Guard Dog

Something really good may come from all of this: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/57836973-90/utah-lands-lawmakers-federal.html.csp It's about time. The US is a union of 50 sovereign states after all and it is difficult for a state to assert it's own sovereignty when an outside government controls 85% of it's land. If this happens it will make it difficult for the filthy corrupt freedom hating bastards on the Potomac like Sen Harry Reid from ordering people off land at gunpoint so he can turn around and sell it to Chinese power companies.

Gorgon were you born cynical or did you have to work at it? All kidding aside you are pretty right on. In the end voting really becomes a choice of lesser evils. You vote for the pols you think will hurt you the least.

Heh, I feel exactly like that a lot! Last night I called my former business partners and thanked them profusely for their consideration and declined their invitation. I love this house, this spot in the woods on Cold Creek. Then I slept through the night for the first night this week. I think you made the right decision. You do love where you live and person can be defined in some ways by where he lives. We find a sense of contentment. And no amount of money can necessarily bring you that same feeling. So even a better new job but in a different city doesn't mean you will be automatically happier. I imagine Steph is happy ? Yeah, she wasn't crazy about the idea either and I don't blame her. She has a life, a career, and friends here she would not want to leave behind. That was a big factor in the decision.

Please confirm you aren't serious. I doubt he is joking I don't think Val is saying it has never been done, but it is not joke that the ability to do it right this minute does not currently exist. If there were a compelling reason to go it could be put together in a few years time with sufficient funding no doubt. The main reason Apollo was cancelled and no other programs created is that it is prohibitively expensive to stage manned moon missions with not a lot of benefit to justify the costs (aside from exploration for its own sake)

Agreed. Although this does lend credence to the federalist argument that power is best left concentrated at the lowest possible levels because the voters have more influence there.

Heh, I feel exactly like that a lot! Last night I called my former business partners and thanked them profusely for their consideration and declined their invitation. I love this house, this spot in the woods on Cold Creek. Then I slept through the night for the first night this week.

I remember this! This was a board game back when I was a kid!

I vote for Dodge City & Santa Fe. Just for the historical value if nothing else. There is nothing to see in Albuquerque. If it wasn't for Bugs Bunny nobody would have ever even heard of it. If you do go to Amarillo you MUST eat at Coyote Bluff. Get the burger from hell. You've never had anything like it!

Enoch is right. The job would be for WiMax network implementation. I've decided then changed my mind several times. The problem that is holding me up is I'd have to sell my house. I could not afford to keep two mortgages. I love this place. I built a good deal of it and have added on a lot in the years since. It is very... me. Plus I'd have to walk away from the consulting contract I'm working now and that would mean losing the bonus for completing it. And my fiancée was lukewarm to the idea. On the positive it is a great career opportunity and I'd be working with two of my former partners in a successful and stable company (I've forgotten what that even feels like).

Dull and time consuming would have been simply placing a lien on the ranch for the cost of the grazing fees. Instead this government chose armed agents, helicopters, armored vehicles, beatings, taserings, threats, arrests, and other fun dictatorship type stuff. They went in there like this to send a message and instead received one.

The Grizz get the 8th seed! I'll take it!

I was, informally, offered a permanent job in North Dakota today. For what was hinted to be really good money. Obviously that creates some serious internal strife because it would mean some pretty big lifestyle changes. And not just for me. I asked them to give me to the end of the week to think about it.

Which is as good a reason as I have ever heard to keep their power and influence restricted to the barest minimum they need to have to do the jobs they are required to do.

I've been doing some reading on the details of this case. My biggest question is what standing does the BLM have to force cattle off state land? It turns out that the land Nevada sits on was ceded to the US government following the Mexican war and when Nevada became a state federal jurisdiction over state land was codified into the state constitution. So, in other words his cows are trespassing on federally controlled land after all and he should just move them or pay the damned range fees. However, if the US government needs to collect a debt it actually has standing to collect all it has to do is put a lien on the property and assets. The IRS does it every day. They don't need to send 200+ armed agents along with helicopters and armored vehicles and they certainly don't need to taser then beat the hell out of folks video recording the operation (which is legal). That little extra bit was some bonus big-government cruelty and oppression thrown in for no extra charge.

Arg! I have been a loyal Tampa Bay Rays fan since 1998. And friends let me tell you that has not been easy all that time. But this year I was so ignorant of their schedule that ended up working in the same city they were playing in and did not make arrangements to go to a game. DAMMIT! We've lost Mat Moore for the year, Hellikson is out until June, Cobb is on the 15 day DL, and the first of the Durham call ups laid a HUGE egg in Cincinnati today. All the sudden there is cause to be concerned about our pitching staff.

If you cook goat right it tastes just like venison. And I loooveee venison. I should get some goats. The are kinda cool critters.

Gotta agree here only substitute weight lifting with splitting firewood. As for the second part that is especially so if 100% of that meal was produced on your own land.

By your own account it very nearly turned a legal conflict into one where people got shot. Cow grazing is not worth killing anybody over. There were beatings, taserings, intimidation, questionable arrests, snipers and armed agents around the Bundy Ranch. Then the armed citizens arrive and everyone becomes a little more respectful of each other. And they did it without brandishing those weapons, just making it known they had them. I am surprised by the government reaction to tell the truth. Usually when they are hell bent of seizing your property and freedom no matter the pretext their policy is to shoot everyone in sight indiscriminately. Ruby Ridge comes to mind where the penalty of missing a court date is summary executions of the entire family. Cows are not worth killing for. But defending freedom and property is. And it would be worth dying for if it came to that. Today those folks in Nevada drew a line in the sand and dared the BLM to step over it and God Bless them for doing it. The BLM declined and God bless them for that. But the confrontation is coming at some point. It's been building for years. To quote Thomas Jefferson "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground". But not without a fight.

Back from KC. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. It also cools off arguments it seems. I wonder if she would ever guess the real reason I took my dog with me on this road trip?

Looks like the federal Government and the BLM blinked: http://abcnews.go.com/US/nevada-cattle-rancher-wins-range-war-federal-government/story?id=23302610 As Val pointed out this is not a simple issue. The land in question is not federal but state land. The state never ceded it to the Federal Government so where is BLM's standing to impose fees? It is legal to graze cattle in public land in Nevada and the family had been doing so long before the BLM came into existence. If anything then the state had standing to remove the cattle and/or impose fees but they never have done so. Bundy has said he'd pay range fees to Carson city but not Washington. I don't blame him. Then the story breaks that the Senate Majority Leader wants that land to sell to a Chinese power company in a deal his own son would broker. That scent you are smelling is not cow manure. Why was that story not page one news? Oh, yeah, he's a Democrat. It's not corruption when a democrat is doing it apparently. I find it telling the difference in behavior of the BLM agents when they knew no one was armed. Bundy's son was tasered, beaten, then arrested on a VERY questionable charge for video recoding the round up (which is perfectly legal). Now armed supporters and self titled "Militia Members" are pouring in from all over the west to support the Bundy family and the BLM becomes a little more circumspect. I am happy that cooler heads at the BLM have prevailed and they have backed down from what was quickly becoming a situation where an armed confrontation was likely, however had they been a little less bellicose and heavy handed it would not have gotten out of control this way. Unfortunately, government is force. it does not know any other way. On a side note, do any of you still doubt that privately owned firearms can be an effective deterrent against government abuse?

So the Royals really play in Missouri? Yes. Please tell me the teacher knew that!

Well, part of it is in Kansas. A small part though.

Be wary of tornadoes and remember that there is no place like home....also red shoes wouldn't hurt. Umm Kansas City is in Missouri, not Kansas.... mostly anyway

I was just reading about those. I'd like to try one before taking the plunge though.

Having some troubles reacclimating to a person living with you again? Let's just say we're having some of the same problems we had when we dated a few years ago. There are some personality types that just clash more than others. It's hard for two Alphas to get along sometimes.