A six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would directly put more than 9,000 people out of work and indirectly affect another 14,000 jobs, according to a memo from the nation's top drilling regulator. The federal document, which weighed the economic impact and alternatives to the ban, was sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on July 10 by Michael Bromwich. Salazar issued a moratorium in June, but it was struck down by a federal judge in New Orleans after oil and gas drilling interests said it wasn't justified following the Gulf oil spill. The Obama administration issued a new moratorium July 12 — two days after the memo — that stressed new evidence of safety concerns. The White House hopes the revised ban will pass muster with the courts. Some energy experts, engineering consultants and Gulf Coast leaders have joined Big Oil to ask Salazar to change his mind. Drilling was safe before the BP spill, they said, and Gulf communities that depend on the industry were suffering unfairly...more
Monday, August 23, 2010
23,000 Workers affected by Gulf oil drill ban
A six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would directly put more than 9,000 people out of work and indirectly affect another 14,000 jobs, according to a memo from the nation's top drilling regulator. The federal document, which weighed the economic impact and alternatives to the ban, was sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on July 10 by Michael Bromwich. Salazar issued a moratorium in June, but it was struck down by a federal judge in New Orleans after oil and gas drilling interests said it wasn't justified following the Gulf oil spill. The Obama administration issued a new moratorium July 12 — two days after the memo — that stressed new evidence of safety concerns. The White House hopes the revised ban will pass muster with the courts. Some energy experts, engineering consultants and Gulf Coast leaders have joined Big Oil to ask Salazar to change his mind. Drilling was safe before the BP spill, they said, and Gulf communities that depend on the industry were suffering unfairly...more
'Problem Wolves' Spur NM Suit
Ranchers and two southern New Mexico counties sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in federal court Friday for changing a policy about capturing cow-killing Mexican wolves without first conducting a study on the change's impact on humans. The lawsuit says that rules governing the federally-managed wolf reintroduction effort, launched in 1998, provided for the removal of wolves that prey on livestock in the recovery area of southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico. But since last year, Fish and Wildlife, in an effort to bolster the population of wild wolves, has stopped adhering to a 2005 standard operating procedure, known as SOP 13, that called for the removal or killing of wolves that preyed on three or more cattle in a one-year period. The lawsuit says that the rule about removing "problem wolves" is being ignored, and that a change in the policy requires an environmental study on the impact of the change under the National Environmental Policy Act...more
Oregon wolf hazing experiment tries to keep the predators away from cattle
Jason Cunningham studies the muddy trail ahead for wolf tracks as his horse lopes through a northeastern Oregon mountain canyon. An actual encounter with a wolf is rare in these mountains, even though the 30-year-old range rider knows from radio telemetry that more than a dozen wolves are nearby. He sees their tracks daily and often hears their mournful howls. "We're chasing a ghost with tracks," quips the bearded Cunningham as he reins in Drifty , his 10-year-old bay gelding, near the burbling waters of Big Sheep Creek. His panting Catahoula dog, Iris , throws herself down at the horse's feet. Cunningham's range riding job is sponsored by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the 530,000-member Defenders of Wildlife environmental group. He's a hazer on horseback, discouraging wolves from dining on Oregon ranchers' beef -- no shooting allowed. He often pounds a saddle for 30 miles a day, changing horses at noon to keep his three horses fresh, then sometimes switching to an ATV for nighttime patrol because wolves tend to be more active after dark...more
Montana meeting shows monument opposition mounting
Mistrust of the purported plans by the Interior Department to create a grasslands national monument — possibly with bison — on Montana's open plains was expressed by speaker after speaker at a meeting here Friday. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg, a Republican, said. "I don't trust 'em." The meeting drew just more than 200 people, who filled the bleachers in the gymnasium. They heard speeches from a panel of county commissioners and people with ranching interests, who said they oppose a monument designation and urged the crowd to get informed — and ready for battle. Seven of the eight people on Rehberg's panel spoke against the idea, but Sean Gerrity, president of the American Prairie Foundation, withheld judgment. APF runs a growing private grassland preserve in northeastern Montana, where genetically pure bison roam. Martha Kauffman, Bozeman-based managing director of the Northern Great Plains Program for WWF, said the group isn't in collusion with government land managers, as some people have suggested. Kauffman told the crowd that Western Montana has received most of the conservation focus in Montana, while the eastern part of the state is overlooked. "We like it that way," somebody in the crowd shouted...more
Livestock sale nets $286,000
With Tell Runyan and his steer projected on the big screen, auctioneer Tommy Williams is looking to make a deal. A chant of, “Do I have 51? Do I have 51?” echoes through the Curry County Events Center. Hearing none, Williams declares, “I just sold that steer for $5,000.” The sale was the first of 107 at the Curry County Junior Livestock sale, with sales totaling $286.764.30. That’s up from last year’s total of $254,000 between 112 animals. Proceeds from the animal sales go to the youth that raised the animals. Any profits they keep after the expenses of feeding and raising the animal are put into savings or rolled into next year’s projects. Prior to the sale, a free barbecue dinner is served. During the dinner, the youth bring refreshments and promote their animals. If their animal is purchased, it’s customary to make some sort of gift basket for the buyer. A box full of bread, apples, lemons and even a pineapple went to Joe Rhodes, who went in on a purchase with Bender GM and Public Land Commissioner candidate and Roosevelt County rancher Matt Rush. Rhodes, well-known as “Papa Joe” from Joe’s Boot Shop, said the sale is a good-faith transaction. “(It’s) because they’re my customers,” Rhodes said, before motioning jokingly toward auctioneer assistant Wayne Kinman, who propped himself up with a cane as he looked for bidders. “He’ll make you bid. He’s got a stick.”...more
BLM Raids Dalton Wilson’s Ranch After Judge Sandoval’s Acquittal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 21, 2010
(AUSTIN, NV) Just a year after being acquitted of an alleged criminal trespass by then Federal District Court Judge Brian Sandavol in a case brought by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Dalton Wilson drove home to his ranch last week to find the road blocked by BLM employees under order of Federal Judge Edward C. Reed. “I was by myself and they were packing guns. I don’t trust the BLM not to provoke an ‘incident’ as an excuse to hall me off in leg chains or worse. I went back to Austin and reported the incident to the Sheriff instead,” said Wilson.
Last year Wilson successfully defended his claim to 80 acres of land in Lander Co. Nevada before Judge Sandoval, defeating the BLM’s criminal trespass charge. “The BLM was trying to throw me in jail for living on a ranch which I bought from my predecessors in 1981. This land has been farmed and lived on continually for 100 years, property taxes have been paid on it and my predecessors applied for a patent to it in 1917. They received a patent for the adjoining 80 acres but it appears the patent and survey is missing from the official BLM record on this property,” Wilson commented.
The 73 year-old Wilson, who lives alone on his remote ranch surviving only on his social security check, has been in a David and Goliath battle for over ten years to protect his ranch from BLM bureaucrats intent on destroying his ranch. In a sad moment of Nevada history, Wilson was notified that the BLM raided his ranch, removed his personal belongings from his house and his livestock from his property.
The BLM, rather than merely appealing Sandoval’s acquittal, in an unusual move, brought a civil trespass charge against Wilson instead, raising the issue of double jeopardy.
“This is the strangest case I have ever seen,” remarked Ramona Morrison, NLSA Director, who has been following the case closely. “Wilson, after being acquitted and after repeated pleas to Judge Reed in this new case for a jury trial has never even been allowed a hearing before the Judge. Judge Reed has never ruled on the facts or law of this case and in fact is ignoring an Order from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals directing him to resolve the claims of the parties and to try this case.”
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a Mandate which is a stay until the claims have been litigated by the lower court and Judge Reed.
Don Alt, NLSA President, noted, “Reed seems to be acting in contemptuous disregard to the higher Court’s Order and Mandate and has issued what is tantamount to an edict from the bench allowing the BLM to forcibly interfere with Wilson’s property without due process of law.”
Reed’s order opened the door to the BLM to violate its own laws including the Federal Land Policy and Management Act when they physically blocked Wilson’s access to his home and the adjoining 80 acres on which there is no question of title.
“Dalton Wilson is only doing what the law clearly allows him to do and is being punished because he had the nerve to stand up for his Constitutionally protected rights,” said Morrison. “I am especially curious to know why Sheriff Unger allowed the federal government bureaucrats to conduct an unlawful law enforcement in violation of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act as well as the Nevada Constitution and law.”
According to Wilson when he asked Sandoval during one of his recent campaign stops for Governor about the government’s new civil case, Sandoval’s reply was, “The government doesn’t like to lose”.
# # # # #
9732 State Route 445, #305 Sparks, Nevada 89436 775.577.9048
Contact: Dalton Wilson, 775.934.2281
Don Alt, Chairman, 775.577.9048
Ramona Morrison, Director, 775.722.2517
(AUSTIN, NV) Just a year after being acquitted of an alleged criminal trespass by then Federal District Court Judge Brian Sandavol in a case brought by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Dalton Wilson drove home to his ranch last week to find the road blocked by BLM employees under order of Federal Judge Edward C. Reed. “I was by myself and they were packing guns. I don’t trust the BLM not to provoke an ‘incident’ as an excuse to hall me off in leg chains or worse. I went back to Austin and reported the incident to the Sheriff instead,” said Wilson.
Last year Wilson successfully defended his claim to 80 acres of land in Lander Co. Nevada before Judge Sandoval, defeating the BLM’s criminal trespass charge. “The BLM was trying to throw me in jail for living on a ranch which I bought from my predecessors in 1981. This land has been farmed and lived on continually for 100 years, property taxes have been paid on it and my predecessors applied for a patent to it in 1917. They received a patent for the adjoining 80 acres but it appears the patent and survey is missing from the official BLM record on this property,” Wilson commented.
The 73 year-old Wilson, who lives alone on his remote ranch surviving only on his social security check, has been in a David and Goliath battle for over ten years to protect his ranch from BLM bureaucrats intent on destroying his ranch. In a sad moment of Nevada history, Wilson was notified that the BLM raided his ranch, removed his personal belongings from his house and his livestock from his property.
The BLM, rather than merely appealing Sandoval’s acquittal, in an unusual move, brought a civil trespass charge against Wilson instead, raising the issue of double jeopardy.
“This is the strangest case I have ever seen,” remarked Ramona Morrison, NLSA Director, who has been following the case closely. “Wilson, after being acquitted and after repeated pleas to Judge Reed in this new case for a jury trial has never even been allowed a hearing before the Judge. Judge Reed has never ruled on the facts or law of this case and in fact is ignoring an Order from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals directing him to resolve the claims of the parties and to try this case.”
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a Mandate which is a stay until the claims have been litigated by the lower court and Judge Reed.
Don Alt, NLSA President, noted, “Reed seems to be acting in contemptuous disregard to the higher Court’s Order and Mandate and has issued what is tantamount to an edict from the bench allowing the BLM to forcibly interfere with Wilson’s property without due process of law.”
Reed’s order opened the door to the BLM to violate its own laws including the Federal Land Policy and Management Act when they physically blocked Wilson’s access to his home and the adjoining 80 acres on which there is no question of title.
“Dalton Wilson is only doing what the law clearly allows him to do and is being punished because he had the nerve to stand up for his Constitutionally protected rights,” said Morrison. “I am especially curious to know why Sheriff Unger allowed the federal government bureaucrats to conduct an unlawful law enforcement in violation of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act as well as the Nevada Constitution and law.”
According to Wilson when he asked Sandoval during one of his recent campaign stops for Governor about the government’s new civil case, Sandoval’s reply was, “The government doesn’t like to lose”.
# # # # #
9732 State Route 445, #305 Sparks, Nevada 89436 775.577.9048
Contact: Dalton Wilson, 775.934.2281
Don Alt, Chairman, 775.577.9048
Ramona Morrison, Director, 775.722.2517
Wallowa County cowboys race to build rockjacks in one-of-a-kind competition
A rockjack is a wooden cage of split tamarack posts laden with 300 pounds of rocks. It anchors a fence where the rocky ground is too bulletproof to sink a post. Rockjacks are built 30 feet apart and joined by four stands of barbed wire. Wooden "stays," or slats, every eight or 10 feet keep the wire separated. "The idea of a rockjack is, if an elk hits a fence, they'll tip up and fall back down," explains veteran rockjack builder Casey Tipett, who ranches near Enterprise. In celebration of this curious cow country artifact, the Ranch Rodeo at the county fairgrounds in Enterprise offers the World Championship Rockjack Building today. The noon event qualifies as the world championship because it's the only one of its kind on the planet and only the second one ever held here, organizers say. End-of-summer ranch life in Wallowa County sometimes seems dominated by rockjacks. Cattle are on summer range, and ranchers finally have time to fix fences in the empty landscape -- essentially basalt canyons "with a little layer of dust on them and a little grass growing out of the dust," Nash says. A single packhorse can carry enough split tamarack rails for two rockjacks and eight stays, he says. Rocks are less of a problem: "You don't have to search hard for them, they are there."...more
Song Of The Day #387
It's Swingin' Monday on Ranch Radio, where we bring you a tune to get your heart started for the week.
Today's selection is Choo Choo Ch' Boogie by Asleep At The Wheel.
It's on their Swingin' Best of CD.
Today's selection is Choo Choo Ch' Boogie by Asleep At The Wheel.
It's on their Swingin' Best of CD.
Drug traffickers, Mexican police battle within yards of U.S. border
A "major gunbattle" between drug traffickers and Mexican federal police broke out Saturday evening in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just 30 yards from the U.S. border at El Paso, Texas, causing U.S. authorities to cordon off a section of the city, according to a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman. Three police officers were injured and one armed suspect was killed, federal police spokesman Ramon Salinas said. First reports of gunshots came in from border agents around 7 p.m. (9 p.m. ET), U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero told CNN. "The gunbattle is still going on right now," Cordero said 30 minutes after the incident began, just south of the University of Texas at El Paso. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries on the U.S. side of the border, Cordero said. U.S. authorities blocked off a section of Paisano Street, which runs parallel to the Rio Grande. The incident comes less than two months after shots fired from a gunbattle originating in Juarez crossed into El Paso and hit City Hall, damaging the building...more
Bullet from Mexico shootout may have struck Texas university building
A bullet that flew through a building at the University of Texas at El Paso may have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border during a shootout between drug traffickers and Mexican federal police, authorities said. University President Diana Natalicio said Sunday a bullet struck Bell Hall sometime Saturday evening. No injuries were reported at the building. Natalicio said campus police determined a bullet went through the glass panel of the building's door and lodged in an office door frame. "This appears to be the only stray bullet to have struck the campus," Natalicio said. "There is no evidence to suggest that UTEP was specifically targeted." Natalicio said the university will consult with law enforcement and government officials about possible further security precautions...more
Neighbors Living Near Border React to Gunfire
El Pasoans living on the border are looking nervously at their neighbors in Juarez tonight. They're wondering when the next gun battle will send them ducking for cover. Jesus Delgado has lived in his home on Portifio Diaz street for 38 years and he says he is the most scared he's ever been for himself and his family. "I have grandchildren coming every weekend. It's becoming a concern now. I'll try to keep them out of my backyard and keep them inside," says Delgado who enjoys family barbecues in his front yard every Sunday. Arlene Contreras has a message for those committing crimes in Juarez. "You've taken a one time family environment to now where people are afraid to come out of their homes and you're wrong to do that to that neighborhood, to your country and to mine."...more
El Pasoans Remain On Edge After Juarez Gunfight
Residents in some areas of West El Paso remained on edge Sunday after witnessing a massive gunfight just yards away, across the border near the UTEP campus. "I've never experienced anything like this. It's kind of shocking, but its reality and it's a sad thing going on over there,” said Ray Campos, a West El Paso resident. El Paso police and Border Patrol officials have said no rounds have been discovered on the U.S. side. No injuries were reported in El Paso. UTEP political science professor and border expert Tony Payan said the incident likely will not be the last. "West of Ciudad Juarez overlooking downtown and UTEP are some of the most dangerous areas in Ciudad Juarez," Payan said. The incident comes just months after bullets riddled El Paso’s City Hall Complex. Those stray bullets came from a gunfight just blocks from where Saturday’s incident took place. No injuries were reported on the U.S. side. "I think the next step, and presumably a very bad one, if someone were hit on this side, and there would be nothing you could do," Payan said...more
2 Juárez maquiladora workers shot to death
Two Juárez maquiladora workers were shot to death Saturday afternoon in front of their assembly plant, Mexican authorities said. The employees, both men, worked for Eaton Inc. in the Omega Industrial Park, west of Elias Plutarco Calles street. Authorities identified one of them as Aaron Aguilar Salazar, 35. The second victim was not been identified. Police said the two men were about to enter their workplace when unidentified armed suspects suddenly opened fire on them...more
$530K found in tire at El Paso border crossing
More than a half-million dollars was found this week stuffed into the spare tire of a truck headed into Mexico from El Paso, federal agents said Thursday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on Wednesday were inspecting cars crossing the border into Ciudad Juarez, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, when they found $530,170 hidden in the spare tire of a Chevy 2500 truck, CBP spokesman Roger Maier said. The driver, Francisco Castaneda Castillo, was arrested on a charge of currency smuggling for failing to report that he had more than $10,000 in cash. Maier said the case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Castaneda, 40, a Mexican national from Juarez, is being held in the El Paso County jail...more
U.S.-Mexico Border Security Conference Facts and Figures
They could have been videos from the Middle East or Central Asia. But the images flashed to the crowd at Texas Congressman Silvestre Reyes' annual border security conference at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) showed graphic scenes from the so-called narco war in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. After giving a content advisory, the presenter, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official Alonzo Peña, started the show. In rapid succession, viewers variously saw a pre-decapitation interrogation of one presumed cartel member by rivals, a convoy of 50 vehicles with CDG (Gulf Cartel) insignias calmly passing through a highway toll booth, a squad of gunmen armed with a grenade-launcher and a rocket-launcher carrying out an attack in the town of Camargo, and the body of assassinated 2010 gubernatorial candidate Rodolfo Torre laying on the ground next to his likewise unfortunate companions. "It's barbaric and it's extreme," summed up Peña, who serves as ICE's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations...more
Battle for the Border
Few issues can be counted on to exacerbate raw feelings as reliably as illegal immigration, and, for reasons no one has to be told, never more so than now. That fact has everything to do with the power of the National Geographic Channel's "Border Wars" series, soon to begin its second season, and the source of the high tension that accompanies every action and word in these documentary close-ups of U.S. law-enforcement agents battling drug and arms traffic and, unforgettably, the smugglers with their steady flow of human cargo. The series kicks off with a special preview on Aug. 29th (9-10 p.m. ET) called "Death on the Rio Grande," then moves to its regular slot (Wednesdays, 9-10 pm) beginning Sept. 1, with an episode titled "Checkpoint Texas."...more
Headless, mutilated bodies hung from Mexico bridge
Four decapitated and mutilated corpses were strung from a bridge in a popular getaway outside the Mexican capital on Sunday, the latest atrocity as the country battles an escalating drug war. The bodies of the four young men were discovered early on Sunday, hung upside down by their feet from a bridge near a wealthy area of Cuernavaca, a leafy city about an hour outside Mexico City, where many of the nation's elite own homes. The victims' genitals, index fingers and heads had been cut off, according to a statement from the attorney general's office in Morelos state, which includes Cuernavaca...more
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy
Kids don't get to pick their parents
by Julie Carter
Name your event - football, basketball, baseball, track, rodeo, livestock shows and the occasional beauty pageant or bake-off - and if it involves kids, you will find their parents embarrassing them.
I'm not talking without knowledge. I am a parent and I had parents. We have all been embarrassed about or by each other at one time or another.
Fortunately, it wasn't ever because of our behavior at a competition event.
My folks were not shouters, screamers or blame assigners. To this day, I'm grateful for their dignified rooting for the home team at ball games and other public possibilities for a display parental pride.
There were then, and still are now, plenty of others willing to take up the slack in the "make a fool of yourself" department.
As school administrations buckle down for another year of pushing academic excellence along with their individual attempts at molding our children into productive citizens, I fortify myself for the "bleacher coaches" that haunt every sporting event.
Even from the sidelines where I move up and down the periphery of the event to photograph it, I cringe at the level of crude audacity some parents find necessary to use to promote a team.
There doesn't seem to be a magic formula to make adults act like adults, let alone expect them to rein themselves in enough to not mortify their child while he or she is competing. You know who you are.
Call me an advocate for your children because they are stuck with you, I am not. For those that insist on assigning themselves the task of re-educating coaches and referees, I will suggest that a healthy dose of chill pills be your prescription of choice along with frequent deep breaths of restraint.
The sigh of relief you hear will be from your child (and the guy sitting next to you).
The sparkling smile you are flashed from the floor or field will be signatory of the gratitude from a very relieved child.
As a side note, if the guy next to smiles like that, he probably hopes you aren't going to eat that hot dog you set down so you could jump and holler. He'd actually, really like to eat it.
We are the examples for tomorrow's leaders. Think about that when you shuffle to the top of the bleachers this weekend to take in some sun, canned nachos and a hometown, home team ball game, high school rodeo or volley ball game.
It matters not if your athlete wears a cowboy hat and swings a rope, or is suited up in layers of red, blue, black or orange synthetics snugged over plastic armor with a football under his arm; they will do the best that they can possibly do at any given moment.
Ask no more of them, because your incessant rants at the referees, judges, and coaches etc., will not make the difference.
No one will be harder on your athlete than they will be on themselves, so please, don't pour your toxic terseness on the scene and expect it to manifest victory just because you called it so.
Your relationship with your child is a team sport. Save yourself from yourself and let your teenager find the joy of the competition without the fear of watching his parent being escorted from the game by security personnel eating out the pit of his stomach.
If this admonition made you angry, then it was for you.
Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net, or at the next high school football game, or as a last resort, at www.julie-carter.com.
When I was young, I was free
by Welda Mckinley Grider
Sit next to me grandchild, while no one is listening, and let me tell you about America and when I was young and we were free.
We could speak freely in those days, before we said speech should be censored in the name of Allah.
We could speak against the government in town meetings before we allowed the leaders their agendas that no longer allowed public input in the land of soon-not-to-be-free.
We had the Constitution that protected us from the government, but that was before we asked the government to protect us from each other, to protect us from ourselves and then we gave animals the right to be protected from us.
With all that protection, we found we were protected from everything but the government. Then we were no longer free.
We threw out "all men are created equal" and instead the Senators made laws that did not pertain to them in this land of soon to be not free.
Those roads that you ask me about? The ones we call the King's High-way?
Those were highways and you could go anywhere you pleased in the days before we had "corridors" to keep track of, first the wildlife, and then the people.
Now we must ask the government to travel in the name of Homeland Security.
We used to have National Parks where you could come and see the wildlife ... ah yes, in the time of the free.
Now they are "wilderness areas" and "wildlife habitat" and only the government can enjoy what we used to call God's Creation, and now we call Mother Earth.
Yes, we all had automobiles to travel the highways. When I was young, and when I was free, you could buy automobiles.
Now Al Gore and the environmentalists in the government are the only ones who are allowed to travel in automobiles.
You can easily control the people if they are not allowed to travel, so we learned when we were no longer free.
When I was young and free, I lived in a house on the hill.
In those days you could work for your living. You owned that house, but now only those who work for the government can live in houses outside the corridors.
The government in the name of the "public" now owns all the land and all the houses.
It was our fault; in the name of "zoning" and "smart growth," we said we have the right limit your ownership in the land of the free.
The "rights of the public" became more important than the "right of the individual" and the land of the free became not-so-free.
When we allowed the government to rewrite history, and we deemed the holocaust untrue, then we could believe those who disappeared were just relocated.
Tomorrow, child, I go on that "Old Folks Trip" that all of us do.
The IRS will come in the name of Health Care and take me to a "better place."
We used to have guns, child, back in the day. Be-fore we believed a country with no guns was a safer place to be.
I still have mine that escaped notice. Tomorrow when they come to take me on my last ride, they will have a surprise.
We let the country become not-so-free for the good of you and me but this old woman will go will go on to Glory where God resides and the hell with Allah and land that is no longer free.
Welda McKinley Grider is native to and ranches in Lincoln County.
Sit next to me grandchild, while no one is listening, and let me tell you about America and when I was young and we were free.
We could speak freely in those days, before we said speech should be censored in the name of Allah.
We could speak against the government in town meetings before we allowed the leaders their agendas that no longer allowed public input in the land of soon-not-to-be-free.
We had the Constitution that protected us from the government, but that was before we asked the government to protect us from each other, to protect us from ourselves and then we gave animals the right to be protected from us.
With all that protection, we found we were protected from everything but the government. Then we were no longer free.
We threw out "all men are created equal" and instead the Senators made laws that did not pertain to them in this land of soon to be not free.
Those roads that you ask me about? The ones we call the King's High-way?
Those were highways and you could go anywhere you pleased in the days before we had "corridors" to keep track of, first the wildlife, and then the people.
Now we must ask the government to travel in the name of Homeland Security.
We used to have National Parks where you could come and see the wildlife ... ah yes, in the time of the free.
Now they are "wilderness areas" and "wildlife habitat" and only the government can enjoy what we used to call God's Creation, and now we call Mother Earth.
Yes, we all had automobiles to travel the highways. When I was young, and when I was free, you could buy automobiles.
Now Al Gore and the environmentalists in the government are the only ones who are allowed to travel in automobiles.
You can easily control the people if they are not allowed to travel, so we learned when we were no longer free.
When I was young and free, I lived in a house on the hill.
In those days you could work for your living. You owned that house, but now only those who work for the government can live in houses outside the corridors.
The government in the name of the "public" now owns all the land and all the houses.
It was our fault; in the name of "zoning" and "smart growth," we said we have the right limit your ownership in the land of the free.
The "rights of the public" became more important than the "right of the individual" and the land of the free became not-so-free.
When we allowed the government to rewrite history, and we deemed the holocaust untrue, then we could believe those who disappeared were just relocated.
Tomorrow, child, I go on that "Old Folks Trip" that all of us do.
The IRS will come in the name of Health Care and take me to a "better place."
We used to have guns, child, back in the day. Be-fore we believed a country with no guns was a safer place to be.
I still have mine that escaped notice. Tomorrow when they come to take me on my last ride, they will have a surprise.
We let the country become not-so-free for the good of you and me but this old woman will go will go on to Glory where God resides and the hell with Allah and land that is no longer free.
Welda McKinley Grider is native to and ranches in Lincoln County.
A monumental threat
by Senator Mike Crapo
For many years, every president has had authority to ride roughshod over the public when creating national monuments. Under current law, a “top-down” executive order can be issued to create a national monument, with no opportunity for public input or congressional or state oversight. This has resulted in increased distrust from those most connected to the area under designation, and it has lingering effects in communities throughout the country.
The truth is that the provision in current law which allows the administration to issue executive orders to create such monuments was never intended to be used in the fashion it has been, and it’s about time that Congress did something to bring that authority back in line with its historical intent.
Many of us enjoy scenic areas and wouldn’t argue about the historic nature and preservation value of many national monuments. But the history of creating monuments is littered with examples where the bureaucratic process occurred without proper review and comment, and resulted in the taking of private property. The executive orders issued to create monuments have drawn widespread local opposition and ultimately raise questions regarding freedom. This is why I joined with Sen. Risch to introduce legislation to reign in the process and provide appropriate opportunities for public input and congressional oversight.
The National Monument Designation Transparency and Accountability Act, S. 472, ensures Congress has equal input in approving monuments. If Congress doesn’t ratify the executive order, the land reverts back to original status within two years. A companion measure has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The president’s authority to create monuments was born in the 1906 Antiquities Act, intended to protect very small parcels of land for historical purposes. Since then, various presidents have used this authority to designate 71 monuments, covering approximately 136 million acres. Those lands were placed under federal control with little or no advanced warning because warning is not required under present law. That would change under the legislation that has been introduced. It would also take us back to what the original law intended: That any monument designation be for only the smallest area essential to ensure the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.
This issue has come to the forefront because of a leaked internal memo from the U.S. Department of Interior, recommending several sites for potential monuments. It also raised the possibility of acquiring 140,000 acres of private lands in the Pioneer Mountains of Idaho between Craters of the Moon and Forest Service lands. The vague description in the memo is suspicious, as it wasn’t very long ago the Clinton Administration undertook a massive expansion of the Craters of the Moon Monument.
In 2000, President Clinton used an executive order to expand Craters 13-fold (from 53,000 acres to include an additional 661,000) — a move that still causes considerable unease in local communities. This is not uncommon in areas affected by executive orders that struck suddenly and left the community changed without allowing it any input into those changes. Executive orders have had adverse effects throughout the country when communities were not allowed to weigh in on changes being imposed by the federal government.
The “top-down” directives from Washington, D.C., regarding land management provoke discord and mistrust. I have always held that the collaborative model and engaging all sides early on are the best approaches to solving land management issues.
In Idaho, the Owyhee Initiative demonstrated what happens when people work together. It’s important to protect and preserve national treasures, but these decisions should be transparent with equal input from both the public and Congress.
Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho Falls, has represented Idaho in the U.S. Senate since 1999.
http://www.magicvalley.com/news/opinion/article_62534cb3-ed33-528a-aa2a-08e89b5f7ac4.html
For many years, every president has had authority to ride roughshod over the public when creating national monuments. Under current law, a “top-down” executive order can be issued to create a national monument, with no opportunity for public input or congressional or state oversight. This has resulted in increased distrust from those most connected to the area under designation, and it has lingering effects in communities throughout the country.
The truth is that the provision in current law which allows the administration to issue executive orders to create such monuments was never intended to be used in the fashion it has been, and it’s about time that Congress did something to bring that authority back in line with its historical intent.
Many of us enjoy scenic areas and wouldn’t argue about the historic nature and preservation value of many national monuments. But the history of creating monuments is littered with examples where the bureaucratic process occurred without proper review and comment, and resulted in the taking of private property. The executive orders issued to create monuments have drawn widespread local opposition and ultimately raise questions regarding freedom. This is why I joined with Sen. Risch to introduce legislation to reign in the process and provide appropriate opportunities for public input and congressional oversight.
The National Monument Designation Transparency and Accountability Act, S. 472, ensures Congress has equal input in approving monuments. If Congress doesn’t ratify the executive order, the land reverts back to original status within two years. A companion measure has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The president’s authority to create monuments was born in the 1906 Antiquities Act, intended to protect very small parcels of land for historical purposes. Since then, various presidents have used this authority to designate 71 monuments, covering approximately 136 million acres. Those lands were placed under federal control with little or no advanced warning because warning is not required under present law. That would change under the legislation that has been introduced. It would also take us back to what the original law intended: That any monument designation be for only the smallest area essential to ensure the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.
This issue has come to the forefront because of a leaked internal memo from the U.S. Department of Interior, recommending several sites for potential monuments. It also raised the possibility of acquiring 140,000 acres of private lands in the Pioneer Mountains of Idaho between Craters of the Moon and Forest Service lands. The vague description in the memo is suspicious, as it wasn’t very long ago the Clinton Administration undertook a massive expansion of the Craters of the Moon Monument.
In 2000, President Clinton used an executive order to expand Craters 13-fold (from 53,000 acres to include an additional 661,000) — a move that still causes considerable unease in local communities. This is not uncommon in areas affected by executive orders that struck suddenly and left the community changed without allowing it any input into those changes. Executive orders have had adverse effects throughout the country when communities were not allowed to weigh in on changes being imposed by the federal government.
The “top-down” directives from Washington, D.C., regarding land management provoke discord and mistrust. I have always held that the collaborative model and engaging all sides early on are the best approaches to solving land management issues.
In Idaho, the Owyhee Initiative demonstrated what happens when people work together. It’s important to protect and preserve national treasures, but these decisions should be transparent with equal input from both the public and Congress.
Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho Falls, has represented Idaho in the U.S. Senate since 1999.
http://www.magicvalley.com/news/opinion/article_62534cb3-ed33-528a-aa2a-08e89b5f7ac4.html
Song Of The Day #386
Ranch Radio's Gospel song this Sunday morning is Martha Carson's 1952 recording of There Is A Higher Power.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Police Arrested In Northern Mexico Mayor's Killing
Six city police officers were arrested Friday in the killing of a mayor in northern Mexico, as the country's escalating drug violence targets more public officials. The suspects included the officer who guarded the house where Santiago Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos was seized on Sunday. The officer had said he was kidnapped with the mayor and later freed unharmed. Adrian de la Garza, head of the police investigations agency in Nuevo Leon state, told a news conference that the police officers received 6,000 pesos ($700) per month to cooperate with criminals "in different ways and different affairs," with some allegedly acting as lookouts. "They were employees" of a criminal gang, De la Garza said at a news conference where he displayed security-camera footage from Cavazo's house, showing armed kidnappers arriving at the home on Sunday night in five SUVs. Nuevo Leon state Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza said the officers confessed to being involved in the Cavazos' killing, though some declared their innocence while being presented to the press. "We are still looking for others who were involved as well," Garza y Garza said...more
Friday, August 20, 2010
Group sues over lynx protection in NM
Environmentalists are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the Canadian lynx. The agency issued a finding in December that the lynx in New Mexico warrants federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, but the agency didn't act immediately because it must finish work on other higher-priority listings. The environmental group WildEarth Guardians filed a lawsuit this week, saying the animal will likely not receive protection for a decade or more because it has been put at the end of a line of 245 species awaiting listing. Lynx have been reintroduced in southern Colorado over the past 10 years, and some have wandered into New Mexico. Although the federal government lists the elusive animals as threatened in Colorado and 13 other states, they have no federal protection in New Mexico. AP
Unguarded border bridges could be route into US
On each side of a towering West Texas stretch of the $2.4 billion border fence designed to block people from illegally entering the country, there are two metal footbridges, clear paths into the United States from Mexico. The footpaths that could easily guide illegal immigrants and smugglers across the Rio Grande without getting wet seem to be there because of what amounts to federal linguistics. While just about anyone would call them bridges, the U.S.-Mexico group that owns them calls them something else. "Technically speaking it's not a bridge, it's a grade control structure," said Sally Spener, spokeswoman for the International Boundary and Water Commission, which maintains the integrity of the 1,200-mile river border between the U.S. and Mexico. The structures under the spans help prevent the river -- and therefore the international border -- from shifting. Whatever they're called, there are fresh sneaker tracks on the structures -- indicating they're being used as passages into the country. In a border tour with the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office in March, Associated Press journalists happened upon the bridge moments after a man with a bicycle used the bridge to cross the river from Mexico. The border crosser, who told authorities he was only trying to fish from the north side of the river, was promptly arrested. "If he can do it, so can drug cartels with loads of narcotics of any kind," Hudspeth County Sheriff's Lt. Robert Wilson said. "Even a terrorist could pass here with weapons of mass destruction and be in the United States and up on the interstate and gone in a short time." It's unclear how often the bridge is used, but it's common to see people on the Mexican side lingering around the crossing or others playing in the river in the area...more
Land Swap Triggers Colorado Dust-Up
Billionaire energy magnate William Koch's 4,500-acre cattle ranch in western Colorado is split in two by a large strip of federal land—and he wants to change that. The government land includes a road that takes hunters and hikers into a popular national forest, but some visitors stray and trespass onto Mr. Koch's property, according to his ranch manager. So Mr. Koch wants to take title to the federal land—and close the road—by swapping the parcel for land he owns elsewhere in the West. But the way the swap would be executed has drawn criticism in the region. Because the proposal involves multiple federal agencies and land in two states, the deal can't be dispensed with through normal administrative process, which include local public hearings and a thorough environmental review. Instead, it must be handled by Congress, through legislation mandating the swap. That legislation has been introduced by Rep. John Salazar, a Democrat who represents the region (and who is the brother of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar) and who has received campaign contributions from Mr. Koch. Federal officials at a Bureau of Land Management field office raised several concerns about the proposed swap in a draft memo that was leaked to environmentalists. The proposed deal would give Mr. Koch about 1,800 acres of BLM land, including the road that bisects his ranch and some additional mountainous parcels. In exchange, Mr. Koch would deed over to the public about 1,000 acres of land including a small parcel of historic value that sits inside Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. The deal also includes five luxury-home sites in Colorado that he bought for $2.7 million and that have long been coveted by the National Park Service for their scenic value and because they provide habitat for the sage grouse...more
BLM always hates it when they lose land and another agency, even one inside the Dept. of Interior, gains land. I don't know about this particular exchange, but the BLM would oppose it even if it made good sense and was in the public interest. Thus the leak to the enviros.
BLM always hates it when they lose land and another agency, even one inside the Dept. of Interior, gains land. I don't know about this particular exchange, but the BLM would oppose it even if it made good sense and was in the public interest. Thus the leak to the enviros.
$40M To Restore Forests in Jemez
A restoration plan for more than 200,000 acres in the southwestern Jemez Mountains will receive up to $40 million in federal funds over the next 10 years, Santa Fe National Forest officials announced this week. The Southwest Jemez Collaborative Restoration Program was among 10 projects around the country selected by Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack under a federal grant program called the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, created last year by legislation sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Lawrence Lujan said the selected area, which includes the Valles Caldera National Preserve, is fire-prone, and much of the money will go toward addressing that issue through thinning on 90,000 acres and prescribed burns on 76,000 acres. Bruin said she collaborated with 30 different organizations — including Santa Clara and Jemez Pueblo leaders, state and federal officials, and nongovernment environmental activist groups — to form the grant-winning pitch...more
$200 an acre to thin it or burn it...those enviros don't work cheap.
$200 an acre to thin it or burn it...those enviros don't work cheap.
Oregon sawmill to shut down
The Swanson Group said Thursday it is closing its Glendale sawmill indefinitely and scaling back operations at its studmill in Roseburg, blaming the federal government for conditions it said led to the cutbacks. Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., seconded Swanson’s complaints, criticizing the Obama adminstration for a loss in the supply of timber from federal lands and both the Bush and Obama administrations for not protecting the Northwest from what he said were subsidized Canadian imports. Swanson is based in Glendale, north of Grants Pass, and also operates mills in Noti and Springfield. The Glendale mill will stop operating as soon as it uses up its current inventory of logs and may never reopen, Swanson officials said in a written statement. Operations at the Roseburg mill will be scaled back from 60 hours a week to 20 hours per week. All told, about 90 employees will be affected by the two actions, the company said. After the cuts, the company said it will have about 650 employees. The federal government’s timber sale program, particularly on Bureau of Land Management properties, “has gone from bad to worse,” Swanson officials said. “The situation in southwest Oregon, where the federal government manages more than 60 percent of the forestland, is dire.” The Medford BLM district, which has historically provided the majority of logs needed to run the Glendale mill, now provides less than 4 percent, the company said. “Without a significant increase in timber offerings by the U.S. government, this sawmill may never re-open,” company officials said...more
Forest ranger released from a hospital after attack in Angeles National Forest in Azusa
U.S. Forest Service officials said Thursday the ranger who was knocked unconscious during an attack at the East Fork Ranger Station north of Azusa has been released from the hospital. Sheriff's investigators don't know who struck the ranger in his face, knocking him unconscious around 4 p.m. Wednesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Joseph McDonald said. "We're just getting started on our investigation because it just occurred last night," McDonald said. The ranger was flown to a trauma center where he underwent treatment for his head injury and contusions on his legs and stomach, officials said. He has since been released, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Wagner said, who declined further comment. The ranger was allegedly attacked after he opened the station's door to a let a man use the telephone, officials said. "We don't know whether its retaliation from a prior contact; we're still trying to determine that," McDonald said. The man was described as a Latino, standing about 6 feet tall, McDonald said...more
Song Of The Day #385
Ranch Radio is probably over doing it, but today we give you over 10 minutes of different types of rural music on 78s.
Moonshine In The North Carolina Hills by The Swing Billies.
Get Along Cindy by Lulu Belle & Scotty.
Deep Elem Blues by The Shelton Brothers.
Fan It by Bill Boyd & His Cowboy Ramblers.
Moonshine In The North Carolina Hills by The Swing Billies.
Get Along Cindy by Lulu Belle & Scotty.
Deep Elem Blues by The Shelton Brothers.
Fan It by Bill Boyd & His Cowboy Ramblers.
Firearms and the Constitution Versus Treaties
“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under that Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” – Article VI, Clause 2 of the U.S. ConstitutionRecently I attended a gun show, where I handed out information material and answered questions on the Tenth Amendment Center. Several people were concerned about the U.S. making a treaty that would gut the U.S. Constitution and potentially take away firearms from law abiding citizens here in the U.S. They argued that the paragraph above from the Constitution places treaty law above the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Our Founders very clearly stated the conditions under which the U.S. Constitution could be amended, or changed, in Article 5. It is quite illogical to conceive that our Founders would write such a brilliant document to be the foundation of our union, only to create a giant backdoor for foreign governments to come in and destroy the liberty we had worked so hard to achieve. In fact, our Founders themselves said otherwise...more
Cost of Government Day Arrived on August 19, 2010
Every year, the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation and the Center for Fiscal Accountability calculate Cost of Government Day. This is the day on which the average American has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government on the federal, state, and local levels. In 2010, Cost of Government Day falls on August 19. That means working people must toil 231 days out of the year just to meet all costs imposed by government. In other words, the cost of government consumes 63.41 percent of national income. “Two years ago Americans worked until July 16 to pay for the cost of government: all federal, state and local government spending and regulatory costs. That government was too expensive and wasteful. Two years later, we work until August 19 for the same bloated government. We have lost an additional full month of our income to pay the cost of government in just the last two years,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform...more
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Agencies start refocusing on climate change challenges
Starting this year, top Forest Service managers are encountering an added yardstick in their performance evaluations: how well they are meeting benchmarks for confronting the effects of climate change in the national forests? The standards will apply to some 80 Senior Executive Service members, said David Cleaves, the forest service's climate change adviser. In addition, forest managers will be expected to monitor for the effects of climate change on watersheds and wildlife, set targets for reducing adverse environmental impacts from their operations, and have at least one employee serving as a point person for climate change issues, according to a scorecard released last month. "We're looking for 100 percent compliance by 2015," Cleaves said. The move puts the Forest Service at the forefront of federal agencies looking to retool for a warming planet. The long-term challenges are immense: Not only are billions of dollars worth of government real estate potentially at risk, but officials could be faced with politically delicate decisions on how to run programs and manage resources. Ten months after President Obama issued an executive order summoning federal agencies to "lead by example," many are still in the study phase...more
Idaho fights judge’s wolf ruling: Agency says it doesn’t want to pay for poaching enforcement
While the Idaho Department of Fish and Game doesn’t want people to poach or illegally kill wolves in Idaho, it doesn’t want to pay to enforce those rules either, its spokesman said. “We definitely feel with the current state of the status of the wolves, the federal government has an obligation to pay,” spokesman Ed Mitchell said, emphasizing that the department won’t turn a blind eye to illegal wolf killings either. “(Funding is) going to have to come from somewhere and the (Fish and Game Commission) determined that as long as we don’t have a funding source, i.e. tag sales, the funding should come from the federal government.” That’s just part of the latest salvo since a federal judge returned gray wolves to the endangered species list at the beginning of the month. On Monday, the Fish and Game Commission passed a resolution pledging its support for overturning U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy both in the courts and in Congress, and laid out its objections to his decision: it’s “contrary to State management of wildlife, the intent and purpose of the Endangered Species Act and the clear biological recovery of wolves.”...more
Artifact dealers, collectors reflect on raids
The nation's largest and longest-running Indian artifact show opened last year under a cloud of fear and uncertainty as a federal investigation into the sale of Native American artifacts intensified throughout the Four Corners region. Since then, suicide has claimed the government's informant and two defendants, the prehistoric Indian art market has bottomed out, some collectors' lives have been turned upside down and several federal indictments have resulted only in probation for some of those accused of plundering artifacts from federal lands. Now, artifact dealers and collectors attending the 32nd annual Whitehawk Antique Show in Santa Fe are sharing their concerns over how the government handled the case and the way authorities are interpreting federal laws designed to protect the nation's archaeological sites and cultural heritage. "We have suffered a stigma for so many years. I think it's time for people to stand up for their rights to collect and enjoy things that are old," Dace Hyatt, a restoration expert from Show Low, Ariz., told The Associated Press. Hyatt and other members of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association organized a special panel discussion before the start of the show Monday to talk about the federal raids, informant Ted Gardiner and the laws that govern everything from arrowheads to centuries-old pots...more
Tea Party-Style 'Shadow A Senator' Initiatives Planned By Green Groups To Push Climate Legislation
Remember those chaotic town hall meetings last summer with irate Tea Partiers confronting Congress members about death panels and socialized medicine? A coalition of activist-oriented green groups are drawing inspiration from those town-hall scenes in a new push to force senators to answer for their failure to pass clean-energy legislation. 350.org, 1Sky, Clean Energy Works, the Blue Green Alliance, and other groups are urging volunteers to track down swing-vote senators during the August congressional recess. 350.org says it's already signed up more than 2,500 volunteers to track down senators (both Republican and Democrat) at recess events. "[L]et senators know it's not okay to quit working to stop climate change," says 350.org. "The basic idea is to attend an event where your senator is speaking. Have a few friends stand outside with signs, and then have one or two people inside the event and ask the senator when they plan to actually pass a climate bill."...more
Nearly 600 horses caught so far in federal roundup
Federal officials said Wednesday that they had collected nearly 600 wild horses from the range near Susanville, about a third of the number they hope to round up by September. The Bureau of Land Management said it had gathered 592 wild horses since the roundup began Aug. 11 with a helicopter herding them into trap sites. An aerial survey of the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area that was taken before the roundup detected about 2,000 wild horses and more than 200 burros. Officials say they intend to leave 450 wild horses and 72 burros in the 800,000- acre range when they finish, probably sometime in September. Officials released 27 stallions and six mules back into the wild Wednesday, with 14 mares set to be released today after they are treated with a temporary fertility control vaccine. BLM officials say no serious injuries to horses have been recorded since the gather began...more
Property owners lose bid to de-list kangaroo rat
Fifteen years after Riverside County property owners petitioned to remove the Stephens' kangaroo rat from the endangered species list, the federal government has issued its final answer: No. Despite efforts to protect them, populations of the big-eyed hopping rats are declining, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded. Recent surveys determined that invasive grasses from suburban landscapes are shrinking the rat populations, even in protected areas. The invading plants make it more difficult for the animals to forage for seeds and dig burrows for shelter, said Jane Hendron, a wildlife agency spokeswoman based in Carlsbad. The decision announced Wednesday was bad news to developers and property owners who have been coping with rat protections for more than two decades. The rat favors habitat that is prime for building -- flat, open areas. The listing, which jeopardized or delayed residential and commercial development on about 22,000 acres, triggered an outcry and became the bane of developers in western Riverside County...more
Shallow-water drillers fear for their businesses
A post-oil-spill delay in issuing new federal drilling permits in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, at first an inconvenience, has suddenly emerged as a real threat to the future of companies in the business, industry executives said Wednesday. While no one is talking about bankruptcy filings, shallow-water drilling contractors say the holdup in permitting is cutting into the bottom line a bit more each day they have rigs sidelined and idled workers on payroll. "At some point," said Randy Stilley, CEO of Houston's Seahawk Drilling, "it becomes a viability issue." So far, permitting delays have idled 14 of the 46 available jackups in the Gulf and forced offshore companies to cut several hundred jobs. Each rig employs about 100 workers and supports many additional indirect jobs at supply boat companies, oil field services companies and other businesses. If the situation doesn't change, 25 rigs will be idle by the end of August and 30 by the end of September as existing permits expire, according to figures provided by the Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition, an industry group formed in May to call attention to the issue...more
Forest Ranger Attacked, Knocked Unconscious
In a bizarre incident, a U.S. Forest Service employee was assaulted at a ranger station in the Angeles National Forest. The attack happened around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at the East Fork Ranger Station in the Azusa Canyon area. The ranger was there alone. Someone knocked on the door, asking to use the phone. When the ranger opened the door, he was hit in the head with an unknown object. The ranger was knocked unconscious, and when he came to, called 911. He was airlifted to USC Medical Center, and he is reportedly in and out of consciousness. Police believe the suspect is a Hispanic male, who may be driving a green Mitsubishi. Deputies were reportedly conducting vehicle stops in the area looking for the suspect. Nothing was stolen from the station. KTLA
Fire-breathing bartenders arrested, face 45 years
Two fire-breathing bartenders face up to 45 years in prison each for performing flaming bar tricks. Jimmy's Old Town Tavern owner Jimmy Cirrito said his bartenders have been entertaining his customers -- by juggling bottles of alcohol and spitting out streams of flames using matchbooks and lighters -- for more than a decade and no one's complained. But shortly after midnight on July 24, two of his longtime employees were hauled out of the Herndon bar in handcuffs and charged with three felonies each plus other misdemeanors. "They were being treated as if they were terrorists, charged as if they intentionally tried to burn down the tavern," Cirrito said. Fairfax County fire investigators charged Tegee Rogers, 33, of Herndon, and Justin Fedorchak, 39, of Manassas, with manufacturing an explosive device, setting a fire capable of spreading, and burning or destroying a meeting house. They also were charged with several state fire code misdemeanors. Both men have worked at the tavern nearly since it opened. They both recently became fathers and are very anxious about facing serious criminal charges, Cirrito said...moreLos Payasos - Government at work.
Books received for review
Roy And Lillie: A Love Story, by Loren D. Estleman. "a unique new novel about love, history and the social constraints to which one must submit. The bond between Judge Roy Bean and actress Lillie Langtry blossomed across of land and ocean."
Tears Of The Mountain by John Addiego. "...chronicles a single day in one man's life - July 4, 1876 - along with a series of alternating flashbacks that all lead up to an eventful Centennial Independence Day in Sonoma, California. However, as he reflects on past love, the pioneer journey of his youth, and the many violent conflicts of the West, voices of the long dead come to him, and old wounds resurface, threatening everything he holds dear."
Wyoming Range War: The Infamous Invasion of Johnson County by John W. Davis. "It is a story outlandish enough to defy credibility. Wyoming's infamous Johnson County War exploded on the local and national consciousness in 1892 and has never lost its imaginative power. The basis for such classic novels as The Virginian and Shane...Now Wyoming attorney John W. Davis retells the story of the West's greatest range war. The result is an all new interpretation." This is the book I'm reading now.
The Light of Day by James Byrd. "Those who hate humanity have taken over the environmental movement. The environmental movement has taken over the world's government. Those governments have joined together to form The World Consortium...and have moved everyone underground to isolate people from the environment...However,not everyone wants to live underground. Not old man O'Hara. That's why he joined the Resistance, but that was years ago...It would be a dismal existence if not for his grandson Jeff. Jeff is everything he imagined his son would be: smart, independent, inquisitive, defiant, everything except free, but that's about to change."
The 2012 Codex by Robert Gleason and Junius Podrug. "Inspired by the visionary works of #1 New York Times bestselling author Gary Jennings' Aztec Series...In the arid canyonlands of Mexico, the race is on for the ultimate end-of-the-world codex - the final prophecy of the god-king Quetzacoatl, who ruled Mexico 1000 years ago. Archeolinguists Rita Critchlow and Cooper Jones are on the hunt for that sacred codex, while 500 years ago Pakal, a young slave-scholar, sets out on the same deadly quest."
Song Of The Day #384
The old time country artists had a lot of fun with their music, and Ranch Radio brings you two examples of that today. Today's 78s are Burglar Man by Claude Boone and Shut That Gate by the Buchanan Brothers.
Body of kidnapped mayor dumped in northern Mexico
Security forces found the body of a slain mayor on Wednesday near Mexico's richest city, days after he was abducted by hitmen in the latest attack on a public official from increasingly bold drug cartels. President Felipe Calderon, who has staked his presidency on a faltering drug war, condemned the "cowardly assassination" of Edelmiro Cavazos, the mayor of a town on the outskirts of Monterrey, an industrial center with close U.S. business ties. "The murder of Edelmiro is an outrage and forces us to redouble our efforts to fight these cowardly criminals," Calderon wrote in a Twitter update. Cavazos, a 38-year-old, U.S.-educated mayor from Calderon's conservative National Action Party, was found dumped on a rural road early on Wednesday outside his town of Santiago. He was blindfolded and his hands were tied. Heavily armed soldiers swarmed the crime scene while frightened residents of the popular colonial tourist town stayed indoors, leaving normally busy streets deserted. The attorney general in the border state of Nuevo Leon, which includes Santiago and Monterrey, which is 140 miles from Texas, confirmed the body discovered was Cavazos' and said drug cartels were behind the killing...more
One Cop Dead, 6 Wounded in Separate Incidents in Mexico
A rural police officer was killed and three others were wounded in a shootout with marines in northeastern Mexico, while three Federal Police officers and a gunman were wounded in a gunfight in the border city of Juarez, officials said. Officer Juan Carlos Ponce Garcia was shot several times and died Tuesday in a community in Hidalgo, a city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. Three Federal Police officers, meanwhile, were wounded when gunmen attacked them on Tuesday as they were driving near the hotel being used as housing for officers deployed to fight crime in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico’s murder capital. One of the suspected gunmen was wounded in the gunfight. Ciudad Juarez is the Mexican city where the most attacks against Federal Police officers have been registered this year. The eight attacks staged against federal officers in the border city have left 11 officers dead and more than a dozen others wounded. A car bombing in Ciudad Juarez targeting Federal Police officers killed four people – a physician, two officers and a firefighter – on July 15...more
Federal Lands - Crime, Violence and Environmental Damage on the Border - video
Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee highlight the crime, violence and environmental damage taking place on federal lands along the U.S. border. House Republicans have introduced legislation (H.R. 5016) that would simply give Border Patrol both the authority and access to effectively monitor and protect our federal lands on the border.
Some sites on border called 'too dangerous'
Border Patrol officers are being told by supervisors to stay out of certain areas as too dangerous, Cochise County's top law enforcement officer said Tuesday. "Agents have told me - this isn't secondhand - that there are places where they don't work right along the border because it's too dangerous," Sheriff Larry Dever said, adding that line officers told him they are simply listening to what they are told by their superiors. "There is concern at the management level, at a certain level, that it's too dangerous right there on the fence," Dever explained. And he said there also is the fear of getting into a confrontation with illegal immigrants and smugglers right along the border that would create an "international incident … with across-the-border shooting." Keith Bocharski, a vice president of the union representing area Border Patrol officers, said supervisors do tell staffers to use caution. And he said there are times individual agents decide not to try to apprehend someone right at the border. But Bocharski, of Local 2544 of the National Border Patrol Council, rejected any assertion there is a policy, official or otherwise, of declaring certain areas unsafe. "That's the type of work that we do. It's inherently dangerous," Bocharski continued. But, he said, "I haven't known one person to avoid that." Dever stressed he wasn't saying there was a general order issued. In fact, the sheriff said, the directions given to officers vary from location to location. "It's not every Border Patrol manager," he said. "It's not every place along the border."...more
Juarez kidnapping takes toll on both sides of border
The situation in Juarez, Mexico is only getting worse. The quiet streets of El Paso might be the last place you expect to see spillover from the violence in Juarez, but this is spillover of a different kind. The kidnappings of a woman's parents there has a Texas teacher speaking out while most usually suffer in silence. Morayma Chavez-Esquivel says her parents were abducted in Juarez. They were there babysitting their youngest grandchildren. But sometime after the kids were picked up - the couple vanished from the home they own in Juarez. Chavez-Esquivel says the doors to their home were left wide open and the lights were left on. The cars were still parked in the garage, and her mother's shoes were found nearby. That was last Wednesday, and still there Chavez-Esquivel has heard no word of ransom from possible abductors. To add to her concern, Chavez-Esquivel says her mother is diabetic and depends on insulin. As they worry and wait for answers, the family is seeking help from the U.S. Consulate and police in Juarez. But the vast majority of violent crimes in Mexico go unsolved...more
Here is the KEN-TV video report:
Here is the KEN-TV video report:
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Bingaman: No bills before November
Sen. Jeff Bingaman said Thursday that he doubts Congress will pass any major legislation before Election Day, including a pared-back energy bill focused on responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. “I think the Republicans are reluctant to support anything that might result in another signing ceremony between now and the election,” the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee told POLITICO after a Mexican lunch here with Rep. Harry Teague and other local Democrats. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) punted last week on energy legislation that would eliminate the $75 million liability cap on damages oil companies must pay in the case of spills and other disasters and beef up the federal government’s role in managing offshore drilling operations. But Reid said he’d try again when lawmakers return next month, perhaps even expanding the scope of the proposal to include other energy provisions, like a renewable electricity standard, that were dropped from when the energy and climate bill died in July. Bingaman said he was in the dark about Reid’s plans for the floor debate. Even so, he said he didn’t think Democrats can muster 60 votes on the oil spill proposal given expected GOP opposition. “It may well be that we have to wait until a lame-duck session to pass whatever we’re able to pass,” he said...more
Navajo Nation - The life and death of Desert Rock
In 2003, the Diné Power Authority, created by the tribal council to develop the tribe's energy resources, announced that the 1,500-megawatt facility would be built by the German company Steag Power (acquired the following year by Sithe Global Power) on Navajo land about 25 miles outside of Farmington, N.M. The tribe itself would own up to a half stake, exploit its large coal reserves, and, when the plant was finished as projected in 2005, send electricity off to markets with its own 500 kilovolt transmission line, which has been in the works since the 1990s. At the time it was proposed, the plant seemed to have a solid foundation: The economy was swinging back from a mild recession, real estate was hot and construction was booming, especially in the Southwest and California. To keep pace with a projected doubling in electricity demand, the International Energy Agency called for $1.6 trillion in energy investment through 2030 in Canada and the United States. Regulatory agencies were generally more permissive, and Congress was nowhere near to passing legislation to rein in carbon emissions, while the Bush White House was refusing to acknowledge climate change. Yet despite the tribe's optimism, a closer look at how it and its partners went about obtaining permits and securing funds shows that Desert Rock always rested upon shaky ground. This March, after seven years of planning and with millions of dollars poured into attorneys, consultants and travel junkets, Sithe Global not only delayed the project once again -- beyond 2015 this time -- but said it is considering changing it extensively...more
Slain rancher honored in son's donations
Las Crucen Andy Krentz walked through the halls of his former workplace Tuesday, the athletic training office at Mayfield High School, and quietly handed over a $1,000 check. The donation, when compared to the district's overall yearly budget, might seem small at first glance. But the story behind it is not an insignificant one. Krentz, 29, is the son of Robert Krentz Jr. - a 58-year-old rancher who was fatally shot, possibly by a drug trafficker, as he worked his southeastern Arizona cattle operation in March. The incident prompted a firestorm of debate in Arizona about illegal immigration, which quickly spread to the national level. Andy Krentz grew up on his family's ranch, just west of the New Mexico border in Cochise County. He attended high school in Animas, N.M., about a 50 miles trip one-way from the family's ranch home. He moved to Las Cruces in 1999 to attend New Mexico State University, where he eventually earned a bachelor's degree in physical therapy and a master's degree in education...more
The entire family has exhibited nothing but class during this entire sad episode.
The entire family has exhibited nothing but class during this entire sad episode.
New Mexico ranchers' use of technology to track wolves debated
Should ranchers have access to the technology that allows humans to track endangered Mexican gray wolves? One advocacy group says no, given that the number of Mexican wolves living in the wild in the Southwest has dropped from 42 to 39 in recent weeks. Radio-telemetry receivers used by ranchers to track Mexican wolves in New Mexico and Arizona should be returned to federal wildlife authorities, according to the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, which is worried about illegal killings of the vanishing predator. Ranchers, though, say they use the equipment to locate dead cattle, not to hunt wolves. Finding the location of a collared wolf with the receiver is not an exact science, said Laura Schneberger, who has a ranch on the north edge of New Mexico's Gila National Forest, where Mexican wolves are trying to establish packs. Schneberger, president of the Gila Livestock Growers, said the receivers have been used on her ranch. "If you are on a ranch with 42 square miles, you're going to need that monitor," Schneberger said. "It will get you in that general area, then you look for buzzards. You use it to make sure the wolves are out of the cows. They (wolves) know you're coming way before you get there and find what they've been eating." A rancher can legally kill a wolf caught attacking livestock on private property, Buckley said. On public land, which includes the Gila National Forest grazing allotments, they must have a permit. It is not legal to shoot a wolf walking through or near cattle, he said. Schneberger said no permits have been issued in Arizona or New Mexico, even in cases where ranchers had confirmed wolf kills...more
Grizzly in maulings near Yellowstone was stressed, had parasites
A grizzly bear that mauled three campers outside Yellowstone National Park had parasites and was struggling to feed her cubs, according to a report released Monday. But state and federal wildlife investigators said those factors alone were not enough to explain such predatory behavior. "We looked at food habits, body condition of the bear, past behaviors -- none of those stand out as a reason that would indicate why this bear would do this," said investigation leader Chris Servheen with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Kevin Kammer, 48, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was killed and two people were hospitalized when the 216-pound grizzly tore into their tents in a nighttime attack July 28. The bear was captured a day later at the Soda Butte Campground near Cooke City, Mont., then was euthanized. Its three cubs are now in a Billings zoo. DNA tests on strands of hair found at the campground linked the mother bear to the attacks. Tests for rabies and other diseases came back negative following a necropsy...more
Have a ball at the Testicle Festival
Rocky Mountain oysters. Cowboy caviar. Prairie oysters. Swinging sirloin. Calf fries. Huevos del toro. Criadillas. In plain English, they're bull testicles, and they'll be served up soon for whoever wants some. The second annual Testicle Festival on Aug. 28 will give those who have never sampled the culinary delicacy a chance to do so, and those who love them a nearly endless supply. The event, held by the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and Agri-Culture groups, is a benefit for the bureau's Young Farmer and Rancher program. The main attraction will be served as hors d'oeuvres. They got the name Rocky Mountain oysters because of their resemblance to a shucked oyster when cut in half. Last year the festival, which drew 115 guests, used about 50 pounds of testicles and ran out in an hour. This year there will be 120 pounds, with about 200 people expected. The huevos del toro are prepared in batter, then deep fried. The testicles will be provided by Freedom Meat Lockers & Sausage Company in Watsonville, and are USDA-approved...more
USDA approved? Do the inspectors have some kind of a testicle tester?
Or do the USDA inspectors grade them, and if so, by what criteria...size, shape?
Most importantly, did these delicacies carry the proper identification? I mean we can't have these livestock parts crossing state lines without the proper ID, right?
I'm sure that Obama and Vilsack are right in their belief our Founding Fathers intended the Commerce Clause to cover calf fries.
USDA approved? Do the inspectors have some kind of a testicle tester?
Or do the USDA inspectors grade them, and if so, by what criteria...size, shape?
Most importantly, did these delicacies carry the proper identification? I mean we can't have these livestock parts crossing state lines without the proper ID, right?
I'm sure that Obama and Vilsack are right in their belief our Founding Fathers intended the Commerce Clause to cover calf fries.
Artificial meat? Food for thought by 2050
Artificial meat grown in vats may be needed if the 9 billion people expected to be alive in 2050 are to be adequately fed without destroying the earth, some of the world's leading scientists report today. But a major academic assessment of future global food supplies, led by John Beddington, the UK government chief scientist, suggests that even with new technologies such as genetic modification and nanotechnology, hundreds of millions of people may still go hungry owing to a combination of climate change, water shortages and increasing food consumption. In a set of 21 papers published by the Royal Society, the scientists from many disciplines and countries say that little more land is available for food production, but add that the challenge of increasing global food supplies by as much as 70% in the next 40 years is not insurmountable. Although more than one in seven people do not have enough protein and energy in their diet today, many of the papers are optimistic...more
Artificial mountain oysters?
Maybe if they're artificial they won't need any damn ID.
Artificial mountain oysters?
Maybe if they're artificial they won't need any damn ID.
Tales for O.C.'s 'cowboys at heart' (Baxter Black Interview)
Last week he headlined at Grainstock – Woodstock for agriculture folk in Soda Springs, Idaho – and now cowboy poet and humorist Baxter Black is set to perform in San Juan Capistrano this weekend. Black is an author, a radio commentator and a large-animal veterinarian. Though the Arizona resident's presentations of cowboy poetry – a genre that began as tall tales and folk songs – typically take him to rural landscapes in states like Montana, Black says there's still a place for cowboys in Orange County: "There are a lot of reasons why you need cowboys," he said as he thumbed through one of his books, "Blazin' Bloats & Cows on Fire!" "The world needs cowboys for the same reason we need knights, punt returners, banjo players and Marines. You have to have someone you can send in first. There are a lot of people who ride horses in San Juan Capistrano. They may not be working with cows, but they come out there and bring their horses and ride on this beautiful Rancho Mission Viejo. "That's how I know about Orange County. They're cowboys at heart, but they may not be cowboys in real life." Q. You perform for a lot of different groups: the agriculture folks, cowboys and now in Orange County. Do you cater your performance to the different audiences? A. I have to divide my material into "cowey" and generic. ... Farming isn't very funny, so I don't have too many farming stories, but cows and horses are funny. You can have so many cow wrecks, and cowboy poetry is about wrecks. I have concluded after writing my column over the years that, just like there's an infinite number of love songs, there's an infinite number of ways a cowboy can get bucked off. ... It's the truth in humor that makes it funny. That's why there are no science-fiction jokes...more
Song Of The Day #383
Ranch Radio continues it's 78s week with Quarantined Love by Bob Newman and Unpucker by The Carlisles.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Environmental rules tightened for deepwater oil drilling
The Obama administration announced Monday it is requiring environmental reviews for all new deepwater oil drilling. That means an end, at least for now, to the kind of exemptions that allowed BP to drill its blown-out well in the Gulf with little scrutiny. The announcement came in response to a report by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which found that decades-old data provided the basis for exempting BP's drilling permits from any extensive review. The Interior Department said the ban on so-called "categorical exclusions" for deepwater drilling would be in place pending full review of how such exemptions are granted. "Our decision-making must be fully informed by an understanding of the potential environmental consequences of federal actions permitting offshore oil and gas development," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement. For now, new deepwater drilling is under a temporary moratorium in the Gulf. Once that's lifted, though, Interior's new policy is likely to make it much more time-consuming for oil companies to move forward with new deepwater projects, since environmental assessments will be required along the way. Shallow-water drilling will also be subjected to stricter environmental scrutiny under the new policy...more
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