportunity for years and years of very profitable mining. And that’s the rest of the story.

While Buffett’s purchase of about 21 million shares of Barrick might seem like he is changing his attitude about hard gold (bars), his investment in Barrick makes considerable sense. Note that the stock symbol for Barrick is “GOLD” so when the news states that Buffett buys “gold”, the actual news is that he bought a huge quantity of a stock in a mining company with with the symbol of “GOLD”.

From Buffett’s standpoint, Barrick pays a pretty good dividend plus has increased in value. A good stock for Buffett to add to his portfolio. (Which in reality is only about 0.3% of the entire B-H portfolio).

The big deal here is that Barrick is probably going to be the miner who will develop the Pebble Mine in Alaska. Pebble is the largest undeveloped Copper, Gold, Silver (and some Rare Earths too), in the world. And unlike lots of mines around the world, there is little concern for the eventual developer that some foreign country’s dictator will take it over after development.

Northern Dynasty (NAK) has spent years proving that this is a huge deposit and they just received the FEIS (Final Environmental Impact Study) from the COE. Completely favorable and contrary to the Greenies, there are no Salmon anywhere near this proposed mine. Alaska traded forested “State” land for this bare, dirt area that the Fed’s owned. Specifically for mineral mining.

Within the next two weeks, the ROD (Record of Decision) will be filed and the Fed’s will then turn it over to Alaska for their approvals. Alaska really wants this mine. Jobs, income, development for the local tribes.

Note that Trump had the Governor of Alaska down for a chat a few weeks ago.

And that’s why Buffett bought a huge chunk of Barrick. It’s an incredible opportunity for years and years of very profitable mining. And that’s the rest of the story.

Flowers are blooming here in sunny, yet chilly (70 degrees?) mid-Gulf Florida. As noted last week, I’ve been using my MicroGreen seed germinator to germinate flower seeds. Works great.

Had two Sweet Potatoes sprout in the kitchen so instead of throwing them out, I dug a hole in the garden and some very nice purple vines are now growing.

Went to a local hospital thrift store and found 32 copies of “The English Garden”. Published in the U.K. from early 2000. A great magazine for garden dreaming. Found at a local yard sale last week, about 25 copies of “The Garden Gate”. A very good garden magazine published in the U.S.

The Sunflowers are now about 3’ high. Saved some Golden Cantaloupe seeds a while back so I’m going to try them in the MicroGreen germinator and if they sprout, into the flower garden they go.

Lots of my Orchids are getting ready to bloom. Normally I buy them in the Walmart “Orphan” area in the back. Remove them from the nasty confining tiny pots and mount them on a wooden plank with some moss. Lightly spray them every couple days to soak the wood and the moss...Bob

Dianna, The huge problem here (mid-Gulf Florida) are the Fruit Rats and the Squirrels that will dig up your Sunflower seeds the night after you plant them. If you are going right into the ground with the Sunflower seeds rather than using a germinating tray, sprinkle some Cayenne Pepper where you have planted them. Keeps them away for a while. I also found that Mint Extract mixed with water in a spray bottle works great too. It confuses their cute little noses.

Grow the Mint in your garden, harvest some, mix with water in a blender and pour over the seeds/plants.

Otherwise, use the germinating tray, (look up MicroGreen Germinating Tray on Amazon, about $12) to assure that you will be planting good, solid 6” Sunflower “plants” from your Solo cup, instead of the easy to eat seeds.

Also, I made my own “Germinating Trays”. Went to DollarTree and bought a bunch of 12x9x4” plastic trays with lids and some of the $Tree carpet rectangles. I cut the carpet into three sections per carpet rectangle, measured to fit the rounded corners of the tray. I put my copy paper over the carpet and put some water, not much, into the tray to soak the carpet/paper. Then the seeds.

This is a very cheap way to make a germinating tray, about $1.50/tray including the carpet compared to the $12 tray. The downside is you have to monitor the water level more often to make sure that it is not flooding the seeds or drying them out. You are looking for “dampness and humidity” in the closed tray to sprout the seeds. I mostly get my seeds from “SeedsNeeds” either direct or on Amazon.

If you are looking for “bulk” seeds, head to Walmart and buy “Parrot” Sunflower Seeds. They might not be all tall Sunflowers but you will get tons of nice flowers. By the way, Sunflower “bird” seed makes smaller size Sunflowers, sort of like Daisy’s. Perfect for a meadow appearance. ..Bob

I thought that I’d pass this tid-bit along.

A couple months ago in my quest for eating healthy, I bought a Micro-Green germinating tray and a pound of seeds. The tray has a bottom that holds water and then a perforated tray that fits over the bottom and then a clear cover to hold the moisture in.

Well, germinating the Micro-Greens worked great but pulling them out and trimming them for a salad was way too much work. But, I thought that if the tray can germinate Micro-Greens, it should be just fine for flower seeds.

Yup, started with a variety of Sunflowers, Zinnias and Marigolds. All germinated in a few days to a week. I had put a layer of kitchen paper towel down on the bottom of the perforated tray to keep the tiny seeds from falling through to the bottom, but found that some types of seeds, pretty much as soon as they germinate, try to dig their root down into the soft paper towel which makes them difficult to transplant to dirt-cups for the next stage of their life.

So I started using normal white copy paper. The roots just grow/expand along the surface so that you can pick up the new plant with plastic tweezers for transplanting. The advantage of germinating the seeds in the tray is that you can see the germinating growth rate, monitor the moisture level and get a much better percentage of germinated seeds compared to just putting them in dirt. I transplant them to small plastic “Solo” cups with soft potting soil (the cups have a hole drilled in the bottom, and then after they have grown for a couple weeks and the roots are established, transplant to normal size Solo cups (with holes) Then a couple weeks later, to the ground.

This would work very well for most any vegetable too. I removed the seeds from an elderly Russian Black tomato a few weeks ago, (I put the tomato seeds in a screen colander, wash them with dish soap to remove the goo and then put them out in the sun to dry), put the dried seeds in the germinating tray and I now have 100 Russian Black tomato seedlings growing in Solo cups. No idea what I am going to do with them all but it was fun doing the process.

I’m in mid-Gulf Florida so I’m trying to get all the outside “farming” work out of the way (1/4 acre canal house) before it gets too hot/humid here. Lots of new flowers growing in the four flower gardens that were formerly grassed yard when I moved here last April. The soil here has lots of silica in it so you really have to blast the water hose into the soil to get it down and mixed. Dish detergent helps to break the surface tension at the beginning of the growing season.

By using the germinating tray, you can have a constant fresh supply of seedlings/flowers as the old one’s die off. Perfect for Sunflowers…Bob

PJ, Here’s one that we did back in 2016, mid-Gulf Florida looking Northwest.

We set it to some really nice Bosa Nova music. I don’t post enough to do a proper link so someone please make a magic link so a copy/paste is not needed.

Sit back with a nice bottle of wine and watch the show.

(Didn’t mean to hijack your thread PJ, just more of our famous Florida lightning)

CB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwhF_GNAZl4

Pebble Mine up in Alaska awaiting Fed. approvals. Some Rare Earths but one of the largest undeveloped Copper/Gold mines in the world. (As well as Quaterra-Groundhog undeveloped Copper/Gold mine just below Pebble):

https://www.northerndynastyminerals.com

https://www.quaterra.com

I mentioned a while back that we have been using Mint Extract in a spray bottle of water to keep the rats/squirrels from eating the tomatoes and sunflowers. Just spray some around the stalks and onto the veggies and it seems to fool their noses.

Just planted a bunch of new sunflower seeds yesterday. I use inverted clear plastic cups with a wood skewer pushed through a drilled hole in the bottom (which is now the top). The clear cup protects the seeds from the vermin until the plant starts to outgrow the cup.

Had some extra seeds left over so as another experiment, instead of the Mint Extract spray, I cut off some of our Mint plants that we are growing in our 28 cup hydroponic Tower Garden and spread the cut vines around where the seeds were planted.

Just an experiment but since Mint “grows like a weed” and is free, compared to the Extract, might be nice to know if simply spreading some cut Mint around the seeds, will deter the rodents.

I’ll report in...

I'm not sure if I saw this helpful garden hint on FR-Garden or not but that Slug reminded me of an "electric" fence, specifically for slugs.

Simple to build and install. It's just a common 9 volt battery with one long bare wire attached to the Positive/+ terminal and another one attached to the Negative/- terminal. Both bare wires are stretched around whatever you want to protect from the slimy creatures, separated by about 1/2". The wires don't touch each other. The idea is that the Slug crawls over the first wire and when it reaches the other it gets a small tingle/shock. Doesn't kill them but notifies them not to crawl "across the border". The 9 volt battery lasts for a couple months since there is nothing drawing power from it except when the Slug makes is illegal crossing.

Sort of like testing a 9 volt battery with your tongue.

We have a 28 cup hydroponic Tower Garden where we are growing Milkweed for the Monarch Butterflies and Parsley/Dill for the Swallowtails. We don't have the Slug problem but I'm going to see if the "electric fence" concept works for our local Geckos that like to eat the baby butterfly caterpillars. No idea on that since their feet have to be somewhat wet for the electricity to conduct. I'll report in...

PS: Look up "Electric Slug Fence". Lots of links plus someone who is making/selling them.

PPS: Many years ago, while well-versed in the 9 volt battery-tongue testing method, I tried it with a telephone line that I was installing. Found out that 9 volts is a bit different than 48 volts. Branded my tongue.

I agree with the Vinegar (acid) and the dish detergent (a wetting agent to help the acid dry out the leaves) but not sure about the Epsom Salts.

I use Epsom Salts on all my plants. It's not a "salt" but Sulphur and Magnesium which the plants need to germinate, grow and otherwise, have fun as plants.

https://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org/uses-benefits/gardening/

Just add a tablespoon to a gallon of water and pour over the plants. Works great and turns the pale green plants to a dark green, healthy color.

So, I'm not sure how the Epsom Salts would help kill weeds. Might make them happy for a while as they shrivel up and die, but otherwise, I'd use it on the healthy plants instead.

PS: We have a lot of silica in the dirt down here in mid-Gulf Western Florida so irrigation water doesn't soak very far down. By holding a cheap dish detergent bottle over a spray of hose water, the detergent breaks down the surface tension of the dirt so that the water from the hose will go deeper into the dirt. Works great...

Diana,

Take a look at this gizmo for making your own planting "Pellets".

https://www.amazon.com/Carrot-Design-Newspaper-Biodegradable-Seedling/dp/B01DE38236/ref=sr_1_48?ie=UTF8&qid=1533412128&sr=8-48&keywords=seed+planter+machine

You just cut some newspaper or any type of rapidly decomposing paper around the plunger, push it into the wooden mold and you have a very nice small "pot" to fill with your gardening dirt mix. We use ours all the time.

Also, here's one more gardening gizmo that I really like. Its a small plastic shovel shaped seed planter with a "clicker" that you turn with your finger while holding the planter over your seed hole or dirt. A couple clicks and the loaded seed travels down the spout and pops out the end. Much more dependable than trying to shake seeds, one at a time, out of a packet or your fingers. The trick is to just hold the planter in your hand and don't let it touch your other hand or the side of the tray. It has to "jiggle" for it to work.

https://www.amazon.com/LUSTER-Rapitest-Vibrating-Seedmaster-Vegetable/dp/B01LWE4M9B/ref=sr_1_46?ie=UTF8&qid=1533412425&sr=8-46&keywords=seed+planter+machine

I've used it for both large and tiny seeds, works great.

CB from mid-Gulf West Florida...

Greetings from mid-Gulf/West Florida.

Our “gardening” off of our canal condo is based on our 28 cup hydroponic “Tower Garden”.

These are known for producing tons of Lettuces. Grew so much we had to give away most of it. No particular bug problem.

Pulled it all out and planted Strawberries but they apparently didn’t like the water nutrient plus the Japanese Beetles got to them.

Now its dedicated to “growing” Butterflies. This past January we started breeding Monarch’s from their eggs laid on our Milkweed. Three 5-gallon aquariums. By last month we had launched 358 of the “flying flowers”.

Got to be too much work so the Tower Garden is now loaded with Dill and Parsley for the Swallowtails and Milkweed for the Monarch’s. We already have eggs laid and are awaiting the hatchlings.

The trick here is to keep the Geckos from eating them. We have mesh bags to cover the plants as soon as we see the eggs hatch. Fun stuff and we’ve got at least 15 various Butterflies in our flower gardens out back at one time, flitting around.

Our Campari Tomatoes are in blossom now. Using a couple 5-gallon containers. The seeds came from washed ripe Campari’s.

The Tower Garden has one “Sweet Golden Mellon” as an experiment. We save all our mellon seeds as well as the seeds from any peppers we buy.

Be sure to try using the Peppermint Extract added to water in a sprayer to keep the squirrels and rats from your vegetables. We had a lot of success with it. Apparently goofs up their smeller internal programs. For a larger garden, just pour an entire 2 oz. bottle (Walmart or any food store) into a 2 gallon pump sprayer and do a light spray, morning and evening. See if it works for you.

Reporting in from hot/humid August Florida. CB

An update on our quest to eliminate our mid-Florida/Gulf side Fruit Rats (and Squirrels) from biting our growing/ripe Tomatoes and Strawberries.

We do our “gardening” off the back of our ground floor condo in a couple 5 gallon buckets and a very nice 28 cup hydroponic Tower Garden.

Always had problems with the biters chewing on our veggies/fruit. Tried quite a number of home remedies but it looks like our water spray bottle mix of plain water with some bottled Mint or Peppermint Extract (Walmart in 2 oz bottles) appears to work. (Just a splash into the water, not the full bottle).

We do a light spray in the morning and then in the evening. This is the first year we have had absolutely no bites. (And we can see the Fruit Rats running around at dark).

So based on this amazing discovery (?), the theory is that the smell of the Mint is something that either doesn’t register with the critters as friendly food, or it is disgusting to them and they stay away.

This has worked with planted Sunflower seeds and seedlings too.

We wonder if other “smelly” flavors might also do the trick.

We are growing Dill for our Swallowtail Butterflies here and it emits quite the odor when crushed. So, as a cheaper/home-grown anti-rat spray mix, we are going to try Dill in the blender, filtered for the clear liquid.

We will report in…

Yup, Rent a fleet of professional Goats:

http://www.floridagoatrental.com

Get them in there before you do anything else like further trying to clear the land. Goats love Poison Ivy. As noted, don't ever burn any brush that might have any Poison Ivy mixed in with it. You'll regret it for weeks...

A follow up to my anti-varmint “mint” spray that I’ve been using on my tomatoes here in mid-Gulf sunny Florida.

As noted, we have a huge problem with fruit rats (cute small rats, but are still rats), that eat tomatoes, corn and most anything else that they can find in the middle of the night to munch on.

Typically they choose tomatoes that are just about ripe, but occasionally just bite a green one, probably for spite.

I’ve used powdered Cayenne (one pound shake jars/Amazon) in the past but you have to refresh it after watering and it’s tough to get it onto the plant leaves and fruit. I suspect that if the critters try to walk through it and lick their paws, it gets a bit toasty for them, but not if they jump onto the plant from a higher platform which they have been known to do.

So, the search was for something else as a deterrent and I discovered Mint or Peppermint Extract from Walmart or any food store. Just pour a small amount into a spray bottle, add water and spray all over the plant, pot dirt and surrounding area. Much easier than sprinkling powdered Cayenne.

Rather than being a deterrent, it confuses the critter’s internal smell programs (ISP’s) and doesn’t smell like anything that registers as something good to chew on.

I spray in the morning, afternoon (mainly for the squirrels) and then in the late evening. So far, on my Campari tomatoes, no signs of our fruit rats. I’ll check in with further results. The Campari’s are just turning red.

I also spray our 28 cup vertical hydroponic “Tower Garden” to protect the Strawberries.

(I’ve even put out a Trail Cam (“AimTom” brand/Amazon) to record the varmints, just in case).

Now to the Campari tomato seeds and where I got them…

I squished a few overripe Campari’s, put the seeds pods into a fine screen colander ran water over the mass, picked out the non-seed parts, added some dish detergent, swished the goop/seeds around for a while with my fingers, then washed all the goop off the now separated seeds.

I mention this because the common method of harvesting tomato seeds is to put the mass into a jar, add water, let it sit for a couple days to ferment (yuck) and then drain away the stinky stuff. A colander, dish detergent and water is much more appetizing.

Some won’t germinate but they are free.

I do this same exact seed harvesting with Cantaloupes and various melons. Very easy to do and did the same with the tiny seeds from overly soft Blackberries. Small screen colander, dish detergent and water. Simple…

Bob/Bradenton

Just finished Robert B. Parker's "Hundred-Dollar Baby". Third of his Spencer books about the girl he saved, "April Kyle". Finished one of his "Jesse" books prior.

Rereading (probably for the 10th time), John D. MacDonald's "The Turquoise Lament". I've got every one of his paperbacks about Travis (and others) but at 70, I'm now rereading them in hardcover/larger print. 1st Edition 1973.

A bit different from gardens in backyards, we are in a single condo here in mid-Gulf sunny Florida with a small patio out the back facing the saltwater canal. Ground level/Eastern sun.

I did a five bucket hydroponic system for tomatoes and peppers a few years ago. Timed nutrient water and aeration. Perlite as the growing medium.

Worked quite well but the tomatoes had absolutely no flavor at all. (Watery?) I’m used to Eastern Shore Maryland tomatoes…

Also, as addressed below, we have loads of Fruit Rats down here who seem to start chewing just as we are getting ready to harvest the tomatoes.

Got rid of the five bucket system and replaced it with a yardsale purchased “Tower Garden”. 28 vertical cups with a 20 gallon nutrient tank below with a timed pump where the fluid is pumped up the middle and flows by drip gravity back down the inside of the tower flooding the cups.

Very good system. Had more Lettuce (many varieties) than we could use. Gave away lots.

Now Marigolds at the top, Strawberries, Calendula flowers and a more conservative variety of Lettuce’s.

We start all our flowers/vegetables/Sunflowers, etc. in plastic cups (with holes drilled in the bottom), potting soil and placed in trays to contain the water.

So that’s a description of our little “garden”.

As noted, this big deal here are the various varmints that eat the newly planted seeds, the seedlings and the finished flowers/vegetables.

Tried powdered Cayenne Pepper but it’s a big deal to constantly refresh it.

The most recent deterrent that seems to be working quite well is liquid Peppermint Extract mixed in a spray bottle with water. Seems to confuse the seed smeller’s noses so they go elsewhere. Very easy to apply anytime.

Feel free to pass along any other varmint deterrent hints, Thanks…

That Avast virus warning was in the Double Neck picture as:

www.doublenecksg.com/images/star-page/ace1.jpg

As noted, don't hit on it...