Elderly woman scares off home invader with gun

Law enforcement officials suspect a home invasion in Leon County is connected to a serial rapist who has been terrorizing elderly women in rural areas of Texas for months. On Saturday, police say a man broke into the home of an 81-year-old woman. The woman had a handgun and managed to fire several shots, scaring the man away. The burglar got away with some cash and other items, but the woman was not hurt. Investigators believe this incident may be connected to a series of sexual assaults on elderly women across four Central Texas counties, including Bell County. At least seven women have been attacked since January. All are over 60, widows and live alone in rural areas...read more

Pregnant woman shoots would-be burglar

Houston police say a pregnant woman shot and killed a man trying to break into her car. The shooting happened on Pinemont near Alabonson in northwest Houston last night. Investigators say a woman who is eight months pregnant saw a group of men breaking into a neighbor's car and then the crooks turned toward her vehicle. "She looked out the window. She watched them break in to one car. And then, she watched as the males went over to her car. That's when she retrieved the gun and fired one shot at them," said Sgt C.D. Howard with the Houston Police Department. The woman hit one of the men, killing him instantly. The others got away. The case is expected to be referred to a grand jury without charges. ABC

GUNPAL, Inc.: The First Serious Competitor for PayPal Inc.

"GUNPAL, Inc. is a transaction-neutral online payment platform with a philanthropic spirit," announces Founder/CEO Ben Cannon. "It is also the first serious competitor for PayPal Inc." A percentage of each transaction is donated to a selected charity at no additional cost to the user. The initial list of organizations includes the American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, and the Supercomputing Disease Research Center. Users can also suggest charities for consideration. An avid supporter of constitutional rights, Cannon created a discrimination-free online payment application, starting with the recognition of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Prohibited by PayPal's "Acceptable Use Policy", the $3 billion firearms and accessories industry has adopted GUNPAL as the payment platform of choice. An estimated one hundred million firearm owners nationwide now have a platform with which they can trade ammunition, scopes, and other accessories securely and hassle-free...read more

Congressman Barney Frank present during marijuana bust

FOX25 has learned that Congressman Barney Frank was present during a marijuana arrest at James Ready's home in Ogunquit, Maine. Ready is well-known for his relationship with Congressman Frank. According to a police report, police charged Ready with marijuana possession, cultivation and use of drug paraphernalia in August of 2007. Ready admitted to civil possession and paid a fine. The remaining charges were dismissed in 2008. Sources tell FOX25 that when Frank was questioned he told police that he did not live in the house and that he only smoked cigars...read more

Intoxicated man arrested on his way to jail

As a deputy was at the Edgefield County Law Enforcement center he noticed a man “stumbling down the hill from the courthouse towards the jail”. The location was handy because not only was that were he ended up, but it also was where he was heading. As the deputy approached the man, who was later identified ay 49-year-old Michael Butler of Johnston, a strong odor of alcohol was present about his body and he appeared to have wet his pants in the process. According to incident reports, Mr. Butler told the deputy he was coming to turn himself in to the jail where he is serving weekends for a previous conviction. Due to Butler’s highly intoxicated state, he was helped to the jail and summarily charged with another offence, disorderly conduct for public drunk...read more

Bobcat captured at former home of Las Cruces breeder

A bobcat was captured at the former home of an exotic cat breeder Thursday and another large cat is still on the loose, according to Doña Ana Sheriff's Department investigators. The bobcat was isolated in a tree and shot with a tranquilizer dart to capture it without injury, after which it was transported to the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley, and is expected to be sent to a sanctuary, said Doña Ana County Animal Control Director Curtis Childress. A second, slightly larger cat - possibly a pregnant bobcat or small mountain lion - may have escaped the residence before investigators arrived. The residence is north of Las Cruces on King Edward Avenue, near the intersection of Doña Ana Road and West Taylor Road. The cat on the loose is not a threat to humans unless cornered or harassed, but anyone who sees it should call 911. Traps have been set, but children and small pets are recommended to be kept indoors until the cat is captured...read more

Is the BLM practicing unsafe CX?

No, categorical exclusions are not symptoms of a venereal disease. Rather, CXs, as they’re known, are provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, designed to streamline permitting for relatively harmless, small-scale oil and gas activities — a single new gas well on an existing well-pad, say. But soon after the law passed, the Bureau of Land Management, which administers most oil and gas development in the West, began to use CXs a lot — giving rise to worries that large-scale drilling was moving forward in a scattershot fashion without thorough environmental review. Now, the results of an investigation by the Government Accountability Office suggest that those fears were justified. About 6,100 permits to drill — 28 percent of the total handled by the BLM — were issued with CXs from 2006 through 2008. Partly due to poor oversight and partly because of the law’s confusing language, the GAO found that the CXs were applied inconsistently, and violations were common...read more

Nature Conservancy denies role in aiding Pinon Canyon plan

Ranchers opposed to the Army's planned expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site are charging The Nature Conservancy environmental group with being the Army's silent partner, based on past and continuing agreements with Fort Carson to establish conservation easements around both the Mountain Post and the 238,000-acre Pinon Canyon training range. Using documents obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests, the Not 1 More Acre! group released two Army reports Thursday showing a 2002 cooperative agreement with The Nature Conservancy to acquire easements around both installations - as well as a hefty 2006 confidential report called "Pinon Vision" that outlines step-by-step how the Army intended to acquire up to 1.1 million acres around the training range by 2017. A key part of that expansion plans called for an 80,000-acre conservation zone along the Purgatoire River and the report says, "Based on preliminary discussions with the Nature Conservancy, there is a good possibility that the Conservancy will manage this buffer with appropriate recognition of Army requirements." Mack Louden, a board member of the rancher group, said opponents of the expansion have been suspicious of the conservation group's role in the Army planning during the nearly four-year battle over expanding Pinon Canyon. "They've been silent on the expansion issue and now it seems like they've been working against us all this time," Louden said Thursday...read more

Democrats Push Climate Bill Through Panel Without G.O.P. Debate

In a step that reflected deep partisan divisions in the Senate over the issue of global warming, Democrats on the Environment and Public Works Committee pushed through a climate bill on Thursday without any debate or participation by Republicans. The measure passed by an 11-to-1 vote with the support of all the Democratic committee members except Senator Max Baucus of Montana. The seven Republicans boycotted the committee meetings this week, saying they had not had sufficient time to study the bill and demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency conduct a thorough study of its economic costs and benefits. The move suggests that President Obama and Democratic supporters of the bill will have serious problems assembling the votes needed to enact it when it comes to the Senate floor, probably not before next year...read more

From Lahore to Copenhagen

Last Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Pakistan telling the Pakistanis to burn more coal. Today, President Barack Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House to assure her that the US will stand with the European Union on cutting emissions of carbon dioxide. The juxtaposition of those two events provides a window into the essential conflict at the heart of any workable plan to deal with global carbon dioxide emissions. At the same time that Obama and top Congressional leaders are claiming that they are serious about cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the reality is that in developing countries like China, India, Pakistan, Brazil, and Indonesia, carbon dioxide emissions are soaring. A key reason for those soaring emissions: those countries desperately need electricity. And when it comes to generating electricity, coal usually provides the cheapest option. And make no mistake, there is a direct correlation between electricity use and development. As Peter Huber and Mark Mills declared in their 2005 book, The Bottomless Well, “Economic growth marches hand in hand with increased consumption of electricity–-always, everywhere, without significant exception in the annals of modern industrial history.” So here’s the summary: at about the same time that Obama’s secretary of state is encouraging the Pakistanis to burn more coal, Obama himself is assuring the Germans and the EU that he is serious, really serious, about reducing carbon dioxide emissions. While few people doubt that Obama, Merkel, and their friends in the EU want to do just that, it is worth noting these facts: despite its much-touted embrace of solar power and wind power, Germany’s coal use has not seen a significant decline...read more

All cheer water deal

California farm interests gave positive reactions to historic water legislation approved this week by the Legislature. Legislation passed Wednesday, Nov. 4, consisted of five bills, including an infrastructure bond for $11.1 billion to pay for a wide variety of water management, conservation and storage projects. The package also includes the creation of a new governing panel to oversee the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and gives the state the authority to monitor groundwater levels. Legislators want to require California cities to use 20 percent less water by 2020, although large urban areas such as Los Angeles and San Francisco would not have to meet such a high threshold because per capita water use is lower than other parts of the state. It was described as the biggest achievement in California water politics since voters approved the State Water Project in 1960. Legislators have been wrangling over solutions to the state's growing water woes for years. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was expected to sign the five-bill package, which he called a wise investment in the state's future...read more

Rules on Modified Corn Skirted, Study Says

As many as 25 percent of the American farmers growing genetically engineered corn are no longer complying with federal rules intended to maintain the resistance of the crops to damage from insects, according to a report Thursday from an advocacy group. The increase in farmers skirting the rules, from fewer than 10 percent a few years ago, raises the risk that insects will develop resistance to the toxins in the corn that are meant to kill them, the report says. And it raises questions about whether the Environmental Protection Agency and the agricultural biotechnology industry are adequately enforcing the rules. The crops in question, called BT corn, have bacterial genes spliced into their DNA that cause the plants to make toxins that kill certain insects when they feed on the crop. In 2008, about 49 million acres of BT corn was grown, accounting for 57 percent of domestic corn acreage. So far there appears to be little sign that insects are growing resistant to the toxins in the corn. If they were to, however, it would not only render the crops ineffective but would hurt organic farmers who use sprays of bacterial BT toxins as natural pesticides...read more

Horse Market Collapses

Horse prices are "ugly…terrible," says Diane Givan, office manager of Kist Livestock, Mandan, N.D. Colts are bringing as little as $10-$50 per head. They used to sell for $200 to $500. Working horses are selling for about half of what they used to. Owners of older horses sometimes can't sell their horses at all or end up in the hole after paying the auction house's commission and other fees. The horse market fell apart after U.S. processing plants, under pressure from animal rights groups, closed two years ago. "There's no bottom to the market," says Jim Reeves, a Midland, S.D., rancher. Horses used to make up about one-third of their income. They used to run about 200 mares. Now they have just 30 and sell everything by private treaty. "Something's gotta change," says Chase Adams, a Sturgis, S.D. farm broadcaster who formed the American Horse League to lobby Congress. Ranchers have taken a financial hit. Horse abuse and neglect is rising as more and more people – mainly recreational owners – can't afford to feed their horses and can't find anyone to take them off their hands. Rescue farms are full. The real danger, says Adams, is that animal rights will use their horse victory as a springboard to close other types of processing plants. "This is the line in the sand," Adams says...read more

Fainting goats: myotonic goats explained

The most striking characteristic of the myotonic goat is the condition of myotonia congenita, a condition frequently misunderstood by breeders as well as by folks unfamiliar with the breed. Myotonia congenita is a medical condition that is strictly muscular and causes the muscles to become rigid when the goat is startled, moves suddenly or steps over a low barrier. The condition is due to changes in the ion channels in the muscle cell membranes and has nothing to do with the nervous system. The characteristic stiffening has given rise to a number of names for this breed: fainting, nervous, stiff-leg, wooden-leg, scare and myotonic. The myotonia congenita goes hand in glove with heavy muscling. While not truly a faint, the name "fainter" was long ago chosen by some of the registries to indicate the condition and is a name that has stuck. The unique myotonic breed first enters historical note in the 1880s, when a farm labourer arrived in the middle of Tennessee with four of these goats and a zebu cow in tow. The labourer, Tinsley, worked in the area for few years and then moved on. His employer, Dr Mayberry, purchased the goats and their offspring. This is the beginning of the breed, although the ultimate origin of them is likely to always remain a mystery. They don't appear to have surfaced elsewhere in the world, but certainly must have originated somewhere...read more

The Vaquero Life Celebrated

A Santa Ynez cowgirl hall-of-Famer, a sculptor who captures the world of California Vaqueros, and a cowboy who crafts popular tools and saddle hardware for the leather trades are the honorees for the 25th annual Vaquero Show and Sale. The three-day event kicks off Nov. 13 at the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Society and Carriage Museum, celebrating the time-honored tradition of the Vaqueros, California’s earliest cowboys. About 50 artisans and collectors from throughout the western United States will showcase and sell cowboy and western memorabilia. “It is a coming together of people who share a love of the West, horses and wide open spaces,” said museum director Chris Bashforth. “This is a community event that keeps the Vaquero traditions alive, along with educational demonstrations and entertainment.” Proceeds from the event’s dinner, live auction and attendance all benefit the museum. The show began 25 years ago when a group of ranchers and collectors began regularly gathering in a barn at the historic El Roblar Ranch in Los Alamos, swapping stories and showing off their collections of antique hand-made bits, spurs and gear...read more

Song Of The Day #174

This morning Ranch Radio brings you Johnnie Lee Wills (Bob's brother and one of the six original members of the Texas Playboys) performing Two Step Side Step.

The song title reminds of a girl I once knew - the two step was one step too many for her.

Have a great weekend.

Bill To Require Bear Spray In Wyo. & Other Bear Spray Stories

Teton County Attorney Steve Weichman says he's working on legislation that would require permitted backcountry users to carry bear spray when they're in grizzly country. Weichman announced the proposal last week during a Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee meeting. He said the bill would require hunters, anglers, and recreationists overnighting in national parks to carry bear spray when in areas populated by grizzly bears. Weichman said the bill, which does not yet have a sponsor, is needed because human-grizzly conflicts are increasing. While only 44 people have died from grizzly attacks since the beginning of the 20th century, the majority of those attacks have occurred in the last 20 years. Weichman also cited recent studies that show bear spray is more effective than bullets at preventing injury to humans during a bear attack...read more

Be interesting to know where those statistics came from. Meantime I'd be packin' more than a can of spray.

UPDATE: A writer at New West looks at the studies and pretty well rips them up and then adds this tidbit:

Bob Wharff, executive director of the Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, told the Jackson Hole News & Guide, “There are some instances, when you’re not surprising the animal, when you may have time to get your pepper spray out,” he said. “[But] when you stumble into a bear, the minimal time you have to respond is not adequate to go through the though process [of getting your bear spray out]. You’re talking milliseconds. It’s illogical that you’re going to set your gun down and get your pepper spray.”

And then I found this article:

Two men who bear-sprayed a woman in the doorway of her Reece Avenue home after asking her to call police are being sought by Chilliwack RCMP. Police said the two men knocked on the door of the home at about 4:30 p.m. Monday claiming they had been assaulted and asking the woman who opened the door to call the police. "Before the resident was able to place the call as requested, she was bear-sprayed by one of the males," Cpl. Lea-Anne Dunlop said. The 35-year-old woman was able to close and lock the front door, and the two suspects fled in an unknown direction...

Now I've know some pretty tough ladies, but if bear spray won't stop a 35 year old woman I'm gonna have some severe doubts about it stopping a grizzly.

But what the hell, if the feds can force you to buy health insurance then I guess a state can force you to buy bear spray. Kind of a "spray to play" type of a scheme.

Forest fire project postponed for grizzly study

The Gallatin National Forest has withdrawn its Lonesome Wood Vegetation Management Project Decision to further analyze the project's effects on grizzly bears given the species' recent relisting as an endangered species. The project is located 12 miles northwest of West Yellowstone along the Hebgen Lake Road. The vegetation removal would reduce fire danger near residences. It would also reduce vegetation along the Hebgen Lake Road evacuation route by thinning trees and removing dead and down fuel. The project would also help maintain and enhance aspen stands...read more

This gives you a nice snapshot of where our rulers priorities lay: Bears first, humans second.

Chamber Goes Green?

On Tuesday, the Chamber sent a letter to the chairman and the ranking Republican of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, calling on them “to take steps to bridge the political and geographical divide” that killed legislation to reduce carbon emissions in 2003, 2005, and 2008. The political divide continued on that committee Wednesday, as Republicans once again blocked a markup of that panel’s cap-and-trade bill by boycotting the session. The Chamber’s letter, however, did provide a boost to efforts by Senators John Kerry and Lindsay Graham to negotiate a climate-change bill that could get the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. It also may help repair the Chamber’s image, which has been battered by the resignations of high-profile members like Apple over its opposition to past proposals to cap carbon emissions. Ideas outlined by Kerry and Graham “can serve as a solid, workable, commonsense foundation on which to craft a bill,” wrote Bruce Josten, the Chamber’s top lobbyist...read more

Money for Klamath dam removal included in California water bill

A massive water bill approved by the California legislature includes $250 million dollars for removing four private dams on the Klamath River. That amount represents the bulk of California's tab for a multiparty agreement to tear out the dams to improve conditions for federally protected fish...read more

Guess my info was faulty about California having a budget crisis.