Idaho governor says federal-state program may tame wildfires

Local, state and federal officials along with conservation groups and logging interests have to find common ground to reduce increasingly destructive wildfires in the U.S. West, Gov. Brad Little said Tuesday. He told several hundred participants at an Idaho Forest Restoration Partnership meeting that they have the chance to make a new federal-state program called the “shared stewardship” agreement a success. “We have got to get this done,” the Republican said. “I think the consensus from both ends of the scale is that we have to do this right.” Idaho signed the agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture late last year that allows state participation in federal timber sales and restoration work like prescribed burns and tree planting on private, state and federal lands. The partnership is tasked with finding two areas in the state by July 1 for shared stewardship activities that could ultimately become templates for other states. The group, comprised of logging companies, conservation groups, scientists, and state and federal officials, is meeting for a two-day workshop in Boise to discuss strategy. U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Jim Hubbard told the group public sentiment is behind collaborative, landscape-scale efforts. “We’re seeing (lightning strike) ignitions that produce large fires that we can’t control,” he said. “We’re smoking out communities — enough that it’s a human health issue.” The stewardship agreement is an outgrowth of a smaller program called the Good Neighbor Authority, created in the 2014 Farm Bill, which allows Idaho and other states to assist on timber sales and restoration work like prescribed burns on U.S. Forest Service land. Money made from timber sales pays for the restoration work as well as for workers assisting on the projects...MORE

Some Forest Animals Are Benefitting From Bark Beetle Epidemic

Plenty of studies have shown how bark beetle infestations have decimated evergreen trees throughout the Rocky Mountain region, but research scientists wanted to figure out how this tree die-off was affecting actual forest animals. Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service found that some species suffered, while others benefited. Ungulates—animals like elk, moose and mule deer—actually did well in these environments, said Travis Duncan with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.“In fact, many animals did," Duncan said, explaining that the tree die-off opened up more light in the forest canopy for undergrowth to flourish. That meant grazing animals had more food to forage...MORE

Who knew? Just about everybody except the Forest Service and Congress, who would rather an "infestation" thin the forests than allow humans to harvest the timber.

Smokey Bear's message relevant today

Dianne L Stallings

...Protecting the forests was part of the war effort in World War II, said Linda Hecker, fire prevention specialist with the U.S. Forest service in Lakeland, Colorado. The Japanese launched incendiary devices hoping to cause wildfires on the West Coast, but were largely unsuccessful. "We needed the wood and that was part of winning the war," she said. "That's how the whole campaign came about, the need to prevent forest fires from happening." Some of the first fire prevention campaigns dealt with the "evil axis," but after the Disney movie "Bambi" was so successful and featured a forest fire caused by a hunter leaving an unattended campfire, USFS officials decided it would be more successful using an animal. "Disney gave the forest service the loan of Bambi for a year while we tried to figure out what our campaign was going to be," Hecker said. "People were receptive to getting their fire prevention message from an animal and eventually, they decided to come up with a bear. Robert Ball drew the first one. It shows a bear in (overalls) putting out a campfire by dumping water on it." That was in 1944. The living Smokey wasn't rescued as a cub from the Capitan Gap Fire until 1950. When he died, his body was returned to the Smokey Bear Historical Park to be buried. "It is the most successful campaign in all of history," Hecker said. "In marketing classes, you will hear that. They keep it fresh and up to date. The campaign is run by three entities, the U.S. Forest Service, The Ad Council and the National Association of State Foresters."...MORE

It appears the same studio that brought us Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy & Winnie-the-Pooh is responsible for us ending up with Smokey.

Smokey is buried in his own historical park. Now, if we could just bury the Forest Service...

Burning Man Arguing With US Government Over New Rules 'That Would Spell the End of the Event as We Know It'

The Burning Man Festival may be in danger as it clashes with the federal government over new rules for its permit. Burning Man is a huge gathering that takes place in Nevada's Black Rock Desert every year, bringing together artists, community organizers and survival enthusiasts for celebration and an experiment in communal living. According to a post on its website, the festival is in danger as the Bureau of Land Management is attempting to analyze and change some of its protocols. Burning Man organizers fear that the draft environmental impact statement issued by the BLM "would spell the end of the event as we know it." According to a report by CNN, the statement is meant to "analyze the potential impacts" of Burning Man on the environment and the surrounding landscape before renewing its permit from 2019 to 2028. "The proposed level of government surveillance of and involvement in our everyday operations is unprecedented and unwarranted, and is unsupported by the... analysis," read the post on BurningMan.org. Organizers added that complying with the statement would require "astronomical cost increases" and lead to "beyond-excessive government oversight" at an event where it is no secret that people party hard. They fear that the statement is an attempt to "increase federal government agency operations exponentially in order to take over or 'monitor' our operations." At the very least, the cost of following the BLM's requests would likely increase ticket prices for Burning Man, which would in turn likely decrease sales. Already, tickets can cost up to $550 per person, as well as $100 for a vehicle pass. After that, attendees must load up on supplies and equipment for their stay in an unforgiving environment...MORE

Ranchers keep watch on Beyond Burger retail debut

Saskatchewan rancher Ross Macdonald isn’t afraid of the Beyond Burger. The meatless product is set to come to Canadian grocery stores in time for barbecue season this year, according to the California-based company that produces it from peas, beets and other vegetables. It’s being touted as perhaps the best imitation burger to hit the market thus far, and Macdonald — who raises cattle on 3,500 acres near the U.S. border — says Saskatchewan ranchers are talking about what it means for them. “I think its probably one of the most current topics,” he said. He said he’s even tried one, and didn’t mind the taste. But that doesn’t mean he’s losing confidence in the Saskatchewan cattle industry’s future as more alternatives fight for room in Canadian shopping carts. “I don’t necessarily see it as a threat,” he said. “I see it as an opportunity for people like myself, who produce beef in a grassland environment, to tell a great story about the sustainability of our product.” The Beyond Burger has already come to A&W, temporarily selling out last fall due to heavy demand. The company that makes it, Beyond Meat, frames its signature product as a more ethical and healthy substitute for the real thing. “Our belief is that the best way to get people to eat less meat is by giving them more of what they love — in our case, juicy delicious burgers, sausages, and more — without so many of the health, sustainability, and animal welfare downsides of animal-based meats,” the company writes in its press package. “Our task is to eliminate the need for meat from animals and find the same or analogous materials in the plant kingdom.”...MORE

Carcass cleanup crews try to stay ahead of grizzlies

After a particularly tough winter, ranchers around grizzly bear country have opportunities to get their weather-killed livestock carcasses picked up before the bears find them. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has partnered with the Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana Wildlife Federation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide carcass collection this spring along the Rocky Mountain Front. A similar program including the Blackfoot Challenge and the Montana Department of Transportation provides that service in the Blackfoot Valley area. Several ranches reported grizzlies visiting their compounds last year seeking dead cattle or other carrion, according to Blackfoot Challenge wildlife committee chairman Randy Gazda. He advised landowners to keep carrion at least 400 yards from human and livestock activity in a spot with good visibility to avoid accidentally encountering a feeding bear. The Blackfoot Challenge and FWP can arrange emergency removals of dead animals if necessary, but also have routine collection schedules. “Last year, we collected 418 carcasses from 35 ranches,” Gazda said in an email. “All told we have removed more than 7,820 carcasses off of 110 ranches in the Blackfoot and Granite County.”...MORE

Protecting Jaguars Across Borders

Lucy EJ Woods

In early April the mutilated body of a jaguar was discovered in Mexico’s Yaxchilán Natural Monument. Researchers investigating the death quickly concluded that the animal, which had been tracked in neighboring Guatemala since 2015, had crossed the border and fallen prey to wildlife traffickers, who may have taken its head for sale on the black market. Deaths like this, when a jaguar crossed the border from a protected area into a different country, may have something to do with the big cats’ plummeting populations, experts worry. “The males have to move across long distances and sometimes go outside of reserves or protected areas to buffer zones and areas populated by people,” says Rony García-Anleu, director of the biological research department for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Guatemala. Today the wide-ranging jaguar (Panthera onca), which once lived throughout South America and north into the United States, is considered a threatened species. Conservation groups estimate there are only 15,000 wild jaguars left, mostly due to poaching and deforestation. As García-Anleu explains, the boundaries between countries are important for humans, but they don’t exist for animals. Jaguars require vast amounts of barrier-free land and don’t care about man-marked territories. While females stay in one area, males roam across continents in search of food and mates. They crisscross borders throughout the Americas, traveling as far south as Argentina and as far north as Arizona and New Mexico in the United States...MORE

PETA Tries Capitalizing on Cattle Flooding Deaths with Billboards

After more than a month since widespread flooding and blizzards devastated cattle producers in Nebraska and surrounding states, an animal rights group is using the tragedy to push a vegan diet. Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced on April 1 plans to build billboards in cities near where flooding was prevalent this spring. The press releases included an inaccurate death toll count from the storms saying “approximately 1 million calves were killed in the flooding across the Midwest—many of whose dead bodies washed up along the riverbanks.” The planned billboards include a Holstein dairy cow wearing an activity monitoring collar that appears to be swimming in a pond. The wording on the PETA billboard says “Stop Eating Meat! They Die for Your Cruel and Dirty Habit.” Cities included Kansas City, Mo.; St. Louis, Mo.; Fargo, N.D. and Sioux Falls, S.D. “Every hamburger or steak dinner supports an industry that has repeatedly allowed scores of sensitive animals to suffer and die in natural disasters,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s billboard will challenge passersby to take personal responsibility for the painful deaths of these gentle calves by keeping cows and all other animals off their plates.” The first billboard arrived in Kansas City around mid-April and have come under scrutiny from social media users and the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association. In a response to a news story by Kansas City television station FOX4, Mike Deering, the orgs executive vice president, shares that farmers and ranchers are at the mercy of the weather and these floods were devastating. “Farm and ranch families love their animals. It’s their life. When disaster strikes, they put it all on the line to save their livestock,” Deering says. “Neighbors help neighbors. We stand tall and have zero tolerance for the hate and ignorance of PETA.”...MORE

Ranch Radio Song of the Day

Here is a tune released in 1955 by The Five Strings, later to be known as Sid King & The Five Strings: Crazy Little Heart. THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/

https://youtu.be/vdAuIJx6VQE

Herbert picks a top national BLM official and former Stewart aide to lead Utah Department of Natural Resources

Gov. Gary Herbert has selected a top Bureau of Land Management official to head the Utah Department of Natural Resources, succeeding longtime Director Mike Styler, who retires June 1. Logan native Brian Steed is the BLM’s deputy director over policy and programs and also served as chief of staff to Rep. Chris Stewart from 2013 to 2017, when he joined the BLM, serving as its acting head for a time. He is currently listed as “exercising authority of the director” of the agency, which has not had permanent leadership since the arrival of the Trump administration. “Brian is not only qualified for this position, he is also passionate about implementing best management practices for Utah’s natural resources,” Herbert said. “His commitment to sound environmental policy will be an integral part of his service in this new role, and I look forward to working with him. A former deputy attorney for Iron County, Steed holds a doctorate in public policy with an emphasis in environmental policy from Indiana University, Bloomington, and earned a law degree at the University of Utah with a certificate in natural resources and environmental law...MORE

Now we wait to see who will be “exercising authority of the director” at the BLM. I don't foresee a Director nominee unless Trump wins a second term. Who knows? Perhaps Bernhardt will approach this differently than Zinke.

Analysis Finds New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Shorts Resident Hunters on Licenses

 BEN NEARY

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has been issuing extra licenses for bighorn sheep and other high-demand species to outfitted hunters and nonresidents while commonly failing to give the required percentage of licenses to resident hunters. Brandon Wynn, an Albuquerque hunter and businessman, has undertaken a detailed analysis of the NMGF license system. He’s a dedicated sheep hunter who applies for hunting licenses in several western states every year. “I can say this without question: no other state ever issues a single permit in their entire state to a nonresident that they do not absolutely have to issue by law — ever,” Wynn said. “New Mexico goes out of their way to issue nonresident permits,” Wynn said. “They bend over backwards. They push the limits of the law, they do funny math, they do whatever they can to issue as many outfitted and nonresident permits as possible. I’m 100 percent confident in that.” A New Mexico law that went into effect in 2012 requires “a minimum of 84 percent of the licenses shall be issued to residents of New Mexico.” The law further species that 10 percent of licenses go to hunters who hire outfitters and 6 percent to nonresident hunters who don’t hire outfitters. Many other states are far less generous to nonresident hunters. Arizona, for example, requires a minimum of 90 percent of licenses go to residents and sets aside no licenses for outfitted hunters...MORE

Burger King plans to roll out Impossible Whopper across the United States

Burger King’s test of a vegetarian version of its signature Whopper was such a success, the chain is planning to roll the Impossible Whopper out nationally this year. On April 1, Burger King started testing the vegetarian burger, using a plant-based patty from Impossible Foods. The test took place in St. Louis and “went exceedingly well,” a spokesperson for Restaurant Brands International, Burger King’s parent company, said. The spokesperson added that the sales of the Impossible Whopper are complementary to the regular Whopper. That’s exactly what Burger King wants. With the Impossible Whopper, Burger King is primarily targeting meat eaters who seek more balance in their diet. The new product is designed to “give somebody who wants to eat a burger every day, but doesn’t necessarily want to eat beef everyday, permission to come into the restaurants more frequently,” Chris Finazzo, president of Burger King North America, told CNN Business when discussing the initial test. The Impossible Whopper is supposed to taste just like Burger King’s regular Whopper. Unlike veggie burgers, Impossible burger patties are designed to mimic the look and texture of meat when cooked. The plant protein startup recently revealed a new recipe, designed to look and taste even more like meat. That version is being used in Burger King’s Impossible Whoppers. The company plans to expand to more markets “in the very near future” before making the sandwich available nationally by the end of the year. Burger King had about 7,300 US locations at the close of last year...MORE

Shawn Williams - "Enough"

Here is a meaningful poem by our talented friend Shawn Williams.

https://youtu.be/DrNToeL2a9s

Trump accuses New York attorney general of illegally investigating NRA

President Donald Trump on Monday accused the New York attorney general's office of illegally investigating the National Rifle Association and called on the group, which has been roiled by a leadership fight, to "get its act together quickly." "The NRA is under siege by (New York Gov. Andrew) Cuomo and the New York State A.G., who are illegally using the State's legal apparatus to take down and destroy this very important organization, & others," Trump wrote in a tweet. "It must get its act together quickly, stop the internal fighting, & get back to GREATNESS - FAST!" On Saturday, New York Attorney General Letitia James' office announced in a statement it had launched an investigation into the NRA and had issued subpoenas to the organization, but did not confirm what the probe was in regard to. The investigation comes after a dispute between the group's president, Oliver North, and chief executive officer, Wayne LaPierre, in which North accused LaPierre of financial misconduct, including the improper use of $200,000 of NRA funds to purchase clothing from an NRA vendor, according to the Wall Street Journal. It also comes nearly a year after James, during her campaign last summer, said she would investigate the NRA if elected to make sure it is complying with non-profit rules. Her campaign threat helped prompt the group to begin an internal review of its finances, which is part of what triggered the tensions between North and LaPierre. The Journal said New York investigators plan to look into alleged financial misconduct like the kind North recently raised in internal disputes...MORE

National monument advisory panel new flashpoint in debate

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A newly unveiled advisory committee that will help make management decisions for a downsized national monument in southern Utah has become the latest flashpoint in a long-running debate over lands considered sacred to Native Americans as monument supporters cry foul about being left off the panel. The selections for the 15-person Bears Ears National Monument panel posted online Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management reveal a few people who seem to strike a middle ground, but nobody who was an outspoken proponent of the monument created by President Barack Obama in December 2016 to help preserve ancient cliff dwellings and an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites. In contrast, the committee includes several people who were critics of Obama’s designation and cheered President Donald Trump’s December 2017 decision to scale it back by about 85 percent to make it a 315 square mile-monument (816 sq. kilometers) in a move Trump said was done to reverse federal overreach. They include San Juan County Commissioner Bruce Adams, ranchers Zeb Dalton and Gail Johnson, resident Jami Bayles and the two people selected for tribal spots on the committee: Ryan Benally and Alfred Ben. They are the only Native Americans on the committee...MORE

States weigh banning a widely used pesticide even though EPA won't

Lawmakers in several states are trying to ban a widely used pesticide that the Environmental Protection Agency is fighting to keep on the market. The pesticide, chlorpyrifos, kills insects on contact by attacking their nervous systems. Several studies have linked prenatal exposure of chlorpyrifos to lower birth weights, lower IQs, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other developmental issues in children. But the EPA in 2017 ignored the conclusions of its scientists and rejected a proposal made during the Obama administration to ban its use in fields and orchards. Hawaii was the first state to pass a full ban last year. Now California, Oregon, New York and Connecticut are trying to do the same. Should California succeed, the rear-guard action could have a big impact. “If California is successful, that’s a big deal because it’s such a big state — the biggest agricultural state,” said Virginia Ruiz, director of occupational and environmental health at the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Farmworker Justice...MORE

Unreliable Nature Of Solar And Wind Makes Electricity More Expensive, New Study Finds

Michael Shellenberger

Solar panels and wind turbines are making electricity significantly more expensive, a major new study by a team of economists from the University of Chicago finds. Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) "significantly increase average retail electricity prices, with prices increasing by 11% (1.3 cents per kWh) seven years after the policy’s passage into law and 17% (2 cents per kWh) twelve years afterward," the economists write. The study, which has yet to go through peer-review, was done by Michael Greenstone, Richard McDowell, and Ishan Nath. It compared states with and without an RPS. It did so using what the economists say is "the most comprehensive state-level dataset ever compiled" which covered 1990 to 2015. The cost to consumers has been staggeringly high: "All in all, seven years after passage, consumers in the 29 states had paid $125.2 billion more for electricity than they would have in the absence of the policy," they write...MORE

Ranch Radio Song of the Day

Its Swingin' Monday and we have Swing On by Carolyn Martin (2012). THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/

https://youtu.be/COnphh4jF7M

The NRA’s Internal Disputes Explode Into the Public Light, Oliver North Departs

Jim Geraghty

...The dispute may seem like inside baseball, but the ramifications could be serious. The NRA is incorporated in New York state, and state attorney general Letitia James has “repeatedly threatened to investigate the tax-exempt status of the organization.” Most states give their attorney generals broad authority to investigate the finances of nonprofit organizations and New York is no exception. James’ predecessor, Barbara Underwood, pursued allegations of financial impropriety at the Trump Foundation and in December, the Trump Foundation agreed to dissolve and distribute its remaining assets to other charities. Nor does the NRA have a simple option of dissolving its charter in New York and then reopening in another state with a less hostile state attorney general. New York state regulators would have to approve the move, and they are unlikely to simply sign off on an organization under investigation closing up shop and moving to another state. Shortly before getting elected, James argued, “The NRA holds [itself] out as a charitable organization, but in fact, [it] really [is] a terrorist organization.” Under normal circumstances, an accused organization’s best defense may be that the state official seeking to investigate them has already made comments like this, suggesting a political vendetta. But persuasively arguing that the whole investigation is driven by politics is more difficult when the organization’s own leadership is trading letters accusing each other of inappropriate expenditures. As noted yesterday, the NRA played a key role in driving turnout of pro-Trump women in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa. The Trump team must be hoping that the NRA is operating on all cylinders in 2020 – and not hindered by expensive and embarrassing litigation. UPDATE: Later in the meeting, Wayne LaPierre discussed the NRA’s lawsuit against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, charging that the governor and top members of his administration abused their authority over banks and financial institutions to discourage the banks from doing business with the NRA. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the NRA’s position, contending “targeting a nonprofit advocacy group and seeking to deny it financial services because it promotes a lawful activity violates the First Amendment.”

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy (revisited)

The henhousified drinker

Julie Carter

Saving everything is a guaranteed trait among rural folk. Cowboys have to and farmers, because that's what they do.

If you are married, related or a neighbor to one, you have frequently heard them say, "Well, I have to be a saver, we grew up poor. We had clean clothes, even if they were patched, and enough to eat, even though it was mostly beans." Add the "walk five miles to school every day, uphill both ways" and you have it all.

Get the violin.

Not long ago, a cowboy and his wife set out to add a drinker (water tank) for the roping cattle.

The very fact he was going to do this for his wife was a mark of love. She had been putting out the cattle every day, sometimes twice a day, and bringing them in, sometimes twice a day, through four sets of gates that had to be set coming and going.

This feeding rotation was an effort to save that high priced hay and let them pick their own groceries to stay strong enough to be roped. They also had to come in at night. There was no drinker in that trap either.

The head cowboy actually bought a new drinking tub. In preparation for installation, the couple went through the supply of short pieces of water hose, float housings, floats, valve connections, all things saved from the past decades of repairing countless drinkers. The supply was somewhat depleted, but saved just the same.

There was good supply of hose assemblies for replacements because of the frozen winters, where it was easier to change out a frozen hose than try to thaw it. The cowboy would bring the frozen hoses in and put them in the bathtub to thaw overnight to keep the rotation supply steady.

That didn't always make the frozen wife happy since the only thing that would thaw her out after a long, cold day was a hot bath.

Gathering up an armload of the hoses in lengths of one to 10 feet long, they headed out to get the new drinker connected to water.

First job was to make up a float from several old ones. And, it seems all the hoses had one end or the other that was nonfunctional and needed new connections. This required hose clamps which he cannibalized off various other components.

He finally got the valve replaced, built a hose, built a float, got a housing that almost fit over the float and soon there was water in the drinker.

This major project took the better part of the afternoon. The wife was there mostly in an advisory capacity, but did manage to hand him the pipe wrench that takes two hands to pick up, the vise grip pliers, the pipe dope and, of course, generally contribute to the fellowship.

They had been married more than 30 years, worked together daily for most of that time, and as a rule, she did not keep secrets from him.

However, she distinctly remembered being in Walmart and seeing a brand new 50-foot hose for $5.39 and new float that would add about $2 to the bill.

She thought about telling him that, but after serious consideration, decided that all afternoon for two cowboys for a $7.39 savings, was about the usual rate of pay.

Henhouse ways have saved fortunes for the cowboy world. That's why there are so many rich cowboys and why baling wire, twine and tape (electrical and duct) are such commodities.

We want King George!

Taxes

We want King George!

The BSAs

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

            When was the last time you heard somebody whistle on a recorded tune?

Although it wasn’t universal in yesteryear, the attempt to blend human whistling accompaniment into a song was certainly out there. Billy Walker comes to mind as one artist who could stand in front of an audience and get the job done.

            It is a lost art, and, if you think about it, whistling has largely gone from our lives, period. Seldom do you hear anybody whistle a tune.

            Whittling is no different.

            All of us who carried a pocket knife by the time we were ten years old used to be pretty proficient carving something. We knew what the value of a sharp knife was, too. It was so much a part of our lives there would be someone in our midst who also had a whetstone in his front pocket. If there is no recollection in your mind of riding in the back of the school bus and comparing each other’s knife sharpness (without fear of a capital offense by possession thereof), the implication might be advanced that your perspective of this world is certainly different than ours.

            Telling the truth?

            Well, that is an implication that predates our tenure here. What can be said, though, is there just might be a cause and effect algorithm that, once perfected, could detect a higher degree of honesty by a segment of the population that can … whistle and whittle.

            Taxes

            The idea the federal government has the right to spend two bits more than each dollar it collects and charge it back to us is treachery.

            This seemingly normal and acceptable operating procedure makes the statement “We the taxpayers are footing the bill” only partially true. Indeed, we are paying 80% of the ocean of money being thrown hither and yon, but the other 20% is being added to our future tab and the debt of the unsuspecting next generations.

            This absurdity is so bad the money collectors in the federal temple will be forced to curtail all spending beyond their vote garnering health care programs, Social Security, and interest on debt by 2041. Defense and all other spending agents will be sitting around with empty grocery carts.

            We don’t even know what we actually pay in taxes. What can be deducted is the current federal 80% we pay eats up about 29% of our income. When you add the local and state stipends the number is up to at least 39% and then the silent stuff (the gas taxes, the booze taxes, the mordida to the inspectors, et. al,) gets immersed into the pot without a clear understanding of anything.

            The fact is we the tax payers are doing a pretty descent job of sending money eastward, northward, and other points to the compass. The tax harvest through the first six months of the current fiscal year is a record, but you wouldn’t be able to prove it by the rate of growth of the national debt. Spending has been so blatantly and wildly ambitious the growth of the federal debt has not slowed. The minimal annual addition to the tally is something around $900B, but that can’t be believed because that is what the government is predicting. Count on it to be more than that.

            We must recognize the fact that taxes we pay will never be enough. When one horizon is reached the next will be revealed.

            The Bull Sh*t Artists (BSAs)

            The mantra of the Dems is a dichotomy of fiction and fact. On one hand they lie about everything, but, at the same time, tell the unbridled truth. It is clearly set forth in their unwavering intention of raising taxes. They are coming after all our wealth. They’ve got causes and plans in their futures the extent of which are not even fathomed much less revealed.

            They aren’t alone, though. The Repubs practice the art of hallucinogenic oratory which is always backed by falsetto bravado. Their 2016 platform best describes the fallacy of their empty commitment.

            Our National Debt is a burden on our economy and families, and they swore they were going to impose firm (spending) caps in the future.

            That, of course, has worked out to witness a 13.7% spending increase since their nemesis, the fellow that occupied the White House before them, left office. Any way you cut it they own the result.

            The reality is dismal. Both (Constitutionally silent) bastions of hooligans are a genuine collection of BSAs. They speak with forked tongues in unity with the majority of their predecessors. They have graduated to be polarizing automatons, and we are expected to pay the freight.

            It’s apparent by their ratings. The collective deceit is wearing thin.

            We want King George!

            Recently, there was an article circulated that arrayed the freedoms extended to the prerevolution Patriots serving under King George with the freedoms (or lack thereof) of modern citizens. It was quite revealing. We are not free by any stretch of the imagination.

            The absolute disregard and accelerating insults waged against American taxpayers (less than half the population) transcends all common decency. What is apparent is that We, the People should not have been an afterthought as indicated by the Bill of Rights, but rightly included first and foremost in the Constitution as the real Article I.

            The Framers simply underestimated the degree of tyrannical inclination career BSAs would garner. Theirs is a quagmire of treachery and largesse. The supposed cornerstone, us, is ruled by laws that impose stepwise demands automatically as if they are ordained by some political deity. That is tyranny.

            Perhaps the only recourse to the mounting debacle is not found in the Constitution at all, but in Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence.

            Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “As a reminder, the Framers and the Founders had no intention of allowing permanent political careers.”

Baxter Black: Inheriting the Family Farm

The latest statistics show that less then 2% of the population is directly involved in production agriculture. It is a function of an increasing overall population and a limited amount of farm ground. Technology is able to keep up, so that less bodies are required to produce an ever increasing cornucopia of food and fiber.

But on a personal level the story isn’t quite so simple.

Tom was raised on a dairy farm in the Great Lake region; 300 cows, 900 acres. His grandfather established the farm and passed it down to Tom’s father.

Tom’s childhood memories are of work. By the time his mother came in to wake him and his two brothers for school, she and dad had already finished the morning milking. By nine years of age he was already part of the family farm. Until he was old enough to milk he pushed cows to the barn, fed calves, forked silage and did whatever kids do, which was plenty.

High school activities like dances, meetings, sports and girls all hinged around milking time and chores. He didn’t need to work at McDonalds during summer vacation. If he wanted work there was plenty at home.

He went to college. His two brothers left to work elsewhere. Now Tom is 33, married with kids and has a good job at the local Coop. Dad has been using hired labor since the boys left, but Dad is getting older.

 Tom makes his daily rounds, does his job and is active in the community. But hovering over everything he does is that niggling feeling that maybe he should go back to the farm.

READ ENTIRE COLUMN

Lee Pitts: Work is a Four Letter Word

I recently read about a 23 year old woman in Spain who sued her parents because they refused to continue to support her. She was living at her parent’s home, had no money, never finished high school and testified that her parents were putting undue pressure on her to get a job. She had held a couple jobs very briefly but she quit because, and I quote, “It was too much work.”

Which is kinda the whole point.

The lazy young lady may win her case because the average age at which Spaniards leave home is 29 years old, so she should have six more years of mooching left.

Spain is not alone in this outbreak of laziness. Over 20 million Americans between the ages 18 and 31 are still living with their parents. And I recently read that in the future a good chunk of American males may NEVER have a job during their entire lives! I personally know a 30 year old man who has sired two children, lives with his mother and apparently feels in no rush to get a job. I’ve had another millennial young man tell me at age 25 that he feels burned out and hopes to retire at age 30.

I can’t relate to any of this. In high school I worked every summer. For two summers I picked citrus alongside Hispanic crews who could work rings around me. These Hispanics must NOT have been related to the Spaniards because where I might pick 30 boxes of lemons per day they’d pick 50. Between my junior and senior years I got the worst job ever. I had to crawl under lemon trees, dig a basin around each tree and paint around its circumference 18 inches high to prevent insects from crawling up the trees. The toxic “paint”, which I’m quite sure contributed to my health problems later in life, was a nasty substance I can still smell now 50 years later. For this work I got paid the princely sum of $1.25 per hour.

As a youngster I also worked at a gas station, mowed lawns, delivered newspapers, raised show steers and ran a rabbit business that multiplied rapidly. In the summers between my three collegiate years I worked in the oil fields and during Christmas and Spring breaks, when everyone else went home, I worked at the university livestock facilities. Through it all I gained a work ethic that has served me well. I’m 67 now and plan on working until I take THE LONG NAP.

The unwillingness to work entry level jobs by young people today has created a shortage of workers in agriculture. Farmers have had to plow under entire crops because they couldn’t find anyone to pick them and many farmers are now switching to crops that can be picked by machines. Ranchers tell me it’s getting harder to find good cowboys and many have switched to hiring cowgirls. Even illegals are passing up farm and ranch work for higher paying jobs in big cities. The shortage of milkers is forcing many dairies to switch to robotic milking machines and it’s predicted that by next year the agricultural robot industry will be a 16 billion dollar industry!

But inventors can never build a robot to replace the cowboy, can they?

READ ENTIRE COLUMN

Fake Climate Science and Scientists

Paul Driessen

The multi-colored placard in front of a $2-million home in North Center Chicago proudly proclaimed, “In this house we believe: No human is illegal” – and “Science is real” (plus a few other liberal mantras).
I knew right away where the owners stood on climate change, and other hot-button political issues. They would likely tolerate no dissension or debate on “settled” climate science or any of the other topics.
But they have it exactly backward on the science issue. Real science is not belief – or consensus, 97% or otherwise. Real science constantly asks questions, expresses skepticism, reexamines hypotheses and evidence. If debate, skepticism and empirical evidence are prohibited – it’s pseudo-science, at best.
Real science – and real scientists – seek to understand natural phenomena and processes. They pose hypotheses that they think best explain what they have witnessed, then test them against actual evidence, observations and experimental data. If the hypotheses (and predictions based on them) are borne out by their subsequent findings, the hypotheses become theories, rules, laws of nature – at least until someone finds new evidence that pokes holes in their assessments, or devises better explanations.
Real science does not involve simply declaring that you “believe” something, It’s not immutable doctrine. It doesn’t claim “science is real” – or demand that a particular scientific explanation be carved in stone. Earth-centric concepts gave way to a sun-centered solar system. Miasma disease beliefs surrendered to the germ theory. The certainty that continents are locked in place was replaced by plate tectonics (and the realization that you can’t stop continental drift, any more than you stop climate change).

READ ENTIRE COLUMN

Ranch Radio Song of the Day

Our gospel tune today is You'll Be Rewarded Over There by the Louvin Brothers (1952). THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com

https://youtu.be/YY-st0xNaiU

Driving A Tesla Results In More CO2 Than A Mercedes Diesel Car, Study Finds

A Tesla Model 3 is touted as a zero-emissions car by government regulators, but it actually results in more carbon dioxide than a comparable diesel-powered car, according to a recent study. When the CO2 emissions from battery production is included, electric cars, like Teslas, are “in the best case, slightly higher than those of a diesel engine, and are otherwise much higher,” reads a release from the German think tank IFO. “It’s better read as a warning that new technologies aren’t a climate-change panacea. Recall the false promises about corn and cellulosic ethanol,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote of the study. Driving a Tesla Model 3 in Germany, for example, is responsible for 156 to 181 grams of CO2 per kilometer, compared to just 141 grams per kilometer for a diesel-powered Mercedes C220d — that includes emissions from producing diesel fuel. IFO looked at electric car production in Germany, which is heavily reliant on coal power. Electric car emissions in other countries depend on their energy mix, but Germany is the world’s third-largest electric car maker. China is also the top battery-producing country, using coal power to produce batteries for electric vehicles that are then subsidized for being “zero” emissions. California, for example, requires automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions in cars by producing lower emissions vehicles or buying credits from companies, like Tesla, that make electric vehicles. At the federal level, the U.S. gives tax breaks of up to $7,500 per electric vehicle. Federal subsidies for Teslas are set to be phased out since the company, founded by Elon Musk, hit the 200,000-vehicle production cap. However, Congress is debating whether or not to extend electric car subsidies...MORE