^^^ OMG! I LOVE the lab!

The most stressful thing in my life at the moment is my Environmental Conservation class. Luckily, I have an AMAZING professor who is very inspiring. However, there are very high expectations in this class. Most of the informaiton that I have gained has been obtained by myself. This is a research-based class and the professor has made it crystal clear that he has no responsibility in the matter of us students gaining factual knowledge; it is completely in our hands. With this comes many question lists and criteria for what we need to do well...and we fill in the blanks. Currently, I am preparing myself for a meeting with some genius professor at a nearby research lab who specializes in methylmercury. I have a whole list of questions he sent to our class that is supposed to help prepare us to have a conversation with this guy. Mind you, this is the first time I have even HEARD of methylmercury. I know a lot more now than I did a couple weeks ago...yet, not nearly enough to feel confident enough to step into a lab with this mercury god. Speaking of God, perhaps I should try praying on the matter.

^^^ HAHA! We're testing fish... This cartoon is SO going to my professor.

To give you an idea, here is a small list of a few questions I am asking myself:

-What is the statistical population about which you are asking this question? Will you compare the results for the population to another population? What other population? How will you do the comparison?

-What are the qualities of a good measured value for mercury? What will you do to make sure that all of your measurements have these qualities?

-How will you summarize your numbers? Is your sampling system the best method for your summary?

At all these, I throw up my hands and say, "WHERE DO I LEARN ALL THIS STUFF?!" Which is why I need to make this entry as breif as possible...because right now, I have some reading to do about methylmercury analysis and testing...so I know what the heck I am talking about.

^^^ Also funny...but luckily we're not testing sharks...agh.

So now onto a more interesting topic! Has anyone ever taken notice to the phenomenon of stuffed animals in the rear windows of cars? And it's always in those little beat-up Carola-type vehicles. You know, the ones with the front right corner dented in where the driver probably clipped a mailbox somewhere along the way? Dull gold paint, a broken rear-view mirror, and a fur steering-wheel cover? Yeah. You know them.

^^^ Oh no.

Would someone please tell me WHY you would be inclined to put stuffed animals in the rear window of your car? If you are old enough to drive, you should be old enough to do it without your Binky's going with you. And have you ever noticed that it's always those T.Y. "beanie babies." Let's just talk about this for a second. Beanie Babies? Think about the name. Beanie Baby. Truly? And aren't those things really expensive? Another thing I want to know; what in tarnation makes those Beanie Babies so freakin' special? IT'S BEADS CONTAINED BY A PIECE OF FABRIC IN THE SHAPE OF AN ANIMAL! The only thing that makes them cool is the strange names that T.Y. gives to these poor creatures.

^^^ Gag.

It's like having the job where you name fingernail polish colors "Deer Valley Spice" or "Marooned on the Magnificent Mile" or "Peachy Keen". Thank YOU O.P.I. Apparently, that's Madonna's favorite nail polish brand; they must be doing something right. (Disclaimer: Marooned on the Magnificent Mile is like, my favorite!). When I interned at the Gallery this past summer, I had to re-organize all the frame mats and through this, learned many-a-stange color name. Things like, "Moroccan Sunrise" and "Handicapped Parking Spot Blue." Ok, I exaggerated on that last one, but you get the point.

^^^ And apparently they have a new "India" line...I'm on it!

So in summary, take the stuffed animals out of your vehicle; at least the Beanie Babies. If not for yourself, do it for the fact that it's an obstruction to your view through your broken rearview mirror. Happy trails out there on the road!

During this time I was becoming increasingly unhappy with my job as a technical writer in Belleville, IL. I had recently been promoted and the added responsibility called for me to track down people within the company and extract information that they had no time to give me. For a social phobic, that's not the best type of job to have.

So instead of working, I used my office hours to read about vegetarianism. I don't remember why, but one day I decided to check out PETA's website. That's where it began. I was going down a road that I quickly realized I wouldn't be returning on. I started printing articles and kept them in my "vegetarian" folder. I read Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating by Erik Marcus at work. I spent hours at GoVeg.com, a part of PETA. I watched "Meet Your Meat," a horrifying video. This summarizes this short 13 minute film.

PETA's most popular video, narrated by Alec Baldwin, contains factory farming footage from birth to slaughter. This video exposes the truth about the meat industry. If you show a meat-eater only one video, make it this one!

I was immediately convinced by all of the main arguments against consuming meat. Reading all of this (from PETA, again) is really taking me back four years to that period where I was soaking this stuff up. I remember sharing what I had learned with Jennifer in the evenings and telling her that after learning all of this there was no way I could NOT become a vegetarian. I felt like I had no choice.

For Animals

• Animals on factory farms are treated like meat, milk, and egg machines. Chickens have their sensitive beaks seared off with a hot blade, and male cattle and pigs are castrated without any painkillers. All farmed chickens, turkeys, and pigs spend their brief lives in dark and crowded warehouses, many of them so cramped that they can't even turn around or spread a single wing. They are mired in their own waste, and the stench of ammonia fills the air. Animals raised for food are bred and drugged to grow as large as possible as quickly as possible—many are so heavy that they become crippled under their own weight and die within inches of their water supply.
• Animals on factory farms do not see the sun or get a breath of fresh air until they are prodded and crammed onto trucks for a nightmarish ride to the slaughterhouse, often through weather extremes and always without food or water. Many die during transport, and others are too sick or weak to walk off the truck after they reach the slaughterhouse. The animals who survive this hellish ordeal are hung upside-down and their throats are slit, often while they're completely conscious. Many are still alive while they are skinned, hacked into pieces, or scalded in the defeathering tanks.

For Your Health

• Some of the leading killers in America today, including heart disease, cancer, obesity, and strokes, are directly linked to meat-based diets. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in America today, and it is caused by the build-up of cholesterol and saturated fat from animal products in our arteries. The only two doctors in human history who have successfully reversed heart disease have included an exclusively vegetarian diet as a part of their programs. The average vegan cholesterol level is 133 (compared to 210 for meat-eaters); there are no documented cases of heart attacks in individuals with cholesterol under 150. Other health problems tied to clogged arteries, like poor circulation and atherosclerotic strokes, can be virtually eliminated with a vegan diet.
• Vegans are approximately one-ninth as likely to be obese as meat-eaters and have a cancer rate that is only 40 percent that of meat-eaters. People who consume animal products are also at increased risk for many other illnesses, including strokes, obesity, osteoporosis, arthritis, Alzheimer's, multiple allergies, diabetes, and food poisoning.

For the Environment

• America's meat addiction is poisoning and depleting our potable water, arable land, and clean air. More than half of the water used in the United States today goes to animal agriculture, and since farmed animals produce 130 times more excrement than the human population, the run-off from their waste is fouling our waterways. Animal excrement emits gases, such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, that poison the air around farms, as well as methane and nitrous oxide, which are major contributors to global warming. Forests are being bulldozed to make more room for factory farms and feed crops to feed farmed animals, and this destruction causes soil erosion and contributes to species extinction and habitat loss. Raising animals for food also requires massive amounts of food and raw materials: Farmed animals consume 70 percent of the corn, wheat, and other grains that we grow, and one-third of all the raw materials and fossil fuels used in the U.S. go to raising animals for food. In short, our country's meat addiction is wrecking the earth.

I am a happy fish owner. I just love watching and caring for them. Taking care of fish isn't hard, though it isn't exactly easy for someone that's never had fish before. There are a few things that you absolutely should know if you want to have thriving fish.

You see, you need to recognize that a fish's natural environment is very different from your own. Gerbils, for example, can thrive in a normal home with little adjustment. Now could you imagine how long a fish would last if you brought him home from the pet store and sat him on the chair?

Here are some important fish tips:

1) Do not overfeed your fish: This cannot be stressed enough! Fish almost always appear hungry, but if you fed them as much as they'd like, you would have a sick fish on your hands fairly fast . Try to follow the rule of thumb that you only want to feed them what they can consume in 2 to 5 minutes.

2) Keep a Close Eye on Your New Pets: Once you watch your fish for a while, you will begin to see patterns in how they act. It is crucial to take notice to this, so you can spot it right away when something is wrong. Fish get sick, and the only way to treat them effectively is by noticing a change in their appearance or behavior as soon as possible.

3) Keep your aquarium in a safe place: You will want to make sure that your aquarium is out of the sun. Sunlight will cause algae to grow and can also raise the water temperature to an uncomfortable point for your pets.

I hope you enjoy your fish, just make sure you take care of them to ensure a happy and long life.

Learn everything you absolutely need to know to have healthy and happy fish in my free fish care newsletter.

Latest article on website: How to Build an Aquarium.

We went to the Bode museum today, just to see if we could manage with the three kids. It turns out, we can't really: J. was only marginally interested in the sculptures/paintings, Bas. was in complete agony from being overtired, teething and hungry and Bal. was the only one doing ok, sucking his thumb while looking around. The visit ended abruptly with J. deciding it was a good idea to recline Bas.' buggy so that he would sleep (sthg which he is not allowed to do, him being only three and all) and completely quetsching the poor childs arm in the process. Everyone started howling on cue -- and we fled the scene for home.
Funtimes!

After we had put everyone to sleep, we started relaxing, twittering around and generally doing things for our own enjoyment. Meaning, I baked and cooked, while L. computered!
I don't know if it was to match the weather or the atmosphere in Berlin, but the meal ended up being a nice welcoming of fall: a plum tarte and neck of pork (Schweinekamm / échine de porc) braised in the oven with caramelized prunes. It was totally delicious and along with the nap made everybody feel much better about the weekend. I especially urge you to go make that pork now, because it's that easy and good!

As an aside, I also tried to replicate the delicious meal L. and I had on our night out, celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary. We went to a big opening, which was great fun, the art on display just as much as the people we met, but the real highlight of the night was the fish with chanterelles in barbecue sauce that we ate later that night at Toca Rouge.
I had already been converted by my father to the idea of serving fish and fresh chanterelles together, but the barbecue sauce was just perfect. When I tried to re-do it (with ginger, hoisin, rice vinegar, soy and a splash of sichara hot sauce), I couldn't figure out what it was that made theirs so special, but I will try again until I figure it out! In the meantime, please come forth with suggestions or, if you are in Berlin, go check out the place!

Braised Pork Neck with dried Prunes*

Prep Time: 15 min cooking time: 50 min

700 g pork neck, deboned
1 medium sized red onion, roughly chopped
200 g chopped dried prunes (1 packed cup)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar (you can subsitute it with balsamic vinegar)
1 /3 cup of water or a little more
1 tsp each of rosemary and thyme

cast iron pot with a tight fitting lid (can be substituted with tin foil)

Preheat the oven to 190°. Heat the oil in the pot on the stove and add the herbs and chopped red onion. Cook for a minute or until fragrant.
Add the pork and make sure to sear it well on both sides. Put the chopped prunes and stir until evenly coated. Pour over the vinegar, cover with the lid and cook in the oven for about 50 min.
When the meat is done, let it rest covered, for another 10 min to let the the meat stay tender and juicy. Eat with mashed / steamed potatoes or rice.

Plum tarte

prep time: 5min, cooling time: 30 min, baking time 40 min
metal mixing bowl and knife or food processor tarte tin

for the Dough**

2 cups of flour (about 240 g)
1/2 tsp salt
100 g sugar
145 g cold cold butter
3 tbsp icecold water

for the Filling

800 g ripe plums washed, stoned and halved
2 tsp of semolina
2 tsp of brown sugar
butter
more sugar to taste

Keep your ingredients very cold. Cut the butter in cubes and using a knife, cut it into the flour, salt and sugar, or mix it in your foodprocessor until it looks like coarse crumbs. Add the cold water bit by bit until the dough starts to come together. Roll it together in a ball, wrap it in clingfoil and put it in the fridge to rest for 30 min or up to overnight.

When you are ready, butter and flour your tarte tin and roll out your dough to fill it's size. Sprinkle the sugar and semolina onto the dough and arrange your plum halves in the tin. I like to alternate between one half facing up and one facing down, so as not get the bottom of my tarte too soggy.*** Add a couple of pats of butter, sprinkle with some or lots more sugar and bake for about 40 min.

* I'm sorry, but dried prunes sound terrifyingly unappetizing!

** I have already blogged this tarte dough before and still stand by the fact that it's the Bestest!

*** You can see in the picture that I ran out of plums halfway, I only had one scant pound, don't make the same mistake: really pack the tin full with them!

This just in: CharlesTrippy is about to eat fish for the first time! What a risk-taker! Who knows how his stomach will react to the salmon, since Charles has spent so many years subsisting on only corn chips, Mountain Dew and hair dye.

Also, props to Charles for FINALLY pointing out that salmon is a fish. We had no idea! Up until now, we thought salmon was a rare breed of legless, water-dwelling dog.

Thanks for the info, Charles! And we hope your brave culinary adventure into eating fish like every other human being is a success!

Bon appetit!

Ingredients
1 green onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped tomato
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup uncooked couscous
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
4 (6-ounce) sea bass or halibut fillets (about 1 1/2 inches thick)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
8 (1/4-inch-thick) slices lemon, halved (about 1 lemon)
Whole chives (optional)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Cut green onion into 3-inch pieces, and cut pieces into julienne strips.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds or until garlic begins to brown. Add the tomato and onions; reduce heat to medium, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in 2 tablespoons lemon juice, vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Keep warm.

Combine 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and broth in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Gradually stir in couscous and chopped chives. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Cover and keep warm.

Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Place fillets in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Place 4 halved lemon slices on each fillet. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve over couscous, and top with vinaigrette. Garnish with whole chives, if desired.

That being said the right tools make all the difference. Lets start out with the knife. A good filet knife is a combination of sharpness, strength, and flexibility. The knife needs to be strong enough to push through the flesh of the Salmon along the backbone. It also needs to be sharp, and hold its edge well, so that you can glide the knife through the fish instead of having to saw through it. Lastly is flexibility, you want a knife with a little bend in it, so that you can skin your filets and glide the knife down the backbone without your hand and knuckles grinding along the table like some kind of caveman.

One knife is used more than just about any other by fishermen here in Alaska, including the comercial guys, is the white handled Dexter-Russell Filet Knife.

This knife has a great combination of what we talked about before, holds and edge well, has a great handle with excellent grip, and cleans up super easily.

Another problem for fishermen is how do you get out those pesky pin bones without losing a buch of the meat. One popular solution is needle-nose pliers. Make sure they are clean and do not use the pair from your shop. A better solution might suprise you.

They are called needle holders, or sometimes needle drivers. It is a surgical tool used by doctors and dentists to suture wounds in tight spaces.

Why are these so much better then pliers? They lock in place, they do not slip, and they let you pull out bone after bone without having to repeatedly clean off the tip. You can pick up pairs of these surgical tools inexpensively online, and impress your freinds while the struggle with pliers.

Good Luck fishing and Tight Lines to you. For more information on Fishing in Alaska be sure to subscribe and read this blog regularly.

a) implica tecnologia cara e sofisticada.

b) o material pode ser arquivado por longos períodos.

c) funciona, na prática, como um exame imuno-histoquímico comum.

d) permite que os resultados sejam visualizados no microscópio óptico comum.

R: A.

O CISH (hibridização cromogênica in situ) utiliza-se do teste comercial SpoT-Light. A metodologia também pesquisa o DNA do gene HER2. O probe de DNA para essa testagem não é disponível nos Estados Unidos.

O método utiliza-se de material fixado em parafina. A tecnologia utilizada é a mesma do FISH, mas o sinal cromogênico pode ser detectado similarmente à imuno-histoquímica, e um microscópio óptico comum pode ser utilizado para a leitura. Além disso, o teste custa um quarto do FISH. Mais informações aqui.

Little Shrimp Casseroles

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 cup minced scallions
1/2 cup coarsely chopped white button mushrooms (about 2 mushrooms)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsps canola oil
1 lb large shrimp (about 24), shelled
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (from about 3/4 slice white bread processed in a food processor)
1/4 cup dry white wine

Mix the butter in a large bowl with the garlic, scallions, mushrooms, salt and pepper, and 1 tbsp of the oil. Add the shrimp and toss to mix well. Divide the mixture among four individual gratin dishes with about a 1-cup capacity, or spoon into one large gratin dish or shallow baking dish.

In another bowl, toss the bread crumbs with the remaining 1 tbsp oil, so that they are lightly coated but still fluffy. Sprinkle the crumbs over the shrimp mixture and pour the wine on top.

About 30 minutes before serving time, heat the oven to 425 degrees. When the oven is ready, place the gratin dishes or dish on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until the topping is nicely browned and the shrimp are just cooked through. Serve immediately.

Varieties of Angelfish

One of the most popular aquarium fish species is the dwarf Angelfish. Because of its tiny size, the dwarf Angelfish is perfect for a small home aquarium. The Coral beauty Angelfish has a red body with bluish-black and orange fins. It will grow to a maximum size of four inches, and is easy to care for. The Eibli Angelfish grows to a length of six inches. It has a tan body with vertical brown-colored stripes and very distinctive black blotches that cover the entirety of the back of the fish. The Flame Angelfish can carefully live in a reef tank. This dwarf aquarium Angelfish species is six inches long and has an orange-red body with black strips running from top to bottom. 

The Orange-black Angelfish is an alternative desirable aquarium fish species. This three-inch long, dark blue fish has a golden blaze that runs from the face down the dorsal fin.  The half-black Angelfish is a difficult aquarium fish species to care for. This fish comes in colors of grayscale, except for its eye, which has a vivid orange accent.

Herald's Angelfish is four inches long and is a buttery lemon yellow, with a brown accent at the eye. The Lemonpeel Angelfish is an alternative difficult fish to raise and care for. Like Herald's Angelfish, the Lemonpeel Angelfish is bright yellow with a dark semicircle near the eye.

Barred Angelfish is only four inches long, with black and white vertical strips extending from head to tail. The Barred Angelfish is also difficult to care for. Potter's Angelfish is yet another difficult aquarium fish species to own. It is a lovely fish, with a blue body and rosy fins.

The Pygmy, or Cherub, Angelfish is remotely easier to keep. This blue-bodied fish has an orange yellow head and grows to a length of three inches. And the Rusty Angelfish lives easily among coral reefs. Four inches long, it has a tan body with dark spots and red near the rear.

Omnivorous Fish Species

All dwarf Angelfish are omnivores, eating both animals and vegetables. Macro-algae are their vegetable matter of choice. Other than the Flame Angelfish, Dwarf Angelfish are not considered safe around reefs. Add them at your own risk if you have a reef tank. However, if you have an average aquarium fish tank, Dwarf Angelfish will thrive in their environment and provide you with many enjoyable hours of fish watching.

The short answer is no because it will turn you into a kitten :P Take a look at a scientific answer:

In Japanese cuisine, sushi (寿司, 鮨, 鮓) is vinegared rice, usually topped with other ingredients, including fish, various meats, and vegetables. Outside of Japan, sushi is sometimes misunderstood to mean the raw fish itself, or even any fresh raw-seafood dishes. In Japan, sliced raw fish alone is called sashimi (刺身)and is distinct from sushi, as sashimi is the raw fish component, not the rice component.

The word sashimi means "pierced body", i.e. "刺身 = sashimi = 刺し = sashi (pierced, stuck) and 身 = mi (body, meat), may derive from the culinary practice of sticking the fish's tail and fin to the slices in identifying the fish being eaten.

Problem

- If the culprit is a tapeworm, fluke, or flatworm, you may not even know it until it passes out in your stool. Or you might experience nausea, cramps, and diarrhea.
- Bacteria can develop in non-fresh fish and produce enzymes called histamines that may result in Scombroid poisoning.
- Certain tropical-water fish may also have a natural toxin called ciguatera which causes gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms.
- The bacillus cereus bacteria can spread rapidly in rice that sits at room temperature. Sushi rice requires an acidic bath in a vinegary solution that lowers the PH to 4.1, killing troublemaking microbes and making sushi safer for the everyday foodie.
- If the worm you swallow is the roundworm (Anisakis simplex), it may tickle your throat as it is swallowed, causing you to cough or vomit it up. Or it can bore into your stomach or gut lining, causing severe abdominal inflammation and pain that mimics appendicitis or an ulcer, often within an hour of eating. Getting the worm out at this point is no simple matter - it requires an endoscope or surgery.
- Other Foodborne illnesses

Solution:

Freezing

- European Union regulations: freezing fish at -20°C (-4°F) for 24 hours kills parasites.
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends freezing at -35°C (-31°F) for 15 hours, or at -20°C (-4°F) for 7 days.
- Please note, home freezers usually can't reach temperatures this low.

Choose Your Fish

- Food and Drug Administration recommends sticking with mid-ocean fish like yellow-fin tuna, which have a very low risk of parasites. To further minimize the risk, order vegetable or processed varieties like smoked salmon.
- Dr. Andrew Weil advises against eating tuna, as well as bluefish, swordfish, king mackerel, tile fish and marlin in any form because of the high levels of mercury they contain.

How often people get sick because of sushi?

The cases of sushi-related illness fall far below the number of people sickened by contaminated produce such jalapeno peppers. Even in those rare cases, the rice in sushi is more often the culprit than the fish.

The chance of getting sick from fish, cooked or raw, is actually much less than from chicken or meat, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) statistics tell us.

Who should avoid eating sushi?

People in frail healthy, compromised immune system, elderly, young children, and pregnant women.

Safe sushi eating tips from experts:

- Order sushi from reputable restaurants, where the restaurant and fish provider follow food safety standards. You can ask if the fish has been previously frozen.
- Completely cooked is always the safest way to eat fish
- The FDA recommends that you don't risk eating raw fish if you're pregnant or have a compromised immune system.
- Don't make your own sushi with raw fish unless you can freeze the fish for more than 72 hours at 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Instead, use cooked fish or vegetables.

Watch this tutorial about proper etiquette when ordering and eating sushi :)

Resources:

• Sushi (Wiki)
• Sashimi (Wiki)
• Is Sushi Safe to Eat? (Live Science)
• Is sushi safe to eat? The raw facts may make your skin crawl (Bnet)
• How Safe is Sushi? (Dr. Andrew Weil)
• Is Sushi Safe? (Good Housekeeping - Nutrition)
• Get Hooked on Sushi: Tips and Recipes (Medicine Net)

This little story — unique to Matthew's gospel — concerns the temple tax which was a tax first imposed by Moses for the upkeep of the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 30.11-16). It is a story that is full of interest.

Under Moses, the tax was imposed every time there was a census, but by the time of Jesus it was an annual tax which, though it lacked the sanction of Roman law, every Jew between the ages of twenty and fifty was expected to pay. And that brings us to the first point of interest. For although Jesus and his disciples were all there, newly arrived together in Capernaum when the demand for the temple tax was made, only Jesus and Peter ended up paying the tax.

Why just those two? Surely it must have been that they were the only two people in the company who were over the age of twenty. In other words, Jesus' other eleven disciples must still have been in their teens — though we usually imagine them to be older, closer to the age of Jesus. But the fact is that, in those days, someone who wanted to be a rabbi's talmid or disciple would generally join him at the age of fifteen; so there would be nothing at all unusual about James, John, Andrew, Philip and the rest all being little more than boys.

The second point of interest is the fish. Commentators tend to pour scorn on the idea of a fish being caught with a coin in its mouth, but there is in fact a fish called a tilapia found in Galilee (Sarotherodon galilaeus galilaeus) that carries its eggs and later its young in its mouth. Once the young must be made to fend for themselves, the tilapia picks up a stone or any other suitably-sized object that it can find and carries that in its mouth instead of the young so as to prevent the young returning. So it is certainly within the bounds of possibility that a tilapia could be caught carrying in its mouth a coin that someone had lost overboard while sailing on Galilee.

So much for the background. What of the teaching? Peter is clearly being taken to task for affirming that Jesus does pay the temple tax, but why wouldn't he pay it? He was a Jew over the age of twenty. On what grounds could he possibly be exempt? Jesus explains by way of a rabbinical kind of question. Do kings who impose taxes collect them from their own sons? No. So work it out for yourself Peter ... Who is the king who collects the temple tax? God. The temple tax is an obligation to God. But what has Peter just heard God say about Jesus on the mount of transfiguration? "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (Matthew 17.5). So should Jesus, as God's son, pay the tax due to God? No, "the sons are exempt".

I note the plural. The sons are exempt; not the son is exempt. Jesus is including Peter in his sonship exemption, and when he instructs Peter to pay the tax it is "so that we may not offend them." The new kingdom, the kingdom of God that has dawned with the coming of Jesus, is a kingdom of no-one but those who are sons and daughters of God. Or to put it the other way round: all who enter the kingdom of God through Jesus (and there is no other way) become sons and daughters of God by doing so.

But the teaching here is also that, until that kingdom comes in all its fulness, the sons and daughters of God must follow Jesus in his humble submission to the duties and demands that fall on everyone in this world. We cannot go around claiming our exemption. What we can do, however, is to rely on the fact that Jesus will enable us to fulfil what is required of us. This story ends by assuring me that he will provide the wherewithall to pay my "tax" as well as his own — whatever that "tax" might be.

Then something strange happened.

The largest dolphin (mammal) either one of us had ever seen started thrashing around at the end of the seawall in about 3 or 4 feet of water. Jim went to the truck to get his camera. I stayed on the wall with my fishing rod and immediately saw the object of flipper's desire - a large black drum. I yelled at Jim to get a speargun; he came back from the truck and shot the drum from the wall. Damn thing weighed 16 lb and is easily a new MAUEX record, eclipsing the previous mark of VACANT. Much respect to the dolphin for delivering us this delicious fish.