Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Water shortage grips El Paso: Schools, businesses forced to close again
A water crisis in El Paso continues today, causing schools to close, car washes and other businesses to shut down and authorities mandating that residents curb water use for a third day. El Paso Water Utilities officials are trying to replenish reservoirs to normal levels in the aftermath of a winter storm that paralyzed the city last week. "I think (in) the best possible circumstances, and if we have good cooperation, in 24 hours we should be back in a reasonable situation," John Balliew, vice president of operations and technical services for the water utility, said Sunday. "If people don't cooperate, and they continue using water and watering their lawn and so forth, it can extend for several days." Mayor John Cook on Sunday declared a "water emergency" because of the low reservoir levels caused by a combination of factors following several days of sharply freezing temperatures last week. The mayor's emergency declaration allows El Paso Water Utilities to shut off water to car washes, laundromats and industrial water users (such as garment plants) that do not comply with the mandatory restrictions...more
Report Backs 1900-Mile Canadian Oil Pipeline to Gulf Coast
A proposed oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast could substantially reduce U.S. dependency on oil from the Middle East and other regions, according to a report commissioned by the Obama administration. The study suggests the 1,900-mile pipeline, coupled with a reduction in overall U.S. oil demand, "could essentially eliminate Middle East crude imports longer term." The $7 billion project would carry crude oil extracted from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas. The report, prepared by a Massachusetts firm at the request of the U.S. Energy Department, was completed Dec. 23 and made public this week, as President Barack Obama prepares to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday at the White House. The project's developer, Calgary-based TransCanada, hailed the report by EnSys Energy & Systems Inc. The so-called Keystone XL pipeline -- which doubles the capacity of an existing pipeline from Canada -- is projected to produce more than 500,000 barrels a day of crude oil derived from formations of sand, clay and water in western Canada...more
Mr. President, You’re in Contempt
Anyone who has ever watched Law & Order knows that someone is held in contempt of court when they egregiously disrespect the role of the court and the rule of law. Holding someone in contempt is a powerful sanction in a judge’s arsenal to redress an intentional disregard for the law and the courts. So it is no small matter when yesterday Federal District Court Judge Martin Feldman held the Obama Interior Department in contempt of court for dismissively ignoring his ruling to cease the job-killing drilling moratorium imposed by President Obama last year. Feldman wrote: “Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the reimposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium and in light of the national importance of this case, provide this Court with clear and convincing evidence of the government’s contempt of this Court’s preliminary injunction order.” President Obama first ordered the halt of offshore drilling in response to the BP oil spill in April 2010. While some reasonable observers concluded that a temporary stoppage was necessary to assess the status of safe drilling operations in the Gulf, nearly nobody has supported the permanent moratorium the Obama administration has since enforced. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) publicly testified against the administration’s needless moratorium, and even the president’s hand-picked drilling commission opposed it. Former EPA Chief and Commission Co-Chair William Reilly said: “If there’s a single point of consensus as we’ve been down here, it’s that the moratorium is doing very significant economic damage to this area.” In fact, Obama’s moratorium isn’t merely hurting a local economy, but the national economy of the United States. Gas prices are rising, jobs are being lost, service industries are suffering and the government is losing much-needed royalty revenue as a result of this capricious act...more
Permitorium: 103 Gulf of Mexico Drilling Plans Await Government Approval
As oil prices continue to climb, a backlog of more than 100 offshore drilling plans for the Gulf of Mexico are awaiting approval from the Obama administration, according to federal data. The federal government has not approved a single new exploratory drilling plan in the Gulf of Mexico since lifting its deepwater drilling moratorium on Oct. 12. There are currently 103 plans awaiting review by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. The information reveals that the Obama administration — not the oil industry — is the culprit for the slowdown of drilling activity in the Gulf. The Gulf of Mexico accounts for more than 25 percent of domestic oil production. “These new findings prove that BOEMRE cannot claim it isn’t receiving job-creating plans from oil exploration and production companies,” said Gregory Rusovich, chairman of the Business Council of Greater New Orleans and the River Region. “The plans are there. Until BOEMRE reviews the 103 plans awaiting approval, our economy’s stability remains in jeopardy.”...more
Enviro groups slam legislation blocking EPA regs as 'serious health setback'
When Republican lawmakers introduced legislation this week to block efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate carbon, environmental groups pushed back hard. And this time, the groups stepped up their efforts by attempting to shift the argument from being about climate change science and green jobs to public health safety. In a press release sent out Thursday, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) attacked the proposal as a “serious health setback.” When contacted by The Daily Caller, an NRDC spokesperson referred to a 2008 NRDC fact sheet that lists health risks from carbon dioxide that include a more intense “allergenic pollen season” and an increase in droughts and floods. Even Democrats on the Hill have taken up the argument shift to public health. n an interview with TheDC, Joe D’Aleo, a meteorologist and executive director of the International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project (ICECAP), called the public health argument “nonsense” and “absolutely ludicrous.” “Since we emit 2.7 pounds of CO2 per person per day from respiration, it is clearly not harmful,” said D’Aleo. He also pointed out that in classrooms, auditoriums, and especially submarines, carbon dioxide levels are always higher than they are in the open air. “And they don’t die in submarines from carbon dioxide,” said D’Aleo...more
Anti-Energy Agenda Could Cause More Rolling Blackouts
Although the following examples are not all related to electricity use, the following stories showcase the misguided anti-energy agenda from the Obama Administration.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will start regulating emissions from new power plants and major expansions of large greenhouse-gas-emitting-plants that emit more than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. This has led to a contentious battle between the state of Texas and the EPA over new permits that have been issued. A number of states, businesses, and industry groups filed lawsuits, mostly on the grounds that the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding did not include conclusive evidence that greenhouse gases are a threat to human health and public welfare.
- The EPA recently revoked a coal-mining permit in West Virginia. Pulling a previously issued clean water permit is a clear affront to the coal industry and sets a dangerous precedent moving forward. Having a regulator that is willing to seemingly arbitrarily obstruct energy development projects will have a drastic negative impact on expanding domestic energy sources. A number of groups—including National Realtors Association, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association—have already expressed concern to the White House after the EPA revoked the permit, writing that “every similarly valid permit held by any entity—businesses, public works agencies and individual citizens—will be in increased regulatory limbo and potentially subject to the same unilateral, after-the-fact revocation.”
- Shell Oil nixed its plans to drill for oil in the Arctic’s Beaufort Sea in 2011, citing the EPA’s egregious regulatory delays. Vice president of Shell Alaska Pete Slaiby said at a press conference, “We’ve been trying to [obtain] an air permit for five years … and now the continuous regulatory delays have forced us to make a decision … to forgo drilling in 2011.”
- The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement is sitting on 103 exploratory drilling permits.
- Obama Administration rescinded drilling permits already issued in the Chukchi Sea in Alaska and in December announced that the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic and Pacific coasts will not be part of the government’s 2012–2017 Outer Continental Shelf program.
- On natural gas, the EPA evasively posted a new rule on hydraulic fracturing that requires a company to obtain permits if the company uses diesel when fracking. The EPA ignored the process of posting the rule in the Federal Register and completely forwent the comment period...more
Anatomy of a Gas Well: What Happened When a Well Was Drilled in a National Forest
A new report [1] by the U.S. Forest Service offers one of the most detailed accounts yet of how natural gas drilling can affect a forest – in this case the Fernow Experimental Forest, deep in the mountains of West Virginia. The report traces the construction and drilling of a single well and an accompanying pipeline on a sliver of the 4,700 acre forest that federal scientists have been studying for nearly 80 years. It found that the project felled or killed about 1,000 trees, damaged roads, eroded the land and—perhaps most important—permanently removed a small slice of the forest from future scientific research. The report said the drilling didn’t appear to have a substantial effect on groundwater quality. The scientists did not monitor the forest’s most sensitive ecosystems, including extensive caves, and did not evaluate the operation’s impact on wildlife. The authors also did not test for any of the chemicals added to drilling and hydraulic fracturing fluids. The report, and the well in question, hints at a larger story of the tensions that have emerged as drilling expands across federal lands in the eastern United States...more
USDA: Farmers Can Plant Genetically Modified Beets
The federal government says it will allow farmers to plant genetically modified sugar beets while it finishes work on a full environmental impact statement on the beets' effect on other crops and the environment. Farmers had been waiting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finish its work and made a decision about deregulation of the beets. They feared if a decision wouldn't come in time for spring planting. The USDA said Friday it will partially deregulate the beets while it finishes the study. It says the beets designed to withstand the weedkiller Roundup won't jeopardize other crops if planted under certain conditions. Paul Atchitoff of Earthjustice says farmers will just do whatever they want after Friday's decision and his group will file a lawsuit to stop the partial deregulation. AP
Ranchers accuse meatpackers of price-fixing
Great herds of elk once grazed the rolling grasslands of California’s coast and Sierra foothills. Today, it is cattle grazing on private ranches that preserves 20 million acres of incomparable landscape. The ranches are under pressure from many directions, including the consolidation of the meatpacking industry that has left few options to slaughter cattle in California. Modern packinghouses and feedlots, concentrated east of the Rocky Mountains, have become a symbol of factory farming and have left California ranchers in a pinch because most of the two-dozen major slaughterhouses that existed in California in the 1980s are gone. “We are seeing the toppling of the last critical mass of infrastructure around the country,” said David Evans of Marin Sun Farms, a fourth-generation rancher at Point Reyes Station. Complaints of price collusion are common. One California rancher who would not speak publicly said that when it comes to selling cattle, meatpackers “all want to drink coffee out of the same cup,” each offering ranchers the same low price for their cattle. Meatpacking today is more concentrated than it was in the heyday of Teddy Roosevelt. Four packers — Tyson Foods, Brazilian giant JBS, Cargill and National Beef — control 84 percent of the beef market. The consolidation mirrors a transformation of American agriculture since 1980 in which industrial operations have displaced small, diversified farms...more
Arkansas cow gives birth to rare set of triplets
Guess it runs in the family: A descendant of an Arkansas cow famed for giving birth to triplets multiple times has birthed her own set of triplets. Rancher David Jones tells the Jonesboro Sun his mixed-breed cow named Nosy Rosy gave birth to the triplets on Jan. 25. According to Oklahoma State University researchers, beef cattle have triplets in one of about 105,000 pregnancies. Jones says he named Nosy Rosy's calves Larry, Curly and Moe. Nosy Rosy is the great-granddaughter of a Charolais-mix cow named Faith who had four sets of triplets. Nosy Rosy was a triplet, as was the calves' father, who descended from the same bloodline. Jones says that almost guaranteed Nosy Rosy would have a multiple birth. AP
Song Of The Day #502
It's Swinging Monday on Ranch Radio and this week we will feature modern versions of Western Swing. We'll start the week with Merle Haggard's fine rendition of Old Fashioned Love from 1970.
The tune is on one of the best Western Swing albums ever produced, Haggard's A Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World: Or, My Salute To Bob Wills.
I wish George "By God" McNaughton was still alive to hear this, as we wore out his 8 track tape of this great album.
The tune is on one of the best Western Swing albums ever produced, Haggard's A Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World: Or, My Salute To Bob Wills.
I wish George "By God" McNaughton was still alive to hear this, as we wore out his 8 track tape of this great album.
The Civil War at 150
Despite its natural overlap with American constitutionalism and a thoroughly classical liberal antislavery tradition, the Civil War can be a treacherous, and even hostile, subject matter for classical liberal historians to navigate. Even a century and a half later the subject remains an emotional one, tied to complex moral and economic questions, iconic historical figures, regional and national identities, and race. The war itself has a legacy among historians of attracting veritable partisans to one of the two belligerents, yet neither side offers a particularly welcoming home for classical liberal purists. While it largely emerged from a tradition of decentralized federalism, secession itself being a logical extension of Jeffersonian states rights, any libertarian inclination of enthusiasm for the Confederacy is inescapably tempered by its expressly pro-slavery designs and the moral abhorrence of the plantation system. The Union makes an equally problematic, if less frequently admitted, cause for libertarians to champion - not for want of its ultimate anti-slavery results but in its highly problematic means of attainment and, perhaps more importantly, its lasting centralizing effects upon the federal government. In the subsequent 150 years, proponents of the income tax, militarized societies and preemptive warfare, military tribunals, protectionism, fluid constitutional constructions, and any number of other similar policies have enlisted the Union as a "virtuous" precedent for their causes. The paradoxical implications of the Civil War as both a liberating and centralizing event have troubled classical liberal thinkers since the cannon fire ceased in 1865...more
Did Tariffs Really Cause the Civil War? The Morrill Act at 150
Did protective tariffs really bring about the Civil War? It's an argument that enthusiasts of the era are bound to encounter at some point, and also among the most contentious and least understood of the many debates surrounding the instigating causes of secession 150 years ago this month. The tariff thesis is contentious because it is often interpreted as an attempt to displace the primacy of slavery as the underlying instigator of events in Civil War causality. In this simplified form, the argument may be easily disposed of by referring to South Carolina's Declaration of Immediate Causes, which attributed their action to "an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery." Yet as we will see, the tariff issue cannot be completely discounted from the discussion of Civil War causality...To state that tariffs were not an issue in 1860 is itself "flatly wrong," as my recent article in the Journal of the Early Republic illustrates. Nor was the Tariff of 1857 the source of southern angst, but rather the Morrill Tariff of 1861, which had been the subject of an intense political feud in Congress for some two years prior and an issue in the presidential election of 1860...So where did the tariff issue stand on the eve of the Civil War? Like so many other facets of American politics at the time, it stood in the middle of a complex and heated political fight that fell largely on North-South sectional lines...more
Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday
Sunday was Reagan's 100th birthday. I served in Reagan's first term and offer these two video tributes.
Also check out the Washington Post video Ronald Reagan's memorable moments
Also check out the Washington Post video Ronald Reagan's memorable moments
Political Catch Pen 2/7
The Daily Caller reports FreedomWorks, Tea Party Express develop new technology, methods to keep grassroots connected
The Hollywood Reporter asks Is 'True Grit' the Perfect Tea Party Movie?
There is a Grassroots effort to recall Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says the AP.
The Koch brothers, funders of conservative and libertarian projects, have hired PR professionals and filed a lawsuit in an effort to protect their image reports Politico in The Kochs fight back.
The Campaign For Liberty says John Boehner is no role model for Republicans and a tabloid is saying the NYTimes is investigating a Boehner sex scandal.
A Canadian is ordered to remove the rifle from a toy soldier before boarding an airplane.
As if things weren't bad enough already the AP is reporting Feds to Let Airport Screeners Gain Union Rights.
On the Centennial of Reagan's birth Lee Edwards writes of The Classical Virtues of Ronald Reagan, Heritage has produced a video and the Washington Post has a Special Section on Reagan where you should check out their video of his memorable moments.
The Hollywood Reporter asks Is 'True Grit' the Perfect Tea Party Movie?
There is a Grassroots effort to recall Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says the AP.
The Koch brothers, funders of conservative and libertarian projects, have hired PR professionals and filed a lawsuit in an effort to protect their image reports Politico in The Kochs fight back.
The Campaign For Liberty says John Boehner is no role model for Republicans and a tabloid is saying the NYTimes is investigating a Boehner sex scandal.
A Canadian is ordered to remove the rifle from a toy soldier before boarding an airplane.
As if things weren't bad enough already the AP is reporting Feds to Let Airport Screeners Gain Union Rights.
On the Centennial of Reagan's birth Lee Edwards writes of The Classical Virtues of Ronald Reagan, Heritage has produced a video and the Washington Post has a Special Section on Reagan where you should check out their video of his memorable moments.
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy
The good ol' days
by Julie Carter
The ranch wife was standing in the corral looking into the storm as the wind blasted the falling snow across the pens. Ranch husband was carrying a bale of hay to the feed bunk.
This classic Jerry Palen cartoon was accompanied by this timeless line from the ranch wife: "Tell me again how we're going to think of this as the good old days."
Across the country where the weather has plummeted into cold, snow and blizzard conditions, this scenario is played out repeatedly.
Al Gore declared that the severe blast of winter weather we are enduring is a "consequence of mad-made global warming."
I can't even begin to use the expletives I hear when the term "global warming" comes up right now, only surpassed by those used while taking Al Gore's name in vain.
With every day of arctic weather in Kansas, the Dakotas, Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, etc., the fact is this - no farms or ranches will be closed due to inclement weather.
Subzero temps are no excuse for staying inside by the fire.
Livestock has priority. Plunging mercury on thermometers predicts frozen water lines and iced-over drinking troughs.
The drifting snow adds an extra challenge to mobility, making hauling water not always a second option.
Cold winter stories are endless, depicting the misery with humor or agony.
One old timer tells that when he was a kid, they put their food in the icebox to keep it from freezing.
Ironically, I'm paying for electricity to keep things frozen in the freezer and to keep things from freezing outside of the freezer.
Then there are those half dozen newborn baby calves, unfortunate enough to have been born on a subzero night, thawing out on the back porch.
Space heaters, heat lamps and blow dryers become premium tools in the lifesaving efforts.
Chopping ice and splitting firewood are a few basics in this world that remain timeless in nature and require the ever-handy ax.
The cowboy's bride made her circle which was an all-day event involving many miles to get to and ride through more than a dozen pastures -- breaking ice in the trough in each one.
Dog-tired and with just one more pasture to go, she stepped out to unload her equally tired roan horse. He decided in his weariness to not be in a particular hurry.
Standing on the fender of the trailer and reaching through the slats, she used the handle-end of her ice-breaking ax to snare the reins and encourage the roan to back out.
Just as she was coaxing the horse's exit, a local farmer happened by. She had the business end of the ax in her gloved hands, but all the farmer could see was the ax handle stuck through the slats of the trailer.
He briefly viewed the action and then quickly sped away. Not giving it a thought, she got the horse unloaded and went about her business.
The next morning she stopped by the grain elevator to get a hot cup of coffee and thaw out by the stove. As she came through the door, she got a standing ovation from the crew already there.
Ordinarily a nod and a hello was the extent of their acknowledgment of her arrival. She had to ask, "What's up?"
"Lyndon was by here yesterday and said he saw you hit your good horse in the head with an ax because he wouldn't un-load," said one of them.
"Everybody knows how much you love that roan horse. We figured if you are that tough, we better come to attention when you walk in."
Ah yes, living the good life and getting a little respect along the way.
by Julie Carter
The ranch wife was standing in the corral looking into the storm as the wind blasted the falling snow across the pens. Ranch husband was carrying a bale of hay to the feed bunk.
This classic Jerry Palen cartoon was accompanied by this timeless line from the ranch wife: "Tell me again how we're going to think of this as the good old days."
Across the country where the weather has plummeted into cold, snow and blizzard conditions, this scenario is played out repeatedly.
Al Gore declared that the severe blast of winter weather we are enduring is a "consequence of mad-made global warming."
I can't even begin to use the expletives I hear when the term "global warming" comes up right now, only surpassed by those used while taking Al Gore's name in vain.
With every day of arctic weather in Kansas, the Dakotas, Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, etc., the fact is this - no farms or ranches will be closed due to inclement weather.
Subzero temps are no excuse for staying inside by the fire.
Livestock has priority. Plunging mercury on thermometers predicts frozen water lines and iced-over drinking troughs.
The drifting snow adds an extra challenge to mobility, making hauling water not always a second option.
Cold winter stories are endless, depicting the misery with humor or agony.
One old timer tells that when he was a kid, they put their food in the icebox to keep it from freezing.
Ironically, I'm paying for electricity to keep things frozen in the freezer and to keep things from freezing outside of the freezer.
Then there are those half dozen newborn baby calves, unfortunate enough to have been born on a subzero night, thawing out on the back porch.
Space heaters, heat lamps and blow dryers become premium tools in the lifesaving efforts.
Chopping ice and splitting firewood are a few basics in this world that remain timeless in nature and require the ever-handy ax.
The cowboy's bride made her circle which was an all-day event involving many miles to get to and ride through more than a dozen pastures -- breaking ice in the trough in each one.
Dog-tired and with just one more pasture to go, she stepped out to unload her equally tired roan horse. He decided in his weariness to not be in a particular hurry.
Standing on the fender of the trailer and reaching through the slats, she used the handle-end of her ice-breaking ax to snare the reins and encourage the roan to back out.
Just as she was coaxing the horse's exit, a local farmer happened by. She had the business end of the ax in her gloved hands, but all the farmer could see was the ax handle stuck through the slats of the trailer.
He briefly viewed the action and then quickly sped away. Not giving it a thought, she got the horse unloaded and went about her business.
The next morning she stopped by the grain elevator to get a hot cup of coffee and thaw out by the stove. As she came through the door, she got a standing ovation from the crew already there.
Ordinarily a nod and a hello was the extent of their acknowledgment of her arrival. She had to ask, "What's up?"
"Lyndon was by here yesterday and said he saw you hit your good horse in the head with an ax because he wouldn't un-load," said one of them.
"Everybody knows how much you love that roan horse. We figured if you are that tough, we better come to attention when you walk in."
Ah yes, living the good life and getting a little respect along the way.
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@ruidosonews.com.
Wilmeth's West
‘It’ and Pocket Knives
By Stephen L. Wilmeth
The hot summer days of the years from the mid ‘60s and before were when the seeds were sown for what we now know as our own modern age of agriculture. It was a time when farm families still relied heavily on labor from within the family, and every boy carried a pocket knife to school.
Recently, I read from the writings of a farm child of the ‘40s and ‘50s. That person, now retired, came to the conclusion that he was ready to chronicle his childhood. It took several months for him to complete the work, and, it is my suspicion, he gained more from making himself systematically work back through that time in his life than he ever expected.
There remain two types of children of agriculture. There are those that cannot wait to leave it, and there are those that, from the start, live only to live ‘it’. What our child of the ‘40s and ‘50s found was that his life was at times in both camps, but his most precious memories and recognizable character traits are allowing him to reclaim his membership in the latter group. It is now okay for him to reassure himself that ‘it’ has always been part of him.
‘It’ has been the dominating characteristic of many outstanding minds. Whether the phenomenon of American Agriculture came from the immensity of the resource or the character of the American mind, it doesn’t matter. The combination has created the most efficient system the world has ever known. Even as our economic system is teetering on calamity, the strength of American Agriculture is the envy of the world.
What occurred around those farm family tables in the middle third of the 20th Century that set the course for the wonders of today? What were the forces that brought forth the real green revolution?
I maintain that the foundation of the current phenomenon came from conversations and interaction that started around those farm family tables. ‘It’ was there when breakfast occurred after chores were done and the days started. ‘It’ was there after the dishes were washed and homework was done on the same table. ‘It’ was there when that kid sitting in the last seat at the table was brought into the conversation about his responsibilities, and ‘it’ was there when his mama kissed him goodbye before he went off to college to continue his dream of being part of ‘it’.
Being part of ‘it’ was the culmination of immersion in the process. For those who have never been around that little kid sitting in the last seat at the table, what a shame. Those farm kids who came from those circumstances and grew up to be the participants in the industry as we know it were productive citizens long before they were old enough to vote. They grew up in an environment of opportunity to engage in real issues rather than being constrained by imposed limitations of why they couldn’t.
Has anybody read a governmental labor order lately? Nobody disagrees with protecting children and confronting abuse, but relegating them to the corner to play with the newest electronic wonder gives pause to anybody who was ushered through our time of innocence with stewards who presented us with real world dilemmas and responsibilities. Similarly, who of the graying generation recalls with fond memories a visit to an old time school principal? There were no modern day bureaucratic shields between you and that principal. It was just you, the school secretary seated outside the door trying not to smile, and that immense authority with his or her split bat with holes drilled in it contemplating your status among the living. The only thing worse was the confrontation that was inevitable when you got home.
Mentorship, responsibility, and discipline were all influences those farm kids were exposed to on an ongoing basis. ‘It’ was with them when they went forth and ‘it’ was there when they created the phenomenon of modern agriculture. It is a culmination of personalities, acquired skills, insight, and talents but it all came from the combination of influences that constitute ‘it’.
Is there another agriculture age in our future? If there is, perhaps the first stop should be around those family tables of long ago. If there is departure from the acceptable and high road, perhaps a visit to the old time principal is in order. And, just maybe he will conclude his duty with an admonition to all of society wondering why boys, men in training, are not allowed to carry pocket knives to school. He would be the first to say it isn’t the boys with pocket knives that are our problem. Rather, it is the departure from ‘it’ that promises our downfall.
Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “We are mired in a society that incessantly creates barriers to why we shouldn’t do something rather than portals of opportunities of why we should.”
THE WESTERNER
Wilmeth sent me this column with a note saying "See if this rings any bells." Well the bells are still ringing...and I can see that table plain as day.
There is another thing we learned at an early age, and that is the time and effort involved in producing something. Crops were planted and calves were born in the spring, were tended to all summer, and harvest didn't occur till the fall. A great deal of time, work and risk happened between sowing and reaping. Compare that with today's "instant gratification" society. Besides, now a days too many people are reaping what other folks have sowed.
There is one thing in Wilmeth's column to which I cannot relate. Having been a near perfect child I really don't understand that principal and paddle thing.
Song Of The Day #501
Ranch Radio's Gospel tune this Sunday morning is Talk To God by the bluegrass group Kane's River.
The tune is on their 11 track CD Kane's River.
The tune is on their 11 track CD Kane's River.
Friday, February 04, 2011
Gore's Unending Blizzard Of Lies
As the nation digs itself out, the grand wizard of global warming comes out of hiding and blames it all on that SUV stuck in your driveway. A blizzard is a terrible thing to waste. What has been dubbed the Groundhog Day Blizzard has caused Al Gore to poke his head out of his massive carbon-generating mansion in Nashville, Tenn., to blame the 2,000-mile storm on our alleged obsession with fossil fuels. Sorry, Al, but in Chicago the solar panels were buried under upward of two feet of snow as citizens cranked up those polluting snow blowers, a scene repeated in much of the country. In the middle of blowing snow, blowing smoke does not help. Get our drift? Fox News icon Bill O'Reilly recently asked rhetorically, "Why has southern New York turned into the tundra?" He said he'd left a message for Gore. Gore replied on his blog Tuesday that "scientists have been warning for at least two decades that global warming could make snowstorms more severe" and that what we are shoveling is a result of "increased evaporation meeting the cold air of winter." Gore has been relatively quiet in recent months as the hot air of his theories met the cold logic of observable fact. Earth has demonstrably cooled in the past decade as the sun and its solar cycle grew quiet...more
USDA’s Pigford fraud
Race hustlers are shaking down taxpayers for payoffs, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is falling for the scam. The controversy involves a discrimination claim against the USDA for allegedly denying loans because of race. A federal judge approved payments of $50,000 or more based on low levels of proof. This encouraged a mad scramble for cash based on false claims. The “Pigford Settlement,” an agreement that came out of the original 1997 lawsuit by Timothy Pigford and 400 southern black farmers, resulted from some apparently legitimate instances of discrimination. However, plaintiffs’ lawyers got involved, and the number of supposedly aggrieved farmers grew exponentially. Eventually, more than 94,000 claims were filed even though the U.S. Census Bureau never counted more than 33,000 black farmers in America during the years in question. In 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama began working to pass legislation providing even more money for a whole new class of claimants via “Pigford II.” This push ignored fraud in and several convictions over the original settlement, but Mr. Obama was advised his legislation could help him in a Democratic presidential primary fight against then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. As president, Mr. Obama rammed this new, $4.6 billion boondoggle through Congress during last year’s post-election, lame-duck session. For months, the liberal Huffington Post and Andrew Breitbart’s libertarian BigGovernment.com have reported growing numbers of Pigford fraud allegations. Numerous black farmers have complained they get short shrift while grifters and lawyers get the loot...more
Elected Colorado Dems back wild lands order
Several elected Coloradans are supporting Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s order making millions of undeveloped acres of land once again eligible for federal wilderness protection. Seventy people signed a letter today thanking Salazar for his order in December reversing a Bush-era policy. They include more than two dozen Democrats in the state Legislature. Some commissioners of Costilla, Pitkin, La Plata, San Miguel, Summit, Clear Creek and Boulder counties, plus city council members and mayors from around the state also signed it. They say wild lands that support activities like hunting are an economic engine. However some ranchers, those with ties to mining and energy development, and others worry that taking public land out of production would hurt other parts of the economy. AP
The Interior Department's Culture of Contempt
Oops, they did it again. President Obama's grabby-handed environmental bureaucrats have earned yet another spanking from the federal judiciary over their "determined disregard" of the rule of law. Isn't it time to give these misbehaving government hooligans a permanent timeout? Federal judge Martin Feldman in Louisiana excoriated the Obama Interior Department Wednesday for defying his May 2010 order to lift its groundless ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in the Gulf. Nine months later, not a single permit has been issued. Several deepwater platforms have moved out of the area to take their businesses — and an estimated 5,000 jobs — overseas. Billions of dollars in potential oil revenue and Gulf lease sales-related rent have also dried up. This is because Team Obama's eco-radicals never intend to approve them. Every step of the way, the White House team has displayed unbridled defiance — by continually broadcasting its intent and determination to impose the blanket moratorium in spite of the judicial order, and by ramming through a second sweeping ban that did nothing to address the court's concerns after the injunction was issued...more
Let’s Vote on It
One of the many troubling aspects of the Obama administration is its eagerness to use the federal regulatory apparatus to achieve its political goals when it cannot advance them through the democratic process in Congress. The sterling example of this is the EPA’s push to enact, on self-asserted authority, new limitations on the emission of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases. The EPA’s decision to do so was explicitly political: It telegraphed its intention to act unilaterally should Congress fail to enact the package of taxes and restrictions known as “cap and trade.” Mindful that the legislation would impose real costs in the here and now but offer only theoretical benefits, and those at some far remove in the future, Congress wisely rejected the bill. And so EPA’s bureaucrats went to their battle stations. Put another way, our elected representatives have failed to comply with the desires of our unelected masters, and the unelected government proposes to assert its supremacy...more
Idaho Conservation Group Models Enviro Success in a Tough Political Climate
Since the November election, a lot of environmentalists have been publicly wringing their hands, despondent about the new political landscape. In fact, ever since the Obama administration appointed Ken Salazar, a Colorado rancher, as Secretary of the Interior, there has been widespread disappointment that nothing has changed. Now, with the new Congress, environmentalists fear things are about to get a lot worse. Rick Johnson, executive director of the Idaho Conservation League (ICL), one of Idaho’s oldest environmental organizations and, some would say, its most successful, does not share this pessimistic outlook. He notes that Idaho politics have always been extremely challenging for advocacy groups like ICL. “So I’m not that flipped out by this,” he said. “We just need to keep our heads down, keep doing what we’re doing and stay the course.” Johnson says ICL tends to take a longterm view, rather than focusing on the more immediate ups and downs. The ICL, founded in 1973, can point to an impressive track record of this steady-as-you-go approach. It includes preservation of the 2.3 million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in the ‘70s, the Idaho Clean Lakes and Water Quality Act in the ‘80s, a revised Idaho Forest Practices Act in the ‘90s and, more recently, helping pass the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Bill, the first wilderness designation in Idaho in 29 years. Currently, ICL is in the forefront of the controversial effort to establish the Boulder White Clouds Wilderness in Idaho, or CIEDRA, (Central Idaho Environmental Development and Recreation Act) sponsored and championed by Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson (R)...more
Ranchers rally groups to keep access
More than 1,000 ranchers and other public-lands users have banded together to preserve historic, multiple use of the Jarbidge area of southwest Idaho and northeast Nevada. The Jarbidge Coalition for Multiple Use was created to comment on the Bureau of Land Management's draft Resource Management Plan-Environmental Impact Statement for that area. The plan will guide resource management for the next 15 to 20 years. "One of the big concerns is access to certain areas," said Gus Brackett, whose family has ranched in the area since 1886. The issue is bigger than grazing alone. Sportsmen, all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts and other recreationists wanted a seat at the table as well. They're worried about road closures and lost access to areas that have historically been open to their use, Brackett said. Ranchers are worried about reduced grazing, which could harm their livelihoods, he added. All are concerned with new designations of wilderness areas, wilderness study areas and areas of critical environmental concern. The coalition was formed to address the issues, find consensus and comment on them in a short amount of time with one strong voice...more
Bear smart: researcher urges involvement of ranchers
Officials in Kamloops, as well as other cities on the fringe of wild areas, encourage homeowners to keep garbage indoors in order to deter bears. In the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains in Montana, it's not quite so simple. And rather than just black bears, the population includes bigger and wilder grizzlies. But the concept of keeping people and bears safe, by keeping them apart, is the same. "The name of the game is minimizing attractants," said Seth Wilson, a visiting fellow with the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. "It's not rocket science to minimize conflict with bears. But there are subtleties and complexities." It's those complexities as well as success in reducing conflicts between black bears, grizzlies, wolves and ranchers that Wilson outlined Thursday in a lecture to students in Thompson Rivers University's master's of environmental science program. In addition to his research responsibilities, Wilson is the wildlife co-ordinator for the Blackfoot Challenge, a landowner-led non-governmental organization in the Blackfoot River area in the Rocky Mountains in Montana. Prior to the Blackfoot Challenge taking on the problem of conflicts between ranchers and predators, Wilson said there were 77 of those conflicts in 2003. Last year, by contrast, there were 10 minor incidents - a 93 per cent decrease. The reduction in problem grizzlies came through a systematic reduction in things that attract them in known areas, including sick or dead calves...more
NH farmer wins early release after gun sentence
A New Hampshire farmer who became a folk hero to gun rights activists after he was imprisoned for brandishing a handgun at a trespasser on his property won early release Wednesday. The New Hampshire Executive Council voted unanimously to free Ward Bird, just two months into his three-year sentence. His wife, Ginny, said he would come home to "lots of tears, lots of hugs and a big celebration." Bird, 49, of Moultonborough, had sought a full pardon to clear his name. The council voted in his favor, but Gov. John Lynch vetoed the pardon, saying the judicial system had given Bird's case a thorough review and he would not undermine that. The council then immediately voted to commute his sentence, and Lynch let that vote stand. "I, like the (sentencing) judge, have concerns the punishment does not fit the crime," Lynch said. Bird's felony conviction for criminal threatening with a firearm remains on his record. He can no longer possess guns. Attorney General Michael Delaney said a full pardon would have restored Bird's right to own and carry guns...more
How Jimmie Rodgers And I Saved The Hi-Fi
Dad served in the Navy in WWII. Sometime in the late 50’s or early 60’s they started a Navy Reserve Unit in Albuquerque and Dad joined. This meant another paycheck plus each year he went on a two weeks cruise with his Navy buddies.
Mom would use these two week periods to purchase items she, shall we say, just never got around to while Dad was home.
On this particular occasion she purchased a Hi-Fi record player. For you youngsters that stood for High Fidelity. Not quite Stereo, but supposedly better than a standard phonograph player.
When Dad returned from his Navy duty he noticed the Hi-Fi right away and announced “The damn thing’s going back.” Later that evening he came to my room to explain his position. “Did you see those big speakers on that thing?” he asked. “Those are for big dances in gymnasiums and things like that…people don’t have them in their houses.” “Hell”, he continued, “I could wind up the ol’ Victrola at the ranch and hear it clear out at the barn when I was feedin’ the horses.” He went on to say it was “going back” and he was sure I understood.
Mom was hanging tough though, so I took my allowance and went to the record shop. That was when they had booths and you could listen before you bought. Going through the LPs in the Country section, I noticed one with a picture of a man and his guitar and the man was wearing a railroader hat. I didn’t know Jimmie Rodgers from the man in the moon but I liked the picture and had them play it for me in the booth. I guess even at that young age I was a sucker for old time country, because I liked it and bought it.
I was playing my new album when Dad got home that evening. He was still opposed and telling Mom it was “going back”, so he went to the back of the house to put up his things. In just a little while he stepped back into the living room and said, “Is that Jimmie Rodgers”?
He sat down and listened for awhile and then told me stories about how people would come to town and stop by the DuBois Drug Store just to listen to the latest Jimmie Rodgers record.
And we got to keep the Hi-Fi.
Note: As a young girl my Mom got to see Rodgers in person, which you can read about here.
Mom would use these two week periods to purchase items she, shall we say, just never got around to while Dad was home.
On this particular occasion she purchased a Hi-Fi record player. For you youngsters that stood for High Fidelity. Not quite Stereo, but supposedly better than a standard phonograph player.
When Dad returned from his Navy duty he noticed the Hi-Fi right away and announced “The damn thing’s going back.” Later that evening he came to my room to explain his position. “Did you see those big speakers on that thing?” he asked. “Those are for big dances in gymnasiums and things like that…people don’t have them in their houses.” “Hell”, he continued, “I could wind up the ol’ Victrola at the ranch and hear it clear out at the barn when I was feedin’ the horses.” He went on to say it was “going back” and he was sure I understood.
Mom was hanging tough though, so I took my allowance and went to the record shop. That was when they had booths and you could listen before you bought. Going through the LPs in the Country section, I noticed one with a picture of a man and his guitar and the man was wearing a railroader hat. I didn’t know Jimmie Rodgers from the man in the moon but I liked the picture and had them play it for me in the booth. I guess even at that young age I was a sucker for old time country, because I liked it and bought it.
I was playing my new album when Dad got home that evening. He was still opposed and telling Mom it was “going back”, so he went to the back of the house to put up his things. In just a little while he stepped back into the living room and said, “Is that Jimmie Rodgers”?
He sat down and listened for awhile and then told me stories about how people would come to town and stop by the DuBois Drug Store just to listen to the latest Jimmie Rodgers record.
And we got to keep the Hi-Fi.
Note: As a young girl my Mom got to see Rodgers in person, which you can read about here.
Song Of The Day #500
Ranch Radio will celebrate our 500th Song Of The Day with a couple of tunes from The Father of Country Music, Jimmie Rodgers. Any Old Time was recorded in 1929 and Nobody Knows But Me in 1931.
Rodgers recordings are widely available.
Should I keep this up for another 500?
Rodgers recordings are widely available.
Should I keep this up for another 500?
Political Catch Pen
With the Republican Study Committee in the House now at 170 strong, it is causing tension for the Republican leaders reports Politico in House conservatives push on policy.
In The GOP's Tea Party Tango Mark Mckinnon discusses the Tea Party's impact on the House and the Senate.
Ian Murray says alot more people than you think work for the government in Leviathan.
Citing House Republicans announcement they will only cut $32 billion from the budget, Libertarians say “Tea Party betrayed by tiny Republican budget cuts”.
At NRO, Robert Costa writes about Senator Rand Paul's budget proposal in Rand Rips and Andrew Stiles his maiden speech in The Question of Compromise.
In Funny Business, The Washington Prowlers says big corporations are falling in line to support Obama's "Startup America" program.
James Capretta writes about The Darkening Skies over Obamacare.
T.L. Davis reports on Death in the Desert: Project Gunwalker and the ATF Cover-Up.
The Hill reports the FEC has inflation-adjusted contributions in FEC increases contribution limits
Argus Hamilton: Bill Clinton was named Man of the Year by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals because of his public campaign urging everyone to eat vegan. He talked about how easy it was for him to switch to a meat-free diet. All he had to do was eat at Taco Bell.
In The GOP's Tea Party Tango Mark Mckinnon discusses the Tea Party's impact on the House and the Senate.
Ian Murray says alot more people than you think work for the government in Leviathan.
Citing House Republicans announcement they will only cut $32 billion from the budget, Libertarians say “Tea Party betrayed by tiny Republican budget cuts”.
At NRO, Robert Costa writes about Senator Rand Paul's budget proposal in Rand Rips and Andrew Stiles his maiden speech in The Question of Compromise.
In Funny Business, The Washington Prowlers says big corporations are falling in line to support Obama's "Startup America" program.
James Capretta writes about The Darkening Skies over Obamacare.
T.L. Davis reports on Death in the Desert: Project Gunwalker and the ATF Cover-Up.
The Hill reports the FEC has inflation-adjusted contributions in FEC increases contribution limits
Argus Hamilton: Bill Clinton was named Man of the Year by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals because of his public campaign urging everyone to eat vegan. He talked about how easy it was for him to switch to a meat-free diet. All he had to do was eat at Taco Bell.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Stella Isabel Montoya 1928-2011
Stella Isabel Montoya of La Plata, N.M., died Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011, in Farmington. She was 82.
She was born to Onofre R. and Alvina Martinez Jaquez on Sept. 30, 1928, in Silverton.
On June 22, 1948, she married F.F. “Chano” Montoya in Farmington.
For many years, Mrs. Montoya was involved with the “Make It Yourself with Wool” contest that promoted wool products produced in the U.S. She was active in various agricultural organizations and spent a lot of time traveling throughout the country representing important agricultural issues.
In 1994, Mr. and Mrs. Montoya received the New Mexico State Cattleman of the Year award. They were the first to receive the award as a couple. They were also inducted into the History Makers Hall of Fame for Farmington. In 1990, they received the prestigious Citizen Award from the Bureau of Reclamation with the U.S. Department of Interior.
She and her husband served on the Fort Lewis College Foundation board of directors for several years, and was the president of the La Plata Water Conservancy. Mrs. Montoya also received many other awards and served on various boards.
Her son Davin Montoya said Mr. and Mrs. Montoya were as active in Colorado as they were in New Mexico.
“She was always willing to share her political opinions,” her family said.
Mrs. Montoya enjoyed working in her yard and garden. She was a member of the Sacred Heart Parish in Farmington.
Mrs. Montoya was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, F.F. “Chano” Montoya; and son Theodore Montoya.
She is survived by her sons Davin Montoya of Hesperus, Anthony Montoya, Louis Montoya and Thomas Montoya, all of La Plata, N.M., and Charles Montoya of Farmington; daughter, Andrea Dunn, of Lamar; brothers Onofre “Buster” Jaquez and Gilbert Jaquez, both of Aztec; sisters Mary Jo Sarason of Albuquerque, Dolores Jaquez of Sonoma, Calif., and Georgia Lewis of Charlotte, N.C.; 15 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. today, Feb. 2, 2011, at Brewer, Lee & Larkin Funeral Home, 103 E. Ute St. in Farmington. A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. today at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 414 N. Allen Ave. in Farmington. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011, also at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The Rev. Tim Farrell will be the celebrant. Burial will take place at Greenhorn Cemetery in La Plata.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Fort Lewis College Foundation, 1000 Rim Drive, Durango CO 81301; Northwest New Mexico Hospice, P.O. Box 3336, Farmington, NM 87499-3336; or Basin Home Health, 200 N. Orchard Ave., Farmington, NM 87401.
Online condolences may be sent at www.danielsfuneral.com.
She was born to Onofre R. and Alvina Martinez Jaquez on Sept. 30, 1928, in Silverton.
On June 22, 1948, she married F.F. “Chano” Montoya in Farmington.
For many years, Mrs. Montoya was involved with the “Make It Yourself with Wool” contest that promoted wool products produced in the U.S. She was active in various agricultural organizations and spent a lot of time traveling throughout the country representing important agricultural issues.
In 1994, Mr. and Mrs. Montoya received the New Mexico State Cattleman of the Year award. They were the first to receive the award as a couple. They were also inducted into the History Makers Hall of Fame for Farmington. In 1990, they received the prestigious Citizen Award from the Bureau of Reclamation with the U.S. Department of Interior.
She and her husband served on the Fort Lewis College Foundation board of directors for several years, and was the president of the La Plata Water Conservancy. Mrs. Montoya also received many other awards and served on various boards.
Her son Davin Montoya said Mr. and Mrs. Montoya were as active in Colorado as they were in New Mexico.
“She was always willing to share her political opinions,” her family said.
Mrs. Montoya enjoyed working in her yard and garden. She was a member of the Sacred Heart Parish in Farmington.
Mrs. Montoya was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, F.F. “Chano” Montoya; and son Theodore Montoya.
She is survived by her sons Davin Montoya of Hesperus, Anthony Montoya, Louis Montoya and Thomas Montoya, all of La Plata, N.M., and Charles Montoya of Farmington; daughter, Andrea Dunn, of Lamar; brothers Onofre “Buster” Jaquez and Gilbert Jaquez, both of Aztec; sisters Mary Jo Sarason of Albuquerque, Dolores Jaquez of Sonoma, Calif., and Georgia Lewis of Charlotte, N.C.; 15 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. today, Feb. 2, 2011, at Brewer, Lee & Larkin Funeral Home, 103 E. Ute St. in Farmington. A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. today at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 414 N. Allen Ave. in Farmington. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011, also at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The Rev. Tim Farrell will be the celebrant. Burial will take place at Greenhorn Cemetery in La Plata.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Fort Lewis College Foundation, 1000 Rim Drive, Durango CO 81301; Northwest New Mexico Hospice, P.O. Box 3336, Farmington, NM 87499-3336; or Basin Home Health, 200 N. Orchard Ave., Farmington, NM 87401.
Online condolences may be sent at www.danielsfuneral.com.
Obama, Bingaman to talk energy
President Barack Obama has summoned Sen. Jeff Bingaman to the White House on Wednesday for a one-on-one talk about energy policy, including the legislative prospects for the “clean energy” standard that was a central part of last week’s State of the Union speech. Bingaman (D-N.M.) is Obama’s first and most important target if the so-called CES has any chance of making it into law in 2011, before presidential politics consume Capitol Hill. A White House spokesman said Tuesday that the meeting with Bingaman was a follow up to the State of the Union message and Obama’s call for “policies to promote clean energy and strengthen our security, decrease pollution, and create new jobs. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman has long been critical of the idea of including more traditional forms of energy like nuclear power and “clean coal” in a nationwide standard. Instead, he prefers an exclusive focus on renewables like wind, solar and geothermal power...more
Study finds bag tax ineffective
A new report finds the bag tax that Washingtonians have been paying for more than a year now to be a job killer and economic loser. The study, commissioned by Americans for Tax Reform and conducted by the Beacon Hill Institute, examines the economic fallout of the D.C. bag tax. One of the more annoying taxes ever devised, the levy covers even those little plastic bags that Subway puts your foot-long in. Macy's has to charge a bag tax with all purchases storewide for the simple reason that it sells Godiva chocolates. According to the report, the bag tax will result in the elimination of more than 100 local jobs and precipitate a $5.64 million decline in aggregate disposable income for 2011. The majority of this income would have been spent in the District and, as a result of the bag tax, D.C. will now needlessly forgo an additional $108,340 in sales tax revenue and will see investment drop by $602,000, with the bulk of the loss occurring in the retail sector. The report's findings underscore that the bag tax takes its greatest toll on the District's poorest residents and communities...more
White House, key senator in standoff over South Korean trade deal
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has a beef with the South Korean trade deal, and it could hurt President Obama's prospects for winning quick approval of the pact. The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement is a key item on Obama's job-creation agenda, as his chief of staff reiterated Wednesday. "We want Korea," William M. Daley told reporters at a breakfast organized by Bloomberg News. But Baucus, whose committee oversees trade issues, is siding with cattle ranchers from his home state who were shut out of the deal. He has pledged opposition until South Korea reconsiders restrictions on the many U.S. beef exports it has barred. Baucus's stand is a major obstacle to the White House and Republicans who are eager to bring the long-delayed pact to the Senate floor. Baucus has not said whether he will merely vote against the agreement or will use the full force of his authority as finance chairman to block it indefinitely. The senator said he is working behind the scenes with U.S. trade officials to tweak the agreement to ensure Montana ranchers get a better deal. "When I see that, I'll support Korea," Baucus said...more
Arizona Ranchers Not Happy With Janet Napolitano's Border Plan for Rural Areas -- or Lack Thereof
The Arizona Cattleman's Association is not impressed with a speech given by Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano this week, in which, the group says, she "abandoned her mantra of the past year that the U.S. Mexican Border...'is more secure than ever.'" During a speech at the University of Texas' El Paso campus, Napolitano touted the efforts of the federal government in curbing border violence and preventing drugs and illegal immigrants from coming across the border. The ACA isn't satisfied with Napolitano's assessment and feels she "has focused herself on border cities where emergency response is seconds away leaving rural areas in the cold once again." The group also says it's unfair of the homeland security chief to charge those who point out unchecked dangers on the border with trying to "score political points." "The secretary fails to recognize that Mexican cartels don't really care if their targets or their victims are Democrats or Republicans," Arizona Cattle Grower's Association President Steve Brophy says. "Secretary Napolitano also says that calling attention to the border security situation in southern Arizona is bad for business on the Border," the group says. "Is a cry for help to the Department of Homeland Security bad for business? Would it be better for business that we not speak of the problem, the threat and the dangers, and just hope it goes away?...more
UA Report Looks at State of Southwestern 'Foodsheds'
Unprecedented pressures exist on food security and farming capacity in the U.S. borderland states, according to a new regional food assessment by University of Arizona researchers and their colleagues. The Sabores Sin Fronteras Foodway Alliance has just published "State of Southwestern Foodsheds." Noted agricultural ecologist Gary Paul Nabhan, a research scientist with the UA Southwest Center, said the 36-page collection of essays "is the first assessment of the health and well-being of food systems in the borderlands states." The report includes a number of findings. The rates of hunger and food security in Arizona and New Mexico are rapidly rising at a pace exceeding that of the national average. Based on current U.S. Census data, Arizona is now the second poorest state in the nation and New Mexico ranked third. Both are among the lowest 13 states for food security and among the six worst states for dealing with childhood food insecurity. By discerning where leverage points are for positive change, Nabhan and Fitzsimmons hope to stimulate more innovation, such as encouraging more low-income people to use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to purchase fresh foods at farmers markets, rebuilding meat processing infrastructure or grouping several restaurants to share transportation costs of accessing local produce. At the same time, the food-producing capacity of the desert borderlands is under severe stress...more
I can't wait to read it.
I can't wait to read it.
Yak bills roam Wyoming house
At the request of local commissioners and ranchers, the state legislature has entered the fray in the Johnson County Yak War. The House Agriculture Committee has introduced three bills aimed at controlling yaks-at-large. House Bill 57 would give the state authority to declare feral livestock a nuisance and charge owners for the cost of herding and transporting the animals. House Bill 58, which was defeated in committee, would have allowed county commissions to declare feral livestock a public nuisance and impose fines accordingly. And House Bill 173, which is scheduled for hearing Thursday in the agriculture committee, would amend state statute to read that nuisance animals shall include “a dog, cat or yak.” At the heart of the issue are a herd of wooly Asian bovines that seemingly don’t know how to stay home. The herd, owned by John and Laura DeMatteis of Yak Daddy Ranch, has irked neighbors and led them to seek legal relief from just about every angle and from entities ranging from the Johnson County Board of Commissioners to the state Stockgrowers Association, the state Livestock Board and now the state legislature. The problem started last April when three Johnson County ranchers first approached the county seeking relief from the Yak Daddy Ranch yaks that they claimed repeatedly crashed through fences and into neighboring pastures, eating up precious grass and posing the threat of impregnating cows...more
Why cattle markets are having a cow
Cattle prices are on the hoof lately. But don't just blame Ben Bernanke. There are plenty of other places to point the finger if you want to assess responsibility for record livestock prices. You can start with wrongheaded U.S. energy policy, tightfisted herders and soaring food demand. Like so many other commodity markets, cattle have been in full trot since the Federal Reserve said in November it would loosen the money supply to keep the economy crawling along. Futures prices for live cattle, the ones being fattened up for slaughter, hit an all-time high last month after rising by nearly a third over the past year (see right), and the action in cash markets has been every bit as wild. "This has been a dramatic rise in the last few months," said Paul Engler, who runs Cactus Feeders, an Amarillo, Texas-based cattle feeder. The Fed's monetary laxity is surely a contributing factor, though it is far from the only one. Prices for all agricultural goods have been screaming higher over the past year, as demand from fast-growing developing countries threatens to overwhelm supplies that aren't growing nearly as fast...more
10 Best Old Cowboy Movies
Selecting the 10 best old cowboy movies isn't as straightforward as it sounds. Most people consider westerns and cowboy movies to be different terms for the same film genre. They are not. Cowboy movies are films that involve cowboys, ranchers or the handling of livestock as a central part of the plot. Thus, movies that focus on gunfighters, cavalry and Indian fighting without some explicit connection to cowboys are excluded from the list of ten best old cowboy movies. 1. “The Searchers” A taciturn, unpleasant Confederate cowboy returns home after the war to visit his family in Texas. When Comanches kill the family, the cowboy and a companion begin a years long search for his niece, the only survivor of the massacre. 2. “Shane” Farmers are trying to work their land and build a community, but a powerful cattle baron and his men are determined to drive them from the range. It looks like he will succeed until a reformed gunfighter appears on the scene and sides with the farmers. This is one of the best old cowboy movies because it is based on true events. 3. “Red River” In desperate bid to save his ranch, a cowboy leads a cattle drive to new beef markets. But, he is such a viscous, tyrannical boss on the trail that his own son leads a coup against his leadership...more
American Idol: It’s time to cowboy up
Wednesday, the “American Idol” judges went to Austin, Texas, and wrangled a real winner — a cowboy named John Wayne Schulz. Bowing to maternal pressure (she wanted him to audition), the humble rancher wowed the judges with a Brooks and Dunn number. He had a nice clear voice and a strong, loving heart. Mom, he told the judges, had battled breast cancer and he wanted to do something to please her. “He’s the kindest person you’ll meet,” mom said. And, sure enough, he prompted tears, got the golden ticket and sang like a dream. Look for him to rope a spot in the finals. Goodness deserves success...more
Song Of The Day #499
This morning Ranch Radio presents Reno & Smiley picking The Black And White Rag.
The tune is on their 4 CD Box Set Reno & Smiley: 1959-1963.
Tomorrow, in celebration of our 500th Song Of The Day we'll have some music by the Father of Country Music. I'll also tell the story about Jimmie Rodgers, me and the Hi-Fi.
The tune is on their 4 CD Box Set Reno & Smiley: 1959-1963.
Tomorrow, in celebration of our 500th Song Of The Day we'll have some music by the Father of Country Music. I'll also tell the story about Jimmie Rodgers, me and the Hi-Fi.
We’re All Terrorists Now
...This follows a long line of fusion center and DHS reports labeling broad swaths of the public as a threat to national security. The North Texas Fusion System labeled Muslim lobbyists as a potential threat; a DHS analyst in Wisconsin thought both pro- and anti-abortion activists were worrisome; a Pennsylvania homeland security contractor watched environmental activists, Tea Party groups, and a Second Amendment rally; the Maryland State Police put anti-death penalty and anti-war activists in a federal terrorism database; a fusion center in Missouri thought that all third-party voters and Ron Paul supporters were a threat; and the Department of Homeland Security described half of the American political spectrum as “right wing extremists.”...more
Political Catch Pen
Amy Garner at the Wash. Post reports Pairing of religious conservatism with fiscal sets Iowa tea partyers apart.
Steven Hayward addresses liberal revisionism of Reagan in Reagan Reclaimed.
Will President Obama Abide by Court’s Decision and Suspend Obamacare? asks Michael Franc and Roger Pilon has legal questions about ObamaCare After Judge Vinson’s Ruling. Also see Peter Ferrara's The Legal Future of Obamacare at The American Spectator.
Michael Rappaport discusses the Presentment Clause in How a Bill Becomes a Law: The Constitutional Way
Orrin Hatch plays ball with tea party reports POLITICO.
Americans For Prosperity President Tim Phillips explains How House Republicans can seize the moment.
In his maiden speech on the Senate floor Rand Paul compares Tea Party to abolitionist movement
Steven Hayward addresses liberal revisionism of Reagan in Reagan Reclaimed.
Will President Obama Abide by Court’s Decision and Suspend Obamacare? asks Michael Franc and Roger Pilon has legal questions about ObamaCare After Judge Vinson’s Ruling. Also see Peter Ferrara's The Legal Future of Obamacare at The American Spectator.
Michael Rappaport discusses the Presentment Clause in How a Bill Becomes a Law: The Constitutional Way
Orrin Hatch plays ball with tea party reports POLITICO.
Americans For Prosperity President Tim Phillips explains How House Republicans can seize the moment.
In his maiden speech on the Senate floor Rand Paul compares Tea Party to abolitionist movement
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
The EPA versus spilled milk
Despite the old saying, "Don't cry over spilled milk," the Environmental Protection Agency is doing just that. We all understand why the Environmental Protection Agency was given the power to issue regulations to guard against oil spills, such as that of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska or the more recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But not everyone understands that any power given to any bureaucracy for any purpose can be stretched far beyond that purpose. In a classic example of this process, the EPA has decided that, since milk contains oil, it has the authority to force farmers to comply with new regulations to file "emergency management" plans to show how they will cope with spilled milk, how farmers will train "first responders" and build "containment facilities" if there is a flood of spilled milk. Since there is no free lunch, all of this is going to cost the farmers both money and time that could be going into farming — and is likely to end up costing consumers higher prices for farm products. Does anyone seriously believe that any farmer is going to spill enough milk to compare with the Exxon Valdez oil spill or the BP oil spill?...more
Salazar aide defends 'wildlands rule'
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is unlikely to change his mind on a rule that keeps some federal lands off limits. The policy, known as the "wildlands rule," allows the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management to propose some federal land as protected wilderness. The policy has been condemned by energy industry representatives, congressional Republicans and Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead. Salazar aide Steve Black on Monday said the department welcomes public input, but the decision will likely stand. "We want to get that feedback, work through those issues," he said. "But I don't think you should expect material delay or change in the direction of that policy." Black, who advises Salazar on energy, climate policy and related land issues, spoke before the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority board at its winter meeting in Jackson. Nearly 70 people, mostly energy industry representatives, attended the public meeting...more
Hatch: Stop Obama's War On The West
In their latest attack on the rural West, President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced unauthorized and unlimited “Wild Lands” designations in western states. Federal law is clear that “wilderness” can be designated only by Congress, but the President has the audacity to hope that this subtle wording change, from “wilderness to “Wild Lands,” will let him act without constraint in closing off vast public lands to the public who own them. Utahns and other Americans living in the West, with their way of life at stake, hope he’s wrong, and I will be introducing legislation to stop him. The recent announcement demonstrates brazen contempt for the rule of law. These lands belong to the people, not to federal land managers. The Wilderness Act passed in 1964 clearly gives Congress authority over these lands, and Congress has not approved this action. Federal law also requires input from local and state officials on these matters. Furthermore, the President’s announcement blatantly disregards agreements the federal government has stricken with Utah and other states to keep this kind of action from happening. Finally, it reverses comprehensive Resource Management Plans that have taken decades and hundreds of millions of dollars to complete...more
Officials gear up to fight the feds
State legislators and county officials in Utah are gearing up for what they expect will be a heated legal fight against the Bureau of Land Management’s new wild lands policy. The controversial policy was announced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Dec. 23 and gives the BLM the authority to designate millions of acres of publicly owned lands in the West as “wild lands,” and apply the same restrictions on use that exist in wilderness areas. The move has drawn support from environmental groups, wilderness advocates and some politicians in Utah and around the nation who say a definitive plan to protect BLM administered land is long past due. Locally though, the policy has drawn the ire of elected officials who say they don’t plan on seeing it enacted without mounting a staunch opposition. “I was shocked and almost in disbelief when this announcement was made,” said state Rep. Kraig Powell, who represents Duchesne, Uintah, and Wasatch counties. Challenging the new directive has become a top priority for many government leaders in Utah, not just rural legislators. When the 2011 general session of the Legislature began last week, representatives and senators were already collaborating on multiple bills to combat the wild lands directive...more
Wyoming counties join foes of BLM wildlands inventory
Park County joined the Wyoming County Commissioners Association on Tuesday in voting to publicly oppose a federal order directing the Bureau of Land Management to inventory public land with wilderness characteristics. In a 3-1 vote at their meeting Tuesday, commissioners objected to a Dec. 22 order by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar directing the BLM to maintain a “wilderness resource inventory” for public lands under its jurisdiction. Commissioners voted to sign the petition opposing the order. Those who supported the move accused Salazar of usurping his authority in trying to declare new wilderness without action by Congress. “Salazar is trying to circumvent the Wilderness Act,” Commissioner Joe Tilden said. “He's taking it upon himself to declare a lot of these areas as wildlands.” Tilden said Park County is home to roughly 532,000 acres of potential wildlands. Designating them as wilderness, he said, would effectively halt future oil and gas exploration. Commissioners Loren Grosskopf and Tim French agreed. French called Salazar's order a “raw abuse of power.”...more
Editorial: Lands bill
...Now, Utah lawmakers may be ready to say "enough is enough." The final straw appears to have been an announcement in December by U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that his agency would review millions of acres of undeveloped land in Utah as possible wilderness areas. Such a designation means no development would be possible. One plan for dealing with the problem comes from Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman. The controversial lawmaker certainly is hitting a hot button with this piece of legislation, which would void any federal land designation made without the Legislature's approval. In other words, the federal government would make wilderness designation proposals to the Utah Legislature before they could go into effect. Legislative attorneys are reviewing the language in the bill, but even if they deem it to be legal, it's a good bet the federal government won't be willing to comply. Any defiance at the federal level will prompt potentially expensive litigation and, as some critics of the bill fear, possible confrontations between law enforcement officials at various levels of government...more
Wild Lands Designation Threatens Access
This new "Wild Lands" policy comes on the heels of a victory when U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) dropped his effort, on Dec. 21, 2010, to pass a massive omnibus public lands bill that would have inappropriately designated millions of acres of public land as Wilderness. The very next day Salazar signed Secretarial Order 3310 and the same day the 111th Congress adjourned sine die. On Dec. 23, 2010, Salazar held a press conference in Colorado announcing the new "Wild Lands" policy. With the new "Wild Lands" policy, anti-access advocates and the administration are now seeking an end-run around Congress. Salazar's order has far-reaching implications because the BLM manages about 245 million acres of public land nationwide, primarily in western states. Federal lawmakers quickly called the "Wild Lands" policy a "land grab" and a blatant attempt to usurp congressional authority. The AMA sent a letter, dated Jan.11, 2011, to Salazar asking him to explain whether the new "Wild Lands" land-use designation will block traditional routes of travel for off-highway riding. To view the letter, click here . And to view the AMA's press release, click here.
Pearce: New Mexicans speak out on Gila road closings
Some, like Reverend Mike Skidmore from Truth or Consequences, simply love escaping with their loved ones into the Gila. For Rev. Skidmore, the Gila is a place to enjoy nature and “get away” — an experience he has shared with his children, grandchildren, and even members of his congregation. He fears that road closures will force everyone to the same crowded campsites, ending the days of quiet refuge and fellowship he always found there. Others have expressed concern for the elderly and disabled. The joys of the forest should be available to everyone, not just those with the physical ability to hike miles with a heavy pack. Charlie and Paula Stevens have camped in the Taylor Creek Canyon together for the past 35 years. The couple explained that as they grow older, they will become unable to access their spot without roads. Restricted access could bring their lifelong tradition to an end. This sort of discrimination against the elderly and disabled is unacceptable. Those who live in the Gila, including ranchers and farmers, are deeply concerned. Roads throughout the Gila connect them to their livelihoods, their homes, and their backyards...more
Senate climate battle begins with two bills
Dueling bills to block federal climate change rules landed in the Senate Monday, signaling interest by conservative Republicans and centrist Democrats in curtailing the Environmental Protection Agency. But it’s not clear whether the presence of two measures creates political momentum for halting greenhouse gas regulations, or instead reveals divides among EPA foes that can’t be bridged. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who is a member of the GOP leadership team, introduced a sweeping bill with several Republican colleagues that would completely upend the ability of federal agencies to regulate emissions or consider climate change when implementing various environmental statutes. (It would, however, allow current tailpipe standards to remain in place.) Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) introduced a less aggressive bill with several centrist Democrats that would delay EPA’s rules for stationary emissions sources like power plants and refineries for two years. Frank O’Donnell, head of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch, worries that the sweeping Republican bill could create a political opening for Rockefeller’s measure, a bill he said would set a bad precedent by suspending enforcement of clean air protections...more
New Mexico Livestock Growers, Counties Withdraw Wolf Lawsuit
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit that asked the federal government to remove endangered Mexican gray wolves from the wild in New Mexico have now filed a motion seeking voluntary dismissal of their suit without prejudice, meaning that they could refile a similar suit later. This is the third unsuccessful suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service attempting to undermine the Mexican wolf recovery program. In this case, the plaintiffs are Catron and Otero counties, two livestock-industry associations and three ranching operations with grazing permits in the Gila National Forest. “This lawsuit was entirely without merit; the plaintiffs’ motion to dismiss their own suit suggests they realize neither the law nor the facts are on their side,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, which intervened in the lawsuit in support of the government together with Defenders of Wildlife. “With only a few dozen Mexican wolves struggling to survive in the wild, a new rash of federal trapping and shooting would push this unique animal even closer to extinction.”...Press Release
House GOP readies restrictions on EPA
In a sharp challenge to the Obama administration, House Republicans intend to unveil legislation Wednesday to ban the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and expect to advance the bill quickly, officials disclosed Tuesday night. The officials said the bill would nullify all of the steps the EPA has taken to date on the issue, including a threshold finding that greenhouse gases constitute a danger to the public health and welfare. In addition, it seeks to strip the agency of its authority to use the law in any future attempts to crack down on the emissions from factories, utilities and other stationary sources. Many scientists say that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollution contribute to global warming, and attempts at regulating them is a major priority for President Barack Obama as well as environmentalists. Critics argue the evidence is thin and that new rules will drive up the cost of business and cause the loss of jobs. The officials who described the GOP plans did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to pre-empt the release of a draft measure prepared by the Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan...more
Interior Department issues new policy protecting government scientists
The Interior Department set new rules Tuesday that will protect scientific information and the people who create it from political interference, earning wide praise from outside groups that have long alleged that top political officials regularly manipulate or misinterpret data. The new scientific-integrity policy applies to the department's 67,000 employees as well as its contractors, grant recipients and volunteers when they analyze or share scientific information with reporters and the public or use the department's information to make policy or regulatory decisions, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. The hiring and promotion of officials should be based on "knowledge, credentials and experience relevant to the responsibility of the position," according to the new policy, which also requires the public distribution of scientific and scholarly work not protected by government secrecy laws...more
Is this the same Ken Salazar who distorted the scientists' report on offshore drilling?
Is this the same Ken Salazar who distorted the scientists' report on offshore drilling?
Ninth Circuit abandons federal defendant rule in NEPA cases
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals en banc has ruled that the “federal defendant” rule, which categorically prohibits private parties and state and local governments from intervening of right on the merits of claims brought under NEPA, is no longer law in the Ninth Circuit. The Wilderness Soc’y v. U.S. Forest Serv., No. 09-35200 (9th Cir. 1/14/11). Abandoning the rule, which had already been abandoned by all U.S. circuit courts except for the Seventh and Ninth, the court stated that the rule was “at odds with the text” of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) and the standards applied in other intervention-of-right cases. The ruling arose out of a challenge to the Forest Service’s plan to designate about 1,200 miles of roads and trails for use by motorized vehicles in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest. Several conservation groups challenged the plan, arguing that it violates NEPA’s environmental assessment provisions. The rule became an issue when three recreational advocacy groups tried to intervene on the Forest Service’s side. The district court applied the federal defendant rule and denied the intervention. The groups appealed, urging the appellate court to modify or eliminate the rule. In addition to the appellants, 37 “friends of the court” joined the lawsuit to argue that the “categorical prohibition on the ability of private parties and state and local governments to intervene of right as defendants on the merits of NEPA cases” should be abandoned...more
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