Grumbling about a U.S. Supreme Court they say is out of touch with America’s cities, Chicago aldermen voted 45-0 today to approve a rushed-through compromise gun ban. The law, weaker than the gun ban tossed out Monday but with some even stronger new provisions, allows adults in Chicago to buy one gun a month, 12 a year, but they must pay registration and permit fees and take five hours of training. Within 100 days, anyone who wants to keep a gun in the city will have to register, get their training and pay the fees. Also within 100 days, any of the estimated 10,000 Chicagoans convicted of a gun offense will have to register at their local police station like sex offenders. The aldermen did not hold back their contempt for the five members of the U.S. Supreme Court who threw out the city’s gun ban Monday. “No Supreme Court judge could live in my community and come to the same conclusion they did a couple days ago,” Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon (24th) said. “I find it hard to believe that the Supreme Court justices that voted to strike our handgun laws have spent any time in the communities that many of us represent,” Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) said...more
Someone please explain to the aldermen that your constitutional rights are not dependent on where you are geographically located in the U.S. Would they say the same thing about the first and fourth amendments? This is scary.
The alderman should read this.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
You will be happy to see how Obama is spending your money
Here are some examples that hit the news in the last week:
Feds Wasted Millions in Utilities Program for Poor A government program that's supposed to help impoverished families heat and cool their homes wasted more than $100 million of taxpayer dollars paying the electric bills of thousands of applicants who were dead, in prison or living in million-dollar mansions. The Department of Health and Human Services spent $5 billion through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program in 2009, doling out money to states with little oversight. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found about $116 million in improper payments to seven states in 2009. The program helped pay the electric bill of a Chicago woman who lives in a $2 million home and drives a Mercedes.
The study found HHS paid $3.9 million to 11,000 applicants who used the identities of dead people...
Millions of Swine Flu Vaccine Doses Have Expired About a quarter of the swine flu vaccine produced for the U.S. public has expired -- meaning that a whopping 40 million doses worth about $260 million is being written off as trash. "It's a lot, by historical standards," said Jerry Weir, who oversees vaccine research and review for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The outdated vaccine, some of which expired Wednesday, will be incinerated. The amount, more than twice the usual leftovers, likely sets a record. And that's not even all of it. About 30 million more doses will expire later and may go unused, according to one government estimate. If all that vaccine expires, more than 43 percent of the supply for the U.S. public will have gone to waste...
FEMA Workers Ran Up $247,100 in 'Improper Purchases' on Government Credit Cards--Including $4,318 in 'Happy Birthday' Cards One employee used a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) credit card to buy $4,318 in “Happy Birthday” gift cards. Two other FEMA officials charged the cost of 360 golf umbrellas -- $9,000 -- to the taxpayers. Other FEMA officials used funds allocated for disaster relief in Oklahoma to buy 19 portable ceramic heaters for the office at a cost of $1,098. In all, $247,100 in “improper” expenses was made to FEMA credit cards, according to a report by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General...
U.S. Has Paid $1.44 Million for Project That is Studying the 'Social Milieu' of Male Prostitutes in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has so far awarded $1.44 million in federal funds to a project that, among other things, is estimating the size of the population and examining the “social milieu” of male prostitutes in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam...
U.S. Spent $550,496 on Study That Did 'Focus Groups and In-Depth Interviews' To Learn About the Sex Lives of Truck Drivers The federal government has spent $550,496 on a project that involved conducting “focus groups and in-depth interviews” with American long-haul truck drivers to learn about their sex lives in order to assess their risk of contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections. The project has failed to find any instances of HIV among the truck drivers studied...
California welfare recipients withdrew $1.8 million at casino ATMs over eight months California welfare recipients using state-issued debit cards withdrew more than $1.8 million in taxpayer cash on casino floors between October 2009 and last month, state officials said Thursday. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order requiring welfare recipients to promise they will use cash benefits only to "meet the basic subsistence needs" of their families. The order also gave the state Department of Social Services seven days to produce a plan to reduce other types of "waste, fraud and abuse" in the welfare program. The moves came after The Times reported Wednesday that officials at the department failed to notice for years that welfare recipients could use the state-issued cards to withdraw taxpayer cash at more than half of the tribal casinos and state-licensed poker rooms in California...
Feds Wasted Millions in Utilities Program for Poor A government program that's supposed to help impoverished families heat and cool their homes wasted more than $100 million of taxpayer dollars paying the electric bills of thousands of applicants who were dead, in prison or living in million-dollar mansions. The Department of Health and Human Services spent $5 billion through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program in 2009, doling out money to states with little oversight. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found about $116 million in improper payments to seven states in 2009. The program helped pay the electric bill of a Chicago woman who lives in a $2 million home and drives a Mercedes.
The study found HHS paid $3.9 million to 11,000 applicants who used the identities of dead people...
Millions of Swine Flu Vaccine Doses Have Expired About a quarter of the swine flu vaccine produced for the U.S. public has expired -- meaning that a whopping 40 million doses worth about $260 million is being written off as trash. "It's a lot, by historical standards," said Jerry Weir, who oversees vaccine research and review for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The outdated vaccine, some of which expired Wednesday, will be incinerated. The amount, more than twice the usual leftovers, likely sets a record. And that's not even all of it. About 30 million more doses will expire later and may go unused, according to one government estimate. If all that vaccine expires, more than 43 percent of the supply for the U.S. public will have gone to waste...
FEMA Workers Ran Up $247,100 in 'Improper Purchases' on Government Credit Cards--Including $4,318 in 'Happy Birthday' Cards One employee used a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) credit card to buy $4,318 in “Happy Birthday” gift cards. Two other FEMA officials charged the cost of 360 golf umbrellas -- $9,000 -- to the taxpayers. Other FEMA officials used funds allocated for disaster relief in Oklahoma to buy 19 portable ceramic heaters for the office at a cost of $1,098. In all, $247,100 in “improper” expenses was made to FEMA credit cards, according to a report by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General...
U.S. Has Paid $1.44 Million for Project That is Studying the 'Social Milieu' of Male Prostitutes in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has so far awarded $1.44 million in federal funds to a project that, among other things, is estimating the size of the population and examining the “social milieu” of male prostitutes in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam...
U.S. Spent $550,496 on Study That Did 'Focus Groups and In-Depth Interviews' To Learn About the Sex Lives of Truck Drivers The federal government has spent $550,496 on a project that involved conducting “focus groups and in-depth interviews” with American long-haul truck drivers to learn about their sex lives in order to assess their risk of contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections. The project has failed to find any instances of HIV among the truck drivers studied...
California welfare recipients withdrew $1.8 million at casino ATMs over eight months California welfare recipients using state-issued debit cards withdrew more than $1.8 million in taxpayer cash on casino floors between October 2009 and last month, state officials said Thursday. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order requiring welfare recipients to promise they will use cash benefits only to "meet the basic subsistence needs" of their families. The order also gave the state Department of Social Services seven days to produce a plan to reduce other types of "waste, fraud and abuse" in the welfare program. The moves came after The Times reported Wednesday that officials at the department failed to notice for years that welfare recipients could use the state-issued cards to withdraw taxpayer cash at more than half of the tribal casinos and state-licensed poker rooms in California...
Artists design sheep wagon for the 21st century
Artists in the state of Colorado want to makeover the rustic sheep wagons used by immigrant workers across the West, suggesting the portable homes be spruced up to look like futuristic space vehicles with gardens and solar panels. Immigrants from Peru, Chile, Mexico and Nepal who come to the U.S. on temporary work permits sometimes live in worn-out one-room trailers in desolate landscapes, including in Wyoming, California, and Utah. The working conditions caught the attention of Colorado lawmakers this year, but no legislation materialized. Artists with the Yuma-based non-profit M12 say the debate doesn't have to be contentious. They created three proposals to revamp the sheep wagon — known to the workers as "campitos" — and will show the designs on the walls of a trailer turned into a gallery, along with an old sheep wagon for comparison. "We decided to take on the campito as a design problem. These things look like covered wagons because they were designed in the 19th century at a time when that made sense," Saxton said. "Our question was, what would a campito look like for the 21st century?" What M12 came up with were tricked-out wagons that look like they came out of "The Jetsons." One design looks like a roly poly, folding into a ball to be towed by a truck and unfolding into a tent-shaped wagon when it's parked. In another design, the wagon looks like a space capsule with wheels similar to those of a Mars rover. The third design is made up of three modules for a garden, bed, and kitchen — features that all the designs have, along with a global communications system to make phone calls...more
Leon Metz: Baseball trip turned violent for El Pasoans - Who was that cowboy?
As a local historian, I've never encountered any particular early day period of El Paso's history when the saloons and gambling houses were closed. But it actually happened during one 1892 Sunday afternoon in Deming. And what was the occasion? Well, it seems that the fat men of El Paso took time off from their many labors and went to Deming to play baseball with the fat men of that town. A local El Paso man named M.F. McLean managed the "El Paso Fats," and he chartered a train just for this particular occasion. Over 200 local business and professional men went on the excursion to witness the game. To show El Paso support, the principal local saloons and gambling houses in this city closed their doors so that 200 El Paso proprietors, employees, business and professional men could take time off to go watch the big event. At Deming, the El Pasoans were seemingly met by the entire population. A brass band played thunderous music. Also present was an immense cannon made of cardboard. Its barrel bore the legend: PROTECTION FOR THE EMPIRE...Here's the part of Metz's column I like:
On the trip home, a hefty New Mexico cowboy tagged along with a quart of whiskey in one hand and a pistol in the other. He wanted everybody to take a drink. Within minutes, an El Paso player named Charles B. Dowd managed to get the gun and the whiskey, and threw both items out the car window. Well, that riled the cowboy, and within a few minutes he had everyone on that car engaged in a free-for-all. Later, as things quieted down, and the cowboy went to sleep, someone woke him. In a few minutes he would have the whole car fighting again. According to witnesses, fighting broke out at least six times between Deming and El Paso, even though in a caboose behind the fight car were Judge J.E. Townsend, Mayor Johnson, M.F. McLean and a writer who jotted down all of these events. Then oddly, but perhaps not surprisingly, upon reaching El Paso, J. H. Boone, who later became Sheriff of El Paso, heard about the exploits of this New Mexico cowboy. So the two men met at El Paso's Astor house, where an angry Boone offered to give him a good trimming. But it was that cowboy's night to fight and he overcame Boone in short order...more
Who was that cowboy? Anybody from Deming or El Paso know?
Song Of The Day #351
We missed Swingin' Monday on Ranch Radio, but we will make up for it with James Talley performing W'Lee O'Daniel and the Light Crust Doughboys. The rest of the week will be Light Crust Doughboys songs.
Arizona's Closed Federal Parkland is a No-Man's Land
The number of illegal immigrants and drug smugglers crossing through this magnificent national parkland in southern Arizona has "decreased significantly" in the last four years, park officials say. But there's a dark cloud to this silver lining: To make it happen, the refuge had to close a sliver of this slice of heaven to the quarter-billion American taxpayers who own it -- essentially creating a no-man's-land on which only drug smugglers, gun-runners, human traffickers and the Border Patrol agents who track them down dare to tread. And with rival Mexican drug gangs gunning each other down less than 50 miles away, the chance that the closed portion of the wildlife refuge will reopen in the foreseeable future appears to be between slim and none. For the time being, officials say, this public land will be closed to the public. In 2006, the refuge manager at the time, Mitch Ellis, saw that the smugglers and drug-runners were winning, and his solution was to close 3,500 acres of this 118,000-acre natural habitat. He cited increased violence in the area due to “border-related” activities, including assaults on law enforcement officers and migrants, as the reason for the closure. Back then, says Sally Gall, the park's acting refuge manager, it was estimated that as many as 4,000 people a day were crossing illegally into the U.S. from Mexico, tramping across public land that's home to nearly 330 species of animals and hosts up to 40,000 visitors annually. Tom Kay, 68, whose Jarillas Ranch features more than four miles of border fence and shares its western boundary line with the Buenos Aires refuge, estimated that up to 400 illegal immigrants walk onto his 15,000-acre land every day. But after years of never locking his door or removing keys from vehicles, Kay has found it necessary to change his ways. “I gotta lock the barn up now,” he said. “If I don’t, I wake up and find people in the hay."...moreAnd Bingaman's S.1689 would designate a quarter of a million acres as wilderness on or near our border with Mexico. If the bill becomes law, "no-mans land" is heading our way.
More than immigration at stake on border
The same routes and crossing points, the same coyotes and smugglers who manual laborers rely on to enter the United States can also be used by intruders with far less benign objectives. The armed groups that have turned Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, into a war zone — 200 people dead in only one week last month — have distribution networks that crisscross this country. The cartels, their paramilitary enforcers and street gangs move illicit drugs north and cash and guns back south. In the multi-billion-dollar drug trade, the border is irrelevant. And there’s no reason to believe the people doing the beheadings and assassinations will indefinitely be solicitous about keeping violence on one side of an international boundary, as the alleged plot to blow up Falcon Dam suggests. In May, the Department of Homeland Security warned law enforcement officials in Texas of the potential illegal entry from Mexico of a suspected member of the al-Shabaab terrorist group, an al-Qaida affiliate in Somalia. Why would terrorists from Somalia or anywhere else choose to clandestinely enter the United States from Mexico? Because if millions of Mexican laborers can do it, so can they. That’s the troubling fact at the heart of what the U.S. government calls “special interest aliens” — illegal immigrants from countries that pose a national security threat. Hundreds of them are apprehended in the United States each year. No one knows how many are being missed. A recent report from the U.S. Southern Command obtained by the Washington Examiner raises a warning flag. “Of particular concern is the smuggling of criminal aliens and gang members who pose public safety threats to communities throughout the border region and the country,” it cautions. “These individuals include hundreds of undocumented aliens from special interest countries, primarily China, but also Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan.” People who wish to do harm to the United States can and are entering the country undetected. That ought to be the starting point of any national discussion about the border...more
Drug gangs terrorize residents in small Mexican villages on Arizona's doorstep
Very few residents dare to drive on one of the roads out of this watering-hole for migrants, fearing they will be stopped at gunpoint. They worry they will be told to turn around after their gas tanks are drained or, worse, be kidnapped or killed. A shootout that left 21 people dead and six wounded on the road last week is the most gruesome sign that a relatively tranquil pocket of northern Mexico is quickly turning into a hotbed of drug-fueled violence on Arizona's doorstep. Nogales, the main city in the region, which shares a border with the Arizona city of the same name, has had 131 murders so far this year, nearly surpassing 135 for all of 2009, according to a tally by the newspaper Diario de Sonora. That includes two heads found Thursday stuffed side by side between the bars of a cemetery fence. Many people have fled in the last few months, said one resident whose family has longtime roots in a village near the shootings. He asked that his only his first name, Luis, be published because he fears for his safety. His relatives abandoned their homes this spring to join him in a larger city where he lives. Luis said schools closed early this year without explanation. Soft-drink vendors and electricity meter readers refuse to come...more
12 people killed during elections in Juárez
A man was beaten to death and hung from his house's fence in Juárez this morning, Chihuahua state police said. Police arrived to the Los Almendros subdivision about 6 a.m. to respond to the murder. They have not identified the man who appears to be between 35 and 40 years old. Police reported threatening messages were written on the man's chest and back. In total, eight people were killed in Juárez on Sunday, when thousands headed to the polls to elect the mayor and Chihuahua governor. Four have been killed today, state police said. Among the murders, a man found close to midnight Sunday appeared to have been tortured. Police said the unidentified man was pierced from his mouth to his genitals with an iron rod...more
Drug war casts shadow over Mexico elections
Presumed enforcers for drug gangs hung four bodies from overpasses before dawn on Sunday in Chihuahua, the capital of a violence-wracked Mexican state that borders Texas and New Mexico, as Mexican voters went to the polls to pick new state and local leaders. A local newspaper, El Heraldo, reported on its website that two of the four bodies found dangling in Chihuahua victims may have been guards at a local prison. In the capital of Tamaulipas, another border state, 30 bodyguards protected Egidio Torre Cantu as he cast a ballot. Torre's brother was the 2-to-1 favorite to win the governorship of Tamaulipas before gunmen ambushed his convoy June 28, the highest-level political assassination in more than a decade. The brother assumed the candidacy on behalf of a PRI-led coalition. Federal police arrested Gregorio Sanchez, the PRI's candidate for governor of Quintano Roo, home to the resort of Cancun, on May 25 on charges he was linked to the Beltran Leyva and Los Zetas drug gangs. Even so, the PRI candidate who replaced Sanchez was on track to victory...more
Officials make arrests in US Consulate deaths
An alleged gang leader arrested in Juárez told Mexican authorities that a U.S. Consulate employee and her husband were targeted for assassination because the woman provided visas to a rival gang. Officials said Friday that Jesus Ernesto Chávez Castillo, 41, described as a top Azteca gang member who led hit squads, is suspected of ordering the slayings of Lesley Enriquez Redelfs and her husband, Arthur Redelfs, both of El Paso. Chávez, known as "El Camello," or the camel, told investigators after his arrest that Enriquez Redelfs was the target of the attack on March 13 because she had been helping the rival Sinaloa drug cartel. His allegation was met with skepticism by U.S. officials and contradicts the story of another suspect arrested earlier this year. The FBI, which has been investigating the slayings, said his claim is unverified...more
Mexican authorities: Federal agents could have fired bullets that struck City Hall
Mexican authorities said the seven bullets that pierced the walls of El Paso City Hall on Tuesday could have been fired by Mexican federal agents. Federal police spokesman José Ramón Salinas said that six agents stopped a vehicle Monday afternoon to inspect it and that the driver and passengers attacked the agents. A shootout erupted, and a federal agent and a woman were killed. Salinas said the fact that the vehicle the agents had stopped was later found with bullet holes and blood showed that federal agents had fired shots. Salinas said these findings were preliminary because the shootout is still under investigation by the Chihuahua state attorney general's office. "The order is always to avoid firing, but the police officer is the one who makes the decision at the moment," Salinas said. Generally, criminals in Juárez have been using the AK-47 rifles, or what they call "cuerno de chivo," Spanish for goat's horn, because the ammunition clip curves like a horn. But Salinas said some federal police officers are also armed that type of gun. It fires a round that can easily reach El Paso from Juárez. No Mexican agency, however, is taking responsibility for the bullets that hit City Hall...more
Shootout At El Paso City Hall
In his speech Thursday, President Obama assured us that our "southern border is more se cure today than at any time in the past 20 years." So why is El Paso's City Hall taking fire from Mexico? The president made his pitch for "comprehensive immigration reform" by assuring us problems on the border were already taken care of, so the next course of action was a modified amnesty program for 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. But a funny thing happened on the same day he was urging Americans to go along: El Paso's City Hall found itself in a war zone as gunfire from the Mexican side from either traffickers or the Mexican lawmen trying to fight them pocked the edifice. News reports said as many as seven bullets hit the building. No one was hit — this time. It's another sign of the horror in Mexico spilling onto the U.S. side. Further down the border on the same day, 12 miles from Nogales, Ariz., 21 people were massacred in a fight between rival smuggling gangs over the right of way to bring their illegal immigrant "shipments" and narcotics into the U.S. It all gives the president's assurances to Americans that the border situation is being dealt with an aura of unreality...more
Arizona Dems contest Obama's assertions on border security
Anticipating a furor of voter criticism over the July Fourth recess, Democratic lawmakers from the border region shot back at the White House last week, challenging the president’s speech on immigration in which he said that the southern border is secure. Arizona Democratic Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick, Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords joined a growing Republican chorus in denouncing President Barack Obama for not pushing for more specific action in his Thursday speech on the nation’s immigration and border security issues. Obama said that the U.S.-Mexico border is more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years. But the three Arizona Democrats disagreed. “The crisis on America’s borders won’t be addressed with words,” said Giffords. “I was disappointed to hear the president give short shrift to border security concerns by saying that our nation’s southern border is more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years. “That is not a sign of progress, it is a statement on the poor job we have done in securing the border for the past two decades.” As their constituents continue to clamor that more must be done to secure the borders, the first- and second-term Arizona Democrats are increasingly bucking their own party’s stance on border security. “As any politician knows, it is easier to make speeches than it is to make progress, and we need more than talk from the White House and Congress right now,” said Kirkpatrick...more
Wells Fargo, Wachovia Involved in Numerous Mexican Drug Laundering Schemes
Just before sunset on April 10, 2006, a DC-9 jet landed at the international airport in the port city of Ciudad del Carmen, 500 miles east of Mexico City. As soldiers on the ground approached the plane, the crew tried to shoo them away, saying there was a dangerous oil leak. So the troops grew suspicious and searched the jet. They found 128 black suitcases, packed with 5.7 tons of cocaine, valued at $100 million. The stash was supposed to have been delivered from Caracas to drug traffickers in Toluca, near Mexico City, Mexican prosecutors later found. Law enforcement officials also discovered something else. The smugglers had bought the DC-9 with laundered funds they transferred through two of the biggest banks in the U.S.: Wachovia Corp. and Bank of America Corp., Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its August 2010 issue. This was no isolated incident. Wachovia, it turns out, had made a habit of helping move money for Mexican drug smugglers. Wells Fargo, which bought Wachovia in 2008, has admitted in court that its unit failed to monitor and report suspected money laundering by narcotics traffickers — including the cash used to buy four planes that shipped a total of 22 tons of cocaine. Wachovia admitted it didn’t do enough to spot illicit funds in handling $378.4 billion for Mexican-currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007. That’s the largest violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, an anti-money-laundering law, in U.S. history — a sum equal to one-third of Mexico’s current gross domestic product...more
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy
Headin' down the rodeo roadby Julie Carter
It's the Fourth of July holiday and all roads lead to a rodeo arena somewhere.
As we honor America, our freedoms, and the price paid for both, I find myself also giving some reverent honor to the cowboy as well.
This particular holiday is his "Cowboy Christmas," the most lucrative run of rodeos for the season.
Rodeo rigs are progressively bigger, fancier, and technology has kicked rodeoing up a notch from the days of standing in a pay phone booth to enter a rodeo or find out when you drew up. While so much is different, much is still the same.
Rodeo roots run deep in the heart and soul of the American cowboy. It began as a good-natured competition among the working cowboys.
During more than a century, it has evolved to be a major league sport complete with television media coverage, sponsors and big money.
Today's rodeo, with the exception of the events themselves, resembles little of its beginnings on the open range. The cowboys have advanced to be defined athletes and fewer have ranch cowboy roots.
The addiction to the adrenalin remains the same as does the dedication to the competition.
One of the differences in the sport lies in the technology used to "phone home" reports from the rodeo (aka excuses, near death experiences at the bucking chutes, requests for money, etc.).
Instead of using a pay phone at the local honky tonk, the cowboy now sends a text message to a loved one's cell phone or an email from just about anywhere he is at the
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time.
That's progress. And you will find that today's rodeo cowboy has no idea how anybody managed to get it done without all the current gadgets.
It has been said that rodeoing is an addiction and the only cure for it is more rodeo.
In two ever-popular songs, it is referred to as that "damned old rodeo." Back in the '60s, iconic Ian Tyson, a Canadian rodeo cowboy turned singer, penned a song called "Someday Soon."
The song lamented the love a rodeo cowboy has for the sport and the pain it causes those that love him. "He loves his damned old rodeo as much as he loves me." The song stayed popular for decades with new recordings of it by Judy Collins, Lynn Anderson, Chrystal Gayle, Suzy Bogguss and Chris LeDoux.
Garth Brooks recorded a timeless song about the sport called simply "Rodeo." The lyrics sum it up about as well as any written.
Well, it's bulls and blood
It's dust and mud
It's the roar of a Sunday crowd
It's the white in his knuckles
The gold in the buckle
He'll win the next go 'round
It's boots and chaps
It's cowboy hats
It's spurs and latigo
It's the ropes and the reins
And the joy and the pain
And they call the thing rodeo
She knows his love's in Tulsa
And she know he's gonna go
Well it ain't no woman flesh and blood
It's that damned old rodeo
Fourth of July rodeoing is defined by road-weary cowboys, tired horses, pickups filled with dirty clothes, fast-food wrappers and muddy boots.
A dashboard full of rumpled rodeo programs, Copenhagen cans, empty coffee cups, dusty sunglasses, gas receipts, a ball cap or two and a road map paints the classic scene.
For me, it wouldn't be the Fourth of July if I wasn't in the hot sun, beating rain or dusty wind waiting for the next rodeo event to move the entertainment along.
So that's what I do. However, now I carry a camera and put what I know of rodeo in print.
I don't suppose I'll ever be anywhere else but at a rodeo grounds somewhere on the Fourth of July. However, the option has crept into the recesses of my mind, only to be banished by the sounds of the National Anthem and the bucking horses kicking in the chutes in unison.
Let's rodeo!’
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net. Visit her website at www.julie-carter.com .
The Folded Flag
Welda McKinley GriderIn this patriotic time of year, between Memorial Day, Flag Day and the 4th of July, do we give much notice to the symbol of freedom?
Sadly, I ask this. We give little thought to those who came to this country for that freedom and those who paid the ultimate price.
Those of us who were born into this country and those of us who have not been handed a perfectly folded flag, know little of who we are as a nation or why we are a nation.
Two hundred and forty years ago the rebels who lived on American soil took up arms, did not do so to fight for freedom, they took up arms for the idea of freedom.
A free country at that time was only a concept - not a right and certainly not a reality. But for this idea they pledged their lives and all they had in property, knowing they could be killed as a traitor because they were indeed traitors. Some were killed and some died as paupers.
We are guaranteed to be created equal and be born free. After that, it is up to our wits, our mind and our strong back to create life we either strive for or settle for.
Sadly, if we do not grasp the full meaning of freedom, we will not die free.
"Leveling the playing field" means you have equal opportunity to succeed; it does not mean everyone else should fail at the same level.
I've learned a lot from the legal immigrants I've been fortunate enough to know.
One fellow named Peter came out of the Czech Republic in the luggage department of a bus. If he got caught, he would die.
He is very concerned about the direction of our nation. He lived through socialism and communism and he doesn't want his new country, the United States, to take the same road.
Another fellow came out of Russia and no matter how hard I tried, he wouldn't tell me how he got here.
I have a friend who cleans houses so her boys can have good clothes, iPods and a good education.
Fernando, 17, recently was selected for a trip to Washington, D.C. He saw first- hand the monuments of the country his parents sacrificed so much to come to.
He is the son of immigrants who did not come to this country to take advantage of it but to add to it.
It is immigrants like that that make us proud to be a nation of immigrants. However, that is being lost in the debate of how much we should give to illegal immigrants who have no desire to be part of this country or give anything back.
These new Americans had to take lessons in our history and they were made to swear to uphold the American Constitution. I wonder how changed we would be if we really understood our history and had to swear to uphold our Constitution?
Think about this: Men before 1776 had such a strong belief in freedom they were not only willing to fight and die for that generation, but for all the generations that followed.
The men who fought in the World Wars and the women who took up the nations labor force, not only fought for that generation but to end all wars for future generations.
All the other wars fought since then have not been for American freedom alone, but for the unwavering belief that all men should have the chance at freedom.
America has been accused of "interfering" in other nations. Does giving someone the opportunity to be free sound like interfering to you?
Would your life be different if the only desire you had for your kids was for them to be free?
There are only two reasons that there are wars: To cause oppression or to buy freedom. The rest is secondary.
How much would you sacrifice for freedom?
On the other hand, how much are you willing to throw out to oppress? Because every law that we allow passed that takes away God given rights is an act of oppression.
As you fly Old Glory this month - think about the fact you are flying the Flag and not being handed the Folded Flag.
To those who have been handed the Folded Flag - because I have not paid the ultimate price, nor has my immediate family, my heart goes out to you. I will pray for you and yours.
I will do anything in my power to not let your sacrifice go unnoticed. I am fully aware that the red strips in our American Flag signifies the color of Blood - those who went before and those who follow.
There are only two people who offered to die for you - Jesus Christ and the American soldier.
One died for your soul and one died for your freedom. Never take either one of those for granted.
America’s Destiny Must Be Freedom
by Ray NothstineRalph Waldo Emerson described America as “the land that has never become, but is always in the act of becoming.” Many Americans don’t feel that way as pessimism has replaced a once vibrant optimism about the future. Economic malaise, crippling debt, and a mammoth oil gush in the Gulf Coast are daily reminders of seemingly unmovable obstacles.
Bob Herbert wrote a New York Times column echoing the sentiment of an aimless America titled “When Greatness Slips Away.” While many claim to have the answers to our economic woes and lack of confidence, we would do best to return to the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the American Founding, and our freedom narrative. In past crises, they have been sources of American endurance and strength. They can be again.
Those sacred words from the Declaration—“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”—have been an inspiration to billions of people at home and abroad for centuries. Freedom from excessive centralization of power and the right of the citizenry to flourish without undue interference are hallmarks of what it means to be American. And while the federal government has used activism for good at times, most notably for securing civil rights in the American South, it is revealing itself more and more as the obstacle to progress.
Many in the academy and the modern left scoff at what they call the “Horatio Alger myth.” Alger wrote stories such as “Ragged Dick” and “Only an Irish Boy.” He told stories of poor children achieving the American dream through hard work, determination, and virtue. But Alger also depicted an important spiritual component to his impoverished characters. He gave them dignity and natural rights, just as our founding document did. His tales reflected the kind of egalitarianism that asserts that the value and dignity of a destitute human person is equal to that of another born into prominence and prosperity. These ideas grew right out of our religious heritage and founding.
But if Alger’s stories were not myths before, they will be soon. Future generations’ enjoyment of the liberty to flourish is in jeopardy. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, last week called the $13 trillion national debt the “biggest threat to our national security.” Annual interest on the national debt in 2012 will grow larger than the entire defense budget. Currently 43 cents of every federal dollar spent is borrowed.
This kind of dependency is antithetical to our tradition of self-reliance. Pick up any honest textbook about American history and the march of America is about freedom and opportunity. On the day of the invasion of the greatest army of liberation ever assembled, General Dwight D. Eisenhower told his armed forces “The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” These men are often called “The Greatest Generation.
Succeeding generations may call our own “the debt generation” as their dreams become enslaved to deficits so colossal that they sap their entrepreneurial spirit, savings, and earning potential.
Big government activists are already using the BP oil spill to double down on their claim that the federal government is too small, even while the federal response is crippled by a multilayered bureaucratic decision making process and excessive regulation. Others say the BP oil spill is the perfect sign that America’s economic and moral might has peaked.
In his 1993 Inaugural address, President Clinton said, “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” It’s a simple yet profound point. Similarly, the primary reason Russell Kirk penned The Roots of American Order in 1974 was to remind his country of the moral bedrock at its base, and to thereby show the way to how it could maintain greatness. In the first chapter, Kirk quotes a passage from the book of Job saying if the nation lacks foundation and order “even the light is like darkness.”
As American citizens pontificate about the future of America this July 4th, they should ask themselves what they can do to curb the contraction of liberty and promote its expansion. It is the citizens, thankfully, who will decide America’s destiny.
Song Of The Day #350
As requested by Joe Delk for this 4th of July edition of Ranch Radio, here is Diamond Rio performing In God We Trust.
NMSU men’s rodeo team places in top 10 nationally
The New Mexico State University Rodeo team continued their national winning streak at the 2010 College National Finals Rodeo June 12-19 in Casper, Wyo.NMSU sent 10 student athletes to this year’s CNFR. To qualify for the CNFR, a student must place in the top three in their event in the region, or place in the top two in the all-around standings.
Bo Simpson, of Las Cruces, N.M., won first place in round one of the tie-down roping. JoDan Mirabal, of Grants, N.M., placed 14th. In round two, Johnny Salvo, of Horse Springs, N.M., and Simpson received fourth and 20th, respectively. Simpson placed seventh, Mirabal placed 10th and Salvo placed 12th in round three.
In round two of the team roping, Rodee Walraven, header, of Datil, N.M., and Salvo, heeler, placed seventh. They also placed sixth in round three, with Mirabal, header, and Corban Livingston, heeler, of El Paso, Texas, placing seventh. Walraven and Salvo came back to win third place in the short go.
Jordan Bassett, of Dewey, Ariz., placed fifth in round one and 12th in round two of the barrel racing.
In round one of the breakaway roping, Staci Stanbrough, of Capitan, N.M., received second, with teammate Jessica Silva, of Tularosa, N.M., placing 17th. Belen, N.M., native Carleigh Marr placed 12th in round two.
Stanbrough also placed 13th in round three of the goat tying.
In the final standings, the men’s team placed sixth overall and the women’s team placed 16th. Salvo received the honor of the 2010 CNFR Reserve All-Around Cowboy, and Simpson’s horse, “Shorts My Fancy,” was named the American Quarter Horse Association Reserve Champion Men’s Horse of the Year.
“The team represented NMSU awesomely both in the arena and in the community. All of our kids spent at least one or more of their days filling sand bags for the Red Cross up there. They are great kids and I am proud to have them on our team,” said Megan Corey Albrecht, assistant NMSU Rodeo coach and 2008 National Goat Tying Champion.
NMSU
Stanbrough wins Walt Garrison Top Hand Award
New Mexico State University all-around cowgirl Staci Stanbrough accepted the Walt Garrison Top Hand Award during College National Finals Rodeo in Casper. The Garrison Award is given annually to the individual who exemplifies the qualities of initiative, loyalty, tenacity, commitment, honesty, perseverance, integrity and leadership. The award is named for Walt Garrison, the former pro football player for the Dallas Cowboys. This is the 11th year the award has been given during the CNFR. Stanbrough and NMSU will each receive $2,500. Stanbrough also received a belt buckle commemorating her award. Maintaining a 4.0 gpa throughout her four years, Stanbrough has worked diligently for the perfection of straight A's, always a personal challenge for her. Her high school academic record was the same perfect 4.0. Stanbrough has accomplished her academic excellence while rodeoing fulltime on the NMSU women's rodeo team, qualifying for Nationals three of her four years in college. During the CNFR, Stanbrough was elected the Student President of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association...more
Friday, July 02, 2010
Damning report on oil spill response
The Democratic congressional majority has had little stomach for its duty of overseeing the Obama administration. Unfortunately, this has resulted in strictly partisan oversight as Republicans on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee step into the vacuum. But at least there’s someone keeping an eye on this administration, because the press hasn’t always been so hot on it. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the committee’s ranking member, has announced he will release a report later today on the oil spill response. It appears to bolster criticisms from both the Left and the Right that have rained down on the administration since this disaster began. Here is part of the preview he provides: Phantom Assets “The number of assets claimed [by the White House], however, does not appear to match what is actually in the field. This is corroborated by Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, who shared a similar story with investigators. BP and Coast Guard provided Mr. Nungesser with a map of the Gulf allegedly pinpointing the exact locations of 140 skimmers cleaning up oil. Sensing that the chart may have been somewhat inaccurate, Mr. Nungesser requested a flyover of the assets for verification. After three cancelled trips, officials admitted to Mr. Nungesser that only 31 of the 140 skimmers were ever deployed. The rest were sitting at the docks. According to Mr. Nungesser, the chart appeared to have been fabricated.”...more
You can view the report here.
You can view the report here.
Volunteers ready but left out of oil spill cleanup
The Coast Guard said there have been 107 offers of help from 44 nations, ranging from technical advice to skimmer boats and booms. But many of those offers are weeks old, and only a small number have been accepted, with the vast majority still under review, according to a list kept by the State Department. A report prepared by investigators with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., detailed one case in which the Dutch government offered April 30 to provide four oil skimmers that collectively could process more than 6 million gallons of oily water a day. It took seven weeks for the U.S. to approve the offer. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Thursday scorned the idea that "somehow it took the command 70 days to accept international help."...more
Investigation of fatal bear mauling could take months
If history is any guide, it could be months before wildlife officials finish their investigation into the June 17 death of a man near Yellowstone Park killed by a grizzly that had just been trapped, tranquilized and released. Seventy year-old botanist Ewrin Evert of Park Ridge, IL was killed near his cabin on Kitty Creek, about seven miles from the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. There were no witnesses. On June 29, Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team leader Chuck Schwartz told the Associated Press, "federal wildlife authorities outside the team will conduct the investigation." How long can Evert's widow, daughter, and friends expect to wait before the investigation is completed? On October 30, 2001 a hunter field dressing an elk was killed by a grizzly on the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area northeast of Missoula, Mont. There were no witnesses to the incident. The report was released on December 14, 2001. The investigation of Evert's death promises to be contentious. Wildlife officials claim a trail leading to the bear trapping site, and the trap site itself, were closed. Evert's family strongly disagrees. It's not known if the Park County Sheriff's Department will verify claims the area was closed, or investigate Evert's death...more
Forests of red tape
Some $30 million in federal funds authorized by Congress to clear beetle-killed trees in Colorado’s high country has been bollixed up by a federal planning process and, as a result, isn’t getting into the forests to do the work it’s meant to do. Udall worked hard to ensure the $30 million was authorized in the federal budget for the 2010 fiscal year. Once it was, affected communities expected the money would be put to work by now — the heart of the summer fire season — clearing beetle-killed trees near towns and rural residential areas. After all, a major reason for allocating the money was to protect communities from fire danger. Instead, it has been bogged down in a planning process involving three federal agencies that are supposedly trying to identify where the top priorities are for tree removal. Setting priorities for spending the money and removing trees is definitely important. But it shouldn’t be an excuse for doing nothing, nine months after the fiscal year began. Planning is not an end in itself. At least it shouldn’t be. The Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service obviously need to pick up the pace...more
Forest Service, Ad Council launch integrated 'Smokey the Bear' campaign
The US Forest Service and the nonprofit National Association of State Foresters (NASF) have partnered with The Ad Council to launch this year's “Smokey the Bear” forest fire-prevention campaign. The effort launched June 30. This year's version of the 66-year-old campaign is an integrated effort that includes TV spots, static and rich media banner ads, e-mail, mobile and social media. Draftfcb, the pro bono agency on the account since 1944, created the campaign, while creative agency Animax worked on the social media components. “Smokey the Bear's message has evolved from just a prevention message to an intervention message,” said Ellyn Fisher, VP of PR and social media at The Ad Council. “It is not only telling people to take precautions, but to act like Smokey and intervene when you see someone acting irresponsibly.”...moreFrom prevention to intervention - sounds like the story of our government.
21 Die in Gun Battle Near U.S. Border
Nearly two dozen people were killed in a Mexican border area on Thursday during a fierce gun battle between suspected members of rival drug gangs, Mexican authorities said. The bloodshed took place only 12 miles from the U.S. border, in Sonora, a state that is a popular tourist destination famed for its beaches but whose interior has increasingly been consumed by drug violence. Prosecutors said the battle was a showdown between two rival drug and migrant-trafficking gangs, who sprayed gunfire at one another in a sparsely populated area near a dirt road between the hamlets of Tubutama and Saric, an area frequented by traffickers, the Associated Press reported. The shooting culminated in the deaths of 21 people, with Mexican authorities taking another nine people into custody, including six with bullet wounds. The Sonora state Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that nine people were captured by police at the scene of the shootings, six of whom had been wounded in the confrontation, according to the A.P. Eight vehicles and seven weapons were also seized. All of the victims were believed to be members of the gangs...more
Prosecutor Shot Dead in Mexican Border City
The prosecutor in charge of internal affairs at the Attorney General’s Office of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua and one of her bodyguards were shot dead in the border city of Juarez, state officials told Efe on Thursday. Sandra Ivonne Salas was killed around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the northwestern section of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico’s murder capital. Salas’s slaying pushed the number of murders in Juarez, located across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, to 303 in June, making it the deadliest month of the year, state officials said. The prosecutor, who was in charge of internal affairs, analysis and evaluation of operations at the AG’s office, was traveling with two bodyguards when she was attacked. One of the bodyguards escaped unharmed. Salas was responsible for evaluating the performance of AG’s office employees assigned to the special investigation units in the northern section of Ciudad Juarez. She was also heading up the investigation of Maximo Miranda Figueroa, a former AG’s office agent arrested in Costa Rica and accused of stealing public funds, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice. Salas, moreover, was involved in the probe into the Feb. 4 killing of Carlos Soltero Cano, a 33-year-old AG’s office employee in charge of an anti-kidnapping unit...more
Five Mexican Governors Have Received Death Threats
The governors of five Mexican states have received death threats from organized crime groups, Tabasco Gov. Andres Granier Melo said. Granier Melo said he and the governors of Veracruz, Fidel Herrera; Tamaulipas, Eugenio Hernandez; Sinaloa, Jesus Alberto Aguilar; and Chihuahua, Jose Reyes Baeza, all members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, “have (received) threats from criminals.” “The federal government has full knowledge” of the threats, Granier Melo said in a statement. The Tabasco governor attended the funeral Tuesday of Rodolfo Torre Cantu, who was running for the governorship of the northeastern state of Tamaulipas at the head of a coalition led by the PRI and was killed along with four other people by gunmen...more
Ballistics tests run: Workers at City Hall unfazed by shots that hit building
The bullets that hit El Paso City Hall on Tuesday -- apparently from an AK-47 rifle -- could have easily come from a shooting about half a mile away in Juárez, officials and experts said. El Paso police would not disclose anything on the shooting Wednesday, but said ballistics tests are being conducted on two bullets found at City Hall. Five bullets hit the west side walls, one hit the north end of the building and another went into an office. Police spokesman Darrel Petry would not offer any new information on the shooting, but Mexican police said the bullets might have come from an AK-47 rifle, which fires a bullet capable of traveling more than half a mile. Petry said the trajectory of the bullets indicate to police that they were losing some of their velocity when they struck the building and might have come from a fatal shooting that occurred about half a mile away in Juárez. City Manager Joyce Wilson said the group of employees who were meeting in the office where a bullet pierced through "hit the floor and crawled out of the office."...more
Gunfire from Juarez usually heard, not seen
The gunfire from Juarez that struck El Paso City Hall on Tuesday was unusual. But it is not uncommon for U.S. Border Patrol agents to hear the sound of gunshots from Mexico. Border Patrol agents posted along the Rio Grande have reported hearing shots as the violence has boiled in Juarez, though officials said it is uncommon for bullets to cross the border and strike in the U.S. "Typically, agents hear gunshots south of the border but as far as an incident like this (City Hall shooting) no," said Agent Ramiro Cordero, a spokesman for the Border Patrol. Cordero said agents are vigilant, especially because of the drug violence in Juarez that has killed more than 5,000 people since 2008. El Paso police said they believe the seven shots that hit City Hall were rounds from a shooting in which a Mexican federal police officer was killed on a Juarez street near the Rio Grande. For residents near the border, the sound of guns can be surreal. The City Hall shooting is not without historical precedent. About 100 years ago during the Mexican Revolution, El Paso buildings and El Pasoans were hit by shots fired from Juarez. The brick walls on the south side of the old laundry building on South Santa Fe Street still have the pockmarks of revolutionary bullets. In 1919, things got so bad that 3,600 U.S. troops rolled into Juarez to stop the fighting and help protect U.S. lives after three soldiers were hit by stray bullets, according to El Paso Times archives...more
Unfortunately, you can't believe a thing Cordero says.
Unfortunately, you can't believe a thing Cordero says.
The Southern Border Could Get Much Worse
Police Chief Jeff Kirkham of the border town Nogales, Arizona, told Tucson Channel 9 (ABC) news that he has received threats that the Mexican drug cartels will start using snipers to target on- and off-duty police officers from across the border. Given the fact that Nogales sits right on the border with the town of Heroica Nogales on the other side, the threat is entirely credible and feasible. Heroica Nogales would provide ample places to hide within sniper range of many parts of Nogales. With an effective range of over one mile, modern rifles could easily target U.S. citizens and police in an eerie echo of the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian war. If snipers start setting up shop in Heroica Nogales, we certainly won't be able to count on the Mexican military to take care of the problem. The cartels clearly don't fear the Mexican military, given the enormous intimidation and bribery that they are able to bring to the table. Leaked stories of massive Mexican military corruption and intimidation are commonplace in the border regions. Given that the Mexican military would be of dubious worth, what options are left for the Obama administration to deal with the problem? Would Obama fire predator missiles into Mexico from drones to take out snipers, or would the risk of a real military conflict with the regular Mexican army and civilian casualties make that option out of the question? Would counter-snipers be employed to take out drug cartel snipers? Given Obama's reluctance to deploy anything more than logistic personnel from the National Guard to the border, the answer is likely "no." If Obama will not authorize return fire, what is the game plan for the police and civilians being shot at from across the border? If Obama did authorize return fire across the border, how would Mexico react to military snipers from our side shooting drug cartel snipers from theirs? Finally, what would the rules of engagement be? Would American military snipers be authorized to take out anyone deemed a threat, or would the life of a police officer or civilian have to be taken before they can fire back? Even the military will admit that counter-sniper operations are complex and fraught with risk...more
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Deepwater Disaster
Washington is finally accepting international help for dealing with the crude spill in the Gulf. It took only 70 days of gushing for the White House to agree to the aid. The delay is inexcusable. On Day 3 of the Katrina wreckage, the Bush administration waived coastal laws, including the Jones Act, to keep oil production and shipping moving. The White House, widely condemned for its handling of the hurricane's aftermath, didn't go begging for a waiver, wring its hands or consult with union leaders. Michael Chertoff simply said "I am exercising my discretion and authority to waive the coastwise laws" because "such waivers are necessary in the interest of national defense." As director of Homeland Security, Chertoff had the authority — and the backing of an executive office that was hustling to prevent the Katrina problems from spreading. On Wednesday, after as much as 137 million gallons have flowed from the broken BP well, the plodding Obama White House announced it was accepting help from 12 countries — of the 27 that offered — in cleaning up the mess. What took so long? This White House has been scolded for refusing to waive the Jones Act, a union-backed protectionist law that says the vessels that carry merchandise between U.S. ports must be built and owned by U.S. citizens, and flagged in this country...more
Fort Carson, critics fight over heavier Pinon use
Fort Carson will be sending two battalions of the 4th Infantry Division to the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in August for several weeks of training — signaling an Army effort to increase its use of the 238,000-acre training ground, even as critics argue that effort defies a U.S. federal court ruling last year. Col. Robert McLaughlin, garrison commander at the Mountain Post, candidly acknowledged in a recent interview that the Army has made little use of Pinon Canyon for the past five years or longer, but intends to change that starting this summer. "Our plan is not to go above historical levels of training at Pinon Canyon," McLaughlin said. "We have not conducted brigade level training there in the past five years. On an annual basis, you'll be seeing more battalion rotations down to Pinon Canyon." For opponents, such as the Not 1 More Acre! group which sued the Army, the court ruling meant the Army is sharply restricted in what it can do at Pinon Canyon today, never mind expansion. In an e-mail response last week, the group said Matsch's decision means the Army cannot conduct more than four months of training per year on Pinon Canyon, as spelled out in the Army's original environmental analysis dating back to the 1980s when Pinon Canyon was established. "Historically, the Army has never used Pinon Canyon more than once or twice a year," the statement said. That was based on the Army's own records of its use of the 238,000-acre site...moreThey haven't used what they have for 5 years and still claim they need an expansion?
The non-use for 5 years has apparently become an embarrassment and an impediment to their expansion plans, so they are now going to make sure it gets used.
The department of defense owns 30 million acres, 52% of which the Army controls.
They don't need more land. In fact, they probably don't need all the land they currently own. What they should do is bring better management to current holdings.
Johnson wants to meet with upset ranchers
Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said he is willing to meet with ranchers to discuss their concerns about their grazing activities on federal grasslands that would be part of a 48,000 wilderness area near the Badlands National Park. Johnson said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning that his bill to create the federal wilderness -- the first on national grasslands -- will protect the land without infringing on the existing rights of landowners to graze livestock and control noxious weeds and prairie dogs. Most of the land already is managed as an area without roads, he said, so the wilderness designation will extend that protection in law. "It is managed as wilderness country now, and this does not take away from that," Johnson said. "If anything, the rights ranchers have now will be improved under this wilderness bill."...moreSenator, grazing was an after thought in the Wilderness Act; a compromise to get the bill passed. It is stuck under the Special Provisions section of the bill and is considered by many to be a nonconforming use.
There is no grazing occurring on the original allotments in the Gila Wilderness. Come on Senator, look what wilderness has done to ranchers all over the west.
And I'm sick and tired of having politicians, environmentalists and the media tell me grazing, border security, etc. "will be improved" under wilderness. It's a distortion of the facts used to bamboozle the local folks and get them to agree to wilderness designations.
Well, the local folks are catching on and you're going to need a new ruse to fool them.
Shooter at BLM employees pleads not guilty
A man who allegedly shot at two Bureau of Land Management agents pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in Cochise County Superior Court Monday. Tracy Levi Thibodeaux, 69, is charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a rifle against Tim Rinehart and Mark Brunk on June 5. Sheriff's deputies had apprehended Thibodeaux on Thursday, June 10. He had evaded arrest until that Thursday morning when Cochise County Sheriff's deputies took him into custody without incident near the post office in Bowie. Thibodeaux was booked into the Cochise County Jail on two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault, said Carol Capas, spokesperson for the sheriff's office. On June 5, Thibodeaux reportedly opened fire on two BLM law enforcement rangers after they followed his white pickup in the area of Happy Camp Canyon and Apache Pass Road near Bowie. The rangers, unhurt by the rifle shots, continued to follow Thibodeaux until he eventually returned down the same road, at which point the two rangers in pursuit opened fire on him and the truck, Capas said. Thibodeaux continued down Happy Camp Canyon to his residence, where multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement eventually gathered and an armed standoff ensued with a woman, 48-year-old Kimberly Adgurson...more
Bears attack camper, goat at Philmont Scout Ranch
One bear was killed and conservation officers were looking for another bear Wednesday following separate incidents in which bears scratched a camper and injured a goat at Philmont Scout Ranch. The Department of Game and Fish set a trap for a bear that ran off after it jumped on a tent and took a swipe at a camper at about 5:40 a.m. Wednesday. The adult camper received a deep scratch to his face and was treated at the Philmont health facility. Another man in the tent was not injured. The men had secured their garbage and food by suspending it in a tree and had stored their toiletries and clothes they wore while cooking away from the tent. At about 6 a.m., another bear attacked a goat near the Philmont museum and had the animal in its mouth when a staff member heard the commotion and was able to chase the bear off. Another staff member tracked down the bear and killed it. The bear attack on the camper was the second bear-human attack in the past four days. Monday, a bear pulled a young woman from her tent while she was sleeping with two companions in a tent in the Sandia Mountains. That bear was trapped and subsequent tests for rabies were negative.The bear that attacked the Philmont camper also will be killed and tested for rabies, as required by state law...Press Release
English trail riders make it to northern New Mexico
Last weekend, James Locke and his crew were staying at Conchas Lake in northeastern New Mexico. By this weekend, they hope to be near the New Mexico-Colorado state line. They took off in early April from Fort Belknap, a couple of hours west of Dallas-Fort Worth. They plan to finish in Montana in early October. About a dozen riders, almost all English, are rotating in and out throughout the expedition. Locke and company – they call their trek the Long Ride – are following in the footsteps of two Western pioneers, Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. The duo blazed a cattle trail nearly 150 years ago through Texas, New Mexico and points north. Locke, who has led expeditions around the world for nearly 30 years, was intrigued about the Goodnight-Loving Trail after reading about the trailblazers and watching the Lonesome Dove miniseries. A driver of a supply vehicle quit after just a few days. "It wasn't his cup of tea," Locke said. One horse, suffering an injured hock, was sent back to its owner. A few riders have suffered heatstroke as temperatures have climbed as high as 115 degrees. Last week, a hail and sheets of rain pounded the riders. A nearby rancher rescued the riders and horses, but tents and photo equipment were damaged...more
Song Of The Day #349
Staying out west, Ranch Radio presents Louise Massey & Her Westerners performing Bunkhouse Jamboree.I've written before about Louise Massey and her two brothers who were raised on a ranch near Roswell, NM. Go here for that.
The tune is available on their 22 track CD Louise Massey and the Westerners, Ridin' High 1933-1941.
'Cross-border gunfire' raises Texas security fears
A deadly shootout between gunmen and Mexican police that left seven bullet holes in El Paso City Hall has renewed calls for tighter border security, even as local authorities say little can be done to stop stray bullets from crossing the U.S.-Mexican border. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wrote President Barack Obama on Wednesday to say Tuesday's "cross-border gunfire" was more proof that the state "is under constant assault from illegal activity threatening a porous border." Mexican authorities said the shootout began between police and armed suspects in Ciudad Juarez — a city plagued by drug violence just across the Rio Grande from El Paso — as officers were trying to investigate a vehicle with no license plates in a border-area parking lot within view of El Paso City Hall. Police and the suspects exchanged at least 40 shots, and El Paso police believe seven of those bullets flew over the border — traveling more than a half-mile — and hit city hall. No one was injured in El Paso, but a Mexican federal police officer and a bystander in Juarez were killed. In his letter to Obama, Abbott said "good fortune" prevented any injuries when a single bullet crashed through a ninth-floor office window but insisted the incident was evidence of the need for more border security. "Luck and good fortune are not effective border enforcement policies," Abbott wrote. "The shocking reality of cross-border gunfire proves the cold reality: American lives are at risk."...more
Official says 'gamble' on 'virtual' fence didn't pay off
The U.S. official in charge of the troubled effort to seal the U.S.-Mexico border said Wednesday that the recent wave of deadly violence in the region is a sign that his efforts are bearing fruit. "I would not say it is a sign of success," said Mark Borkowski, executive director of the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) at the Department of Homeland Security. "The increase in violence is a symptom that the border is more secure, because it is a reaction to it."...more
Following his logic, would we conclude that if the violence subsided the border would be less secure?
The article continues:
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Mr. Borkowski sought to explain the delays and cost overruns that have beset his office's highest- profile program, dubbed "SBInet" — a $1.1 billion "virtual fence" that would use remote sensors, radar and other technology to monitor and secure the southwest border. He said that SBInet was "a put all your eggs in one basket kind of a move" and a "reasonable gamble," given the urgency of the problem. "We did not do our due diligence on what the right answer was" to the challenge of using technology to monitor the most remote and inhospitable stretches of the border, he said. Instead, "We decided to use the power of competition" to try to identify those answers. "The gamble didn't pay off," he said.
Following his logic, would we conclude that if the violence subsided the border would be less secure?
The article continues:
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Mr. Borkowski sought to explain the delays and cost overruns that have beset his office's highest- profile program, dubbed "SBInet" — a $1.1 billion "virtual fence" that would use remote sensors, radar and other technology to monitor and secure the southwest border. He said that SBInet was "a put all your eggs in one basket kind of a move" and a "reasonable gamble," given the urgency of the problem. "We did not do our due diligence on what the right answer was" to the challenge of using technology to monitor the most remote and inhospitable stretches of the border, he said. Instead, "We decided to use the power of competition" to try to identify those answers. "The gamble didn't pay off," he said.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Power lines top western governors’ agenda
New transmission lines are critical to developing the alternative electricity production needed to meet demand in the coming years, governors of states in the West said Monday. The need for new energy development and dangers of climate change topped the agenda at the annual meeting of the Western Governors Association, where participants recognized that more renewable energy is a priority that will require considerable private investment. About half of the governors in the West are participating in the event. The governors want to find a way to fast-track the construction of expensive, lengthy transmission lines to carry wind and solar power from rural to large urban areas. But a conflict exists over the placement of such lines. Environmentalists don’t want the lines dissecting national forests, and many private landowners are also resistant. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who chairs the association, said without new lines there won’t be much more new energy development. The lines must be placed on federal public land that dominates much of the region, and traditional delays in permits and other disputes must end, he said...more
Protecting wildlife will require collaboration, Western governors told
he challenge for state leaders, said Idaho wildlife professor Michael Scott, is to protect landscapes large enough to be ecologically significant while at the same time keeping those lands economically viable. The task will require transboundary partnerships, he said, because local solutions fail in a world of global problems. Within this century, he said, the country's population is expected to balloon to half a billion - and managing for wildlife will be a tremendous challenge in that world. Scott, who also is a research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, recommends finding ways to generate public support for wild corridors. Large landowners will be necessary partners with government, he said, because "this is a changing landscape; it's moving from ‘wildlife friendly' to ‘wildlife challenged.' " Down in Colorado and New Mexico, the governors already have signed an agreement creating corridors for elk along their shared border. Canada and the Pacific states have joined in a collaborative effort to protect their shared ocean. Up in Montana and British Columbia, leaders have crafted plans to protect the transboundary wilds around Glacier and Waterton national parks. Future agreements must focus on the best habitat, Scott said, rather than on the high mountain scenery usually associated with protected places. "We have done a heck of a job protecting rocks and ice," Scott said, but in the process have left our parks isolated - too small and too fragmented to sustain natural systems...more
These articles should tell you who is calling the shots at the WGA. Unemployment is up, economy is down and state sovereignty is being trampled each day, and they are worrying about wildlife corridors.
Besides, what happens when one of those renewable energy pipelines needs to go through one of their wildlife corridors? Will they still be calling for environmental short cuts?
These articles should tell you who is calling the shots at the WGA. Unemployment is up, economy is down and state sovereignty is being trampled each day, and they are worrying about wildlife corridors.
Besides, what happens when one of those renewable energy pipelines needs to go through one of their wildlife corridors? Will they still be calling for environmental short cuts?
The Windsurfer's Windfall - Kerry Cashes In
Last year, in his ongoing struggle to remain relevant, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) took the legislative reins on the contentious issue of climate change. Now Kerry, against the backdrop of an oil-soaked Gulf, is hoping to ride the current crisis to push his American Power Act to the top of the Democrats' legislative agenda and propel himself back into the national spotlight. Kerry has campaigned unusually hard for the bill, berating Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle, often cornering and lecturing them on the imminent perils of climate change and the necessity of his bill...According to Senator Kerry's statements for the last fiscal year, as of December 31, 2009, he and his wife owned large stakes in numerous prominent energy companies, many of which are currently lobbying Congress for legislation aimed at energy reform and stand the most to gain from passage of the APA. Yeatman and Lott singled out GE, BP, ConocoPhillips, Dupont, and Exelon as among the big winners in the APA scheme. GE in particular has been a staunch advocate of the APA. Surprisingly, or not, Kerry holds about $20 million worth of investments in all of these companies, among a slew of other energy sector giants...From these investments Kerry accrued anywhere from $753,000 to roughly $5 million in unearned income from dividends and capital gains in the last year alone. In one instance, Senator Kerry sold his stake in Apache Corp. for a nifty dividend of up to $1 million...more
Settlement reached in large N.D. saltwater spill
A settlement has been reached in a federal lawsuit by two ranchers over damages from a million-gallon saltwater spill in what has been called the worst oil patch environmental accident in North Dakota history. Attorneys for both sides said Tuesday they finished details on the settlement and would file documents in federal court to have the case dismissed. Terms of the settlement are confidential, the attorneys said. The 2008 lawsuit against Zenergy stems from an early 2006 spill of nearly 1 million gallons of saltwater, a byproduct of drilling for oil, from a pipeline. While most of the saltwater was quickly captured, enough of it spilled into a stock pond, a beaver dam and Charbonneau Creek southwest of Williston, N.D., to kill fish and turtles for miles and make the fresh water unfit for cattle or people...more
Groups Speak Out on FDA’s Antibiotic Proposal
The Food and Drug Administration's proposal to limit antibiotic use in food-animal production is drawing more fire. The basic premise of the proposed guidelines is to limit the use of antibiotics deemed “medically important antibiotics for humans”. The reasoning, which is highly debated, relates to the prospect of trying to address antibiotic resistance. "Top scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health recently told a U.S. House committee that there is no scientific study linking antibiotic use in food-animal production with antibiotic resistance," cites the National Pork Producers Council. Among the FDA provisions is a significant increase in prescriptions and veterinarian oversight or consultation required for antibiotic use on the farm. But there is serious concern as to whether there are even enough veterinarians available for such oversight, as the shortage of food-animal veterinarians is well known and growing. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association also defended current producer practices, noting the industry's Beef Quality Assurance program has been training cattle ranchers about the safe and appropriate use of antibiotics for more than two decades. The U.S. pork industry has a similar program called Pork Quality Assurance Plus, which the FDA has reviewed and approved. "Producers work with their veterinarians to develop animal health plans that include the judicious use of antibiotics," says NPPC President Sam Carney...more
Boxing: Rickard brought famous fight to Reno
Tex Rickard dreamt big and did big things. He chased gold in the Klondike and Nevada, sought diamonds in South Africa, built a cattle empire in South America and brought boxing out of the back alleys and smoky saloons and into the mainstream of American society. In his heyday, he promoted fights so big that even he remarked, "I ain't seen anything like it," when more than 100,000 people, including an estimated 2,000 millionaires, attended one of his fights. Most of all, the man who got his start in Nevada was a leader, the man who would step forward when others held back and be willing to let the chips fall as they may. Former heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, a principal in Rickard's greatest successes, called him "the greatest fight promoter of all time" and "as great a man as I ever met." He was born George Lewis Rickard in 1871 to Bob and Lucretia Rickard in Clay County, Mo. His family's nearest neighbor was Mrs. Zerelda Samuels, whose sons were Jesse and Frank James, the notorious outlaws...more
Baxter Black - Food Deserts
Many of us in the food producing business are watching with a suspicious eye, Mrs. Obama’s pending federally funded efforts to combat obesity in children. Our skepticism is justified because every special interest group from global warming to UFO conspirators somehow wind up casting blame on modern agriculture. Nevertheless, obesity apparently is a serious problem and worthy of attention. Her “Let’s Move!” web page states that “6.5 million children (live) more than a mile away from a supermarket. These communities are now called “Food Deserts.” More than a mile! It is obvious that Mrs. Obama and I live in different realities. I would guess many who read this column live more than a mile from a supermarket. I can picture a rancher’s wife twenty miles north of Ekalaka, MT, a farmer’s wife in Oyen, Alberta who gets snowed in for 3 days, or a family riding out a hurricane, flood and 5-day power outage on the South Carolina coast. Food Desert? I guess what is most unsettling for me, is the helplessness Mrs. Obama ascribes to the urban parents of obese children. She assumes they are incapable of planning a trip to the store, teaching their children discipline, managing a budget and, God forbid, having to walk, drive or bus more than a mile of couple times a week to shop. Truthfully, no one expects them to grow a garden or can their own food. But I would bet that if these helpless parents had a grocery store right next door it still wouldn’t decrease children’s obesity...moreThe real aridity is in the minds of these DC do gooders.
Song Of The Day #348
Staying out west this week Ranch Radio brings you Saddle Serenade by Johnny Bond & The Red River Valley Boys. I sure like the way they handle the yodel break.
You will find the tune on his 31 track CD Country & Western: Standard Trascriptions.
You will find the tune on his 31 track CD Country & Western: Standard Trascriptions.
Gunfire from Mexico pelts El Paso City Hall, enters office
Several gunshots apparently fired from Juárez hit El Paso City Hall on Tuesday afternoon. No one was hurt, but nerves were rattled at City Hall in what is thought to be the first cross-border gunfire during a drug war that has engulfed Juárez since 2008. El Paso police spokesman Darrel Petry said investigators do not think City Hall was intentionally targeted but rather was struck by stray shots. "It does appear the rounds may have come from an incident in Juárez," Petry said. City Hall, whose east and west sides are covered by glass windows, sits on a hill about a half-mile north of the Rio Grande. About 4:50 p.m., city workers were going about a regular day when a bullet penetrated a ninth-floor west side window of the office of Assistant City Manager Pat Adauto. Police said the bullet flew through the window, then through an interior wall before hitting a picture frame and stopping. Petry said an inspection by police and city staff found that City Hall was hit by seven gunshots, which appeared to be losing velocity when they struck. Six of the rounds hit stucco walls on the north and south sides of the building. Two bullets were recovered -- the one that went through the window and one that bounced off an exterior wall. The size of the bullets was not disclosed...more
Mexico: Where Bullets Are Intimidating the Ballot
Last Friday, June 25, gubernatorial candidate Rodolfo Torre raised both his arms to the sky in front of 15,000 cheering white-shirted supporters in a baseball stadium minutes from the Rio Grande. After he promised security in his violence-ridden border state of Tamaulipas, the crowd erupted to his campaign anthem, sung to the catchy tune of the smash hit "I Gotta Feeling" by U.S. pop band Black Eyed Peas. They had reason for celebration. Opinion polls all concurred that the mustachioed physician would win the July 4 election by a landslide of more than 30 points. But on Monday, as Torre left the state capital to conclude his campaign, assailants showered his convoy with gunfire from automatic rifles and heavy-caliber weapons, killing him instantly. Army commanders said the attack bore all the signs of the Zetas, a paramilitary drug gang that was born in the state. Mexico's highest-profile political assassination since the 1994 murder of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was a blow not only to Torre's supporters but to the nation's entire ailing democracy. A key problem is that many of the polls are in the states hardest hit by the relentless drug war, including Chihuahua, home to Ciudad Juárez, which has a reputation for being one of the most dangerous cities in the world, and Sinaloa, the cradle of Mexican organized crime. Tamaulipas, a state that shares a border with Texas and has three of the busiest land cargo-crossing points into the U.S., has this year been engulfed by bloody battles between the Zetas and their old masters in the Gulf cartel...more
Fewer troops coming to NM border than in previous deployment
The increase in troops to protect New Mexico's border with Mexico will only be a fraction of what it was during Operation Jump Start. During the height of Operation Jump Start, which was conducted from June 2006 until August 2008, there were about 1,000 National Guard soldiers in New Mexico. They built bollards to try to deter illegal immigrants from coming into the U.S. from Mexico, they built portions of a border fence near Columbus, and they provided surveillance and patrol along the border. But this time, only 72 National Guard soldiers - all coming from the New Mexico National Guard - will be added at the border. Currently, there are as many as 100 state National Guard troops at the border on a daily basis. The soldiers to be assigned to the New Mexico border will account for only six percent of the 1,200 National Guard soldiers that President Obama has ordered to patrol the 1,954 miles of shared border the U.S. has with Mexico. But Bingaman said the additional troops, combined with added National Guard troops that Gov. Bill Richardson sent to the border in early April, could make New Mexico's border safer. "While we have made important strides in reducing the number of people illegally entering our country, we still have some more work to do when it comes to addressing drug-related criminal activity along the border," Bingaman said. "This increased National Guard presence will be helpful as we continue to find permanent solutions to securing our border communities." But Bingaman added he and other members of New Mexico's congressional delegation will be keeping close watch on the border to ensure that there is no increase in activity as a result of stepped-up enforcement in neighboring states. "We want to make sure there is no more shift of illegal activity," McCartin said...more
Let's see, Arizona gets 524 agents and NM get 72.
Bingaman wants to designate a quarter of a million acres near the border as wilderness where the Border Patrol can't use motorized vehicles.
Increased enforcement in Arizona, when combined with Bingaman's wilderness designations, will definitely lead to a "shift of illegal activity" and the Senator knows it.
I continue to hope he will drop the band-aide changes he's offered so far, and instead adopt the compromise proposed by the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce which has been endorsed by many important groups and entities.
Let's see, Arizona gets 524 agents and NM get 72.
Bingaman wants to designate a quarter of a million acres near the border as wilderness where the Border Patrol can't use motorized vehicles.
Increased enforcement in Arizona, when combined with Bingaman's wilderness designations, will definitely lead to a "shift of illegal activity" and the Senator knows it.
I continue to hope he will drop the band-aide changes he's offered so far, and instead adopt the compromise proposed by the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce which has been endorsed by many important groups and entities.
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