Animal ID money may be cut in ag bill

Funding for the national animal identification system would be zeroed out under the fiscal year 2010 agriculture appropriations bill approved June 11 by the House Ag-riculture Appropriations Subcommittee. USDA has been trying to implement a national animal identification program that would trace each animal from birth to food use since the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States in December 2003. USDA initially proposed making the program mandatory, but it remained voluntary amid strong opposition from cattle ranchers. Only about one-third of animal premises in the country have signed up to be registered, and DeLauro has strongly criticized USDA for its management of the program. As House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., noted at the markup, USDA has received $142 million for animal identification since fiscal 2004 and has registered only 35 percent of animal premises. Last year, USDA got $14.2 million to run the program, but increased registrations by only 3 percent. At this rate, DeLauro said, it will take USDA 12 years to register all the animal premises in the country. DeLauro said she favors mandatory registration and noted that it took Canada only two years to register all its premises. DeLauro told reporters afterward that she favors a mandatory animal identification system because she thinks it would “provide assurance against economic calamity” and “protect our export markets.” But DeLauro said she also thinks USDA has mismanaged the program and wasted money...AgWeek

To whom will the USDA be most responsive?

The thousands of livestock producers attending the USDA sessions and strongly opposing the program, or the the committee chairman who controls their budget?

Take a wild guess.

Cattle TB confirmed in Texas

Cattle tuberculosis (TB) has been confirmed in a west Texas dairy that has been quarantined since April when some cattle in the herd responded to a TB test being conducted prior to a sale. (The sale was cancelled.) The cattle TB diagnosis was confirmed at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, where Mycoplasma bovis, the bacteria that causes TB, was cultured from tissues that had been collected during the necropsy of the test-positive cattle. "The infected herd remains quarantined while the final disposition of the herd is determined — either slaughtering the herd or repeatedly testing and removing infected animals until the herd is free of cattle TB," said Dr. Bob Hillman, Texas' state veterinarian and head of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC). "Dairy, calf-raising and dairy animal replacement operations with epidemiological links to the infected herd are being tested to determine both the origin and potential spread of the disease."...Feedstuffs

Spring roundups as timeless as Texas

Until the big dun bull with the festering eye got his horns stuck in the loading chute, things were going pretty smoothly last week during the spring roundup on the sprawling South Pope Ranch. The 82,000-acre spread lies just north of Big Bend National Park and its rocky terrain of prickly pear, spiky lechuguilla and creosote bush would seem fit only for scorpions, jack rabbits and javelinas. But somehow, about 500 cattle and their calves find ample sustenance here. And twice a year, mounted cowboys wearing heavy leather chaps come to gather them, combing brushy, thorny pastures of 10,000 acres or more. And on this, the second day of the 10-day spring roundup, some 160 head already were in the pens, bawling, moaning, and ready to be worked. The yearlings were big and rowdy, and the new calves looked healthy. Such is the life of the Texas cowboys who work the spring and fall roundups on hundreds of ranches around the state. Out of sight and largely out of mind to urban Texans, they practice a cattle-working tradition that goes back centuries to Mexico and Spain. “The roundup is the cowboy way. You’re back to working cattle like they did in the 1800s,” said rancher Debbie O’Neill, 55, who most of the year works alone on the vast ranch, a 40-mile drive from Marathon. “The most exciting part is packed into these 10 days. You get to see people and see all your cattle. The rest of the year, I feed cattle, fix fences and check water,” she said...SanAntonioExpressNews

Song Of The Day #062

Tommy Collins (Leonard Raymond Sipes) was born on a farm just outside OKC in 1930. After high school and attending college, he joined his friend Wanda Jackson and her parents on a trip to Bakersfield, Ca. The Jacksons returned to Ok. but Collins stayed, having made friends with local DJ Terry Preston (Ferlin Husky). Collins wrote songs for Cliffie Stone and then signed a recording contract with Capitol in 1953. He had many hits for Capitol, such as today's selection, but he was also a very successful songwriter. His songs were recorded by such artists as Faron Young, George Jones, Merle Haggard (20 songs) and George Strait. Haggard's hit single Leonard was his tribute to Collins. Collins passed away in 2000.

His music is still available, including the 5 CD box set Leonard, or you might try his The Capitol Collection.

Collins wrote and sang our selection today You Better Not Do That. It was recorded in 1953 and that's the then little known Buck Owens playing lead guitar.

Issue of Property Rights Is Likely to Arise in Sotomayor’s Confirmation Hearings

...Judge Sonia Sotomayor will doubtless be questioned about Kelo at her confirmation hearings next month. But her answers will be complicated by her participation in a 2006 decision applying and extending Kelo. Bart Didden, the property owner on the losing side of that decision, Didden v. Village of Port Chester, said in an interview that he had been contacted by aides to Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee who seemed eager to explore Judge Sotomayor’s views on property rights. The ruling in Didden is not popular among some property rights and constitutional law professors. Eight of them filed a brief in 2006 unsuccessfully urging the Supreme Court to hear an appeal. “This is the worst federal court takings decision since Kelo,” said Ilya Somin, who teaches property law at George Mason University and helped write the brief. “It’s very extreme, and it is significant as a window into Judge Sotomayor’s attitudes toward private property.”...The case arose from a meeting in 2003 between Mr. Didden, who owned property in Port Chester, N.Y., and an executive of a company that had been designated by the village to develop a 27-acre urban renewal area that included part of the property. What happened at that meeting, Mr. Didden said, amounted to extortion. Mr. Didden had made arrangements to put a CVS drug store on his lot. At the meeting, the executive, Gregg Wasser, demanded $800,000 as the price for permission to proceed with that project, Mr. Didden said in court papers. The alternative, Mr. Wasser said, according to the papers, was to have the village condemn Mr. Didden’s property so that Mr. Wasser’s company could put a Walgreen’s in the same place. “Here is a private person standing in the shoes of the government with the power to condemn or not condemn,” Mr. Didden said. “The $800,000 wasn’t going to rehabilitate a public park or build a soccer stadium. It was going into his pocket.” Mr. Didden refused. The next day the village condemned his property...Mr. Didden and a business partner sued, and a federal judge dismissed their case in 2004. When the case reached Judge Sotomayor’s court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Mr. Didden said he had reason to be hopeful...But then more than a year passed. In the end, the decision was terse and unsigned, and it rejected Mr. Didden’s claims. “It took 54 weeks to issue those four paragraphs,” Mr. Didden said. According to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the median interval between argument and decision in the Second Circuit, both then and now, is less than a month. The brief decision in Didden made two points. First, it said Mr. Didden had filed his suit too late. The village had announced the redevelopment plan in 1999, and Mr. Didden did not sue until 2004. His claim, the court said, was therefore barred by a three-year statute of limitations. That was a curious ruling, Professor Epstein said, because it required Mr. Didden to sue over his claim of extortion before it happened...NYTimes

US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive

Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic "shrink to survive" proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline. The government looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature. Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area. The radical experiment is the brainchild of Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, which includes Flint. Having outlined his strategy to Barack Obama during the election campaign, Mr Kildee has now been approached by the US government and a group of charities who want him to apply what he has learnt to the rest of the country. Mr Kildee said he will concentrate on 50 cities, identified in a recent study by the Brookings Institution, an influential Washington think-tank, as potentially needing to shrink substantially to cope with their declining fortunes...Telegraph

There you have it, kind of a "Buffalo Commons" for urban areas.

China says no to greenhouse gas cuts after talks with US

China will not accept binding cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions, an official said Thursday, after the United States said it made progress with Beijing in talks here on a global climate pact. The comments came after a visit by US climate change envoy Todd Stern aimed at pressing the Asian giant to commit to hard numbers on emissions reductions ahead of December talks in Copenhagen on a new global warming treaty. "China is still a developing country and the present task confronting China is to develop its economy and alleviate poverty, as well as raise the living standard of its people," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters. "Given that, it is natural for China to have some increase in its emissions, so it is not possible for China in that context to accept a binding or compulsory target."...AFP

Somebody slap me. The commies are making more sense than our folks.

Global warming may spread plant seeds faster and farther

A team headed by a Finnish researcher concludes that stronger winds caused by global warming may be dispersing seeds and pollen over longer distances. An increase in temperature of only a couple of degrees may increase the dispersal of plants in Northern forests and the spread of plant species into forest clearings after logging or forest fires. University of Helsinki researcher Anna Kuparinen headed the international research into the impact of global warming on seed and pollen dispersal. The goal was to learn whether global warming would accelerate the dispersal of plant populations in forests. Seed and pollen dispersal profoundly affects the dynamics and genetic variation of plant populations, Kuparinen said in a news release. Spreading into more favorable areas will help them survive in the warming climate. Wind conditions play a key role, as turbulent vertical streams, in particular, spread seeds very efficiently, even over long distances. The researchers also discovered that a temperature only three degrees Celsius warmer increased the dispersal of seeds and the speed at which plant populations spread throughout the growth season...Oregonian

Biofuels and ‘Land Grabs’ in Poor Nations

Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, warned on Thursday that biofuels remain an important driver behind big land acquisitions and land leases in poor countries that jeopardize local inhabitants’ food security. About one-fifth of the activities that Mr. De Schutter deemed as “land grabs” – often backed by hedge funds or sovereign wealth funds – are projects in parts of Africa and Asia aimed at growing crops to make feedstock for biofuels. “There still is a vast market for first-generation agrofuels,” said Mr. De Schutter, who added that he considered the safeguards adopted by the European Union in 2008 “absolutely insufficient to monitor to the impacts on the countries concerned by shifts in land use for agrofuels production.”...NYTimes

Limits on oil & gas production drives their price up, which makes biofuels more competitive, providing the incentive to switch from food to fuel crops, which drives up the price of food & feed crops, resulting in higher food prices.

Damn those markets. They just won't do what the central planners want.

Departments to Toughen Standards for Mining

The Obama administration said Thursday that it would toughen standards for mountaintop-removal coal mining but would not end the practice as some environmental groups had hoped. Officials from four agencies said they had agreed to order a more rigorous legal and environmental review of pending and future applications for mountaintop mining in Appalachia. The technique involves blasting the tops off mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys and streams. The practice has buried hundreds of miles of streams and has polluted water throughout the region. The officials, representing the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, did not make clear whether the new process would result in the granting of more mining permits or fewer. Earlier this year the administration imposed a virtual moratorium on mountaintop mining pending this review, leaving the status of 110 permits in limbo. In the interim, however, the administration has granted 42 such permits while denying 6. It appears that those 42 projects will now move forward...NYTimes

Private Bid to Trap Carbon Emissions Is Revived

A public-private project to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions that was abandoned by the Bush administration is being restarted, Steven Chu, the energy secretary, announced Friday. The project, known as FutureGen, was dropped in January 2008 because the Bush administration said that costs had doubled to $1.8 billion, from $950 million. A study later found that a math error had caused the increase to be overstated; costs had actually risen 39 percent, to $1.3 billion. Under the project, a coal plant will be built in Mattoon, Ill., that will store nearly all of its emissions underground, where they cannot contribute to global warming. The project does not have a green light yet. The Department of Energy said it and FutureGen would make a final decision early next year, after additional cost assessments. For now, the department is estimating government contributions at slightly more than $1 billion, with most of that coming from stimulus money designated for advancing clean coal technologies. The FutureGen Alliance of large coal producers and users will provide $400 million to $600 million...NYTimes

Congress abandoning Obama clean energy goals

Congress is all but abandoning President Barack Obama's goal of producing fully one-quarter of the nation's electricity from renewable sources -- wind, solar and the like -- by 2025, though a push for at least some increase is making headway. Both the House and Senate are considering legislation that would establish the first national requirement for electric utilities to generate a certain percentage of their power from renewable energy -- from wind turbines and solar cells to biomass and geothermal sources. To gain wider congressional support, the proposals have been whittled back. They now pale in comparison to what Obama repeatedly has maintained is feasible and necessary to shift the nation away from coal and other fossil fuels and to clean energy sources. This shift, he argues, is needed to combat climate change and make the nation more energy independent...AP

Senate energy bill on tight timeline

Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she expects to mark up climate and energy legislation before the August recess, with hopes of a bill reaching the full Senate in the fall. The Senate legislation will be based on the bill currently making its way through the House but is likely to include tougher short-term targets for capping carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The House legislation proposes a cut of 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050. “You might see a little bit of a stronger bill come out of our committee,” said Boxer, who noted that her bill is based on the House cap-and-trade proposal. “You’ll see some refinements and changes and tweaks.” The tight timeline could help the bill gain support in the House, where Democrats from rural and conservative states have raised concerns about casting a tough vote for climate and energy legislation without any promise that the Senate will act on the bill...Politico

Fish and Game finally captures, kills sick bighorn in Idaho

Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials finally killed a bighorn ram that showed signs of pneumonia because of concerns it could infect members of a herd native to the Salmon River canyon. The ram, which has eluded Fish and Game agents for weeks after it was spotted near domestic sheep last month, was killed Thursday about 20 miles from Riggins. Bighorn sheep have been big news in Idaho this year, as the Payette National Forest considers a plan to end grazing on public land near western Idaho's Hell's Canyon...AP

AFBF: Even Rainwater would be Regulated Under the CWRA

The American Farm Bureau Federation today said S. 787, the Clean Water Restoration Act, leaves no water unregulated in the United States and could even impact standing water from rain in a dry area. The organization signed onto a letter on behalf of the Water Advocacy Coalition to Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) asking them to oppose the legislation. “S. 787 would remove any bounds from the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction, so that the regulatory reach of the act would extend to all water -- anywhere from farm ponds, to storm water retention basins, to roadside ditches, to desert washes, to streets and gutters, even to a puddle of rainwater,” stated the letter. “For the first time in the 36-year history of the act, activities that have no impact on actual rivers and lakes would be subject to full federal regulation.” According to AFBF, by applying the Clean Water Act to “all interstate and intrastate waters,” farmers and ranchers would be significantly impacted due to the number of normal farming activities that would be subject to citizen-suit provisions of the Clean Water Act, which could lead to outright regulation...AFBF

As Wind Power Grows, a Push to Tear Down Dams

For decades, most of the nation’s renewable power has come from dams, which supplied cheap electricity without requiring fossil fuels. But the federal agencies running the dams often compiled woeful track records on other environmental issues. Now, with the focus in Washington on clean power, some dam agencies are starting to go green, embracing wind power and energy conservation. The most aggressive is the Bonneville Power Administration, whose power lines carry much of the electricity in the Pacific Northwest. The agency also provides a third of the region’s power supply, drawn mostly from generators inside big dams. The amount of wind power on the Bonneville transmission system quadrupled in the last three years and is expected to double again in another two. The turbines are making an electricity system with low carbon emissions even greener — already, in Seattle, more than 90 percent of the power comes from renewable sources. Environmental groups contend that the Bonneville Power Administration’s shift to wind turbines buttresses their case for tearing down dams in the agency’s territory, particularly four along the lower Snake River in Washington State that helped decimate one of North America’s great runs of wild salmon...NYTimes

Klamath dam removal bill clears Oregon House

A bill to fund Klamath River dam removal with a surcharge on Oregon ratepayers won approval in the Oregon House today. The bill is part of a larger agreement to restore fish runs in the fractious Klamath Basin and offer some certainty to farmers, tribes and others who compete for its resources. Approved by the Democrat-controlled House on a largely party line vote of 34-24, Senate Bill 76 has already passed the senate. Once the two versions are reconciled it only needs the signature of Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who supports it, to become law. At its core the proposal would raise $180 million from Oregon customers of PacifiCorp, the utility that owns the hydroelectric dams. Another $20 million would come from California ratepayers. In addition, the state of California is expected to ask voters to approve up to $250 million in bonds to cover the rest of the tab for dam removal, which could begin after 2020. Kulongoski introduced the bill after signing a dam removal deal with California, the federal government and PacifiCorp. But passage of the bill doesn't guarantee that the dams will come down - that would require further federal action and debate - but it does set the terms by which Oregonians will pay for it...AP

Checkmate at the Yellowstone Club

Edra Denise Blixseth, age 55, is tiny, barely 5 foot 3, but she is at the center of a huge financial mess. According to personal bankruptcy papers her lawyer filed in March, she owes $500 million to $1 billion and has assets of barely half that, almost none of them liquid. Earlier this month, the court approved the sale of one of her most prized possessions — the private ski resort in Big Sky, Mont., known as the Yellowstone Club — to the private equity firm of one of its members for $115 million. Just a year ago, that same buyer, CrossHarbor Capital Partners, had been willing to pay $400 million for the club. The Yellowstone Club, a 13,600-acre playground 20 miles north of Yellowstone National Park, may be the world’s lone members-only ski resort. Its pristine natural beauty and remote location have attracted wealthy skiers who prize their privacy, including Bill Gates of Microsoft; Barry Sternlicht, the hotelier; and Peter Chernin, president of the News Corporation. In one of the signature, fin de siècle moments of our passing Gilded Age, the Yellowstone Club filed for Chapter 11 protection last November; four months later, Ms. Blixseth followed suit — a club and its doyenne, sucked into a financial downdraft that has wounded even once-untouchable elites. Marketed with the phrase “Private Powder,” Yellowstone is the anti-Aspen — luxurious, sure, but discreet and child-friendly...NYTimes

U.S. Government Is After Your Pocket Knives, Second Amendment Group Warns

Second Amendment supporters are warning Americans about what they call an “unwarranted knife grab by Customs agents.” On May 21, the Customs and Border Protection Agency proposed revoking earlier rulings that said “assisted-opening knives” – including pocket knives – are not switchblades. The proposed new rule would expand the definition of “switchblade” to include knives that are opened with one hand as well as old-fashioned slip-joint knives, even the type of folding knives that Boy Scouts typically carry. Under the proposed rule, most knives would be prohibited from entering the United States, critics warn. The Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) are joining forces with a group called Knife Rights to support Americans' right to own and carry the knives of their choice." “The Second Amendment doesn't say ‘Firearms,’ it says ‘Arms,’ and knives are clearly covered,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb...CNSNews

Easement to protect land in Catron County

A conservation easement will protect 1,760 acres on the western flanks of a mountain in northern Catron County. The New Mexico Land Conservancy and the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department’s Forestry Division announced the Alegres Mountain Ranch agreement. The property, just south of Pie Town, “exemplifies the quality and importance of the scenic, wildlife and agricultural land values of Catron County," according to a news release from the conservancy. It described Alegres Mountain as “one of the most prominent natural features in the area and a high point along the Continental Divide, which runs through the property." The 10,229-foot mountain provides habitat for elk, mule deer, black bears and mountain lions. The easement also will help protect the headwaters of Nester Draw and Middle Mangas Creek. The landowner, Blake Tollett, last year donated an easement on another 1,480 acres in the southern part of the ranch. “Forests and woodlands on the private lands of northern Catron County are very important for wildlife habitat and wood products," said State Forester Arthur “Butch" Blazer. “(The Forestry Division) is glad to assist landowners in protecting these forest values by establishing perpetual conservation easements." He noted that the state “paid a small amount" for the easement, with most of the land’s value contributed by Tollett...SilverCityDailyPress

Video: Touchtable - Amazing Technology; Puts Google Earth To Shame

Rare Yellow Lobster is 1 in 30 Million, Sent to Cape Cod Restaurant

This lobster will catch your eye, but not because you're imagining its tail dipped in butter. "Fiona" the lobster is bright orange and yellow, even though she's never been near a boiling pot. Specialists tell The Boston Globe this "yellow lobster" is one in 30 million. Fiona was recently caught off Canada and given by a friend to Nathan Nickerson, the owner of Arnold's Lobster and Clam Bar in Eastham, on Cape Cod. New England Aquarium director of research Michael Tlusty said a rare genetic mutation produces yellow lobsters. Life isn't easy for such animals — their bright colors make it easy for predators to spot them...AP

Song Of The Day #061

Johnnie & Jack and The Tennessee Mountain Boys. The Johnny was Johnnie Wright (the spelling was changed by a record label) and the Jack was Jack Anglin. They weren't brothers but were brothers-in-law. Other members of the group were Johnnie's wife Muriel Deason (Kitty Wells), and Jacks brother Jim Anglin. The group had no hits until they signed with RCA Victor in 1949. Their first hit was "Poison Love" which hit the top ten on all three billboard charts. They were successful members of the Grand Ol' Opry till Jack Anglin was killed in a car wreck on his way to Patsy Cline's funeral.

Real fans can try their 6 CD box set Johnnie & Jack And The Tennessee Mountain Boys. Smaller collections are also available.

Here's their 1953 recording of Private Property.

Rick Snure Obituary & Memorial Service

Richard Ralph (Rick) Snure died on June 11, 2009 in a helicopter crash northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. Born on February 26, 1948 in Douglas, Snure was a life-long Cochise County rancher. He attended elementary school at the one room school at Apache, Arizona, was a graduate of Douglas High School and the University of Arizona. He was a member of the Cochise Graham Cattle Growers Association, the Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association, the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assn. He served for many years on the board of trustees of the Apache School for 28 years.

In addition to his passion for flying, Rick was an excellent cowman as well as an accomplished horseman. He raised and trained some outstanding roping horses and spent much of his free time while his sons were growing up traveling to rodeos throughout the Southwest. Their accomplishments in those and many other arenas were his greatest source of pride.

Rick is survived by his sons Dr. Roland Snure, Silver City, New Mexico; Clay Snure and Bill Snure and their mother, Fran Whatley, Benson; his grandson Olan Snure, Silver City; his brother Bill, Amarillo; nephew Ben, Clarendon, Texas; niece Sloane Snure Paullus, Columbia, Missouri as well as cousins Marguerite Vensel, Caren, Connie and Carol Cowan, Ruth Evelyn Giles and Flossie Holly.

He was preceded in death by his father Ben Snure Jr. and his mother Florence Cowan Snure.

A memorial service honoring Snure will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at the Douglas High School Auditorium located 1500 15th Street. Arrangements are being handled by the Brown-Page Mortuary. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the charity of your choice.

Administration Plans to Scale Back Real ID Law

Yielding to a rebellion by states that refused to pay for it, the Obama administration is moving to scale back a federal law passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that was designed to tighten security requirements for driver's licenses, Homeland Security Department and congressional officials said. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wants to repeal and replace the controversial, $4 billion domestic security initiative known as Real ID, which calls for placing more secure licenses in the hands of 245 million Americans by 2017. The new proposal, called Pass ID, would be cheaper, less rigorous and partly funded by federal grants, according to draft legislation that Napolitano's Senate allies plan to introduce as early as tomorrow. Eleven states have refused to participate in Real ID despite a Dec. 31 federal deadline. "The department's goal is to fix, not repeal" Real ID, allowing all jurisdictions to comply by year's end, said a DHS official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity before a formal announcement. Meanwhile, privacy groups also objected, saying Real ID should just be killed. "We don't want to end up with National ID Lite," said Chris Calabrese, counsel to the technology and liberty program at the American Civil Liberties Union. Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the plan is "a lot softer" but will still leave more Americans' personal data subject to theft and misuse...WPost

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

It costs a lot of money to be broke

Julie Carter

Superstition suggests bad luck comes in threes and for Rob, the third had just hit. Actually, it was the fourth, but the rules say after three, quit counting.

Rob and his wife had been subsidizing their cattle ranching in the usual sweaty, working ways. Lately, those hadn't been too successful. Perpetually looking for a way to keep the wolf from the door, Rob had a plan.

The cutting horse reject colt he had bought to make a heeling horse to sell was working out fairly well. That is, until a steer came out of the roping chute, cut hard to the right and the colt, true to his training, did the same.

Rob had not cleared the end of the roping box when everybody went "hard right" and his boot caught on the corner. The sickening sound told the story before anyone had to look. The bone was broke and the shin was split. This didn't bode well for any money-making activity in the near future.

Later, with a walking cast in place, Rob decided he would cut a few cedar stays out of the brush pastures to sell, but his chainsaw was on the blink.

His wife Sue recalled an ad in the paper where a chainsaw was offered at a weekend garage sale.

When Rob returned with his treasure, his plan was to show it off to his bride. He pulled the rope and got the usual chainsaw resistance to starting.

He pulled it again. Nothing. After about a dozen tries with no luck, Sue remembered something she had to do in the house, knowing it was a good time to remove herself from the premises.

When she went back a couple hours later, Rob was nowhere around. The bar and chain were lying to one side and a thousand pieces of orange plastic were scattered throughout the area.

The sledgehammer was leaning up against the barn door.
Next, Rob decided that since their ranch had some good coastal Bermuda, he'd sell some of the upcoming hay crop. He laid down a good-sized field of it in anticipation of the income that it would bring.

Of course, it had not rained in that part of the world in anybody's distant memory, but that night it poured down three inches.

He also had some farm ground and decided a crop of peanuts would be just the thing. He worked the ground, planted his peanuts, and went to bed that night counting his millions.

The next morning he found that every peanut had been rooted up. Feral hogs had never been a problem on his place, that is, until the peanuts were in the ground. He did reflect with some gratitude that the pigs hadn't helped themselves to his beer stash in the barn to wash down the peanuts.

As soon as he could find someone to tell him what pigs wouldn't eat, he'd consider replanting.

The next accounting issue came when Sue announced that their son needed braces.

Rob asked how many sets of teeth the kid had because they'd just put him in braces a year or so ago. Sue informed him there were a couple of kids and this was a different one.

Rob was a good hand at roping but had put the sport on hold while he married, had a family and set up his ranching enterprise to seek his fortune.

However, there was a big team roping coming to town. He had many bills to pay, but uncannily, he had just enough money to pay entry fees. He called a former roping buddy and they entered up.

It worked out better than anything had so far. They won the roping, got their names called, new trophy buckles and a big payout.

On the way home, Rob bought new tires for Sue's pickup and an extra case of ropers' aiming fluid (beer).

The logic was clearly before him. He could ride in a cast and had proven he could still catch his share at the ropings. Subsidizing the ranch in this manner was going to be a whole lot more fun than riding colts, chainsaws, hay or peanuts.

Some cowboys have to work a little harder to get to the same result; heeding the call of the roping arena.

Julie can be reached for comment at www.julie-carter.com

Plan to Combat Global Warming? Pie in the Sky

Whenever you hear a politician start a sentence with, “If we can put a man on the moon . . . ,” grab your wallet. For years, Democrats, enthralled by the cargo cult of the Kennedy presidency, have used the moon landing as proof that no big government ambition is beyond our reach. The latest example of anthropogenic-lunar empowerment is global warming. Al Gore and Barack Obama routinely cite the Apollo program as proof that we can make good on the president’s messianic campaign pledge to stem the rising ocean tides and hasten the healing of the planet. The problem with the “if we can put a man on the moon, we can certainly spend trillions on this or that” formulation is that it sees political and scientific accomplishments as interchangeable...NRO

Video - Al Gore 1984 1:22

GAO - Land Exchanges

Federal Land Management: BLM and the Forest Service Have Improved Oversight of the Land Exchange Process, but Additional Actions Are Needed. GAO-09-611, June 12.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-611

Subpoena seeks names -- and lots more -- of Web posters

Free speech should be practiced only by those who are ready to deal with the consequences, which just might include a knock on the door by a friendly federal investigator wanting to know if you posted an anonymous comment on a Web site. Were you advocating violence or confessing to breaking the federal tax laws? This is not a hypothetical. On May 26 the Review-Journal published an article about an ongoing federal tax evasion trial. The primary defendant, Las Vegan Robert Kahre, stands accused of tax fraud for using the rather inventive argument that he could pay people in U.S. minted gold and silver coins based on their precious metal value but for tax purposes use their face value, which is many times less. The story was posted on our Web site. When last I checked nearly 100 comments were appended to it, running the gamut from the lucid to the ludicrous. This past week the newspaper was served with a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. attorney's office demanding that we turn over all records pertaining to those postings, including "full name, date of birth, physical address, gender, ZIP code, password prompts, security questions, telephone numbers and other identifiers ... the IP address," et (kitchen sink) cetera...LasVegasReview-Journal

Privacy may be a victim in cyberdefense plan

A plan to create a new Pentagon cybercommand is raising significant privacy and diplomatic concerns, as the Obama administration moves ahead on efforts to protect the nation from cyberattack and to prepare for possible offensive operations against adversaries’ computer networks. President Obama has said that the new cyberdefense strategy he unveiled last month will provide protections for personal privacy and civil liberties. But senior Pentagon and military officials say that Mr. Obama’s assurances may be challenging to guarantee in practice, particularly in trying to monitor the thousands of daily attacks on security systems in the United States that have set off a race to develop better cyberweapons. Much of the new military command’s work is expected to be carried out by the National Security Agency, whose role in intercepting the domestic end of international calls and e-mail messages after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, under secret orders issued by the Bush administration, has already generated intense controversy. There is simply no way, the officials say, to effectively conduct computer operations without entering networks inside the United States, where the military is prohibited from operating...NYTimes

Video - Shelly Roche On Cybersecurity Act 1:52

PETA's fish-toss fit is so silly, there's got to be a catch

FOR many years, tourists visiting Seattle have gotten a thrill out of the fun-loving fishmongers at Pike Place Fish who stir up crowds with a skilled toss of a slippery fish across the counter. Along comes People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals with a challenge so ridiculous it sounds made up. Animal-rights activists cross the line of incredulity with a challenge of the use of fish in a presentation by the fishmongers at the American Veterinary Medical Association convention next month in Seattle. PETA need not stick its nose into a harmless Pacific Northwest tradition. Fish have some kind of feelings when living. But fish used in the famous fish toss are not nursing a wound or evaluating their sense of self worth. They are dead. The next best thing that can happen to a salmon is to be topped with lemon and butter, barbecued and then eaten...SeattleTimes

Song Of The Day #060

Today's gospel song is "There's One" by the Bishops and is from their "Kentucky Bluegrass" CD.

Artifact theft suspect found dead near Blanding

Anger and fear generated by federal charges of artifact looting in the vast deserts of southeastern Utah merged with sorrow Thursday when James Redd - a 60-year-old physician and defendant in the case - was found dead on his Blanding property. Townspeople gathered at the bottom of Redd's long private driveway Thursday evening, many of them weeping, the day after federal officials announced the indictments of 24 people in the theft and sale of more than 250 American Indian artifacts from the Four Corners area. The San Juan County Sheriff's Office did not return repeated calls for information on the cause of Redd's death Thursday, but law enforcement officials familiar with the circumstances and speaking on condition of anonymity said it appeared he took his own life. "He was one of the best guys I knew," said Paul Reay, a physician who worked with Redd at the Blanding Clinic. "He was a very competent physician, he was kind and always doing things for people. "I feel it's a waste of human life over pottery," Reay said. "The priorities of our federal government are badly misplaced."...SaltLakeTribune

Colorado landowners tell their story - Video

June 11, 2009---Fred Kelly Grant

Posted today on YouTube, on www.landownersunited.com , and on www.Justicemyass.com, are interviews with two landowners who have been betrayed by the state of Colorado. Denise Kennedy and Deni Thompson tell the stories of how they have been trapped by the state’s breach of its commitment to them and other landowners in southcentral Colorado. These interviews will be followed by other first hand accounts by landowners as to how their financial futures are endangered by the state’s breach of its word. Just 8 days ago, Governor Ritter stated that “farmers and ranchers are…vital to Colorado’s future.” In his statement made during the public signing of a bill in opposition to military expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeastern Colorado, the Governor also said that the landowners in that area have been “understandably nervous about what the future holds” and that he was glad the bill “provides those farmers and ranchers with some level of stability and security.” Exactly the same can be said of the southcentral farmers and ranchers who relied in good faith on the state’s conservation easement commitments. But, the legislature, the Governor and his political appointees have refused to take action to honor the state’s commitment...

There are three interviews at the landowner site. Here are the two mentioned by Grant.

Dem mutiny on climate bill grows, says Peterson

More and more Democrats are ready to vote against Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s climate change bill, according to a congressional committee chairman who opposes his leader. The House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said Wednesday that he’s at an impasse with the lead sponsor of a climate change bill strongly backed by Pelosi (D-Calif.), and that his list of Democratic members who would join him in voting against the measure is growing rather than shrinking. “We’re stuck,” Peterson said regarding a clash he’s had with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) over a number of issues in the bill. “And there’s a lot of issues that haven’t even come up yet.” The two powerful chairmen are butting heads at the staff level, despite a deadline set by Pelosi for all committee action to be completed by June 19. But that may be the least of the trouble. Peterson has warned that the bill put together by Waxman and Energy and Environment subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) will fail if agriculture-related provisions aren’t altered, and he’s said he has as many as 45 votes on his side. That number of Democratic defections would certainly doom the prospects of passing the bill in the House. And while the Agriculture chairman said he’s working to resolve those differences and not intentionally trying to torpedo the legislation, he noted that skepticism toward the bill is growing, not shrinking...TheHill

Obama picks Babbitt aide to run BLM

Bob Abbey, who helped former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt complete a Utah wilderness inventory 10 years ago, is President Barack Obama's nominee to head up the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the nomination Tuesday evening, calling Abbey a "consummate, professional natural-resource manager." Abbey has more than 32 years in state and federal public service, including eight years at the helm of the Nevada state BLM office until his retirement in 2005. Early reactions indicated general approval of Abbey's nomination from conservationists, off-roaders and oil and gas officials. "I think he'd be a good director," said Brian Hawthorne, public-lands policy director for the BlueRibbon Coalition, an OHV interest group. "He seemed to be well-liked by the [BLM] line officers and staff." Heidi McIntosh, an attorney and conservation director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said Abbey was known as "a good guy" and not ideological in any direction. "He's willing to listen. I think he's a good choice," McIntosh said. If the Senate confirms Abbey, she said, he ought to restore a balance to managing public lands after the Bush administration's eight years of focusing on oil and gas development...SaltLakeTribune

Sam Hamilton Nominated as Director of USFWS

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today praised President Obama’s announcement that he intends to nominate Sam D. Hamilton to be the next Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Hamilton, a career senior biologist and manager with the Service, currently is director of the agency’s Southeast Region. The nomination requires Senate confirmation. Hamilton, who has been with the Service for 30 years, was appointed Southeast Regional Director in Atlanta, Georgia in 1997, serving as senior operating executive with full strategic planning and management responsibility for a $484 million budget and a 1,500-person work-force that operates in 10 states and the Caribbean. As regional director, Hamilton has been responsible for the oversight and management of more than 350 federally listed threatened and endangered species and 128 national wildlife refuges. He has provided leadership and oversight to the department’s restoration work in the Everglades, the largest ecosystem restoration project in the country, and oversaw recovery and restoration work following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated coastal wetlands, wildlife refuges, and other wildlife habitat along the Gulf of Mexico...PressRelease

USDA undersecretary nominee withdraws

President Obama's nominee to lead the Forest Service and farmland conservation programs has withdrawn his name from consideration. Homer Lee Wilkes, the Mississippi state conservationist and a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), was nominated in May as Agriculture undersecretary for natural resources and environment. The post directs the Forest Service and conservation projects at NRCS. But Wilkes withdrew his name for personal reasons, the White House confirmed today. Career administration officials said USDA had been trying to promote Wilkes to its headquarters for years but that Wilkes had been hesitant to uproot his family and move to Washington. Lobbyists who follow USDA said the withdrawal came after a bump in the road came up in Wilkes' background investigation...NYTimes

Bush adminstration targeted land near parks for drilling

A special report to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar details how officials in the final days of the Bush administration pushed aside the National Park Service and sought to lease public lands for drilling on the borders of Utah's most famous redrock parks. Salazar was condemned by the oil industry for scrapping 77 of the leases weeks after taking office, but all of the drilling parcels had already been delayed by a federal lawsuit that is yet to be resolved. Hayes said the Bureau of Land Management -- the agency responsible for leasing public lands for energy development -- set out to lease drilling parcels on the borders of Arches National Park without notifying the Park Service, violating a long-standing pact. The BLM also moved to lease other parcels close to Canyonlands National Park and Dinosaur National Monument, and to open drilling around artifact-rich Nine Mile Canyon and along the high cliffs of whitewater sections of the wild Green River. Leasing parcels on or near the borders of national parks is highly unusual, Salazar said in a telephone interview Thursday. Hayes said the remaining 30 leases that Salazar rescinded in February could go up for sale again because they are in or next to existing oil and gas fields, but only after each parcel is carefully studied. "We're creating a SWAT team, basically, to look at parcels on an individual basis," Hayes said...AP

Biologists help rare fish flee New Mexico fire

As a lightning-sparked fire charred thousands of acres in southwestern New Mexico, biologists and firefighters used helicopters and trucks for an unusual evacuation. They captured 250 Gila trout — a threatened species — from a creek in southwestern New Mexico and are moving them to a hatchery in the opposite corner of the state. Ranger Al Koss of the Wilderness Ranger District said Wednesday was a perfect time to move the fish because the fire's intensity had diminished and the flames were still a couple of miles from the South Diamond Creek. Biologists rode to the creek on horseback, then used electroshocking devices to temporarily stun the trout so they could quickly scoop them into a net. "You've got to be pretty fast," said John Kramer, a staff member who has helped with two other fish relocations during his 20 years working on the Gila National Forest. The fish were loaded into a large bucket and taken out of the wilderness via helicopter to a special truck waiting to ferry them to a hatchery in northern New Mexico. The fire has blackened nearly six square miles — more than 3,600 acres — in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness north of Silver City. Forest officials decided to evacuate the trout when the fire started moving toward the creek. The fish can hide as the fire passes through the watershed, but Koss said the resulting ash could impact their habitat. Forest officials are concerned about the Gila trout because it is classified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened. The fish — the only native trout in the Gila River — is found in a handful of counties in New Mexico and Arizona...AP

Those fish must not have been in the wilderness, where no mechanical equipment or motorized vehicles are allowed. In other words, no stun guns or helicoptors.

Agency to reconsider wolverine status

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to reconsider denial of Endangered Species Act protection for the wolverine, a snow-dwelling furbearer at the center of a lawsuit filed last year by Defenders of Wildlife and eight other groups. The reconsideration is in an agreement, filed Wednesday, to settle the case. The agreement requires the approval of U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula. The Fish and Wildlife Service said in March 2008 that even if wolverines disappeared from the contiguous 48 states, the species would survive because wolverines in the United States are connected to larger populations in Canada. Defenders of Wildlife said documents show the Fish and Wildlife Service supported protecting the wolverine under the Endangered Species Act, but the support was overridden by politically driven officials in the Interior Department. The settlement requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a determination of the wolverine's status by December 2010...AP

NYC To Gas 2,000 Geese In Bid To Protect Aircraft

New York City plans to trap and kill up to 2,000 Canada Geese this summer in an attempt to avoid the type of collision that caused an airliner to ditch in the Hudson River last winter. The hunt will take place on dozens of city properties located within five miles of Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. Aviation officials have culled the bird flocks on airport property for years, but this will mark a major expansion of the effort into other parts of the city, including about 40 public parks. The roundup is being timed with the molting season, when the geese can't fly. It is scheduled to begin within a week...CBS

Reward offered in death of Florida panther

Federal and state agencies are offering a reward of up to $15,200 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a suspect or suspects involved in the shooting death of a Florida panther. The panther was found April 21 near the Hendry Correctional Institute. It was on private property bordering the Big Cypress National Preserve. Authorities say the panther was shot within a week of being discovered. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are investigating. Whoever shot the panther committed a federal and state offense. A conviction carries up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. The state penalty is up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine...TampaBayOnline

FBI charges 24 in American Indian artifact looting case

For two years, someone close to a large network of archaeological looters in southeastern Utah was wired with an audio-visual recorder when buying ancient baby blankets, stone pipes, seed jars, digging sticks, pots, even a pre-Columbian menstrual pad. This "Source," as he or she is identified in a search warrant affidavit unsealed Wednesday, is an insider who worked with U.S. Bureau of Land Management and FBI special agents to nab two dozen suspects in the theft and sale of more than 250 American Indian artifacts from the Four Corners area. Most of the suspects come from San Juan County, and some familiar names have emerged, including Blanding residents James and Jeanne Redd, who previously were prosecuted for stealing and dealing artifacts that lie scattered across remote public lands. The list also includes a 78-year-old man recently inducted into the Utah Tourism Hall of Fame. The undercover purchases cost $335,685, U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman announced Wednesday. But new Bureau of Indian Affairs head Larry EchoHawk, a former Brigham Young University law professor, said the artifacts were worth much, much more. "These articles are really priceless," EchoHawk said during a news conference in Salt Lake City. "You can't put a dollar figure on them." But that's what 55-year-old San Juan High teacher David Lacy of Blanding did, according to a search warrant that federal authorities said was representative of affidavits filed in cases against him and 23 others...SaltLakeTribune

County supervisor calls for Schwarzenegger's arrest

Blogriculture provides this link to Shasta County Supervisor Less Baugh's open letter. Here are some excerpts from the letter:


...Two years ago, we looked ahead and could clearly see that there were financial challenges on the horizon. We reduced our county work force by nearly 200 positions through a soft hiring freeze and by attrition. Anticipating shortages from the state and decreased revenue, we asked all departments to further reduce expenses by 10 percent...

While we were carefully limiting expenses and reducing our workforce, you were still discussing ways to spend even more money and increase your workforce. While we used our limited resources wisely and planned for the future, you ignored the obvious and continued spending and borrowing from our future...

What we cannot handle is your decision to take $6.3 million dollars right out of our bank account. You might as well hand us a lead life vest! You call it borrowing. You say that we (Shasta County) will be partially repaid with interest. I call it stealing. You don't have the ability to pay your bills now and I don't believe you will have the ability to repay this loan with interest. Meanwhile, Shasta County and all counties will be forced to pay the ultimate price for your mismanagement. So what do I want Governor? I want the Shasta County District Attorney to issue a warrant for your arrest. After all, grand theft is a crime...

We are working diligently to do our job, Governor. Man up and do yours...

I think he just called Arnold a Girly Boy.

Government Implemented Thousands of New Regulations Costing $1.17 Trillion in 2008

An annual report issued by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) shows that the U.S. government imposed $1.17 trillion in new regulatory costs in 2008. That almost equals the $1.2 trillion generated by individual income taxes, and amounts to $3,849 for every American citizen. According the 2009 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State, the government issued 3,830 new rules last year, and The Federal Register, where such rules are listed, ballooned to a record 79,435 pages...

The Bushies last year, sigh...

Western Gov's - MOU - Wildlife Corridors

From: Ramona Morrison [mailto:rhmorrison@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 1:00 PM
To: rhmorrison@sbcglobal.net
Subject: FW: Western Governor's Association Wildlife Corridor MOU and Climate Change Policy Resolution

Dear western ranchers, farmers and interested parties:

As Vice Chairman of the Nevada Board of Agriculture, I am alerting you to the attached drafts of the Western Governors Association proposal for an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Western Governors, the Department of Interior (DOI)and the Department of Agriculture concerning (USDA) “wildlife corridors” and “crucial habitat”. Corridors are nothing short of a innocuous-sounding, back door attempt at a land grab. Dr. Tony Lesperance, Director of the Nevada Department of Agriculture, was provided a last minute version of the draft MOU and contacted Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons to express serious concerns about the implications of the “wildlife corridor” and “crucial habitat” language in this MOU. I fully concur.

Governor Gibbons has indicated that Nevada will not be signing on to either the climate change Policy Resolution introduced by Governor’s Schwarzenegger, CA and Richardson, NM (also attached) or the wildlife corridor MOU at the June 14-15 Western Governors meeting in Park City, Utah. If you read the email string below, you will see that a number of western governors are fully supportive of the wildlife corridor MOU. Unfortunately, as with so many of these environmental protection efforts, they sound great until they are actually implemented and directly impact our property rights. Also vague, undefined terms such as “wildlife corridors” and “crucial habitat” can easily be construed into their most destructive definitions by bureaucrats.

I urge you to make your opinions known to Governor Gibbons and Director Lesperance at tlesperance@agri.state.nv.us regarding their stand for Nevada on these issues as well as to the other western governors before the June 14-15 meeting. Also, forward this to any contacts in other western states who may be unaware of these potentially dangerous policy changes. Right now it seems to be moving forward with very little resistance. The Western Governors Association website is www.westgov.org.

Arizona and Nevada rancher, Danny Martinez reminded me of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, New York v. United States, where in Justice O’Connor opined that state officials cannot consent to the enlargement of the powers of the Congress beyond those enumerated by the Constitution. It’s fair to say both of these potential policy changes by the Western States Governor’s go well beyond the enumerated powers of the Federal government as defined by the U.S. Constitution.

New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
(Page 133) Justice O’Connor delivered the opinion of the Court. “Just as the separation and independence of the coordinate Branches of the Federal Government serves to prevent the accumulation of excessive power in any one Branch, a healthy balance of power between the States and the Federal Government will reduce the risk of tyranny and abuse from either front.
Where Congress exceeds its authority relative to the States, therefore, the departure from the constitutional plan cannot be ratified by the “consent” of state officials. An analogy to the separation of powers among the Branches of the Federal Government clarifies this point. The Constitution’s division of power among the three branches is violated where one Branch invades the territory of another, whether or not the encroached upon Branch approves the encroachment….
The constitutional authority of Congress cannot be expanded by the “consent” of the governmental unit whose domain is thereby narrowed, whether that unit is the Executive Branch or the States.
State officials thus cannot consent to the enlargement of the powers of Congress beyond those enumerated in the Constitution.”[emphasis added]

Best Regards,
Ramona Morrison
Vice Chairman
Nevada Board of Agriculture

Killer Bees Attack California Rider, Horses

A California equestrian was attacked by a swarm of aggressive Africanized honeybees--also known as "killer bees"--while riding on a public trail in Rolling Hills, Calif., last week., The Daily Breeze reported. Jacquie Ball was riding one horse and ponying a yearling on the Upper Si's Canyon Trail when the bees attacked. According to the report, she released the yearling, jumped off her horse, and ran up the trail. She sustained stings on her back. "I never saw a hive or a colony or a swarm, or anything that was a warning," Ball told The Daily Breeze. "I just got hit in the face, hard and fast. "With all these years of riding on trails, I've been through honeybees. This is way out of the ordinary," she said. Steve Thoenes, PhD, a Tucson-based entomologist, told The Horse that horses are, "very attractive and vulnerable targets. Horses should never be stabled or corralled near honeybee colonies." He said most horse deaths caused by honeybees can be attributed to suffocation. "When a horse is subjected to multiple bee stings around, and in, the nose, the area swells and cuts off a horse's breathing," he explained...TheHorse

Song Of The Day #059

I'm playing today's selection because of my Dad. When we were talking about him batching at the ranch, or when discussing my music collection, he would always mention how much he liked "Sleepy Rio Grande" by Bud & Joe Billings. He had a 78rpm record of this song which he apparently played a lot when living alone, or "batching" at the DuBois ranch. Dad and I went out to the old shack he lived in, found some old 78s, but no "Sleepy Rio Grande." I finally found it a few years ago on Cattle CD 207 Bud & Joe Billings - Singing Pals from Kansas. It was issued in 1929 on Victor 40088 and was side A. Side B was "When Its Springtime In The Rockies." I also found out there was no Bud & Joe Billings. Both singers were from Kansas, but they were Frank Luther Crow and Carson Jay Robison. Carson Robison, paired with Vernon Dalhart, pioneered the recording of cowboy songs. They recorded from 1924 to 1928. Frank Luther (as he became known) also developed a following during this period for taking cowboy songs to city dwellers. Dalhart & Robison broke up in 1928 and Robison & Luther started singing together. They recorded under several names, including The Carson Robison Trio, when they added Luther's wife, Zora Layman. She was a Kansas singer and fiddler, recorded on her own, one song of note was her "Seven Years With The Wrong Man." Luther & Robison were most remembered, however, for their recordings as Bud & Joe Billings.

Anyway, I wish I'd found this song before Dad passed on.

I can still imagine him though, batchin' at the ranch, cranking up the Victrola, and listening to "Sleepy Rio Grande."

Go to folder - FileFactory.com

How To Handle Public Officials - A lesson from the ancient Greeks

...Most officials in Athens were appointed by lot and for one year only. They did not serve an elected parliament but the whole citizen body (Athenian males over 18), meeting roughly every week in Assembly. This body was sovereign, deciding every course of state action. The same people also had total control over the courts. Each official had to report regularly to the people, and could be arraigned at any time. At the end of his term, the people subjected him to a full audit. Within 30 days of laying down office, he presented his financial accounts (public funds received and expended), which were checked against documents in the state archives. That test passed, a board heard any charges of general misconduct. There were penalties for breaking the law, taking bribes, embezzlement, and so on. Punishments could range from fines through exile to execution. It never stopped Athenians putting themselves forward...The Spectator

Apply this to today's Politically Superior Ones and they'd be shakin' like a hound dog shittin' a loggin' chain and expecting a hook any minute.

Senate Panel OKs Expanded Oil and Gas Leasing in Eastern Gulf

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved expanded oil and gas leasing today in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in a bipartisan vote that would upend a 2006 compromise with Florida senators that provided their state at least a 125-mile buffer in most areas until mid-2022. The committee voted 13-10 in favor of Sen. Byron Dorgan's (D-N.D.) plan to allow leasing as close as 45 miles from Florida's coast. It also allows leasing in a gas-rich region called the Destin Dome off the Florida Panhandle that is even closer to shore. The drilling amendment vote was part of the committee's ongoing markup of a broad energy bill. Dorgan said the measure should be part of a bill that also addresses alternative energy and efficiency. "I am interested in doing this to increase production," Dorgan said...NYTimes

Gov. Perry Hates Climate-Change Bill, Loves Clean Energy

Yesterday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry took aim at the federal government, salting his critique with a dose of unabashed global-warming skepticism. He criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s April ruling that rising levels of carbon dioxide present a hazard to human health. The governor, a former West Texas rancher and Texas A&M University graduate, said: “The idea that CO2 is a toxic substance is a bit hard for this agricultural scientist to get his arms around when … Nobel laureates have talked CO2 in a very positive sense when you talk about the green revolution.” But he saved his sharpest barbs for the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill and its cap-and-trade provision to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. He said it amounted to “the largest tax increase in the history of our country.” It would devastate the Texas economy–and for what? He’s not sure there’s much to be worried about. “This is going to come down to this: Are the Democrats in Congress willing to stand up and say we are fixing to raise everyone’s cost of living in America on some science that still is yet to be solidified?” That’s not much difference than Gov. Perry’s earlier assault on federal ethanol mandates, which he said raised the price of corn and threatened another cherished Texas industry—cattle...WSJ

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Without Reducing Mobility

This year’s six-year reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program is likely to have far greater impact on our transportation future than anything since the launch of the Interstate highway program in 1956. Many organizations are calling for fundamental changes in the federal role, and while there is certainly much that is dysfunctional about the current federal program, some of the proposed changes could make things worse, not better. An example is the proposal released on May 15 by Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) of the Senate Commerce Committee. The first item on their list of “Major Goals of the Federal Surface Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009” was this: “Reduce national per capita motor vehicle miles traveled [VMT] on an annual basis.” Many of their other goals were either laudable or innocuous, but this one is definitely harmful, as I will explain...When working through this logic chain with data and numbers, it starts falling apart. First, all of transportation (including trucking, airlines, barges, etc.) contributes 27.9 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Personal vehicles (cars and light trucks) are 61 percent of that; hence, personal vehicles are the source of 17 percent of GHGs, not one-third, as you will often hear. Second, greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles are a function of speed. Stop-and-go driving (as in congestion) produces much greater GHG emissions than steady-speed driving between 30 and 60 miles per hour; above about 60 mph, GHGs increase fairly rapidly. Third, there is no hard data showing that people who live in higher densities drive significantly less than those who live in typical suburbia. Fourth, there is excellent data from the Australian Conservation Foundation showing that among housing types, townhouses have the lowest carbon footprint, single-family suburban houses the second-lowest, and high-rise condo-type dwellings the highest. This logic chain also ignores considerable evidence that traffic congestion increases with urban density—which of course increases GHG emissions...Reason Foundation

Just add water: Temporary river gets its test

A brand-new river sparkled to temporary life Monday as the Chelan County PUD's $15.9 million project to restore year-round flow to the Chelan River Gorge got is first "water test." The project adds about 3 acres of new spawning habitat for steelhead and chinook at the river's lowest reach, near the dam powerhouse in Chelan Falls. Seasonal dam spill to maintain the level of Lake Chelan began early Monday, sending water flowing down the normally dry, 4-mile Chelan River channel at a slow 240 cubic feet per second. The water reached the new habitat work — some five hours after the spill began — and turned what had previously been only a drawing on paper into reality. Water emerging from the Chelan River Gorge slowly pooled and then spilled into a carefully engineered river channel containing strategically placed boulders, log jams and rocks. The channel is lined with river gravel that fish seek for spawning. The new habitat could see its first spawning action this fall, Hays said, but it may not reach its maximum appeal for the migrating fish for decades. PUD officials in October will plant cottonwoods and native shrubs along the now stark and rocky stream to protect its banks and provide shade that appeals to fish, Hays said...WenatcheeWorld

As the Politically Superior Ones mess with Mother Nature and wisely spend your money...

Study: Shrinking gene pool among spotted owls contributing to their decline

When the northern spotted owl went on the endangered species list in 1990, it effectively brought federal lands logging to a halt in the Northwest. Nearly two decades later, the number of owls is still dropping, and their shrinking gene pool is part of the problem, a new study concludes. Fewer birds make for a genetic "bottleneck" that increases the potential for interbreeding and reducing the birds' ability to adapt, says the study published this month in the journal Conservation Genetics. "Our results provide independent evidence that northern spotted owls have recently declined, and suggest that loss of genetic variation is an emerging threat to the subspecies' persistence," said the reports' authors, including U.S. Forest Service biologist and longtime owl expert Eric Forsman. Despite the increase in federal forests set aside for the owl under the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan, their numbers continue to decline at a rate of about 3.7 percent per year, the study found...Oregonian

The whole thing has been an environment and economic disaster, brought to you courtesy of the Politically Superior Ones.

Man mauled by bear west of West Yellowstone

A Boise man was attacked by a grizzly bear Tuesday on a Forest Service road near West Yellowstone. A spokeswoman for the Gallatin National Forest says the 34-year-old man suffered bite wounds to his head, shoulders, arms, torso and one leg. Spokeswoman Marna Daley says the man was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Rexburg, Idaho. His name was not immediately released and no report on his condition was available Wednesday. Daley says the man was hiking alone when he stumbled upon a sow grizzly and her cub. The Gallatin County sheriff's office says deputies were dispatched at about 5 p.m. Tuesday to a Forest Service road west of West Yellowstone, where they found the victim. The Forest Service has temporarily closed the area pending an investigation by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. AP

Grizzly bear killed Sunday night

A grizzly bear was shot and killed at an elk ranch north of Interstate 90 near Rose Lake on Sunday night, according to information received from Idaho Fish and Game. The bear was harassing penned elk when a man discovered the bruin and shot it, reported Chip Corsi, IFG regional supervisor. Corsi went on to say he believes the incident was a case of mistaken identity, and the rancher fired at the grizzly thinking it was a black bear. “It was after dark when the bear was getting into the pen,” Corsi said. “I don’t think he had a good look at it.” IFG identified the dead bear as a grizzly — an endangered species under federal protection — and transported it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Spokane on Monday morning, Corsi said. While black bears are numerous in the forests surrounding the Silver Valley, grizzly bears are a definite rarity. Corsi said the animals do live to the north, in both Idaho and Montana, but finding one near Rose Lake was a surprise for Fish and Game personnel. “That’s probably the first grizzly [in the region] that has been positively identified in, and I’m just guessing here, half a century,” Corsi said. “Your chances of seeing a grizzly bear in the Rose Lake area are slim to none.”...SoshoneNewsPress

Veterinarian caught Army in a lie

D.A. Osguthorpe, a prominent veterinarian and rancher for six decades in Utah, was instrumental in solving one of the state's strangest mysteries --- how 6,000 seemingly healthy sheep dropped dead in western Utah's Skull Valley in 1968. Osguthorpe, who went by the nickname "Doc," died Monday at his Holladay home. He was 88. His 1968 investigation, which included autopsies of the sheep, led him to put the blame squarely on the U.S. Army, which eventually admitted it had conducted nerve gas tests from an airplane in the area. The federal government later paid thousands of dollars to the ranchers who had lost their sheep. Twenty years before his investigation into the sheep deaths, Osguthorpe had become a veterinarian in Utah, specializing in larger animals like horses, cattle and sheep. Among his many wards, Osguthorpe received the CSU Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999. "I know he got some flak from that Skull Valley thing, but he won out in the end," Vanderhoof said. In his report of the sheep deaths, Osguthorpe noted that the Army denied any involvement, but his investigation discovered that the nerve gas was discharged from the plane and carried away from the test area by the wind. Eventually, it was brought to the ground by rain and snow, contaminating the sheep's fodder...SaltLakeTribune

Wildlife whistleblower case

A former professional hunter for the U.S. government in Nevada claims in a whistleblower complaint he was fired in retaliation for reporting that two co-workers illegally shot two mountain lions from an airplane in 2006. Lawyers for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility tell The Associated Press they will file the administrative complaint Wednesday on behalf of Gary Strader of Wells. Strader worked for the Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services until April. He says two aerial gunners shot the lions in Elko County. He says he told his supervisor but nothing happened as a result. Strader, a former Montana rancher, says he was told last summer his job was secure. But after he reported the incident to the FBI three months ago, he says he suddenly was told he was out of work. AP

UI investigating researcher over bighorn study

The University of Idaho has opened an investigation into whether the head of its Caine Veterinary Teaching and Research Center suppressed information from a 1994 study that appears to show bighorn sheep can get deadly diseases directly from domestic sheep on the open range. The center's leader, Marie Bulgin, is a past president of the Idaho Wool Growers Association who has testified before Idaho lawmakers and in federal court that there is no evidence of such disease transmission. Disease transmission between bighorns and domestic sheep is a sore subject in Idaho, where Payette National Forest managers are considering reducing domestic sheep grazing allotments near Hell's Canyon to protect bighorns reintroduced there in 1971. Ranchers are fighting the proposed reductions in federal court. Bulgin has said there may be other factors, including stress, that result in bighorn sheep die-offs, such as ones where 300 sheep died in 1995 and 1996 in Hell's Canyon. Idaho bighorn numbers have dwindled by half since 1990, to about 3,500 animals. In interviews with The Associated Press and others, Bulgin said she was unaware of the 1994 study conducted by Caine center scientists on two dead bighorns that showed a possible link. The research never resulted in a paper being published...Olympian

NM panel votes to protect Mount Taylor

The cultural and natural resources of New Mexico's Mount Taylor will now be protected by the state, ending a yearlong battle between American Indians and landowners all concerned about preserving their rights to use the mountain without interference. A state committee voted unanimously Friday to list the mountain on the State Register of Cultural Properties, a state spokesman said. The mountain, which as many as 30 Indian tribes consider sacred, is threatened by exploration and proposals for uranium mining. The protected area includes nearly 540 square miles around the 11,301-foot summit of the western New Mexico mountain down to surrounding mesa tops. Five tribes — the pueblos of Acoma, Zuni and Laguna, the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe in Arizona — nominated the protected area and worked to show why it should be preserved. But landowners and other residents of Grants, N.M., who fought the designation feared it would inhibit their ability to visit the mountain and limit what private landowners could do on their property. "It's a huge blow to private property rights and owners," said Marron Lee Nelson, whose family owns the largest piece of private property on Mount Taylor. "I do think lawsuits will be coming."...AP

Mount Taylor decision came while we were sleeping

June 5, 2009 was the culmination of a 17-month battle for Mount Taylor where the decision to make the temporary Traditional Cultural Property designation (TCP) permanent was announced -- New Mexico’s 1 million acre land grab. An opponent to the decision said, “I could hear the jobs, stability and growth in our community suck right out of our town as the vote was cast. Corporate dollars will be spent in other communities where progress is encouraged and growth is a way of life.”...The Mount Taylor TCP decision has far-reaching ramifications. The nomination had many technical and procedural flaws, as noted by New Mexico Secretary of Cultural Affairs Stuart Ashman in his presentation to the committee on May 15 -- but it was unanimously passed. While it was repeatedly stated throughout the multi-month process that private property was “non-contributing,” at the 11th hour, the historic preservation officer, Katherine Slick, did acknowledge that the decision will impact private property owners. And it will hurt the economy and take money out of America. An international partner in a mining project is now expected to pull out. Potential mining projects will be delayed and have increased costs. Many will never happen. Some companies have already given up and pulled out -- giving environmental extremists another victory...HeathHaussamen

State confirms third human plague case from Santa Fe County

The New Mexico Department of Health confirmed today a third case of bubonic plague in Santa Fe County so far this year. A 56-year-old man was hospitalized and is back home recovering. The Department of Health is conducting an environmental investigation at the man’s residence to determine if there is any ongoing risk to people. The Department also confirmed a plague case in a dog from north of the city of Taos and a cat case from the Arroyo Hondo area southeast of the city of Santa Fe. Earlier this month the Department reported a fatal case in an 8-year-old Santa Fe County boy and a case in his 10-year-old sister who recovered. There have been a total of three human cases in New Mexico, all in Santa Fe County, so far this year...PressRelease

NAIS should be fixed or forgotten

Four days before the seventh and final “listening session” June 1 to gather producer comments on NAIS, the National Animal Identification System, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced USDA would host six additional meetings for the public “to voice their concerns about the current NAIS system and offer potential solutions.” The extra meetings are either a master stroke by a shrewd political operator or a bureaucratic blunder by a Washington, D.C. rookie. Master stroke because Vilsack, an early and ardent supporter of NAIS, heard nothing good about national animal ID since taking his (presumably ear-tagged and registered) dog-and-pony show on the road May 14. Wherever it went—Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Washington State, Texas—producer after producer greeted it with anger and derision. Most used their three minutes of microphone fame to condemn NAIS as unnecessary, unworkable and un-American. Detractors easily outnumbered backers—mostly masters of the vertical integration universe: meatpackers and their lackeys—10-, 15- even 20-to-1...While mandatory animal identification is endlessly sold to lawmakers and consumers as a key element in new food safety regulations, producers have repeatedly pointed out that NAIS only tracks trouble after it occurs; it doesn’t prevent it. As such, it is not a food safety tool as much as a liability-assigning tool and no farmer wants a new expressway built between him and the federal courthouse...DailyRepublic

Cowboy roams Idaho, planting churches

Wearing a hat like the one cowboy actor Tom Mix made famous in westerns in the '20s and '30s along with a vest, brown cowboy boots and a full gray beard, Jim Ballard looks like he just stepped out of a Hollywood studio. But unlike the silver screen cowboys of old, Ballard spends his long Idaho days recruiting church planters and helping plant churches as director of missions for the Eastern Idaho Southern Baptist Association. He also has served as a North American Mission Board worker for the past seven of his 37 years in ministry. "Probably the greatest challenge I face is the distances I have to cover," said Ballard, whose association is made up of 13 counties and surrounded by three states -- Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. "There's a lot of distance between places up here." With his home in Blackfoot, Idaho -- midway between Pocatello and Idaho Falls -- Ballard, 57, says he puts an average of 75,000-80,000 miles a year on his vehicle as he covers his assigned territory. Ballard preaches at a different church every Sunday in his association, which includes 13 churches and two missions. Some are without pastors or are church plants which haven't yet called a pastor, so Ballard often fills in. He may preach in as many as three churches on a given Sunday, some three hours or 200 miles apart...AP

Golf’s a Hobby, Bull Riding Is Adam Phillips’s Career

When talking of his recent state high school bull-riding and bareback-riding championships, Adam Phillips, a Ross School junior who shares Shinnecock and Navajo heritage, said the other day that he was the fourth generation in his family to pursue rodeo sports. His maternal grandfather and great-grandfather were ranchers and cowboys in New Mexico, he said. And it is in New Mexico where the national high school-age championships are to be held, in Farmington, from July 18 to July 26. To help raise money to pay for his trip and expenses, a chicken barbecue is to be held at the Shinnecock Nation reservation in Southampton this Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with tickets priced at $10 for adults and $8 for children. Asked at Ross’s Wellness Center how he came to be a bull rider, Phillips, who also was the state’s highest point-getter in his division and won rookie-of-the-year honors, said, “I got on a sheep when I was 5.” Had he been bucked off? “Yes, but I got back on.” He then “took a break,” he said, until the age of 8, when he “got on a calf at the reservation. A year later, I started with steers, and at 9 I was competing.” He is 17 now, and has been traveling widely to compete in various rodeos during his years at Ross, which he entered as a ninth grader...EastHamptonStar

Song Of The Day #058

Meet the Massey family. Raised on a ranch near Roswell, NM the group included Louise, her husband Milt Barbie, and her brothers Curt and Allen. They were stars of the WLS Barn Dance and the b&w photo was their promo picture put out by WLS. Beneath the picture it states:

Meet the music-making Westerners, newest members of the WLS staff. The dangerous looking man on the left with the bass "fiddle" is Milt Mabie. Next to him is Larry Wellington with his accordion. Then Dott Massey who plays violin and trumpet; Louise Massey Mabie, singer and pianist, and Allen Massey, guitar and banjo specialist. Louise, Dott and Allen are sister and brothers. Milt was "adopted" bt Louise several years ago, while Larry joined the group more recently. Reared on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico, the Massey's took to music rather than "cow punching", so their father, an old-time fiddler, led them in Chautaqua and Lyceum appearances for three or four years, after which they entered radio.

In addition to their singing, they appeared in a Tex Ritter movie, and years later Curt wrote the theme music for the TV shows "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Petticoat Junction." In addition, Louise wrote the beautiful and much recorded classic "My Adobe Hacienda."

The group disbanded in 1950.

Today's selection is taken from their Bronco Buster CD (9026) release "Swing West." The British Archives of Country Music has also released a compilation, Louise Massey and the Westerners, Ridin' High 1933-1941.

Here they are doing My Adobe Hacienda.