Pigs! Lately I’ve been watching or actually more like listening to YouTube videos while at work including North Country Off-Grid and jnull0 and Our Wyoming Life. I also sometimes listen to the NRA’s Cam Edwards 40 acres and a Fool podcast, where one of livestock he raises in tammaworth heritage hogs.
Growing up my neighbors raised hogs besides other livestock. Some of my friends from high school still have them. Pigs are kind of smelly, they root around in grain and food scraps that ferments when they rot. They can be rough on fences too and can tear up a landscape rooting around in the mud, seeking a good wallow to cool themselves out. Wild hogs, which have long escaped shooting preserves and farms can be incredibly destructive to farms and forest alike.
I’m not that much of a fan of store-bought bacon, especially after I let some bacon spoil and then try to cook it, but there are many cuts of pork that are incredibly delicious. Definitely need a strong fence, truck and a cage to move the hogs around, although I guess I would be better to shoot and process the animal on my own land. I’m not much of a meat cutter but I could learn, burying the guts on my own land so they rot away in a few years rather than sit in a landfill for a million years, compacted next to plastic bags and crushed television sets.
When I own my off grid cabin, my hope is to live as close to zero landfill as possible, putting waste to as high of use as possible.I don’t generate that much in food waste, keeping it out of the garbage keeps it drier so anything I end up ultimately burning out back will burn hotter and cleaner. Turning food scraps into feed and ultimately food is even better. Sure, I can and will compost but feed us a higher use. Likewise paper trash like shredded junk mail can be used for bedding, one more thing to keep out of landfills and out my burn pit, as most paper products don’t really burn that well, especially if they are wet.
Owning hogs might mean that I’m more strapped to my land, but when I’m at the point of having an off grid cabin I don’t think I’ll be as interested in traveling and camping, as I’ll have much of the same adventures on my land.
I think that’s Blake Shelton’s favorite word. And I was curious about the history of the word – that refers to a female dog – and why it’s considered so offensive but now is used more informally at least around us adults.So like I’ve been doing when I have questions like this, I reached out to my new found virtual friend, Google AI.
While the literal meaning of “bitch” is a female dog, the reason it is considered offensive when applied to people is more complex than just a canine comparison. Its power as an insult comes from its long history of being used to dehumanize women, enforce submissive behavior, and control their sexuality.
1. Historical Roots: Comparison to a “Dog in Heat”
The term first became a derogatory slur for women around the 1400s. At that time, it was primarily a sexual slur meant to suggest that a woman had “loose morals” or an insatiable sexual appetite, metaphorically comparing her behavior to that of a female dog in heat.
Worse than “Whore”: Historically, calling someone a “bitch” was considered even more offensive than “whore” because it implied the woman was acting out of animalistic, “shameless” desire rather than for a practical or financial gain.
The “Son of a Bitch” Slur: This common phrase originally insulted both a man and his mother by questioning his legitimacy, implying his mother had been as “indiscriminate” in her breeding as a dog.
2. Weapon Against Female Autonomy
In the 20th century, especially around the 1920s, the term’s usage surged as a backlash against the women’s suffrage movement.
Punishing Assertiveness: It became a catch-all term to discredit women who were seen as “stepping out of their place”—those who were assertive, ambitious, or politically active.
Reinforcing Gender Roles: Even today, a woman is often called a “bitch” for behaviors that would be considered strong or “boss-like” in a man, such as being direct or demanding.
3. The “Subordinate” Slur for Men
When directed at men, the term is offensive because it emasculates the target. By calling a man a “bitch,” the speaker implies he is being weak, cowardly, or submissive—qualities traditionally and sexistly attributed to being “like a woman”. In this context, it uses femininity as the ultimate insult.
4. Reclamation and Modern Conflict
Starting in the late 20th century, some feminists began reclaiming the word as a badge of honor to signify strength and independence (e.g., the Bitch Media magazine or songs like Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch”). However, many still find it offensive because:
It is frequently used to dehumanize women before or during acts of violence.
Its deep roots in sexism and misogyny make it difficult for many to see it as truly empowering.
Berkshire Hogs, the ones that Mariaville Farm raise and smoke over on Duanesville Church Road and sell at For the Love of Bacon are particularly rich in delicious fat.
Some people like bacon with their eggs. That seems like a bit to much saturated fat and way too greasy to me. But I sure like a slice – or even a half slice of bacon fried up with onions, mushroom, zucchuni and spinach – for that rich salty bacon taste without too much grease all around. It’s a good alternative to olive or avacado oil, and adds so much as a special treat while I camp.
At first I was like this sucks, what to do with all my books, movie, music on my phone, along with the primary way I tell time. How to listen to music or get the news, my old clock radio‘s capacitors are shot and while it tells me the time, it has just crackles when I turn on the radio? I actually liked the silence, a slept well last night with the help of a few sleeping pills, some weed, no blue screens and a warm heated blanket.
Not having a radio, much less a television or internet without my phone, it seemed quite isolated and quiet. But it was good to get up and not be bombarded with the latest news from the Trumpster or all that crap on social media emphasizing how wonderful plastic houses and 20-year old Honda Civics really are for commuting to your office in the suburbs. Even riding in on the bike, I didn’t miss out on the tunes. Tomorrow I will be busing it in, and I’ll miss the phone for listening to tunes on the bus, but I can bring a book to pass the time. I was actually re-reading Bill McKibbean’s Deep Economy, to pass the time, and see how dated that book was last night, honestly that book is pretty dated at this point and has some mold growing on, and probably belongs best in a white garbage bag full of other wrappers melting in a fire.
So yeah, it’s a different world without a cellphone. Amazing how dependent I’ve gotten on that little $250 device over the years, and how much it provides from radio to news, music to videos and texting communications. I don’t even have a working radio at home. Actually, that’s part of the reason that I want a cellphone booster, because I don’t have a radio and it’s really a drag to camp anywhere these days without good cell reception, especially when remote working. 📶 A solid cellphone connection makes all the difference, especially when remote working or streaming the radio. Not that I need more hours about Trump and the politicians are fucking up everything. And maybe a break from all those Ian Tyson records, as I don’t need a Alberta Proud bumpster sticker on my truck, though I was pricing out the cost of making a “The GodZilla Holstein” windshield sticker for my new truck, lol!
Last night, I rode my mountain bike to Price Chopper to get some more carrots, bananas and oatmeal. Different stores have groceries that I like, packaged the way prefer, especially right now when I don’t have the SuperDuty to haul my garbage to the transfer station or up in woods where I can have a fire. It’s actually been saving me money, as I’ve cut more things out of my diet that come in a lot of packaging, like grated cheese and maple syrup but don’t really give me much pleasure beyond maybe watching it go up in smoke. I didn’t put carrots in the cornmeal pancakes this morning, but I did use plenty of onions 🧅 and peas 🫛 in the mix. Discovered when I bought coffee earlier in the week I didn’t get ground beans, but the food processor with some water ground up coffee beans just fine. So I was good.
Riding in was fine, and maybe the sad desperate individual without a SuperDuty will ride his bike home on Second and Delaware Avenue, even though it sucks with the traffic it beats the yokel local bus. I am hoping for a shit ton of rain tomorrow not just for the shit to be floating in the river, but so to get rid of that pesky snow on the bike trail. There is enough light now to ride both ways, and in two and a half weeks we will have light into the evening, so maybe I can ride out to Five Rivers and read until dusk. That will make days so much nicer, especially once I can turn off that god-damn heat off in my drafty apartment, and enjoy the fresh air with the windows open.
But it was good to get up and not be bombarded with the latest news from the Trumpster or all that crap on social media emphasizing how wonderful plastic houses and 20-year old Honda Civics really are for commuting to your office in the suburbs. Even riding in on the bike, I didn’t miss out on the tunes. Tomorrow I will be busing it in, 
and I’ll miss the phone for listening to tunes on the bus, but I can bring a book to pass the time. I was actually re-reading Bill McKibbean’s Deep Economy, to pass the time, and see how dated that book was last night, 
honestly that book is pretty dated at this point and has some mold growing on, and probably belongs best in a white garbage bag full of other wrappers melting in a fire. 
Amazing how dependent I’ve gotten on that little $250 device over the years, and how much it provides from radio to news, music to videos and texting communications. 
I don’t even have a working radio at home. Actually, that’s part of the reason that I want a cellphone booster, because I don’t have a radio and it’s really a drag to camp anywhere these days without good cell reception, especially when remote working. 📶 A solid cellphone connection makes all the difference, especially when remote working or streaming the radio. Not that I need more hours about Trump and the politicians are fucking up everything. And maybe a break from all those Ian Tyson records, as I don’t need a Alberta Proud bumpster sticker on my truck, though I was pricing out the cost of making a “The GodZilla Holstein” windshield sticker for my new truck, lol!
Different stores have groceries that I like, packaged the way prefer, especially right now when I don’t have the SuperDuty to haul my garbage to the transfer station or up in woods where I can have a fire. It’s actually been saving me money, as I’ve cut more things out of my diet that come in a lot of packaging, like grated cheese and maple syrup but don’t really give me much pleasure beyond maybe watching it go up in smoke. 
I didn’t put carrots in the cornmeal pancakes this morning, but I did use plenty of onions 🧅 and peas 🫛 in the mix. 
Discovered when I bought coffee earlier in the week I didn’t get ground beans, but the food processor with some water ground up coffee beans just fine. So I was good.
and maybe the sad desperate individual without a SuperDuty will ride his bike home on Second and Delaware Avenue, even though it sucks with the traffic it beats the yokel local bus. 
but so to get rid of that pesky snow on the bike trail. There is enough light now to ride both ways, and in two and a half weeks we will have light into the evening, so maybe I can ride out to Five Rivers and read until dusk. That will make days so much nicer, especially once I can turn off that god-damn heat off in my drafty apartment, and enjoy the fresh air with the windows open. 