Sunday, March 07, 2010

Timed Event Championship: Peek Is The World Champion

COLORADO’S JOSH PEEK FINALLY GETS THE GOLD BUCKLE

Adversity doesn't stop Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo. It never has. A year ago, Peek was leading the Wrangler Timed Event Championship of the World at the Lazy E Arena with one run left. He took a 60-second time in the steer roping, the equivalent of a no-time at the WTEC, and dropped to a fourth place finish. On Sunday, he was again leading the average with one run remaining. This time, the 30-year-old tied his steer down in 18.4 seconds to clinch the title of 2010 Wrangler Timed Event Champion of the World with 315.2 on 25 runs. He is the 11th man to win the title in the 26 years of the WTEC.

In addition to winning $50,000 for the average, Peek, the two-time PRCA Reserve All-Around World Champion, placed twice in the fast rounds and exited the Lazy E Arena this weekend with $58,000. "I was more prepared this year," he said. "Before I got here, I believed I was going to win." Again, he's faced adversity before. When Peek was 9 years old an old nail pierced the skin of his right foot. In a lot of cases, the story might have ended with tetanus shot. But Peek had stepped on this nail while in a pig pen. The child would undergo four surgeries, almost lose his foot and spend about a month in the hospital. In that span he would be given some antibiotics and that's what he's told induced epilepsy.

That didn't stop him. "Without adversity, you'll never achieve success," he said Sunday. "There will always be road bumps and you'll need the Lord and your family, but you also have to believe in yourself."

The WTEC annually takes 20 of the world's toughest cowboys to battle the clock and tests their talents in a marathon of team roping - heading and heeling, tie-down roping, steer wrestling and steer roping over five rounds for a share of a $150,000 total purse.

Peek went to the lead in the third round on the 14th run of the weekend. However, on the 19th run a fast running draw led to a 27.5 in the steer wrestling. He would end the fourth go in second place. In the fifth round, Peek dropped to third. The team roping - heeling shuffled the deck as K.C. Jones of Burlington, Wyo., a four-time WTEC Champion, dropped to third. Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, the six-time WTEC Champion, moved to the lead in the average and Peek went to second after 23 head. In the steer wrestling, Brazile had a tough steer, suffering a 60-second time. So, Peek tossed his draw in 4.1 seconds for 296.8 on 24 and the lead, with one run remaining. Jones was second. In the steer roping, Jones was 18-seconds for 343.0 on 25. Peek needed to be 46.1 for the win and was 18.4.

Jones finished second in the average for $25,000, while Jo Jo Lemond was third at 358.3 seconds for $15,000. Brazile claimed fourth with 364.9 for $10,000 and fifth was Chance Kelton of Mayer, Ariz., 367.6 for $7,500. Kelton also had the fastest round with 48 seconds in the second go for and additional $10,000.

Not long into Sunday's action, fans witnessed something never before done at the WTEC, as Jo Jo LeMond of Andrews, Texas, along with the assistance of World Champion Randon Adams, shattered the WTEC team roping - heading record with a 4.5-second run. The previous record was a 5.1-second run by B.J. Campbell in 2002. LeMond also holds the WTEC team roping-heeling record with a 4.9-second effort with Matt Sherwood in 2009.

The Ironman event of ProRodeo returned to the Fabulous Lazy E Arena this weekend in Guthrie, Oklahoma. For over two and a half decades, this one-of-a-kind event has showcased world champions and a cast of ProRodeo’s most elite cowboys competing in the most unique event in rodeo – the WTEC.

New in 2010, the Wrangler Timed Event Championship will be aired as a special on RFD-TV’s “Beyond Rodeo Show with Susie Dobbs”. The WTEC is proud to be partners with “Beyond Rodeo” and RFD-TV. Original air dates for the 2010 WTEC will be Wednesday, April 29th at 12:30PM Central and 10:30PM Central. Be sure and tune into RFD-TV and catch the action of this years WTEC event! Also new this year, the Lazy E was proud to have the WTEC broadcasted live on numerous radio stations across the country and on the web at ProRodeoLive.com. As always, fans can also re-live all the runs at the WTEC on DVD by ordering the entire show from Rodeo Video – don’t miss a run of your favorite WTEC competitor at Rodeo Video.

The 2010 Wrangler Timed Event Championship was sponsored by Wrangler in conjunction with, Ariat Boots, Priefert Ranch & Rodeo Equipment, Jack Daniels, Cross Bar Gallery, Dodge, Relentless Ropes by Cactus, John Vance Motors, Coca-Cola, Cinderella Horses.com, Corona Light, R.K. Black, Inc., Gist Silversmiths, Spin to Win Magazine, Cactus Saddlery, Hot Heels, Clear Channel Radio, The Oklahoman, Shorty’s Caboy Hattery, CSI Saddlepads, the Best Western Edmond, and the Fairfield Inn & Suites – Edmond.

The 2010 Wrangler Timed Event Championship is a Lazy E Production. For more information on the Wrangler Timed Event Championship or other Lazy E events, contact the Lazy E Arena, 9600 Lazy E Drive, Guthrie, OK 73044, (405) 282-RIDE, (800) 595-RIDE or visit www.lazye.com.

26th Annual Wrangler Timed Event Championship – Lazy E Arena, Guthrie, OK March 5-7

Fastest Go-Rounds

1. Chance Kelton – Mayer, AZ 48.0 seconds set in 2nd go $10,000

2. Josh Peek – Pueblo, CO 49.6 seconds set in 3rd go $ 6,000

3. Trevor Brazile – Decatur, TX 50.8 seconds set in 3rd go $ 5,000

4. Kyle Lockett – Visalia, CA 51.3 seconds set in 2nd go $ 4,000

5. JoJo LeMond – Andrews, TX 52.2 seconds set in 4th go $ 3,000

6. Josh Peek – Pueblo, CO 52.4 seconds set in 5th go $ 2,000

Average (total on 25 head of cattle over 5 go-rounds of competition)

1. Josh Peek 315.2 seconds $50,000

2. K.C. Jones – Burlington, WY 343.0 seconds $25,000

3. JoJo LeMond 358.3 seconds $15,000

4. Trevor Brazile 364.9 seconds $10,000

5. Chance Kelton 367.6 seconds $ 7,500

6. Beau Franzen – Sidney, MT 367.9 seconds $ 5,000

7. Kyle Lockett 388.0 seconds $ 4,500

8. Jimmie Cooper – Monument, NM 391.8 seconds $ 3,000


Arena record broken for $3,000 Lazy E Arena bonus

Team Roping - Heading

JoJo LeMond 4.5 seconds in 5th go breaking the 5.1 seconds of B.J. Campbell from 2002

WTEC Notes from 2010

Winning $58,000 Josh Peek’s cumulative Timed Event earnings total $79,500 for three years

Winning $25,000 K.C. Jones now totals $388,500 for 19 years

Winning $15,000 Trevor Brazile now totals $579,500 for 15 years

Winning $8,500 Kyle Lockett now totals $156,500 for 10 years

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

How high's the water, Momma?

by Julie Carter

Dan and Donnie were working on the Tierra Verde Ranch one exceptionally wet spring.

It had rained repeatedly. Deep mud prevailed and the ground was saturated to the hilt.

The duo had an old pickup they used to get around the ranch for feeding or whatever else needed doing. This relic had four-wheel drive, big tires, a good strong engine and a back window that was broken out.

Because of the rain and the fact that it could go most anywhere, the truck was christened Noah.

Cold, wet spring weather motivated them to acquire a new back window for Noah, which required an entire day of their time to install. The new window had a sliding glass opening which was just perfect for the special needs of cowboys, including but not limited to spitting and reaching the cooler strategically placed within reach.

The boss was gone one Saturday so Dan and Donnie decided to go to the Stephenville Horse Sale.

They didn't have any business going since individually or combined, they could not come up with $10. Nevertheless, they loaded Noah with their cooler and headed out.

When they arrived, they visited with friends, watched the sale and got caught up on the news.

On the way home, they had to pass the Ranch House Restaurant, where they noted that the parking lot was crowded with pickups. They figured it was just some of the sale barn crowd and so they decided to stop and continue the day's good time. But when they got inside, they discovered the crowd belonged to a wedding reception.

Nobody threw them out and there was food, beverage and pretty girls all dolled up in the wedding attire. Being the suave and debonair type of cowboys, they got one gal sorted out and soon had her agreeing to go with them for a ride in Noah.

The girl was a bridesmaid - fancied up in a full length formal gown that is required for such an affair. They took off in Noah with the girl in the middle, a cowboy on each side and the cooler just through the sliding window.

They were all getting along just fine. The roads were slick and the rain still falling when they came to a creek where water was rushing over the top of the road crossing.

Dan stopped the truck and a consultation was held. Donnie told Dan he had complete faith in Noah and to just take off.

Dan launched Noah into the creek and the rushing water promptly took them off the crossing and floating down the creek. Dan could feel the wheels touching bottom occasionally. It felt like the water wasn't too deep, so he didn't worry.

Eventually the girl became concerned that they might go too far down the creek. Dan climbed out Noah's sliding window, dropped a catch rope over the trailer ball and snared a big oak on the bank.

That stopped the truck from going any further. Dan sat down on the bank and watched the truck. At some point, Donnie thought Dan needed help, so he climbed out the window and joined in the sitting and watching.

Some later, the bridesmaid yelled at them from the truck. "Hey, did you guys forget something?"

Dan grabbed the rope and hand-over-hand, worked his way to the truck bed. There he rescued the cooler and brought it to the creek bank. He and Donnie had a few cool ones pondering the situation.

At some point, possibly near the end of the beer supply, it became apparent they were going to need some equipment to rescue Noah. They told the girl to stay with the truck while they went to get a tractor.

The general philosophy of "all's well that ends well" applied here. The truck was rescued, the occupant was safe and no harm was done.

However, Dan reports that that was one of the maddest women he has ever seen.

Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net.

Song Of The Day #254


Ranch Radio's Gospel tune this Sunday morning is Loretta Lynn's 1965 recording of If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again.

The song is available on her 12 track CD Hymns.




Big Brother Wants to Know All About You: The American Community Survey

Over the past several years, I have been barraged with emails from Americans expressing their dismay over the American Community Survey, the latest census form to hit randomly selected households on a continuous basis. Unlike the traditional census, which collects data every ten years and is now underway, the American Community Survey is taken every year at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. And at 28 pages (with an additional 16-page instruction packet), it contains some of the most detailed and intrusive questions ever put forth in a census questionnaire. These concern matters that the government simply has no business knowing, including a person’s job, income, physical and emotional health, family status, place of residence and intimate personal and private habits. As Beth found out, the survey is not voluntary. Answering the questions is not a polite request from the Census Bureau. You are legally obligated to answer. If you refuse, the fines are staggering. For every question not answered, there is a $100 fine. And for every intentionally false response to a question, the fine is $500. Therefore, if a person representing a two-person household refused to fill out any questions or simply answered nonsensically, the total fines could range from upwards of $10,000 and $50,000 for noncompliance. While the penalties for not answering are outrageous, the questions, as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has said, are “both ludicrous and insulting.” For example, the survey asks how many persons live in your home, along with their names and detailed information about them such as their relationship to you, marital status, race and their physical, mental and emotional problems, etc. The survey also asks how many bedrooms and bathrooms you have in your house, along with the kind of fuel used to heat your home, the cost of electricity, what type of mortgage you have, the amount of your monthly mortgage payments, property taxes and so on. This questionnaire also requires you to detail how many days you were sick last year, how many automobiles you own, whether you have trouble getting up the stairs and, amazingly, what time you leave for work every morning and how long it takes you to get there...read more

Feds weigh expansion of Internet monitoring

Homeland Security and the National Security Agency may be taking a closer look at Internet communications in the future. The Department of Homeland Security's top cybersecurity official told CNET on Wednesday that the department may eventually extend its Einstein technology, which is designed to detect and prevent electronic attacks, to networks operated by the private sector. The technology was created for federal networks. Greg Schaffer, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications, said in an interview that the department is evaluating whether Einstein "makes sense for expansion to critical infrastructure spaces" over time. Not much is known about how Einstein works, and the House Intelligence Committee once charged that descriptions were overly "vague" because of "excessive classification." The White House did confirm this week that the latest version, called Einstein 3, involves attempting to thwart in-progress cyberattacks by sharing information with the National Security Agency. Greater federal involvement in privately operated networks may spark privacy or surveillance concerns, not least because of the NSA's central involvement in the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping scandal. Earlier reports have said that Einstein 3 has the ability to read the content of emails and other messages, and that AT&T has been asked to test the system. (The Obama administration says the "contents" of communications are not shared with the NSA.)...read more

The Second Amendment and the States

Imagine you are a visitor from another planet reading the U.S. Constitution. You come to the 14th Amendment, where it says: "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." Might you not think this must be a pretty important provision? Now suppose you are told that, for over 135 years, the Supreme Court has, with one exception, entirely ignored that language. Might you question whether Supreme Court justices were bound by the written Constitution? Had you been seated in the Supreme Court yesterday to hear oral arguments in McDonald v. Chicago, your suspicions might well have been confirmed...read more

COMMENT: An informative discussion of the second amendment, incorporation, due process and the priviliges or immunities clause.

Texas secretly sends newborns' blood to feds for DNA database

When state health officials were sued last year for storing infant blood samples without parental consent, they said it was for medical research into birth defects, childhood cancer and environmental toxins. They never said they were turning over hundreds of dried blood samples to the federal government to help build a vast DNA database — a forensics tool designed to identify missing persons and crack cold cases. A Texas Tribune review of nine years' worth of e-mails and internal documents on the Department of State Health Services’ newborn blood screening program reveals the transfer of hundreds of infant blood spots to an Armed Forces lab to build a national and, someday, international mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) registry. The records, released after the state agreed in December to destroy more than 5 million infant blood spots, also show an effort to limit the public’s knowledge of aspects of the newborn blood program, and to manage the debate around it. But the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit never saw them, because the state settled the case so quickly that it never reached the discovery phase. Eventually, research proposals indicate, federal officials hoped to be able to share this data worldwide, “for international law enforcement and investigation in the context of homeland security and anti-terrorism efforts.”...read more

Homeland Security loses over 1,000 computers

New documents reveal that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to lose hundreds of computers per year. At least one DHS component agency maintains that the losses fall within accepted accounting standards. In fiscal year 2008, inventories of lost, stolen, and damaged equipment show that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) combined to lose no fewer than 985 computers. Meanwhile, the lost, stolen and damaged report for ICE shows 13 vehicles classified as "lost" or "not found during physical inventory." CBP's total inventory (immediately below) of lost stolen and damaged equipment tallies 1,975 pieces at a total valuation of $7.5 million. "When I look at these inventories with my own eyes, page after page, I still think there's a good chance that we're dealing with some significant security breaches, and possibly insider theft," said Jon Caldara, President of the Independence Institute which obtained the documents...read more

Anthrax Attacks Show Government Officials Made of (Flawed!) Human Material

“The federal government is supposed to protect us from terrorism.” This may have been a plausible theory at one time, but now, after a decade of goofs and lapses, it sounds more like the opening line of a late-night comedy routine. The latest revelation about government’s anti-terrorism programs makes for rather dark comedy indeed. The Department of Justice has just released a comprehensive, final report on the anthrax attacks that occurred in the United States in the fall of 2001. As the reader may recall, envelopes containing weapons-grade anthrax spores were mailed to media organizations and U. S. senators, resulting in the deaths of five people, and leading to the hospitalization of 17 others, and causing expensive cleanup efforts. Since the poisoned letters contained notes scrawled with “Allah is Great” and “Death to Israel,” these slogans suggested the perpetrator was a radical Muslim. Well, he wasn’t. After an exhaustive FBI investigation, the Justice department has concluded that the spores came from a U. S. Army medical research facility, and that the person responsible was a scientist, Bruce Ivins, who worked there. So “the worst act of bioterrorism in U. S. history,” (as the Washington Post described it), proved to be the work of a U. S. government employee: a nightmare version of “I’m from government and I’m here to help you.”...read more

4.5 SWAT Raids Per Day

Over the last six months of 2009, SWAT teams were deployed 804 times in the state of Maryland, or about 4.5 times per day. In Prince George's County alone, with its 850,000 residents, a SWAT team was deployed about once per day. According to a Baltimore Sun analysis, 94 percent of the state's SWAT deployments were used to serve search or arrest warrants, leaving just 6 percent in response to the kinds of barricades, bank robberies, hostage takings, and emergency situations for which SWAT teams were originally intended. Worse even than those dreary numbers is the fact that more than half of the county’s SWAT deployments were for misdemeanors and nonserious felonies. That means more than 100 times last year Prince George’s County brought state-sanctioned violence to confront people suspected of nonviolent crimes. And that's just one county in Maryland. The use of these paramilitary police units has increased dramatically over the last 30 years, by 1,000 percent or more, resulting in the drastic militarization of police. It's a trend that seems to have escaped much media and public notice, let alone informed debate about policies and oversight procedures...read more

Waste watchers? UK group fears trash bin spies

It's the new front in the nanny state: Microchips placed in garbage bins to monitor how much people throw away. A pro-privacy group warns in a new report that more than 2.6 million of the chips have been surreptitiously installed in what is seen as a first step toward charging those who toss too much. Proponents say it's a bid to push recycling. Opponents say it stinks. "They should mind their own business," said Terry Williams, an unemployed Londoner who thinks the government is meddling. "I believe they have gone too far. It's not like we are throwing away anything that is illegal." The advocacy group Big Brother Watch found through a series of Freedom of Information requests that many local governments, called councils in Britain, are installing the microchips in trash cans distributed to households, but in most cases have not yet activated them — in part because officials know the move would be unpopular. "They are waiting for the political climate to change before they start using them," said campaign director Dylan Sharpe, who predicted that families that produce large amounts of garbage would be fined...read more

Timed Event Championship - Video Ad

Timed Event Championship Round 4

Staying within striking distance. That's exactly what K.C. Jones of Burlington, Wyo. has done this weekend at the Wrangler Timed Event Championship of the World. The four-time WTEC champion was third after the opening round, fifth after two rounds and third after three go-rounds.

On Saturday night he struck. As others fell Jones continued to move up in the fourth round, all the way to the top. Now Jones leads the average with 253.9 seconds on 20 runs going into Sunday's fifth and final round of the 26th Wrangler Timed Event Championship of the World at the Lazy E Arena.

The WTEC takes 20 of the world's toughest cowboys to ever battle the clock and tests their talents in a marathon of team roping - heading and heeling, tie-down roping, steer wrestling and steer roping each round for five rounds. Waiting at the end is a total purse of $150,000, including a staggering $50,000 to the winner of the average after 25 runs.

Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo.led the average after Saturday afternoon's third round. In fact, he still led after three runs Saturday night with 218.7 on 18 runs. However, his steer sprinted out of the chute in steer wrestling. Peek didn't give up though and tossed him in 27.5 seconds. He would drop to third behind six-time WTEC champion and 11-time PRCA World Champion Trevor Brazile of Decatur and Jones, respectively, after 19 head. Brazile had been 17th after two runs in the first round but also stayed within striking distance for the lead at 230.3 on 19 runs.

Still the scoreboard was anything but settled. Brazile's steer roping draw took off to the back end of the arena. But Brazile stayed with him and tied the steer in 35.3 seconds in the fourth round Saturday night.

Jones tied his steer in 18.8 and Peek in 16.6 in the steer roping.

So, after the dust settled on 20 head, Jones has the lead in the average, Peek is second in the average with 262.8 seconds on 20 runs and Brazile is third with 265.6 seconds on 20 runs. Chance Kelton of Mayer, Ariz. is fourth in the average with 268.3 on 20 runs and three-time WTEC Champion Jimmie Cooper of Monument, N.M. is fifth at 294.2 on 20 runs.

WRANGLER TIMED EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD Leaders after the 4th Go-Round, Saturday night at the LAZY E ARENA, Guthrie, Okla.

Average on 20 runs: 1. K.C. Jones, Burlington, Wyo., 253.9 seconds on 20 runs; 2. Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 262.8 on 20; 3. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, 265.6 on 20; 4. Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 268.3 on 20; 5. Jimmie Cooper, Monument, N.M., 294.2 on 20.

Fast rounds after four rounds: 1. Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 48.0 on five (2nd go); 2. Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 49.6 on five (3rd go); 3. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, 50.8 on five (3rd go); 4. Kyle Lockett, Visalia, Calif., 51.3 on five (2nd go); 5. Jo Jo Lemond, Andrews, Texas, 52.2 on five (4th go); 6. Beau Franzen, Sidney, Mont., 52.5 on five (4th go).

Saturday, March 06, 2010

TEC Third Round Results

In December, Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo. won the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo all-around title in Las Vegas, thanks in part to finishing fifth in the average in the tie-down roping and the steer wrestling.

In Saturday afternoon's third go-round of the Wrangler Timed Event Championship of the World, Peek posted the fast run of the round in the tie-down with a 10.7-second effort and the fastest run in the go in steer wreslting with a 4.8-second toss at the Lazy E Arena near Guthrie. Those runs highlighted a round in which he not only worked five head in 49.6 seconds but moved to the lead in the average with 190.8 seconds on 15 runs.

The third go steer wrestling Saturday afternoon had a major impact on the leaderboard. Kyle Lockett of Visalia, Calif., the 2005 WTEC Champion, and Daniel Green of Oakdale, Calif., the 2002 and 2008 WTEC Champion, were the top two respectively not only after the first two rounds but also after 13 head. However on the 14th run, which is the third go steer wrestling, Lockett took a 60-second time. A 60 is used instead of a no-time at the WTEC. And, Green was 44.9 seconds in the steer wrestling.

So, not only did Peek go from sixth after two rounds to the lead after three rounds, but Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, the six-time WTEC Champion, vaulted from seventh to second in the average. Brazile, an 11-time PRCA World Champion, worked five head in 50.8 seconds in the third go for 195.0 on 15 head.

Brazile, who won the All-Around and the Tie-Down World Champion titles in 2009, currently leads both those races in the PRCA world standings while Peek is currently second in the PRCA All-Around race.

While Peek and Brazile are the top two after three rounds, K.C. Jones of Burlington, Wyo., a four-time WTEC champion, is third with 199.2 on 15 runs, Chance Kelton of Mayer, Ariz., is fourth with 203.0 on 15 runs and Paul Tierney of Oral, S.D., a four-time WTEC Champion, is fifth with 214.1 seconds on 15.

WRANGLER TIMED EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD Leaders after the 3rd Go-Round, Saturday afternoon at the LAZY E ARENA, Guthrie, Okla.

Average: 1. Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 190.8 on 15 runs; 2. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, 195.0 on 15; 3. K.C. Jones, Burlington, wyo., 199.2 on 15; 4. Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 203.0 on 15; 5. Paul Tierney, Oral, S.D., 214.1 on 15.

Fast rounds: 1. Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 48.0 on five (2nd go); 2. Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 49.6 on five (3rd go); 3. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, 50.8 on five (3rd go); 4. Kyle Lockett, Visalia, Calif., 51.3 on five (2nd go); 3. Kyle Lockett, 52.8 on 5 (1st go).

20 top cowboys to compete at Timed Event Championship

The "Iron Man” contest of rodeo begins today at the Lazy E Arena near Guthrie. Perhaps the most unique event in professional rodeo, the annual Timed Event Championship features 20 of the world’s best cowboys who get into the field by invitation only. The Lazy E Arena started the event in 1985 as a way to determine the best timed event cowboy. Most cowboys in professional rodeo specialize in just one event. A few will compete in two or more timed events, but no one competes in all five. Except at the Timed Event Championship. Each cowboy will compete in all five timed events in rodeo: tie down roping, steer roping, heading, heeling and steer wrestling. By the time it has ended Sunday, each cowboy will have roped and bulldoggeda a total of 25 head of cattle. The one with the top overall time wins $50,000...read more

TEC Second Round

Two of the four Californians in this year's field of the 26th Annual Wrangler Timed Event Championship of the World are former champions of the event. After two rounds, those two title holders are in the top two spots in the average.

Kyle Lockett of Visalia, Calif., the 2005 WTEC Champion, leads the average with 104.1 on 10 head while Daniel Green of Oakdale, Calif, the 2002 and 2008 WTEC Champion, is second at 118.5 on 10 following Friday's two rounds at the Lazy E Arena.

The 26th Annual Wrangler Timed Event Championship of the World takes 20 of the world's toughest cowboys to ever battle the clock and tests their talents in a marathon of team roping - heading and heeling, tie-down roping, steer wrestling and steer roping each round for five rounds.

Waiting at the end is a total purse of $150,000, including a staggering $50,000 to the winner of the average after 25 runs.

Action continues through Sunday at the Lazy E Arena.

Lockett never stubbed his toe Friday. After posting 52.8 seconds on five in the first go, he handled the next five in 51.3 seconds. Friday night he not only opened strong but finished that way with the third fastest steer wrestling run of the second go, a 5.9, and the fifth fastest steer roping effort, 13.9 seconds.

Green went into the second go in second after a 56.7 in the opening round. He had the third fastest heeling run of the second go, stopping the clock in 8.1 seconds, and posted the fastest steer wrestling run of the day, tossing his draw in 5.7 seconds. Green was 26.7 in the steer roping, but held to second in the average after two.

Chance Kelton of Mayer, Ariz. was 11th after the first go, but worked his second five head in 48.0 seconds for 127.6 on 10 and third in the average after two rounds.

Jimmie Cooper of Monument, N.M. who won his first of three WTEC Titles in 1988, is fourth at 132.7 seconds on 10 head while K.C. Jones of Burlington, Wyo., a four-time WTEC Champion, is fifth at 135.5 seconds on 10 runs.

WRANGLER TIMED EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD Leaders after the 2nd Go-Round, Friday night at the LAZY E ARENA, Guthrie, Okla.

Average: 1. Kyle Lockett, Visalia, Calif,, 104.1 on 10 runs; 2. Daniel Green, Oakdale, Calif., 118.5 on 10; 3. Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 127.6 on 10; 4. Jimmie Cooper, Monument, N.M. 132.7 on 10; 5. K.C. Jones, Burlington, Wyo., 135.5 on 10.

Fast rounds: 1. Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 48.0 on five (2nd go); 2. Kyle Lockett, Visalia, Calif., 51.3 on five (2nd go); 3. Kyle Lockett, 52.8 on 5 (1st go); 4. Daniel Green, Oakdale, Calif., 56.7 on five (1st go); 5. K.C. Jones, Burlington, Wyo., 59.2 on 5 (1st go).

TEC First Round

For the second year in a row, Kyle Lockett of Visalia, Calif. leads the Wrangler Timed Event Championship of the World after the first round at the Lazy E Arena.

Friday afternoon, Lockett, who went on to finish fifth in the average in 2009, set the pace with 52.8 seconds on five runs.

Lockett, the 2005 WTEC Champion, is being closely followed in the average by fellow Californian and two-time WTEC Champion Daniel Green of Oakdale, who worked five head Friday in 56.7 seconds. Sitting third in the average after the opening round is four-time WTEC champion K.C Jones of Burlington, Wyo. with 59.2 seconds on five. Rounding out the top five are Brett Fleming of Worden, Montana, 61.9 seconds on five, and Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo., 66.0 seconds on five.

The 26th Annual Wrangler Timed Event Championship of the World takes 20 of the world's toughest cowboys to ever battle the clock and tests their talents in a marathon of team roping - heading and heeling, tie-down roping, steer wrestling and steer roping each round for five rounds. Waiting at the end is a total purse of $150,000, including a staggering $50,000 to the winner of the average after 25 runs.

Action continues through Sunday at the Lazy E Arena.

Lockett, who statistician Curt Robinson said also led after the first go when he won the WTEC title in 2005, was fifth after two runs Friday. But then it was time for Lockett's specialty, heeling. Stopping the clock in 8.3 seconds for 30.8 seconds on three head, he moved to the front. With a 6.7-second toss in the steer wrestling and a steady 15.3-second run in steer roping he stayed atop the pack.

Green used the best steer roping run of the afternoon, a 14.7, to vault to second in the average. Jones of Wyoming, was steady throughout the first go never falling below third.

Friday, March 05, 2010

Climate scientists to fight back at skeptics

Undaunted by a rash of scandals over the science underpinning climate change, top climate researchers are plotting to respond with what one scientist involved said needs to be "an outlandishly aggressively partisan approach" to gut the credibility of skeptics. In private e-mails obtained by The Washington Times, climate scientists at the National Academy of Sciences say they are tired of "being treated like political pawns" and need to fight back in kind. Their strategy includes forming a nonprofit group to organize researchers and use their donations to challenge critics by running a back-page ad in the New York Times. "Most of our colleagues don't seem to grasp that we're not in a gentlepersons' debate, we're in a street fight against well-funded, merciless enemies who play by entirely different rules," Paul R. Ehrlich, a Stanford University researcher, said in one of the e-mails. Some scientists question the tactic and say they should focus instead on perfecting their science, but the researchers who are organizing the effort say the political battle is eroding confidence in their work...read more

Sage grouse will get limited protection

Federal authorities today embarked on a compromise effort to protect the sage grouse as a "candidate" species under the Endangered Species Act. Short of designating the sage grouse as threatened or endangered, the compromise crafted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar embraced the latest science indicating that grouse need help to avoid extinction in the face of energy development, grazing and house-building. This approach "gives an open window" of "several years" for public and private land users to take action "making sure the grouse doesn't have to be put on the endangered species list," Salazar said. "We believe we can do that." Hunting grouse in Colorado and other western states will still be allowed. At the same time, energy companies poised to drill in sensitive areas may face new restrictions and are on notice that protections for the grouse in the future could one day force industry relocation. The federal Bureau of Land Management - which manages 8.4 million acres across Colorado and 253 million acres nationwide - plays a key role in determining whether the grouse will survive. BLM managers lease land for grazing, drilling, mining and installation of powerlines and windmills. Designating the grouse as a "candidate" species is expected to force the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies to work cooperatively with private landowners to conserve grouse. Federal authorities may give financial and technical assistance and help develop conservation agreements that give regulatory assurances to landowners who try to help grouse...read more

Wilderness On The Border? 8 Articles on Border Violence

For background see my previous posts here, here, here and here

A previous post on border violence is here.

All of this violence is to control routes into the U.S. for human and drug trafficking. So as you read these posts ask yourself: Why would anyone deem it in the public interest to designate Wilderness in close proximity to our southern border? Why limit the use of motorized vehicles and mechanical equipment by federal, state and local law enforcement on over 400 square miles of southern NM?

Cartels Finding New Routes To Smuggle Drugs Many drug cartels are feeling the pressure from increased security along the U.S.-Mexico border, hindering their drug smuggling efforts. However, the 10News I-Team learned many of the cartels are finding new routes to smuggling drugs into and out of the U.S. American authorities said Mexicali, just across the U.S.-Mexico border, is a city caught in the middle and is another conduit for the cartels. "The violence in Mexico has definitely gotten worse," said Myers. "The traffickers have proven time and time again that they will do whatever it takes to protect their industry." American police officials told the I-Team smuggling drugs through Mexicali can be as efficient as Tijuana because of the interstate system. Just a few miles from the border, Interstate 8 is now one of the country's most prolific drug smuggling routes, officials said.

COMMENT: Will Interstates 10 & 25 be next? Over 400 square miles of Wilderness would sure help.

The Other War It's a war the so-called mainstream media apparently have decided to ignore. Though its death toll is higher than Iraq's and Afghanistan's combined, it evidently isn't worth covering; and unless you're reading this in the Southwest, you probably haven't even heard about it. The conflict, a full-blown narco-insurgency, has claimed the lives of more than 17,000 combatants and innocents, threatens to undo several democratically elected governments and poses a real and present danger to the United States. It's not the one being fought in Afghanistan. It's the war being waged from the Andean basin all the way north to the Rio Grande. Last week, while our Fox News team was in Texas and New Mexico on a completely unrelated matter, "the war next door" was the principal topic of conversation among the locals we encountered. Just days before we arrived, 16 teenagers celebrating a birthday party were machine-gunned in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, less than a mile from the U.S. border. In the past 12 months, nearly 2,700 people have been murdered in this border city - about 1,000 more than the previous year - making it the deadliest place to live on the planet. The Mexican drug cartels perpetrating the violence next door are competing for "distribution rights" in the lucrative marijuana, hashish and cocaine markets on this side of the porous U.S.-Mexico border. These "distributors" are now exporting their violence, as well. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, cartel "hit teams" have carried out murders and kidnappings in more than 230 American cities. Phoenix seems headed for becoming the kidnapping capital of the U.S. Though overall violent crime has declined in Arizona generally and Phoenix in particular, kidnapping has spiked from fewer than 50 cases in 2005 to more than 350 last year. Local and state law enforcement authorities say nearly all of this increased crime is directly connected to the illicit drug trade coming across the state's 375-mile border with Mexico...

Border Residents Prepare for Possible Spillover Violence
The recent spike in border violence has people thinking about safety and how to best protect their families. Some folks are even ready to arm themselves. They're thinking about the possibility of spillover violence, things like home invasions and drug related chases. Their number one priority is to stay safe. Nelda Gonzalez owns Thin Blue Line, where she offers a firearms training program. She says while she mostly caters to law enforcement, she's seeing a spike in civilians who want weapons. Right now there's a two-month waiting list for the course. Gonzalez attributes part of that to increased border violence and the threat of spillover. "I think that's what triggering people to come. They want to purchase weapons." With the shoot outs so close, people are doing everything they can to feel safe. Several Valley law enforcement agencies have confirmed to CHANNEL 5 NEWS they are on alert, ready for the possibility of spillover...

Nine Die in Drug-Related Violence in Northern Mexico At least six people were killed when gunmen attacked a ranch near Ciudad Juarez, a border city in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, while three soldiers were killed and three others wounded in a shootout with gunmen in Nuevo Leon state, officials said. Rancho Nuevo, located at kilometer 76 of the Juarez-El Porvenir highway and less than 30 minutes southeast of Ciudad Juarez, was attacked Wednesday night, the Chihuahua state Attorney General’s Office said. The gunmen entered the ranch and opened fire on eight unidentified men, killing six and wounding two others, then fled, the AG’s office said. One of the bodies was found next to an SUV and the others were near some stables. Ciudad Juarez, located across the border from El Paso, Texas, and considered the most dangerous city in Mexico, has been plagued by drug-related violence for years. Police in Nuevo Leon state, meanwhile, said a military patrol was attacked Wednesday on the Monterrey-Colombia highway. The soldiers were ambushed by gunmen in several SUVs, the shift commander of the police department in Anahuac, a border city in Nuevo Leon, told Efe. “The incident occurred around noon near the Salinilla highway,” the police spokesman said, adding that the shootout lasted about 20 minutes. Nuevo Leon Public Safety Secretary Carlos Jauregui confirmed that the shootout happened. Mexico has been plagued in recent years by drug-related violence blamed on powerful cartels...

McStay Family of Four Vanishes Near Mexican Border Joseph and Summer McStay, along with their two boys Gianni,4, and Joey, 3, disappeared almost two weeks ago and San Diego investigators still have no solid leads as to what happened to them. The family, who lives in Fallbrook, Calif., half way between San Diego and Los Angeles, was last seen February 4. Four days later their car was found abandoned in San Ysidro, a small California town right outside Tijuana, Mexico. "I don't understand why it was there. I know she didn't like Mexico," Summer McStay's mother Blanche Aranda told CBS affiliate KFMB. "I can't imagine where they are... I have no ideas. Where they would go?"...

Baby Wounded, Mother Killed in Mexican Border City Authorities in the northern Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez say assailants shot a woman to death and seriously wounded her 9-month-old daughter. Prosecutors' spokesman Arturo Sandoval says the mother and child were traveling with the child's father when the gunmen chased and attacked their vehicle. The father was not injured. The 24-year-old mother died at the scene of Thursday's attack. The baby suffered a gunshot wound to her head and is in serious condition at a hospital...

Fear grows as drug war rages on Texas border Border residents fear more violence as rival drug cartels battle for lucrative smuggling routes...The spike in violence spans the border from Reynosa to Nuevo Laredo and several Mexican towns in between. The exact number is hard to confirm. On Tuesday, the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo warned of an "ongoing gun battle" near the Zoo, and in an e-mail alert advised "all U.S. citizens to shelter in place and to take precautions until the fighting subsides." The suggestion that residents were reacting only to rumors angered a woman in Camargo, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, who used her cell phone camera to document damage from a gun fight Saturday night in the area bordering Starr County. In a video posted on YouTube, the unidentified woman points out shell casings on the ground, bullet-riddled SUVs, and bodies in the streets. It's some of the most graphic evidence of the bloodshed that has border residents on edge. School attendance was down last week as parents kept their children home along the Tamaulipas border, particularly in Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa. Concern for the region is growing on both sides of the border...

U.S. closes consulate in northern Mexico for bomb threat The U.S. consulate in Juarez, a northern Mexican city notorious for drug-related violence, was evacuated Tuesday and closed due to a bomb threat, police said. The emergency service of Mexican police received an anonymous call before 8:00 a.m. local time (1400 GMT) warning that a bomb had been installed in the U.S. consulate, said Fidel Banuelos, spokesman for the Secretariat of Public Security in Chihuahua state, where Juarez is located. Banuelos said the office was closed while explosives specialists from the Central Intelligence went into the building to search for the alleged device. Banuelos told reporters that a female voice made both calls. Juarez city, located near the border with the United States, is believed to be one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico due to rampant organized crime and drug trafficking...

In Utah, a move to seize federal land

Long frustrated by Washington's control over much of their state, Utah legislators are proposing a novel way to deal with federal land -- seize it and develop it. The Utah House of Representatives last week passed a bill allowing the state to use eminent domain to take land the federal government owns and has long protected from development. The state wants to develop three hotly contested areas -- national forest land in the Wasatch Mountains north of Salt Lake City, land in a proposed wilderness area in the red rock southwestern corner of the state, and a stretch of desert outside of Arches National Park that the Obama administration has declared off-limits to oil and gas development. Supporters argue that provisions in the legislation that granted Utah statehood allow it to make such a land grab. They also hope to spark a showdown in the Supreme Court that would rearrange the balance of power between states and the federal government...read more

Utah House mounts new federal lands challenge

Utah lawmakers voted Thursday to condemn federal lands in a message meant to reach the Supreme Court and challenge the U.S. government to open lands to development for school funding. HB143 passed the House 57-13 over Democratic objections that pressing the court case will be costly and likely unsuccessful. Republicans called it a necessary fight to reverse federal oppression and the state's chronically worst-in-the-nation per-student school funding. "Our schoolchildren have been robbed," said Rep. Chris Herrod, R-Provo, the bill's sponsor. Herrod asserts that, despite Supreme Court rulings to the contrary, the state is "sovereign" over lands in its boundaries and has power to reclaim those that the federal government did not acquire with state approval. He concedes that Utah gave up claims to federal lands at statehood, but said the federal government has broken its pledge to put the state on "equal footing" with other states by keeping more than two-thirds of the state in federal ownership. His bill would authorize taking segments of federal land for roads to access state-owned lands for energy production and other development to aid schools. A companion bill proposed by Rep. Ken Sumsion, R-American Fork, would take $1 million in state revenues over three years to cover the legal bills. Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, called the bill "an act of self-preservation for our state."...read more

Rare horse breed up for state title

Arroyo may not have the size of a quarter horse, the speed of a thoroughbred or the elegance of an Arabian. But this colonial Spanish horse can eat nearly any native grass, has hooves so firm they don't require shoes and is renowned for its stamina. In the late 1600s, Arroyo's ancestors carried Father Eusebio Kino from Mexico into present-day Arizona, where he credited the breed for helping him establish missions. As cattle ranchers sought bigger and stronger horses in the 300-plus years since, they cross-bred the colonial Spanish horse into many of today's most popular pedigrees. It's nearly vanished in its native Spain and is a novelty breed kept alive by people such as Marjorie Dixon, Arroyo's owner. "My husband looked at me and said, 'Marjorie, these horses should be the Arizona state horse. You should really get on that,' " Dixon said with a laugh. That could happen this year, as a bill inspired by Dixon and other members of Arizona's Colonial Spanish Horse Project is moving through the state Legislature. House Bill 2634, sponsored by Rep. Patricia Fleming, D-Sierra Vista, is awaiting a vote by the full House that would send it to the Senate...read more

Wyoming governor signs law adopting cowboy ethics

The principles of "cowboy ethics" are now part of Wyoming law. Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed legislation Wednesday adopting an official Wyoming state code. The symbolic measure spells out 10 ethics derived from a "Code of the West" outlined in a book by author and retired Wall Street investor James Owen. The ethics code doesn't carry any criminal penalties and is not meant to replace any civil codes. The state code admonishes residents and lawmakers to live courageously, take pride in their work, finish what they start, do what's necessary, be tough but fair, keep promises, ride for the brand, talk less and say more, remember that some things aren't for sale and know where to draw the line. AP

National Cowboy Museum announces Wrangler Award winners

For the 49th time, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is passing out this spring the Western Heritage Awards. The awards honor and encourage the legacy of those whose works in literature, music, film and television reflect the significant stories of the American West. The Outstanding Western Novel is “The Sundown Chaser” by Dusty Richards and published by Berkley Books Penguin Group. Richards, an award-winning writer, crafts another winner with the story of two men, bond by blood but torn apart by the law. Craig Varjabedian’s fascinating photographs of the red cliffs and sweeping plains of the Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico has earned him the Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Photography Book. Published by the University of New Mexico Press, “Ghost Ranch and the Faraway Nearby” captures the essence of the 21,000-acre ranch in more than 90 new black-and-white photographs. Steve Moulton is the 2009 Outstanding New Artist with his album “Cowboys & Campfires.” This award is given to someone in the first five years of their career, who has never received a Wrangler in an individual category and is striving to continue to produce music of the Western genre. “The Great Western Trail” by LeRoy Jones, composed by Dave Copenhaver, Terry Scarberry and Jones, wins for Outstanding Original Composition. Off the album “Looking Back,” the song tells the tale of a cattle drive from Texas to Kansas and conjures up memories of the old West. In the category for Outstanding Traditional Western Album, the top honors go to “Welcome to the Tribe,” recorded by Andy Wilkinson and Andy Hedges and produced by Lloyd Maines and Andy Wilkinson. “Born to Ride: Cody Wright and the Quest for a World Title” is the Outstanding Documentary, Contemporary. Cody Wright travels the rodeo circuit on his quest to win the 2008 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Saddle Bronc World Championship...read more

Baxter Black: The calf wins in overtime

In an effort to make managing the 20-section ranch more efficient, the boss bought Jake a Ranger, a four-wheel-drive muscle car ATV. The cowboys on this West Texas ranch were equipped with cell phones, of course. What modern cowboy isn't? They have replaced Copenhagen as the habit-forming addiction for the "orally dependent." Jake received a call. It was a neighbor who told him there was a calf out on the road to the highway, a mile from the west gate where Charles Goodnight lost a tooth chasing coyotes in the winter of '86 ... down by the Quanah Wash. Jake sighed and reversed his direction. It was back three miles and over two. But, he thought, only a calf, maybe a week or two old. Probably got under the fence, Mama on the other side. Wouldn't be too tough. Fifteen minutes later he approached Quanah Wash to find a 300-pound beefy bull calf in the ditch. King Richard III whined in his ear, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" Making do with what he had, Jake tied the tail of his rope to the bumper on the Ranger and started after the calf. Down the ditch they flew. The bull was running along the fence line, and Jake was maneuvering with one hand, trying to keep a wheel on the shoulder. Because he was going west on the wrong side of the road, he was forced to rope left-handed. Not easy with a right-hand-twist rope...read more

Westerners grouse over more proposed land restrictions

Congressional Western Caucus members are squawking about Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s proposal to further restrict public use of federal lands by listing the Greater Sage Grouse as an endangered species. “The only good place for a sage grouse to be listed is on the menu of a French bistro,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-UT, whose 3rd District would be adversely affected by the listing. An estimated 500,000 of the birds can be found in 11 Western states. In a March 4 letter to Salazar, 36 caucus members said that listing the grouse as endangered would not only have a “severe impact on all of our states,” it could also “potentially destroy opportunities for the renewable energy development the [Obama] administration has ardently supported” – all for a bird that’s already being successfully protected by wildlife officials at the state level. But the Obama administration is under great political pressure to list the sage grouse as endangered. Even before the president was inaugurated, environmentalists were calling the bird “a poster child for the threats to wildlife posed by oil and gas drilling, “ and the endangered designation “a litmus test for the Obama administration.” The economic impact of an endangered listing would fall most heavily on ranchers and energy producers, who feel doubly threatened by another administration proposal to designate millions of acres of federal land in nine states as national monuments, which would put them off-limits for drilling, mining, grazing, lumbering and any other commercial activity...read more

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Senator Demint: White House land grab

You'd think the Obama administration is busy enough controlling the banks, insurance companies and automakers, but thanks to whistleblowers at the Department of the Interior, we now learn they're planning to increase their control over energy-rich land in the West. A secret administration memo has surfaced revealing plans for the federal government to seize more than 10 million acres from Montana to New Mexico, halting job- creating activities like ranching, forestry, mining and energy development. Worse, this land grab would dry up tax revenue that's essential for funding schools, firehouses and community centers. President Obama could enact the plans in this memo with just the stroke of a pen, without any input from the communities affected by it. At a time when our national unemployment rate is 9.7 percent, it is unbelievable anyone would be looking to stop job-creating energy enterprises, yet that's exactly what's happening...read more

Eco-philanthropists to the rescue of wildlife?

This power couple leads a movement of like-minded monied conservationists – eco-barons who, instead of waiting for the world to grow an environmental consciousness, are purchasing land with their own money and protecting it themselves. This band of former executives and entrepreneurs generally donates tracts as new national parks or preserves. The Tompkinses have purchased 2 million acres in Argentina and Chile and already created two national parks. Largely American, and often entrepreneurs from Wall Street or the West Coast, they have recast the mold of the philanthropists of the 20th century who helped assemble the jewels in the crown of the US National Park Service. Among others, for example, there is Roxanne Quimby, the former owner of Burt's Bees products who has been buying up land in Maine's Great North Woods to create a national park. And Gordon Moore, the founder of Intel, who has poured in millions to save the Amazon. Heiress Katharine Ordway has given more than $64 million to create preserves including the 8,100-acre Konza Prairie Research Natural Area in Kansas. And real estate investor M.C. Davis sealed off 48,000 acres in the Florida Panhandle...read more

Does Climategate Undermine the Scientific Integrity of EPA’s Endangerment Finding?

Instead of exercising its “judgment,” as required by Sec. 202 of the Clean Air Act, to determine whether greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions endanger public health and welfare, EPA largely deferred to the judgment of an external agency not subject to U.S. data quality and freedom of information laws — the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC developed three lines of evidence for its conclusion that GHG emissions are causing dangerous global warming. The first is based on the IPCC’s understanding of the physics of the climate system. The second is the claim that recent decades are unusually warm compared to previous centuries during the current interglacial period known as the Holocene. The third line of evidence is the asserted agreement between observations and computer model simulations. Peabody Energy’s 240-page petition for reconsideration assesses these lines of evidence in light of new information not in EPA’s possession when it published the endangerment finding. Much of this new information is contained in the thousands of emails and other files that produced the Climategate scandal. The files and emails provide an insider’s look at the professional (or unprofessional) behavior of leading climate scientists at the UK’s Climate Research Unit and their colleagues in the United States. This scandal has led to the resignation (allegedly temporary) of Dr. Phil Jones as director of the CRU and an official determination that the CRU violated the UK’s freedom of information act. Peabody concludes that the Climategate files undermines each of the IPCC’s principal lines of evidence, and confirm what many climate “skeptics” had long suspected...read more

Scientists Taking Steps to Defend Work on Climate

For months, climate scientists have taken a vicious beating in the media and on the Internet, accused of hiding data, covering up errors and suppressing alternate views. Their response until now has been largely to assert the legitimacy of the vast body of climate science and to mock their critics as cranks and know-nothings. But the volume of criticism and the depth of doubt have only grown, and many scientists now realize they are facing a crisis of public confidence and have to fight back. Tentatively and grudgingly, they are beginning to engage their critics, admit mistakes, open up their data and reshape the way they conduct their work. The unauthorized release last fall of hundreds of e-mail messages from a major climate research center in England, and more recent revelations of a handful of errors in a supposedly authoritative United Nations report on climate change, have created what a number of top scientists say is a major breach of faith in their research. They say the uproar threatens to undermine decades of work and has badly damaged public trust in the scientific enterprise...read more

Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling E.P.A.

Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators. Companies that have spilled oil, carcinogens and dangerous bacteria into lakes, rivers and other waters are not being prosecuted, according to Environmental Protection Agency regulators working on those cases, who estimate that more than 1,500 major pollution investigations have been discontinued or shelved in the last four years. The court rulings causing these problems focused on language in the Clean Water Act that limited it to “the discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters” of the United States. For decades, “navigable waters” was broadly interpreted by regulators to include many large wetlands and streams that connected to major rivers. But the two decisions suggested that waterways that are entirely within one state, creeks that sometimes go dry, and lakes unconnected to larger water systems may not be “navigable waters” and are therefore not covered by the act — even though pollution from such waterways can make its way into sources of drinking water...read more

COMMENT: While masquerading as a new story, the NY Times is clearly lobbying for a bill pending in Congress which would drop the term "navigable" from the statute.

Understanding Why Yellowstone’s Supervolcano Is So Dangerous

The geological history of Yellowstone National Park worries many observers about a “supervolcanic” eruption that could destroy much of the United States. When Yellowstone National Park experienced its largest eruption 2.1 million years ago, massive volcanic depressions formed, known as “calderas.” The explosion also spewed volcanic ash over half of the United States, reaching areas of as far away as Texas, Louisiana and southern California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Yellowstone’s many attractions include geysers, such as Old Faithful, and hot springs. These are believed to be a result of the giant pool of magma that Yellowstone sits on. Some call the enormous underground caldera, which measures approximately 28 by 47 miles, a “supervolcano.” The UnMuseum explains that supervolcano isn’t exactly a technical scientific term, but says it differs from a traditional volcano “in that there is often no mountain peak associated with it.” The lack of a peak or potential outlet for gas, heat and pressure building underground increasess the likelihood that “the entire surface above the underground chamber, which can be many miles wide, is blown away by a titanic explosion that can be thousands of times more powerful than that of a regular volcano.”...read more

A new vehicle powered by a single horse

Good thing Portland kept all of those old-timey horse rings on city sidewalks. Iranian inventor Abdolhadi Mirhejazi has unveiled his Naturmobil -- "the ultimate environmentally friendly vehicle" powered by ... wait for it ... a single horse on a treadmill. Mirhejazi says his high-breed creation travels on paved roads at a top speed of about 50 mph, with the treadmill charging batteries for when Flicka needs a break...read more

State Slaughter Bills Pending

Legislators in several states are again considering bills that address the slaughter of horses for human consumption. In Florida, lawmakers are reviewing a pair of bills that would make it felony to slaughter horses and sell their meat for human consumption in that state. SB 1708 and HB 765 both prohibit the mutilation or killing of any horse and forbids the transport, distribution, sale, and purchase of horsemeat for human consumption. If enacted, violators could face mandatory minimum penalties of $3,500 in fines and one year in prison. Both bills are under committee review. The proposed bills are in direct response to a series of horse poaching incidents in South Florida during the past year, said HB 765 sponsor Rep. Luis Garcia. The butchered remains of at least 21 horses have been found in Miami-Dade and Broward counties since last January (read more). Meanwhile, Illinois Rep. Jim Sacia has introduced a measure designed to reestablish horse processing in that state. HB 4812 amends the Illinois Horse Meat Act to repeal a provision that prohibits the slaughter of horses for human consumption. It also expands the state's Animals Intended for Food Act to include horses, and requires horse processors to collect a $25 fee per horse to fund equine rescue assistance grants to qualified equine rescue groups...read more

Bobcat captured in downtown Houston garage

The preferred habitat for bobcats are wooded areas, swamplands or rocky outcrops but one member of the species Lynx rufus on Tuesday opted for a downtown Houston parking garage. The bobcat was spotted about 10:45 a.m. inside the garage at 511 Rusk near the Bob Casey Federal Building. It was captured about 90 minutes later, checked and released into the wild. At first, reports of a wild animal roaming about the garage did not raise much concern for city animal control officials. They've heard that story before. “We thought it was going to be a house cat,” said Chris Glaser, a supervisor with Houston's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care. The cat was trying to hide under cars when animal control officials arrived. “It may have been asleep there overnight and woken up,” Glaser said. BARC officials would use two tranquilizer darts to subdue the animal...read more

Mad emu attacks deputies along El Paso freeway

A mad emu gave deputies a Texas-sized hard time. El Paso authorities say the big bird was running loose Tuesday, snarling rush-hour traffic near Interstate 10 and attacking deputies trying to restrain it. Deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office tried to prevent the tall, flightless bird from running into traffic. But when deputies neared the emu, it became aggressive and slashed one deputy's pant leg. The deputy was not seriously injured. The emu died as it was being transported to an animal control shelter. The cause of death was not immediately known. AP

8th Annual Dutch Oven CookOff March 27 in Glenwood, NM

Contact: Gale Moore
Silver City, NM
gale@cybermesa.com



Event: Southwest New Mexico 8th Annual Dutch Oven Cook-Off
Date: Saturday, March 27, 2010
Place: Glenwood, New Mexico Community Park
Time: 9:00 am until mid-afternoon


Calling All Dutch Oven Cooks (and those who’d like to try their hand at “black pot” cookin’) ~

Come to cook --- see how Dutch Oven cooking is done --- come to eat --- listen to music --- or just visit with the happy crowd at the Southwest New Mexico 8th Annual Dutch Oven Cook-Off on Saturday, March 27 in Glenwood, New Mexico!

Each year, this event just gets better, and 2010 promises to be the most fun yet!

The Cook-Off will be held again at the Glenwood Community Park on CatWalk Road in Glenwood, New Mexico (just an hour north of Silver City).

Both experienced and amateur Dutch Oven cooks are invited to participate this year! In previous years, we had cooks from Glenwood, Cliff, Gila, Reserve, Albuquerque, Cuba, Las Cruces, Silver City (New Mexico) and communities in Arizona.

Categories this year will be “Fancy Fixer,” “Camp Cookie,” and “Tenderfoot,” with submitted recipes and level of experience considered.

Everyone is welcome to enter, no matter where you call home! (If you need overnight lodging, there are several unique motels in Glenwood.)

Those interested in entering as a Dutch Oven Cook this year, please contact: Event Organizers:

Leah Jones (Glenwood) (575) 539-2800 Email ~ gilaleahjones@gmail.com

Mickey Lemon (Silver City) (575) 388-2840 Email ~ mlemon@signalpeak.net

Linda Locklar (Silver City) (575) 388-1503 Email ~ lindamanyponies@hotmail.com

These ladies can give you all the details, but here are the basics:

Cooking categories are single pot or three pots (Main Dish, Bread, Dessert). Cooks can enter on their own, or as a team. Entry fee ~ $ 15 for Single Pot, $ 30 for Three Pots.

Cooks can set up their camp and start their fires at 7:30 am. Some entrants bring cowboy-camp setups, teepees and tents, and one entry even drives a mule-drawn chuckwagon to camp! (The Glenwood Park features shady trees and open spaces for camp set-ups)

Dutch Oven food will be available in the Park before the Tasting. Craft vendors are welcome ($25 per space).

There will be a Cooks’ Meeting at 8:30 AM. Cooking time is from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm., during which time spectators always enjoy going from camp to camp, seeing “what’s cookin’” and getting to know the cooks.

After the Judges have tasted all the dishes and are tabulating their results, here comes the best part of the day ---- about 2:00 pm, Dutch Oven cooks bring their pots to the Pavilion, multitudes of folks show up to purchase Taster Plates ($5.00 for adults, $3.00 for children under 12), and the “Tasters’ Delight” eatin’ begins! Each Dutch Oven cook will put a spoonful of their dish on each plate, and there are usually about 30-40 different dishes (sometimes more!) on the buffet line.

Tables and benches are provided for the diners, and after everyone is served, awards and prizes are presented to the winning cooks. (Proceeds from this event each year benefit the Glenwood Community Park.)

Glenwood’s Dutch Oven Cook-Off was first started in 2003 by Wendy Peralta, owner of the Glenwood Trading Post. Each year since, the event has grown --- in size, number of cooks, and fun! This event is reminiscent of the old days when members of small communities would gather for shared food and “visiting.” This is the eighth annual year for the Dutch Oven, and it promises to be another memorable occasion, one you won’t want to miss!

It's all for a great cause, the Glenwood Community Park, and of course, photos of all the fun will be published in the April Glenwood Gazette.

Song Of The Day #253

Ranch Radio continues with child stars with big hits. Today we feature Tanya Tucker, who had her first top ten hit at age 13. It was her 1972 recording of Delta Dawn, followed the next year by her first #1 hit What's Your Mama's Name.

However, it's my damn radio show and I'm not bound by any Billboard rankings. So here are two of my favorites from her 70's recordings: San Antonio Stroll and It's A Cowboy Lovin' Night.

All four of the tunes mentioned here are available on her 20 track CD Definitive Collection.


Wednesday, March 03, 2010

$7 a gallon gas to reach Obama targets, Harvard researchers say

To meet the Obama administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, some researchers say, Americans may have to experience a sobering reality: gas at $7 a gallon. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector 14 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, the cost of driving must simply increase, according to a forthcoming report by researchers at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. The 14 percent target was set in the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget for fiscal 2010. In their study, the researchers devised several combinations of steps that United States policymakers might take in trying to address the heat-trapping emissions by the nation’s transportation sector, which consume 70 percent of the oil used in the United States...read more

Western Lawmakers Introduce “Open EAJA Act of 2010”

Today, Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis (WY-At large) and Western Caucus Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01) teamed up to introduce the “Open EAJA Act of 2010.” The legislation [H.R. 4717] seeks to provide increased transparency within the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) by tracking millions of federal taxpayer dollars used to fund costly environmental litigation. EAJA was established in 1980 with the intent to help individuals and groups with limited means seek judicial redress from the federal government. A citizen, small business or special interest group that prevails in litigation brought against the federal government may recover fees and expenses. For nearly 15 years, the lack of accountability and transparency has made way for rampant abuse of EAJA, reaching far beyond its original intent. Research conducted by a Wyoming law firm revealed that over the past 15 years, 14 environmental groups have brought over 1,500 federal cases in 17 states and the District of Columbia, and have collected over $37 million in taxpayer dollars through EAJA or other similar laws. Specifically, H.R. 4717 would reinstate and consolidate tracking and reporting requirements of EAJA payments under the Department of Justice (DoJ), and:

· Require the DoJ to issue an annual, online report to Congress regarding the amount of fees and other expenses awarded during the preceding fiscal year

· Ensure that the report provided to Congress be made available to the public online and include:

§ the name of the party seeking the award of fees

§ the agency to which the application for the award is made

§ the name of the administrative judges involved in the case

§ the hourly fees of all attorneys and expert witnesses

· Request that the Comptroller General commence an audit of past actions taken under the Equal Access to Justice Act. Once complete, the audit must be reported to Congress...Press Release

Complaints heat up over possible new monuments for Utah

On the same day a Utah legislative committee unanimously approved a resolution voicing opposition to the creation of any more national monuments, members of the U.S. Senate Western Caucus also took their fight to the mat. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and other members of the Senate Western Caucus sent a letter Tuesday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, expressing concern about the possible designation of national monuments in Utah and other states absent public input or consent. "Americans enjoy a variety of benefits from our public lands, but many westerners rely on public lands for their very livelihoods. For that reason, Congress has ensured that public land management decisions are made in a process that is both public and transparent … Americans should never live in fear that the stroke of a pen in Washington could forever change their lives," the senators wrote. HCR 17, a resolution on the issue being run by Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, unanimously passed a legislative committee Tuesday afternoon that featured an appearance by former Congressman James Hansen. Former Salt Lake Mayor Ted Wilson, who also served as the head of the Utah Rivers Council, said he supports the resolution despite being a self-professed environmentalist. "(But) I also know the tremendous setback with the Grand Staircase. It angered county commissioners all over this state, it angered a lot of Democrats," he said...read more

Source in artifacts case dead

A troubled man whose fear of reprisal for his undercover role in an artifact-trafficking probe prompted him to sleep with a gun, and whose heavy drinking landed him in the hospital this winter, apparently shot himself to death this week at his Salt Lake County home. Ted Gardiner, the civilian operative at the center of a 2 1/2-year federal crackdown that spanned the Four Corners region, had turned 52 just a week earlier. Police said Gardiner told his roommates about 6 p.m. Monday that he was suicidal. A short time later, a gunshot rang out from his bedroom in the home near 1700 East and 5000 South. "At this point, we're strongly leaning toward the fact that his death was the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Unified Police Department Lt. Don Hutson said Tuesday. Gardiner's is the third suicide after a June 10 raid in southern Utah netted two-dozen suspects, most of them from San Juan County, on multiple felony charges of grave robbing and stealing from prehistoric American Indian ruins on Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service land. Two defendants in the artifact sweep -- James Redd, of Blanding, and Steven Shrader, of Santa Fe, N.M. -- committed suicide after being indicted...read more

COMMENT: With so many things going on, including illegal aliens from terrorist-harboring countries crossing our southern border, is this where we should be dedicating our law enforcent resources?