Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Red, white and cowboy

Julie Carter

Old Glory will wave majestically in rodeo arenas across America this holiday. It's the Fourth of July and cowboys, if they are anything, they are patriotic and optimistically greedy.

This particular holiday is his "Cowboy Christmas," the most lucrative run of rodeos of the year.

Don't misunderstand. It doesn't take a holiday for the cowboy to bring out the flag. It's there at every rodeo. Honor to the stars and stripes happens first, before anything else.

Even the rodeo livestock seems to know the routine. Watch as the cowboys stand at the chutes, hats held over their hearts while colors are posted and the national anthem is played.

The bucking horses in the chute will snort and kick the gate behind them adding to the music's percussion.

For the rodeo contestants, it's a sound that echoes in the recesses of their rodeo memories long after they no longer compete. Like the ringing of Pavlov's bell, it invokes a hunger for the competition about to begin.

Add that to the smell of the fresh-worked arena dirt, the banging of the gates as bucking horses and bulls are moved around, the rattle of arriving trailers as they ease across the parking lot and the sound of hoof beats as a horse lopes across the hard surface to the arena.

I want to believe that almost all of us honor America, our freedoms and the price paid for both. This weekend, I also honor the cowboy for keeping tradition year after year and in economic times that boggle the mind.

Rodeo rigs are progressively bigger, fancier, and technology has kicked rodeoing up a notch from the days of standing at a pay phone along the highway to enter a rodeo or find out when you drew up.

As much as there is that is different, there is still so much the same.

It still requires the basics. First, the cowboy has to get there, and second, he has to have brought his cowboy skills with him.

Fourth of July rodeoing is defined by road-weary cowboys, tired horses, pickups filled with dirty clothes, fast-food wrappers and muddy boots.

The pickup dashboard is full of rumpled programs, Copenhagen cans, empty coffee cups, dust-covered sunglasses, gas receipts, a ball cap or two and a road map. But in every rig, there rides great hope, unlimited optimism and a belief that this time, this rodeo, things will get better.

For me, it wouldn't be the Fourth of July if I wasn't standing in the hot sun, beating rain or dusty wind waiting for the next event to move the entertainment along.

Years past paying entry fees and waiting for them to call my name, now I carry a camera and put what I know of rodeo into print.

I don't suppose I'll ever be anywhere else but at a rodeo grounds somewhere on the Fourth of July. In a mental check of the past 40 years, there have been no more times than I can count on one hand that I haven't been at a rodeo somewhere, in some capacity. Not likely it'll change anytime soon.

Join me at a rodeo for a look into the heart of the rodeo cowboy at his best. Today would be a good day to start.

Julie can be reached for comment at www.julie-carter.com, or wandering with a camera at the rodeo grounds all weekend.

Why I Love America

By Gen LaGreca

I love America for being the place where an upstart group of colonists, against all odds, battled the most powerful empire in the world---and won---all in the cause of liberty.

I love America for establishing a revolutionary new country in which a person’s life is his and his alone to live for his own sake, and government’s sole purpose is to protect that sacred right.

I love America for recognizing that not only is it illegal for a criminal to steal your property, force you to do things against your will, or hijack your life, but the government cannot do these things, either. I love America for declaring for the first time in history that government cannot act like a common criminal but must be accountable to moral law.

I love America for igniting a firestorm of liberty that in a brief page on the calendar of history led to the abolition of slavery, the suffrage of women, and the spread of freedom around the globe.

I love America for triggering an explosion of scientific and industrial advancement and a standard of living unmatched---and unimaginable---in history.

I love America for fostering the climate of freedom in which genius can flourish, making possible the Henry Fords, the Thomas Edisons, the Wright Brothers, and the many other innovators who formed entire new industries that moved mankind forward.

I love America for being the place where wealth was created and earned, rather than looted and plundered.

I love America for spawning the American Dream, the worldwide symbol of the boundless opportunity and achievement that freedom brings.

I love America for making possible a truly civilized society, one of self-sufficient, resourceful, confident, hard-working, wealth-creating, and life-loving people, who lived in a spirit of peace and good will toward their fellow man because no one staked a claim to anyone else’s wallet.

I love America for offering freedom and opportunity to so many of our ancestors who arrived as immigrants, who knew that in America nothing was owed to them and everything had to be earned, and who rose to the challenge, creating a spectacular new life for themselves and for us, their descendants.

I love America for being the country where people could work hard, rise, and be proud of their success, because production, profit, wealth, and achievement were the stuff that American heroes were made of.

No matter how much our country has swayed from its ideals today, I will never forget that I am an American. I will never forget that our ancestors forged a continent not with public aid and bailouts but with the shining vision of a better life and the self-reliance to attain it. Our forebears created wealth, progress, and achievement on an unprecedented scale. No government fed our pioneers, inspected their wagons for safety, certified their chickens, meddled in their businesses, looted their wealth, or subjected their lives to endless controls, permissions, and regulations. No government built the breathtaking skylines of our majestic cities, the proud monuments to free minds and free commerce. The government’s fingerprints can be found only on the shattered shells of public housing that wound our cities, a grim reminder of the failed welfare state.

The time has come to reclaim our legacy from the meddlers, moochers, expropriators, and budding tyrants who are hammering away at Lady Liberty, knocking her down bit by bit, and ready to topple her completely.

We the people must pick up the pieces, make our Lady whole again, and return her to her golden pedestal as the country we love and honor, the country of liberty.

Let us ponder these thoughts on Independence Day.

© 2009 by Genevieve LaGreca

Chicago writer Gen LaGreca is the author of Noble Vision, a ForeWord Magazine Book-of-the-Year award-winning novel about liberty. Her commentaries have appeared in the Orange County Register, Rocky Mountain News, Front Page Magazine, Free Market News Network, Gainesville Sun, Real Clear Politics, and other publications. She holds a master’s degree in philosophy from Columbia University. For more information, see http://wingedvictorypress.com/medical_thriller.htm.

Published with permission of the author.

I would encourage everyone to read her essay Why We MUST Invoke Our Individual Rights—Now.

Song Of The Day #077

On this Fourth Of July I will make an exception and offer a song from the modern era of country music.

The song is In My Land by Royal Wade Kimes, and is the hidden track on his A Dyin' Breed CD.

This song has special meaning on this day as we celebrate our liberty.

Give it a listen and have a great 4th of July!

Palin to Resign as Alaska Governor on July 26

Says the Washington Post.

Los Ojos Hatchery Puts $2 Million into Reopening Long-Closed Stocking Facility

The Los Ojos Fish Hatchery is undergoing a $2 million renovation in order to reopen after a four-year layoff. Production had been halted in March 2005 after whirling disease was discovered in the hatchery. The construction work is being performed by El Prado Construction Inc., of Taos., and is being funded by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, Hatchery Manager Greg Friday said. The infestation was discovered in March 2005 and the state Game and Fish Department-run hatchery has been shut down ever since. One previous attempt was made to clean and disinfect the hatchery but whirling disease was again found in the fish. Los Ojos was the third hatchery in New Mexico where whirling disease had been discovered. Hatcheries near Questa and Pecos were also temporarily closed due to the disease but have since at least partially reopened. None of the diseased fish were released into New Mexico waters, according to the Department...RioGrandeSun

Obama Silences Science: Is This the Change We Were Promised?

President Barack Obama rode into the White House promising open and honest government. So why did his administration bully a career official at the Environmental Protection Agency into silence? Last week, the Competitive Enterprise Institute released a 98 page report written by Alan Carlin, a 38 year veteran of the EPA, on the shaky science employed by global warming alarmists. Mr. Carlin had submitted the report to his superiors for the EPA to consider as it deliberated whether or not carbon dioxide “endangers” human health and welfare. As noted by my colleague Marlo Lewis, an “endangerment” finding isn’t mere bureaucratese. Instead, it’s a legal tripwire that would spark an economically ruinous regulatory chain reaction under the Clean Air Act. But the EPA would not consider Carlin’s report. In a series of incriminating emails, Carlin’s boss bluntly informed him that his report would remain secret for political reasons. Late Thursday night, CEI went ahead and posted a draft version of the document, which you can read here. In a not-so-subtle dig at the supposed scientific backwardness of his predecessor four months ago, President Obama said that science is “about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology.” Now we learn that his administration has done just that by silencing Mr. Carlin’s voice at the EPA. Is this the change we were promised?...CEI

Green Buildings Get Boost in Cap-and-Trade Bill

Most of the attention in the lead-up to last week’s vote on the Waxman-Markey climate bill was heaped on the cap-and-trade program. There was also a lot of vitriol over how much the bill would cost. Lost in the shuffle are a number of provisions that seem pretty banal but could have a more direct impact on the way we use energy at home and work. Take building codes. The bill mandates that upon passage, all states move to adopt standards for residential and commercial structures that are at least 30 percent better than two widely accepted energy codes. [See update below.] The requirements get more strict over time, and states would get lots of money from the federal government to enforce them. States that fail to comply could have the federal standard thrust upon them...WSJ

State and local governments will no longer be able to set bldg. codes of their choice. The senators from New York will have as much to say about bldg. codes in NM as the NM senators.

There must be a new definition of federalism out there that I'm not familiar with.

Fuel tax could be replaced with by-the-mile road tax

The year is 2020 and the gasoline tax is history. In its place you get a monthly tax bill based on each mile you drove — tracked by a Global Positioning System device in your car and uploaded to a billing center. What once was science fiction is being field-tested by the University of Iowa to iron out the wrinkles should a by-the-mile road tax ever be enacted. Besides the technological advances making such a tax possible, the idea is getting a hard push from a growing number of transportation experts and officials. That is because the traditional by-the-gallon fuel tax, struggling to keep up with road building and maintenance demands, could fall even farther behind as vehicles' gas mileage rises and more alternative-fuel vehicles come on line. The idea of shifting to a by-the-mile tax has been discussed for years, but it now appears to be getting more serious attention...KansasCityStar

Just think what that would do to us in the west, especially those living in rural areas, because of the distances we travel.

I'm confident the data from the GPS system would never be "studied" or shared with law enforcement or other government snoops.

We can trust them, right?

Should Obama Try to Reset the Planet's Thermostat?

On Monday, the Waxman-Markey climate bill moved to the Senate floor after narrowly passing the House. It's a step, yes—but as everyone knows, cooling the planet will require a lot more than closing an emissions deal. That's why earlier this month the august National Academy of Sciences (NAS) brought together in Washington, DC, leading scientists, economists, policy experts, philosophers, and a menagerie of other experts for a two-day workshop to discuss a crazy-sounding idea: Should the US consider geoengineering the planet's atmosphere to combat global warming? Once a fringe theory, in recent years the idea that humans can change the Earth's climate through direct intervention has begun to gain credibility in climate change discussions. The ways by which scientists propose to directly engineer the Earth's environment to slow the Earth's warming are myriad. Ideas range from injecting aerosols into the atmosphere via fighter jets to reduce solar radiation, to fertilizing the oceans with iron to grow algae blooms that absorb more carbon dioxide, to sending millions of small mirrors or "sun shades" into the Earth's orbit to scatter the sun's light away from the planet and back out into space. And these are but a few of the suggestions now surfacing in scientific circles...MotherJones

Controversies over Redefining Fill Material Under the Clean Water Act

On May 3, 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) announced a regulation redefining two key terms, fill material and discharge of fill material, in rules that implement Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. This report discusses the 2002 rule, focusing on how it changes which material and types of activities are regulated under Section 404 and the significance of these issues, especially for the mining industry. The Clean Water Act contains two different permitting regimes: (1) Section 402 permits (called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit program) address the discharge of most pollutants, and (2) Section 404 permits address the discharge of dredged or fill material into navigable waters of the United States at specified sites. These permit programs differ in nature and approach. The NPDES program focuses on the effects of pollutant discharges on water quality. The 404 program considers effects on the aquatic ecosystem and other national and resource interests. The Corps and EPA have complementary roles under Section 404. Landowners seeking to discharge dredged or fill material must obtain a permit from the Corps under Section 404. EPA provides environmental guidance on 404 permitting. The determination of what is fill material is important, since fill material is subject to 404 permit requirements, while discharge of non-fill material is regulated by EPA under the Section 402 NPDES permit program. The revised rule was intended to clarify the regulatory definition of fill material by replacing two separate and inconsistent definitions with a single, common definition...OpenCRS

Should renewable energy include nuclear?

A new global effort that aims to make renewable energy more accessible to every country in the world will launch on July 1st. Governments are lining up to join the first agency that will advise them on how to make a renewable energy transition. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has attracted 108 countries, including the United States and China, which are both expected to announce their membership this week, in a move that experts say could boost the agency's credibility, since both countries are leaders in renewable energy. But supporters worry that IRENA could be undermined by countries that are trying to promote nuclear power as a solution to climate change and dwindling oil reserves. Today, members will meet in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt to vote on a director general for the group and decide which country will host the agency's headquarters. France generates nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. It's also one of the world's largest providers of nuclear technology and expertise. Since 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has signed multibillion-dollar nuclear deals with the UAE, Qatar, Algeria, Libya, and Morocco. At the same time, France is promoting nuclear as a form of renewable power because it emits low levels of carbon dioxide. When the European Union defined its long-term target for renewable energy production last year, it tried to include nuclear power in the definition of renewable energy, a move that was rejected by EU members...CSMonitor

Of Hydraulic Fracturing and Drinking Water

A bill introduced earlier this month would bring federal oversight of hydraulic fracturing fluids – chemical mixtures pumped at high pressure into oil and gas wells in order to unlock deposits trapped deep underground. Environmentalists welcomed the bill, but representatives of the natural gas industry say the legislation could lead to increased costs, job losses and increased competition for water — particularly in the West. The bill, known as the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, (FRAC) was introduced in both the House and Senate by representatives from Colorado, Pennsylvania and New York. It essentially seeks to overturn a 2005 legislative tweak that placed fracturing fluids outside the regulatory purview of the Safe Drinking Water Act...NYTimes

Owyhee Initiative Funding Begins

Duck Valley Indian Reservation - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will join members of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation tomorrow to discuss the first phase of funding that will implement provisions of the Owyhee Initiative land management legislation he passed earlier this year. The Owyhee Initiative, an eight-year collaborative written by Idahoans and led by Crapo in Congress, was authorized in the Omnibus Land Management Act of 2009. The process of allocating funding to implement the Owyhee Initiative is now underway through the appropriations process in Congress. Crapo said that other pieces of the Owyhee funding efforts to compensate ranchers for land exchanges, improvements and for giving up grazing rights, will come from a combination of public and private dollars. He said he has contacted Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about funding for the ranchers' needs. Some of the rancher payments, such as retiring grazing rights, must be paid for with private dollars and Crapo noted private groups are leading fundraising efforts in that regard...ABCTV-6

Dubois Destroyed

From our comment section:

There is a town in Wyoming that is also called Dubois.It is about an hour and half from Jackson Hole and just about broke. Every Environmental Policy that has been implemented has systematically destroyed this town.

They lost the Louisianna-Pacific mill in the Eighties, then when the Wolves came in 1995 the big ranches began to disappear.The Grizzly and Wolves have virtually stopped all tourist that used to hike in that Area.

The Wolves and Griz have destroyed the Hunting and Hunting is all that Dubois had left. The Big Game meat processing plant in Dubois processed 10 cow elk in 2008,they processed 25 in 2007.

In the year 2000 Wyo. issued 1500 late cow permits for the Dubois area ,today they issue 150. The reduction in permits began in 2003, that year the were reduced to 500, 2004 they went to 250 and have been at 150 since.

Our moose are gone.

If you would like to call and talk to a fellow who lives in a town that is dying because it has been sanitized by the Sierra Club. Call Darrel at Wind River Meat 307-332-8208.

What has happened to Dubois is a blue print for what is intended for the rest of us,who call the West our home. The Wolves are soldiers nothing more nothing less, and this is a war.

What they want and need is our Land and Water. The other issue that is fueling this insanity is the Hage Decision. Once the Hage Decision is put in place the Wildlife Managers will be liable for damages from Big Game. So the varied Fish&Game Dept have an interest in seeing as many ranchers put out of business as possible.

That is why Wyoming Game & Fish has been so quiet, and wouldn't say Wolf if they had a mouthful.

So watch your backs.

Todd Fross
nothpass@hughes.net

The Legalities of Rainwater Harvesting

Just as people use the sun to generate power for their homes, many homeowners capture rainfall for a variety of uses — from washing dishes to watering gardens during dry spells. But rainwater harvesting, as it is known, can be quite controversial — and in some Western states it is akin to theft. Opponents of the practice argue that if rain or snowfall is captured, less water will flow to streams and aquifers where it is needed for wells and springs. If enough people hijack precipitation, the thinking goes, it would be cheating downstream users who are legally entitled to the water. Proponents, meanwhile, see rainwater harvesting as a common sense solution to water shortages and storm water runoff – and find humor in the notion that collecting even small amounts of water is outlawed...NYTimes

Riding Land Conservation Efforts Get Boost from AQHA

Land conservation projects will get a helping hand from the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), after that group signed a memorandum of understanding to work together with the USDA Forest Service. By partnering together, AQHA and the Forest Service will actively promote public-private partnerships that encourage responsible use of federal lands by visitors participating in equestrian activities. Both organizations seek to disseminate information to the public regarding conservation, recreation, and natural resource activities relating to equestrian and recreational stock use. AQHA will work with the Forest Service at the national, regional, and local levels to identify appropriate cooperative opportunities (trail projects, recreational use studies, and educational programs) and pursue these projects with the recreational community in general and the equestrian community in particular. AQHA also will develop and maintain a communication network for equestrian users through its STEP (Stewards for Trails, Education and Partnerships) program...TheHorse

Ranchers dealing with wolf attacks

Pete Carricaburu feels victimized. A life-long rancher, Carricaburu has brought his sheep to graze on the same privately owned land near Dull Knife Battlefield in Johnson County since 1988. He’s learned to deal with mountain lions, coyotes and the occasional black bear. But last Saturday, a savage new element was added to his summer grazing operation when 10 of his sheep fell victim to wolf attacks within hours of being moved to the Big Horn Mountains. ”These are our babies and we take immaculate, good care of these sheep,” Carricaburu said. “Seeing them brutalized was just heartbreaking. We felt we were terrorized and we were. We found a couple of lambs trying to follow the herd with their guts hanging out. It was kind of like a drive-by-shooting.” Carricaburu’s case isn’t an isolated incident. Wyoming Game and Fish Department wolf program coordinator Mike Jimenez confirmed that four different ranchers have lost 52 sheep to wolves in Johnson County since May 4. That number has skyrocketed from the two confirmed wolf kills reported in all of 2008...BuffaloBulletin

Young bear kills four pigs on ranch

A young grizzly bear has been relocated after killing four pigs on a ranch northwest of Cody. “He will be given another chance, but if he gets into further trouble he’ll be considered for removal,” Game and Fish bear management supervisor Mark Bruscino said. Bear No. 434 is a “young inexperienced fellow,” Bruscino said. The first night the bear killed one pig. The second night, he killed three. Two of the 100-pound pigs were partially consumed. The bear was captured June 28 and moved to the Targhee National Forest into an area free of livestock...CodyEnterprise

National Disease Strategy Not NAIS Requested by R-CALF

R-CALF USA recently sent a letter to the Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., expressing its appreciation for her decision to hold back further funding for the National Animal Identification System until USDA finishes its listening sessions. R-CALF USA states in its letter that the U.S. needs to create a national strategy to improve livestock disease prevention, control and eradication instead of implementing NAIS. According to the letter, the NAIS proposal tramples over the rights and privileges of U.S. family farmers and ranchers, and the program isn't an effective vehicle to achieve animal health and livestock market benefits. Along with saying 'no' to NAIS, R-CALF says farmers and ranchers across the country have said at listening sessions that USDA is inviting the introduction of diseases into the U.S. R-CALF President Max Thornsberry says it's unconscionable that USDA is knowingly introducing dangerous diseases, citing BSE from Canada and TB from Mexico, while blaming livestock producers for not cooperating with its failed NAIS program. R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard says DeLauro has been informed of an eight-point plan that should be the starting point for the creation of a national disease strategy that will better protect the health of the nation's livestock and the safety of meat produced from the livestock. Bullard says R-CALF is hopeful USDA will redirect its resources to begin development of a national disease prevention strategy. FarmFutures

Norwood novelist wins Colorado Book Award

Norwood writer Amy Irvine McHarg is going to have to build a bigger shelf. Her novel “Trespass: Living at the Edge of the Promised Land,” has won yet another award, the Colorado Book Award for creative nonfiction. McHarg won the 2008 Orion Book Award and the Ellen Meloy Fund’s 2009 Desert Writer’s Award earlier this year. “Trespass” is McHarg’s memoir, following her as she scurries to the outskirts of her Utah homeland. She grew up an insider, a sixth generation Mormon rancher, but finds herself at odds with the predominant culture as she becomes an environmental advocate. As McHarg processes her father’s suicide, she finds herself pushed both figuratively outside the church’s reach and physically outside the Deseret boundaries, in Norwood. It was here, away from the onus of her Utah roots that she was able to finish the book. Throughout the book, McHarg sketches the metaphor of the coyote. Like people outside the church, banished to the edges of Deseret, or the conservationists run out of southern Utah’s wilderness by the storm of motorized recreation, the coyote is scorned and hunted and driven from its homeland. Despite all this, the coyote thrives. McHarg, who resolves “Trespass” in a somber key, reassures her fans that like the coyote she has flourished in her new digs...Telluride