Sunday, March 13, 2022

PUTIN'S WAR -- PUZZLING TERMS -- CATTLE CLIMBER

I would like to go through one week without some mechanical or tech device not requiring special operational attention or my having a dental or medical issue surfacing.  These are minor irritants for me compared to major catastrophes occurring in life for too many people around the world.  Most recently I continue to think of Ukraine.

Maybe I've become more sensitive to my personal annoyances since the pandemic descended upon us even though the virus effects appear to have lessened some presently.  Now, the invasion and atrocities committed by Putin's Russian army including slaughtering Ukrainian civilians also generates negative feelings in me.

One result of Putin's war on Ukraine felt here in SoCal is auto gasoline costs have been increasing every night.  The past week 13 cents a gallon has been added each of several successive nights with expectations that total costs per gallon will rise to $6, even $7 or more soon.  My displeasure with this added expense mellows a bit when I consider these higher gas rates are said to be a consequence of U.S. efforts to pressure Putin to stop his war, thus help the brave Ukrainians resistance.  Ukraine's needs are so much greater than my own, with no end in sight, and so little else I can do.

I welcome opportunities to lighten my mood a bit, often find entertainment in the most mundane places.  My attraction to unusual topics reflects my somewhat warped sense of humor though you may or may not perceive the matter in quite the same way.  One such topic is this recent TV news story I discovered being reported somewhat differently on various news channels.   With tongue in cheek, I note they all raised a fundamental question many may wonder about whenever any one of these animals is seen -- cow, bull, or steer?

The initial TV station I viewed, KCAL-TV, the male anchor described an escaped "steer" being shown racing for freedom on city streets before being safely corralled in a yard.  The female co-anchor then referred to her partner's steer as a "cow".  From that point forward they both used only the term "cow" which I found perturbing -- because I thought the animal was definitely a male, in fact a steer.  Why did the male anchor change the term he used?

A subsequent TV channel, KABC-LA reported the same story with both the male and female anchors describing an escaped "bull".   Maybe a bull or a steer (castrated male/bull is what seemed visually obvious to me) -- a cow (female animal) it was not.

I suppose some adults don't know how to discern the difference between male and female cattle or bovines, but that's another topic I'll not get into here.  However, I got to thinking about another matter -- what do we call one "bovine" if we're unable to see the physical differences to determine cow or bull?  I've not heard people say, "Oh, see that bovine?"

A pig is a pig, a horse is a horse, whether male or female.  Cattle, if just one animal is a bovine -- but who says that term?  

A third TV station's KABC-LA news anchor laughingly summed up the story by noting confusion in their newsroom as to whether the animal was a cow or bull.  He concluded his life experience had familiarized him with these animals and this was a bull.  All I can say is that he must have had a view not shown in the various news videos I saw, because I think it was a steer, but a bull is a more accurate term than a cow.

Finally, FOX 11 has a local newsman who generally really tries to get his stories straight (unlike some on FOX national network level, IMHO).   He described the animal as a steer.  A recorded earlier clip of his station reporters filming live from their helicopter in their audio used the term, cow.  I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they couldn't see the animal well enough at their altitude in the sky to discern if it was a steer or bull.

I subsequently noted in this NBCLA News video, totally off base with a "cow" designation, also answering an additional unrelated question about which I'm sure we've all wondered -- can cattle climb stairs?  Especially anyone living in a dwelling with steps considering having one of these animals as a pet would certainly want to know the answer to that question.


The matter is resolved in my mind that this bovine is a steer.  The issue of a commonly used term we can use, like we use pig or horse, for the unknown sex of a singular one of these cattle animals continues to be bovine at best as far as I know, unless you know some term I don't.

Now that I've brought these monumental issues to your attention, please feel free to make any astute observations, including disagreeing with me, that may come to your mind.  I hope, if you didn't already know, that you appreciate the fact I've also shown you that cattle can climb stairs, or at least this steer can. 

18 comments:

  1. In India, it is impossible to make such goof ups. We are still predominantly rural/agricultural and almost all of us living in cities and towns have connections with our villages. Cattle is part of life and from childhood we are raised to cherish them.

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    1. I’ve known Indians revered cattle so am not surprised that all would recognize cows fro bulls, etc. I suppose knowledge about cattle does come down to individuals exposure to them. City people here in the U.S. and elsewhere may never encountered them as strange as that seems to me.

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  2. You've reminded me of something George Bernard Shaw said.

    “Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.”

    This is a serious time, and I loved the moment when I learned that cattle can choose to step away from the herd, taking solitary walks in major cities and climbing stairs.

    Thank you, Joared, for your sense of gravity and levity.

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    1. I think this animal’s adventure turned out to be less enjoyable than he might have desired.

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  3. For clarity of communication, I call them all cows, period. I recognize the differences, but everyone knows what a COW is.

    Putin is a war criminal and a madman. I cannot believe what is happening to Ukraine and the international community. Despite so many online "experts'" opinions, there are no easy answers.

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    1. Perhaps the word meaning of cow may need to be adjusted with one meaning to include both the male and female as language usage evolves.

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  4. Well done on distinguishing cattle gender. Having raised day old calves, I am familiar with the different names for the different genders of cattle but pretty sure most people were raised thinking the "cow" in cowboy covered all genders:)
    I wasn't able to check out the plumbing on the one running up the stairs. That was impressive.

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    1. I saw other videos the other stations featured so had some closer looks at him.

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  5. Having no farm connections whatever, I would be just as uncertain as to what type of animal it was. Very clever of it to manage to climb the stairs. The story reminds me of the mountain goats in North Wales that come down into Llandudno when the weather is too dreadful higher up.

    $6 a gallon would be approximately what we're paying for petrol right now (about £1.50 a litre). I don't understand why your petrol prices are escalating when surely the US itself produces plenty of oil and has little need of Russian oil - or am I missing something?

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    1. California gas costs are always higher than the rest of our country for several reasons. One is we have the highest auto environmental requirements in our country. We also pay the highest taxes on each gallon. Each year in a short time our refineries will have to alter their mix for the summer to meet our state requirements which always increases the cost of our gas. Only about 8% of oil is reported to be imported to the U.S. from Russia and 90% is produced domestically. World crude oil costs affecting U.S., also, have been upset impacting us, too. This is how it's explained as I understand it, but I don't profess to be an expert on the matter.

      Once again, some government officials want an investigation to make sure oil companies aren't gouging us. They want legislation to require oil companies reveal how much profit they're actually making on each gallon sold. This isn't the first year questions of possible gouging consumers has come up but there's either never been any follow-thru or no meaningful evidence of such has been found.

      There are also people who want our gasoline taxes reduced to lessen the costs, but that's not likely to happen 'cause legislators are said to believe consumers would raise a ruckus if govt. wanted to raise them again. Our state has a huge "rainy day" cash reserve that some say should be tapped into with a rebate given to each resident with a car. Some other ideas, too. Only time will tell if any actually are adopted.

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  6. Thanks for that explanation. You refer to world crude oil costs. I only realised recently that a lot of commodities are traded at an agreed international price so there's limited scope for individual countries to vary the price to the consumer.

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    1. Yes, I understand, too, that if the U.S. releases extra oil it goes to the world market and not directly to the benefit of the U.S.

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  7. I’ve heard tell (and would the internet lie to me?) that cows (they didn’t mention bulls) can climb stairs (as was demonstrated in the video) but can’t climb down them.
    Has anyone fact checked this?

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    1. Ah, a welcome voice from “down under” is heard raising a very important question, but I have no evidence to provide an answer. I do not know if cattle, be they cows, bulls, or steers, can go down stairs. More knowledgable people than I will have to answer that question. Surely the internet would not lie about the cows.

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    2. Googling tells me that cows find it very hard to walk down stairs because the incline and structure of stairs are not found in nature and are tailored for human leg proportions.

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    3. Now we know. Thanks, Nick!

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  8. I did not know that cattle had so many names for the different genders and their condition. Wow! I'm not sure I could keep it straight.

    I just heard Arnold's video to the Russian people. I hope it does something. Putin is a madman.

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    1. There are probably more people than I realized unfamiliar with those 3 labels affixed to cattle — cows, bulls, steers.

      I, too, hope the Russian people heard Arnold’s message since they reportedly highly regard him. I think most autocratic rulers are likely to do whatever it takes to stay in power which makes them especially dangerous like madmen. We had a taste of that here beginning in 2016 and could become much worse if a leader’s power became absolute.

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