BLM won't fight grazing ban on Idaho allotment

Federal land managers won't fight a judge's order to bar a rancher from grazing sheep on public land in western Idaho to protect the region's wild bighorns. In a filing Monday, the Bureau of Land Management agreed to live by U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill's ruling last Wednesday that forbid rancher Mick Carlson from letting his sheep graze near Partridge Creek along the Salmon River. Winmill's order was only temporary and a hearing had been scheduled for Nov. 2. The BLM now says it wants the court date canceled. Winmill wrote that Carlson's grazing could cause irreparable harm to bighorns, which wildlife managers say catch deadly diseases from their domesticated cousins. Idaho's bighorn population has dwindled by half since 1990 to 3,500 after mass die-offs. In their filing, BLM managers wrote they would conduct a new environmental analysis before deciding on the future of the Partridge Creek grazing allotment. AP

So which is it? Either the BLM couldn't overcome the legal objections in the judge's opinion which means they prepared an insufficient analysis, or the DOJ has caved to the enviro's. In either case, the BLM looks bad. It would be interesting to know what the DOI position was, as the DOJ may or may not follow it's clients wishes.

We may be looking at a return to the Clinton years. You know, when the enviro's would file suit, the administration would settle, and the enviro attorneys would collect their fees and go file suit somewhere else.

BLM wild horse ranch plan draws fire

Some Madison Valley landowners are voicing concerns about a plan to place up to 1,500 wild horses on a ranch north of Ennis. A lawyer representing several clients in the Ennis area says 1,500 horses would be far too many for the 15,000-acre Spanish Q Ranch to support. And a rancher has questioned what impact wild horses would have on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In a letter dated Oct. 12, Big Timber attorney Jim Lippert argued to the BLM that given the climate in Madison County, every horse living there would need five acres per month to give it enough food to graze on. At that rate, 1,500 horses would quickly run out of grass, he said. “A more reasonable number of horses ... would be 250 horses,” he wrote. “The land could sustain this number of horses without damaging the land, and I would not have to refer to this program as ‘warehousing’ wild horses.” Overgrazing, Lippert wrote, would also hurt wildlife like the elk that graze on private land. Lippert said in a phone interview his numbers come from speaking with “an old time resident.” But a survey by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a federal agency, also suggests a 15,000-acre Ennis-area ranch would support hundreds, not thousands, of horses. Numbers provided by Carrie Mosely at the NRCS in Bozeman show a ranch the size of the Spanish Q could support a maximum of 375 horses during the seven-month growing season...read more

I guess in certain instances, overgrazing is fine with BLM and the enviro's.

Did Utah blink in Snake Valley talks?

About halfway through secret four-year negotiations on how a reluctant Utah could share the Snake Valley aquifer with Nevada, a Silver State official and a Las Vegas water utility threatened they could take the matter to court or to Congress, memos and e-mails show. The correspondence, released under an open-records request from the Great Basin Water Network, illuminates Nevada's no-surrender insistence that Snake Valley water be split 50-50, even though Utah officials believed that impossible. The documents also appear to undermine recent assurances from Mike Styler, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, that the proposed water-sharing agreement is as good for Utah as it is for Nevada. It's not, critics have said repeatedly at public meetings and in comments submitted to the Utah Division of Water Rights since the August announcement of a draft deal with Nevada to plumb the west desert. "It might be an exaggeration to say we got rolled, but we surely backtracked," said Steve Erickson of the Great Basin Water Network. "I was surprised the state backed down on all those positions and that they're advocating this agreement so adamantly when once they were opposed to them." Many critics have denounced the agreement as a giveaway to Las Vegas at the expense of an aquifer that can maintain equilibrium only with its current water drawdown...read more

The great wolf debate comes to Yakima

With two wolf packs totaling about a dozen animals and more expected in the coming years, Washington state is grappling with a proposed wolf management plan. Authors of the plan called the process that produced it wrenching and polarizing. In short: a flashpoint issue. When it comes to attitudes about wolves, there seems to be no middle ground. Hunters are afraid wolves will decimate elk and deer populations. Ranchers fear the state’s newest alpha predator will wreak havoc on their livestock. Conservationists worry that hunters and ranchers will shoot the wolves despite state or federal protections. A recently released draft management plan by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife sets minimum standards for downlisting and delisting wolves in Washington, where they are federally protected in the western two-thirds of the state and state-protected across all of Washington. It provides guidelines for moving wolves to keep their populations at sustainable and manageable limits, dictates how and when wolves may be scared off or killed, and outlines how the state will balance the wolves’ needs with the desires of sportsmen who pay hefty fees to hunt the very deer and elk the wolves do...read more

Six buy Badlands dream property

Scott Lippert of Williston and five others went home owning some dream property in the Badlands after the breakup of a big Little Missouri River ranch at auction Monday. The owner, Dean Myers, a North Dakota native and successful Atlanta developer, sold his 4,400-acre Southern Cross Ranch, figuring he'd had a good run and it was time to move on. The heavily advertised sale drew about 100 spectators and about 50 bidders, some checking in by phone and Internet. The per-acre price ranged from $550 for some crop and pasture miles west of the Badlands ranch, up to $1,625 an acre for 242 acres of irrigated river bottomland. Less than three hours after it started, Myers had $4.4 million in his pocket - just about $1,000 an acre average - and buyers like Lippert owned a piece of the Badlands. Vern Fortak, a Wyoming rancher, was who auctioneers were watching as the strongest possibility as a whole-ranch buyer, but Fortak said a phone call from Wyoming two hours into the sale discouraged the idea that the man he hoped would run it would move up to the Badlands. "It's too far away for anybody in our outfit to come up and run. I thought the price was in line, fair but not overpriced," he said. For a little less, he might have bought it anyway, he said...read more

'Split Estate’ is a must-see film for Western Slope residents

When “Split Estate,” a new documentary on the effects or oil and gas drilling on the lives and property of homeowners, farmers and ranchers who do not own their mineral rights, was previewed in Glenwood Springs, a representative of EnCana Oil & Gas complained that the material was dated, and that the film tells “only one side of the story.” But “Split Estate” makes no pretense of being “fair and balanced.” Told from the perspective of people from Garfield County, Colo., and San Juan County, N.M., who lost their health, their homes and their dreams as a consequence of drilling, this film is about the powerlessness of surface owners who don’t own their mineral rights when energy companies come to drill their property. Most of the health problems, according to the property owners, are the result of either air pollution from nearby wells, or water pollution, especially from hydraulic fracking. Despite evidence to the contrary, the industry continues to maintain that the fluids used in fracking are benign, and that drilling poses no threat to drinking water sources. The individual stories of split-estate owners are interwoven by the film with a theme of environmental degradation, as a rural area is transformed into an industrial park. The film artfully balances the individual narratives of split-estate landowners with visual images of a ravaged landscape dominated by endless drilling pads, evaporation ponds, roads and industrial compounds...read more

CNBC, Reuters fall for climate hoax Video

In a dramatic shift, the Chamber of Commerce announced Monday that it is throwing its support behind climate change legislation making its way through the U.S. Senate. Only it didn’t. An email press release announcing the change is a hoax, say Chamber officials. Several media organizations fell for it. A CNBC anchor interrupted herself mid-sentence Monday morning to announce that the network had “breaking news,” then cut away to reporter Hampton Pearson, who read from the fake press release...read more

Outside Agitator

In his book with Josh Mahan, Tree Spiker: From Earth First! To Lowbagging: My Struggles in Radical Environmental Action Roselle takes us on a journey from the days when he was the young virgin joining in on a series of progressive movements and, while at it, drinking, smoking the good herb and hoping to maybe get laid – from 1970s Yippies/Zippies/Hippies; to occupying the Nevada Nuclear Test Site the very day of a scheduled test; to major efforts to preserve the remnants of our Ancient Forests; to uphill struggles to end the trade in illegal tropical logging; to the current campaign to end the atrocity of Mountaintop Removal (MTR) coal extraction. Always entertaining, Mike also lived up to the other part of the incomparable Winona LaDuke’s late father Sun Bear’s maxim by finding out just where he could plug in and be useful. If it meant running a mimeograph machine, Mike did it. If it meant washing every dish in the sink, he did that. If the younger Yippies felt that Abbie Hoffman was getting a swelled head and not following grassroots protocol, then Mike was there to dump his once-idol Abbie in the hotel swimming pool. If it meant climbing the flagpole at Miami’s Flamingo Park during the 1972 GOP Convention and replacing Old Glory with the Viet Cong Battle Flag, well… Mike was always ready to answer the call. Soon, Mike wasn’t only joining up with groups of like-minded folks; he was co-founding some of the more radical action groups we’ve seen. He provides an engrossing tale of the founding of Earth First! and the Buckaroos behind it...read more

USDA confirms H1N1 in Minnesota pigs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says at least one pig from Minnesota has tested positive for the H1N1 virus, the first case of a pig contracting the virus in the United States. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement Monday that USDA officials have begun to reach out to international organizations and are emphasizing that H1N1, also known as swine flu, cannot be contracted by eating pork products. The USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the presence of H1N1 after an initial test suggested that as many as three pigs may have had the virus. USDA officials say the infection of a so-called show pig doesn't indicate an infection of commercial herds because show pigs are in separate segments of the swine industry. AP

Food safety programs alter farming

With food safety regulatory change on the horizon for U.S. producers, Rabobank recently found that approximately 40 percent of farmers have begun to alter their farming practices and methods. According to a new Rabobank Farm & Ranch Survey, of those making changes, 64 percent are keeping better records, which is the first step toward better food safety. In March, President Obama created the Food Safety Working Group to upgrade food safety laws, which govern the supply chain from gate to plate. With this in mind, U.S. producers are beginning to take steps before new laws are in place. After keeping better records, other changes included researching information about better food safety practices by subscribing to topical publications (32 percent) or networking and meeting with other farmers (26 percent). Additionally, farmers are beginning to make changes to facilities (23 percent) and to processes (21 percent)...read more

NM Ranchers Worry About Water Protection Proposal

Thousands of miles of New Mexico rivers and streams would gain special protection under the federal Clean Water Act as part of a proposal being pushed by Gov. Bill Richardson and environmentalists. But ranchers worry the plan is a backdoor effort to stop grazing on public land. State environment officials have spent more than two years refining a proposal to designate rivers and streams in wilderness areas across the state as so-called "outstanding national resource waters" to protect them from degradation. No one disputes the need to protect New Mexico's water, but ranchers see the plan to designate waterways across such a broad swath of wilderness — far from pollution and cities — as another ploy by environmentalists in a decades-long battle to halt grazing on national forest lands. "This whole thing with the Clean Water Act, it's just a front. They want our land, they want our water, period," said Carlos Salazar of the Northern New Mexico Stockman's Association. The designation would allow existing activities, including grazing, to continue in wilderness areas provided landowners follow practices to ensure water quality remains high. But ranchers say the proposal is ambiguous and would establish new layers of bureaucracy that would harm New Mexico's rural economy. "People are very worried," said Caren Cowan, executive director of the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association. "Given that the wilderness areas are already protected from everything but grazing and recreational activities, what are we going to protect it from?"...read more

Another blessing of wilderness designation. Next will come applying this or a similar water rule to National Conservation Areas, Areas Of Critical Environmental Concern and any other legislative or administrative designation you can think of. Then will come state lands, game refuges, etc. This will set a terrible precedent and is nothing more than a back door approach to implementing instream flow.

Wild horse plan rekindles cattle grazing debate

A new federal proposal to manage wild horses is rekindling debate over another fixture of the Western range: cattle. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week proposed moving thousands of mustangs to preserves in the Midwest and East to protect horse herds and the rangelands that support them. Many horse defenders and others who had been working to save the romantic symbols of the American West and might have been expected to welcome Salazar's solution instead stampeded the other way. They want Salazar to remove livestock to make room for the mustangs and argue that cows are the real threat to the range and native wildlife. "Any proposal to improve horse and burro management in the West should include removal of domestic livestock from public lands to make way for horses and burros and wildlife," said Mark Salvo of WildEarth Guardians based in Santa Fe, N.M. He said too much forage is allocated to livestock in the arid West. Wildlife ecologist Craig Downer of Nevada accused Salazar, a former rancher, of acting on behalf of those who view mustangs as taking scarce forage away from their cattle herds. Dan Gralian, president of the Nevada Cattlemen's Association, said livestock overgrazing no longer is the problem it once was and cattle don't cause more damage to the range than horses. He said 2.5 million to 3 million head of livestock graze on public lands, down from 20 million cows and 25 million sheep in 1900...read more

Rancher payments may help wolves

Hoping to ease Washington ranchers’ concern about gray wolves, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife is proposing what might be the most generous compensation in the West for livestock losses to the newly returned predators. Under the preferred plan out of five alternatives in a 249-page draft environmental impact statement released last week, a livestock producer would be entitled to the full value of livestock considered likely prey that are killed by wolves on grazing sites of at least 100 acres and half the full value on smaller sites. For animals considered less likely prey, compensation would be double the full value of the animal on larger grazing sites and the full value on smaller sites. The proposal defines livestock as cattle, pigs, horses, mules, sheep, llamas, goats, guarding animals and herding dogs...read more

Can Democrats Use National Security to Win on Climate Change?

It's also no coincidence that, in recent weeks, Democrats have been stressing this security angle as they stump for carbon legislation. As Lisa Lerer reports in Politico today, that's precisely why John Kerry, rather than Barbara Boxer, has become the face of the Senate climate bill—as the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee he can (the theory goes) more credibly make this pitch to colleagues. Environmentalists, in turn, are hitching up with veterans' groups —this week, Operation Free is sending Iraq and Afghanistan vets on a 21-state tour to talk about how climate change could impact American security. Now, is this a viable strategy for 60 Senate votes? Who knows? The security frame does poll pretty well: Clean Energy Works recently commissioned a poll in Arkansas, of all places, that found overwhelming support for cap-and-trade (55 percent to 37 percent) when the oil-dependency/security pitch was stacked up against the right's "cap-and-tax" mantra. On the other hand, from a policy perspective, relying too heavily on national-security arguments could create a few knots. Bolstering energy security and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions are, after all, two distinct goals that can sometimes come into conflict...read more

Big Labor, Green Jobs

Looking for help as they drown in a sea of political irrelevance, labor heavyweights like the Teamsters, the AFL-CIO, and the Service Employees International Union have reason to believe the Obama administration will throw them a green lifeline. President Barack Obama has promised to use his office to fundamentally transform America’s energy economy, transitioning Americans away from fossil fuels and creating millions of so-called green jobs in the process. The new green economy Obama routinely invokes holds some hope for private sector unions to slow, if not even halt and reverse, their stunning declines. Obama pledged during the campaign to spend $150 billion to create green jobs, and his administration promises to spend billions more on a host of infrastructure upgrades and other energy-related stimulus projects. Attempting to capitalize on that environmental commitment, organized labor is latching on to the green jobs movement with gusto. In August, a coalition of labor unions joined with environmental organizations to launch a 50-stop tour visiting 22 states to pressure Congress to pass cap-and-trade legislation. What is organized labor’s incentive for going green? For unions, it seems a lot less about saving the planet than about saving (or at least enriching) themselves. With the federal government pledging to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on energy related projects, labor sees a chance to grab a significant portion of that money as well as to ensure that future green energy manufacturing and other green collar employment are union jobs...read more

Jaguar team ceases work amid disputes, big cat's death

The team formed to help the endangered jaguar survive in Arizona and New Mexico has ground to a standstill. The Arizona-New Mexico Jaguar Conservation Team has struggled for years because of standoffs between environmentalists and ranching interests and perceptions of bias in the team's leadership. But perhaps the knockout blow was the death this year of the last known wild jaguar in the United States. The team, formed in 1997, has ceased activities altogether, canceling two meetings this year because of the ongoing criminal investigation over the March 2 death of the jaguar known as Macho B. But long before Feb. 18, when the old jaguar stepped into a snare in the wilderness between Arivaca and Nogales, many participants had left the team, some questioning its commitment to helping an endangered species recover. The perception that it had become all talk and no action was captured by the nickname some use for the group — Jaguar Conversation Team. "It had very laudable objectives," said Warren "Bud" Starnes, a policy specialist for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture in Las Cruces. "But the enviros started pressing and pressing and pressing, trying to get maps of habitat. Then they started threatening lawsuits."...read more

Fighting Eminent Domain Abuse

Popular outrage over eminent domain abuse may have waned a bit since the Supreme Court’s poorly-reasoned Kelo ruling in 2005, but economic development takings remain incredibly unpopular throughout the country. Public opinion polls indicate that more than 80 percent of Americans oppose eminent domain for economic development, which is surprising when one considers the relative inaction on the part of state legislatures to meaningfully protect their citizens’ property rights. However, there are reasons to be optimistic. Brooklynites fighting the proposed Atlantic Yards development filed a lawsuit today challenging the legality of the Metro Transit Authority’s land handout to the private developer. In Texas, citizens will soon vote on widely-supported Proposition 11, which would amend the Texas Constitution to prevent area blight designations and condemnations, and prohibit takings for purposes of economic development. If it passes, which seems likely, Texas property owners will have some of the strongest protections against eminent domain abuse in the nation. But there is a lot of work to do. Many in this country are still largely defenseless against development takings, so the question arises: What can property owners do to take back their rights from revenue-hungry municipalities and rent-seeking developers? The law, as it stands, is against them in most respects, but there are legislative avenues worth pursuing. A few of the most politically-feasible are:...read more

U.S. Supreme Court won't hear game farm appeals

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by Montana game farm operators over a citizens' initiative they claim amounts to an unlawful taking of their property. The news means there can be no captive shooting of deer or elk in Montana. Game farm operators earlier this year appealed a state Supreme Court ruling that said Initiative 143 does not constitute the unlawful taking of private property. Robert Lane, chief legal counsel for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, said the country's high court declined the case within the past several days. He said the Supreme Court's ruling leaves in place the Montana Supreme Court decision on I-143. That initiative was approved in 2000 by a majority of Montana citizens. It effectively ended the game farm business in Montana, primarily by outlawing the fee shooting of captive elk...read more

The Supreme Allied Commander of Corn

I think his view is, not going to run for president again, not going to get one of the gigantic jobs he was interested in in the federal government, so might as well take a new course." Well, in February, Clark found one: front-man for the ethanol industry. When a group of investors in ethanol made from rice straw approached Clark in 2007, he was intrigued. "I said, ‘Oh, I remember ethanol, I mean, I campaigned in Iowa,' and they told me before I went to Iowa, you've got to like ethanol," he said. "So I'm not against it in principle, I mean, tell me about it." Clark tried selling the idea to his partners in his "little investment bank in New York"--Rodman & Renshaw, the full-service private equity firm that he joined after the campaign--but they weren't interested. Renewable energy deals were too much of a risk; the cash flow had dried up entirely. Then, in late 2008, Clark met Jeff Broin, CEO of Sioux Falls-based POET, the largest ethanol producer in the world (and Growth Energy's animating force). Clark, who is something of a techno-geek, visited one of Broin's research labs and was impressed by the scientists running around in white coats, working on the next generation of cellulosic biofuels. He asked Broin to bring him on board. "I'm happy to talk about ethanol, I'm a big believer in this thing, but I'm a businessman!" Clark exclaimed, pounding the table for emphasis. "I want to actually build things that hire people and change America, not just talk about it." Broin decided to give him a chance--the industry had image problems, and having a four-star general out singing its praises couldn't hurt matters...read more

Uncle Sam coming at family farmers with fist full of cash

I doubt the president of the U.S. ever milked a cow, ringed a hog, pulled a calf or knows which end of a horse gets up first; however, he has a uncanny sense of direction in the field of agriculture. Yesterday, changes in the weather were the biggest headache for farmers. Today, its changing farm policy. We elect a president every four years and enact a new farm bill every five years. And, despite national and international attention, the glow of a Nobel, an economic crisis, a rancorous health care debate, education and energy, this remarkable man is making remarkable moves in agriculture. Directing taxpayer millions to hungry kids instead of millionaire farmers shifted the debate. Millionaire farmers are squealing like stuck hogs. The secretary of agriculture and the attorney general dusting off the stocker and packer act of 1921 have corporate biggies in a cold sweat. And, Uncle Sam is coming to the aid of beginning family farmers with a fist full of cash. According to the column "Credit programs aim to reverse trends" appearing in the October edition of the Progressive Farmer, Farm Service Agency loan numbers are up 896 percent from a year ago and total loan volume is up 1,271 percent as of Aug. 1. Well, la di dah! It appears Mr. Obama is well on his way to earning the Nobel of the Range -- a cowboy hat...read more

Yes, and I'm sure he'll make a beer that really does taste great and is less filling. What a load of crap. He deserves the Nobel of the Outhouse and should be awarded a dunces cap, not a cowboy hat. I'll bet those numbers are up because more producers than ever now qualify for FSA loans. FSA is the "lender of last resort" and it's those "remarkable moves in agriculture" that have put our producers in that condition.

Agricultural Act Passes Senate, Moves onto President

On Oct. 8, 2009, the United States Senate passed the final version of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R.2997). The House of Representatives approved the bill the previous day. This bill provides funding for the USDA for fiscal year 2010 and contains two provisions of interest to the horse industry. GAO Study of Horse Welfare The conference agreement accompanying this bill directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the status of horse welfare as it relates to the closing of horse slaughter plants in the United States. The agreement requests the GAO to issue a report by March 1, 2010, on the current state of horse welfare in the US since horse slaughter facilities were closed. The GAO is instructed to consider how the horse industry has responded to the plant closings in terms of horse sales, exports, adoptions, and abandonments. In addition the GAO is instructed to review the impact the closures have had on farm income and state and local government organizations. USDA Inspection at Plants The bill also contains a provision prohibiting any funds from being used by the USDA to inspect horse meat for human consumption...read more

Farmington man struck by lightning rides again

Just a little more than a month after being struck by lightning in a fluke storm that killed his horse and nearly killed him, 23-year-old Carl Leigh is back in the saddle again, thanks to a generous donation by family members. He was told by doctors not to ride, but with determination and the donation of a new horse, Leigh is back doing what he loves. On Aug. 24, Leigh was struck while riding on County Road 5580. The strike killed the horse, burned Leigh's legs and head, put a bullet-sized hole in the saddle and a 6-inch hole in his hat. He doesn't remember anything about the incident. He was riding along one moment and the next thing he knew he woke up in the hospital, he said. Doctors didn't expect Leigh to survive, but he defied the odds...read more

Court upholds convictions of animal activists

A federal appeals court in Philadelphia has upheld the convictions of six animal-rights activists in a New Jersey harassment case. The six members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty were convicted in 2006 of using their Web site to incite threats and vandalism against employees of Huntingdon Life Science in Franklin Township, Somerset County. The group posted home addresses and other information about the workers on the site. Each activist was sentenced to six years in prison. Three remain in federal custody. The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled there was enough evidence to convict them of violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. The trial was believed to be the first to use the statute, which was enacted in 1992. AP

Silver City Museum to host 'Gila' book signing

The Silver City Museum will host a book signing with local author Nancy Coggeshall, author of "Gila Country Legend: The Life and Times of Quentin Hulse," at 2 p.m. today at the Museum Annex, 302 W. Broadway, two doors down from the museum. In the book, recently released by University of New Mexico Press, Coggeshall tells the story of the larger-than-life rural Western rancher whose reputation spread well beyond the rugged Gila Wilderness he called home. Drawing on oral history, archival sources and her personal association with Hulse and the Gila, Coggeshall brings this unique New Mexican to life. Coggeshall describes Hulse and the book on her Web site, www.nancycoggeshall.com: "A product of New Mexico's Southwest, Quentin Hulse (1926-2002) lived and worked from the bottom of Canyon Creek in the Gila River country on the northern border of the Gila Wilderness. The force of his character and personality impressed people so deeply that stories about this legendary rancher, packer, guide and hound man were told even in Tasmania and Baghdad. His photograph appeared on a tourist postcard and souvenir novelty license plate in the 1950s. The Men's Channel broadcast footage of a 1962 lion hunt with him on New Year's Day 2005; boys were named for him and a song was written about him and recorded in 2003. ...read more

Garth and his guitar

Millions of fans wish they could've seen Garth Brooks where it all started at Willie's Saloon in Stillwater, Okla. Come to Vegas and you'll get something like it. Forget the glitz, glam and pyrotechnics that typify your average Sin City show. Brooks is going to strip it down and take it back to the beginning. The man, his guitar and the songs he loves. "That's how it started in Willie's in '83, playing a show for tips," Brooks told The Associated Press on Thursday after announcing his residency at the Wynn Las Vegas resort's Encore theater. "You do your big arena show, then it's funny. You come back to that and it's come full circle." Those who have heard the show as Brooks rehearses think it's something special. The country superstar would love to take credit for the idea, but that all goes to casino owner Steve Wynn...read more

Cowboy Militia strikes partnership with Texas music

Cowboy Militia has teamed up with Ambiance Artists of Austin, Texas, in a cross-promotional relationship that benefits Texas music fans and Western aficionados alike. The affiliation will drive more country music fans to rodeo and Western wear - and vice versa - through partnerships with five hit-making Texas country music artists, including the Josh Abbott Band, Whiskey Myers and bands fronted by Kyle Bennett, Charlie Shafter and Rich O'Toole. "We play shows in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Austin, but it's the little rural communities or rodeo towns where we really fit in," says Ambiance co-founder Bruce Kalmick. "The markets we really focus on are rural - those people are attainable and they remain fans for a longer period of time." Texas music, or alternative country, began in the 1970s with Willie and Waylon but resurged in the late 1990s and has exploded in nationwide popularity as Pat Green and others have crossed over into Nashville...read more

Rural blogs harvest truckloads of urban fans

Ree Drummond's days are spent wrangling her four children, washing jeans, chipping dried manure from boots and “frying calf nuts.” The Oklahoma cattle rancher's wife details her rural trials and tribulations – as well as photos of her rugged husband, known only as Marlboro Man, and recipes for caramel apple rolls – on her blog thepioneerwoman.com. Slickly photographed with legions of fans, The Pioneer Woman is arguably the mother of all farm girl blogs. With lively posts on everything from home schooling and country recipes to kitchen gardens and babysitting pot-bellied pigs, farm girl blogs are gaining devotees, most of them dreaming of a “simpler” life. Living alone in the Oklahoma panhandle, a blogger named Jeanie raises cattle, horses, pigs, poultry – and shrimp. The 34-year-old divorcee recounts her rituals on cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com, now a hit on the online barbecue circuit. Men are keenly interested in her smokehouse and wild game recipes – Jeanie hunts and considers herself “a fair markswoman.”...read more

It's All Trew: Dusting off pages offers up the dirt on Times gone by

Kansas Historical Society archives contain every issue of the old Dodge City Times published in the 1870s and 1880s. Browsing the many articles contained within is interesting and educational as we learn about the common happenings of that time. The term "getting away from it all" meant an entirely different thing from today, as back on Sept. 6, 1879, the Times told of a posse capturing nine horse thieves who had stolen a herd of area ranch horses. Five of the thieves were captured, while four "got away in the Rattlesnake Sand Hills." The next issue of the Times stated the four thieves who got away were buried in the hills. The Times told of a man living beside the Canadian River who made extra money by guiding and hauling travelers who needed to cross the sometimes treacherous waterway. During a recent trip across the riverbed, in which the man hauled baggage on his buckboard pulled by two horses, the first crossing was without incident. When the man retraced his tracks a few minutes later, the team and buckboard sunk out of sight almost instantly, with the man barely escaping the quicksands. Later, when he attempted to probe the spot with a long pole in an effort to recover his buckboard, no trace of the equipment or team could be found. Another article explained that a spool of barbed weighed approximately 80 to 90 pounds and contained one-fourth mile of wire. A boxcar load of wire spools weighed some 22,000 pounds, or about 275 spools of barbed wire. This amount of wire would build a three-wire fence for a distance of 23 miles. Many ranches ordered 10 to 20 carloads of wire per order...read more

Song Of The Day #159

Ranch Radio will get your foot tappin' this Monday morning with Carl Smith performing his 1951 Columbia recording (When You Feel Like Your In Love) Don't Just Stand There.

It's available on many of his collections, including The Essential Carl Smith (1950-1956) and, believe it or not, on his Don't Just Stand There: 20 Greatest Hits.

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Cowboy purchasing agent

Julie Carter

Sometimes the only required items for cowboys to fix anything are baling wire, duct tape and some old-fashioned sweat.

Occasionally, specialty items are required and that means assuming the role that in corporate America is labeled "Purchasing Agent."

In a corporate situation, that title would get you a corner office, but in the cowboy world, that gets you a pickup seat on the way to town.

One particular morning, Jess was faced with the 4-wheeler being out of commission. This vehicle was critical to his ranching operation because it was used daily to gather the roping cattle.

He dropped everything and headed to the NAPA store for a new battery.

There, he was told by the knowledgeable parts man that the exact battery he needed would be $75, but he kindly added that they were cheaper over at Walmart.

Ever frugal, Jess took his advice and headed that way.

At the Walmart battery department, located at the very back of the store, he was faced with a lady clerk.

She told Jess that in order to buy a new battery, it was store policy that he must trade in an old one.

Jess was parked out by the place in the parking lot where they sell the puppies and park the big rigs, but he dutifully walked all the way out of the store and the five miles to the back of the parking lot, making the return trip with his old battery in hand.

The lady clerk promptly uncrated a new battery, showed Jess the instructions in Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, French and finally American. Together they tried to decipher them.

As it turned out, in order to activate this battery, they needed a vial of acid, something to pour it in the battery with and a trickle charger.

Faced with this complicated problem, Jess asked what the charge would be for all this equipment. The total with tax was $119.

Quick with the math, Jess lugged his old battery back out past the "puppies for sale" and returned to the parts store.

There he discovered the NAPA man had forgotten to mention all the extra equipment that would also be needed for the NAPA battery, although he did not require an old one be turned in.

All said and done, the register rang up about $20 more than the total Walmart price. Jess added that to the price the six-pack it would take to help him recover from the entire experience.

And then there is Dan

One would think that if one were at work, minding one's own business, trouble wouldn't be any closer than one's plans for the weekend.

As per the aforementioned minding one's own business at work, Dan was tending his at the implement dealership that pays him to fix and sell things along with providing him with respectable employment.

High marks for a cowboy.

One day the Fastenal rep stopped by, as sales reps tend to do. This company peddles nuts, bolts and small, seemingly useless but somebody buys it, hardware. The dealership is a regular stop for the Fastenal guy.

However, likely in a plot to create an income stimulus, they sent a blonde.

As Dan reported it, "Her waist was this big (thumbs together, hands spread out about 10 inches), and her chest was about this big (hands spread out at arms length and Dan has very long arms).

His eyes grew bigger along with the description of the measurements.

With that, he admitted that he had bought a couple hundred dollars worth of bolts.

Carol, his secretary and buddy, came by and said, "Dan, you know we never sell bolts."

Dan replied easily, "We're fixing to start."

He reported that the shapely blonde rep went into the parts room with him, looked everything over, dusted off some of the things that had never in this lifetime been moved, and then told him the store looked to her to be pretty low on inventory. He ordered them all.

Now every time somebody comes into the store and up to the parts counter to get something, the store employees are required to ask the customer if they need any bolts with that.

Stop by the store and tell Dan you need some bolts, but only if the Fastenal rep is there to preview them.

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

It's The Pitts: Dismembered

Lee Pitts

I'm not a clubby kind of guy. I don't belong to Rotary, Kiwanis, PTA, KKK, John Birch Society or Book of the Month Club. I take pride in the fact that I've been disinvited to join many groups. That's all right with me because I hate meetings.

The only drawback to my antisocial behavior was that for many years I worried that my obituary was going to be skimpy. For example: "Lee Pitts was assassinated by an angry reader and left no survivors and did not belong to any clubs, hold any offices or do anything noteworthy while he was alive." You'll agree, that's a pretty sad commentary. But now, thanks to modern marketing, I'll have plenty of clubs to list in my obituary. "Lee Pitts, aged 105, passed away peacefully while asleep. He was an active member in good standing with the Costco Club, United Mileage Plus and the Safeway Club, hardware store club and many others too numerous to mention. They all mourn his passing and will miss him." Much better sounding, don't you agree?

There are many advantages to these types of clubs. There are no meetings, you're not asked to serve on a committee, be an officer, wear a funny hat, or go to a costly convention. The biggest drawback, however, is that you have to carry around all the little plastic cards that prove you are a member. I have so many of these cards in my wallet that when I sit down I'm at a 30 degree angle.

I've never understood the concept behind buying clubs like Costco. I respect the company for selling great meat and having the nerve to ask their customers to fork over $40 a year for the privilege of giving Costco shovelfuls of money. Think about that for a moment. If someone had suggested, "I've got an idea. Why not charge folks to shop in our stores!" Wouldn't they have been branded a nut case? What other group, besides the U.S. Congress, gets away with charging people to do business with them?

Evidently consumers love the idea that they have to pay club dues in order to buy vast quantities of shop rags and toilet paper because when they open the doors at Costco you'd better not dawdle or you'll be run over like hippies at a rock concert. It must be that membership makes people feel like they are VIP's when they have to show a card to enter a store. Whatever the rationale, I think there are ways that we in agriculture can capitalize on the public's willingness to pay to do business with us.

At your next branding try charging the neighbors for the honor of helping you work your calves. Instead of feeding them a well deserved barbecue dinner after the work is done, charge them for it. Make them join your club, pay an annual fee, and if you're really brave, charge them extra for being a member of the ground crew.

I'm also thinking that auction markets could charge for the weekly show they put on. Instead of wining, dining and begging buyers and sellers for their participation, auction market operators should charge them all to join their sale barn club. Anyone entering the building must show their card. Buyers could also be charged for special VIP seating, perhaps with their name on the back of their favorite chair.

If you think it's far fetched to charge people to watch an auction you probably have not been to the Red Bluff Horse Sale where thousands pay $10 each just to watch. Or the Barrett Jackson car auctions where you must pay to get in. All this proves that auctions have hidden entertainment value. I know one fella who subscribed to Direct TV just so he could watch cattle auctions on his television. He's addicted to them. And he's a hair dresser! Instead of giving away costly catalogs for bull sales, breeders should charge prospective buyers $30 to $100 for them like they do at swanky art auctions.

If you are going to try these ideas let me know. I want to be there when an auction market operator tells an old crusty cow buyer that henceforth he has to join a club and pay $40 a year for the privilege of buying canner cows at his auction. If you survive that suggestion you might also consider charging the buyers for parking.

White House readies phone-tap case concession

The Obama administration may be on the verge of a major concession in a long-running legal battle over records about so-called telecom immunity. An email obtained by POLITICO shows that the Obama Administration is preparing for the possible release of some details of the Bush Administration’s lobbying for legislation giving telecommunications companies immunity from lawsuits over their involvement in warrantless domestic wiretapping. But even if they do release those details, the administration may press on with a legal battle to keep secret the identities of the companies involved in the program. The reported decision would be a significant reversal by President Barack Obama’s administration and followed a series of legal setbacks the government suffered recently in the FOIA case seeking the records from last year’s debate over granting immunity to the telecoms. However, the move could also be a litigating tactic to surrender some of the less sensitive information in the case in order to bolster the government’s credibility for a determined attempt to protect the most sensitive data: the names of the companies which were seeking immunity...read more

In other words, they can use public money to lobby a public entity, but the public can't see all the records.

FBI delves into DMV photos in search for fugitives

In its search for fugitives, the FBI has begun using facial-recognition technology on millions of motorists, comparing driver's license photos with pictures of convicts in a high-tech analysis of chin widths and nose sizes. The project in North Carolina has already helped nab at least one suspect. Agents are eager to look for more criminals and possibly to expand the effort nationwide. But privacy advocates worry that the method allows authorities to track people who have done nothing wrong. "Everybody's participating, essentially, in a virtual lineup by getting a driver's license," said Christopher Calabrese, an attorney who focuses on privacy issues at the American Civil Liberties Union...read more

Obama's unrestrained FBI

In the last weeks of the Bush-Cheney administration, FBI Director Robert Mueller and then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey rushed into law such unbounded expansions of the FBI's domestic surveillance powers that I was stunned. As described by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an ever-watchful guardian of the Constitution, these Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations authorize the FBI — without going to a court — "to open investigative 'assessments' of any American without any factual predicate or suspicion. Such 'assessments' allow the use of intrusive techniques to surreptitiously collect information on people suspected of no wrongdoing and no connection with any foreign entity. These inquiries may include the collection of information from online sources and commercial databases." President Barack Obama has expressed no objections to these radical revisions of the Constitution, a founding document he used to educate students about at the University of Chicago. His attorney general, Eric Holder, said calmly during his Senate confirmation hearing: "The guidelines are necessary because the FBI is changing its mission ... from a pure investigating agency to one that deals with national security."...read more

Democrats Take a Pass on Civil-Liberties Reform

For a minute, it almost looked like Democrats were going to put up a fight on the PATRIOT Act as it came up for reauthorization. With a majority in Congress, a clear list of reforms set out by Russ Feingold and six other Democrats in the JUSTICE Act, and a president who had presented himself as a friend to civil libertarians, it certainly seemed possible. Last week, the administration outmaneuvered most congressional efforts to strengthen civil-liberties protections in the PATRIOT Act reauthorization, inserted provisions in the Homeland Security appropriations bill that would prevent the release of torture photographs that are the subject of a pending FOIA request, and is now poised to sign a defense authorization bill that contains changes to the military commissions that fall short of what the administration itself said might be overturned by the appellate courts. While most news outlets were focused on the health-care debate and President Barack Obama's unexpected Nobel Prize win, the administration successfully foiled civil-liberties advocates' efforts to rein in Bush-era executive powers -- and with little resistance from Democrats...read more

Supreme Court to hear asset forfeiture case

Asset forfeiture is one of law enforcement's most potent weapons against drug crimes. When private property such as cars, boats, houses, and money are used in a narcotics transaction, US laws allow the police not only to seize those assets but to profit from the seizures. But a problem arises when the confiscated property belongs to someone unaware that crimes were taking place. In such instances, it can take a year or more for the owner to get back the seized property. The US Supreme Court Wednesday takes up a case examining whether a federal appeals court was right when it ruled that officials in Chicago were taking too long to return property to innocent owners. The case, Alvarez v. Smith, involves six individuals who filed a class action lawsuit challenging Illinois' Drug Asset Forfeiture Procedures Act (DAFPA). Three claims sought return of seized cash, three others involved cars. The law provides for a series of administrative steps that can take from three to six months from the time of the seizure until a forfeiture hearing is held before a judge. The plaintiffs complained that was too long for an innocent owner to wait. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. The appeals court likened the situation to the right of a criminal defendant to a speedy trial...read more

California AB 962: Much more than ammo?

Must people who follow gun laws and gun rights issues are aware by now that over the weekend, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California AB 962. AB 962 requires registration (complete with thumbprint) of purchasers of handgun ammunition, requires retailers to keep the ammunition inaccessible to customers, forbids mail order purchases of handgun ammunition, etc. Speaking of which, one gun rights advocate I know well, at his online journal Days of Our Trailers, points out that the law seems to define "ammunition" in ways that one apparently must be a statist politician to understand. (c) For purposes of this section, “ammunition” shall include, but not be limited to, any bullet, cartridge, magazine, clip, speed loader, autoloader, or projectile capable of being fired from a firearm with deadly consequence. “Ammunition” does not include blanks.. That is taken directly from the text of the legislation--I omitted subsection (b) for the sake of brevity--and seems to indicate that magazines (whether "high capacity," or not), revolver speedloaders, unloaded bullets (not whole cartridges--just the projectiles themselves), etc., will fall under the scope of this insane law...read more

Man Fired For Looking At Gun Web Sites

t's not unusual for employees to be fired for browsing pornographic Web sites at work. But a Pennsylvania gun owner named Tony Jackson may have been the first person ever fired for looking at Web sites featuring gun parts. When Jackson was searching the Web for a replacement shotgun stock, supervisor Christie Vazquez -- who admitted in a subsequent deposition to being "very anti-gun" and had quarreled with him before about politics -- noticed what he was doing. Vazquez said she was scared because it was only a few weeks after the Virginia Tech massacre (see CBS News video), so she promptly reported her colleague's Web browsing to Planco's human resources department. Vazquez also informed the HR department that Jackson owned guns and was a member of the National Rifle Association. You can guess what happened next: according to court documents, the HR representative, Jamie Davis, replied that reporting the visits to Mossberg.com and other sites was "the right thing" to do, and ordered the information technology department to investigate Jackson's Internet activity. After receiving a list of Web sites visited, Davis recommended that Jackson be placed on leave, which the company authorized. Planco disabled Jackson's front door and computer access and arranged for undercover police to be at the building the next morning...read more

Interpol and U.N. Back ‘Global Policing Doctrine’

Interpol and the United Nations are poised to become partners in fighting crime by jointly grooming a global police force that would be deployed as peacekeepers among rogue nations riven by war and organized crime, officials from both organizations say. It is the first step toward creating what Interpol calls a “global policing doctrine” that would enable Interpol and the United Nations to improve the skills of police peacekeepers, largely by sharing a secure communications network and a vast electronic trove of criminal information, including DNA records, fingerprints, photographs and fugitive notices...read more

Support Your Global Police?

Noble was thus deeply involved in the decisions that led to the avoidable deaths of six members of the Branch Davidian sect, and four ATF stormtroopers, on February 28. His involvement in the planning and execution of the siege and the final April 19 assault isn't as significant. But he played the definitive role in covering up those crimes by serving as the "lead investigator" in the Clinton administration's internal "inquiry" into the federal atrocities at Waco. So patently fraudulent was Noble's "investigation" that a second bogus inquiry was necessary: In 2000, Attorney General Reno chose former Missouri Senator John Danforth to preside over an "independent" investigation that was mounted in what proved to be a successful effort to derail the wrongful death lawsuit cited above. By that time, however, Noble – who had been given the Alexander Hamilton Award by the Treasury Department, as if anything named after that individual could be construed as an honor – had been given another coveted post with Reno's help: He was nominated to serve as secretary-general of Interpol, a position he occupies to the present day. On October 12, Noble's agency announced that it would be collaborating with the United Nations by providing technical support – including access to voluminous, detailed databases – to UN "peacekeeping" personnel, including those that belong to the world body's police force, UNPOL...read more

TSA Takes Baby Away From Mother

Mommyblogger Nic tells the horrifying story of how TSA agents took away her child because the clip on his pacifier set off the metal detector yesterday. Nic writes: Jackson was in my arms, and in the midst of getting all of our gear on the conveyor belt, my mistake was neglecting to take off my son's pacifier clip that hangs from his shirt, which is metal. The instant I walked through the metal detector with Jackson in my arms, we beeped. I knew exactly why... The male TSA agent repeated, "I'm going to have to pick him up to inspect him." I handed him my son. I handed him my son and he walked away with my child. My eyes welled up with tears, I stood up from my chair and I asked the female TSA agent, "Where is he going? Where is he taking my child? Why is he leaving?" Jackson, while being whisked away looked at the male TSA agent awkwardly and repeated "no no no no." I started crying. The TSA eventually returned the child a few minutes later but the interim period was extremely stressful for the mother. According to the TSA website, "We will not ask you to do anything that will separate you from your child or children." Looks like some agents need retraining. Consumerist

Canadian trucker fined for smoking on the job

A Canadian truck driver has been fined for smoking in his vehicle because it is considered his workplace, a police spokeswoman said on Friday. A police officer saw the 48-year-old trucker driving on a highway in southwestern Ontario with a cigarette in his mouth on Wednesday, and gave him a C$305 ($290) ticket. The Smoke-Free Ontario Act, adopted in 2006, prohibits smoking in an enclosed workplace or enclosed public area, and that extends to work vehicles, said Constable Shawna Coulter of the Ontario Provincial Police in Essex County. "We enforce the legislation and this truck driver was in violation of that," she said. Reuters

Is the CIA still hiding JFK assassination secrets?

Is the Central Intelligence Agency covering up some dark secret about the assassination of John F. Kennedy? Probably not. But you would not know it from the C.I.A.’s behavior. For six years, the agency has fought in federal court to keep secret hundreds of documents from 1963, when an anti-Castro Cuban group it paid clashed publicly with the soon-to-be assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. The C.I.A. says it is only protecting legitimate secrets. But because of the agency’s history of stonewalling assassination inquiries, even researchers with no use for conspiracy thinking question its stance. The files in question, some released under direction of the court and hundreds more that are still secret, involve the curious career of George E. Joannides, the case officer who oversaw the dissident Cubans in 1963. In 1978, the agency made Mr. Joannides the liaison to the House Select Committee on Assassinations — but never told the committee of his earlier role. That concealment has fueled suspicion that Mr. Joannides’s real assignment was to limit what the House committee could learn about C.I.A. activities...read more

Song Of The Day #158

Our Gospel tune this morning is One Of These Days by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

It's available on their 14 track CD Help Is on the Way on the Horizon label.

New Mexico 'Super Station' aims to 'break the power gridlock'

By any yardstick, it's an ambitious project: allow energy to flow more freely across the nation's three massive power grids, breaking down significant barriers to ramping up alternative energy in the United States. A proposed "Tres Amigas Super Station" in Clovis, N.M., would do just that, routing energy from isolated wind and solar installations to urban centers and other places that consume the most power. The transmission hub would be located across 22 square miles in eastern New Mexico near the Texas border. Clovis was chosen because it is nearest to where the nation's three power grids — called the East, West and Texas interconnections — come closest together. Tres Amigas would build a triangular pathway of underground superconductor pipelines, combined with AC/DC converters that synchronize the flow of power between the interconnections. The equipment allows electricity to be transferred from grid to grid. Construction could begin in 2011 or 2012, and the hub could be running in 2013 or 2014, said Phil Harris, chief executive of the Santa Fe-based Tres Amigas. The pipelines, 3 feet in diameter, contain hair-thin ceramic fibers developed by Devens, Mass.-based American Superconductor and can carry enough electricity to power 2.5 million homes...read more

Bush-era oil-shale decision under review

The Obama Interior Department is reviewing a decision made by the Bush administration in its final days that attempted to lock in lucrative royalty rates and favorable regulations for oil companies holding leases for oil-shale development on public lands. The decision, which came in the form of amendments to existing leases, drew little public notice at the end of the Bush administration in January. But since then, congressional watchdogs, environmental groups and state officials in Colorado, where most of the leases are located, have denounced the amendments as a massive giveaway to the oil industry. Obama Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has ordered the review "given the timing and circumstances of the execution of the lease addenda," Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said Thursday...read more

NRA wants to join wolf lawsuit

The National Rifle Association is asking a federal court judge to allow the group to join a lawsuit regarding the removal of wolves from the list of animals protected under the Endangered Species Act in Montana and Idaho. In documents filed late Friday, Chris Cox, an NRA executive director, said their members hunt in states where wolves are now present and "have experienced anger and frustration during times when their state wildlife management authorities were powerless to take necessary action to control their states' problem wolves." He adds that if the 13 conservation groups that sued to retain gray wolves' protected status are successful in their lawsuit, then NRA members will lose their ability to hunt and enjoy recreational opportunities in Montana and Idaho "due to the threat to themselves, their pets and their prey from problem wolves."...read more

Arctic Now Traps 25 Percent of World’s Carbon

The arctic could potentially alter the Earth’s climate by becoming a possible source of global atmospheric carbon dioxide. The arctic now traps or absorbs up to 25 percent of this gas but climate change could alter that amount, according to a study published in the November issue of Ecological Monographs. In their review paper, David McGuire of the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and his colleagues show that the Arctic has been a carbon sink since the end of the last Ice Age, which has recently accounted for between zero and 25 percent, or up to about 800 million metric tons, of the global carbon sink. On average, says McGuire, the Arctic accounts for 10-15 percent of the Earth’s carbon sink. But the rapid rate of climate change in the Arctic – about twice that of lower latitudes – could eliminate the sink and instead, possibly make the Arctic a source of carbon dioxide...read more

California appears poised to be first to ban big-screen TVs

The influential lobby group Consumer Electronics Assn. is fighting what appears to be a losing battle to dissuade California regulators from passing the nation's first ban on energy-hungry big-screen televisions. On Tuesday, executives and consultants for the Arlington, Va., trade group asked members of the California Energy Commission to instead let consumers use their wallets to decide whether they want to buy the most energy-saving new models of liquid-crystal display and plasma high-definition TVs. "Voluntary efforts are succeeding without regulations," said Doug Johnson, the association's senior director for technology policy. Too much government interference could hamstring industry innovation and prove expensive to manufacturers and consumers, he warned. But those pleas didn't appear to elicit much support from commissioners at a public hearing on the proposed rules that would set maximum energy-consumption standards for televisions to be phased in over two years beginning in January 2011. A vote could come as early as Nov. 4...read more

PETA Becomes A Corporate Animal

Americans know the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for its wild publicity stunts in the name of protecting cows, chickens, and other eatables. But a closer look at media-savvy PETA shows it also has become a corporate animal. Its websites are full of invitations to corporate America to form partnerships, and in the process, cut PETA in on some of the profits. How else has the Washington-based group grown to a $34 million budget and displayed help-wanted ads for more employees in the time of a deep recession? In one case, PETA castigates a credit card company for backing a circus; yet PETA promotes its competitor who sponsors horse racing and beef eating -- two PETA no-nos it is trying to abolish. PETA now operates a "Business Friends" program. For $500 (Silver), $1,000 (Gold) and $5,000-plus) Platinum, PETA grants access to its members and their money. "PETA Business Friends is an innovative partnership for compassionate companies willing to assist in PETA's groundbreaking work to stop animal abuse and suffering," the web site says. Also on the list is VISA, the giant credit card company. The two boast a special relationship. There is the PETA VISA card, featuring a photo of a pig. Purchases on this card result in a 1 percent royalty to PETA. It urges customers to shop at its own mall, where vendors return even more profits to PETA on each sale...read more

Was There A Chaplain At The Roswell Crash?

The enormity of suddenly being confronted with sky-fallen craft and beings from another world near Roswell, NM in July of 1947 was no doubt spiritually shattering. The psychological impact of such an event had to have been deep and lasting. Everything must have come into question relative to man's place in the universe. Newly-acquired information indicates that the Roswell Base Chaplain at the time -Reverend Elijah H. Hankerson - may have provided needed support to those that were not prepared to deal with such a momentous event. There are three telling elements to the Hankerson saga: • Just days after the crash Reverend Hankerson was shipped out of Roswell Army Air Field and was replaced by a Catholic priest of higher rank • Hankerson and his wife Annie kept from their children the fact that he was ever even stationed at Roswell. The family is stunned. • Hankerson may have made a "silent confession" to them at the end of his life, possibly hinting at his involvement...read more

American Agri-Women Gather for 34th Annual Convention in Salem, OR

The heart of the Willamette Valley is putting out the welcome mat for some special women who are dedicated to agriculture, and coming together in Oregon's capital city for their annual event. This time, in Oregon. The convention will be hosted by AAW affiliate, Oregon Women for Agriculture (OWA). The group is putting on the final touches for the 34th Annual Meeting of American Agri-Women (AAW), coming up November 12-15, 2009. OWA is celebrating their 40th birthday this year and the State of Oregon is celebrating its 150th birthday. “Celebrating American Agriculture” is the theme of the convention and will add to the festive spirit of our time together. Women involved in farming operations from throughout the United States will be attending this special event in Oregon. American Agri-Women is a national coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women. The organization was formed in 1974...read more

Celebrate History at Cowboy Festival

October 22 - 25, the Booth Western Art Museum will host the 7th Annual Southeastern Cowboy Festival and Symposium, the South's largest celebration of Western art. Special guests for this year's event include artist Buck McCain and cowboy poet Baxter Black. The weekend begins Thursday evening, October 22 with a lecture by McCain, a fifth generation rancher equally well known for his paintings and sculpture. On Friday, McCain will present a daylong art workshop at the Booth Art Academy. The theme for this year's art symposium is "Western Art in Context." On Friday art curators Jerry Smith, Phoenix Art Museum; Dr. Graham Boettcher, Birmingham Museum of Art; Anne Morand, C. M. Russell Museum; Mindy Besaw, Buffalo Bill Historical Center; and Dr. Stephen Graffe, Maryhill Art Museum will discuss Western art in American art galleries, the exhibition of Native American artifacts and more. Throughout the rest of the weekend guests can enjoy concerts Friday and Saturday, re-enactments of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, children's activities, chuck wagon cooking, Native American dancing, cowboy church and living history encampments. All activities take place on the grounds of the Booth Museum or at the Grand Theatre, both located in downtown Cartersville...read more

Song Of The Day #157

Ranch Radio's selection today is by Johnny Cash. Here's his 1960 recording of Honky Tonk Girl.

It's available on the 12 track CD Now, There Was a Song!

NAIS Enforcement Gets Underway in Wisconsin

By R-CALF USA Animal ID Committee Chair Kenny Fox

It appears that in the state of Wisconsin, which has mandated the first prong of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) National Animal Identification System (NAIS) through agency rule making, prosecution of individuals opposed to NAIS has begun.

On Sept. 23, 2009, an Amish gentleman named Emanuel J. Miller, Jr., was taken to Clark County Court in Neillsville, Wis., for an evidentiary hearing on complex civil forfeiture for failing to register his premises. The case immediately moved to the first stage of trial. Miller and his father, as well as their church deacon, testified as to their objections to being forced to use the NAIS premises identification number (PIN). As USDA has proudly proclaimed in many glossy brochures, premises registration is the “first step” in the NAIS, and the Wisconsin Amish have become quite aware of this.

On Oct. 21, 2009, in Polk County, Wis., R-CALF USA Members Pat and Melissa Monchilovich are going to trial for the same charges of complex civil forfeiture. Pat and his wife raise cattle in Cumberland, Wis., and have failed to register their property as a premises with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, as Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) requires by regulation.

This is the tip of the NAIS iceberg. One could look upon Wisconsin as the sentinel case in the enforcement measures necessary to bring this nation's citizens into compliance with NAIS.

Although the statute that enables Wisconsin's DATCP to require premises registration does indeed allow for exemptions, when DATCP wrote the regulations, it decided to disallow any exemptions. This is a major issue, particularly with the Amish community (and others) who hold religious objections to the NAIS.

At the Miller hearing, the Amish said that although they cannot state with absolute certainty that the NAIS' premises identification number is the precursor to the “Mark of the Beast,” they do know it is the first step of NAIS that leads to the individual numbering and tracking of animals. The Amish said they believe caution is in order to avoid discovering later that they had violated their beliefs and then have no recourse to remedy that error.Their religious objections to obtaining an NAIS PIN are real and personal.

Despite a desire on the part of proponents of NAIS to negate religious objections to NAIS, the fact that it is a global program is indisputable, as enforcement measures and final details are left up to member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In Australia*, rancher Stephen Blair was fined a total of $17,300 for using the wrong tags on 177 of his cattle. Notably, the components of Australia's National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) are the same as those in NAIS.

In March 2007*, another case in which the identification of cattle was in violation of the identification mandate to facilitate global trade happened the United Kingdom (UK). Dairy farmer David Dobbin had an unspecified number of cattle whose tags didn't match their “passports.” The European Union (EU) regulations allowed the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), to confiscate both his cattle and his passports and to require that he positively identify the herd within 48 hours or face the loss of his cattle. It is a complete impossibility to positively identify animals with neither the animals nor their paperwork, but that was DEFRA's requirement. The case was put off for one month and then appealed on the basis that DEFRA could not afford to keep feeding Dobbin's cattle, so the animals were destroyed. Mr. Dobbin lost 567 cattle and was paid no indemnity at all.

At issue in the Wisconsin cases is that we are witnessing the first enforcement actions in the implementation of NAIS. The fines in the charges brought against Miller and the Monchilovichs are between $200 and $5,000. Premises identification is just the first step of NAIS, second is the identification of one's animals, and third is the tracking of each and every movement of one's animals. The final component is enforcement, which is now coming to bear in Wisconsin.

More than 90 percent of those who attended USDA's recent “listening” sessions on NAIS said “No NAIS. Not Now, Not Ever!” If we mean that, then we must stand in support of these Wisconsin people being charged with NAIS violations.

OpEdNews

Energy & Water Bill Passes Congress

The Senate on Thursday approved a bill to basically freeze spending on energy and water projects next year after pouring tens of billions of dollars into them as part of last winter's economic stimulus plan. The 80-17 vote on the compromise House-Senate plan cleared the measure for President Barack Obama's signature. The bill is just the third of 12 annual spending bills to clear Congress for the 2010 budget year that began Oct. 1. The popular $33.5 billion measure funds renewable energy research, Army Corps of Engineers water projects, nuclear weapons safety and security and environmental cleanup. That's more than the $33.3 billion a year earlier and less than the $34.4 billion the White House requested. The measure cleared after Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., held up action for more than a day. He was protesting a decision by Democrats to kill his provision to require that reports that agencies send to the appropriations panels be made available to all lawmakers and the public. The measure also fulfills a campaign promise by Obama to close the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility in Nevada, which was 25 years and $13.5 billion in the making. The Yucca Mountain project has long been opposed by powerful Nevadans such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The $197 million for the program, down $92 million from last year, is primarily for looking into alternatives. The move would leave the country without a long-term solution for storing highly radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The measure also contains a provision authored by California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to allow for water transfers to help farmers in California's Central Valley suffering from severe drought conditions...read more

A Travesty & Miscarriage Of Justice: Cowboy cited after horse wanders away

A northwestern Wyoming man received a citation for letting his horse wander in Worland, but not before he complained to town law enforcement officials about the absence of a hitching post in front of the local saloon. William Schellinger was cited by Washakie County law enforcement officers for allowing his horse to run at large in this city along the Big Horn River. Schellinger was apparently in a bar early Sunday when his horse wandered away, prompting police to follow it to make sure it didn't cause an accident with a car. After being confronted by officers, Schellinger contended the city didn't have any hitching posts and told them they should spend their time arresting real criminals, not bothering cowboys with wayward horses. Billings Gazette

This story provides a microcosm of what's wrong with todays world: too many laws and not enough common sense.

Besides, no hitching posts and then, bam, enforcement. Isn't that entrapment?

I've been against the whole bailout-stimulus fiasco, but hell, the money is gonna be spent anyway, so spend it on some good, sturdy hitching posts. Do you hear me Worland?

While at NMSU in the 60's, I was among a group (If I remember right, headed up by Ronnie Lamb), who issued a list of COWBOY DEMANDS, in response to a list of demands presented to the NMSU President by the Black Student Union. Our list was mostly the opposite of theirs, i.e. they demanded all campus cops be unarmed, we demanded they carry sawed off shotguns; they demanded more Black Studies courses, we demanded hat racks and spittoons in every classroom, etc. (If any of my old compadres have that list please send it to me). Our list generated a positive editorial in the El Paso Times and was even favorably mentioned on the Paul Harvey News. I think the cowboys in the Worland area better do something similar.

In the meantime I just can't let this stand. You've got to draw the line somewhere and this is it.

Therefore, I'm organizing a NATIONWIDE BOYCOTT OF WORLAND, WYOMING, with said boycott to remain in effect until the hitching posts are in place and the town issues an official apology to Mr. Schellinger and his horse.

Kreg Lombard is the mayor of Worland and his email address is mayor@rtconnect.net and his phone number is 307-347-3000. Other city gov't contacts are here and the email for their chamber of commerce is wtschamber@rtconnect.net.

All patriotic Americans should let the City Fathers know they are joining the boycott organized by The Westerner and demand immediate action to remedy this miscarriage of justice!

Let's have some fun for a change.

Obama EPA releases Bush-era global warming finding

A controversial e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was first sent to the White House and never opened. The e-mail and the 28-page document attached to it, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, show that back in December of 2007 the agency concluded that six gases linked to global warming pose dangers to public welfare, and wanted to take steps to regulate their release from automobiles and the burning of gasoline. The document specifically cites global warming's effects on air quality, agriculture, forestry, water resources and coastal areas as endangering public welfare. That finding was rejected by the Bush White House, which strongly opposed using the Clean Air Act to address climate change and stalled on producing a so-called "endangerment finding" that had been ordered by the Supreme Court in 2007...read more

On the same day the blogosphere will be pushing this issue. See below.

Boxer: Climate bill ready

A major Senate climate change bill is written and ready to be debated before the Environment and Public Works committee, the chairwoman of the panel said Tuesday. Sen. Barbara Boxer’s legislation would distribution of tens of billions of dollars of pollution allowances to power plants, manufacturing, and other industries. It will mirror cap and trade legislation passed by the House in late June with, she noted, “a few tweaks.” The legislation has been sent to the Environmental Protection Agency for analysis, which should be completed by the end of the month. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, however, also plans to draft legislation dealing with the pollution allowances...read more

Writers fill the blogosphere today to raise awareness of climate change

Chances are good that your favorite blogger is going to write about climate change tomorrow. More than 10,000 bloggers from more than 130 countries have signed up for Blog Action Day 2009, an annual event that brings bloggers from around the world to post on the same topic on the same day to spur conversation about an issue of global importance. Organizers say Thursday's event promises to be the largest social-change event on the Web, reaching a combined readership of 15 million...read more

Three Decades Of Global Cooling

It seems that ice at both poles hasn't been paying attention to the computer models. The National Snow and Ice Data Center released its summary of summer sea-ice conditions in the Arctic last week and reported a substantial expansion of "second-year ice" — ice thick enough to have persisted through two summers of seasonal melting. According to the NSIDC, second-year ice this summer made up 32% of the total ice cover on the Arctic Ocean, compared with 21% in 2007 and 9% in 2008. Clearly, Arctic sea ice is not following the consensus touted by Gore and the warm-mongers. This news coincides with a finding published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters last month by Marco Tedesco, a research scientist at the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology. He reported that ice melt on Antarctica was the lowest in three decades during the ice-melt season. Each year, millions of square miles of sea ice melt and refreeze. The amount varies from season to season. Despite pictures taken in summer of floating polar bears, data reported by the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center at the beginning of this year showed global sea ice levels the same as they were in 1979, when satellite observations began...read more

Climate Change Will Be Its Highest Priority, Says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Over the next five years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) plans to make climate change its “highest priority.” According to its new “Action Plan” released last month, the branch of the U.S. Department of Interior charged with protecting fish, wildlife and plants will focus first and foremost on the global weather. “Climate change must become our highest priority,” a fact sheet attached to the plan said. “Consequently, we will deploy our resources, creativity and energy in a long-term campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and safeguard fish, wildlife and their habitats.” The Fish and Wildlife Service said it plans to “reach out to the larger conservation community to tackle climate change.” The Action Plan is part of an overall strategic report titled “Rising to the Challenge: Strategic Plan for Responding to Accelerating Climate Change.” That report makes no bones about just how seriously the FWS considers the climate situation to be. “(A)s a Service, we are committed to examining everything we do, every decision we make, and every dollar we spend through the lens of climate change,” it declares on page one. “We see climate change as an issue that will unite the conservation community like no other issue since the 1960s, when (environmentalist) Rachel Carson sounded an alarm about pesticides,” the plan said on page three...read more

Even if most of this is aimed at securing more funding for the USFWS, it is still scary (think all ESA consultations with USFWS).

I hope everyone has noticed the new catch phrase is "climate change", not "global warming". That way, whether it gets hotter or colder, they are covered.

And someone please show me the federal law that requires the USFWS to "unite the conservation community."

US settles grazing lawsuit with Nevada rancher

A Nevada rancher who has fought the federal government for more than a decade over grazing and property rights has settled a civil suit with the Justice Department over livestock trespass, the government said Wednesday. In 2007, the government sued Colvin, the estate of late Nevada rancher Wayne Hage and Hage's son, claiming they repeatedly defied federal land managers by grazing cattle without permits on land overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. The suit further alleged the Hages unlawfully "leased" lands owned by the government to other ranchers for livestock grazing. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Colvin paid a $34,000 fine and agreed to comply with federal grazing regulations in the future. It also requires him to remove unauthorized improvements he made on the public lands, such as aboveground water pipelines, water tanks and corrals. Once those conditions are met, he can reapply for grazing permits, the government said in a written statement. The settlement pertains to Colvin only, and the government's suit against the Hages is still active...read more

Federal judge shutters Idaho grazing allotment

A federal judge Wednesday ordered a western Idaho rancher to keep his sheep off his family's traditional grazing ground on public land, at least temporarily, to protect wild bighorns. In his 17-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill wrote that a pact between a Salmon River rancher and the state to keep his domestic herd away from wild bighorns on the Bureau of Land Management allotment fell short of the 2009 Legislature's new law aimed at protecting Idaho's ranching industry and helping bighorns. Winmill ruled in favor of The Wilderness Society, Western Watersheds Project and Hells Canyon Preservation Council, which contended a native bighorn sheep herd near Riggins was at risk of catching deadly diseases if the allotment near Partridge Creek opened on schedule Thursday. "Irreversible damage is possible here," Winmill wrote. "Bighorns could become infected and roam far up-river in the Salmon River drainage, infecting the other native bighorns along the way causing large-scale losses." His order is in place until at least Nov. 2, when Winmill plans another hearing...read more

How much did the U.S. spend in 2007 to protect endangered species?

Protecting endangered species is an expensive proposition. The U.S. federal and state governments spent $1,537,283,091 toward conserving threatened and endangered species in 2007, plus another $126,086,999 in land purchases for habitat preservation, according to a new report from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS). The 202-page report (PDF) covers species protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and includes money spent in fiscal year 2007 (October 2006 to September 2007). "Conservation" includes a wide variety of activities such as "research, census, law enforcement, habitat acquisition and maintenance, propagation, live trapping, and transplantation." On a broader note, the report defines conservation to incorporate "any and all actions taken by Federal and State agencies on behalf of threatened or endangered species listed pursuant to the Act." FWS isn't the only federal agency with expenses related to endangered or threatened species. In fact, FWS represents only about 7 percent of total federal expenditures related to the Endangered Species Act. The Federal Highway Association spent $34,977,711. The Army spent $45,093,322, while the Army Corps of Engineers spent $211,976,370. The Department of Energy's Bonneville Power Administration spent a whopping $533,223,325. This is all just a drop in the bucket of the total funds required to protect endangered species. Millions come from NGOs and private organizations, and many states have their own endangered species lists, which cover some species not included on the federal ESA...read more

No mention of the costs, or expenditures to or by the private sector.

Sponsor of Montana horse slaughter law seeks investor

The sponsor of a state law that aims to promote construction of a horse slaughter plant said Wednesday he is courting Chinese investors after European firms showed a lack of interest in the venture. State Rep. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred, also said construction of such a facility in Montana could come in the distant future - even if he can get someone interested in the project. Farmers and ranchers such as Butcher say plants that slaughter horses and sell the meat overseas for human consumption are a humane and efficient way of dealing with unwanted or aging animals. Earlier this year, the Legislature approved a new law limiting legal action to stop such projects. Butcher said a plant is needed now that lawsuits have closed all other plants in the country. Three Montana towns - Hardin, Conrad and Wolf Point - have expressed interest in hosting a horse slaughter plant, Butcher said...read more

Deer attacks woman near Colo. Springs

Colorado Wildlife officials say a 63-year-old woman was attacked by a buck mule deer when she tried to pet the animal. Division of Wildlife spokesman Michael Seraphin says Joan Nutt suffered lacerations after she was struck by the deer's hooves and antlers Monday evening outside her sister's home in Florissant, about 105 southwest of Denver. Nutt says she had called the deer over so she could pet it. Seraphin says the deer lowered its head and charged the woman once it got close. A driver who witnessed the attack called for help and scared away the deer. Wildlife officials have euthanized the animal because they say it had become a threat to people. AP

Farmers Try to Plant Hemp at DEA Office, Arrested

A half dozen people including two farmers have been arrested for trying to plant hemp seeds at the Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters in Virginia. Arlington County police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal says the protesters were charged Tuesday with trespassing. They were among 21 people protesting the ban on hemp farming. Hemp is related to marijuana and currently all hemp products sold in the U.S. must be imported. The Hemp Industries Association is lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill to decriminalize hemp farming for products like clothing and rope...read more

New Gallery Space and Web Site for Remington and Russell at the Amon Carter Museum

An interpretative gallery space dedicated to the works of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell recently opened at the Amon Carter Museum. Located on the mezzanine level of the museum, the nearly 2,000-square-foot network of galleries serves to educate visitors about the works of American artists Remington and Russell. Admission to the gallery is free. “When the museum expanded in 2001, we gained additional space to exhibit our renowned collection,” says Rick Stewart, senior curator of western paintings and sculpture. “What we found was that our visitors wanted to know even more about Remington and Russell and their techniques. We hope these galleries better acquaint the public with the life and works of these two great American artists.” The galleries feature the self-taught artists’ oil paintings, watercolors and drawings. Nearly 100 artworks are on view, and the museum plans to periodically rotate some of the works. Several interactive features comprise the galleries, including pull-out drawers with large works on paper and a computer workstation. Museum visitors may also watch a short animation that depicts the lost-wax bronze casting process utilized by Remington and Russell. Additional works by Remington can be viewed in the second-level paintings and sculpture galleries. In addition to the interpretative galleries, the museum has launched a website, the definitive online resource for any scholar or layperson interested in Remington, Russell and their art...read more

Song Of The Day #156

Here is Charlie Walker's 1961 recording of Good Deal, Lucille.

It's available on his 21 track CD Greatest Honky-Tonk Hits.

Hot damn this song really makes me wanna dance.